Pathway to CPA
Who This Is For
If you already hold a bachelor's degree and want to become a CPA in Florida, you may be closer than you think.
The state requires a specific number of accounting and business credit hours to sit for the exam and earn licensure, and many degree holders are only a handful of courses short.
Florida Southern's CPA pathway lets you take those courses without enrolling in a full degree program. You apply as a non-degree student, complete the accounting and business hours you are missing, and become eligible to sit for the exam. Faculty are experienced accounting professionals, and courses are offered in a working-adult-friendly hybrid format.
If you need a substantial number of hours or you want the strongest possible exam preparation, completing the Master of Accountancy is often the better route, and your advisor will help you decide which path fits your situation.
Florida CPA Requirements
Florida sets two distinct thresholds: one to sit for the exam, and a higher one for full licensure. Understanding both tells you how many courses you actually need.
To Sit for the CPA Exam
- 120 semester hours total
- 24 semester hours of upper-division accounting (3000 level or above), covering auditing, financial, taxation, and cost/managerial
- 24 semester hours of general business, including 3 semester hours of business law
The Courses You Need at FSC
Your exact course list depends on what you have already completed. Most students fall into one of two situations. Your advisor will confirm which applies to you after reviewing your transcript.
If You Have Your Business Hours but Need Upper-Level Accounting
|
ACC 3105 |
Accounting Information Systems |
2 |
|
ACC 3111 |
Intermediate Financial Accounting I |
4 |
|
ACC 3112 |
Intermediate Financial Accounting II |
4 |
|
ACC 3211 |
Cost Accounting |
4 |
|
ACC 4411 |
Federal Taxation |
4 |
|
ACC 4511 |
Auditing |
4 |
|
ACC 6800 |
MAcc course (recommended: ACC 6800) |
3 |
Total - 25 Hours
If You Need Both Accounting and Business Hours
Complete the accounting courses above, plus:
|
ECO 2207 |
Principles of Macroeconomics |
4 |
|
FIN 3453 |
Managerial Finance |
4 |
|
MKT 3160 |
Marketing Principles |
4 |
|
BUS 3311 |
Legal Environment of Business |
4 |
|
BUS 3320 |
Applied Statistics and Analytics for Business |
4 |
|
BUS 2220 |
Microsoft Excel for Business |
2 |
|
ACC 6300 |
MAcc course (recommended: ACC 6300) |
3 |
Total (additional) - 25 Hours
Consider the Master of Accountancy
For many students, the most efficient route to CPA licensure is not a set of individual courses but the Master of Accountancy. The MAcc satisfies the 150-hour licensure requirement, delivers the strongest exam preparation, and gives you a graduate credential in the process.
If you are more than a few courses short of eligibility, ask your advisor whether the MAcc is the better path. In many cases, the difference in time and cost is smaller than it looks, and you finish with a master's degree rather than a transcript of individual courses.
Program Details
You enroll as a non-degree student, and the application depends on the level of the courses you are taking.
For bachelor 's-level courses: complete an adult undergraduate non-degree application and submit official transcripts from all previous institutions.
For master's-level (MAcc) courses: complete the graduate business non-degree application and submit official transcripts from all previous institutions.
Your advisor will tell you which application you need based on your course plan.
Hybrid. Courses meet on campus two Tuesdays per month, with the remaining coursework completed online, a schedule built to work alongside a job.
Prepare With a Nationally Recognized Business School
Your courses come from the Barney Barnett School of Business and Free Enterprise, one of a small group of business schools worldwide accredited by AACSB and recognized year after year by the guides students trust most.
The Princeton Review has named it one of the nation's best business schools for multiple consecutive years, and Colleges of Distinction highlights it among Florida Southern's signature programs. The College itself ranks among U.S. News and World Report's top regional universities in the South. It is also a school with deep ties to the profession you are entering: several accounting faculty are practicing CPAs, and the school's advisory board draws leaders from Publix and businesses across Central Florida. When you sit for the exam, you will have prepared with faculty who have done the work and passed it themselves.
Get in Touch
Not sure how many hours you need, or whether the pathway or the MAcc is right for you? Send your transcript, and an advisor will map exactly what you are missing.
