CPA Exam Sections: The 4 You Pass, 6 Total
Every candidate passes AUD, FAR, and REG, then chooses BAR, ISC, or TCP. Start with the exact 2026 format, then try the section you plan to study.
Quick answer
The CPA Exam offers six sections, but you pass four: three required Core sections plus one Discipline. Each section is four hours and has two MCQ testlets followed by three task-based simulation testlets.
Your four-section path
Exact 2026 CPA Exam format
The AICPA publishes different MCQ and simulation counts by section. The table below uses the current 2026 Blueprint package rather than a generic question range.
| Section | Type | Time | MCQs | TBSs | Score weight | Guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUDAuditing and Attestation | Core | 4 hours | 78 | 7 | 50% MCQ / 50% TBS | View AUD |
| FARFinancial Accounting and Reporting | Core | 4 hours | 50 | 7 | 50% MCQ / 50% TBS | View FAR |
| REGTaxation and Regulation | Core | 4 hours | 72 | 8 | 50% MCQ / 50% TBS | View REG |
| BARBusiness Analysis and Reporting | Discipline | 4 hours | 50 | 7 | 50% MCQ / 50% TBS | View BAR |
| ISCInformation Systems and Controls | Discipline | 4 hours | 82 | 6 | 60% MCQ / 40% TBS | View ISC |
| TCPTax Compliance and Planning | Discipline | 4 hours | 68 | 7 | 50% MCQ / 50% TBS | View TCP |
Source reviewed 2026-08-02. Confirm future testing windows against the AICPA Blueprint hub.
How the five-testlet format works
Every section follows the same sequence: two multiple-choice testlets, then three task-based simulation testlets. The question count inside those testlets changes by section. Submitting a testlet is final, so the format affects both preparation and how you manage the four-hour clock.
Worked format example
FAR: 50 MCQs and 7 TBSs
FAR divides 50 MCQs across the first two testlets, followed by seven simulations across the final three testlets. Half of the reported score comes from MCQs and half from TBSs. A study plan that reaches a strong MCQ percentage but has never completed a document-heavy simulation has not yet rehearsed half of the scoring model.
Important exception
ISC is not weighted by raw question count
ISC contains 82 MCQs and six simulations, but the score split is 60 percent MCQ and 40 percent TBS. Eighty-two questions therefore does not mean MCQs are 82 percent of the score. Use the published weighting, not a count-based shortcut, when allocating practice time.
How the format changes your practice plan
Practice both item types
Every section starts with two MCQ testlets and finishes with three TBS testlets. A candidate who drills only short questions may know the material but still be unprepared to research, organize, and apply it inside a longer simulation.
Use results to choose the fourth section
Start with evidence from FAR, AUD, and REG plus a free BAR, ISC, and TCP sample. For example, strength in tax planning may point toward TCP, while systems-and-controls work may point toward ISC. Treat that as a starting hypothesis, not a guarantee.
If the format still feels unclear
Keep your section decision
Create a free account after reviewing the format so your selected section, practice history, and weak-topic signals stay together.
What each CPA Exam section broadly tests
The AICPA Blueprint owns the detailed content areas, score weights, skill levels, and representative tasks. The summaries below help you choose the right detailed guide and practice response. They do not replace the current Blueprint or claim that every listed topic receives equal weight.
AUD · Core
Auditing and Attestation
Content focus: AUD covers ethics and professional responsibilities, risk assessment, audit and attestation procedures, evidence, conclusions, and reporting.
CPAPass illustrative practice scenario - not an official exam or Blueprint task: A useful AUD practice set asks you to identify a control problem, choose the procedure that responds to the assessed risk, and connect the evidence to the reporting conclusion.
If practice stalls: If you recognize audit terms but miss scenario questions, stop memorizing labels in isolation. Explain why each procedure addresses the stated risk, then practice a TBS that requires you to organize evidence.
FAR · Core
Financial Accounting and Reporting
Content focus: FAR covers financial reporting frameworks, financial-statement accounts and transactions, and state and local government accounting.
CPAPass illustrative practice scenario - not an official exam or Blueprint task: A useful FAR session combines journal-entry mechanics with a longer task, such as correcting account balances and carrying those changes into the affected financial statements.
If practice stalls: If calculations are accurate but simulations break down, practice the full path from source document to adjustment to presentation. Record whether the error came from the rule, the calculation, or the final classification.
