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South Carolina CPA Requirements for Exam and Licensing

South Carolina CPA requirementsIn the past, the South Carolina board of accountancy required CPA candidates to have 150 education credit hours to apply for the a CPA license. That is, SC used to follow the so-called “150-hour rule.” However, that rule changed in 2025. So now, CPA candidates only need a bachelor’s degree if they have at least 2 years of experience.

Therefore, here is a summary of the South Carolina CPA license requirements to help you navigate the process.

South Carolina CPA Requirements

1. Education Requirements to Sit for the CPA Exam

  • Fulfill 120 credit hours from a bachelor degree program
  • Accounting courses
    • 24 semester hours
    • Courses may include financial accounting, managerial accounting, taxation, or auditing
  • Business courses:
    • 24 semester hours
    • Courses should not overlap with your accounting courses and should focus on business law, management, marketing, finance, business communications, business ethics, or related subjects approved by the South Carolina board of accountancy

2. Additional South Carolina CPA Requirements to Get the CPA License

Education CPA Requirements in SC

South Carolina now has two paths to become a CPA. However, regardless of which path you choose, you will need the following education credits:

  • 24 hours of upper level (not intro) courses that focus on accounting (financial and managerial), taxation, and audits
  • 24 hours of upper level business classes like business law, econ, computer science, data analytics, management, or marketing

150 credit hour path

  • If you have 150 hours of higher education (basically, a master’s degree or a bachelor’s degree plus additional coursework), you need 1 year of experience

120 credit hour path

  • If you only have a bachelor’s degree (with 120 hours), you can apply for the CPA license, too, as long as you have 2 years of experience

SC CPA Experience Requirements

  • 1 to 2 years of public accounting experienced supervised and verified by an active CPA or by a qualified accountant in another country if you don’t work in the US.
  • Part-time work can be counted to some degree (2000 hours = 1 year).
  • Non-public accounting could also be partially accepted but at the discretion of the board.
  • Experience may be gained either before or after the examination provided all other requirements are met. Experience does not accrue prior to completing the basic 24 hours in accounting.

Ethics Qualifications

3. South Carolina CPA Requirements on Residency & Age

  • US citizenship is not required, but you need either a Green Card and a Lawful Permanent Resident Number or a social security card (that is, a SSN is required).
  • SC residency not required.
  • Minimum age: 18.

4. CPA Exam Fees IN SC

  • Education Evaluation Application Fee: $96.00
  • Exam Section Application Fee: $96.00
  • Exam Section Fee: $262.64 per section

5. Continuing Education Requirement

CPE is needed for license holders. Click here for the South Carolina CPA CPE requirements.

6. Other Useful Information

7. Contact

South Carolina Board of Accountancy
PO Box 11329
Columbia, SC 29211-1329

  • Email: Contact.Accountancy@llr.sc.gov
  • Phone: 803-896-4770
  • Fax: 803-896-4554

What if the South Carolina CPA Requirements Don’t Work for Me?

You may want to check out these pages to learn about the educational and experience requirements, with my recommendation at the end of the posts:

If you have questions, feel free to drop a note in the comment section, or visit my Facebook page.

About the Author Stephanie Ng

I am the author of How to Pass The CPA Exam (published by Wiley), and I also passed all 4 sections of the CPA Exam on my first try. Additionally, I have led webinars, such as for the Institute of Management Accountants, authored featured articles on websites like Going Concern and AccountingWeb, and I'm also the CFO for the charity New Sight. Finally, I have created other accounting certification websites to help mentor non-CPA candidates. I have already mentored thousands of CPA, CMA, CIA, EA, and CFA candidates, and I can help you too!

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