What will it take to pass the FAR CPA Exam in 2024-2025? The Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR) section intimidates almost every CPA candidate. It's the longest, most challenging, and highly comprehensive section of the CPA Exam. FAR requires CPA candidates to understand US GAAP, including financial statement concepts and standards, typical financial statement items, specific types of transactions and events, governmental accounting and reporting, and nongovernmental and not-for-profit accounting and reporting.
Commencing in 2024, the format and structure of the FAR CPA Exam have undergone some changes due to the 2024 CPA Evolution. Nonetheless, the fundamental essence of the exam remains the same. In this article, we'll comprehensively understand the changes introduced in the 2024 FAR CPA Exam and offer valuable study tips to navigate them successfully for exam triumph.
2024-2025 Exam 2024-2025 ExamDespite the 2024 FAR CPA Exam changes, the format and structure are similar to those of previous years. For example, the exam duration is four hours with five testlets and two types of questions: multiple choice and task-based simulations.
The MCQ section has two testlets, each containing 25 questions, for a total of 50 questions. The TBS section consists of three testlets: the third testlet containing two TBS, the fourth testlet containing three TBS, and the fifth testlet containing two TBS. MCQs cover 50% of the score weight; the other 50% comes from the TBS section.
| FAR CPA Exam Structure | |
|---|---|
| Total Time | 4 Hours |
| Multiple Choice Questions | 50 |
| Task Based Simulations | 7 |
A welcome or launch code flashes on your screen for 5 minutes before you begin the exam. After that, another screen presenting the confidentiality code remains for 5 minutes. Hence, there is a total of 10 minutes for your pre-exam screen.
The five testlets of the FAR CPA exam consist of two types of questions: Multiple Choice Questions and Task-Based Simulations.
Multiple Choice Questions: There are 50 MCQs divided equally into two testlets. Each testlet has a few pretest questions that aren’t graded. They are typically one sentence or a paragraph long and have four possible answer options.
Task-Based Simulations: TBSs are practical questions requiring candidates to type out answers. These may include research-based questions, completing a financial statement, filling out a form, or making journal entries. The TBSs are tested in 3 testlets containing 2 to 3 task-based simulation questions per testlet. There are 7 task-based simulations, among 1 of which is pretested.
An optional 15-minute break that does not count toward the 4-hour test period is provided after the 3rd testlet.
Post Exam, you will be prompted to complete a five-minute survey regarding your exam experience and acquire candidate feedback.
The FAR CPA Exam will continue to follow the upgraded Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives regarding skills. Based on this, the skills tested on the CPA Exam are shown in the table below.