How hard is the CPA exam?
The CPA exam is hard. Each of its four sections is a four-hour exam, you need 75 on a 0 to 99 scale to pass, and in 2025 only 42% of candidates passed FAR and 48% passed AUD, per the AICPA. Scores are not curved. What makes it tough is volume: hundreds of topics, tested with multiple choice and simulations, within a deadline set by your state.
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In more detail
You take three core sections, Auditing and Attestation (AUD), Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR) and Taxation and Regulation (REG), plus one discipline you choose: Business Analysis and Reporting (BAR), Information Systems and Controls (ISC) or Tax Compliance and Planning (TCP). Most sections weigh multiple-choice questions and task-based simulations 50/50, while ISC is 60/40. The AICPA does not curve scores or aim for a target pass rate.
The pass rates show where the difficulty sits. FAR and BAR are the lowest at around 42%, because they cover the widest range of standards and calculations. TCP is the highest at about 78%. Most states now give you 30 months to pass all four sections, counted from when you sit your first section, so pacing matters as much as knowledge. A failed section is a delay, not the end: you can retake it.
CPA exam pass rates by section (AICPA, as of October 2026)
| Section | Type | 2025 full year | Q3 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| AUD | Core | 48.21% | 52.23% |
| FAR | Core | 42.12% | 44.49% |
| REG | Core | 63.12% | 65.37% |
| BAR | Discipline | 41.94% | 44.35% |
| ISC | Discipline | 67.79% | 70.22% |
| TCP | Discipline | 77.65% | 80.08% |
Step by step
- 1
Check your state board's rules: eligibility, fees and how long your credit window is.
- 2
Pick your discipline based on your work and courses, not only on the highest pass rate.
- 3
Plan one section at a time. Put FAR early if your accounting courses are recent, since it is the broadest.
- 4
For each section, go through the content once, then spend most of your hours on multiple-choice sets and simulations.
- 5
Keep a log of every miss and run spaced flashcards for rules and thresholds, so earlier sections do not fade.
- 6
Take a full timed mock exam a week or two before test day and fix what it shows.
How StudyPDF helps
Try free CPA practice questions in your browser at CPA Practice Exam. Then upload your review course notes, textbook pages or slides and press New material for flashcards, quizzes or a sectioned, timed practice exam built from them. StudyPDF tracks the topics you keep missing, and you can set your exam date in the Plan tab to get dated sessions, weakest topics first. A free account needs no card.
Sources
See also
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More questions
Which CPA section is the hardest?
By pass rate, FAR and BAR, both around 42% in 2025 according to the AICPA. FAR is also the broadest section, so many candidates give it the most study time.
Is the CPA exam harder than the bar exam?
They test different things, so there is no clean answer. The bar is one big exam in a single sitting, while the CPA is four four-hour sections you pass one by one within a deadline. Both need months of steady practice.
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