REG · Core
Taxation and Regulation
Content focus: REG covers ethics and professional responsibilities related to tax practice, business law, federal taxation of property transactions, individuals, and entities.
CPAPass illustrative practice scenario - not an official exam or Blueprint task: A useful REG practice set makes you classify facts before calculating, such as deciding which amounts are taxable, deductible, capitalized, or carried into an entity or individual return.
If practice stalls: If you remember thresholds but choose the wrong rule, rewrite the facts into taxpayer, transaction, timing, and limitation. Then solve a second question that changes only one fact so you can see which rule actually controls.
BAR · Discipline
Business Analysis and Reporting
Content focus: BAR extends reporting and analysis into topics such as financial-statement analysis, technical accounting and reporting, and state and local government accounting.
CPAPass illustrative practice scenario - not an official exam or Blueprint task: A useful BAR comparison task asks you to interpret a set of ratios or reporting facts, identify what changed, and support the accounting or business conclusion instead of calculating one number in isolation.
If practice stalls: If FAR felt manageable only when the rule was obvious, test BAR with a mixed scenario that requires both calculation and interpretation. A weak explanation after a correct number is still evidence of a study gap.
ISC · Discipline
Information Systems and Controls
Content focus: ISC focuses on information systems, data management, security, business processes and controls, and IT audit and advisory work including SOC engagements.
CPAPass illustrative practice scenario - not an official exam or Blueprint task: A useful ISC comparison task gives you a system or service-organization scenario and asks which control, risk response, evidence, or report consideration fits the facts.
If practice stalls: If the vocabulary feels familiar but answer choices remain close, practice explaining the control objective and the risk it reduces. Because ISC is weighted 60 percent MCQ, precise distinctions deserve deliberate review.
TCP · Discipline
Tax Compliance and Planning
Content focus: TCP extends REG into more complex individual and entity tax compliance, tax planning, property transactions, and personal financial planning.
CPAPass illustrative practice scenario - not an official exam or Blueprint task: A useful TCP comparison task asks you to evaluate alternatives, calculate the tax effect, and explain why a transaction or timing choice changes the result for the taxpayer.
If practice stalls: If REG strength came mainly from business law or routine compliance, do not assume it transfers to TCP. Test a planning scenario with multiple entities or timing choices and review every assumption you made.
Two candidates, two Disciplines, the same CPA license
Tax-experienced candidate
Maya passes AUD, FAR, and REG, then compares all three Discipline samples. Her tax-planning work makes TCP terminology and multi-step scenarios the smallest learning gap, so her four-section path is AUD + FAR + REG + TCP. She still earns the same general CPA license as a candidate who passes another Discipline.
Systems-and-controls candidate
Jordan also passes AUD, FAR, and REG. Work with access controls and SOC reports makes ISC the stronger evidence-based choice, so the fourth section is ISC. Jordan does not receive an “information-systems CPA” designation. The Discipline changes the exam route, not the license title.
What happened to BEC?
BEC is not a current CPA Exam section. The Core-plus-Discipline model replaced it in 2024. If a book, video, question bank, or study schedule still tells a new candidate to take BEC, check its publication date and compare its section list with the current AICPA Blueprint before using it. Some underlying concepts moved into Core and Discipline sections, but an old BEC course is not a current fourth-section plan.
The official sample test has a separate purpose: it teaches the interface, spreadsheet, calculator, exhibits, and navigation. Completing it helps prevent software surprises, but it does not prove that you have mastered the Blueprint. Use the sample test for interface readiness and section practice for content readiness.
Try free CPA questions by section
Use a free sample before choosing where to spend a full study session. Core-section pages own AUD, FAR, and REG preparation. The Discipline guide helps you compare BAR, ISC, and TCP before committing.
Continue inside CPAPass
Pick your section and start personalized practice free
Create a free account to keep practice history, weak-topic signals, and section progress together. No credit card is required.
Official sources and ownership boundaries
Use the CPA Exam Blueprints guide for the official PDF and topic-level scope. Use the Discipline comparison for a BAR, ISC, and TCP decision. This page owns the general sections and format answer.
Turn the section map into a study routine
Create your free CPAPass account, choose AUD, FAR, REG, BAR, ISC, or TCP, and continue with personalized practice.
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