The FAR section and the whole CPA Exam

The CPA Exam in one picture

The Uniform CPA Examination is built on a "Core plus Discipline" licensure model. Every candidate passes the same three Core sections and then one Discipline section of their own choosing (AICPA, Uniform CPA Examination Blueprints; NASBA, CPA Exam Candidate Guide):

Kind	Sections	Who takes it
Core	Auditing and Attestation (AUD), Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR), Taxation and Regulation (REG)	Every candidate
Discipline	Business Analysis and Reporting (BAR), Information Systems and Controls (ISC), Tax Compliance and Planning (TCP)	One, of your choice

Each section is four hours long, you may take the four sections in any order, and you need a score of at least 75 on each. Whichever Discipline you choose, passing leads to the same CPA license (AICPA, Seven things to know about the new CPA Exam). Passing the exam is one requirement for licensure; education and experience rules, fees, and how long credit for a passed section lasts are set by each jurisdiction's board of accountancy and differ from place to place. Start from your jurisdiction's page on NASBA's site (NASBA, The Uniform CPA Examination; CPA Exam FAQ).

FAR at a glance

Feature	FAR
Testing time	4 hours
Multiple-choice questions (MCQs)	50, in two testlets of 25
Task-based simulations (TBSs)	7, in three testlets of 2, 3 and 2
Score weights	MCQs 50%, TBSs 50%
Score scale	0–99; 75 passes
When you can test	Year-round (FAR is a Core section)

Sources: the AICPA's blueprint tables, Learn more about CPA Exam scoring and pass rates, and Find out when you'll get your CPA Exam score.

A testlet is a block of questions. FAR always runs in this order: testlet 1 (25 MCQs), testlet 2 (25 MCQs), testlet 3 (2 TBSs), testlet 4 (3 TBSs), testlet 5 (2 TBSs). Inside a testlet you can move freely, answer in any order and change answers. Once you submit a testlet, it is closed: you cannot go back to it, and you cannot open the next one until you submit the current one (AICPA, Find answers to frequently asked questions about the CPA Exam).

The clock and the breaks

There is one four-hour clock for the whole section. Time you save on the MCQs is time you can spend on the simulations, and time you overspend early is gone.

• After testlet 3 (the first TBS testlet) you are offered a standardized 15-minute break. You may accept or decline it; if you take it, it does not count against your four hours.
• After any other testlet you may take an optional break, but the clock keeps running while you are out (NASBA, CPA Exam Candidate Guide, "Breaks"; CPA Exam FAQ).
• Your Prometric appointment is booked for the testing time plus 30 minutes, which covers login, the closing survey and the standardized break. It is not extra testing time (NASBA, CPA Exam Candidate Guide).

A sensible pacing plan (our suggestion, not an AICPA rule) is to give each MCQ testlet about 45 minutes (just under two minutes a question) and to keep about 150 minutes for the seven simulations, roughly 20 minutes each, checking the clock at the end of every testlet:

Point in the exam	Time used (suggested)	Time left
End of testlet 1	45 min	3 h 15 min
End of testlet 2	1 h 30 min	2 h 30 min
End of testlet 3	2 h 10 min	1 h 50 min
End of testlet 4	3 h 15 min	45 min
End of testlet 5	4 h	—

How FAR is scored

Your MCQ and TBS results are each converted to scaled scores and combined 50/50 into a section score on a 0–99 scale. 75 passes. A 75 does not mean 75% correct: the AICPA scores with item response theory, which takes into account how difficult each question is, and scores are not curved to a target pass rate (AICPA, Learn more about CPA Exam scoring; FAQ; NASBA, Score Information).

Every exam also contains pretest questions: new questions being tried out for the future. They are not scored, and they look exactly like the scored ones, so give every question your honest best (AICPA, FAQ; The new CPA Exam, two years in). Answer every question: a blank can never earn credit.

If you do not pass, you receive a Candidate Performance Report that compares your performance by content area and question type with candidates who scored 75–80. Before you can apply to retake the section you must receive your score (or let your Notice to Schedule expire) (NASBA, Candidate Guide; Score Information).

FAR scores come out on a rolling basis against target dates the AICPA publishes, and some boards of accountancy need at least a day longer. The AICPA has announced that the exam moves to a new delivery platform in July 2027: no exams will be given from July 1 to July 11, 2027, and an adjusted schedule starts on July 12, 2027 (AICPA, Find out when you'll get your CPA Exam score; NASBA, CPA Exam FAQ). Check those pages for the current dates rather than relying on any copy of them.

What FAR covers

The FAR blueprint tests the accounting and reporting frameworks of the FASB (U.S. GAAP in the Accounting Standards Codification), the SEC and the AICPA, for public and private for-profit businesses and for not-for-profit entities, plus foundational concepts of state and local government accounting from the GASB (AICPA, Blueprints, FAR section introduction).

