Florida CPA License Renewal: 80 CPE Hours, Fees, and Deadlines

To renew a Florida CPA license, you complete 80 hours of continuing professional education by June 30, report those hours through the DBPR online portal by July 31, and submit your renewal application with the $105 fee between October 1 and December 31 of each odd-numbered year. Miss December 31 and your license goes delinquent on January 1. The current cycle closes at the end of 2025, and the next covers 2026–2027.

The Three Deadlines That Matter

Renewal is biennial, but it runs on three separate dates spread across six months. People get caught because they treat December 31 as the only deadline and discover in October that the CPE window closed in June.

June 30 of the renewal year. All 80 CPE hours must be earned by this date. The re-establishment period runs from July 1 of the first year through June 30 of the second.
July 31 of the renewal year. CPE hours must be entered in the DBPR’s online CPE Reporting Tool, with documentation uploaded.
October 1 through December 31. The renewal application window. DBPR emails renewal notices around October 1.

If you don’t finish both the reporting and the renewal application by December 31, the license becomes delinquent automatically on January 1.¹ You cannot catch up on CPE in November and renew in December. The credits have to exist by June 30, six months earlier.²

What the 80 CPE Hours Must Contain

Florida’s Board of Accountancy requires the full 80 hours during each two-year re-establishment period.³ Within that total, specific subjects have minimums and caps:

At least 8 hours in accounting and auditing, covering material distinct from taxation and management services.
At least 4 hours in Florida-specific ethics from a board-approved provider, including a review of Chapters 455 and 473 of the Florida Statutes and related rules.
No more than 20 hours in behavioral subjects such as communication and practice management.

The remainder can be taxation, technology, advisory work, or additional accounting and auditing.²

The Florida Ethics Course Is Not Interchangeable

The 4-hour ethics requirement must come from a Board of Accountancy–approved provider and must address Florida’s own practice act and administrative rules.³ A generic national ethics course, including an AICPA ethics course, does not satisfy this requirement. It is one of the most common reasons a renewal gets rejected.

If You Perform Government Audits

CPAs who conduct audits under Government Auditing Standards or the Rules of the Auditor General need 24 hours of governmental CPE within the same re-establishment period, in addition to meeting the CPE standards imposed by Government Auditing Standards themselves.⁴ Those 24 hours count toward the 80-hour total but must relate directly to the governmental environment and governmental auditing.

How to Report CPE and Submit the Renewal

Both steps happen through the DBPR Online Services portal. First, by July 31, enter each course in the CPE Reporting Tool and upload a proof-of-completion document for each entry. You should get a confirmation email within an hour of submitting.⁵⁶

Second, between October 1 and December 31, open the renewal application in the portal, electronically attest that you’ve met all CPE requirements including the Florida ethics course, and pay the fee. If the reporting tool still shows missing hours, the system will not let you finish the renewal.¹

What It Costs

The biennial renewal fee for an individual license is $100, plus a $5 unlicensed-activity surcharge, for a total of $105. The same $105 applies to inactive license renewals.⁷ Payment runs through the Online Services portal when you submit the application.

If You Miss December 31

A delinquent license does not authorize you to practice public accounting. What it takes to come back depends on how fast you act.

Grace Period Through March 15

If you actually finished and reported your CPE on time but let the renewal application or payment slip past December 31, you have until March 15 of the delinquency year to reactivate by paying the $105 renewal fee plus a $25 delinquency fee. No additional CPE is required beyond what you already reported.⁸ This only works if the CPE was already fully in the DBPR portal before the license went delinquent.

After March 15

Once March 15 passes, reactivation requires 120 CPE hours with this breakdown:⁸

At least 30 hours in accounting and auditing
At least 8 hours in board-approved Florida ethics
No more than 30 hours in behavioral subjects
120 hours total

You’ll also pay a $250 non-refundable application fee, the current renewal fee, and the $25 delinquency fee.⁹ That’s roughly $380 and 120 CPE hours, compared with $105 and nothing extra for an on-time renewal.

Null and Void

A license that stays delinquent through an entire additional licensure cycle, roughly two years, automatically becomes null and void without any further action by the board.⁹ After that, you no longer hold a Florida CPA license. Reinstatement is possible but entirely at the board’s discretion, allowed where you made a good-faith effort to comply but failed due to illness or unusual hardship; you must apply, meet all CPE requirements, pay all applicable fees, and otherwise qualify for renewal.¹⁰

Nonresident, Inactive, and Military Situations

If your office is located in another state, Florida gives partial CPE reciprocity: meet that state’s continuing education rules and Florida treats the general CPE requirement as satisfied. The Florida-specific 4-hour ethics course still applies regardless of where you practice, and if your home state has no CPE requirement at all, you must meet Florida’s full 80 hours.¹¹

A voluntary inactive license still renews biennially at the same $105 fee, but you skip the 80-hour cycle while inactive. Returning to active practice later triggers the same 120-hour reactivation requirement that applies to a delinquent license (30 accounting and auditing, 8 Florida ethics, no more than 30 behavioral), plus a change-of-status application and applicable fees.¹⁰⁷

Active-duty U.S. Armed Forces members who held a valid Florida CPA license when they entered service are kept in good standing automatically, with no renewal, fees, or CPE required during active duty and for two years after discharge. If you’re on active duty and also practicing as a CPA in Florida’s private sector, you still complete all renewal requirements, but the renewal fee is waived. Spouses absent from Florida because of a service member’s duties are also exempt from renewal provisions during that absence.¹²

Don’t Forget the Firm License

If you practice public accounting through a firm, the firm needs its own license, and it renews on the same biennial cycle expiring December 31 of each odd-numbered year.¹³ Firm renewal fees depend on structure:

Corporations and partnerships: $145 on time, $170 if delinquent.
Sole proprietor firms: $45 on time, $70 if delinquent.

Firms cannot renew as inactive. They must also notify the DBPR within 30 days of any change in name, address, or ownership, including the departure or death of a partner, shareholder, or member. A firm license left delinquent past January 1, 2026, without renewal becomes null and void.¹³

1
MyFloridaLicense.com. Certified Public Accounting – Renewing and Maintaining Your License
2
MyFloridaLicense.com. CPE Guidelines
3
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 473.312 – Continuing Education
4
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R. 61H1-33.0035 – Government Auditing Standards
5
Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. File Upload Information and Instructions
6
MyFloridaLicense.com. CPE Reporting
7
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R. 61H1-31.003 – Renewal of Active and Inactive License Fee for CPA
8
Florida Administrative Rules. Florida Administrative Code R. 61H1-33.006 – Inactive or Delinquent Florida Certified Public Accountants
9
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 455.271 – Renewal and Cancellation of Licenses
10
Florida Senate. Florida Code 473.313 – Inactive Status; Retired Status
11
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 473.311 – Renewal of License
12
Florida Senate. Florida Code 455.02 – Licensure of Members of the Armed Forces and Their Spouses
13
MyFloridaLicense.com. Certified Public Accounting