Choose a topic to review the Frequently Asked Questions about the computer-based CPA Exam.

Applying for the Examination
Eligibility Requirements
Test Administration
Examination Content
Test Credit
Scheduling the Examination
Score Release
Test Centers

Uniform CPA Test

How many sections does the Exam include?

The Exam includes four sections:

  • Auditing and Attestation (AUD)
  • Business Environment and Concepts (BEC)
  • Fiscal Accounting and Reporting (FAR)
  • Regulation (REG)

How many hours is the Exam?

Each department of the Examination is four hours in length with a total testing fourth dimension of xvi hours.

Am I permitted to accept a suspension during the Exam?

Yep. Candidates are automatically offered a standardized, fifteen-minute break approximately midway through each department, which may be accustomed or declined. This interruption does not count confronting testing time. In addition to the standardized break, optional breaks between testlets, which do count confronting candidates' testing fourth dimension, are offered after each testlet.

What are the CPA Exam Blueprints?

The CPA Exam Blueprints comprehend the content eligible for testing in each Examination department. The Blueprints are published one to two times per year. They detail the minimum level of knowledge and skills you must have to authorize for initial licensure. Within the Blueprints, you lot will find the following information for each Test section:

• Content organized by Expanse, Group and Topic along with score weighting
• Sample task statements that represent what you lot may be asked to practise when testing
• Skill levels at which tasks are tested
• Reference materials that support the sample chore statements
• Number of particular types you must complete (multiple-choice questions, task-based simulations and written communication tasks)
• Score weighting of each detail blazon

What types of items appear on the Exam?

Candidates are assessed on a variety of content using multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and task-based simulations (TBSs) in all four sections. The BEC section also includes three written advice tasks.

How are the items distributed on the Examination?

Scoring weights for AUD, FAR and REG will exist approximately fifty% MCQ / l% TBS while scoring weights for BEC will be approximately 50% MCQ, 35% TBS and 15% Written Response.

When can I have the Test?

The Exam is offered four times each year: January 1 – March 10, April 1 – June ten, July ane – September x and October 1 – December ten.

What kind of information is provided on the Candidate Performance Report?

For more information about the Candidate Performance Report, visit the AICPA website.

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Applying for the Examination

How much does the Uniform CPA Test cost?

The full cost includes application and administration fees, in add-on to the examination fees. The price varies for each jurisdiction. Refer to your jurisdiction's application materials for additional data.

Is there a deadline for applying to accept the exam?

At that place is no deadline for submitting your awarding. Some test centers fill up quickly, especially at the end of a testing window. Allow plenty of time for your application/registration to be processed. You cannot schedule your examination until you receive your Notice To Schedule (NTS). You must schedule your appointment at least five days in accelerate, but information technology is recommended to schedule your exam 45 days in advance.

Do I have to apply every bit a candidate of the jurisdiction in which I live?

No. You tin utilise to any jurisdiction provided you run across the eligibility requirements. Some jurisdictions have a residency requirement. Refer to the jurisdiction's application materials for additional information.

To which jurisdiction should I utilize?

There are many factors that bear on this decision, and the answers to these questions vary by jurisdiction. In which jurisdiction(south) do yous want to exist licensed? In which jurisdiction(s) do you desire to practice? In order to brand an informed conclusion, please review the license requirements for the jurisdiction(s) in which you want to practice.

Can I get my education evaluated before I submit my application?

Some states offer a pre-evaluation service. If you are applying to ane of those states, you can submit a pre-evaluation application. Afterward that application has been fully processed, if you are eligible, yous can submit your kickoff-time application and cull your sections. If your jurisdiction does not offer a pre-evaluation service, y'all will need to submit your initial awarding with your transcripts for an education evaluation.

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Eligibility Requirements

What are the eligibility requirements for the exam?

The eligibility requirements vary past jurisdiction. Each jurisdiction has specific requirements regarding education, feel and residency. Refer to your jurisdiction's application materials for boosted information.

Did eligibility requirements modify when the test content inverse in 2011?

