BAR CPA Exam (2026): What Is on Business Analysis and Reporting
Kyle Ashcraft, CPA · 2019 CPA Exam Scores · 95 FAR · 98 BEC · 91 REG · 90 AUD
I should say this first: I have not sat BAR. I took the four-part exam in 2019, before Disciplines existed, so I cannot tell you what BAR felt like on exam day. What I can do is read the AICPA's 2026 blueprint closely and tell you what it asks of you, which is more useful than a story anyway.
BAR stands for Business Analysis and Reporting. It is one of three Discipline sections, and the one with the most accounting in it. This page covers what is on it, how it is scored, where the hard part is, and how I would study for it.
Quick answer: BAR is a four-hour section with 50 multiple-choice questions and 7 task-based simulations, each worth half of your score. It has three content areas: Business Analysis (40 to 50%), Technical Accounting and Reporting (35 to 45%), and State and Local Governments (10 to 20%). The first area is about analyzing numbers. The second is a long list of advanced reporting topics you have to know cold. Take it right after FAR if you can.
On this page
Last updated October 2026. Format, area weights, skill levels and topic lists are from the AICPA Uniform CPA Examination Blueprints effective January 2026. Scheduling rules are from the NASBA CPA Exam FAQ as read on October 12, 2026, and can vary by state board. Task counts below are counts of the representative tasks the blueprint lists, which the AICPA says are not an all-inclusive list.
How is the BAR section built?
| BAR at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Time | 4 hours |
| Multiple-choice questions | 50, in two testlets of 25 |
| Task-based simulations | 7, in three testlets of 2, 3 and 2 |
| Score weight | 50% multiple choice, 50% simulations |
| Remembering and understanding | 10 to 20% |
| Application | 45 to 55% |
| Analysis | 30 to 40% |
You need a 75 on the 0 to 99 scale, and your score is not the percentage of questions you got right. The three skill rows are the part to read. Less than a fifth of BAR is plain recall. Most of it asks you to apply a method to numbers, and nearly 40% at the high end asks you to analyze, meaning explain what the numbers say and what to do about them.
Simulations count for half your score, so they are not a side dish. If you only practice multiple choice, you are practicing half of the exam.
What does BAR cover?
| Content area | Weight |
|---|---|
| I. Business Analysis | 40 to 50% |
| II. Technical Accounting and Reporting | 35 to 45% |
| III. State and Local Governments | 10 to 20% |
Area I: Business Analysis
This is the managerial side. The blueprint splits it into current-period analysis and forward-looking analysis. Current-period work covers financial statement analysis, non-financial and non-GAAP measures such as EBITDA and free cash flow, and managerial and cost accounting, including variance analysis and price, volume and mix analysis. Forward-looking work covers budgeting and forecasting, capital structure and the cost of capital, investment decisions using net present value, payback and internal rate of return, risk management including the COSO enterprise risk management framework, and economic and market influences such as supply and demand.
Area II: Technical Accounting and Reporting
This is a list, and it is a long one. The blueprint names eleven topics:
- Indefinite-lived intangible assets, including goodwill
- Internally developed software
- Revenue recognition
- Stock compensation (share-based payments)
- Research and development costs
- Business combinations
- Consolidated financial statements
- Derivatives and hedge accounting
- Leases
- Public company reporting topics, including Regulation S-X and S-K
- Financial statements of employee benefit plans
Area III: State and Local Governments
The smallest area, but a full one. It covers the government-wide and fund financial statements, the notes, management's discussion and analysis, budgetary comparison, the reporting entity and component units, how you convert fund statements to government-wide statements, and measurement of items such as net position, fund balances, capital assets, interfund activity and nonexchange revenue under the modified accrual basis.
Where is BAR hard?
The easiest way to see it is to count the representative tasks the blueprint lists for BAR. There are 112: 58 at the application level, 34 at remembering and understanding, and 20 at analysis. They are not spread evenly.
| Content area | Recall | Application | Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
| I. Business Analysis | 3 | 18 | 17 |
| II. Technical Accounting and Reporting | 17 | 16 | 3 |
| III. State and Local Governments | 14 | 24 | 0 |
Read that table as two different exams stitched together. Business Analysis holds 17 of the 20 analysis tasks, so it is where you have to interpret: explain a variance, judge a capital structure, compare investment alternatives. Technical Accounting holds half of all the recall tasks, so it is where you have to simply know the rules, such as the criteria to capitalize internal-use software or the impairment indicators for goodwill. Governments is mostly application: prepare the reconciliation, calculate the fund balance.
