In What Order Should I Take the CPA Exams?
This is a common question from students and CPA candidates and as always, the answer is: “it depends.” The CPA exam is no joke and everyone is different, so it is very important to identify and adopt a strategy that maximizes your chance of passing the exam with the least amount of stress. Today, we are going to talk about three key considerations when taking the exams and how you can use them to create your own strategy for passing.
Remember the 18-month window!
Currently, the CPA exam works on a rolling 18-month window where the candidate must pass all 4 exams within those 18 months. This means that once the first exam is passed, the clock starts ticking and the candidate will need to find a way to pass the other 3 exams within the window. If the candidate doesn’t pass the exam, the window won’t start. For this reason, the most prevalent strategy is to take on the hardest and biggest exam (FAR) first. FAR is known to have a consistently lower pass rate than the rest of the exams (on average) and covers a large amount of material, which takes a ton of study time. Many people’s strategies revolve around passing FAR first to ensure it is out of the way as probably the most difficult test. For the same reason, candidates usually leave the exams that have higher pass rates until the end because they are more confident that they will pass on the first try. Additionally, taking the hardest exam first will help build momentum for the easier tests to follow.
Match your studying capacity to your exam schedule.
After you have gotten your hardest exam out of the way (likely FAR), you need to consider how you are going to study for the rest of the exams. If you are right out of school and studying full time, take everything ASAP while you aren’t working, starting with the harder tests. If you are working full time, plan your exams around your anticipated workload to increase your chances of success. If you have a month or so where you know that your work will be a bit slower, it could be a good time to knock out BEC!
Remember that the exam can change!
The CPA exam makes a point to stay current and to test the concepts and areas that are practical to today’s professionals. Additionally, the test can periodically go through changes to the format which may make certain tests easier or harder. A perfect example of this happened back in 2017 when the exams for BEC and REG were extended to 4 hours from their previous 3 hours. Candidates who were taking their exams had an incentive to drop everything to study for these two exams and pass the shorter versions before the changes were made, even if that meant leaving FAR for later. These sweeping changes don’t happen very often, but a similar point can be made for the testing material. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that was passed under the Trump administration in December of 2017 was put on the CPA exam on January 1, 2019. Candidates who didn’t want to bother with learning the material for the exam were incentivized to take REG before the material was tested. Alternatively, those who worked in tax may have waited for the new test as the material would correspond with their current working environment.
Here’s an example of what your order might look like after considering this advice:
Take FAR first since it’s the hardest and has the most material to cover
Tackle AUD next because the exam material is going to change next year. Best to get it out of the way before that!
Then onto REG as the harder of the remaining sections.
Finally, take on BEC.
The most important thing to remember is that you will need to pass the entire set of exams within the window to get your license. These strategies are here to help minimize the stress and other negative external factors that could affect your ability to finish within the window. Be sure to do your own research on what your schedule may look like or what changes could be coming to the exam. Good luck studying!