Best Order to Take the CPA Exam in 2026

Quick answer: my default CPA Exam order

The 30-second decision

If you have no obvious strength, a practical starting point is FAR → AUD, then move into the Core section most closely related to your Discipline.

Why your Discipline should affect your order

The three Discipline sections are not completely isolated from the Core exams. There are natural pairings that can help you keep useful knowledge fresh.

That does not mean the questions are identical. It means you are less likely to let useful knowledge go cold before studying the more specialized material.

Best CPA Exam order if you choose ISC

AUD and ISC have a useful relationship. AUD gets you thinking about internal controls, risk, evidence, business processes, and assurance. ISC pushes further into systems, controls, technology, and information.

Instead of studying AUD and then waiting months before touching ISC, you can keep that mindset active.

Could you start with AUD?

Yes. If audit is one of your strongest subjects, AUD → ISC → FAR → REG is completely reasonable. I would rather have someone begin with a section they are prepared to study seriously than force FAR first solely because someone on the internet said FAR always has to be first.

Best CPA Exam order if you choose TCP

There is also a strong tax-focused alternative: REG → TCP → FAR → AUD.

REG and TCP are the pairing I would protect most aggressively. If you just spent weeks learning federal taxation for REG, you already have tax rules, terminology, and entity concepts sitting in recent memory. Use them.

Do not intentionally put months between REG and TCP unless your schedule gives you a reason to.

Best CPA Exam order if you choose BAR

BAR is naturally connected to FAR. Taking FAR first gives you a fresh financial reporting foundation before moving into more advanced reporting and analysis concepts.

If BAR is your Discipline, I would avoid putting two entire exam sections between FAR and BAR unless there is a specific scheduling reason.

Should you take FAR first?

For a lot of candidates, yes. FAR is a reasonable starting point because financial accounting provides useful context for other areas of the CPA Exam and often requires substantial preparation.

The best first section is not automatically the hardest one. It is the section that gives you the strongest combination of existing knowledge + motivation + useful overlap with what comes next.

What order did I take?

I passed all four sections on my first attempt. My actual order was:

FAR → ISC → AUD → REG

Would I tell every candidate to copy that exact order? No.

It worked for me, but if I were designing the cleanest ISC sequence purely around content overlap, I would probably put AUD immediately before ISC: FAR → AUD → ISC → REG.

You can learn from someone else's strategy without pretending their exact calendar is automatically your best calendar.

Hard first or easy first?

Neither approach makes you a better CPA candidate. The goal is to pass four sections, not win an award for choosing the most painful order.

Do not choose your order using pass rates alone

It is tempting to look at pass rates and immediately choose whichever section appears easiest. I would not build an entire CPA plan that way.

A national pass rate does not know what classes you recently took, whether you work in audit or tax, which subjects you naturally understand, how long you have been out of school, which Discipline you chose, or how many hours you can study each week.

Use pass rates as context. Do not use them as your entire strategy.

A better way to pick your first section

Score yourself from 1 to 5 in each category.

Your highest score is a strong candidate for your first section. It is not a scientific formula. It is just better than choosing randomly.

What if you already started in a different order?

Do not restart your entire plan because an article told you there is a better sequence.

If you are halfway through REG, finish REG. If you already scheduled AUD, take AUD. If you already passed two sections, build around the two you have left.

My rule for choosing the next exam

Which section lets me reuse the most knowledge I already have right now?

If your Discipline does not match the Core section you just completed, move to whichever remaining Core section makes the most sense for your background.

Example CPA Exam orders

What matters more than your exam order

A perfect order will not compensate for ineffective studying.

You could choose the theoretically perfect sequence and still waste hours passively reviewing material you already understand. Your study process matters more.

Attempt → Diagnose → Review → Retest

If you get something right and understand why, move on. If you get it wrong, find the underlying concept. If the same weakness keeps appearing, increase the depth of your review.

Build your CPA plan

CPA Exam order FAQ

What is the best order to take the CPA Exam?

For a general accounting candidate, FAR → AUD → REG → Discipline is a reasonable starting structure, but your Discipline should affect the final sequence. ISC candidates can benefit from keeping AUD and ISC together. TCP candidates can benefit from keeping REG and TCP together. BAR candidates can benefit from keeping FAR and BAR together.

Which CPA Exam should I take first?

FAR is a strong first choice for many candidates, particularly those with a general accounting background. However, candidates with strong tax experience may prefer REG, while audit-focused candidates may reasonably start with AUD.

Should I take FAR before AUD?

Usually, this is a logical order. Financial reporting knowledge from FAR can provide useful context when studying auditing, but it is not mandatory.

Should I take AUD before ISC?

If ISC is your Discipline, taking AUD shortly before ISC can be useful because both involve controls, risks, systems, and assurance-related concepts.

Should I take REG before TCP?

If TCP is your Discipline, keeping REG and TCP close together is one of the most logical section pairings because both involve federal taxation.

Should I take FAR before BAR?

For BAR candidates, FAR is a logical section to take immediately before BAR because BAR builds further into financial reporting and analysis topics.

Do I have to take the CPA Exam sections in a specific order?

No. You can choose the order that works best for your background and study plan.

Is FAR always the hardest CPA Exam?

Not necessarily. Different candidates struggle with different material. Someone with a strong financial accounting background may find FAR more manageable than AUD or REG, while another candidate may experience the opposite.

The takeaway

There is no magic CPA Exam order. But there is a simple framework:

FAR → BAR    AUD → ISC    REG → TCP

Pair related sections, then decide whether you want to begin with FAR or with your strongest subject.

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