The Certified Public Accounting (CPA) exam is one of the toughest professional exams there is. Even after completing 150 credit hours and a few years of work experience, nearly 1 out of 2 candidates still fail their CPA exams: the average CPA exam pass rates are roughly 50%.
Despite how discouraging it might all seem, the difficulty of the CPA exam is also why it’s so prestigious. If everyone passed the exam, then it simply wouldn’t be as valuable.
Keep in mind, the pass rates published by the AICPA are the aggregate passing rates for everyone taking the exam. Lots of people take the exam without taking it seriously or putting forth real effort, and often fail. Therefore, the CPA pass rates for motivated and hard-working CPA exam candidates is likely much higher than the broad averages.
For this post, we break down the CPA exam pass rates by year and by CPA exam section. We’ll also explain how you can maximize your odds of passing the exam your first time through!
Contents
CPA Exam Pass Rates: By Year
To understand how difficult the CPA exam is, let’s see how the pass rates for each section compare since 2016. We can go further back than this, but with recent exam format changes, it really doesn’t make sense to look much earlier than this point.
If you’re prepping for the exam now or in the near future, looking at recent history will be much more helpful.
As you can see, the average pass rates have improved slightly in recent years. This is particularly for REG and the soon-to-be phased out BEC exam. Still, it’s easy to see the overall trend is right around 50% between all exams combined.
CPA Exam Pass Rates 2023
The chart below illustrates the CPA exam pass rates, by quarter, during 2023.
Note: As of now, Q3 2023 results have not been published. As Q3 ’23 and Q4 ’23 results are not yet available.
CPA Exam Pass Rates 2022
The chart below illustrates the CPA exam pass rates, by quarter, during 2022.
CPA Exam Pass Rates 2021
See below for the CPA exam pass rates during 2021.
CPA Exam Pass Rates 2020
This chart shows the overall CPA exam pass rates, by quarter, during 2020.
CPA Exam Pass Rates: By Section
Let’s now take a look at the trend of CPA exam pass rates for each section of the exam going back to 2016.
Since we’re looking at individual exam sections, we thought it’d be helpful to break things down quarterly. There’s always been some seasonality in the CPA exam pass rates, so these charts will show when scores tend to spike.
FAR Historical Pass Rates
This chart shows the historical pass rates for the FAR section of the CPA exam, by quarter, going all the way back to 2016.
REG Historical Pass Rates
This chart shows the quarterly pass rates of the REG exam from 2016 – 2022.
AUD Historical Pass Rates
The chart below shows the quarterly AUD exam pass rates from 2016 to 2022.
BEC Historical Pass Rates
Finally, here are the quarterly pass rates of the BEC exam from 2016 through 2022.
What is the Most Difficult CPA Exam Section?
Generally, the pass rates are inversely proportional to the amount of material that you’ll need to cover for each section.
For example, the FAR exam usually covers the most amount of material to cover. It’s the most technical exam section, and usually requires the most amount of studying. No surprise then that FAR tends to have the lowest pass rate.
Likewise, BEC usually covers the least amount of material of the CPA exam sections. Sure enough, BEC features the highest pass rate of all sections.
However, the pass rates and amount of content covered by each exam are just a few factors to consider. Your personal experience and strengths / weaknesses will also factor into which exam is “most difficult” for you.
Let’s say you had an internship in college and prepared business and personal tax returns at a local CPA firm. In that case, you may find REG to be one of the easier CPA exam sections.
Why are CPA Exam Pass Rates Higher in Q2 and Q3?
There are a lot of theories as to why test scores are higher during Q2 & Q3, but most are B.S.
Test scores tend to rise during these quarters for a simple reason: Q2 and Q3 are immediately after the year-end busy season. Auditors, tax professionals, and corporate accountants have much more time to study and sit for the exam during this time of year. Their real-world experience and the extra study time often results in higher overall test scores.
When is the Best Time to Sit for the CPA Exam?
Many folks think that taking exams during the supposed “prime” testing windows of Q2 and Q3 will somehow score higher on the exam.
Unfortunately, that’s a load of B.S. As noted above, Q2 and Q3 tend to be when most busy and motivated professionals take the exam. The higher test scores simply reflect the strength of the cohort.
Also, why risk wasting most of your 18-month window just so you can take your exams during the “prime” testing window? The answer: You shouldn’t.
You should take the CPA Exams when you’re ready to take them.
Start by figuring out which CPA Exam section to take first, then which order to sit for the exams. From there, deciding when to take the exam will come down to your personal schedule. Enroll in a CPA review course and stick to a timetable that works for you.
Conclusion
The historical CPA exam pass rates are definitely useful to look at, but take them with a grain of salt. They don’t provide any insight into how much or how well people prepared for those exams.
Also, keep in mind how much content is covered in each exam section. This will ultimately help you budget how much time to prepare for each section.
For more articles like this, head on over to our CPA exam hub. And best of luck on the exam!