My read of the blueprint: BAR punishes two different habits. If you only memorize, Area I will cost you, because it asks you to interpret. If you only work problems, Area II will cost you, because it expects you to recall long lists of criteria without a calculation to lean on. You need both.
How does BAR relate to FAR?
The AICPA advises taking a Discipline right after its related Core section, and for BAR that is FAR. The overlap is real. FAR's blueprint already includes consolidated financial statements, revenue recognition, lessee accounting, public company reporting topics, state and local government concepts and financial statement ratios, and BAR takes each of those further.
Here is where it goes further, comparing the two blueprints. Several of BAR's technical topics do not appear in the FAR blueprint at all: derivatives and hedge accounting, business combinations, share-based payments, research and development costs, internally developed software, goodwill and indefinite-lived intangibles, and employee benefit plan statements. Leases move from lessee accounting in FAR to include how a lessor classifies a lease in BAR. And the whole business analysis area, with its budgeting, valuation and cost accounting, is new ground.
So FAR helps, but it does not finish the job. A strong FAR score means you are comfortable with the way the reporting works, not that you have seen these topics.
How would I study for BAR?
I have not sat it, so this is how I would plan from the blueprint, not a tested method.
- Treat Area II as a checklist. There are eleven topics. For each one, be able to state the recognition criteria in your own words, then work the entries. Tick them off as you go.
- Work Area I with a calculation and a sentence. For every variance, ratio or investment decision, compute it, then write one line saying what it means and what you would recommend. That is the analysis skill in practice.
- Do the governments area once, carefully. It is the smallest weight and the most mechanical. Learn the statement structure and the fund-to-government-wide conversion, then practice the reconciliations.
- Practice simulations early. They are half the score, and the format rewards having seen it before.
- Schedule it for the first month of a quarter. NASBA's FAQ says Discipline sections can only be scheduled in the first month of each quarter, so a missed window can cost you three months. Check your state board.
Is BAR the right Discipline for you?
BAR tends to suit candidates who liked FAR, who work in corporate reporting, FP&A, valuation or government accounting, or who enjoy interpreting numbers. If you work in tax or IT audit, TCP or ISC may fit better. My comparison of BAR, ISC and TCP lays the three side by side, and the 30-month credit window page covers how long you have to finish. For the order of sections, see the best order to take the CPA exams.
I would not choose by published pass rates. They describe who sat the exam, not how hard it is for you.
What does Maxwell CPA Review include for BAR?
BAR is part of the same course as the Core sections. Since I have not sat BAR myself, I built it from the blueprint, so read the specs with that in mind.
| Discipline | Video | MCQs | TBS |
|---|---|---|---|
| BAR | 5 hrs | 700 | 15 |
Sources: AICPA Uniform CPA Examination Blueprints, effective January 2026 (format, weights, skill levels, topic lists and representative tasks for BAR and FAR); AICPA, "Seven things to know about the new CPA Exam" (Discipline choice and order); NASBA CPA Exam FAQ (Discipline scheduling). Read October 12 to 14, 2026. Task counts are my own count of the blueprint's representative tasks.
Frequently asked questions
What is the BAR section of the CPA exam?
BAR is Business Analysis and Reporting, one of three Discipline sections. It is four hours with 50 multiple-choice questions and 7 task-based simulations, each worth half your score. It covers business analysis, advanced technical accounting and state and local governments.
What is on the BAR exam?
Business Analysis (40 to 50%), Technical Accounting and Reporting (35 to 45%) and State and Local Governments (10 to 20%). Technical Accounting names eleven topics, including revenue recognition, leases, business combinations, consolidations and derivatives.
Is BAR harder than FAR?
I cannot say from experience, since I have not sat BAR. The blueprints put FAR's analysis share slightly higher (35 to 45%, against 30 to 40% for BAR), but BAR adds technical topics FAR does not list. Which is harder depends on your background and what you do for work.
When should I take BAR?
The AICPA recommends taking a Discipline right after its related Core section, which for BAR is FAR. NASBA's FAQ says Discipline sections can only be scheduled in the first month of each quarter, so plan around that and check with your state board.
What score do I need to pass BAR?
A 75 on the 0 to 99 scale, as with every section. Your score is not the percentage of questions answered correctly.
Start with the free CPA 101 course
Practice all 25 of the 2026 AICPA released MCQs, plus a free study outline, and see whether the explanations work for you. FAR, AUD and REG tracks available. No credit card required.
Kyle Ashcraft, CPA scored 90 or above on every section of the CPA exam in 2019. He is the founder and sole instructor of Maxwell CPA Review, where he creates every lecture, textbook and study outline himself.
Reach him at MaxwellCPAreview@gmail.com.
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