If you searched for news about Florida's CPA licensure overhaul this year, you probably found a headline from January announcing that a bill to modernize accountant licensing had "passed the Senate." That headline is true, and also misleading. The bill never became law. It died in the Florida House on March 13, 2026, without so much as a committee hearing — the second year in a row that a nearly identical bill has failed in Tallahassee.
For out-of-state accountants who serve Florida clients, small businesses trying to hire a CPA, and anyone who read the early coverage and assumed the rules had already changed, here's what actually happened, what the law still says today, and why this keeps failing even though almost nobody in Tallahassee actually opposes it.
What SB 364 and HB 333 Would Have Done
Senate Bill 364, sponsored by Sen. Joe Gruters, and its House companion HB 333, sponsored by Rep. Juan Carlos "J.C." Blanco, were the Florida Institute of CPAs' (FICPA) top legislative priority for the 2026 session. The bill would have rewritten Florida's CPA licensure requirements to add three new pathways alongside the existing one:
- Current path (unchanged): 150 semester hours of college credit, one year of supervised experience, and a passing score on the CPA exam.
- New pathway 1: A master's degree in accounting or finance, one year of experience, and the CPA exam.
- New pathway 2: A bachelor's degree in accounting or finance (120 semester hours — no extra 30 hours required), two years of experience, and the CPA exam.
- New pathway 3: A bachelor's degree in any field with specified accounting and business coursework, two years of experience, and the CPA exam.
The bill also would have codified "automatic" individual-based practice mobility — letting a CPA in good standing from another state serve Florida clients without a separate license, notice, or fee, based on that individual's own credentials rather than a state-to-state "substantial equivalency" determination. And it would have streamlined licensure-by-endorsement for CPAs relocating to Florida.
None of that happened. SB 364 passed the full Senate 35-0 on January 29, 2026, but then sat in messages waiting for a House floor vote that never came. HB 333 never got a single committee hearing before House committees stopped meeting for the session. Both bills died when the Legislature adjourned on March 13.
The Other Story: The Board of Accountancy Almost Didn't Survive Either
The licensure bill's failure wasn't even the closest call of the session for Florida's accounting profession. HB 607, a broader "Industries and Professional Activities" deregulation bill, would have eliminated the Florida Board of Accountancy outright — folding CPA licensing and discipline into a different structure entirely. It cleared its first two committees before FICPA and allied groups mobilized to block it in its final committee stop.
This was the second time in about twelve months that FICPA had to fight off a bill to eliminate the Board. Between defending the Board's existence and pushing the licensure-modernization bill, the Institute spent most of two consecutive legislative sessions playing defense rather than making progress — which is a big part of why the pathways bill kept losing its window before ever reaching a House vote.
Why This Keeps Failing Despite Unanimous Support
The frustrating part, for anyone tracking this, is that SB 364 wasn't controversial. It passed the Senate without a single "no" vote — twice in two years, counting the 2025 predecessor (SB 160), which also stalled in the House after clearing the Senate. The bill had the backing of FICPA, the state's accounting schools, and business groups worried about the pipeline. Nobody testified against expanding pathways to licensure.
What killed it both years wasn't opposition — it was the House calendar. Companion bills that never get scheduled for a hearing simply run out the clock when the session ends, regardless of how much support they have on paper. FICPA's own wrap-up characterized 2026 as "an extremely difficult battle that has lasted the better part of two sessions," and confirmed it will refile for the 2027 session. If you're planning around this legislation, the realistic timeline is: introduced again in early 2027, effective (if it passes both chambers) no earlier than July 2027 or 2028.
What the Law Actually Says in Florida Right Now
Because SB 364 never passed, nothing about Florida CPA licensure or mobility changed on July 1, 2026. The rules that were already on the books remain in effect:
- Licensure still requires 150 semester hours, a conferred bachelor's degree or higher, passage of the CPA exam, and one year of qualifying experience. There is no 120-hour pathway in Florida yet.
