What is the Hardest Section of The CPA Exam? Most Difficult Part?

Two of the days will feature essays known as writing prompts—your hands are going to hurt after these days. Based on how you respond, using logic and your legal knowledge, you can be right or wrong, so memorizing answers isn’t going to help at all. That’s really it in terms of similarities—other than those basic overlaps, the tests are VERY DIFFERENT. Each is among the hardest of the standardized exams, but they are this way for very different reasons. Someone with a CPA can work in a law firm and an individual with a Juris Doctor could be employed at an accounting or financial entity. Comparing apples and oranges is the oft-used expression when two things of different qualities and characteristics are evaluated side by side.

You have 18 months to pass the remaining three sections of the CPA Exam; if you do not pass them all, you’ll lose credit for the first section you passed. At first glance, WCs may seem intimidating, but successful candidates report that these questions are fairly straightforward to answer. The key is managing your time on the exam and ensuring you have enough of it when you get to this testlet.

Is the new CPA exam harder?

There is no limit on how many times a candidate can take each section of the exam. In fact, most CPA exam candidates will take the exams multiple times. It basically follows that age old adage, “If it were easy, then everyone would do it.” Breaking down that adage, you come to the conclusion that it’s meant to be a differentiator. It rules out those who do not posses the necessary skills or abilities. Bearing the title of CPA carries a great deal of meaning and respect behind those three letters. It vouches for the bearer in universal acknowledgement to his or her skills and abilities within the accounting discipline.

• With each exam section lasting four hours, the amount of time you can allocate for each question has to be precise and practiced.
• The CPA exam is considered a challenging test that requires a significant amount of preparation and dedication to pass.
• Our mission is to demystify the exam prep process , one candidate at a time.
• The REG section of the CPA exam focuses on federal taxation, business law, and ethics.
• The pass rate varies from year to year, but on average, around 50% of candidates pass all four sections of the exam on their first attempt.
• Ken has gained a wealth of business experience through his previous employment as a CPA, Auditor, Tax Preparer and College Professor.

You will spend approximately 30 times as long studying for the exam as you will actually spend taking it, so it can be tempting to shave that study time down to sit for the exam faster. But cutting too many corners can cost you—studying for an exam section a second time will more than erase any time you might have saved. This adds additional stress to every stage of your exam process. Managing this stress, creating a study plan, and adjusting your plans for setbacks is part of passing the CPA Exam. Once you have passed your first section of the CPA Exam, a new timer begins counting down.

CPA Review Courses

Commonly known as case studies, task-based simulations are long-form questions providing the candidate with context and situations based on which they have to provide responses. These are inspired by real-life scenarios that public accountants face and designed to test the application of relevant concepts in the field. There are eight task-based simulations in FAR, AUD, and REG, and four in BEC. The exam itself is known for being one of the most challenging professional exams out there. A lot of people ask me how long should I study for the CPA exam.

The first step to concurring the CPA exam is acknowledging how difficult it actually is. Once you know how bad it is, you can start to study properly. While memorization may have been enough for passing CPA Exam versions in the past, the modern CPA Exam expects more from candidates.

Time Limitations

This tactic will NOT help you properly prepare for the CPA Exam. This is where SmartPath Predictive Technology really comes into play. This data-driven platform serves you the questions you need based on your performance, eliminating the guesswork How Difficult Is the CPA Exam? out of preparation. This helps you reach the target goals for each section until your knowledge base of all the topics has been fulfilled. SmartPath helps you focus on learning and applying the actual material and topics presented.

But the unique challenge of the CPA exam is that you aren’t just regurgitating facts. You need to truly understand foundational concepts and principles well enough to apply them. Of course, you really should know what they’re getting into. If you’re going to study for the CPA exam, knowing what you’re up against will help you measure your own timeline and the effort required to pass.

How can I pass the CPA board exam?

CPAs also have a higher earning potential than non-certified accountants, with some studies suggesting that CPAs earn up to 15% more than non-certified accountants. Regulation section pass rates increased dramatically from 2019 to 2020 but have since leveled off. While tax applications make up a large portion of the Regulation (REG) exam, tax law and business law are also incorporated. This section requires a fair amount of memorization coupled with the intricacies of dynamic tax law. A passing CPA Exam score on each section is a 75 on a scale of 0 to 99; however, that doesn’t necessarily mean you need to answer 75% of the questions correctly to pass. You can find the most recent CPA Exam pass rates on this page and historical pass rates for each section.

This isn’t as rigid of a test, as there isn’t a “right” answer to many of the questions. The multiple choice question testlets change based on how you do on the previous sections, and the task-based simulations will vary significantly. There’s a chance that a large portion of what you study won’t appear on the test, so be prepared to be caught off guard.

I HELP ACCOUNTING PROFESSIONALS PASS THE CPA EXAM FAST

Either way, FAR is hard because the concepts aren’t as common. Financial Accounting and Reporting is a comprehensive portion of the CPA exam. There are a ton of subsections that require heavily applied knowledge. Within these four hours, you will encounter multiple-choice questions and task-based simulations. For the BEC section, you will also have to do a written task.

Once these changes rolled out to the AICPA blueprints, test-takers got hit pretty hard. The CPA exam is frequently compared to the MCAT or CMA exam. That 18-month timeline allows you to try almost a dozen times. However, the costs quickly add up, and if your strategy is to “take it until you make it,” the CPA certification will become an expensive process. As many as half of test-takers have to do this, so there are some options you can pursue.