CPA FAR exam-day guide
CPA FAR · Prepare for the day ahead.
Your checklist
Notice to Schedule (NTS)
Bring your NTS for the correct section, testing window, and appointment. Confirm with NASBA/Prometric whether a printed copy is required or an electronic copy is accepted. Verify the name on the NTS matches your ID exactly before test day.
Primary photo ID
A valid, unexpired government-issued photo ID with your signature (typically a driver's license or passport). The name must match your NTS exactly. Expired or name-mismatched IDs are a common reason candidates are turned away.
Secondary ID
Some jurisdictions require a second form of identification (for example, a credit card or another government ID). Confirm with NASBA/Prometric whether a second ID is required at your test center, and what qualifies.
Appointment confirmation and test center details
Have the confirmation number, test center address, and appointment time accessible. Reconfirm the appointment with the testing vendor in the 24-48 hours before test day and check for any changes to the location or start time.
Arrival plan with buffer time
Plan to arrive well before your appointment - 30 minutes early is a safe habit - to absorb traffic, parking, and check-in. Confirm with the provider the cutoff after which a late arrival may forfeit your seat and fees.
No personal calculator
Only the calculator built into the exam software is permitted during the FAR section. Do not bring your own calculator; it will not be allowed in the testing room.
No personal scratch paper or writing instruments
The test center supplies scratch materials, and they must be returned before you leave. Do not bring notebooks, notes, or your own pen or pencil into the testing room.
Leave prohibited items behind or in the locker
Phones, smartwatches, fitness trackers, earbuds, notes, and study materials must be stored in the provided locker. Do not carry any of these into the testing room, even powered off.
Break supplies
Bring water and a light snack to keep in your locker for the break, plus a layer of clothing since testing rooms are often cold. Keep it simple and quick so you do not lose focus.
Logistics for the full session
FAR is a 4-hour exam, so budget for roughly 4.5-5 hours on site including check-in and breaks. Clear the rest of the day and arrange transportation home in advance.
Sleep and fuel plan
Protect 7-8 hours of sleep the night before and plan a normal breakfast or meal. Test-day performance on a 4-hour exam drops noticeably when you are under-slept or hungry.
Confirmation of exam-day rules
Review the current candidate bulletin and the testing vendor's test-day rules for your jurisdiction, including ID requirements, break policy, and what happens if you need to leave the room.
Plan the day
Stop learning new material. Spend your time on high-yield FAR areas you already know are weak: governmental and not-for-profit accounting, revenue recognition, leases, bonds and debt extinguishment, deferred taxes, pensions, consolidations and equity method, EPS, statement of cash flows, adjusting entries, and subsequent events. Do timed sets of 25-30 multiple-choice questions mixing topics, then review every missed question to the underlying rule. Do at least one full task-based simulation set under time pressure using the on-screen calculator and authoritative literature.
Confirm logistics: re-read your NTS for section, date, time, and test center, verify the name matches your ID, confirm the appointment with the testing vendor, and map the route and parking. Set out your ID and NTS the night before, not the morning of.
Light review only: your own summary notes, journal-entry patterns, and formulas. No new practice exams and no marathon cramming. Pack your ID, NTS, confirmation, snack, and layer of clothing. Sleep on a normal schedule.
Eat a real meal, arrive 30 minutes early, and keep pre-exam review minimal - a one-page sheet at most. At check-in, present your ID and NTS, store everything prohibited in the locker, and use the restroom before you are seated.
Read the on-screen instructions and take the brief tutorial so you know how to flag questions, open the calculator, and access authoritative literature before the clock matters. Note your start time and write down your target checkpoint times.
Pace at roughly 1.25-1.5 minutes per question so 50 questions take about 70-80 minutes. Answer every question - there is no penalty for a wrong answer, so never leave a blank. Flag genuinely time-consuming items, make a best guess, and move on; return only if time remains.
Reserve roughly 100-110 minutes for the 7 simulations, and check the clock after each one. Read the requirements before the exhibits so you know what to extract. Use the on-screen calculator and the authoritative literature for research-style simulations, and use scratch materials to lay out journal entries and computations. If a simulation stalls, enter your best supported answer and move to the next one.
Take a short break when the exam offers one - stand, hydrate, eat a few bites - and keep it brief. Confirm with the provider in advance whether the clock runs during breaks so you can plan the length of your break.
Use remaining time to make sure every question and simulation field has an answer, then submit. Do not second-guess large numbers of answers with only seconds left; change an answer only when you have a specific reason.
Rules to check
Bring an unexpired government-issued photo ID with your signature, and make sure the name matches your Notice to Schedule exactly. A mismatch or expiration can bar you from testing and forfeit your fees.
Bring the correct NTS for the section, testing window, and appointment. Confirm with NASBA or the testing vendor whether a printed copy is required; do not assume an electronic copy will be accepted.
Phones, smartwatches, notes, and study materials are not permitted in the testing room and must be stored in the locker. Keep devices off and out of sight; possession in the room can void your exam.
Only the calculator provided in the exam software may be used, and test-center-supplied scratch materials must be returned before you leave the building.
There is no penalty for incorrect answers and unanswered questions are scored as wrong, so answer every multiple-choice question and complete every simulation field.
FAR is scored on a scaled basis with a passing score of 75; your result comes on the published score release schedule rather than at the test center, so confirm the current release dates with NASBA.
You agree to confidentiality terms when you test: do not discuss, reproduce, or share specific exam questions or content with anyone afterward.