It is the state board of accountancy that makes the decision as to whether you are ready to take the CPA exam. If they make this determination, they will send you a Notice to Schedule, or an NTS. It is only after you have received an NTS that you can schedule your CPA exam. After you have received this notice, you can get in touch with Prometric Services in order to schedule your time for one of the sections of the CPA exam. You will need to select the date, the time as well as the location for the exam. It is possible to schedule an exam online through their website. However, you can also do so by phone.

Each and every year, you have 4 testing time periods that you can select from. There are January and February, April and May, July and August, and October and November. Available examination days will vary depending on your location. Some locations have the CPA exam available 6 days every week, making it more convenient to schedule a time that is right for you.

You will select which of the 4 sections you wish to write. You can do any of them in any specific test window, but if you fail a section, you cannot re-sit for it in the same time window. There is another rule that is applicable to those who take the CPA exam: you have 18 months to pass all four sections. The clock will start ticking from the time when you pass the first section.

I would recommend that you not take multiple sections in the same time window, but rather spread them out evenly. It is of general consensus that you should study for 3 months to prepare yourself for each section, which makes it a bad idea to take more than one section of the exam in one test window, unless you have recently graduated from college and still remember most of the material that you have learned. » Read more: CPA Exam Schedule – How to Schedule Your Exam Dates