- Who Actually Sets CPA Requirements
- Education Prerequisites and the New 2025 Pathway
- Registering With NASBA and Paying the Fees
- The Four-Section Exam Structure
- FAR's Domains: The Section You Cannot Skip
- Scoring, Conditional Credit, and Retakes
- Testing Windows: Core vs. Discipline Scheduling
- Building a Timeline That Matches Your State's Rules
- After You Pass: Licensure and Maintenance
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Eligibility is set by 55 individual state boards, not the AICPA, so requirements vary depending on where you apply.
- A May 2025 Uniform Accountancy Act amendment added a 120-hour-plus-experience path, but each state must adopt it separately.
- Candidates must pass three Core sections (AUD, FAR, REG) plus one of three Discipline sections (BAR, ISC, TCP) - four sections total.
- NASBA's section fee is $262.64, roughly $1,050.56 for all four sections, before jurisdiction and evaluation fees.
Who Actually Sets CPA Requirements
The Uniform CPA Examination is a single national exam, but eligibility to sit for it is not administered by one central authority. The AICPA develops and scores the exam content. NASBA operates the national candidate database that tracks applications, credits, and scores across jurisdictions. The actual gatekeeping - deciding who can register, what education counts, and who ultimately receives a license - belongs to the 55 individual state boards of accountancy. This three-way division is the single most important thing to understand before you start planning, because it means "CPA requirements" is really 55 overlapping but distinct rulebooks layered on top of one shared exam delivered at Prometric test centers.
If you're still getting oriented to the credential itself, the overview at What Is CPA? and the plain-language breakdown in CPA Meaning are useful starting points before you dig into jurisdiction-specific rules.
Education Prerequisites and the New 2025 Pathway
For years, the dominant model was the 150-semester-hour rule: a candidate needed 150 hours of college credit, typically including a defined mix of accounting and business coursework, before qualifying for licensure (some boards allow sitting for the exam at 120 hours while requiring 150 for the license itself). A graduate-degree route has also existed in many jurisdictions as an alternative way to satisfy the hour requirement.
In May 2025, the Uniform Accountancy Act was amended to add a third licensure path: a bachelor's degree with an accounting concentration at 120 semester hours, combined with two years of qualifying professional experience, as an alternative to the traditional 150-hour route. This is a meaningful structural change, but it is not automatically in effect everywhere - each state legislature and board must individually enact the amendment before candidates in that jurisdiction can use it. Until your state adopts it, the traditional education rules in your jurisdiction still control.
| Pathway | Core Requirement | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 150-hour route | 150 semester hours, defined accounting/business mix | Traditional, widely enacted |
| Graduate-degree route | Qualifying master's degree | Available in many jurisdictions |
| 120-hour + experience route | 120 hours, accounting concentration, 2 years experience | Added to UAA May 2025; state-by-state adoption |
Key Takeaway
Do not assume the 120-hour-plus-experience path applies to you. Confirm directly with your state board of accountancy whether it has enacted the 2025 UAA amendment before building an eligibility plan around it.
Registering With NASBA and Paying the Fees
Once your education is evaluated and approved, registration runs through NASBA's candidate systems, with your state board making the eligibility determination. Candidates in jurisdictions that use CPAES (CPA Examination Services) typically pay a $96 education evaluation application fee as a first step. From there, each of the four exam sections carries a NASBA-published section fee of $262.64, which totals roughly $1,050.56 for all four sections. On top of that, your state board sets its own application fee, generally somewhere between $20 and $180 depending on the jurisdiction.
Adding it up, a realistic all-in cost - before any review course or study materials - typically falls between $980 and $1,950. That range accounts for the CPAES evaluation fee, four section fees, and a jurisdiction application fee, and it can shift depending on retakes or rescheduling. For a full line-item breakdown, see CPA Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
The Four-Section Exam Structure
Under the CPA Evolution model that launched in January 2024, every candidate takes four sections totaling 16 hours of testing: three Core sections that everyone must pass, plus one Discipline section chosen from three options.
