South Carolina CPA License

In this article, you will find a step-by-step guide that will help you to get your CPA license in South Carolina.

Are all accountants CPAs in South Carolina?

All the CPAs are accountants, but not all accountants are CPAs. Both can do accounting, but only the CPA can file reports with the SEC. Before you can be a CPA you need to be an accountant.

Step 1. Complete Your Education

a. Find and contact the institutions in South Carolina that offer accounting programs, in order to get information.

b. Make sure that your program is approved by the South Carolina State Board of Accountancy. All the programs in South Carolina need to have accreditation from an agency that is approved by the U.S. Department of Education.

In addition, your degrees must be reviewed by a member body of the National NASBA International Evaluation Services. If you graduated from an international school. Request the assessment from the department directly.

c. Enroll in courses that can get you college credit. A bachelor’s degree and the following courses must be included in your 150-semester hours of college credit:

• 36 semester hours of accounting courses, with 24 semester hours of the total being at the junior level or above
• 36 semester hours of business courses

Step 2. Pass The Uniform CPA Exam

In South Carolina, you can pass the exam once you have 120 education hours, 24 hours of accounting, 24 semester hours of business, and a bachelor’s degree.

a. You can do the registration online via CPA Examination Services (CPAES). After, send the application and required documents by mail.

b. With your Uniform CPA Exam with your application, you also need to provide the following documents:

• Request your education institution to send your transcript directly to the CPAES at CPA Examination Services. If your program has electronic transcripts, you can email [email protected]
• Any prerequisites for disability testing contact CPAES
• Fee for application and exam

c. Once the Board gets your application, required documents, and fees, they will be forwarded to the Authorization to Test (ATT) to the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA), and then you will get your Notification to Schedule (NTS).

d. You can make an appointment for an exam on Prometric’s website

e. On exam day, be on schedule and prepared to take the test at your exam place

f. You will get your Uniform CPA Exam result note by mail after they will be tabulated

Step 3. Get The Necessary Experience.

Once you pass the Uniform CPA Exam, the next step is to complete South Carolina’s practical work experience to get your South Carolina CPA license.

• Complete the Home Study Course on Professional Ethics offered by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) must first be passed with a score of 90 percent or higher and provide the certificate
• According to the Board’s law, before you can meet the experience requirement, you have to complete a minimum of 24 semester hours of the 36-semester hours of accounting classes. Without it, you are not eligible to satisfy this requirement. Your education institution should help you find the right experience
• If the verifying CPA has a license from another state, give them the Out-of-State Employer’s Licensure Verification to complete and send it to the licensing agency
• Provide the full-field Certificate of Experience form after you have completed a year of experience

Step 4. Get Your North Carolina CPA License.

So, if you’ve passed the exam and have got the work experience, then it is time to get your license to work as a CPA. Double-check to make sure that you have done everything and are completely ready. Here is the list of South Carolina CPA license requirements.

• Have a bachelor’s degree and 150 education hours
• Pass the Uniform CPA Examination
• Send official college transcripts to the South Carolina Board of Accountancy
• Take the AICPA Professional Ethics class
• Complete, experience for one year of accountancy or five years of experience teaching accounting
• Fill in the Certification of Experience form, ask your verifying CPA to sign it, and send it to the Board

You can apply for a South Carolina CPA License through the Licensing Application after the Exam. Next, send your application and all the documents by mail.

Interstate Reciprocal License

If you have a license from another state but want to work as a CPA in South Carolina, you need to do some steps:

• Hold a license from a state that NASBA considers to have significantly similar specifications to those in South Carolina
• Over the last ten years have a minimum of four years of advanced CPA experience in another jurisdiction
• Complete 80 hours of continuing professional education (CPE) within the last 2 years
• Complete the Authorization for Interstate Exchange of Exam and License Information form
• Fill in the South Carolina Reciprocity Application

5. Stay Current Through Continuing Professional Education in South Carolina

In order to keep your CPA certificate in South Carolina, you need to meet the state’s continuing professional education (CPE) requirements.

• Every year complete 40 hours of CPE
• Select program from CPE from NASBA’s National Registry of CPE Sponsors
• Keep all the documents and certificates that you will get
• Report your CPE hours every year at the certificate renewal time