Florida CPA Experience Requirements [2023]

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To meet the Florida CPA experience requirements and become a CPA, a 1 year of work experience is required.

This article will help you to become a CPA in Florida and is a requirement for you to take the Florida CPA exam.

Table of Contents

Florida CPA Experience Requirements Summary

Experience must be verified by a licensed CPA and should include the following:

Any type of service or advice involving the use of accounting, attest, compilation, management advisory, financial advisory, tax, or consulting skills .
Experience must be gained through employment in government, industry, academic or public practice.

The experience must either average at least twenty (20) hours a week over no more than one hundred and four (104) weeks, or average no more than forty (40) hours a week over no more than fifty-two (52) weeks.

The verifying CPA must confirm that the applicant completed such services for a minimum of 2,000 hours gained over a period of not less than fifty-two (52) weeks when submitting the Verification of Work Experience form. The sequence of experience, whether the experience was secured before or after taking the examination, or partly before the examination and partly after the examination is considered immaterial, provided the two periods combined equal at least one year.

Summary of Florida CPA Requirements

Credit Hours to Sit for CPA Exams	120
Upper-Division Accounting Hours to Sit	24
Upper-Division Business Hours to Sit	24
Bachelor’s Required to Sit for CPA Exams?	No
Credit Hours for CPA License	150
Accounting Semester Hours Required for the CPA License	30
Business Semester Hours Required for the CPA License	36
Master’s Degree Required?	No
Work Experience Required	1 Year
Ethics Exam Required?	No
Required CPE Hours Every Two Years	80

Florida CPA Exam Requirements

In Florida, you can sit for the CPA exams as long as you have 120 credit hours, which need to include 24 semester hours of upper-division accounting classes, and 24 semester hours of upper-division business classes.

Once you successfully pass the Uniform CPA Examination (meaning the four CPA exams), you will need to fulfill the 150 credit hour requirement, which needs to include 30 semester hours of accounting classes and 36 semester hours of business classes.

Florida CPA Education Requirements

To sit for the CPA exam and ultimately get your CPA license in Florida, you’ll need to meet the Florida CPA education requirements put forth by the Florida Board of Accountancy.

In a nutshell, to sit for the Uniform CPA Examination, you must have completed 120 semester hours or 180 quarter hours. The 120 credit hours should be from an accredited college or university that primarily focuses on business and accounting courses, and must comprise:

24 semester hours (36 quarter hours) in upper-level accounting courses that include cost accounting and auditing
At least 3 semester hours (4 quarter hours) of financial accounting
At least 3 semester hours (4 quarter hours) of U.S. Taxation

All of the above accounting courses must be at an upper-division level. In addition, these courses must be from a recognized educational institution. Some additional auditing and accounting majors that are accepted for CPA eligibility include:

Fraud Detection
International Accounting
Review of internal and management controls
Financial Statement disclosure
Compilation and Review
Management Accounting
Auditing Financial Statements, Operating Systems, and Programs

You must have completed 24 semester hours (36 quarter hours) of general business courses including:

At least 3 semester hours (4 quarter hours) of business law based on U.S. Law

In Florida, you are not required to have a Bachelor’s Degree or a Master’s Degree to sit for the CPA exam and the credit hours will do for the education requirements. However, having at least a baccalaureate degree is a must to claim your CPA license.

Unlike some states, the state of Florida offers the CPA license to international students as well and you don’t necessarily need to be a U.S. Citizen to become a CPA in Florida. International students outside the U.S. can search online for the nearest CPA examination services in their country.

Accredited Educational Institutions

Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools
Middle States Commission on Higher Education
New England Association of Schools and Colleges
Higher Learning Commission
Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Western Association of Schools and Colleges
Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)
European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS)
Association of Independent Colleges and Schools, unless the college or school accredited by the AICS is regulated by the Commission for Independent Education and exempted from licensure by the CIE under the provisions of section 246.085, F.S.
Canadian, Mexican, Irish, Australian, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, and Hong Kong academic accounting programs approved by the provincial education bodies or the equivalent educational accreditation body for that country.

Pass the Uniform CPA Examination

The “Uniform CPA Examination”, which is a 4-part exam, is developed by the AICPA – the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and administered by NASBA – the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy.

The Four CPA Exam Sections are:

Auditing and Attestation (AUD)

The Auditing and Attestation (AUD) section of the Uniform CPA Examination (the Exam) tests the essential knowledge and skills a newly licensed CPA must demonstrate when performing audit engagements, attestation engagements or accounting and review service engagements.

Newly licensed CPAs are required to:

demonstrate knowledge and skills related to professional responsibilities, including ethics, independence and professional skepticism. Professional skepticism reflects an iterative process that includes a questioning mind and a critical assessment of audit evidence.
understand the entity including its operations, information systems (including the use of third-party systems) and its underlying business processes, risks and related internal controls.
understand the flow of transactions and underlying data through a business process and its related information systems.

