CPA FAR (Financial Accounting and Reporting) is the broadest Core section and historically the lowest-pass-rate section. Upload your Becker, Wiley/UWorld, Gleim, or Surgent FAR notes and exclam.ai builds a fully guided study plan with adaptive flashcards and practice quizzes.
4 hours. 50 MCQs and 7 TBSs. Scored 50% MCQs / 50% TBSs. Passing score: 75.
The 3 areas tested on FAR, with approximate weights from the 2026 AICPA Blueprint. Each area is broken into groups, topics, and representative tasks in the full Blueprint PDF.
Preparation and presentation of financial statements for business enterprises, not-for-profits, and governmental entities. Conceptual framework and disclosures.
Measurement and reporting of specific balance sheet items including cash, receivables, inventory, PP&E, intangibles, investments, liabilities, and equity.
Accounting for specific transactions and events including revenue recognition, share-based compensation, income taxes, business combinations, and derivatives.
The AICPA Blueprint specifies what percentage of FAR tests each Bloom's skill level. Use this to calibrate how much pure memorization vs application vs analysis practice you need.
| Skill level | Weight |
|---|---|
| Remembering and Understanding | 5–15% |
| Application | 45–55% |
| Analysis | 35–45% |
Upload your FAR review notes and exclam.ai generates flashcards weighted by area percentages. Heavy areas get more cards; light areas get proportionally fewer.
If FAR is Application and Analysis heavy, quizzes generate accordingly — not just pure recall drills.
exclam.ai remembers what you know from FAR when you start AUD. Concepts that overlap (ratios, internal control) don't restart from zero.
exclam.ai works alongside any of these review courses. Upload your session notes — we don't reproduce or redistribute commercial review content.
Most candidates report 150–220 hours of prep over 10–16 weeks. FAR has the most raw content of any CPA section — roughly 40% more than AUD or REG. Budget 14–16 weeks if you have not recently taken intermediate accounting.
By pass rate, yes — FAR has historically been the lowest pass rate (around 40–45% per NASBA data). The breadth of topics is the main challenge. Most candidates who fail FAR fail because they under-studied one or two of the three areas.
Most prep providers recommend FAR first because other sections (especially AUD and BAR) build on FAR concepts. Taking FAR while still close to your undergraduate accounting coursework also helps. That said, FAR is the most time-intensive so some candidates prefer to save it.
Governmental and not-for-profit reporting are in the Financial Reporting area (30–40% of FAR). Expect roughly 10–15 MCQs plus possible TBS content on state and local governments and not-for-profits. Do not skip this content — it is testable.
Upload your review course notes and exclam.ai builds a fully guided plan aligned to the AICPA Blueprint.