(A) The board shall grant a license to practice as a certified public accountant to persons who make application and demonstrate:

(1) at least one hundred fifty semester hours of college education, including a baccalaureate or higher degree conferred by a college or university acceptable to the board, with the total educational program including an accounting concentration or equivalent; and

(2) a passing score on a standardized test of accounting knowledge, skills, and abilities approved by the board and comparable to the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination prepared by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants; and

(3) a passing score on an examination in professional ethics as approved by the board and an affidavit by the candidate acknowledging that he or she has read the statute and regulations governing the practice of accountancy in South Carolina and subscribes both to the spirit and letter of the statute and regulations and agrees to observe them faithfully in the performance of his or her professional work; and

(4) appropriate experience, which may include:

(a) at least one year of accounting experience satisfactory to the board in public, governmental, or private employment under the direct supervision and review of a certified public accountant or public accountant licensed to practice accounting in some state or territory of the United States or the District of Columbia; or

(b) at least five years' experience teaching accounting in a college or university recognized by the board; or

(c) any combination of experience determined by the board to be substantially equivalent to the foregoing; and

(5) evidence of good moral character, which means lack of a history of dishonest or felonious acts.

(B)(1) In addition to other requirements established by law and for the purpose of determining an applicant's eligibility for licensure to practice as a certified public accountant, the board may require a state criminal records check, including fingerprints, performed by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, and a national criminal records check, including fingerprints, performed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The results of these criminal records checks must be reported to the board. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is authorized to retain the fingerprints for certification purposes and for notification of the board regarding criminal charges. The board shall keep information received pursuant to this section confidential, except that information relied upon in denying licensure may be disclosed as may be necessary to support the administrative action.

(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the dismissal of a prosecution of fraudulent intent in drawing a dishonored check by reason of want of prosecution or proof of payment of restitution and administrative costs must not be used as evidence of a lack of good moral character for the purposes of disqualifying a person seeking licensure or renewal of licensure pursuant to this chapter.

(3) The applicant must bear all costs associated with conducting criminal records checks.

(C) To meet the educational requirement as part of the one hundred fifty semester hours of education, the applicant must demonstrate successful completion of:

(1) at least thirty-six semester hours of accounting in courses that are applicable to a baccalaureate, masters, or doctoral degree and which cover financial accounting, managerial accounting, taxation, and auditing, of which at least twenty-four semester hours must be taught at the junior level or above; and

(2) at least thirty-six semester hours of business courses that are applicable to a baccalaureate, masters, or doctoral degree and which may include macro and micro economics, finance, business law, management, computer science, marketing, and accounting hours not counted in item (1).

(D) The board shall accept a transcript from a college or university accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools or another regional accrediting association having the equivalent standards or an independent senior college in South Carolina certified by the State Department of Education for teacher training, and accounting and business programs accredited by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) or any other accrediting agency having equivalent standards. Official transcripts signed by the college or university registrar and bearing the college or university seal must be submitted to demonstrate education and degree requirements. Photocopies of transcripts must not be accepted.

(E) An applicant may apply for examination by submitting forms approved by the board. In order for an application to be considered a completed application, all blanks and questions on the application form must be completed and answered and all applicable documentation must be attached and:

(1) the application must be accompanied by the submission of photo identification, fingerprints, or other identification information as considered necessary to ensure the integrity of the exam administration;

(2) application fees must accompany the application. Fees for the administration of the examination must recover all costs for examination administration. The fees required for each examination must be published to applicants on the application form. If a check in payment of examination fees fails to clear the bank, the application is considered incomplete and the application must be returned to the candidate;

(3) the applicant must have on record with the board official transcripts from a college or university approved by the board demonstrating successful completion of one hundred twenty semester hours credit, including:

(a) at least twenty-four semester hours of accounting in courses that are applicable to a baccalaureate, masters, or doctoral degree and which cover financial accounting, managerial accounting, taxation, and auditing; and

(b) at least twenty-four semester hours of business courses that are applicable to a baccalaureate, masters, or doctoral degree and which may include macro and micro economics, finance, business law, management, computer science, marketing, and accounting hours not counted in subitem (a).

(F) A candidate must pass all sections of the examination provided for in subsection (A)(2) in order to qualify for a certificate.

(1) A candidate may take the required test sections individually and in any order. Credit for any test section passed is valid for eighteen months from the actual date the candidate took that test section, without having to attain a minimum score on any failed test section and without regard to whether the candidate has taken other test sections.

