As a CPA Candidate or future CPA Candidate, you might be wondering what the AUD CPA Exam is and how many hours you should study for it. The Auditing & Attestation (AUD) section of the CPA Exam assesses the necessary knowledge and skills a newly licensed CPA (nlCPA) must exhibit when performing audit engagements, attestation engagements or accounting, review service engagement, and the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct. The AUD CPA Exam examines how well a CPA candidate applies their audit and attestation knowledge when solving problems and performing specific tasks laid out in the AICPA Blueprints; not how well they are able to memorize auditing concepts.
Types of Questions on the AUD Exam
The AUD Exam is four hours long and consists of 72 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) administered in two testlets and 8 Task-Based Simulations (TBSs) administered in three testlets. There are no Written Communication (WC) questions on the AUD Exam.
| Section | Section Time | MCQs | TBS | WC |
| AUD | 4 Hours | 72 | 8 | 0 |
Skills Tested on the AUD Exam
The skills required on the AUD Exam are divided between remembering & understanding, application, analysis, and evaluation.
| Section | Remembering & Understanding | Application | Analysis | Evaluation |
| AUD | 25–35% | 30–40% | 20–30% | 5–15% |
Remembering and understanding are the observation and understanding of the significance of an area utilizing knowledge gained.
Application is the use or exhibition of knowledge, concepts, or techniques.
The analysis is the investigation of the interrelationships of separate areas to identify causes and find confirmation to support implications.
Evaluation is the assessment of problems and the use of personal judgment to derive conclusions.
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AUD Exam Content
The blueprint for the AUD Exam is organized by area, group, and topic. When performing audit engagements or accounting and review engagements, a CPA might be expected to complete representative tasks that are included within each topic. The tasks included in the AUD blueprint are typically applied to the following engagement types: Audit engagement, attestation engagements, and accounting and review service engagements.
AUD Exam Content Allocation
The five AUD Exam content areas and their allocation percentages are broken down in the chart below.
| Content Area | Allocation | |
| Area I | Ethics, Professional Responsibilities, and General Principles | 15–25% |
| Area II | Assessing Risk and Developing a Planned Response | 25–35% |
| Area III | Performing Further Procedures and Obtaining Evidence | 30–40% |
| Area IV | Forming Conclusions and Reporting | 10–20% |
AUD Exam Time Strategies
Preparing for the AUD Exam is challenging in both the effort and time needed to properly plan for success. With so much to focus on when studying for the exam, it is important to understand time management on exam day. The chart below is a sample time strategy breakdown to consider for the four-hour AUD Exam on test day.
In order to optimize your time the most when you arrive at the test center, write your countdown times as soon as you sit to take the exam. We suggest:
- Aiming to be approximately halfway through your time after Testlet 3
- Take the built-in 15-minute break
- Keep the approximate question time in mind to stay on track
- MCQ: 75 –84 seconds
- TBS (General): 15-20 minute
- TBS (Complex): 20-25 minutes
- Research: 10 minutes
AUD Exam Scoring
A candidate’s AUD score consists of 50% MCQs while the remaining 50% comes from TBSs. The weight of the final score for a candidate will be distributed evenly between MCQs and TBSs.
| Section | MCQs | TBS | WC |
| AUD | 50% | 50% | 0% |
Hours Needed to Study for the AUD Exam
CPA Candidates often ask how many hours it takes to study for the AUD Exam. The AICPA recommends that CPA Candidates spend a minimum of 300 to 400 hours to study for the CPA Exam. That’s about 16.7 days of consecutive study time—needless to say, it’s a lot. Because we all learn differently, some sections will require more study hours than others due to the volume of material included in a section and how quickly one is able to grasp and retain the study material. Taking your study style into account and having the proper expectations on hours needed to study for and pass the CPA Exam is vital to your success. So, remember to be realistic about how many hours it will take for you to pass the CPA Exam when creating a study plan.
AUD Exam Study Tips
If you’re ready to start studying for the AUD Exam now, we suggest considering some of our study tips below.
- Create a game plan and study schedule.
- Set boundaries to protect your study time by saying “no” when you need to study.
- Ask for support from family and friends.
- Get plenty of sleep, eat well, and stay physically active.
- Study on the go with mobile devices to turn a walk, workout, or time waiting in line into a study session.
- Study smarter by not wasting time with ineffective study methods.
- Keep your eyes on the end goal and remember why you’re taking this journey.
Source: CPA Exam Blueprints