Changes in examination content by the AICPA have no affect on eligibility requirements, which are jurisdiction-specific, and determined past the Lath of Accountancy in each jurisdiction.

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Test Administration

What is a "continuous testing?"

Candidates may at present take the estimator-based Compatible CPA Exam year-round. Site availability may vary due to individual test center hours of operation.

How oft can I take the examination?

Continuous testing volition allow candidates to re-take a failed examination section before long after receiving their score. The merely limitations on how many times you can take a department is the time it takes to receive a score, reregister, obtain the new NTS, and find an available testing date.

What is a "Discover To Schedule," and when will I receive mine?

The Notice To Schedule (NTS) is your notification that you may begin scheduling your exam with Prometric. You must present your NTS at the testing center before showtime your examination. For full details on the NTS, delight refer to the Candidate Message.

How long will my NTS be valid?

Your NTS will be valid for a specific corporeality of time. This fourth dimension varies past jurisdiction. Refer to the Candidate Message or your jurisdiction's application materials for additional information. You lot must sit for the examination before your NTS expires. If y'all practise not sit down for the examination within the established fourth dimension frame, your NTS will exist invalid and you will demand to submit a new application and/or registration to receive a new NTS. The NTS expiration date is included on the NTS.

Your NTS is valid for one testing effect or until the expiration date, whichever is first exhausted for each examination department. This includes non-testing months.

I lost my NTS. What do I do?

If yous received your NTS via email and withal accept your original message, you can print some other re-create. If you received your NTS via U.S. mail, contact NASBA to asking a reprint. You lot will non be permitted to enter the test eye without a valid NTS. Call up, NASBA personnel may non be available evenings, weekends or holidays. Yous tin also reprint your NTS here.

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Examination Content

Where tin I find information on the content of the examination?

The AICPA publishes CPA Examination Blueprints that outline the content and skills tested on each section of the Exam.

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Exam Credit

How long practise I have to pass all iv sections of the examination?

This varies for each jurisdiction. Your State Accountancy Board determines if credit is granted and the length of time credit is valid. Virtually jurisdictions allow a maximum of xviii months to laissez passer all remaining sections in order to retain credit on the passed section(s).

I have passed all four sections. Do my credits expire?

Some states crave candidates to complete the licensure eligibility requirements and application within a specific timeframe. This timeframe varies by country. For boosted information, please consult the Accountancy Licensing Library.

My conditional credit expires before long. What is the last 24-hour interval I can sit down without losing credit?

You take until the finish of testing on the day your credit expires. Remember, when scheduling your examination, some testing centers are non open on weekends or holidays. For some jurisdictions, the expiration engagement for conditional credit may fall in a non-testing month.

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Scheduling the Examination

What if a conflict arises after I have scheduled an appointment to have the examination?

Y'all may cancel or reschedule your appointment by contacting Prometric. There is no fee for canceling or rescheduling an date at to the lowest degree 30 days in advance. If you abolish or reschedule between five and thirty days before your appointment, y'all must pay a fee directly to Prometric. If you reschedule within five days of your date, you lot will be required to pay the full Prometric testing fee for the section you are rescheduling. Run into the Candidate Bulletin for additional data regarding these fees. Y'all cannot make any changes to your appointment less than 24 hours in advance. Y'all volition have to contact the Lath/agency to which y'all originally applied to register again.

May I take the test outside of my jurisdiction?

Yep. You may schedule your examination at whatever Prometric site in any of the 54 jurisdictions. Y'all do not have to sit down in the same land where yous practical.

In March 2011, in conjunction with the AICPA and Prometric, NASBA announced the opportunity for international administration of the Uniform CPA Examination. Please encounter the Exam Internationally section of this website for more than information.

Are in that location any restrictions on taking the examination outside of my jurisdiction?

At that place are no restrictions on taking the examination exterior of your jurisdiction. However, a person may non exist a candidate for more than ane jurisdiction at the same time, and will non be able to featherbed a jurisdiction's educational or licensing requirements by taking the examination outside of the jurisdiction in which he or she is seeking to become licensed.

