Division of Certified Public Accounting

Education Requirements

New Rule – Rule Chapter 61H1-27.002(2) Florida Administrative Code

Applicants initially sitting for the CPA examination after November 1983 must meet the new rule education requirements. The new rule requires a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, plus 30 semester hours in excess of the bachelor's degree to include a total education program with concentration in accounting and business. The accounting education program consists of 36 semester hours of upper division accounting courses including coverage of tax, auditing, financial, and cost accounting. Not more than three semester hours of an accounting internship can be applied towards the 36 semester hours of upper division accounting.

The business education program consists of 39 semester hours of upper division general business courses, to include six semester hours of business law with coverage of contracts, torts, and the uniform commercial code. The exception to the upper division requirement for general business courses are three semester hours of the six required in business law, three semester hours each of micro-economics, macro-economics, introduction to statistics, and introduction to computers course may be lower division.

Excess upper division accounting courses may be used to meet the general business requirement. However, elementary accounting classes are never acceptable for credit. Neither are courses for non-accounting majors and any MBA courses that are equivalent to elementary accounting.

Old Rule - Rule Chapter 61H1-27.002(1) Florida Administrative Code

Applicants who were accepted to sit for (not necessarily passed) the CPA Examination in 1983 or earlier may use the old rule educational requirements. Applicants who sit under this rule must also demonstrate one year of public or governmental accounting experience under the supervision of a CPA or a year of graduate school (12 semester hours accounting and 15 business and a total of 30 hours) before they can become licensed.

The old rule requires a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university to include a total education program with concentration in accounting and business. The education program consists of 18 semester hours of accounting courses which are above the elementary level and 27 semester hours of general business courses. Elementary accounting courses are never acceptable for credit toward the requirements. Courses for non-accounting majors and any MBA courses that are equivalent to elementary accounting are also not accepted for this requirement. Accounting courses taken at a community college or junior college are not acceptable towards the accounting requirements.

Accreditation – Rule Chapter 61H1-27.001 Florida Administrative Code
The Board accepts degrees from schools accredited by the following associations: Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, New England Association of Schools and Colleges, North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges, Association of Independent Schools and Colleges who are regulated by the Commission of Independent Education, and Canadian, Mexican, Irish, and Australian academic accounting programs approved by the provincial educational bodies or the equivalent educational accreditation body for that country. If you have graduated from a school or college which is not accredited by the above mentioned means, then you must use the provisions of F.A.C. 61H1-27.001(5).

Applicants Who Have Graduated from Non-Accredited Schools (61H1-27.001)(5)
Applicants who have graduated from a non-accredited school may still qualify to sit for the CPA examination. The candidate must take 15 semester hours of graduate classes from an accredited institution. The 15 semester hours must include at least nine hours of graduate level accounting courses to include three semester hours of graduate tax. These hours must be taken after admission to graduate school. If the courses are taken before admission to a graduate program, the classes will not be accepted, even if the school includes them as part of the graduate program. The applicant must complete the graduate school courses to validate the non-accredited degree. These courses cannot duplicate other courses which the applicant has taken and they cannot be used to satisfy the educational requirements. Applicants must also submit an evaluation of their foreign transcripts, which must be completed by an evaluation service which has been approved by the Board (see Board Approval Evaluation Services).

Duplicate Courses
No credit will be given for courses which duplicate another course for which the applicant has received credit. Review courses are considered as duplicates.

CLEP Courses
CLEP courses cannot be used toward satisfying the requirements of the Accounting Education Program or the General Business Education Program. CLEP hours may be used toward the 30 semester hours in excess of the degree.

Law School Course Memo