Private: In What Order Should You Take the CPA Exam?

A CPAexcel Facebook Page  follower wants to know:

“Do the four sections of the CPA Exam have to be taken in any specific order or it is optional?”

This is a great question and one that we receive quite often in our customer service department.

Actually, the order in which you take the CPA exam is optional, but we do recommend a particular order for taking the exam.

FAR takes approximately 160 hours of study time and it’s the largest section to the exam. It also tends to give students the most difficulty, so we suggest taking this first. It’s best to get the hardest exam out of the way!

Studying for the AUD takes around 100 hours and a large amount of material in AUD coincides with materials found in FAR, so we suggest taking this exam secondly. It’s nice to build upon material that you just studied and is fresh in your mind.

REG will take most students around 120 hours of study time, so it is a good idea to tackle this exam third.

Finally, taking BEC last is the probably the smartest choice because the AICPA tests the other three sections in BEC.  So, having those other tests under your belt before tackling this one is quite beneficial. Keep in mind that approximately 100 hours of study time is needed for BEC.

Of course, these are just our suggestions. Remember, we are here to help you figure it all out! Please be sure to contact us at info@cpaexcel.com or call 888.884.5669 (North America) or 928.204.1066 (International) for further assistance.