Verified November 6, 2026 against the state board. Rules change, so read the board’s current rules before relying on them.
South Carolina Board of Accountancy licenses CPAs in South Carolina. Its rules and forms are the authority for everything on this page.
South Carolina CPAs document 40 hours of CPE for each calendar year, including at least 2 hours of ethics.
Sources: scstatehouse.gov/code/t40c002.php, law.cornell.edu/regulations/south-carolina/R-1-08, nasbaregistry.org/cpe-requirements/south-carolina
South Carolina CPA licenses renew every year. The renewal application, with the CPE report, is due February 1.
Sources: scstatehouse.gov/code/t40c002.php
Act 34 of 2025 (Senate Bill 176), effective June 30, 2025, replaced the single 150-hour route with three education-and-experience routes and set a 36-month window for passing all exam sections.
Sources: scstatehouse.gov/code/t40c002.php, scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/176.htm
South Carolina CPAs document 40 hours of CPE for each calendar year, including at least 2 hours of ethics. At least 2 of the annual 40 hours must relate to ethics (Section 40-2-250(C)(6)). Excess hours, up to 20, carry forward and count as earned in the following year. No carryover is allowed from a year in which CPE was not required, such as the year of initial licensure. No CPE report is due for the year the initial license was obtained. A licensee with a verifiable hardship that prevents compliance can apply to the Board for an accommodation (Regulation 1-08).
The CPE report for the preceding calendar year is filed with the annual renewal due February 1, and licensees keep supporting records for at least five years. No more than 12 hours count in a single day, and nano-learning is capped at 4 hours per year.
South Carolina CPA licenses renew every year. The renewal application, with the CPE report, is due February 1. Annual. February 1. A license not renewed lapses 15 days after the renewal date (Section 40-2-20).
Exam applicants need transcripts showing at least 120 semester hours or a conferred bachelor's degree. Licensure requires a bachelor's degree or higher, at least 24 semester hours of accounting at the junior level or above, and 24 semester hours of non-accounting business courses. 150 hours is no longer required. A bachelor's degree with at least 150 total semester hours is one of the routes, and it pairs with one year of experience.
Bachelor's degree: two years of experience. Graduate degree, or bachelor's with 150 total semester hours: one year. 2,000 hours of part-time work equals one year, accrued no faster than 40 hours a week. Experience can start once the 24 accounting and 24 business hours are complete and the candidate has 120 semester hours or a bachelor's degree. A non-licensee can supervise, but a CPA licensed in any state must verify the experience.
Licensure applicants pass a Board-approved professional ethics examination (Section 40-2-35(A)(4)).
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