Certified Public Accountant (CPA)

The requirements to become a Certified Public Accountant vary from state to state. Students are encouraged to contact the state in which they wish to practice in order to obtain the requirements that they must meet. The toll free number to obtain information about each state's requirement is 1-800-CPA-EXAM. Nationwide, the same exam is offered twice a year, on the first Thursday and Friday of May and November. Find out more information about the computer-based CPA Exam.

Florida CPA Requirements

The list below contains the Florida requirements in order to sit for the CPA exam. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our department. Earn credit for a total of 150 Semester Credit Hours with a bachelor's degree.

• Earn 39 semester hours in business, including 6 hours in business law (both graduate and undergraduate hours count" Business Law courses must include coverage of the uniform commercial code, contracts and torts).

• Earn 36 hours in accounting beyond principles of accounting, including coverage of auditing, cost and managerial accounting, financial accounting, and taxation (both graduate and undergraduate hours count).

• Earn 75 hours of upper level business and accounting. Upper level is defined as a 3000 or higher course. However, Introduction to Macro and Micro Economics, Business Law 1, Introduction to Statistics, Introduction to Computer Information Systems, and Business Report Writing count toward the 75 upper division hours even if they do not have a 3000 number. Other upper level courses taken at a community college do not count toward this 75 hours.

CPA Information

A student may complete the requirements to sit for the CPA exam in Florida by pursuing the Masters of Business Administration, Masters of Science in Accounting or Masters of Science in Taxation.

UCF Accounting BSBA Graduates

In general, students who graduate with a BSBA degree in accounting at UCF from the 1995 catalog or after who did not transfer with a Florida AA degree will qualify to sit for the CPA exam in Florida if they earn a total of 150 hours, and take 12 additional accounting or taxation hours (at UCF, these courses are offered only at the graduate level). Students with a BSBA degree in accounting at UCF from the 1995 and after catalogs, who transferred in with a Florida AA degree will qualify to sit for the CPA exam in Florida if they earn a total of 150 hours, take 12 additional accounting or taxation hours (at UCF, these courses are offered only at the graduate level), and earn a total of 75 hours of upper level business and accounting.