In What Order Should You Take the CPA Exam?

“Do the four sections of the CPA Exam have to be taken in any specific order or is it 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 on 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.

Then you can take the discipline section of your choice: Business Analysis and Reporting (BAR) or Information Systems and Controls (ISC) or Tax Compliance and Planning (TCP)

Alternatively, you can follow this order as well. This exam order is based on the discipline section you select.

For those choosing BAR, we recommend the following sequence: AUD, FAR, BAR, and REG.

If your choice is ISC, we suggest taking the exams in this order: AUD, REG, ISC, and FAR.

For those opting for Tax Compliance and Planning TCP, the advised sequence is: AUD, REG, TCP, and FAR.

Wondering how the Uniform CPA Exam is structured? Visit our CPA Exam Sections page for information about the CPA Exam sections, format, and content areas for all parts in detail.