Educational Requirements
The educational requirements to become a CPA in Florida are defined by the Florida Board of Accountancy. According to the current rule for CPA examination eligibility, candidates must have completed 120 hours of postsecondary education from an accredited college or university, which includes 24 hours of upper-level accounting and 24 hours of upper-level general business courses. Candidates also need to complete one microeconomics, one macroeconomics, one statistics, one business law, and one introductory computer course before sitting for the exam.
Salary
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Florida was a top employer for accountants in 2011. Approximately 71,420 accountants worked in Florida, and 2,750 of them worked in Tallahassee, a top-employing metro area. The BLS states that Florida accountants made an average annual salary of $65,440 in 2011. Those working in the Sebastian-Vero Beach metro area had the highest earnings in the state.
CPA Licensing in Florida
The first step in becoming a licensed CPA in Florida is taking and passing the Uniform CPA Exam. To sit for the exam, all Florida candidates must meet the following educational requirements:
- Complete 120 hours of postsecondary education from an accredited college or university, including 24 hours of upper-level accounting, 24 hours of upper-level general business, and one course in each of the following subjects: microeconomics, macroeconomics, statistics, business law, and introduction to computers.
- Excess upper-level accounting courses can be applied to the general business requirements as long as they are above the elementary level.
Here are the following requirements for CPA licensure in Florida:
- Pass all four parts of the CPA exam.
- Complete one year of public, academia, government, or industry accounting experience, or one year of employment in federal, state, or local government that required the use of accounting skills. All work experience must be verified by a licensed CPA or approved chartered accountant.
- Complete a total of 150 semester hours of college education.
- Complete 36 hours of upper-level accounting and 39 hours of upper-level general business hours, of which six must be in business law.
Continuing Education Requirements
To continue practicing public accounting in Florida, CPAs are required to complete 80 hours of continuing professional education during each two-year reestablishment period for licensure. This period begins on the date the certificate was received and ends on the third December 31 after it was issued.
Accounting Jobs in Florida
Since Florida is a top-employing state for this occupation, accountants can expect to have good job prospects now and in the coming years. Florida accountants find work in a wide variety of fields, including finance and insurance, manufacturing, trade, state and local government, and transportation. The state is also home to many large accounting firms, such as KPMG, Ernst & Young, and Crowe Horwath, LLC.