When does your CPA Exam credit expire?
Your first passed section starts the clock on its score release date, and you have to sit the last section before that clock runs out. The score is allowed to arrive afterwards. The part that catches people is the discipline: BAR, ISC and TCP run in only four months of the year, so a window closing in February has to be met by a sitting weeks earlier.
Work out your own dates
The rule, and the half of it that gets left out
You must sit the final section before your first credit expires. The score does not have to arrive first. NASBA states it directly: “As long as you TAKE your final exam section BEFORE your first exam credit expires and when you receive your score it is passing, then you will not lose that first exam credit.” Expiry is set at Central time and is not measured from your appointment time, so NASBA recommends sitting the day before rather than on the day itself. A date being open on your calendar is also not the same as a seat being open: test centers keep their own hours and can be closed at a weekend or a public holiday, so confirm a seat exists in the days before your deadline rather than assuming the deadline itself is sittable.
Thirty months in 51 of the 55 US jurisdictions, measured from the score release date of the first section you pass. Hawaii runs 18 months; Indiana, South Carolina and Washington run 36. The length is a board rule, so confirm it against your own jurisdiction before planning to the day. Requirements by state carries the figure for each board.
The discipline sittings, which are the binding constraint
Often, and it is the trap. The discipline sections are administered in the first month of each quarter only, so there is no sitting in February, March, May or the five other months without one. If your window closes in a month with no discipline sitting, your last chance to sit one was the previous quarter, which is usually weeks earlier than the deadline itself. Each published sitting below is available to you only if your window is still open when it opens, so read down the right hand column to find yours.
| Discipline testing window | Target score release | Usable by |
|---|---|---|
| 1 July to 31 July 2026 | 11 September 2026 | a window closing after 1 July 2026 |
| 1 October to 31 October 2026 | 15 December 2026 | a window closing after 1 October 2026 |
| 1 January to 31 January 2027 | 16 March 2027 | a window closing after 1 January 2027 |
| 1 April to 30 April 2027 | 9 June 2027 | a window closing after 1 April 2027 |
| 12 July to 12 August 2027 | 28 September 2027 | a window closing after 12 July 2027 |
| 1 October to 31 October 2027 | 17 December 2027 | a window closing after 1 October 2027 |
| 1 January to 31 January 2028 | 17 March 2028 | a window closing after 1 January 2028 |
| 1 April to 30 April 2028 | 16 June 2028 | a window closing after 1 April 2028 |
Core sections do not have this problem. AUD, FAR and REG run continuously, so the only limits on those are your own deadline and finding a Prometric seat.
A worked example
Suppose your window closes on 20 November 2026 after a first pass that released 20 May 2024 in a 30 month jurisdiction. The last day you can sit a core section is 19 November 2026, which is the answer most people expect.
The discipline is not that. There is no discipline sitting between 31 October 2026 and your deadline, so your last chance is 31 October 2026, 19 days earlier than the last day you could sit a core section. That sitting scores on 15 December 2026, after the window closes, which is allowed: you had to sit it in time, not pass it in time. It does mean a fail leaves no room, because the next discipline sitting is past your deadline.
Confirm before you plan to the dayWindow length, and whether your board measures from the score release date at all, are board rules. This page applies the NASBA model rule and the AICPA schedule. Your board is the authority on your own credit.
Score release dates are the AICPA published schedule, read from AICPA, Find out when you will get your CPA Exam score on 2026-09-06 (page dated 2026-08-31). Score notice, review and appeal detail from NASBA, Score Information, read the same day. Window rule from NASBA.
Common questions
Do you have to pass your last CPA Exam section before your credit expires, or only sit it?
You must sit the final section before your first credit expires. The score does not have to arrive first. NASBA states it directly: “As long as you TAKE your final exam section BEFORE your first exam credit expires and when you receive your score it is passing, then you will not lose that first exam credit.” Expiry is set at Central time and is not measured from your appointment time, so NASBA recommends sitting the day before rather than on the day itself. A date being open on your calendar is also not the same as a seat being open: test centers keep their own hours and can be closed at a weekend or a public holiday, so confirm a seat exists in the days before your deadline rather than assuming the deadline itself is sittable.
Can your CPA Exam window close in a month with no discipline sitting?
Often, and it is the trap. The discipline sections are administered in the first month of each quarter only, so there is no sitting in February, March, May or the five other months without one. If your window closes in a month with no discipline sitting, your last chance to sit one was the previous quarter, which is usually weeks earlier than the deadline itself.
How long is the CPA Exam credit window?
Thirty months in 51 of the 55 US jurisdictions, measured from the score release date of the first section you pass. Hawaii runs 18 months; Indiana, South Carolina and Washington run 36. The length is a board rule, so confirm it against your own jurisdiction before planning to the day.