- Core - Auditing and Attestation (AUD): 78 multiple-choice questions and 7 task-based simulations.
- Core - Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR): 50 multiple-choice questions and 7 task-based simulations, scored 50/50 between the two formats.
- Core - Taxation and Regulation (REG): 72 multiple-choice questions and 8 task-based simulations.
- Discipline - Business Analysis and Reporting (BAR): 50 multiple-choice questions and 7 simulations.
- Discipline - Information Systems and Controls (ISC): 82 multiple-choice questions and 6 simulations, scored 60/40.
- Discipline - Tax Compliance and Planning (TCP): 68 multiple-choice questions and 7 simulations.
Each section runs 4 hours, and every section is built from five testlets - the first two multiple choice, the last three simulation-based - with a standardized 15-minute break after the third testlet that does not count against your four hours. H.R. 1 tax provisions became testable in REG and TCP starting July 1, 2026, so candidates sitting for either section after that date need current tax-law coverage in their study materials. For a section-by-section breakdown of what each part actually tests, see CPA Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 3 Content Areas.
| Section | Multiple Choice | Simulations | Scoring Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| AUD (Core) | 78 | 7 | Standard |
| FAR (Core) | 50 | 7 | 50/50 |
| REG (Core) | 72 | 8 | Standard |
| BAR (Discipline) | 50 | 7 | Standard |
| ISC (Discipline) | 82 | 6 | 60/40 |
| TCP (Discipline) | 68 | 7 | Standard |
FAR's Domains: The Section You Cannot Skip
Because FAR is a Core section every candidate must pass, and it carries the lowest cumulative pass rate on the exam, it deserves disproportionate attention when you're mapping requirements to a study plan. FAR's blueprint is organized into three domains, and its skill allocation runs 5-15 percent remembering and understanding, 45-55 percent application, and 35-45 percent analysis - making it the most calculation-heavy Core section on the exam.
Domain 1: Financial Reporting (30-40%)
Covers the mechanics of preparing and presenting financial statements under the applicable frameworks candidates are expected to know for licensure-track accounting.
- Statement preparation and disclosure requirements
- Conceptual framework application to reporting judgments
Domain 2: Select Balance Sheet Accounts (30-40%)
Tests detailed treatment of specific balance sheet line items, requiring precision with recognition, measurement, and valuation rules rather than surface-level familiarity.
- Account-specific measurement and valuation rules
- Reconciliation and adjustment mechanics
Domain 3: Select Transactions (25-35%)
Focuses on accounting for specific transaction types, testing whether a candidate can apply the correct treatment to a described fact pattern rather than recite a rule in isolation.
- Transaction-specific recognition and measurement
- Application to multi-step scenarios in task-based simulations
Because roughly half of the FAR score comes from task-based simulations rather than multiple choice, memorization alone will not carry a candidate through this section. If you want a full sense of why FAR and other sections feel disproportionately difficult relative to their question counts, How Hard Is the CPA Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 walks through the mechanics in more depth, and CPA Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows puts the section-by-section numbers in context.
Scoring, Conditional Credit, and Retakes
Every section is scored on a 0-99 scale, with 75 as the passing benchmark. That number is not a percentage of questions answered correctly, and it is not curved against how other candidates performed in a given window - it's a scaled score reflecting overall performance against the blueprint. A deeper explanation of how that scale is constructed lives at CPA Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
Once you pass a section, conditional credit for that pass can run 30 months under Model Rule 5-7, measured from the date your score is released rather than the date you sat for the exam. Adoption of this rule is state by state, not automatic, so the actual credit window that applies to you depends on your board of accountancy. There's no cap on retake attempts, but you must wait 72 hours after receiving a failing score before you can register to sit again.
