CPA exam and license

Florida CPA requirements: 120 hours for the exam, 150 for the license

Florida still requires 150 semester hours and one year of experience for the CPA license; 120 hours are enough to sit for the exam. Type your hours and years to see where you stand.

Independent site: not run by, or affiliated with, any body that sets these exams or charges these fees.

Step 1: which licensure route fits you in Florida

Credit hours on your transcript, not hours of work. 120 is usually a bachelor’s degree; 150 means about a fifth year.

Example, not your result yet· change a figure to see yours

No route fits this example: type your own hours and years above

closest: 150-hour route

150 semester hours and one year of experience (section 473.308)short 30 hours

Florida law still requires 150 hours for the license; 120 hours are enough to sit for the exam.

CPA exam cost page, five states

Florida sets its CPA requirements in statute, in chapter 473 of the Florida Statutes. Under section 473.306, a candidate may take the licensure examination after completing 120 semester hours, or 180 quarter hours, from an accredited college or university, with a concentration in accounting and business courses specified by the Board of Accountancy, and on showing good moral character. Under section 473.308, the license itself requires at least 150 semester hours, including a bachelor’s or higher degree, and one year of work experience verified by a licensed CPA. A 2026 bill, SB 364, would have revised the education and experience requirements; it died in messages on March 13, 2026, so the 150-hour rule stands. The Florida board’s own site refused our requests, so its application and license fees are not shown here: the calculator marks them “not read”.

Step 2: what the exam and Florida board fees cost

Five states are covered. In another state, keep the first choice and check your board’s fees.

Each section retaken costs the section fee again, $268.59, plus $50 in California and $15 in Texas. Leave 0 to see the price if all four pass the first time.

Example, not your result yet· change a figure to see yours

No retake counted yet: CPA exam and Florida board fees if all four sections pass the first time, prep not included

$1,074

Four sections, $268.59 each$1,074
Retakes you expect: 0 × $268.59none typed
Florida board, exam application and license feesnot counted: ask the board
Your review course and booksnot included: type it above

Type how many sections you think you will retake to add them. Exam fees $1,074, plus $0 of Florida board fees we could confirm. One retake costs $268.59, the same in every state. Pass rates for each section are published by the AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants), which writes the exam; this site does not copy them, so retakes are the ones you type.

Licensure routes of the five states

Fees read and totals checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources

What the statute requires

  • To sit for the exam (section 473.306): 120 semester hours or 180 quarter hours from an accredited college or university, with the accounting and business concentration set by board rule, and good moral character.
  • For the license (section 473.308): passing the exam, at least 150 semester hours including a bachelor’s or higher degree with a concentration in accounting and business, one year of verified work experience, and good moral character.

The board, not the statute, decides which courses and how many hours make up the accounting and business concentration. That detail sits in its rules, which this site has not been able to read on the board’s site.

The bill that did not pass

In the 2026 session, CS/SB 364 proposed, among other things, to revise the education and work experience requirements for a CPA license, with an effective date of July 1, 2026. Its last action, on March 13, 2026, was “Died in Messages” in the House. Other states moved the other way in the same year: from January 1, 2027, Florida will be the only one of the five states on this site where a candidate with 120 hours and two years of experience cannot be licensed.

Exam fees for a Florida candidate

The section fees are the same as anywhere: $268.59 per section as of July 4, 2026, so $1,074 for the four sections if each is passed the first time, and $268.59 more for each section retaken (no Florida fee for a new try was confirmed). Type the retakes you expect in the second calculator above: it adds them. Florida’s own application and license fees must be added too; that calculator lists them as not read.

Why the Florida fees are missing

The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation site returned an access error to every request we made. We do not copy fees from third-party sites, so those lines stay empty until they can be read at the source.

Planning the gap between 120 and 150

A student who reaches 120 hours can begin the exam right away. The tool above starts with 120 hours and two years of experience to show the result: no route to the license, short 30 hours. The missing hours can be earned through further coursework while you sit for the sections. The five-state comparison shows how Texas, for example, now licenses the same profile.

Questions candidates ask before they register

Tap a question to see the answer.

Can I take the CPA exam in Florida with 120 hours?

Yes. Section 473.306 of the Florida Statutes lets a candidate sit for the exam with 120 semester hours or 180 quarter hours, with the accounting and business concentration the board sets by rule. The license still requires 150 hours, so the remaining 30 can be completed while you take the exam.

Did Florida pass a 120-hour CPA license law in 2026?

No. CS/SB 364, which would have revised the education and work experience requirements for the license, died in messages in the House on March 13, 2026. Section 473.308 still requires 150 semester hours and one year of experience, as it did before the 2026 session.

What experience counts for a Florida CPA license?

Section 473.308 requires one year of work that involves accounting, attest, compilation, management advisory, financial advisory, tax or consulting skills, gained in government, industry, academia or public practice, as a substantial part of your duties, and verified by a CPA licensed in a US state or territory.

Related costs and pages

CPA requirements by state

120 or 150 hours, one or two years of experience: which licensure route five states open to you, and from when.

CPA exam cost

Four section fees, the retakes you expect to pay and the state board fees we could read, in one total.

Texas CPA requirements

Pathway A and Pathway B since August 1, 2026, the experience each one asks, and the $15 per-section board fee.

Fee pages, rules and result files behind this page

Totals worked out by

Independent publisher of total-cost calculators for US finance and accounting credentials, built from the fee schedules and pass-rate files of the credentialing bodies

Fees and pass rates read on · Editorial policy · Contact

Fee schedules for 2026, read on . Estimates only, from official fee schedules and published pass rates: a budget, not a quote, and not financial or career advice. Fees change; the body’s own page is the one that counts.