Educational Requirements in Florida
To Sit for the CPA Exam
- 120 semester hours
- 24 semester hours of upper-division accounting coursework to include coverage of auditing, financial, taxation and cost/managerial (above the 2000 level)
- 24 semester hours of general business coursework, including 3 semester hours of business law
Please see the following site for more information about the educational requirements to sit for the CPA exam: CPA Exam Information
For CPA Licensure
- 150 semester hours (Baccalaureate degree w/major in accounting or its equivalent plus at least 30 semester hours in excess of those hours required for a 4-year degree)
- 30 semester hours of upper-division accounting coursework to include coverage of auditing, financial, taxation and cost/managerial (above the 2000 level)
- 36 semester hours of general business coursework including 3 semester hours of business law
- 1 year of work experience verified by a licensed CPA. This includes any type of service or advice involving the use of accounting, attesting, compilation, management advisory, financial advisory, taxation or consulting skills. This may be gained in government, industry, academia or public practice. This experience requirement may be met only after completing the educational requirements to sit for the exam.
It is recommended that students satisfy the educational licensure requirements by completing the Master of Accounting (MAcc) program. The master’s program provides the best preparation for entrance into the accounting profession.
Students must complete 150 semester hours of college-level work including 36 semester hours in general business and 30 semester hours of upper-level accounting as described above. All general business hours must be at the upper-division level, except for Introductory Macro and Micro Economics, Business Law I, Introductory Business Statistics, Introduction to Computer Information System and any written or oral communication course as described in Board of Accountancy Rule 61H1-27.002.
At FSU, general business hours include ECO 2013, ECO 2023, STA 2023, CGS 2518 and all courses with the following prefixes BUL, FIN, GEB, ISM, MAN, MAR, QMB, REE and RMI. Upper-level accounting courses include all 3000, 4000 and 5000 level courses with prefixes ACG and TAX (except ACG 3171, ACG 3331, ACG 4931, TAX 4006 and ACG 5026). Upper-level accounting hours above 30 may be counted as general business hours.
Please see the following site for more information about the educational requirements for CPA licensure: CPA License Information
For application forms and information concerning the CPA exam, go to the Florida Board of Accountancy website.
