The Florida Board of Accountancy

A division within Florida's Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), the division focuses on the regulation of Certified Public Accountants (CPAs). The Division processes applications for examination and licensure to become a CPA. It also processes applications for reactivation of a CPA license, temporary permit applications and continuing education reporting forms. In addition it provides administrative support to the Board of Accountancy. The Board consists of nine members. Seven members of the Board are CPAs and two of the members are Consumer Members. The Board meets approximately ten times a year at various locations throughout the state. Meetings are open to the public.  

Minority Scholarships

To encourage students to remain in school for the fifth year required to sit for the CPA exam, a fifth-year minority scholarship program has been established. $100,000 per year has been set aside for scholarships. Requirements for the program include financial need; ethnic, gender, racial minority status; scholastic ability and performance (including the intention of sitting for the CPA exam); attainment of 120 credit hours and Florida residency. The deadline for submission of applications is May 1^st. Scholarships of $3,000 per semester are awarded for a maximum of two semesters if requirements are met and money is available. An application form may be obtained from our website, or the Florida Board of Accountancy 240 NW 76th Drive, Suite A,Gainesville FL 32607      

Address Changes

To change your address of record you can go to http://www.myflorida.com/ online or, you can submit a written request to the Board. This request should include your name, CPA license number, old address and new address. We will accept address changes via mail or fax Written confirmation will be sent out once we have updated the address. If you do not receive a written confirmation of the address change, please notify us again.

Complaints Against a Florida CPA

To file a complaint against a Florida CPA, you may print a Uniform Complaint Form from our Forms On-Line Section using Adobe Acrobat Reader software and mail it to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation at the address shown on the top of the form.

Interpretations/Opinions

Procedures for Requesting Opinions from the Board of Accountancy

It is the practice of the Board of Accountancy to issue opinions or interpretations of Chapter 473, F.S., and 61H1, F.A.C. whenever deemed appropriate. The Board will only respond to CPAs or their authorized representatives.

All requests for opinions must be submitted in writing and contain the following information:

• A complete statement of situation which must be hypothetical. The Board cannot respond to requests regarding actual circumstances. If the request pertains to only a small portion of a large transaction which would impact the situation presented, the entire transaction should be submitted.
• The request must contain : (1)specific questions relating to the situation presented (2) Citations to and discussion of the pertinent laws and rules(3) Conclusions drawn for each question asked, based on the laws and rules.
• The Board will not respond to requests relating to rule 61H1-26.001 (3) relating to shared office space.

The request will be placed on the agenda for the Board's next regularly scheduled meeting. You will be advised of their response approximately one week after the meeting. All responses will be based solely on the facts presented and cannot be considered opinions of general applicability.

All requests for opinions and the responses thereto are public record and will be disseminated upon request.

All opinions given by staff are not binding on the Board. Only written responses which have been acted on by the Board are official opinions of the Board.

Click here to read Opinion Letters.

Links - Electronic bridges to help you visit home pages of other agencies of interest to consumers.

The Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) uses links to other web sites in an effort to assist users in locating information on topics that might be of interest to them. Whenever you click on any of the links shown below on this page, you are leaving DBPR's home page and entering an external site. DBPR cannot attest to the accuracy of information provided by linked sites. Linking to a web site does not constitute an endorsement by DBPR or any of its employees of the sponsors of the site or the products/information presented on the site. 

Selecting A Certified Public Accountant

A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is a person who has met the requirements of Florida state laws and has been issued a license to practice public accounting by the Florida Board of Accountancy.

Only persons who are licensed can legally call themselves a Certified Public Accountant.  As practitioners, CPA's provide accounting, auditing, tax, financial planning and management consulting services.

When you choose a CPA we have the following suggestions you may find helpful:

• Check the license status from our Web License Search (see Obtaining Information About a Florida Licensee) or call the Customer Contact Center at (850) 487-1395.
• Specifically, make sure the license is current, and whether there have been any disciplinary actions against the licensee.
• Check to see if the licensee has an active license and how long he or she has been licensed
• Interview the prospective CPA either by telephone or in person.  A common inquiry is "what type of accounting work do you typically perform?" Compare the CPA's experience to your service needs.
• Ask about the office hours of the CPA; determine whether the office is open year round; inquire if the CPA is available to take telephone inquiries.

It is important to make certain before any work is done by the CPA that you receive an engagement letter detailing the work to be performed for you, who will specifically be performing the work, and cost of the services.

Florida Board of Accountancy Staff Directory

If you can't find the information that you need listed on the Internet, please call the contact person indicated below: (850) 487-1395