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The CPA exam is one of the most difficult professional exams in the world.
According to the AICPA, it takes an average of 6 attempts for most CPA candidates to pass. Which means the average accountant will fail twice on their journeys to failing.
If you are struggling to find time to study while working full time then you are absolutely in the right place.
You CAN study and pass the CPA exam in 2024 during busy season by following this guide.
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Here are four steps to understanding CPA Review Course pass rates:
Every CPA Review Course claims to have an 80-90% pass rate.
For example, these CPA review courses all claim to have the highest CPA exam pass rate for their students:
At face value, these numbers sound amazing and make passing the CPA exam seem as easy as buying one of these courses.
But herein lies the problem…
The CPA Exam pass rates at an individual level are significantly lower than 80-90%.
For example, here are the latest pass rates by CPA exam section released by the AICPA.
| Section | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUD | 47.97% | 65.29% | 56.89% | 47.50% | 52.84% |
| BEC | 61.76% | 76.92% | 69.89% | 60.77% | 65.56% |
| FAR | 46.37% | 62.86% | 55.67% | 43.53% | 49.98% |
| REG | 55.42% | 75.97% | 66.12% | 58.00% | 62.29% |
Keep in mind that these pass rates are at the individual section level and do NOT account for the fact that you have to sit for all four sections.
The more sections you take the higher your odds of failure.
Best estimates are that the real pass rate without failing any sections is likely much closer to 20-30%.
I tell you this not to scare or overwhelm you, but to give you some much-needed perspective and to help you mentally prepare for this journey.
As a former PwC auditor, I don’t take anything at face value and neither should you.
If you look at the fine print of these pass rate calculations, it quickly becomes clear that they aren’t accurate OR independently verified.
Per Becker’s website:
Pass rate based on those students that met Exam Day Ready threshold and self-reported scores to us in 2020 and is calculated by dividing the total sections passed by total sections attempted across all qualifying students. “Exam Day Ready” threshold means students watched 80% of our lecture videos, answered 80% of our MCQs and TBSs correctly and scored a minimum of 50% on our simulated exams. Scores may be reported at any time. We recognize there is an inherent bias to these results as students who do not pass may not share this information with us.
As Becker CPA Review admits (and this is consistent across all courses) they rely on self-reporting from their students.
This means that a student will have to tell Becker that they passed.
This fails to include people who failed and gave up and never told them.
It also doesn’t include people who use multiple courses or supplements etc…
Unfortunately, the AICPA doesn’t poll students on which CPA review course they used to study for the section, which is the only source that I would trust.
Sadly there is a huge financial incentive for having an unbelievably high pass rate.
The CPA Review Course industry is also highly competitive and each course is looking for anything they can advertise to give themselves an advantage.
Unfortunately, uneducated CPA candidates often fall for these marketing shenanigans and it gives them a false sense of security.
What’s even worse is that when they dive into their first section and then end up failing it mentally destroys them.
I know this to be true because I experienced it first hand!
I failed and because I put my trust in a pass rate I immediately made the assumption I wasn’t smart enough to pass.
The truth ended up being that I was just studying the wrong way and that failure was built into the exam to teach me this invaluable lesson!
Thankfully you are here today researching this issue and now know the truth.
You should ignore pass rates altogether and just assume that each section of the CPA exam is equally difficult and that you need to give it everything you’ve got.
Meaning, not only do you need to research the right way to sign up for the CPA exam but you also want to research study tips and strategies to ensure you hit the ground running.
I have been helping connect CPA candidates to the best CPA review course for their learning style since 2013.
I have spent hundreds of hours researching and learning how CPA review courses work and how to use them efficiently.
The important thing to know is that not all CPA review courses are made the same.
The real difference is how the information is presented.
Depending on your learning style… you will like some CPA review courses and HATE others.
To help you quickly figure this out I put together an easy-to-read CPA Review Course comparison.
Learn More About The
Top CPA Review Courses
Failing the CPA Exam sucks… BUT it’s 100% normal! Learn how to recover mentally from failure, signup for a retake, how to study for your retake and how to pass the CPA exam here.
