Core section study guide

AUD CPA Exam Study Guide: Format, Topics, and Study Plan

Understand what AUD covers, learn the core concepts, and build a study plan for exam day.

Quick answer

Auditing and Attestation is a required Core section. It connects ethics and professional responsibilities with risk assessment, procedures, evidence, conclusions, and reporting. AUD questions often turn on the relationship between the stated risk, the procedure performed, the evidence obtained, and the conclusion supported. Use this guide to understand the exam, plan what to learn, and find explanations for each AUD topic.

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AUD format and score weight

AUD is a 4-hour Core section. Its two MCQ testlets contain 39 and 39 questions. Its three TBS testlets contain 2, 3, 2 tasks. The testlets total 78 MCQs and 7 TBSs.

Section type

Core

Testing time

4 hours

Multiple-choice

78 MCQs · 50%

Simulations

7 TBSs · 50%

Current AUD content areas

Use these ranges to allocate coverage, then adjust for your own practice results. The ranges do not predict the exact number of questions or tasks on an individual exam.

Area	Official content area	Score allocation
I	Ethics, Professional Responsibilities and General Principles	15-25%
II	Assessing Risk and Developing a Planned Response	25-35%
III	Performing Further Procedures and Obtaining Evidence	30-40%
IV	Forming Conclusions and Reporting	10-20%

Official exam sources

Blueprint tasks are representative, not exhaustive. The number of listed tasks does not establish content weight or predict the exact questions a candidate will receive.

Open the official Blueprint Learn how to use the Blueprint Review all CPA Exam sections

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Your AUD study sequence

This is CPAPass study guidance, not an official timetable. Adjust the time you spend at each stage to your starting knowledge, schedule, and understanding of the material.

Stage 1 of 5

Engagements and ethics

Start with videos and lectures on audit, review, compilation, preparation, and attestation engagements. Use flashcards to reinforce the standards and responsibilities that distinguish them.

What to produce: A comparison table with the assurance level, independence requirement, and report for each engagement.
Move on when: You can explain how changing the engagement changes the auditor's responsibilities.

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1. Engagements and ethics

Start with videos and lectures on audit, review, compilation, preparation, and attestation engagements. Use flashcards to reinforce the standards and responsibilities that distinguish them.

What to produce: A comparison table with the assurance level, independence requirement, and report for each engagement.

Move on when: You can explain how changing the engagement changes the auditor's responsibilities.

2. Risk and planned response

Learn how business risks connect to financial-statement assertions and the planned audit response. Work through examples that connect what could go wrong to a suitable procedure.

What to produce: A three-column map: assertion, risk, and planned procedure.

Move on when: You can reject a plausible procedure because it tests a different risk or population.

3. Procedures and evidence

Study control testing, sampling, and substantive procedures. Use worked examples to understand what each piece of evidence supports and what remains unresolved.

What to produce: An evidence log: objective, source document, finding, and follow-up.

Move on when: You can distinguish missing evidence from evidence that contradicts management's claim.

4. Conclusions and reporting

Learn the reporting framework, then compare how the engagement, a misstatement, a scope limitation, materiality, or pervasiveness changes the report.

What to produce: A decision table connecting the finding to the appropriate reporting response.

Move on when: You can identify the fact that changes the conclusion and explain why the alternative does not fit.

5. Timed practice and review

Bring the topics together with timed multiple-choice sets and document-based simulations. Revisit the relevant lesson and flashcards when a question reveals a knowledge gap.

What to produce: An error log separating knowledge gaps, misread facts, incomplete exhibit review, and timing problems.

Move on when: You can solve a changed version of a missed question and explain your reasoning without relying on the answer key.

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Explore AUD topic guides

Find the explanation you need for your next study session.

Ethics and engagements

Establish the standards, responsibilities, and engagement boundaries.

Independence threats Issuer vs. nonissuer audits

View 7 more guides

Engagement letters Code of Professional Conduct Professional skepticism Predecessor and successor auditors Review vs. compilation Attestation engagements Government auditing standards

Risk and planning

Connect the business risk to the work the auditor needs to perform.

Preventive vs. detective controls Audit transaction cycles

View 3 more guides

Management override and journal entries Related-party risks Group audits

Procedures and evidence

Choose the procedure, examine the evidence, and resolve exceptions.

Vouching, tracing, and tests of details Audit evidence

View 7 more guides

PBC, tick marks, and documentation Audit sampling Analytical procedures Audit confirmations Estimates and fair values Audit data analytics Recalculation vs. reperformance

Conclusions and reporting

Turn findings into the appropriate communication and report.

Audit reports and opinions Going concern

View 5 more guides

Management representation letters Audit committee communications Critical audit matters Control deficiencies and material weaknesses Subsequent events and discovered facts

Explore audit careers

auditor duties and public accounting hierarchy how to become a forensic accountant

AUD study FAQs

How should I adapt the study sequence if I already work in audit?

Review each stage's learning goals and check your understanding before shortening it. Work experience may make the vocabulary familiar, but compare your firm's usual work with the engagement types and standards tested in the current Blueprint.

How much time should I give each study stage?

CPAPass recommends adjusting the stages to your starting knowledge, available study time, and practice results. Use each stage's output and move-on check to decide what to repeat; a fixed number of weeks is not a guarantee of readiness.

Can I try AUD practice before creating an account?

Yes. The public AUD practice questions and explanations are available without registration. The MCQ and TBS PDF samples are requested separately by email. Create a free CPAPass account to learn and prepare with videos, lectures, flashcards, and practice questions in one platform.

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