The CPA Exam has a reputation for being one of the hardest professional exams to pass, and for good reason. Before picking a study plan, it helps to actually understand what the exam covers and where candidates most often lose ground. The two organizations that set and administer the exam, AICPA and NASBA, are the real source for this, not any single prep company’s marketing.
The Exam Structure: 3 Core Sections Plus 1 Discipline
Under the current CPA Evolution model, every candidate takes three mandatory Core sections, plus one Discipline section they choose based on their career direction. According to AICPA & CIMA, the structure is:
- Core (required for everyone): Auditing and Attestation (AUD), Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR), and Regulation (REG)
- Discipline (choose one): Business Analysis and Reporting (BAR), Information Systems and Controls (ISC), or Tax Compliance and Planning (TCP)
Each of the four sections is four hours long, for 16 hours of total testing time, and each requires a minimum scaled score of 75 to pass.
Where to Get the Real Guidance
Two resources matter far more than any third-party study guide:
- AICPA Exam Blueprints: These lay out exactly how content is organized and weighted for each section, including sample task statements and required skill levels. If you want to know what “counts” on the exam, this is where it comes from.
- NASBA Candidate Guide: NASBA recommends using this alongside the Blueprints to build an actual study strategy, rather than studying everything at once.
Where Candidates Actually Struggle
The Journal of Accountancy has tracked candidate performance closely since the new exam format launched — see their report on encouraging signs from the new CPA Exam for the latest pass-rate trends.
Having coached candidates through this exam, the same patterns show up over and over:
- Cramming instead of sequencing. NASBA’s own guidance is that “approaching each section with a plan will guide candidates to success,” working through one section’s material before moving to the next, rather than trying to absorb everything simultaneously.
- Underestimating time pressure. Four hours sounds like a lot until you are budgeting minutes per task-based simulation under real exam conditions.
- Studying around a full-time job. Most candidates are working while preparing, which means study time has to be scheduled, not squeezed in.
- Letting one weak section stall the whole timeline. Candidates must pass all four sections within a set window after their first passing score, so a single section that keeps getting pushed off can put the entire credential at risk.
What Real Coaching Looks Like
A generic study plan treats every candidate the same. Real coaching accounts for which section is actually giving you trouble, how much time you realistically have each week, and what is happening the one or two times you have already sat for a section and come up short. That is the difference between a study guide and someone who has been through the exam and can tell you what actually matters.
Founder Sara Zidal, CPA, offers realistic, personalized CPA Exam Coaching built around your specific sections, timeline, and schedule, informed by having passed the exam herself.
