South Carolina

Eligibility for Examination

As a first-time applicant, you must:

• Have a Social Security Number or have a Lawful Permanent Resident Number (Green Card) assigned to you prior to submitting an application; AND
• Meet the following:
  • have attended an accredited college or university approved by the United States Department of Education; AND
  • have completed a minimum of 120 semester hours credit, which must include:
    • at least 24 semester hours of accounting in courses that are applicable to a baccalaureate, master’s, or doctoral, including a minimum of 6 semester hours at the undergraduate level or three semester credit hours at the graduate level of principles or introductory accounting.
    • at least 24 semester hours of business courses that are applicable to a baccalaureate, master’s, or doctoral degree and that cover some or all of the following subject matter content:
      • business law,
      • economics,
      • management,
      • marketing,
      • finance,
      • business communications,
      • statistics,
      • quantitative methods,
      • data analytics,
      • data interrogation techniques,
      • business data acumen,
      • information systems or technology,
      • business ethics,
      • other areas approved by the board.
• Note: Licensure education requirements are different than for the examination. See the board’s website for additional information regarding the licensure education requirements.
• All educational documents, including educational transcripts and foreign evaluations with foreign transcripts, are required to be submitted to CPA Examination Services. You may submit these documents separately or included with the first-time application. All education requirements must be met at the time of application.

Transcripts

If you who have completed the educational requirement at the time of application:

• You must submit an official transcript from each school you attended, including a transcript from any school whose credits appear on another transcript as transferred credit. Transfer credits that appear on another transcript are not acceptable; you must submit a transcript from each institution.
• Official transcripts are those that have been issued by the institution’s Registrar’s Office and include the Registrar’s official seal.
• The degree you have earned must be posted on your official transcript.
• Transcripts may be submitted electronically provided they are official. Some schools do not offer this service. Contact your Registrar’s office for additional information. If an email address is required for electronic delivery, use [email protected]. Electronically delivered transcripts must be submitted directly from the institution(s).
• Photocopies of transcripts are not official and cannot be accepted.
• Please Note: If you have not yet applied when you submit your transcripts, your education documents will be kept on file for one year. After that time, the documents will be destroyed, and you will need to resubmit new education documents when you apply.
• If you completed courses at a campus located outside the U.S. for a school located in the U.S., the official transcript must be issued by the registrar from the U.S. campus. Transcripts issued by the registrar for the campus located outside the U.S. will not be accepted.

If you have completed educational requirements at institutions outside the U.S., you must:

• Have your educational credentials evaluated by NASBA International Evaluation Services.
• Require the agency to evaluate as follows:
  • An equivalency summary that indicates the analogous academic degrees in the U.S. you hold;
  • A credential analysis that specifies:
    • The name of the country;
    • The degree awarded;
    • The year the degree was awarded; and
    • The entity that awarded the degree;
  • A course-by-course listing; and
  • A course credit analysis that includes:
    • Total credits earned toward the degree as stated on transcripts submitted;
    • Total accounting credits earned; and
    • Total business credits earned.
• Completed original evaluations must be received by CPAES directly from the evaluation service at the time of application. Photocopies are not acceptable.
• A copy of the international transcript must be included with the report sent to NASBA for each individual evaluation from the evaluation service. The application will be considered incomplete without these documents and the processing of the application will not move forward until transcripts are provided.
• Please Note: If you have not yet applied, education documents received will be kept on file for one year. After that time, these documents will be destroyed, and you will need to resubmit new education documents at the time of application.
• If you completed courses at a campus located outside the U.S. for a school located in the U.S., the official transcript must be issued by the registrar from the U.S. campus. Transcripts issued by the registrar for the campus located outside the U.S. will not be accepted.
• Education requirements must be met through academic coursework completed at an accredited institution. Professional training is not acceptable toward these requirements. Coursework completed as part of a Chartered Accountant or similar program is considered professional training and is, therefore, not accepted toward the education requirements for the U.S. Uniform CPA Examination.

Course Requirements

• Commercial CPA review courses are not acceptable.
• Correspondence and online courses are acceptable when you receive credit for the courses at a regionally accredited university. These courses must appear on an official transcript.
• CPA Review Courses and/or commercial review courses are not acceptable.
• Course descriptions of all accounting and business courses taken at academic institutions outside South Carolina not clearly identified by titles, are required.

Residency

You are not required to be a resident of South Carolina in order to qualify for South Carolina candidacy.

The South Carolina Board allows candidates to test outside the United States, but to be eligible to take the exam as a candidate of South Carolina, you must have either a Social Security Number or Resident Alien Number. Also, the Board does not license people in foreign countries.

1. An official transcript from each school listed on your application. Transcripts must be sent directly from your school to CPA Examination Services.
2. International Evaluation with foreign transcripts, if applicable. Submission by you or evaluation agency to CPAES. Please submit a copy of your international transcript translated into English in a sealed envelope, along with your international evaluation report.
3. Notarization Form. Submission by you to CPAES.
4. Testing Accommodations Request Form, if applicable. Submission by you to CPAES.

Please allow up to four to six weeks from your file completion date (when application, fees and all additional required materials have been received) for your application to be processed. Acknowledgment of receipt of application will be sent to you via email, unless otherwise indicated. This notice is sent only as acknowledgment of receipt of application.

Applicants with Disabilities

In accordance with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, examination administration accommodations are available, should you qualify. Please download the Testing Accommodations Request Form for more information.

Education Evaluation Application

Before you can apply for an exam section you must first be deemed eligible for the CPA Exam. Your Evaluation Application will determine if you meet the educational requirements needed to take the CPA Exam for your selected jurisdiction.

Education Evaluation Application Fee: $143.00

Exam Section Application

Once you have been found eligible for the CPA Exam you may then apply for a specific exam section. You can only apply for one exam section per application. You are advised to only apply for the exam section if you are ready to take it. Your Notice to Schedule will be valid for a limited amount of time, and you must take the exam section listed on the NTS within this time frame or you will lose those fees paid.

Exam Section Application Fee: $355.64

Refund Policy

There is no provision for withdrawing from the examination and/or requesting an extension of your current Notices to Schedule (NTS). Application and/or examination fees are not refundable. If you have an extreme circumstance, you may request an NTS extension or a partial refund of your examination fees under specific circumstances utilizing the Exception to Policy Form.

You may take the required test sections individually and in any order, but are required to pass all four sections of the examination within a rolling 18 month period, which begins on the date the first examination section passed was taken.

Credit for any section passed shall be valid for 18 months from the actual date the examination sections were taken. Examination credit expires by section. You will lose credit for each section passed outside the 18 month period, and will have to retake those sections.

Requirements to be Licensed as a CPA

Complete details of required experience may be obtained by visiting the South Carolina Board of Accountancy website.