South Carolina CPA Exam and License Requirements

South Carolina Certified Public Accountant (CPA) License is a professional designation reserved for accountants in the Palmetto State. You must pass the CPA Exam, obtain relevant education, and meet other requirements to attain the license in South Carolina. 

The U.S. province supports one-tier licensing framework. It signifies that no CPA Certificate, but only the license is required to pursue public accounting. South Carolina Board of Accountancy (SCBA) assesses applicants and issues the license to accounting practitioners. 

It also participates in the International Examination Program. Here lies an in-depth guide of the South Carolina CPA exam and license requirements. 

Contents

South Carolina CPA Exam Requirements

• Eligibility Requirements
• Fees
• Required Documents

South Carolina CPA License Requirements

• Education Requirements
• Exam Requirements
• Experience Requirements
• Ethics Requirements
• Criminal Background Check

Continuing Professional Education (CPE)

South Carolina Exam Information & Resources

CPA Exam is a rigorous computerized professional test designed to examine your high-order analytical competency. It constitutes four sections, each being four-hour long. 

You must score a minimum of 75 points in all CPA exam sections within a rolling 18-month period. The duration starts from the date you attempted the first passed exam section.  

Check out all the details here:

Eligibility Requirements

General Requirements

• Social Security Number (SSN) or a Lawful Permanent Resident Number (Green Card)

Educational Requirements

• Obtain at least 120 semester hours from a regionally accredited or board-approved college or university with,
  • Minimum 24 semester hours of accounting applicable to a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree with the following courses taken at 300+ level:
    • U.S. Taxation
    • Managerial Accounting
    • Financial Accounting
    • Auditing
  • Minimum 24 semester hours of business courses applicable to a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree including-
    • Management
    • Economics
    • Business Law
    • Computer Science
    • Finance
    • Marketing and Accounting hours (not included in the 24 hours of accounting courses mentioned above)

Note that applicants must fulfill all education requirements before applying. Know that SCBA does not grant licenses to applicants in foreign countries. 

Submit the application form to CPA Examination Services (CPAES). Ensure to attach the required fees and documents. Please check the NASBA website to know the complete process. 

Fees

First-time applicants:

Re-exam applicants:

There is no clause for applicants to withdraw from the CPA exam or request a Notice-to-Schedule (NTS) extension. However, they may receive a partial exam fee reimbursement or request an NTS extension under extreme conditions. 

Please note that both application and examination fees are non-refundable. Thus, attempt the applied section(s) within the NTS validity period of six months. 

Required Documents

Let’s view the required documents:

Submit your documents along with the application or separately to CPAES. Know that photocopied transcripts are considered unofficial and hence unacceptable. 

Besides meeting the exam requirements, applicants must also fulfill the following criteria to earn the South Carolina CPA License:

Apply for the license through SCBA. Kindly visit the official website to know the complete process.

Required Documents

Submit the below-mentioned documents to South Carolina State Board:

• Copy of Social Security Card
• Signature Affidavit with 2x2 Passport Type Photo (taken less than six months before the application)
• Certificate(s) of Experience
• Certificate from Professional Ethics Course: The AICPA’s Comprehensive Course
• Interstate Exchange of Examination Form (if applicable)
• Legal Documentation of Name Change (if applicable)
• Notarized Verification of Lawful Presence
• Official transcript(s) from each institute you attended
• Interstate Exchange of Examination Form (if applicable

Fees

Please note that all fees are non-refundable and must be submitted to the state board.

Education Requirements

Candidates must earn 150 semester hours with:

• A bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree at a board-approved, regionally accredited college or university
• Minimum 36 semester hours in accounting courses applicable to bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree, including,
  • Financial Accounting 
  • Managerial Accounting
  • Taxation
  • Auditing

Note that candidates must take 24 out of the 36 hours at the junior level or above it. 

• 36 semester hours of business courses applicable to bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree, including,
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Business Law
  • Management
  • Computer Science
  • Marketing
  • Ethics
  • Statistics
  • Accounting hours (not included in minimum 36 hours of accounting courses)

Please note that 120 of the total 150 semester hours are required to sit for the CPA Exam. Hence, the remaining 30 hours are mandatory for licensure.  

Exam Requirements

Pass all four CPA Exam sections with a minimum of 75 points or better. Further, you must complete the test within the rolling 18-month period. For more information, refer to the South Carolina Exam Requirements section. 

Experience Requirements

Satisfy one of the following requisites under the direct supervision of an active CPA:

• One year of full-time public accounting experience, or
• 2000 hours of part-time accounting experience, or 
• Five years of full-time accounting teaching experience at a regionally authorized institute with,
  • More than 12 semester hours of teaching per year
  • Maximum 2 years of teaching accounting principles courses or fundamental accounting (below intermediate accounting)
  • Remaining 3 years of teaching in courses above accounting principles including,
    • Intermediate Accounting
    • Advanced Accounting
    • Auditing
    • Income tax
    • Financial Accounting
    • Management Accounting
    • Cost accounting

Ensure not to exceed the limit of 40 hours per week. Moreover, submit a separate Certificate of Experience form duly signed by the supervisory CPA(s) to SCBA. 

You may obtain the required experience after fulfilling the exam-sitting requirements. However, if you have over seven years of experience before applying for the license, then six months of experience must be within two years before submitting the application.  

Ethics Requirements

Applicants must pass the Professional Ethics: The AICPA’s Comprehensive Course (For Licensure) with a minimum score of 90% for licensure. Let’s view all the details here. 

Criminal Background Check (CBC)

After submitting the license application, candidates will be informed of a criminal background check as per the South Carolina Code of Laws for Accountancy. Candidates must proceed only on instructions received from the board staff.

To sustain the validity of their license, South Carolina (SC) CPAs must complete 40 CPE credit hours every year. The U.S. jurisdiction accepts CPA CPE credits of programs offered by the National Registry Sponsors. 

Let’s take a look at the below-mentioned table.

CPAs are undoubtedly the need of the hour. Business owners, government agencies, entrepreneurs, and alike require their expertise for professional growth. Attaining all the exam and license requirements mentioned above will assure you a successful career as a CPA in South Carolina. Meanwhile, keep a check on the regular updates through the AICPA, NASBA, and SCBA websites. 

1. South Carolina Board of Accountancy (https://llr.sc.gov/acct/)

Synergy Business Park, Kingstree Building

110 Centerview Dr.

Columbia, South Carolina 29210

(803) 896-4300

2. South Carolina Society of CPAs (https://www.scacpa.org/)

1300 12^th Street, Suite D

Cayce, SC 29033

Phone: 803-791-4181

Fax: 803-791-4196

3. South Carolina Attorney General

Mailing Address

P.O. Box 11549
Columbia, South Carolina 29211

Office Address

Rembert Dennis
1000 Assembly Street, Room 519
Columbia, South Carolina 29201

4. NASBA (https://nasba.org/)

150 Fourth Ave. North

Suite 700

Nashville, TN 37219-2417

Tel: 615-880-4200

Fax: 615-880-4290

5. AICPA (https://www.aicpa.org/)

220 Leigh Farm Road

Durham, NC 27707-8110

Ph: +1.919.402.4500
Fax: +1.919.402.4505

This article is a guide to South Carolina CPA Exam & License Requirements. Here we discuss South Carolina CPA requirements, fees, and CPA licenses. You may also have a look at the below articles to compare CPA with other examinations: -

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