Florida Business and Finance Exam (Construction Contractors) Practice Exam
Free Practice Exam
Test your knowledge with 10 questions from our pool of 20 free questions.
- 10 questions per attempt
- 30 minute time limit
- Unlimited attempts
- A new mix each time
- Instant results
Full Practice Exam
Complete exam simulation matching the real Pearson VUE test format.
- 120 questions (same as real exam)
- 390 minute time limit
- 6 topic areas covered
- 662 questions in pool
- Detailed explanations
Florida Business and Finance Exam (Construction Contractors) — Practice Exam
What's on the exam
Questions per topic, out of 120The Florida Business and Finance Exam for Construction Contractors is 120 questions. You have 390 minutes to finish. Passing score is 70% — that's 84 correct answers.
This practice exam gives you two options.
Free practice exam: 10 questions per attempt, drawn from a limited pool. You can retake it as many times as you want. It's a good way to get a feel for how questions are worded and what the format demands before you commit to serious prep.
Full practice exam: 120 questions, 390-minute time limit — identical to the real exam in structure. Questions are pulled from a pool of 662+ items, so each attempt is different. No duplicate exams. Topics mirror the official breakdown exactly, so you're practicing against the same content the real exam tests.
Start with the free exam to calibrate. Use the full exam for serious preparation.
The exam covers six topic areas. Here's what each one actually demands.
Establishing the Contracting Business 13 items
You need to know how business structures (sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC, corporation) differ in liability and tax treatment. Expect questions on fiduciary duties of officers and directors, the difference between open and closed corporations, and how state and local licensure requirements interact. You'll also see questions on types of insurance and their limitations, bonding underwriting requirements, and the capital categories — startup, working, and expansion. Lease-versus-purchase decisions for business location show up here too.
Managing Administrative Duties 31 items
This is the second-largest topic. It covers a wide range of tasks. Bid preparation requires you to work with AIA documents, understand the components of a valid contract, apply the statute of frauds, and calculate labor burden including taxes, insurance, and overhead. You need to understand UCC fundamentals for purchasing materials, FIFO inventory accounting, and Florida sales tax rules. Overhead calculations include FICA, Medicare, FUTA, SUTA, workers' compensation rates, and general liability rates. Draw requests require knowledge of percentage-of-completion and Florida lien law.
Managing Trade Operations 12 items
CPM scheduling is tested here — you need to read a network diagram, identify the critical path, and calculate float. The submittal/approval/fabrication cycle matters, including RFI procedures. Equipment leasing and purchasing questions require you to calculate depreciation, financing cost, salvage value, and cost of operation. OSHA record retention requirements and penalties for non-compliance are tested. Subcontractor management topics include back charges, payment processing, and subcontract agreements.
Conducting Accounting Functions 39 items
This is the heaviest topic on the exam — nearly one-third of all questions. You are expected to perform calculations, not just recall definitions. Know your financial ratios cold: current ratio, working capital, debt-to-equity. Understand cash flow management, bank reconciliation, and the difference between cash and accrual accounting. Job cost tracking requires you to apply percentage-of-completion and completed-contract methods correctly. Payroll calculation questions cover gross-to-net math, federal tax withholding, FICA, FUTA, SUTA, and garnishment hierarchy. Accounts payable questions include calculating early-payment discounts. Lien law appears in both the receivables and payables subtopics.
Managing Human Resources 7 items
This section is smaller but tests specific rules. You'll answer questions on required hiring forms, anti-discrimination law, and background check limits. FLSA white-collar exemptions — executive, administrative, and professional — require you to know both the duties test and the salary basis threshold. Overtime calculation under the FLSA is tested, including regular rate of pay when employees work at multiple rates. Child labor rules for nonagricultural occupations include minimum age standards, restricted hazardous occupations, and hour limits for 14- and 15-year-olds. Drug-free workplace policy and OSHA requirements appear in HR policy questions.
Complying with Government Regulations 18 items
Florida-specific statutes and rules make up most of this section. You need to know Chapter 489, Florida Statutes (construction contracting and licensing), Chapter 713 (construction liens), Chapter 61G4, Florida Administrative Code (CILB rules), Chapter 440 (workers' compensation), and NPDES/environmental compliance requirements. Immigration compliance and I-9 recordkeeping appear here as well. Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rules are tested for federally funded projects. Disciplinary proceedings under Chapter 455, Florida Statutes, are included.
