61H1-27.002. Concentrations in Accounting and Business  


Effective on Thursday, October 26, 2023
  • 1(1) For purposes of Section 6473.306, F.S., 8if application for the Uniform CPA Examination was made prior to August 2, 1983, an applicant must have a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university with a major in accounting, or its equivalent, with a concentration in accounting and business subjects. A concentration in accounting and business is defined as an educational program that includes at least 18 semester hours or 27 quarter hours, or the equivalent, in accounting education above elementary (principles of) accounting and 27 semester or 40 quarter hours, or the equivalent, in general business education. In order to meet the provisions of Section 107473.306, F.S., 109the application must have been filed, completed and approved and show on its face that all educational and other requirements were met prior to August 2, 1983.

    136(2) For purposes of Section 141473.308, F.S., 143if application for licensure is made after August 1, 1983, an applicant must have at least 150 semester hours or 225 quarter hours of college education, including a baccalaureate degree or higher conferred by an accredited college or university with a major in accounting, or its equivalent. The applicant’s total education program shall include a concentration in accounting and business as follows:

    205(a) 30 semester or 45 quarter hours in accounting education at the upper division level which shall include coverage of the following topics:

    2281. Auditing

    2302. Financial accounting

    2333. Taxation

    2354. Cost and managerial accounting 240or accounting data analytics.

    244Of these courses, the applicant must complete 3 semester hours or 4 quarter hours of financial accounting based upon United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and 3 semester hours or 4 quarter hours of taxation for accounting standards based upon United States federal and state laws. Not more than 3 semester or 4 quarter hours may be internship programs which may be applied to the 30 semester or 45 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;

    354(b) 36 semester or 54 quarter hours in general business education which shall include not less than the equivalent of 3 semester or 4 quarter hours in business law courses based upon United States federal and state laws. Vocational and clerical type courses will not count either toward the accounting requirement set forth in subsection 40961H1-27.002(2), 410F.A.C., or this general business education requirement. Specialized industry courses will be acceptable as general business courses but not as accounting courses unless as defined in subsection 43761H1-27.002(2), 438F.A.C., and they have an accounting prefix, further such courses in order to qualify must be certified by the chairman of the school or college’s accounting department as qualifying for general business credit. Written or oral communication courses will qualify for the general business requirement if they have a business or accounting prefix or if they are reflected in the catalog in the school or college as relating directly to the school or college’s business or accounting requirements.

    516(3) To be eligible to take the licensure examination, an applicant shall have completed 120 semester or 180 quarter hours as follows:

    538(a) 24 semester or 36 quarter hours in accounting education at the upper division level which shall include coverage of the following topics:

    5611. Auditing

    5632. Financial accounting

    5663. Taxation

    5684. Cost and managerial accounting 573or accounting data analytics.

    577Of these courses, the applicant must complete 3 semester hours or 4 quarter hours of financial accounting based upon United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and 3 semester hours or 4 quarter hours of taxation for accounting standards based upon United States federal and state laws. 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;

    687(b) 24 semester or 36 quarter hours in general business education which shall include not less than the equivalent of 3 semester or 4 quarter hours in business law courses 717based upon United States federal and state laws725. Vocational and clerical type courses will not count either toward the accounting requirement set forth in subsection 74361H1-27.002(2), 744F.A.C., or this general business education requirement. Specialized industry courses will be acceptable as general business courses but not as accounting courses unless as defined in subsection 77161H1-27.002(2), 772F.A.C., and they have an accounting prefix; further such courses in order to qualify must be certified by the chairman of the school or college’s accounting department as qualifying for general business credit. Written or oral communication courses will qualify for the general business requirement if they have a business or accounting prefix or if they are reflected in the catalog in the school or college as relating directly to the school or college’s business or accounting requirements.

    850(4) For purposes of this rule, upper division accounting hours other than elementary above the minimum requirement may be substituted for general business hours. Elementary accounting subjects shall not be accepted as general business education. Elementary accounting subjects include principles of financial and managerial accounting courses even if they are covered in a three course sequence, are titled “introductory,” “fundamentals” or “principles” and even if they are offered at the graduate level. All accounting courses and not less than 21 semester or 32 quarter hours of general business courses must be at the upper division level. For the purpose of paragraph 95261H1-27.002(2)(b), 953F.A.C., all general business courses, including accounting courses in excess of the 36 hours required, must be taken at the upper division level, except for Introductory Macro and Micro Economics, Business Law, Introductory Statistics, Introduction to Computer Information Systems, and any written or oral communication course described in paragraph 100261H1-27.002(2)(b), 1003F.A.C. Lower level general business courses, other than those listed above, posted to transcripts after August 31, 1989 will not count. Standardized tests, such as CLEP, are not acceptable for accounting or general business courses; however, advanced placement (AP) courses will be counted if the applicant has been granted college credit for those AP courses by their degree-granting institution.