- Out-of-state CPAs already have practice privileges under Florida Statute § 473.3141 — but through the older "substantial equivalency" framework, not the individual-based mobility model SB 364 would have added. In practice, this means a CPA licensed in good standing in a state the Florida Board has determined to be substantially equivalent (which covers the large majority of states, since almost all still require 150 hours) can serve Florida clients without a separate Florida license, notice, or fee — by mail, phone, electronically, or in person — as long as they don't open a physical office in the state.
- The catch is on the horizon, not today. As more states adopt 120-hour alternative pathways (see below), CPAs licensed under those newer pathways may eventually run into substantial-equivalency gaps when practicing in states — like Florida, for now — that haven't updated their own statute to match. That's precisely the "individual mobility" fix SB 364 was designed to prevent, and precisely why it matters that it didn't pass.
If you're an out-of-state CPA serving Florida clients today, the safest move is to confirm your license was issued under your home state's traditional 150-hour requirement, or check CPAMobility.org (NASBA's mobility lookup tool) before assuming a newer-pathway license travels seamlessly into Florida.
The Bigger Context: Florida Is Falling Behind, Not Just Standing Still
This isn't a Florida-only story. The CPA pipeline has been shrinking nationally for a decade — the number of candidates sitting for the CPA exam has dropped more than 30% since a 2016 peak, even as the profession faces roughly 124,000 annual job openings against something closer to 55,000 new accounting graduates each year. In response, roughly 25 states have already enacted or are actively rolling out the AICPA/NASBA's newer three-pathway model, including the 120-hour-plus-two-years-experience track that SB 364 would have brought to Florida. Iowa's version took effect January 1, 2026. Rhode Island signed its version into law that same June.
Florida — a state adding residents and small businesses faster than almost anywhere else — is now in the position of watching other states move first. Every session this stalls is another cohort of Florida accounting graduates who could have licensed a year or two sooner under a 120-hour track, and another reason for firms to headquarter licensing-sensitive hiring decisions elsewhere.
A few points of comparison make the gap concrete:
| State | Alternative pathway status | Effective |
|---|---|---|
| Ohio, Minnesota | First movers — 120-hour + experience track enacted | 2023–2024 |
| Iowa | New pathway law, sunsets the old 150-hour-only rule after mid-2030 | January 1, 2026 |
| Rhode Island | Additional pathway signed, practice mobility clause included | June 2026 |
| Florida | SB 364 / HB 333 died in committee, no new pathway | Not enacted |
Roughly two-thirds of states have now either passed or introduced something in this family of reforms. Florida has introduced it two years running and passed it through one chamber both times — it just hasn't cleared the finish line.
What This Means If You Run a Florida Small Business
If you're a small-business owner who read the January headline and assumed hiring an out-of-state accountant just got easier, it didn't — at least not yet. The practical guidance is unchanged from before this session:
- Verify any CPA's license status directly with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation's license lookup, especially if they're relying on out-of-state mobility rather than a Florida license.
- Don't assume "automatic mobility" is in effect. The current rule still runs through substantial equivalency, and the Board can require verification for CPAs licensed under a state it hasn't already approved.
- Watch the 2027 session if you're weighing whether to wait on hiring or relocating an accountant versus acting now — FICPA has already signaled it's refiling.
Where Clean Bookkeeping Fits In
Legislative uncertainty around who can practice as a CPA and under what rules is exactly the kind of thing that's easier to navigate when your own financial records are transparent and portable in the first place. If your books are locked inside one accountant's proprietary software, a licensure gap, a firm transition, or a move across state lines can turn into a real headache — you're stuck waiting on data exports and access handoffs at the worst possible time.
Beancount.io gives you plain-text accounting: your ledger is a version-controlled, human-readable file you own outright, not a black box tied to one vendor or one accountant's login. Whoever you work with next — in Florida or anywhere else — can pick up your books without a migration project. Get started for free and see why developers and finance professionals are switching to plain-text accounting.