Business Environment and Concepts (BEC)

The Business Environment and Concepts (BEC) section of the Uniform CPA Examination (the Exam) tests knowledge and skills that a newly licensed CPA must demonstrate when performing:

Audit, attest, accounting and review services
Financial reporting
Tax preparation
Other professional services

The content areas tested under the BEC section of the Exam encompass five diverse subject areas. These content areas are enterprise risk management, internal controls and business processes, economics, financial management, information technology and operations management.

Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR)

The Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR) section of the Uniform CPA Examination (the Exam) assesses the knowledge and skills that a newly licensed CPA must demonstrate in the financial accounting and reporting frameworks used by business entities (public and nonpublic), not-for-profit entities and state and local government entities.

The financial accounting and reporting frameworks that are eligible for assessment within the FAR section of the Exam include the standards and regulations issued by the:

Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (U.S. SEC)
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB)

Regulation (REG)

The Regulation (REG) section of the Uniform CPA Examination (the Exam) tests the knowledge and skills that a newly licensed CPA must demonstrate with respect to:

U.S. federal taxation
U.S. ethics and professional responsibilities related to tax practice
U.S. business law

Tips for Passing the CPA Exam

The CPA exam covers so many topics that you will need to study specifically for each section, usually for 6-8 weeks per section. Even a master’s degree in accounting doesn’t adequately prepare you to just walk in and pass the 4 CPA exams.

You will need a full review course such as Becker, Wiley CPA, Gleim, Roger, etc, and you will need to dedicate several hours a day over the course of months to even have a chance at getting passing scores.

How to Save Yourself MONTHS of Time and Frustration
Keep in mind that the CPA exam is the one part of getting your CPA license that you can control how long it takes. The education and experience requirements take as long as they take, but the CPA exams can take you as little as 6 months, or as long as multiple years… depending on how effective your study process is from the beginning.
Learn how to study strategically so you can save yourself tons of time and retake fees with this free training…

Florida CPA Exam Cost Breakdown

The Florida CPA exam cost consists of five main fees: an initial exam application fee of $170, the exam registration fee which is $75, the $238.15 per CPA exam section totaling $952.60 for all four sections, the initial license fee that costs $50, and the renewal fee of $105.

Initial Application	$170.00
Auditing and Attestation (AUD)	$238.15
Business Environment and Concepts (BEC)	$238.15
Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR)	$238.15
Regulation (REG)	$238.15
Total for all 4 CPA Exam Sections	$952.60
Exam Registration Fee	$75.00
Initial CPA License Registration Fee	$50.00
Renewal Fee	$105.00
Late Renewal Fee	$380.00

Florida CPA Ethics Exam Requirements

While most states require an ethics exam before licensing, Florida candidates can become a CPA without it as there are no Florida CPA ethics exam requirements. However, part of the Continuing Professional Education (CPE) requirement is to attend 4 hours of board-approved ethics every two years.

Getting your Florida CPA License: Step-By-Step

Now let’s connect the dots and tell you exactly what to do from inception to licensure.

The first step you need to perform is to check the CPA exam and licensure requirements in Florida. In a nutshell, if you have 120+ semester hours from an accredited institution that fulfills the above CPA academic criteria, you are eligible to sit for the CPA exam in Florida.

To be able to apply for CPA License you need to have a total of 150 semester hours or 225 quarter hours which includes the following courses:

30 semesters or 45 quarter hours in upper-level accounting courses that include cost accounting and auditing
- At least 3 semester hours (4 quarter hours) of financial accounting
- At least 3 semester hours (4 quarter hours) of U.S. Taxation
You must have completed 36 semester hours (54 quarter hours) and not less than 21 semester or 32 quarter hours of general business courses must be at the upper-division level including:
- At least 3 semester hours (4 quarter hours) of business law based on U.S. Law

Eligible? Great. The next step is to check the course contents of each of the four sections and decide which one should you attempt first. As mentioned earlier, pick one or two (depending on how much time you have for studies) and submit the application form along with the first-time application directly to the Florida Board of Accountancy. You will receive a jurisdiction ID number should your form gets approved by the board.

Next, apply online for the CPA examination using your jurisdiction ID alongside entering details like your social security number and you are good to go!

However, becoming a CPA is not just about passing the CPA exams; you need to have at least one year of relevant work experience verified by a certified public accountant registered with the American Institute of CPAs. The experience must be equivalent to 2,000 hours and your supervisory CPA must certify that the work you have performed is not trivial and relates to operations that are performed by standard full-time employees. Also, this should take more than 52 weeks but no more than 104 weeks.

Unlike most states, you are not required to complete the Ethics Exam in order to get your CPA license in Florida. If you successfully pass all four sections within the rolling period, have the 150-course credits, and have completed the required work experience, you may now apply for your CPA license online or through paper. Make sure all documents are complete and submit them to the board. You should be able to obtain your Florida CPA license and take your professional journey to next level.