    1062(a) Upper division, as used in Rule 106961H1-27.002, 1070F.A.C., means courses above the prinicipal introductory level.

    1078(b) If an applicant has taken a course at the lower division at a senior institution, and that institution has reclassified the course to the upper division at the time of application to Florida, the course will be deemed upper division for the purpose of Rule 112461H1-27.002, 1125F.A.C.

    1126(5) Re-applicants whose original application for the CPA examination was approved prior to August 2, 1983, may elect to satisfy subsection 114761H1-27.002(1), 1148F.A.C.

    1149(6) For purposes of subsection 115461H1-27.002(2), 1155F.A.C., and Section 1158473.306, F.S., 1160a baccalaureate degree will not be considered as meeting the statutory requirement for a major in accounting or its equivalent unless all credit hours accepted by the college or university as part of the degree requirement are listed as courses in the catalogues of all institutions attended.

    1207(7) If an applicant takes duplicate courses, only one of these courses will be counted. For purposes of this rule, all CPA Examination Review courses will be deemed to be duplicate courses.

    1239(a) Courses will be considered duplicated if they cover a substantially equivalent professional area of knowledge even if separated by a span of time and even if some of the professional, technical and/or legal issues have been changed or modified.

    1279(b) Regarding CPA Review courses, by definition these courses cover material already studied. Accordingly, no exception will be made to consider a CPA Review course non-duplicative, regardless of statements by applicants, professors, or academic administrators that additional topics are covered or the material covered only superficially in prior courses is covered in more detail in a “review” course.

    1337(8) Individuals who are currently licensed in good standing, with at least five (5) years of work experience in the practice of public accountancy in the United States are exempt from the requirements in subsections 137261H1-27.002(1)-1373(3), which are in excess of a baccalaureate degree or higher conferred by an accredited college or university with a major in accounting or its equivalent. All experience that is used as a basis for waiving the requirements in excess of a baccalaureate degree must be while licensed by another state or territory in the United States. This experience shall include providing any type of service or advice involving the use of accounting, attest, compilation, management advisory, financial advisory, tax, or consulting skills. This experience shall be verified by a licensed certified public accountant in good standing with a state or territory of the United States. Individuals performing the certification must be licensed and in good standing both during the applicant’s work experience and at the time of verification.

    1502(9) Individuals who are currently licensed in good standing, 1511with at least five (5) years of work experience in the practice of public accountancy or its equivalent 1529in countries approved by the International Qualifications Appraisal Board of the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy 1547(IQAB) 1548and whose educational degrees are from accredited institutions as set forth in subsection 156161H1-27.001(1), 1562F.A.C., shall be deemed to have met the requirements set forth in subsections 157561H1-27.002(1)-1576(3), F.A.C. 1578All experience that is used as a basis for waiving the requirements in subsections 159261H1-27.002(1)-1593(3) must be while licensed by another state or territory in the United States or while licensed in the practice of public accounting or its equivalent in a foreign country that the IQAB has determined has licensure standards that are substantially equivalent to the those in the United States. This experience shall include providing any type of service or advice involving the use of accounting, attest, compilation, management advisory, financial advisory, tax, or consulting skills. This experience shall be verified by a licensed certified public accountant in good standing with a state or territory of the United States or a chartered accountant in good standing recognized by the IQAB, both during the applicant’s work experience and at the time of verification.

    1714Rulemaking Authority 1716473.304, 1717473.306(3), 1718473.308(3) FS. 1720Law Implemented 1722473.306(2), 1723(3), 1724473.308(3), 1725(8) FS. History–New 12-4-79, Amended 2-3-81, 8-1-83, 3-21-84, 6-10-84, 6-5-85, 10-28-85, Formerly 21A-27.02, Amended 5-22-88, 3-21-89, 5-20-91, 12-2-92, Formerly 21A-27.002, Amended 11-2-95, 11-3-97, 1-31-05, 5-24-07, 11-30-08, 12-21-09, 12-2-14, 7-11-16, 2-13-18, 7-29-18, 2-3-20, 1-12-21, 5-14-23, 10-26-23.

     

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