Key Takeaway
Because the 30-month conditional credit clock starts at score release - not test date - and Discipline scores post roughly six weeks after the window closes, plan your section order with that lag built in, not just the four-hour exam itself.
Testing Windows: Core vs. Discipline Scheduling
Core sections (AUD, FAR, REG) test continuously, year-round, so you can schedule them whenever a Prometric seat is available. Discipline sections (BAR, ISC, TCP) are different: they're only offered during the first month of each calendar quarter, and scores are released about six weeks after that testing window closes. This asymmetry is easy to miss when mapping out a requirements timeline, because it means your Discipline choice effectively locks you into a quarterly scheduling rhythm rather than the flexible, any-time scheduling available for Core sections.
The 2026 Blueprints took effect January 1, 2026, and did not change content area weights or skill allocations from the prior version - so candidates studying from 2025 materials aren't facing a structural surprise, just the July 2026 H.R. 1 tax updates in REG and TCP. For exact 2026 window dates and deadlines by quarter, see CPA Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.
Building a Timeline That Matches Your State's Rules
A workable requirements timeline generally has three phases: confirming eligibility with your board, sitting for the four sections, and finalizing licensure paperwork. Because Discipline sections only open in the first month of each quarter, it often makes sense to anchor your schedule around your Discipline choice first, then fill Core sections into the continuous-testing gaps around it.
Confirm Eligibility
- Verify which of the three UAA pathways your state has enacted
- Submit CPAES education evaluation if your jurisdiction requires it
Sequence FAR Early
- Schedule FAR while coursework is fresh, given its lowest cumulative pass rate
- Pair heavy calculation review with the domain-by-domain guide
Lock In Discipline Timing
- Register for your chosen Discipline section during its quarterly window
- Account for the six-week score-release lag when planning next steps
Track Conditional Credit
- Note each score-release date, not test date, for the 30-month clock
- Confirm your board has adopted Model Rule 5-7 before relying on it
For structured study sequencing tied to these mechanics - including how to allocate review time to FAR's calculation-heavy simulations - see CPA Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. You can also benchmark your readiness against realistic section-style questions using our practice test platform before locking in exam dates.
After You Pass: Licensure and Maintenance
Passing all four sections doesn't automatically grant a license - you still work through your state board's final licensure requirements, which may include the experience component tied to whichever education pathway you used. Once licensed, CPAs maintain the credential through continuing professional education requirements that are set individually by each state board rather than nationally standardized.
Employers hiring for roles built around this credential - public accounting firms, corporate finance and audit departments, and tax practices - generally expect the license itself, not just a passing score history, since licensure confirms both the exam and the jurisdiction's experience requirements have been met. If you're weighing the time and cost investment against career outcomes, Is the CPA Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and CPA Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis cover that analysis in more depth, and CPA Jobs looks at where the credential shows up in job postings.
Frequently Asked Questions
Requirements vary by state. Some boards allow candidates to sit at 120 hours while requiring 150 for licensure; others require 150 before you can even register. The May 2025 UAA amendment adding a 120-hour-plus-experience path must also be individually enacted by each state before it applies there.
There's no universally correct choice - it depends on your career direction and comfort with each section's format. BAR and TCP each present 50-68 multiple-choice questions with 7 simulations, while ISC presents 82 multiple-choice questions and 6 simulations scored 60/40. Review the domain guide for each before deciding.
Plan for roughly $980 to $1,950 all-in, excluding review courses. That covers the $96 CPAES education evaluation (where required), the $262.64 NASBA section fee across four sections (about $1,050.56 total), and a jurisdiction application fee of $20 to $180.
Adoption of the 30-month conditional credit window under Model Rule 5-7 is state by state, not automatic. If you transfer your candidacy to a jurisdiction with different rules, confirm with that board directly how your existing passed sections and their credit windows will be treated.
No, there is no cap on retake attempts. You only need to wait 72 hours after receiving a score before you're eligible to re-register for that section.