How many hours should you study for each CPA Exam section?
Becker publishes 400 to 600 hours across the whole exam, and per section: FAR 120 to 150, AUD 110 to 140, REG 80 to 110, BAR 120 to 150, ISC 60 to 90, TCP 60 to 90. Treat any of these as a starting point rather than a target. Study time is set more by what you already know than by which section you are sitting, so the same section can take one candidate half what it takes another and both figures can be accurate.
The published ranges, beside two things you can actually measure
| Section | Study hours | Groups | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| FARFinancial Accounting and Reporting | 120 to 150 | 24 | 42.95% |
| AUDAuditing and Attestation | 110 to 140 | 27 | 48.65% |
| REGRegulation | 80 to 110 | 23 | 66.78% |
| BARBusiness Analysis and Reporting | 120 to 150 | 16 | 43.64% |
| ISCInformation Systems and Controls | 60 to 90 | 8 | 67.45% |
| TCPTax Compliance and Planning | 60 to 90 | 16 | 79.53% |
Hour ranges from Becker, read 2026-08-20. Blueprint groups counted from the AICPA blueprint for each section. Pass rates are the AICPA published candidate pass rates for 2026 through Q2, read from AICPA & CIMA on 2026-08-17. The AICPA publishes them quarterly.
How many hours should you study for the CPA Exam in total?
Becker publishes 400 to 600 hours across the four sections. A lower figure of 300 to 400 hours is widely repeated and attributed to the AICPA, but it could not be found on a page published by the AICPA when this was checked on 2026-08-20. The two most-quoted totals for the same exam differ by roughly half again, which is a fair measure of how firm any of these numbers are.
The lower figure is repeated by, among others, UWorld. Being unfindable at the source does not make it incorrect, and it does mean nobody should quote it as an AICPA position.
Does a bigger section need more study hours?
Not reliably. The published hour ranges do not track how much of the AICPA blueprint a section covers. REG spans 23 blueprint groups against BAR's 16, yet the published range for REG is 80 to 110 hours and for BAR 120 to 150. Breadth is how much ground a section covers. Hours track how unfamiliar and how deep that ground is for you.
AUD makes the same point from the other direction. It is the widest section on the exam at 27 blueprint groups, more than FAR's 24, and its published range sits below FAR's.
What changes how long you need to study?
Your background does most of the work: recent coursework in the material, working in the area day to day, how long ago you last studied it, how many hours a week you can protect, and whether you are retaking a section you have already seen. A tax preparer will usually clear REG and TCP well under the published range and can still need the full range for AUD. Published averages describe a population, and no candidate is the population.
So use the range to build a schedule you can hold, then let your own results against practice questions correct it. Someone four years out of their last accounting class should plan above the top of the FAR range and not read that as a bad sign. The number that matters is the one you revise after two weeks of real study, not the one you started with.
Plan against the clock, not just the hours
Hours only matter relative to the 30 month window, which starts on the score release date of the first section you pass, not the first you sit. What order to sit the sections and how the window works decide how much of your total study time falls inside a running clock, and that matters more than whether FAR takes you 120 hours or 150.
Common questions
How many hours should I study for each CPA Exam section?
Becker publishes 400 to 600 hours across the whole exam, and per section: FAR 120 to 150, AUD 110 to 140, REG 80 to 110, BAR 120 to 150, ISC 60 to 90, TCP 60 to 90. Treat any of these as a starting point rather than a target. Study time is set more by what you already know than by which section you are sitting, so the same section can take one candidate half what it takes another and both figures can be accurate.
How many hours should I study for the CPA Exam in total?
Becker publishes 400 to 600 hours across the four sections. A lower figure of 300 to 400 hours is widely repeated and attributed to the AICPA, but it could not be found on a page published by the AICPA when this was checked on 2026-08-20. The two most-quoted totals for the same exam differ by roughly half again, which is a fair measure of how firm any of these numbers are.
Does a bigger CPA Exam section need more study hours?
Not reliably. The published hour ranges do not track how much of the AICPA blueprint a section covers. REG spans 23 blueprint groups against BAR's 16, yet the published range for REG is 80 to 110 hours and for BAR 120 to 150. Breadth is how much ground a section covers. Hours track how unfamiliar and how deep that ground is for you.
What changes how long you need to study for the CPA Exam?
Your background does most of the work: recent coursework in the material, working in the area day to day, how long ago you last studied it, how many hours a week you can protect, and whether you are retaking a section you have already seen. A tax preparer will usually clear REG and TCP well under the published range and can still need the full range for AUD. Published averages describe a population, and no candidate is the population.