If you are working toward a Florida contractor license, the Business and Finance Examination is one of three required test portions for certified general contractors. It is administered by Pearson VUE for the Florida Construction Industry Licensing Board, it is open book, and it covers the business side of contracting: licensing rules, administration, accounting, human resources, and government regulations. This post explains the format, the rules, and what each content area covers.
One scope note up front: this guide and these posts cover only the Business and Finance portion. The certified general contractor license also requires two companion portions: Contract Administration (60 questions, 4.5 hours) and Project Management (60 questions, 4.5 hours). Everything below describes the Business and Finance portion unless stated otherwise.
The exam at a glance
- 120 questions. Every question counts the same.
- 70 percent to pass. That is 84 correct out of 120.
- 6.5 hours. That works out to about 3 minutes 15 seconds per question.
- Open book. You may bring only the approved references listed below.
- $80 Pearson VUE fee for this portion, plus a $135 registration fee to Professional Testing on every registration.
This is an independent study aid, not affiliated with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), the Construction Industry Licensing Board, or Pearson VUE. Verify every detail against the current DBPR exam references and Pearson VUE candidate information before your test date.
The six content areas
The official outline (Rule 61G4-16.001(22), Florida Administrative Code) divides the 120 questions into six areas. The weights can vary plus or minus 3 percentage points:
Establishing the Contracting Business (11%). Certified versus registered contractors, general contractor scope and subcontracting rules, qualifying agents, the FICO 660 financial-responsibility rule, and application requirements. See the license classifications and license requirements posts for the detail.
Managing Administrative Duties (26%). Fictitious names, annual reports, insurance minimums, workers' compensation as a licensing condition, and the three AIA contract documents. The most tested facts: annual reports are due January 1 through May 1 (not March 1), and general contractors must carry $300,000 public liability and $50,000 property damage insurance.
Managing Trade Operations (10%). The smallest substantive area: subcontracting discipline and the Notice of Commencement. The famous correction: the NOC filing tie-in to inspections is Fla. Stat. section 713.135 (not 713.13), and the trigger is contracts exceeding $2,500 (not $5,000).
Conducting Accounting Functions (32%). The single largest area. Financial statements, the five key ratios, job costing, markup versus margin, percentage-of-completion revenue recognition, and Florida sales tax on contractors. The reference is the Builder's Guide to Accounting (2001). The governing tax principle: on lump-sum real-property contracts, the contractor is the final consumer of materials, pays tax on purchases, and collects no sales tax from the owner.
Managing Human Resources (6%). The smallest area: reemployment tax (Florida's name for unemployment insurance tax, administered by the Department of Revenue, not DEO), the $7,000 taxable wage base, and workers' comp exemption mechanics.
Complying with Government Regulations (15%). The deadline-dense area: the Chapter 713 lien-law deadline matrix, prompt-payment rules on three tracks, 14 hours of biennial continuing education, and discipline and unlicensed-contracting penalties. See the Florida construction lien law post for the full matrix.
Open book: the allowed references
Only approved references corresponding to the examination may be brought, and they must be the listed editions:
- Contractors Manual (2021 edition, including the 2025 Circular E)
- Builder's Guide to Accounting (2001)
- Florida Statutes Chapter 455 (2025)
- AIA A201-2017, A401-2017, and A701-2018
Edition warning: DBPR's February 1, 2026 transition note is understood to refer to a 2025 Contractors Manual edition taking effect that date. Check the current DBPR reference list for your test date and build your tabs in the edition you are actually permitted to bring. The open-book strategy post explains how to turn these books into a lookup system instead of a reading list.
Fees, retakes, and the two four-year clocks
A full first attempt registering for all three portions at once costs $295: the $135 Professional Testing registration fee plus $80 for Business and Finance, $40 for Contract Administration, and $40 for Project Management. A single-portion retake costs $135 plus that portion's fee, because the $135 is per registration, not per retake cycle. Full fee detail is in the license cost post.
You retake only the portions you failed or missed, and CBT retesting is offered every 21 days. Two separate clocks matter: you must pass all required portions within four years of your first attempt, or all scores become invalid (Rule 61G4-16.009); and a passing grade is valid for four years from the date the Board approves the successful-candidates list (Rule 61G4-16.005). Do not merge them into one clock.
What to bring on exam day
- Your tabbed and highlighted approved references, with no writing added during the exam.
- A calculator that is silent, handheld, battery-operated, and nonprinting, with no alphabetic keypad.
- Two forms of valid signature identification, at least one government-issued. Your legal name on the registration must match your ID exactly.
- Book up to one calendar day before the test date; free cancellation or rescheduling requires two full calendar days of notice.
The numbers worth drilling
Open-book exams reward people who know the key figures cold, because every memorized number is a lookup you skip:
- 120 questions, 84 to pass, 390 minutes.
- 32% accounting, 26% administrative duties, 15% government regulations.
- $135 registration per registration; $80/$40/$40 Pearson VUE fees; $295 full first attempt.
- 21 days between retests; 4 years to pass everything; 4 years of passing-grade validity.
- 6% state sales tax; surtax capped above $5,000 per item; combined rates typically 6.5% to 8.5%.
- 45/90/15/1-year/60/5/30/90: the lien-law deadline matrix.
- 660: the FICO threshold; 14 hours: the sub-660 financial-responsibility course.
- 14 hours of CE per biennium; 5% public retainage cap; 60-day qualifier rules.
When you work practice questions, notice how many turn on a single figure. That pattern is the exam.
Try the free practice quiz
Want to see where you stand right now? Take the free 12-question Florida Business and Finance practice quiz, the scored version with email results, so you can see exactly which topics need work. Start the free quiz