CPA Exam Scores and Pass Rates

Just sat for a CPA exam section? You've got a nail-biting wait before you get your score.

The CPA exam is hard. Most sections have a pass rate under 50%. Now consider that they won't even let you sit the exam unless you have a master's degree or an MBA.

This exam chews up high achievers and spits them out.

So naturally it's going to be a nervous wait. How long do you need to wait though?

Getting your CPA Exam Score

The AICPA put all exam results through multiple quality assurance procedures before releasing results to NASBA. This takes time. It might take a week or two to get your score.

Click here to see the current score release timetable on the AICPA website.

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CPA Exam Pass Rates

Section	Q1	Q2	Q3
Auditing and Attestation (AUD)	49.27%	54.70%	51.07%
Business Environment and Concepts (BEC)	56.43%	60.31%	60.17%
Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR)	41.59%	49.17%	48.85%
Regulation (REG)	49.99%	55.75%	56.55%

The Elijah Watt Sells Award

Want to really prove yourself? You could go for the Elijah Watt Sells award. This is like winning gold at the Olympics.. but rarer.

To win this award, you need to pass every section on the first try with a cumulative average score of 95.5 across each section.

That's an incredible task. But it's not impossible. In 2015, there were 75 winners.