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Florida CPA exam application process

To sit for the CPA exam as a first-time four-part candidate in Florida, follow these steps: Before applying for the exam, evaluate your current credentials. You will need:

  1. A Bachelor's degree from an accredited school including completion of 120 semester or 160 quarter hours as follows: a) 24 semester or 36 quarter hours in accounting education at the upper division level which shall include coverage of auditing, cost and managerial accounting, financial accounting, accounting information systems, and taxation.  Not more than 3 semester or 4 quarter hours may be internship programs which may be applied to the 24 semester or 36 quarter hours in accounting (internship courses must be taken in conjunction with other traditional coursework at an institution and must appear on the transcript).  Further, any remaining internship credit, if otherwise acceptable, would be applied to the general business requirement, and
 b) 24 semester or 36 quarter hours in general business education which shall include not less than the equivalent of 6 semester or 8 quarter hours in business law courses which shall include coverage of the uniform commercial code, contracts and torts.  A maximum of 9 semester hours (13 quarter hours) of computer courses and 6 upper division semester hours (8 quarter hours) of statistics courses will be accepted for purposes of meeting the general business requirement.
PLEASE NOTE: Florida CPA examination candidates who pass the examination in accordance with Florida's rules are automatically mailed a CPA licensure package by the Florida Board of Accountancy.  Applicants must apply for licensure within three years of receiving the licensure package.  If an applicant does not apply for licensure within the three year period, CPA examination grades expire and the applicant must reapply and retake the CPA examination.

If you meet the educational requirements, submit your application to the Florida Board of Public Accountancy using the link provided in the Becker website. The application fee will be $50, exam fees will total $784.50, and the process may take as long as eight weeks. Your name on the application should exactly match your name on your primary form of identification, which is usually your driver's license. At this time you should also begin planning your study approach by making inquiries into CPA reviews available in your area. The Becker CPA Review offers classes live, online or self-study to accommodate the needs of all candidates.

Contact any educational institutions attended and request that transcripts be forwarded to the Florida Board of Public Accountancy for their evaluation. If you do not expect any problems in processing your application it is best to make plans to start your review at this time. The Becker CPA Review will significantly increase your chances of passing the exam.

After receiving the required information, the State Board will issue your Authorization to Test (ATT) to the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA). You will receive an invoice for exam fees of $784.51 which must be paid in advance. Once fees are paid, you will receive a Notice to Schedule (NTS) which is good for six months; however, since every third is non-testing, the NTS covers four testing months.

Your NTS allows you to start scheduling your exams. You can sit for the exam parts in any sequence so you can plan your reviews to coincide with your exam scheduling. The most efficient approach is to sit for two parts in each exam window; however, exam fees paid for parts not taken are not refundable. Exam times are scheduled with Prometric and can be set up online at www.prometric.com/cpa. You can take the exam at a site in Coral Springs, Davie, Fort Myers, Gainesville, Jacksonville, Maitland, Miami, Sarasota, Tallahassee, Tampa, Temple Terrace, or any other Prometric location that is convenient to you.