The CPA exam credit window is 30 months long, and it runs separately for each section you pass. Every passing score launches its own 30-month timer starting on the AICPA score release date, and you have to clear all four sections before the earliest of those timers runs out. If one credit expires before you finish, you retake that section from scratch while the others keep counting down.
How the 30-Month Clock Works
Each section you pass gets its own independent countdown. NASBA’s Model Rule 5-7 describes this as a “rolling thirty (30) month period,” meaning each credit lives and dies on its own schedule rather than on a single shared deadline.1National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. NASBA Announces Historic Rule Amendment Following Record Exposure Draft Response
A concrete example makes it clearer. Pass Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR) with a score released in April 2026, and that FAR credit expires in October 2028. Pass Auditing (AUD) in September of the same year, and AUD’s credit doesn’t expire until March 2029. FAR’s October 2028 date is the deadline that drives your entire schedule, because that’s the first credit at risk.
If FAR expires before you pass your fourth section, only the FAR credit falls off. AUD and any other credits you’ve earned stay alive on their own timers. But now you have to retake and pass FAR, plus finish any remaining sections, before another credit ages out. This is where candidates get stuck in loops, retaking expired sections while newer ones creep toward their own deadlines.
Score Release Date, Not Exam Date
Your 30 months start when the AICPA officially releases your score, not the day you sat for the exam. Those two dates can be weeks apart. NASBA publishes a score release schedule each year, and scores generally post within 48 hours of the release date once NASBA receives them from the AICPA.2National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. Score Release Process – How it Works
The gap works in your favor. Take a section in early January and get scores in mid-February, and the clock doesn’t start until February. Write down the exact release date for every section you pass. When you’re 28 months in and squeezing in a final section, an extra two or three weeks can decide whether a credit survives.
The Four Sections You’re Racing to Finish
The exam has three Core sections that every candidate takes and one Discipline section you choose. The Core sections are Auditing and Attestation (AUD), Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR), and Taxation and Regulation (REG). The Discipline options are Business Analysis and Reporting (BAR), Information Systems and Controls (ISC), and Tax Compliance and Planning (TCP).3AICPA & CIMA. CPA Exam Credit Extension Deadline in June 2025
The 30-month window applies identically to all four, with no distinction between Core and Discipline credits. Each section is four hours, and the exam runs year-round through continuous testing, so you can schedule aggressively if you’re worried about a credit approaching expiration.4National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. CPA Exam FAQ
Check Your State Board’s Rule
NASBA’s Model Rules are recommendations, not mandates. Each of the 55 U.S. boards of accountancy decides independently whether to adopt the 30-month window.1National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. NASBA Announces Historic Rule Amendment Following Record Exposure Draft Response Most have, but some may enforce a different length or add procedural wrinkles of their own.
Confirm your board’s exact rule before you build a schedule. A few boards have adopted windows longer than 30 months; a few may still operate under something shorter or add local requirements. Your state board’s website or NASBA’s jurisdiction pages carry the current rule. Assuming 30 months when your board enforces something different is exactly the kind of mistake that costs a passed section.
What Happens When a Credit Expires
An expired credit means retaking that section: paying the exam fee again, restudying, sitting for it, and waiting for a new score. The exam fee is $262.64 per section, on top of your state’s application and registration fees, which run roughly $50 to $400 depending on the jurisdiction. Score transfers between states carry their own NASBA fees.5National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. Fee Schedule
Money is the smaller cost. The bigger one is time. Every month spent retaking a section you already passed is a month your other credits keep aging. One expiration commonly triggers a second, then a third. Candidates loop through this cycle for years before either finishing or walking away.
Hardship Extensions
Some state boards grant extensions when circumstances outside your control interfere with testing. NASBA’s own Exception to Policy process recognizes military deployment, medical emergencies, and visa rejections as grounds for NTS-level relief, and many state boards apply similar categories when reviewing requests to extend credits.6National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. Exception To Policy
Requests go through your state board, not NASBA. You’ll usually need a formal petition with supporting documentation such as military orders or a physician statement. File well before the credit expires, because boards typically review these at scheduled meetings and won’t hold your credit alive while paperwork sits in a queue.
Scheduling to Stay Inside the Window
Take the hardest section first. If it takes two attempts to pass FAR, you want those months at the front of your window, not at month 26 when other credits are already close to expiring. Front-loading difficulty gives you room to recover from a failed attempt.
If you’re working full-time, spacing sections four to six months apart finishes all four in 12 to 18 months and leaves a real buffer against the 30-month wall. Stretching to one section a year assumes nothing will go wrong. One failure or one life disruption at that pace, and month 25 arrives with two sections still to go.
Track every score release date. Set a calendar alert at the 24-month mark for your oldest live credit. By then you need to know exactly how many sections remain and whether your schedule can survive a failed attempt. If it can’t, that’s the moment to shift study hours, take time off, or make whatever change gets you across the line before a credit falls off.
NTS Expiration Is a Separate Timer
Don’t confuse the credit window with your Notice to Schedule. The NTS is valid for anywhere from 90 days to nine months depending on the jurisdiction, and if it expires before you sit, you lose the fees and have to reapply.4National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. CPA Exam FAQ An expired NTS has no effect on credits you’ve already earned; those sit on their own 30-month timers regardless. But wasted NTS fees and wasted weeks matter when you’re working against credit expiration, so only request an NTS when you’re genuinely ready to schedule and sit within its validity period.