CPA REG Study Plan — Regulation (Core)
CPA REG (Regulation) is the tax-heavy Core section with business law and professional responsibilities. Upload your Becker, Wiley/UWorld, Gleim, or Surgent REG notes and exclam.ai builds a fully guided study plan covering all 5 areas.
Exam format
4 hours. 72 MCQs and 8 TBSs. Scored 50% MCQs / 50% TBSs. Passing score: 75.
REG areas (AICPA Blueprint)
The 5 areas tested on REG, with approximate weights from the 2026 AICPA Blueprint. Each area is broken into groups, topics, and representative tasks in the full Blueprint PDF.
Ethics, Professional Responsibilities, and Federal Tax Procedures
10–20%Tax practice ethics, Circular 230, IRS practice and procedure, taxpayer penalties, statute of limitations.
- •IRS Circular 230 and preparer responsibilities
- •Penalties for tax preparers and taxpayers
- •Statute of limitations for assessment and collection
- •Tax return audits, appeals, and litigation
- •Authoritative hierarchy of tax sources
- •Taxpayer representation and authorization
- •Disclosure and confidentiality requirements
Business Law
15–25%Agency, contracts, UCC sales and secured transactions, debtor-creditor relationships, employment law, and business structures.
- •Agency relationships
- •Contracts (formation, performance, breach)
- •UCC Article 2 (sales)
- •UCC Article 9 (secured transactions)
- •Debtor-creditor relationships
- •Bankruptcy (Chapters 7, 11, 13)
- •Business structures (sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC, corporation)
- •Employment law basics
- •Federal securities regulation (1933 and 1934 Acts)
Federal Taxation of Property Transactions
5–15%Taxation of gains and losses on property sales, depreciation, capital gain/loss netting, and basis rules.
- •Basis calculation (cost, gift, inheritance)
- •Realized vs recognized gain or loss
- •Capital gains and losses (short-term, long-term)
- •Section 1231 property
- •Section 1245 and 1250 depreciation recapture
- •Like-kind exchanges (Section 1031)
- •Involuntary conversions
- •Wash sales
Federal Taxation of Individuals
22–32%Individual tax return preparation, filing status, gross income, deductions, credits, and alternative minimum tax.
- •Filing status determination
- •Gross income inclusions and exclusions
- •Above-the-line deductions (AGI adjustments)
- •Itemized deductions vs standard deduction
- •Personal and dependency exemptions
- •Tax credits (earned income, child tax, education)
- •Alternative minimum tax (AMT)
- •Estimated tax payments
- •Self-employment tax
Federal Taxation of Entities
23–33%Taxation of C corporations, S corporations, partnerships, trusts, and estates. Largest area on REG.
- •C corporation taxation
- •S corporation election and taxation
- •Partnership taxation and basis
- •Partner distributions and allocations
- •Trust and estate income taxation
- •Gift tax basics
- •Estate tax basics
- •Multi-jurisdictional taxation (state apportionment)
- •Tax-exempt organizations
Bloom's skill-level distribution
The AICPA Blueprint specifies what percentage of REG 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 | 25–35% |
| Application | 35–45% |
| Analysis | 25–35% |
How exclam.ai helps with REG
Area-weighted flashcards
Upload your REG review notes and exclam.ai generates flashcards weighted by area percentages. Heavy areas get more cards; light areas get proportionally fewer.
Skill-level-tuned quizzes
If REG is Application and Analysis heavy, quizzes generate accordingly — not just pure recall drills.
Adaptive review across sections
exclam.ai remembers what you know from FAR when you start AUD. Concepts that overlap (ratios, internal control) don't restart from zero.
Popular REG review courses
exclam.ai works alongside any of these review courses. Upload your session notes, we don't reproduce or redistribute commercial review content.
REG study plan
One adaptive CPA study plan with a built-in timeline toggle — pick a 6-, 8-, 12-, 16-, or 20-week window and the schedule recomputes for your section and exam date.
Open the CPA study planREG questions
How much of REG is tax vs business law?
Roughly 60-70% tax (Federal Taxation of Property, Individuals, Entities + Tax Procedures = 60–80%) and 15–25% business law. Ethics/Tax Procedures makes up the remaining 10–20%.
Do I need prior tax experience for REG?
No, but it helps. Candidates who completed tax courses in undergrad or work in tax/audit typically pass REG on first attempt. Candidates from audit-only backgrounds or industry accounting often need extra time.
How often does REG content change?
Tax law changes annually (new thresholds, phase-outs, credits). The AICPA Blueprints lag major tax law changes by 6–18 months. Study from materials published in the current year of your exam.
Start your REG plan today
Upload your review course notes and exclam.ai builds a fully guided plan aligned to the AICPA Blueprint.