Which Section of CPA Should You Take First?

Many students planning to sit for the CPA exam need help in deciding which sections of the CPA exam to take first.

In this article, we will discuss various reasons behind sequence of attempts of various sections of the CPA exam and how to boost your chance of clearing all four sections with a single attempt.

In the academic world, it is generally believed that the toughest part of a subject should be taken first in an exam, as your brain can handle the tough part better when it is fresh. Unfortunately, when the exam results come out, it is discovered that what we called the toughest part gave us higher marks than the other parts.

CPA exams are designed to challenge and test your knowledge, so you must understand that you need to prepare extensively for all parts. Do you know why? What you believe to be the toughest might turn out to be the easiest.

Here is a guide below showcasing the section of CPA you should start first to pass your first CPA exam;

Start from your Strongest Section

Forte means the area in which you are specialized. Every part of the CPA exam can be more challenging and more manageable than the other depending on the person, but you, as a student, will have your strongest part.  The strongest part symbolizes the aspect of the exam you know and understand very well, to the core.

The four parts of the CPA exam are FAR (Financial Accounting and Reporting), REG (Taxation and Regulation), BEC (Business Environment and Concepts), and AUD (Auditing and Attestation).

You can begin from any part you know it’s your area of strength. Furthermore, you can begin with the shorter exams like REG and BEC; they will only take you 3 hours to complete.  Also, these two parts have smaller materials for study. You will understand this quickly, and you can now make good use of your time on FAR and AUD.

Our Recommendation

FAR (Financial Accounting and Reporting)

We advise you to take this part first in your CPA exam. It is the most lengthy and requires a lot of materials to study.

Truthfully, FARs will consume most of your study time, and you must be well prepared because they seem to be the most difficult section of the exam. This section will test your knowledge concerning the financial accounting and reporting frameworks utilized by profit and non-profit organizations. 

REG (Taxation and Regulation)

When you are done with FAR, we recommend REG as the next section to take. 

In this section, you will examine your knowledge and skills concerning U.S. ethics and taxation-related professional duties.

The REG section will also focus on routine and relevant tasks.

This section is time-consuming; it consumes time so fast because a lot of materials will be compounded into this 3-hour exam.

We urge you to practice timing as you study and prepare for CPA exams.

Business Environment and Concepts(BEC)

This is one of the shortest and easiest CPA exams. 

It will only check your knowledge of the demand and supply curve together with IT. This section did not have much materials to study.

Moreover, this section will examine your knowledge of financial accounting and reporting requirements under GASB that are capable of being applied to state and local government organizations.

AUD (Auditing and Attestation)

We will urge you to take this section last because it doesn’t have much study material. Even a revised class can teach you all you need to know about this section. 

In this section, they will test your knowledge of ethics, reporting, professional responsibility, and general principles.

Our recommendation to you, in summary, take FARs first, then REG and BEC, and AUD last. This will help you a lot.

One more thing to know

This is our recommendation to you, but you have the total power to find out which one works best for you.

Best of luck with writing your CPA Exams. If you are looking for review courses. check Becker and Surgent deals.