How to Become an Accountant in Florida: CPA Exam and Licensure

To become an accountant in Florida at the CPA level, you need 150 semester hours of qualifying college coursework, a passing score on all four sections of the Uniform CPA Exam within a rolling 30-month window, and one year of supervised professional accounting work. The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), through its Division of Certified Public Accounting, oversees every step.1MyFloridaLicense.com. Certified Public Accounting You can start taking the exam before you finish all 150 hours, which is the single most useful thing to know going in.

Education: Two Thresholds, Not One

Florida separates the education requirement into two tiers, and treating them as one costs people months. The 120-hour tier lets you sit for the exam. The 150-hour tier is what you need before the state will issue your license.2Department of Business and Professional Regulation – State of Florida. Certified Public Accounting – Initial Licensure Requirements All hours must come from an accredited college or university.

What You Need to Start Testing

The 120 semester hours required to sit for the exam must include 24 upper-division accounting hours and 24 upper-division general business hours. The accounting coursework has to cover auditing, cost accounting or accounting data analytics, and at least three hours each of financial accounting and taxation, both based on U.S. standards. The general business coursework needs at least three hours of business law based on U.S. law.3Department of Business and Professional Regulation – State of Florida. Certified Public Accounting – Education Requirements Introductory accounting courses do not count toward the upper-division hours.

What You Need Before Licensure

For the license itself, the bar climbs to 150 semester hours with 30 upper-division accounting hours and 36 general business hours, of which at least 21 must be upper-division. The same subject coverage applies: auditing, cost accounting, financial accounting, taxation, and business law.2Department of Business and Professional Regulation – State of Florida. Certified Public Accounting – Initial Licensure Requirements

Most people cover the gap through a graduate program or additional undergraduate coursework. Many also start testing during their senior year rather than waiting for the full 150, which keeps the overall timeline shorter.

Passing the Uniform CPA Exam

The exam is a four-section, 16-hour assessment built on a core-plus-discipline model. Every candidate takes the same three core sections: Auditing and Attestation (AUD), Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR), and Taxation and Regulation (REG). You then choose one discipline section.4NASBA National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. What is the Uniform CPA Examination?

Choosing a Discipline

The three discipline options are Business Analysis and Reporting (BAR), for financial planning and analysis work; Information Systems and Controls (ISC), for candidates interested in cybersecurity, IT auditing, or systems consulting; and Tax Compliance and Planning (TCP), the natural pick for a tax specialization. The choice does not lock you into a career path, but it does test deeper knowledge in the area, so most candidates pick whichever matches their strongest coursework or intended first job.

The 30-Month Window

Florida gives you a rolling 30-month window to pass all four sections. The clock starts on the NASBA grade release date for the first section you pass. If you don’t clear the remaining sections within that window, your earliest passed section expires and you have to retake it.5Department of Business and Professional Regulation – State of Florida. Certified Public Accounting – General Information – Section: Examination Credits Candidates who study while working full-time are the most likely to lose a passed section this way. Map out your exam dates before you schedule the first one.

Exam Fees

Each exam section costs $262.64, paid to NASBA. Florida charges a $96 application fee to the state board when you register. A clean sweep on all four sections comes to roughly $1,146. Each retake means paying the per-section fee again.

Work Experience

Florida requires one year of work experience totaling at least 2,000 hours.6Legal Information Institute. Florida Admin Code 61H1-27.0041 The work has to involve professional accounting activities such as auditing, tax preparation, financial analysis, or consulting. Public practice, government, and private industry all qualify, as long as you are applying accounting skills at a professional level rather than doing bookkeeping or data entry.

A licensed CPA or another individual approved by the Board must supervise and verify your work by signing the Verification of Work Experience form (DBPR CPA 32). The Board expects genuine oversight, so pick a supervisor who actually reviews what you do and can describe it in detail if asked.

Good Moral Character and Background Check

Florida defines good moral character as a personal history of honesty, fairness, and respect for others and the law.7The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 473.308 – Licensure The Board can deny your application if it finds a reasonable connection between your personal history and the responsibilities of a CPA. Criminal convictions, disciplinary actions in other states, or ongoing investigations can trigger a closer review.

As part of the application, you’ll complete electronic fingerprinting at a Livescan service provider, with results sent directly to DBPR. The fingerprinting itself takes about 15 minutes and costs between $10 and $75 depending on the vendor.

Submitting the Licensure Application

Once you’ve finished all 150 hours, passed the four exam sections within the 30-month window, and completed your work experience, you can file the licensure application. The form is DBPR CPA 2, and the non-refundable fee is $50.2Department of Business and Professional Regulation – State of Florida. Certified Public Accounting – Initial Licensure Requirements

You’ll need to submit:

  • Official transcripts from every college or university you attended, documenting the 150-hour requirement.
  • The signed Verification of Work Experience form (DBPR CPA 32).
  • Background check results from your Livescan appointment.

You can file through the DBPR Online Services portal or by mail. The online route is faster and easier to track. Pay attention to the dates you report for each exam section, because the Board uses them to confirm you stayed inside the 30-month window, and inconsistencies cause delays. Completed applications are typically processed within several weeks.

What It Costs in Total

The fees stack up across stages:

The minimum all-in cost lands around $1,200 to $1,275, assuming no retakes. Most candidates also buy a CPA review course, which typically runs $1,500 to $3,500. Build some room in your budget for at least one retake, since most people need one.

Once licensed, you’ll owe 80 hours of continuing professional education every two years and a $105 biennial renewal fee to keep the license active.8Department of Business and Professional Regulation – State of Florida. Certified Public Accounting – Continuing Professional Education9Legal Information Institute. Florida Admin Code 61H1-31.003 – Renewal of Active and Inactive Status Licenses

Already a CPA in Another State?

If you already hold a valid CPA license elsewhere, you don’t need to repeat the full process. Florida offers licensure by endorsement if you hold a current license from another state or U.S. territory, have five years of accounting work experience accumulated since you were licensed, or have held a valid CPA license for at least ten years.10Department of Business and Professional Regulation – State of Florida. Certified Public Accounting – Licensure by Endorsement

Florida also participates in practice mobility for nonattest services such as tax preparation and consulting. If your home-state license is in good standing, you can generally serve Florida clients temporarily without a separate Florida license. Attest services like audits and reviews have stricter cross-border rules and may require a Florida license depending on the arrangement. Check with the Board before taking on Florida attest work from out of state.

Mistakes That Delay Licensure

Three issues trip up Florida applicants more than any others.

The first is losing exam credits to the 30-month window. Candidates who spread attempts too thin often watch their first passed section expire right as they’re preparing for the last one. Build a realistic schedule before you sit for section one.

The second is coursework that doesn’t line up with Florida’s specific breakdowns. An accounting degree, especially from out of state, doesn’t automatically satisfy the upper-division hour requirements. Cost accounting and business law credits are the ones that most often fall short. Requesting a preliminary transcript review from DBPR before you commit to a timeline can catch gaps early.

The third is incomplete or vague work experience documentation. Your supervising CPA needs to confirm not just the hours but the professional nature of what you did. Thin descriptions on the verification form usually bring follow-up questions from the Board. Make sure both the form and your supervisor can speak specifically to the accounting work you performed.