(a) A candidate must pass all four test sections of the Uniform CPA Examination within a rolling eighteen-month period, which begins on the date that the first test section is passed. The board by regulation may provide additional time to an applicant on active military service. The board also may accommodate any hardship which results from the conditions of administration of the examination.

(b) A candidate cannot retake a failed test section in the same examination window. An examination window refers to a three-month period in which candidates have an opportunity to take the CPA examination. If all four test sections of the Uniform CPA Examination are not passed within the rolling eighteen-month period, credit for any test section passed outside the eighteen-month period expires and that test section must be retaken.

(c) A candidate who applies for a license more than three years after the date upon which the candidate passed the last section of the Uniform CPA Examination must document one hundred twenty hours of acceptable continuing professional education in order to qualify, in addition to all other requirements imposed by this section.

(2) A candidate may arrange to have credits for passing sections of the examination under the jurisdiction of another state or territory of the United States transferred to this State. Credits transferred for less than all sections of the examination are subject to the same conditional credit rules as if the examination had been taken in South Carolina.

(G) An applicant may demonstrate experience as follows:

(1) Experience may be gained in either full-time or part-time employment. Two thousand hours of part-time accounting experience is equivalent to one year. Experience may not accrue more rapidly than forty hours per week.

(2) The five years of teaching experience provided for in subsection (A)(4)(b) consists of five years of full-time teaching of accounting courses at a college or university accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools or another regional accrediting association having equivalent standards or an independent senior college in South Carolina certified by the State Department of Education for teacher training.

(a) In order for teaching experience to qualify as full-time teaching, the applicant must have been employed on a full-time basis as defined by the educational institution where the experience was obtained; however, teaching fewer than twelve hours per semester, or the equivalent in quarter hours, must not be considered as full-time teaching experience.

(b) Experience credit for teaching on a part-time basis qualifies on a pro rata basis based upon the number of semester hours required for full-time teaching at the educational institution where the teaching experience was obtained.

(c) Teaching experience may not accrue more rapidly than elapsed chronological time.

(d) An applicant must not be granted credit for full-time teaching completed in less than one academic year.

(e) An applicant must not be granted more than one full-time teaching year credit for teaching completed within one calendar year.

(f) Teaching experience must not be granted for teaching subjects outside the field of accounting. Subjects considered to be outside the field of accounting include, but are not limited to, business law, finance, computer applications, personnel management, economics, and statistics.

(g) Of the five years of full-time teaching experience, credit for teaching accounting principles courses or fundamental accounting (below intermediate accounting) may not exceed two full-time teaching years and the remaining three full-time teaching years' experience must be obtained in teaching courses above accounting principles.

(h) Accounting courses considered to be above accounting principles include, but are not limited to, intermediate accounting, advanced accounting, auditing, income tax, financial accounting, management accounting, and cost accounting.

(i) Experience other than public accounting experience counts only in proportion to duties which, in the opinion of the board, contribute to competence in public accounting.

(j) The board may require other information as it considers necessary to determine the acceptability of experience including, but not limited to, review of work papers and other work products, review of time records, and interviews with applicants and supervisors.

(3) For purposes of this subsection, "experience" shall have the same meaning as "appropriate experience" in subsection (A)(4); however, if the applicant obtained the experience seven or more years before submitting an application, the applicant shall have obtained an additional six months of experience within two years before submitting the application.

HISTORY: 2004 Act No. 289, Section 1; 2008 Act No. 351, Section 4; 2015 Act No. 51 (S.301), Section 4, eff June 3, 2015; 2019 Act No. 68 (H.3785), Section 3, eff May 16, 2019.

Effect of Amendment

2015 Act No. 51, Section 4, added (B) and redesignated former (C) through (F) accordingly; in (e)(3)(b), substituted "subitem (a)" for "item (a)"; in (F), substituted "subsection (a)(2)" for "Section 40-2-35(A)"; added (F)(1)(c); in (G)(2), substituted "subsection (A)(4)(b)" for "Section 40-2-35(A)(4)(b)"; in (G)(2)(a), substituted "teaching fewer than twelve hours per semester" for "teaching less than twelve semester hours per year"; and added (G)(3).

2019 Act No. 68, Section 3, in (F)(1), substituted "A candidate" for "Upon the implementation of a computer-based examination, a candidate".