South Carolina CPA requirements
South Carolina no longer ties licensure to a fixed 150-hour credit total. You can become a fully licensed CPA with just a bachelor’s degree (about 120 hours) plus 2 years of supervised experience, or take the traditional route with a graduate degree and a shorter 1 year of experience instead.
Education
South Carolina no longer ties licensure to a fixed credit-hour total. You need a bachelor’s degree or higher (about 120 semester hours) with the required accounting and business coursework to sit for the exam, and that same degree qualifies you for full licensure once you’ve completed the matching experience requirement below — no extra 30 hours required.
| Requirement | South Carolina | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Total semester hours to sit | 120 | Bachelor’s degree with required coursework |
| Upper-level accounting | 24 hours of accounting coursework at the junior level or above | |
| Upper-level business | 24 hours of business coursework outside of accounting | |
| Degree level | Bachelor’s minimum | Regionally accredited institution |
Community college credits generally count toward the total but not toward the upper-level accounting requirement. Get a transcript evaluation from the board before you pay for extra coursework.
Foreign-educated candidates
Foreign-educated candidates need their transcripts evaluated by NASBA International Evaluation Services or another accepted agency to convert foreign credentials into US semester-hour equivalents.
Sitting versus licensing
South Carolina is one of a small but growing group of states that has eliminated the flat 150-hour licensure rule entirely. There are now two ways to get fully licensed: a bachelor’s degree plus 2 years of supervised experience, or a graduate degree plus a shorter 1 year of experience. Neither route requires you to rack up 30 “extra” credit hours that don’t count toward a degree.
Plan the extra hours into your degree rather than bolting them on afterwards. A fifth-year master's or an integrated program is almost always cheaper than taking individual courses later, and it keeps you eligible for student course pricing.
Experience
2 years of relevant experience with just a bachelor’s degree, or 1 year with a master’s degree or 150 total semester hours. Qualifying work spans accounting, attestation, compilation, management advisory, financial advisory, tax, or consulting, and must be verified by a CPA licensed in any US state — day-to-day supervision doesn’t have to come from a CPA.
The experience can typically be earned before, during, or after you pass the exam sections. Your supervisor submits the verification directly to the board, so keep the relationship intact — chasing a signature from a former manager years later is the most common avoidable delay at this stage.
Ethics
You need to pass the AICPA’s “Professional Ethics: Comprehensive Course” with a 90% or better score. This is a one-time requirement for initial licensure, separate from ongoing ethics CPE.
How to apply, step by step
The order matters less than it looks — experience and exam sections can overlap — but this is the sequence that avoids the most common delays.
At least 120 semester hours, including the required upper-level coursework, to sit.
Have your school send official transcripts directly to South Carolina Board of Accountancy. Unofficial or self-submitted transcripts are not accepted.
Filed with South Carolina Board of Accountancy along with the application fee. This is the board's first review of your eligibility.
Once the board approves your application, it notifies NASBA, which issues your Authorization to Test (ATT).
NASBA issues one NTS per section you've paid for. Schedule promptly — an expired NTS means paying the exam fee again.
Schedule at a Prometric test center. All four sections must be passed within a rolling 30-month window that starts when you pass your first section.
2 years of relevant experience with just a bachelor's degree, or 1 year with a master's degree or 150 total semester hours. Qualifying work spans accounting, attestation, compilation, management advisory, financial advisory, tax, or consulting, and must be verified by a CPA licensed in any US state — day-to-day supervision doesn't have to come from a CPA. This can run before, during, or after your exam sections.
You need to pass the AICPA's "Professional Ethics: Comprehensive Course" with a 90% or better score. This is a one-time requirement for initial licensure, separate from ongoing ethics CPE.
With your experience verification and ethics requirement on file, submit the final application and initial license fee.
Fees
| Fee | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| Application | $165 (combined application and licensing fee) | Before anything else |
| Exam fee, per section | $268.59 | Paid to NASBA (national rate) |
| Initial license | Included in the $165 combined application fee | On approval |
| Renewal | $95 annually | Ongoing |
After you’re licensed: staying current
Getting licensed is not the end of the paperwork. South Carolina requires ongoing continuing professional education to keep your license active, and it is easy to lose track of once you’re working full time.
40 hours of CPE every year (an annual, not biennial, cycle), with at least 2 hours of ethics each year.
What changed recently
Act 34 of 2025, effective June 30, 2025, replaced South Carolina’s fixed 150-hour licensure rule with a tiered model: a bachelor’s degree plus 2 years of experience, or a master’s degree (or 150 total hours) plus 1 year. The same law extended the exam completion window from 18 to 36 months, broadened qualifying coursework to include data analytics and information systems, and broadened qualifying experience settings beyond public accounting.
Most states have also aligned their credit window with the national thirty-month rule, which gives candidates six more months than the old eighteen-month window to finish all four sections. If you were planning around the old rule, replan.
Common questions
Can I sit in South Carolina if I studied out of state?
Usually yes — most states, including South Carolina, don’t require residency to sit for the exam. Your transcripts still have to satisfy the upper-level accounting and business hours, which is where out-of-state applicants most often fall short.
Do online courses count toward the credit hours?
They typically do, provided the institution is accredited and the course is genuinely upper-level. Get it confirmed in writing by the board before enrolling — this is one of the most expensive assumptions candidates make.
Do I need to be a US citizen or a resident of South Carolina?
No South Carolina residency or US citizenship requirement to sit for the exam or be licensed.
What happens right after I pass all four sections?
Passing the exam doesn’t license you on its own. You still need your experience requirement on file and the ethics requirement satisfied before you can submit a license application. You may be able to complete the experience requirement in parallel with the exam, so there’s often little or no extra wait.
Should I license in a state with easier rules instead?
Rarely worth it. Mobility means a license from another state generally lets you practice in South Carolina, but if you live and work here you will eventually want a local license anyway, and transferring adds cost and paperwork.
Is there anything unusual about South Carolina's process?
South Carolina renews licenses and reports CPE annually rather than every two years — a 40-hour-per-year cycle instead of the more common 80-hours-per-2-years. It also allows experience to be verified by a CPA licensed in any state, not just South Carolina, and its 36-month exam window is unusually generous.
Next step
South Carolina Board of Accountancy — 110 Centerview Drive, Columbia, SC 29210 — (803) 896-4770.
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