The CPA exam measures your knowledge of public accounting principles and consists of four parts: Accounting and Financial Reporting (FAR), Auditing and Attestation (AUS), Regulation (REG), and Business Environment and Concepts (BEC). You must complete and pass all four sections to become licensed and become a CPA.
There are four two-month testing windows each year, and you can take any or all sections of the exam in a particular window. However, it is important to give yourself enough time to prepare for each section. Candidates who try to take on too much or spread out their study time too much may find it difficult to pass on their first try. Similarly, those taking the exam without the benefit of CPA exam courses may find that they need formal exam preparation in order to pass.
If you fail one or more sections of the exam, you will have the opportunity to retake those sections during a later testing window. Here’s what you need to know to retake and ultimately pass the CPA exam.
CPA Exam Section Scoring
Each section of the exam is scored on a scale from 0 to 99, with different weights applied to specific types of exam questions. Until 2010, a minimum score of 75 was required to pass each section. However, the scoring and weights have changed with the introduction of the exam’s Computer-Based Testing Evolution (CBT-e) in January 2011. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Board of Examiners will make a decision. regarding the minimum approval. score in the first few months of 2011, after data from the first testing window of the new 2011 exam is available.
In terms of CBT-e score weights, the FAR, AUD, and REG sections have the same structure: multiple-choice questions are worth 60% of the total score, while task-based simulations are worth 40%. For the BEC section, multiple choice questions are worth 85% of the final grade, while written communication tasks are worth 15% of the grade.
Publication of CPA Exam Results
Exam testing windows run the first two months of each calendar quarter, with candidates typically receiving their scores during the last month of the quarter. CPA exam results are released in two waves; the first is about a week before the trial window ends, while the second is about two weeks after the trial window closes.
However, the AICPA does not issue scores directly to candidates. It submits them to the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA). Individual boards are responsible for approving and delivering scores to candidates, with each board setting its own schedule for distributing results. If you suspect you did poorly in a particular section, you don’t have to wait for your CPA exam results before rescheduling a retake; however, you may not retake the same section more than once in the same test window.
Deadline to complete the CPA exam
To answer the question posed at the beginning of this article, there is no limit to the number of times you can retake the CPA exam. However, you must pass all four sections of the exam within 18 consecutive months. The calendar begins when you take your first exam, assuming you pass at least one section in that window. If you do not pass all four sections within the 18-month time frame, you will lose credit for any sections you passed at the start of the rolling window and the calendar will reset to the next exam section date you have passed.
If you exceed the initial 18-month window, you will not only have to retake the section(s) you did not pass, but also any section(s) you previously passed but have since expired. This is why many candidates choose to invest in CPA exam courses to improve their chances of passing the exams the first time and avoid retaking them.
Pass the CPA exam
Whether you are preparing to take your first section of the CPA exam or to retake a section, be sure to allow enough time for planning and preparation.
