Studying for the CPA Exam while working full time
Divide rather than guess, because the published totals are per section and the plans that fail are the ones that never turned them into a week. Becker puts Financial Accounting and Reporting at 120 to 150 hours, which is anywhere from 6 weeks to 19 depending on whether you can find 20 hours a week or 8. Eight is one weeknight and one weekend morning. Twenty is most of a second job, and it is the figure behind the confident "six weeks a section" advice that assumes a candidate who is not working.
How long does each CPA Exam section take at a realistic pace?
At 12 hours a week, a realistic figure for somebody in full-time work: AUD 10 to 12 weeks, FAR 10 to 13 weeks, REG 7 to 10 weeks, BAR 10 to 13 weeks, ISC 5 to 8 weeks, TCP 5 to 8 weeks. Those are study weeks, not calendar weeks, so a holiday or a busy season pushes them out rather than compressing them.
| Section | Hours | At 8 hrs/week | At 12 hrs/week | At 20 hrs/week | Sittings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUD | 110 to 140 | 14 to 18 weeks | 10 to 12 weeks | 6 to 7 weeks | Year round |
| FAR | 120 to 150 | 15 to 19 weeks | 10 to 13 weeks | 6 to 8 weeks | Year round |
| REG | 80 to 110 | 10 to 14 weeks | 7 to 10 weeks | 4 to 6 weeks | Year round |
| BAR | 120 to 150 | 15 to 19 weeks | 10 to 13 weeks | 6 to 8 weeks | First month of each quarter |
| ISC | 60 to 90 | 8 to 12 weeks | 5 to 8 weeks | 3 to 5 weeks | First month of each quarter |
| TCP | 60 to 90 | 8 to 12 weeks | 5 to 8 weeks | 3 to 5 weeks | First month of each quarter |
Hour ranges from Becker, read 2026-08-20. The weeks are arithmetic on those ranges and nothing more, so they inherit whatever the ranges are worth. How many hours each section takes sets out why the published totals disagree by roughly half again.
Does the testing calendar change how you should plan?
For the three core sections it does not: AUD, FAR and REG run continuously, so your finish date is your own. For a discipline it decides everything. BAR, ISC and TCP are administered in the first month of each quarter only, so the week your hours run out is almost never a week you can sit. Count backward from a sitting instead of forward from today, and if the arithmetic lands you just after a window closes, the honest options are to slow down and aim at the next one or to bring the date forward, not to hope.
The constraint people meet too lateA discipline plan that finishes in February cannot sit in February. When your credit expires lists every published discipline sitting against the window it can still be used for.
How do you plan CPA Exam sections around busy season?
Plan the sections around it rather than pretending it will not happen. Two things make that easier than it sounds. The 30 month clock starts when you PASS your first section rather than when you sit your first exam, so a quiet run at one section before the clock starts costs you nothing. And the discipline is the only section you choose, so a busy season that collides with a quarterly sitting is an argument for taking a core in that stretch and a discipline in the next quiet one.
Which section to put first is a separate question with a clear answer: what order to take the sections.
Common questions
How many hours a week do you need to study for the CPA Exam?
Divide rather than guess, because the published totals are per section and the plans that fail are the ones that never turned them into a week. Becker puts Financial Accounting and Reporting at 120 to 150 hours, which is anywhere from 6 weeks to 19 depending on whether you can find 20 hours a week or 8. Eight is one weeknight and one weekend morning. Twenty is most of a second job, and it is the figure behind the confident "six weeks a section" advice that assumes a candidate who is not working.