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CPA exam and license requirements in South Carolina

South Carolina requires 120 semester credit hours to sit for the CPA exam. Licensure requires 150. Administered under the South Carolina Board of Accountancy. Last reviewed 2026-08-19.

Credit hours to sit
120
Credit hours to license
150
Exam fee per section
$262.64
Exam credit window
36 months
Notice to Schedule valid
6 months from issue
Transferring scores out
Through NASBA, free
State ethics requirement
See below

How many credit hours do you need to sit for the CPA exam in South Carolina?

South Carolina requires 120 semester credit hours to sit for the CPA exam. Candidates in South Carolina sit under the rules of the South Carolina Board of Accountancy.

How many credit hours do you need for a CPA license in South Carolina?

South Carolina requires 150 semester credit hours for CPA licensure. That is 30 more than the 120 needed to sit, so candidates can begin testing before completing the licensure requirement.

How much does the CPA exam cost in South Carolina?

The CPA exam in South Carolina costs $262.64 per section, a $96 application fee, a $96 education evaluation fee. Four sections at $262.64 is $1,050.56 in section fees alone. These are South Carolina board and NASBA fees and exclude review course costs and any re-take fees.

How long do you have to pass all four CPA exam sections in South Carolina?

South Carolina gives candidates a 36-month window to pass all four CPA exam sections. The clock starts when the first section is passed.

How long is your Notice to Schedule valid in South Carolina?

South Carolina gives you 6 months from the date your Notice to Schedule is issued to sit the section it covers. If it expires you forfeit the fees already paid for that section and must reapply.

From the Validation Periods map in the NASBA Candidate Guide, edition 2026-07-16. That is NASBA's summary of the board's rule rather than a reading of the board itself, so confirm it with the South Carolina Board of Accountancy before planning around it.

Can you appeal a failed CPA exam score in South Carolina?

South Carolina offers a score appeal. An appeal lets you view the multiple-choice questions or simulations you answered incorrectly and submit comments on them, under supervision, and it requires a formal request, board approval, a fee and a deadline that runs from the date your score was reported. A score review is separate and is available everywhere: it re-checks that the approved answer key was applied correctly to your responses, and it is not a way to have an alternative answer considered.

Appeal availability is listed in the NASBA Candidate Guide, edition 2026-07-16. See also what happens on test day.

How do you transfer CPA exam scores out of South Carolina?

Through NASBA, at no charge. South Carolina is one of the 36 jurisdictions NASBA is authorized to transfer scores out of, so the request goes to NASBA's own service rather than to the South Carolina Board of Accountancy. Transferring INTO a jurisdiction is never the constraint, because every jurisdiction accepts an incoming transfer. The one you are leaving is what decides the route.

Route read from NASBA's transfer service and cross-checked against NASBA's Interstate Authorization Fee Schedule, 2026-09-20, and every route claim was handed to a pass instructed to refute it. How exam credit moves between jurisdictions sets out the whole picture, including what moving does to your credit window.

Do your CPA exam credits expire after you pass all four sections in South Carolina?

No deadline that costs you exam credit, but South Carolina does have a clock worth knowing, and it is not the same thing. 3 years, then 120 hours of CPE (S.C. Regs. 1-01(C)). Missing it costs you extra work before the license is issued, not the sections you have already passed.

Researched against South Carolina's own statutes and administrative rules on 2026-09-20, not against the board FAQ alone. What happens to CPA exam credit after you pass all four sets out all 55 jurisdictions and the clocks that are mistaken for deadlines.

Does South Carolina require a CPA ethics exam?

South Carolina: Pass the AICPA Professional Ethics course/exam with the passing score designated by the Board (90).

What work experience is required for a CPA license in South Carolina?

South Carolina requires two years for the bachelor's pathway or one year for the master's/150-hour pathway, in accounting, attest, tax, advisory, or consulting, verified by a CPA.

Who regulates CPAs in South Carolina?

CPAs in South Carolina are regulated by the South Carolina Board of Accountancy. Its published requirements are at https://llr.sc.gov/acct/.

Can you become a CPA in South Carolina without 150 credit hours?

Yes. South Carolina has an alternative route to CPA licensure that does not require 150 semester hours, and it has been in force since 2025-06-30. The traditional 150-hour route remains available alongside it. The change came through S. 176, Act 34 of 2025.

What the alternative route requires: Baccalaureate degree or higher from an accredited institution with at least 24 semester credit hours of junior level or above accounting courses and 24 semester hours of business courses, two years of relevant professional experience, and passage of the CPA Exam.

Worth knowingApplicants with a post baccalaureate degree, or a baccalaureate degree with at least 150 total semester hours, still qualify with one year of experience under Section 40-2-35(G)(1)(b), and that route has no sunset. The same act extended the CPA Exam credit window from 18 months to 36 months. Some secondary write ups describe the two year requirement as 2,000 hours; the statute expresses it in years, not hours, so the hour figure should not be quoted as statutory.

South Carolina General Assembly, Bill 176 (Act 34 of 2025): https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/176.htm. Verified 2026-08-19, and independently re-checked against the cited source.

Recent changes and notes for South Carolina

Jurisdictions that changed around the same time as South Carolina

South Carolina's alternative route started on 30 June 2025. These started closest to it, which is the comparison that matters if you are choosing where to apply or holding a license in more than one.

The full picture, with every statute and the jurisdictions where the published trackers are behind, is on the 150-hour rule tracker.

Studying for the CPA exam

PocketCPA covers all six CPA exam sections with 11,896 questions, each cited to the specific standard or statute it tests, and 1,071 lesson pages written from primary source text. A nine-item sample of every section is open with no account, and a full-length FAR mock exam is free with one.

Source: https://nasba.org/exams/cpaexam/south-carolina/. Requirements change; confirm with the South Carolina Board of Accountancy before applying.