The question is not just how to pass it. It is what to sit next
A failed section is a scheduling problem as well as a study problem, because the credit window is running on everything you have already passed. Deciding what to sit next, and in what order, is often worth more than any change to how you study.
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The report tells you where you were weaker, by content area and by item type
Candidates receive a performance report showing how they did relative to passing candidates across content areas, and separately across item types including multiple choice and task-based simulations. Those two views often disagree, and the disagreement is the useful part.
A candidate who was comparable on content and weaker on simulations has a format problem rather than a knowledge problem. More content review will not fix it. Working through simulations under time, with the authoritative literature open the way it is in the exam, will.
The other common pattern is a score close to passing across the board, which usually means pacing rather than any specific gap. That is worth identifying before committing another three months to review.
- Content areas and item types read separately
- Simulation technique treated as its own skill
- The credit window factored into what you sit next
- A schedule that survives a full-time job
What the plan covers
Built around your actual window and workload
- Which section to sit next, and why that order
- Weighting within the failed section, from your own report
- Task-based simulation technique under time pressure
- Research questions and using the authoritative literature
- A study schedule built around your working hours
Preparation only, and never the exam
- No help of any kind during the exam.
- No live questions, no recalled items, no reconstructed CPA banks.
- No sitting the exam on anyone's behalf, ever.
- We do not contact NASBA, the AICPA or your state board.
- We do not guarantee a pass, and you should be careful of anyone who does.
The CPA exam is secure and the profession treats integrity violations extremely seriously, including at the licensure stage. Anyone offering you live content is offering to end your candidacy. Read the full policy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Retake rules and scheduling windows are set by NASBA and the AICPA and have changed in recent years, so check the current candidate bulletin rather than relying on older guidance. Your state board may add its own conditions.
It depends on how much of your credit window is left and on which sections you have passed. Broadly, protect the credits that expire soonest and avoid leaving your hardest section until the window is tight. This is worth planning deliberately rather than defaulting to the next one on the list.
It is set by your state board and the rules have been revised in several jurisdictions recently. Because it varies and has changed, confirm your own board's current position in writing rather than using a figure from a forum.
It is close enough that the cause matters more than the number. Scores in that range often reflect pacing or simulation technique rather than a content gap, and those respond to different work. The performance report is what tells you which.
Under time, with the authoritative literature available as it is in the exam, and practicing the research process rather than only the accounting. Candidates who prepare entirely with multiple choice are practicing a different skill from the one simulations test.
Most candidates are, and the programs assume it. What separates those who finish is usually a schedule built around the actual working week rather than an ideal one, and a section order that respects the credit window.
Send the section score report
We will read it, tell you whether the gap is content, simulations or pacing, and work out what you should sit next given your window.
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