Area	Weight	What it contains	Lessons in this course
I. Financial Reporting	30–40%	Business statements (balance sheet, income statement, comprehensive income, changes in equity, cash flows, consolidations, notes); not-for-profit statements; government measurement focus and funds; SEC forms and EPS; special purpose frameworks; ratios and metrics	9
II. Select Balance Sheet Accounts	30–40%	Cash, trade receivables, inventory, PP&E, investments, intangible assets, payables and accruals, debt and covenants, equity	9
III. Select Transactions	25–35%	Accounting changes and errors, contingencies and commitments, revenue (five-step model) and not-for-profit contributions, income taxes, fair value, lessee accounting, subsequent events	7

Three things about the blueprint shape how you should study:

1. It is about doing, not reciting. FAR's skill mix is about 45–55% application (prepare the entry, compute the amount), 35–45% analysis (reconcile, find the discrepancy, derive the effect of a transaction) and only 5–15% remembering and understanding. FAR does not test the evaluation level (AICPA, Blueprints). Practise by writing entries and building schedules, not by rereading.
2. Read the entity type. Unless a question says otherwise, assume a for-profit business entity reporting under U.S. GAAP. Not-for-profit questions say "not-for-profit" or "nongovernmental, not-for-profit"; government questions use words like "city", "municipality", "state" or "local government" (AICPA, Blueprints, section assumptions).
3. Some neighbouring topics live in BAR, not FAR. The BAR Discipline's blueprint covers, among other things, lessor accounting, derivatives and hedging, stock compensation, business combinations in depth, variable interest entities and foreign currency translation, goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangibles, internally developed software, research and development, and detailed governmental accounting. FAR keeps lessee accounting, consolidations with wholly owned subsidiaries and noncontrolling interests, foreign currency transaction gains and losses, finite-lived intangibles and purchased or cloud software, and government foundations (AICPA, Blueprints, FAR and BAR sections). This course teaches FAR's side of each line and tells you where it stops.

The two question types

Multiple-choice questions have four options and one best answer. Many are short computations; others ask you to classify, choose the right treatment, or spot what is wrong with a draft amount.

Task-based simulations are short case studies. Expect exhibits such as a trial balance, a bank statement, contracts, invoices, emails or a draft financial statement, and tasks such as completing a journal entry, filling in a schedule, choosing the right treatment from an option list, or finding and correcting misstatements. The blueprint also says FAR assesses applied research using excerpts of source materials such as the FASB Codification, and data concepts such as checking that source data are complete and accurate (AICPA, Blueprints). A spreadsheet application, similar to but not identical to Excel, and a four-function calculator are built in (AICPA, FAQ; NASBA, Candidate Guide).

Before test day, take the AICPA's free sample test to learn the software (it is unscored and its content is current only as of July 1, 2023), and work through the free retired FAR simulation the AICPA has published (AICPA, Practice for the CPA Exam with Sample Tests; Retired task-based simulation from the FAR section). Links to both are on this course's home page.

Which rules are tested

FAR tests the standards in force under the AICPA's policy on new pronouncements: a new standard becomes eligible in the later of (a) the first calendar quarter after its earliest mandatory effective date and (b) the first calendar quarter that begins six months after it was issued, and the old rule it replaces is then removed (AICPA, Learn what to study for the CPA Exam). So a standard can be issued and even effective for some companies before it is testable. Where that matters, the lessons say so.

A study plan that works

• Follow the weights. Areas I and II are each up to 40% of the exam. Do not leave the balance sheet accounts for last.
• Learn each topic in three passes: the rule and its exceptions; worked entries and computations; then mixed practice and a simulation-style set.
• Keep an error log. For every miss, write the rule you broke in one line. Patterns appear quickly (signs, periods, net-of-tax, "per share").
• Rehearse the clock. Take the full-length practice exam in this course in one sitting, then the AICPA sample test, and compare your pacing with the plan above.
• On test day, triage simulations. Read the requirement before the exhibits, do the parts you can do quickly, and enter a best answer everywhere before you polish.

Check yourself

• How many MCQs and TBSs does FAR have, and in which testlets? (50 MCQs in testlets 1–2; 7 TBSs in testlets 3–5, as 2, 3 and 2.)
• Does a 15-minute break after testlet 2 stop the clock? (No. Only the standardized break offered after testlet 3 does not count against your time.)
• What passes, and is it a percentage? (75 on a 0–99 scale; it is a scaled score, not a percentage correct.)
• How are MCQs and TBSs weighted in FAR? (50% each.)
• A question describes a "municipality." What framework applies? (GASB standards for state and local governments, at the foundational level FAR tests.)
• Is lessor accounting tested in FAR? (No; FAR tests lessee accounting. Lessor accounting is in the BAR Discipline.)
• Who decides how long your credit for a passed section lasts? (Your jurisdiction's board of accountancy; check NASBA's jurisdiction pages.)