Question 1 — Retainage and Warranty Holdback
The question: Final retainage is $35,000. The contract includes a 5% warranty holdback. What is the payment amount?
- A. $30,000
- B. $31,000
- C. $32,500
- D. $33,250
Correct answer: D
Multiply $35,000 × 0.95 = $33,250. The 5% warranty holdback ($1,750) is retained. This is a two-step problem — don't stop at subtracting a round number. The exam will put plausible wrong answers at A and C to catch candidates who guess at the holdback amount rather than calculate it.
Question 2 — Substantial Completion
The question: Substantial completion means:
- A. All punch list items are complete
- B. Final payment has been issued
- C. Work is sufficiently complete for occupancy or intended use
- D. The warranty period has ended
Correct answer: C
Substantial completion does not mean everything is done. It means the work has reached the point where the owner can use the space for its intended purpose, even if minor punch list items remain. Final payment and warranty terms are separate events that follow substantial completion. This distinction — substantial vs. final completion — is tested repeatedly across multiple topics on this exam. See AIA Document A201-2017, General Conditions, Page 23 (Article 8).
Question 3 — Military Spouse License Inactive Status
The question: You are the spouse of an Armed Forces member and left Florida due to a duty station change. After submitting military orders, the Board places your license on inactive status with no fee. How long may the license remain inactive before you must renew the exemption or reactivate?
- A. Four years from the date of the orders
- B. Three renewal cycles
- C. One renewal cycle
- D. Two renewal cycles
Correct answer: D
Rule 61G4-12.019, F.A.C., allows the license to remain inactive for up to two renewal cycles. Before that period expires, you must either submit current orders to renew the exemption or reactivate the license. If neither happens by the expiration date, the license goes delinquent. Source: Florida Contractors Manual, Rule 61G4-12.019, F.A.C., Page 2-167.
Passing is 70% — 84 out of 120 questions. That's the threshold, not a comfortable margin.
Your first full practice attempt is a diagnostic. Don't treat a first score of 65% as failure. Treat it as a map. The topic-by-topic breakdown tells you exactly where your points are leaking. A weak score in Conducting Accounting Functions (39 items) costs you more than the same weakness in Managing Human Resources (7 items). Fix the heavy topics first.
Scoring in the low 70s on practice with fresh material generally means you're not ready. The real exam is drawn from a larger pool, and you won't see questions you already memorized. You want a consistent 80%+ across multiple full attempts before you sit for the real exam.
If you miss a question, read the explanation and find the source. Understand the rule, not just the answer. The exam recycles the same underlying concepts in different question formats — knowing why the answer is right protects you against variations.
Multi-step calculations. The Conducting Accounting Functions section (39 items) is full of them. Payroll questions require gross pay, then subtract the right withholding in the right order. Overhead questions require you to build a fully-loaded labor rate before applying it. Stopping one step early is the most common calculation error.
Confusing similar retainage and lien deadlines. Florida's construction lien law has specific timeframes that are easy to mix up. Candidates confuse the Notice to Owner deadline, the lien recording deadline, and the enforcement deadline. Know each one separately.
AIA document specifics. Questions reference specific articles and clauses of A201-2017, A401-2017, and A701-2018. Knowing that a provision exists is not enough — you need to know which document it's in and what it requires.
FLSA overtime and exemption tests. Candidates regularly miss questions because they apply the wrong exemption category or miscalculate the regular rate of pay when multiple pay rates are involved.
OSHA record retention. The required retention periods are specific numbers, and the exam uses wrong numbers as distractors. Memorize the actual requirements.
Time management. 390 minutes for 120 questions is 3 minutes and 15 seconds per question. The calculation-heavy accounting section can eat your time if you work without a method. Practice your calculation sequence so it's automatic.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Total questions | 120 |
| Time limit | 390 minutes |
| Passing score | 70% (84 correct) |
| Number of topic areas | 6 |
| Heaviest topic | Conducting Accounting Functions (39 items) |
| Exam provider | Pearson VUE |
| Practice pool (full exam) | 662 questions |