AUD Core
25%of exam
FAR Core
25%of exam
REG Core
25%of exam
Chosen Discipline
25%of exam
Quick Facts
- Model
- 3 Core + 1 Discipline
- Sections
- 4 passed sections
- Time
- 4 hours each
- Total time
- 16 hours
- Pass
- 75 scaled
- Scale
- 0-99
- Vendor
- Prometric
- Testing
- Continuous testing
- Blueprint
- Jan 1 2026
Audit Risk
IR and CR drive DR.
InherentControlDetectionAudit risk
Controls vs Substantive
Controls
- Operating effectiveness
- Reduce control risk
- Reperformance useful
Substantive
- Detect misstatement
- Details/analytics
- Always required
Prevent vs detect
Audit Picker
- Assess control design→Walkthrough
- Test operating controls→Reperformance
- Verify receivables→Confirmation
- Find unusual trends→Analytics
- Management claim→Assertion
- Scope limitation→Qualified/disclaimer
AUD Blueprint
- Ethics
- 15-25%
- Risk response
- 25-35%
- Evidence
- 30-40%
- Reporting
- 10-20%
- Analysis
- 15-25%
- Evaluation
- 5-15%
COSO Components
CRIME controls the system.
Control environmentRisk assessmentInformationMonitoringExisting activities
Qualified vs Adverse
Qualified
- Material issue
- Not pervasive
- Except for
Adverse
- Material issue
- Pervasive
- Not fair
Limited vs pervasive
AUD Core
- Independence
- Attest objectivity
- Materiality
- User decision threshold
- Audit risk
- IR x CR x DR
- Assertions
- Management claims
- Sampling
- Population inference
- Going concern
- One-year doubt
- Specialist
- Expert evidence
- Subsequent events
- After date evidence
Audit Reports
- Unmodified
- Fairly presented
- Qualified
- Except for issue
- Adverse
- Not fairly presented
- Disclaimer
- No opinion
- Emphasis
- Properly disclosed matter
- CAM
- Critical audit matter
Audit Procedures
- Inspection
- Examine records/assets
- Observation
- Watch process
- Inquiry
- Ask knowledgeable persons
- Confirmation
- External response
- Recalculation
- Check math
- Reperformance
- Redo control
- Analytics
- Expectation comparison
- Cutoff
- Proper period
Revenue Steps
Contract, obligations, price, allocate, recognize.
ContractObligationsPriceAllocateRecognize
Accrual vs Cash
Accrual
- Earned/incurred
- GAAP basis
- Receivables/payables
Cash
- Received/paid
- Tax-friendly
- Simpler timing
Economic vs cash
FAR Picker
- Customer contract→ASC 606
- Lease over year→ROU model
- Bond discount→Effective interest
- Indirect CFO→Adjust net income
- NFP restriction→Donor categories
- Government fund→Modified accrual
FAR Blueprint
- Financial reporting
- 30-40%
- Balance accounts
- 30-40%
- Transactions
- 25-35%
- Application
- 45-55%
- Analysis
- 35-45%
- Remembering
- 5-15%
Cash Flows
OIF separates business cash stories.
OperatingInvestingFinancing
Operating vs Financing
Operating
- Net income activities
- Interest paid GAAP
- Working capital
Financing
- Debt/equity flows
- Dividends paid
- Treasury stock
Earnings vs capital
Financial Statements
- Balance sheet
- A = L + E
- Income statement
- Performance period
- OCI
- Bypasses net income
- Cash flows
- Operating investing financing
- EPS
- Earnings per share
- Segments
- 10% thresholds
- Interim
- Integral period
- NFP
- Donor restrictions
Balance Accounts
- AR
- Net realizable value
- Inventory
- Cost or NRV
- PPE
- Capitalize long-lived assets
- Intangibles
- Amortize finite lives
- Leases
- ROU asset/liability
- Bonds
- Amortized cost
- Equity
- Ownership claims
- Contingencies
- Probable and estimable
Select Transactions
- ASC 606
- Five revenue steps
- Income taxes
- Deferred tax effects
- FX
- Remeasure or translate
- Derivatives
- Fair value focus
- Stock comp
- Grant-date fair value
- Business combos
- Acquisition method
- Governmental
- Fund accounting
- Research costs
- Generally expensed
Contract Elements
Offer, acceptance, consideration create contracts.
