With many candidates postponing their exams and taking advantage of increased study time due to social distancing, they were likely more prepared going into their exams. Continuous Testing started on July 1, at the beginning of Q3. So if a candidate failed in early July, they would have had the opportunity to resit in the same quarter. For both quarters, many candidates with sections already passed may have felt the pressure to quickly pass another section or two, in case Prometric had to shut down test centers again.
While the state boards all made accommodations for candidates during the shutdown , there was no promise they would continue to do so afterward. Also, there are some large revisions coming to the CPA Exam in Candidates are more motivated than usual to pass now so they can avoid having to take the new version of the exam.
The AICPA has reported that they have found these individuals typically have a higher pass rate than those who retake a section. The CPA Exam is difficult for a reason. The certification is sought after because it is meaningful. It signals to employers and peers a certain caliber of professionalism. If the CPA Exam was easier, the market would be saturated with CPAs, many of whom would not be able to contribute at the highest level.
Each of the four CPA Exam sections are taken and passed or failed separately, and each presents a unique set of challenges for CPA candidates. Back in , CPA Exam pass rates for all four sections showed little variation.
They begin to diverge in due to the massive changes the CPA Exam went through that year. However, the exam itself is no more difficult or easier during these quarters.
The pass rates are almost entirely affected by outside influences, such as holidays and school semesters. Since Continuous Testing has been adapted, we expect to see similar trends due to these outside influences. However, since there are more opportunities to sit, we may also see the pass rates flatten a bit as CPA Exam candidates have their choice of exam date.
The best way to ensure you will pass your exams is to have a study plan that works for you. We have tips and strategies to help you create your perfect study plan. There are a lot of factors that determine pass rates: how hard the exam is , how prepared candidates are, any changes the exam is undergoing , etc. Also note: recorded pass rates for the CPA Exam only go back to Q1 January-March is the start of the busy season for tax accountants.
People who work full-time probably find it hard to keep up with studying , so it falls by the wayside. Pair this with the fact that Q1 comes right after the holiday season, another time candidates probably find poorly suited for studying, and fewer people end up passing.
While they do pass at a high rate, they are not quite as prepared as they might have been in Q3. Students who graduate in May have all summer to study for the next section. This sets them up to do very well when they sit in Q3. Q4 October-December pass rates could be low due to the holiday season, much like Q1. Accounting coursework overlaps with many CPA Exam topics, so current and recent students tend to perform well on the exam.
The male BEC pass rate is The first is the inclusion of a Written Communication Task section, which is something exclusive to this section. These two sections are Corporate Governance The average pass rate for this section is the lowest of the four at In the case of BEC, this weight is slightly offset by the inclusion of a written portion. Hence, the pass rates for this section of the exam sink like a stone despite decent average scores for the majority of its content areas.
Does wisdom come with age? According to page 13 of the Jurisdiction Edition, CPA candidates with the highest pass rates are those younger than 22 at Furthermore, this is the case for both men and women taking the exam in this age bracket. According to page of this report, their pass rates are After all, the AICPA requires semester hours of accounting education and years experience working under a CPA before even becoming a candidate.
Naturally, this process is extremely time-consuming and necessitates a strong background in accounting, which is difficult to accomplish at a young age. Most likely, this statistic has less to do with any youthful advantage and more to do with limitations on what the data set can tell us when working with such a small population pool.
On the other hand, the idea that youth is an advantage when taking the CPA exam seems to have merit when considering the opposite end of the spectrum: those who did the worst on the exam. In this case, the 16, CPA candidates age 35 and older had the lowest pass rate of For males, that pass rate is So what gives? Why do the oldest aspiring CPAs have the toughest time passing the exam?
The most likely reason for this significant drop-off is the fact that most older test takers have been out of college for a long time. Consequently, their exam scores suffer as a result. A potential workaround for older CPA candidates who wish to avoid this issue is enrolling in a CPA exam prep course to brush up on their knowledge before test day.
Based on the aforementioned semester hour requirements for becoming a CPA exam candidate, it goes without saying that just about every single test taker is a former or current college student. But which college is the best at preparing their students to pass the CPA exam? Something that becomes clear when looking at this data is the fact that the top schools for aspiring accountants have some of the fewest CPA candidates.
The most likely explanation for this is that these schools are extremely selective when it comes to accepting students into their accounting programs.
However, there is some data found in the University Edition that helps to paint a clearer picture:. After all, the calculation process for these averages involved data that had already been averaged, increasing the margin of error. Finally, you might object to the entire premise of calculating pass rates to assume that simply living in a given state will increase your chances of passing the exam. However, there are some reasonable inferences we can make about this data that can inform undergraduates when determining their institution of choice.
For instance, one idea they might take away from these findings is that some of the best CPA exam takers came from highly selective accounting programs in Iowa. Another potential takeaway is that the largest population of successful CPA candidates can be found in Texas. Do with this information what you will! Not necessarily! Check it out:. What does this mean for the average undergraduate? Well, if you find yourself unable to be accepted into one of the top-rated schools in one of the most successful states, a great safety choice is to enroll in a university that offers business and accounting programs with accreditation from AACSB.
You can learn more about these universities which can be found all over the world through their website. After all, the domestic candidate pass rate is However, neither of these pass rates even come close to those of the top five countries:. What does this data tell us? Are Spaniards naturally gifted in the art of public accounting, or are the smaller numbers throwing these metrics somewhat out of proportion? However, the fact that this stat is pulled from a group of 7 people takes some of the wind out of those sails.
Essentially, the most significant thing these statistics tell us is that the countries with the most selective pools of candidates tend to achieve the highest rates of success. In order to gain the most insight possible into the profession of public accounting, we need to look at what happens after you pass the CPA exam and become certified.
Well, depending on who you ask and where you look, the answer to this question can vary. Obviously, this is less than ideal and the industry would be far better off if earnings were equal regardless of gender; this is clearly an issue that needs fixing. But do keep that in mind as you schedule your exam and decide whether to tackle the hardest or easiest CPA exam section first, and consider building a personal schedule that takes into account that the FAR section has the most study content.
For each section of the exam, your score will be between 0 to To pass a section, you need a minimum score of Note that your score is not a percentage, and it should not be interpreted as such.
Scores are not curved. For more insights into how candidates have done historically on the CPA exam, check out the charts below for and For , BEC is consistently again the section with the highest pass rate, with the second quarter also preforming well overall.
It should be noted that for all sections, the second and third quarter had higher pass rates than their first and fourth counterparts. While scores can vary from year to year and quarter to quarter, it can be helpful to see the overall picture of the trends for overall CPA exam pass rates to get a more accurate view of what your chances of passing are.
For , CPA passing scores were lower overall in comparison to more recent years, and even the second quarter took a hit with lower than average pass rates. It is 8. Some quarters have historically performed better than others; however, the game has changed now that the CPA exam testing windows have been replaced with continuous testing as of July 1, So, the best time to take the exam will be more of a personal choice—work schedule, life schedule, etc.
Overall, passing the exam will come down to your chosen CPA Exam Review Course and how much effort you put into studying and preparing—as those are the best indicators of success.
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