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CPA Exam Educational Requirements in Florida

The educational requirements to sit for the CPA examination in Florida are as follows:

• A Bachelor's degree.
• 30 semester hours in excess of those required for the Bachelor's degree (i.e., a total of 150 semester hours).
• Courses taken must include:
• (a) 39 semester hours in general business;
• (b) 36 semester hours in accounting above the (2000) elementary level.

It is recommended that students satisfy these requirements by completing the Master of Accounting (MAcc) program. The masters program provides the best preparation for the CPA exam and for entrance into the accounting profession. In the masters program, students may specialize in either accounting information systems, auditing, corporate accounting or taxation.

Students may qualify for the CPA exam without completing the MAcc program by taking additional courses beyond those required for the bachelors degree. Students must complete 150 semester hours of college level work including 39 semester hours in general business and 36 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 Systems, and any written or oral communication course as described in Board of Accountancy Rule 21A-27.002(2)(b).

At FSU, general business hours include ECO 2013, ECO 2023, STA 2023, and all courses with the following prefixes BUL, FIN, GEB, ISM, MAN, MAR, QMB, REE, RMI. Upper-level accounting courses include all 3000, 4000 and 5000 level courses with prefixes ACG and TAX (except ACG 3171, ACG 3331, ACG 5005, and ACG 5308/5026). Upper-level accounting hours above 36 may be counted as general business hours.

For application forms and information concerning the CPA exam, go to the Florida Board of Accountancy web site: http://www.state.fl.us/dbpr/cpa/index.shtml

Applications are accepted continuously.

If the original application is complete (including transcripts), the Board will inform you within 30 days regarding eligibility for the exam. If you are eligible, you will be given information as to how to set up an exam time.

If the original application is not complete, the Board will inform you of any deficiencies (e.g., transcripts not complete, etc.) and you can submit more information up to 90 days from the original application date. After 90 days, you will have to "start over" with a new application.

February 12, 2004