CPA Radar
Blueprint refreshes, policy changes, and deadlines that affect CPA candidates. Every item carries a last-verified date because CPA Exam information changes.
The old 18-month credit window has been replaced by a rolling 30-month window in most jurisdictions, generally measured from the score release date of your first passed section. It gives working candidates much more room to recover from a failed attempt, but confirm how your own board measures it.
SourceA growing number of state boards now license CPAs with a bachelor's degree (120 semester hours) plus two years of supervised experience, as an alternative to the traditional 150 hours plus one year. As of July 2026 about two dozen jurisdictions had the pathway in force, New York's pathway takes effect in November 2026, and several more states have enacted it for late 2026 or 2027. The CPA Exam itself is unchanged. For Indian candidates, the key question is still whether your evaluated education reaches 120 US semester hours; a 3-year B.Com on its own often does not.
SourceThird-party sites quote different figures for the 2026 exam fee and the India international administration fee. We now track fees only from NASBA's own pages: $268.59 per section for the exam and $460 per section for testing in India. CPA Exam fees change, so always confirm with NASBA or your state board before you pay — see our Fee Estimator (/fees) for the figures we currently track, each with its source and verification date.
SourceBAR, ISC, and TCP continue to be offered only in four testing windows annually (January, April, July, and October), unlike the Core sections (FAR, AUD, REG), which are offered year-round under continuous testing. Plan Discipline scheduling around these windows.
SourceThe 2026 AUD Blueprint updates its Area I references to reflect SQMS No. 1, AICPA's new suite of quality management standards for accounting firms, effective for firms since December 15, 2025.
SourceAICPA's updated CPA Exam Blueprints effective January 1, 2026 refine references, clarify representative task statements, and align with current professional standards (including the new SQMS No. 1 quality management standards referenced in AUD). The overall exam structure — three Core sections plus one Discipline, format, and timing — remains unchanged.
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