OfferAcceptanceConsiderationCapacityLegality
Deduction vs Credit
Deduction
- Reduces taxable income
- Rate dependent
- Above/below line
Credit
- Reduces tax
- Dollar-for-dollar
- Refundable possible
Income vs tax
Tax Picker
- Individual return→Form 1040
- Partnership return→Form 1065
- C corporation→Form 1120
- S corporation→Form 1120-S
- Tax authority→IRC first
- Client representation→Circular 230
REG Blueprint
- Tax procedures
- 10-20%
- Business law
- 15-25%
- Property tax
- 5-15%
- Individuals
- 22-32%
- Entities
- 23-33%
- Application
- 35-45%
S Corp vs Partnership
S corp
- Stock basis
- Debt basis limited
- Reasonable comp
Partnership
- Outside basis
- Liabilities included
- Guaranteed payments
Shareholder vs partner
Individual Tax
- Gross income
- All income unless excluded
- AGI
- Above-line adjusted income
- Itemized
- Schedule A deductions
- Credits
- Tax dollar reduction
- Capital gains
- Holding-period driven
- Passive losses
- Activity limitations
- AMT
- Parallel tax system
- NIIT
- Investment surtax
Entity Tax
- C corp
- Entity tax
- S corp
- Pass-through election
- Partnership
- Form 1065
- Schedule K-1
- Owner allocation
- Basis
- Loss/distribution limit
- QBI
- Section 199A
- Payroll
- Employment taxes
- Exempt org
- Form 990
Business Law
- Contract
- Offer acceptance consideration
- Agency
- Principal-agent authority
- Suretyship
- Answer for debt
- UCC sales
- Goods contracts
- Secured
- Attachment perfection priority
- Bankruptcy
- Creditor priority
- Commercial paper
- Negotiable instruments
- Ethics
- Professional responsibilities
Discipline Map
BAR-FAR, ISC-AUD, TCP-REG.
BARISCTCPChoose one
MCQ vs TBS
MCQ
- Discrete selection
- Scaled difficulty
- Two testlets
TBS
- Applied scenario
- Document review
- Three testlets
Recall vs application
Discipline Picker
- Strong FAR→BAR(Accounting depth)
- Strong AUD/IT→ISC(Systems controls)
- Strong REG/tax→TCP(Tax planning)
- Need easier scoring→Check pass rates
- Public audit path→AUD then ISC
- Tax path→REG then TCP
Exam Structure
- AUD
- 78 MCQ, 7 TBS
- FAR
- 50 MCQ, 7 TBS
- REG
- 72 MCQ, 8 TBS
- BAR
- 50 MCQ, 7 TBS
- ISC
- 82 MCQ, 6 TBS
- TCP
- 68 MCQ, 7 TBS
Core vs Discipline
Core
- AUD
- FAR
- REG
Discipline
- Choose one
- BAR/ISC/TCP
- Same CPA license
Required vs chosen
Score Weights
- AUD score
- 50 MCQ, 50 TBS
- FAR score
- 50 MCQ, 50 TBS
- REG score
- 50 MCQ, 50 TBS
- BAR score
- 50 MCQ, 50 TBS
- ISC score
- 60 MCQ, 40 TBS
- TCP score
- 50 MCQ, 50 TBS
BAR Blueprint
- Business analysis
- 40-50%
- Technical accounting
- 35-45%
- State governments
- 10-20%
- Forecasting
- Prospective analysis
- Ratios
- Performance diagnostics
- Governmental
- Fund reporting
ISC Blueprint
- Systems/data
- 35-45%
- Security/privacy
- 35-45%
- SOC
- 15-25%
- ITGC
- General controls
- Cybersecurity
- Protect systems/data
- Privacy
- Personal data rules
TCP Blueprint
- Individuals
- 30-40%
- Entity compliance
- 30-40%
- Entity planning
- 10-20%
- Property
- 10-20%
- Planning
- After-tax optimization
- Transactions
- Gain/loss character
Common Traps
Score Is Not Percent
75 scaled score ≠ 75% correct
ISC Scoring Differs
60% MCQ ≠ 50% MCQ
NTS Is Required
Valid NTS entry ≠ Application alone
Eligibility Is Local
Jurisdiction rules ≠ One national rule
Audit Risk Model
Auditor changes DR ≠ Auditor changes IR
Compilation Not Audit
No assurance ≠ Reasonable assurance
GAAP Interest Paid
Operating activity ≠ Financing activity
Tax Basis Limits
Losses need basis ≠ Losses always deductible
Last Minute
- 1.Pass AUD FAR REG plus one
- 2.Each section is four hours
- 3.Passing score equals 75 scaled
- 4.ISC uses 60/40 scoring
- 5.Blueprints set tested content
- 6.AUD evidence weighs most
- 7.FAR application dominates
- 8.REG entities slightly edge individuals
- 9.BAR builds on FAR
- 10.TCP pairs naturally with REG
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