The CPA exam, explained for US students
The CPA exam has four sections, takes roughly 350 hours of study, and costs about $5,000 all-in once you count prep and licensing. This is what the process actually involves, in the order you will meet it.
Sources: pass rates from the AICPA’s CPA Exam scoring and pass rates page (2026 cumulative figures through Q2); applications through your state board or NASBA; scheduling through Prometric. Study hours and total cost are typical planning estimates, not official figures. Checked October 12, 2026.
The four CPA exam sections
Since CPA Evolution you take three core sections that everyone sits, then choose one discipline. The discipline you pick does not restrict what you can do once licensed — pick the one you are strongest in, not the one that sounds most impressive.
| Section | Type | What it covers | Pass rate | Study hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FAR | Core | Financial accounting and reporting | 43% | 140–180 |
| AUD | Core | Audit and attestation | 49% | 90–120 |
| REG | Core | Tax and business law | 67% | 90–120 |
| BAR | Discipline | Business analysis and reporting | 44% | 80–110 |
| ISC | Discipline | Information systems and controls | 67% | 70–100 |
| TCP | Discipline | Tax compliance and planning | 80% | 70–100 |
Pass rates are AICPA’s 2026 cumulative figures through Q2 (as published by AICPA and reproduced by several review providers). Study hours are typical planning ranges.
The path, start to license
Credit-hour requirements differ by state, and several have just changed. Do this before you register for anything.
Transcripts to NASBA, pay the application fee, receive your Notice to Schedule, then book at Prometric. Allow six weeks.
Plan on roughly twelve to eighteen months. Your credit window starts the day you pass the first one.
One to two years of verified experience, an ethics exam in most states, then the license application itself.
Where candidates talk about the CPA
Two communities are worth your time. r/CPA is where people post scores, study plans and failures the week they happen, which makes it a candid, if anecdotal, source. Quora is thinner but better for the long career questions — whether the license is worth it at all, and what it does to your salary.
Our CPA exam Reddit and forums guide covers where to look and how to check community advice against the official rules.
Score-release megathreads, study plans and blunt course opinions. Start with the pinned FAQ before posting.
→Less exam detail, more on whether the CPA changes your offers and which firms reimburse.
→Longer answers, often from practicing CPAs, on whether the license is worth it.
→Study strategy and tips
Roughly 400 hours across four sections, spread over twelve to eighteen months. What separates the candidates who pass from the ones who repeat sections is almost never intelligence — it is how those hours are structured.
A date on the calendar is the only study discipline that reliably works. Book eight to ten weeks out and work backwards. Moving it 60 or more days out is free, and closer in costs $30 to $93.61; drifting costs months.
Watching lectures feels productive and is the least efficient hour you can spend. Front-load video in week one, then let questions drive everything after that.
Simulations are where FAR and BAR are lost, and it's tempting to leave them until the final two weeks. Two a week from the start beats twenty in the last week.
Eight things that actually move your score
Guessing correctly is the most dangerous outcome in a question bank.
One line per miss, reviewed weekly. Patterns appear within two weeks, and they are rarely the ones you expected.
Long enough to reach depth, short enough that you do not start rereading the same paragraph.
Four hours, no phone, no pausing. Stamina is a skill and it is trainable.
A months-long study plan with no rest days is hard to sustain.
Below 70 two weeks out means move the date. Two weeks out it costs $60 to move, and it saves three months.
Comfortable revision is procrastination wearing a suit. Spend the hour on the area you avoid.
Otherwise the two weeks spent waiting for a score can easily go to waste.
Ready to put dates on it? The CPA study schedule planner turns your weekly hours into a plan for each section and checks it against your Notice to Schedule.
Everything else on the CPA
Six courses compared and ranked with a published rubric.
→All 55 jurisdictions, with the 150-hour reform status for each.
→Every fee itemized, plus low, typical and high scenarios.
→Latest figures, the trend, and what passers do differently.
→Head-to-head on price, questions, simulations and support.
→Savings we could confirm, and where to find current offers.
→Five questions, one recommendation, no email required.
→The rubric, the weights, and how affiliate money is handled.
→When scores arrive, and what to do the moment they do.
→How to book, what rescheduling costs, and how early to do it.
→Take FAR first — and the four situations where you should not.
→Core plus discipline, and how to choose your fourth section.
→Blueprints, credit windows and licensure reform in one timeline.
→Need the official sources? Our official CPA exam resources page links the AICPA, NASBA, Prometric and state boards. Choosing a course? Start with the CPA course comparisons, or read the full reviews of Becker, UWorld Roger, Gleim, Kesler and NINJA.
Weighing a different credential? These pages compare the CPA with the other professional routes covered on this site.
Common questions
How long does the whole CPA process take?
Plan on roughly twelve to eighteen months of study, plus one to two years of supervised experience that can run in parallel. From first application to license in hand, two to three years is a reasonable estimate.
Do I have to take the sections in order?
No. You can sit them in any sequence, and the order you choose matters more than most people realize — your 30-month credit window starts the day you pass your first one.
Is the CPA harder than it used to be?
Not by the numbers. Under CPA Evolution, FAR’s pass rate has recovered to about 43% through Q2 2026, per AICPA, and REG and TCP are running higher than in 2025. FAR and BAR remain the hardest sections, and simulations carry half the score in every section except ISC (40%).
When can I take each CPA exam section?
The Core sections (AUD, FAR and REG) can be taken year-round. The Discipline sections (BAR, ISC and TCP) can only be scheduled in the first month of each quarter: January, April, July or October, per the NASBA CPA Exam FAQ. See our best order to take CPA sections guide for planning around that.