Delight run across the Test Internationally department of this website for more data on taking the CPA examination in international locations.

What is the cost of taking the examination outside my jurisdiction?

At that place is an additional surcharge for candidates testing at the Guam Test Center. Refer to the Candidate Bulletin or Guam Surcharge department of any jurisdiction's page for additional information.

In that location are no additional fees for testing at any other test center exterior your jurisdiction within the U.Due south. and its territories. For information almost additional fees for testing in an international location, please refer to the Test Internationally section of this website.

How do I suit to sit for the examination?

After you lot receive your NTS, you need to contact Prometric through their website and arrange for a seat at the examination site of your option. You should schedule as far in advance as possible, and must schedule at least five days in advance. To increase the likelihood that y'all volition receive your first choice for site location and time, you should schedule your test 45 days in advance. Your NTS is valid for a specific amount of time, which varies by land. If you lot do not sit by the expiration date on the NTS, that NTS becomes invalid and cannot exist used. Each NTS covers more than than 1 testing window and includes dates that are not open for testing. Plan your examination schedule carefully. We strongly recommend that you read the Candidate Message and take the candidate tutorials on the AICPA's website.

What if I take an emergency and cannot attend my examination appointment?

If the emergency occurs more than 24 hours prior to your examination engagement, contact Prometric to cancel or reschedule your date. If you take a hardship or medical situation that prevents y'all from sitting, delight contact NASBA immediately and request an extension. Extensions are determined on a example-by-case ground and require documentation.

I received my Observe To Schedule, but my data is incorrect or has inverse. What do I practice?

Contact the office/bureau to which you lot submitted your awarding. You must accept a corrected NTS to be admitted to the examination. No changes can be made to your NTS less than five days prior to your appointment.

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Score Release

When should I expect to receive my scores?

After the AICPA releases scores to NASBA, they are forwarded to Boards of Accountancy for approval and released to candidates. Boards of Accountancy determine the actual score release schedule. Candidates should note, however, that all scores may not be released at the same time. Additionally, candidates who test on the same mean solar day may receive scores at different times due to differences in necessary quality control procedures.

Scores for the Uniform CPA Exam will exist released by NASBA to land Boards of Accountancy based upon the target score release date timeline listed on the AICPA's website.

Please be advised that some state Boards of Accountancy require at least i mean solar day beyond the dates listed in the tabular array to process and release exam scores.

I took my test on the final possible day so my score would be released on my preferred "target release date," merely I did not receive my score, why not?

Taking your test on the concluding possible day does not guarantee that you volition still receive your score by the target release appointment. For your score to be included with the target release date, the AICPA will need to receive your upshot file from your Prometric testing center before the terminate of the cutting-off date listed. There are many factors which tin can cause a delay in the AICPA receiving this consequence file. Prometric, the AICPA, or NASBA cannot guarantee that your result file will be sent to the AICPA on the same day as your exam. We practice not recommend waiting until the terminal possible twenty-four hour period to have an exam if you are looking for your score to be released at a specific target appointment.

Where can I find more information on the Diagnostic Report I received with my score discover?

Refer to the FAQs available on the AICPA's website.

Where can I find the pass rate for the examination?

This information is available on the AICPA's website.

I believe an mistake was fabricated in scoring my exam. What are my options?

There is a Score Review and Score Appeal process available in many jurisdictions. For additional information on Score Reviews and Score Appeals, refer to the Score Data department of your jurisdiction on this website. You tin can besides refer to the FAQs available on the AICPA's website.

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Test Centers

Where is the examination administered?

The examination is administered at Prometric test centers in 54 U.Southward. jurisdictions, which include the fifty states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In that location is a surcharge for testing in Guam. Refer to the Candidate Bulletin for additional information.

In March 2011, in conjunction with the AICPA and Prometric, NASBA announced the opportunity for international administration of the Compatible CPA Examination. Please see the Test Internationally section of this website for more than information.

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