CPA Exam Requirements By State

The CPA exam is notoriously challenging, with a national pass rate of only 50%. As such, anyone who plans on taking the exam should utilize every edge they can to increase their chances of passing.

The purpose of the Uniform CPA Examination is to protect the public by only allowing qualified individuals to be licensed as Certified Public Accountants in the United States. The CPA credential verifies that an individual has met all requirements and standards necessary for this position.

The four sections that comprise the CPA Exam are Auditing and Attestation (AUD), Business Environment and Concepts (BEC), Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR), and Regulation. Candidates must pass all sections plus an ethics exam to fulfill their CPA requirements.

Accountants with a CPA credential go on to take on greater responsibilities and are commonly promoted to senior roles in less than two years. The effort needed to pass your CPA exam, as well as the time spent studying for it, is well worth the investment.

The CPA Exam is a four-part test with a total of 16 hours. After you’ve completed your first exam section, you’ll have 18 months to finish the remaining three parts. The average CPA candidate passes all for sections in just under 18 months.

If you need to retake a section of the CPA Exam, you may do so as often as necessary. However, if you take too long to pass via retakes, you run the risk of losing credit for sections you have already passed. CPA Exam scores are only valid for 18 months, meaning that if you take too long to pass all the sections. There’s a chance that a passing score will become invalid.

The exam is scored on a 0-99 scale for each section. The lowest possible passing score is a 75. A C+ grade, or 75%, is not enough to pass–you need at least 75 ‘points’.

It is possible to pass the CPA Exam in 6 months (or even less). This would require you to take an exam every 6-7 weeks while studying approximately 22-26 hours each week.

Although the general pass rate for each section of the CPA exam is 50%, very few people manage to pass all four sections on their first attempt. In fact, only 20% succeed. So, while 1 in 2 people will eventually pass a specific section of the exam, only 1 in 5 manage to do so on their first try.

The fee for retaking the CPA Exam varies between $50 and $200. When you re-take any section of the CPA Exam, you must pay both the reapplication and examination fees.

No, the CPA Exam is not easy to pass. The CPA exam is difficult, but with the appropriate planning and by choosing the right CPA Exam Review course for you, it can be passed.

No the CPA Exam is not all multiple-choice. The CPA exam is divided into four main sections: Auditing and Attestation (AUD), Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR), Business Environment and Concepts (BEC), and Regulation (REG).