What is the cheapest possible CPA budget?

A candidate using NINJA at $67 per month for nine months ($600), paying NASBA exam fees ($1,200), low state fees ($150), and a single license application without any retakes or ethics course could complete the CPA exam process for roughly $2,100. This assumes no retakes, which is unrealistic for most candidates given the section pass rates, so $2,500 to $2,800 is a more honest minimum.

What are the most expensive states for CPA exam fees?

California, New York, Massachusetts, and Hawaii typically have the highest combined application and registration fees, ranging from $150 to $400 across the four-section process. The most affordable states include Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, and parts of the Midwest, which run $50 to $150 for the same fees. The state-by-state breakdown is at /research/cpa-costs-by-state.

Does my employer pay for these fees too if they cover the review course?

It depends on the employer. Most Big 4 firms reimburse the review course fully but cover the NASBA and state fees only partially or as part of a separate professional development allowance. Smaller firms vary widely. Confirm specifically what is reimbursed before assuming the entire $4,000 process is covered. The review course is usually the largest covered item.

What if I fail a section?

You re-pay the NASBA examination fee (roughly $254) and the state registration fee ($50 to $200) to schedule the retake. The total cost of one retake runs $300 to $450 depending on the state. Most candidates should budget for one retake somewhere across the four-section sequence given that average section pass rates run 42 to 77 percent on first attempts.

Are there any tax deductions for CPA exam costs?

CPA review course costs and exam fees are generally not tax-deductible for individual candidates pursuing initial licensure, because the IRS treats them as costs of qualifying for a new profession rather than maintaining an existing one. CPAs who later take continuing education or specialty exams can deduct those costs as professional development. Talk to a tax professional before assuming any portion is deductible in your situation.

Analysis

How Much Does the CPA Exam Cost in 2026? (Beyond the Review Course)

The total cost of getting your CPA license in 2026 runs $4,000 to $6,500 depending on your state, your review course, and how many sections you fail on the way. A line-item budget walkthrough.

Published May 27, 20267 min read

The total cost of getting your CPA license in 2026 runs between $4,000 and $6,500 depending on your state, your review course, and how many sections you fail on the first attempt. The review course is the single largest line item but accounts for only 40 to 60 percent of the total. The remaining $1,500 to $2,500 covers NASBA examination fees, state application and registration fees, possible retake fees, and the initial licensing fee once you pass.

This breakdown walks through each cost category with the realistic dollar ranges, the states where each line item is higher than average, and the categories most candidates underbudget for. Numbers are accurate as of late May 2026 and cross-referenced against NASBA and individual state board fee schedules where available.

Category 1: The review course

The CPA review course is the line item most candidates think about first. Pricing in 2026 ranges from $67 per month at the cheap end (NINJA) up to $4,999 at the premium end (Becker Concierge on promotion). A realistic budget midpoint is $1,500 to $2,500 for a mid-tier provider like Surgent or UWorld. The full breakdown is covered at /insights/cheapest-cpa-review-course-2026 and /best-cpa-review-course.

For the rest of this article, treat the review course as a $2,000 line item for a self-pay candidate, recognizing that the actual number could range from $800 to $5,000 depending on the chosen provider.

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Category 2: NASBA examination fees

NASBA charges a per-section examination fee that runs $260 to $360 depending on the section. Across the four sections of the CPA exam (three core plus one discipline), the total NASBA examination fee comes to roughly $1,040 to $1,440. These are paid to NASBA directly when you schedule each section through your state board.

NASBA fees are uniform across all U.S. states and territories. The number on your bill will be the same in Texas as in New York, with the exception of California, which administers exam fees through its own state board rather than NASBA and may show slight variations.

Category 3: State application and registration fees

Each state board of accountancy charges its own application and registration fees on top of NASBA's examination fee. Application fees range from $50 in the cheapest states (typically the Midwest and parts of the South) up to $200 in the most expensive (California, New York, Massachusetts). Registration fees, which are charged each time you receive a Notice to Schedule for a section, run another $50 to $200 per NTS depending on the state.

A candidate who registers all four sections in a single NTS in a low-fee state may pay only $100 to $150 total in state fees. A candidate who registers one section at a time in a high-fee state may pay $600 to $800 across the four sections. The detailed state-by-state breakdown is at /research/cpa-costs-by-state.

Category 4: Retake fees if you fail a section

If you fail a section, you pay another NASBA examination fee (roughly $254) plus another state registration fee ($50 to $200) to schedule the retake. The total cost of one retake is roughly $300 to $450 depending on the state. The 2026 first-attempt pass rates by section are:

A realistic budget for an average candidate should assume one retake somewhere in the four-section sequence, adding $300 to $450 to the total. A candidate who fails two sections adds $600 to $900.

TCP: 80% pass rate, 20% retake probability
ISC: 67% pass rate, 33% retake probability
REG: 67% pass rate, 33% retake probability
AUD: 49% pass rate, 51% retake probability
FAR: 43% pass rate, 57% retake probability
BAR: 44% pass rate, 56% retake probability

Category 5: Initial licensing fee after you pass

Once all four sections are passed and you meet your state's education and experience requirements, the final step is the actual CPA license application. License application fees range from $50 to $400 depending on the state. Some states also require a separate ethics exam (typically the AICPA Professional Ethics for CPAs course at $190 or a state-specific ethics module at $50 to $150) before issuing the license.

After issuance, most states charge an annual or biennial license renewal fee of $50 to $250. That recurring fee is not part of the initial cost of getting licensed but is worth knowing about for the long-term math.

Realistic total budgets at three levels

Combining the five categories, three reasonable total budgets emerge depending on the path you take:

The realistic median for a self-pay candidate in a mid-cost state is approximately $4,000 to $4,500. Candidates with employer reimbursement on the review course (typical for Big 4 staff) pay only the NASBA, state, and licensing fees, which brings their out-of-pocket cost to roughly $1,700 to $2,200.

Budget path: NINJA review course ($800) + NASBA fees ($1,200) + low state fees ($150) + zero retakes + ethics course ($190) + license app ($100) = roughly $2,440
Mid-tier path: Surgent or UWorld ($1,800) + NASBA fees ($1,200) + average state fees ($300) + one retake ($400) + ethics course ($190) + license app ($150) = roughly $4,040
Premium path: Becker Pro ($2,499 August promo) + NASBA fees ($1,200) + high state fees ($500) + one retake ($450) + ethics course ($190) + license app ($250) = roughly $5,089

How to budget for the CPA exam

Two practical recommendations. First, build the budget bottom-up by category rather than picking a round number. The line-item math above gets you within $500 of your actual cost. Round-number budgets (often "$3,000 should cover it") consistently underestimate because they do not account for retakes and licensing fees. Second, hold the retake budget separate. Most candidates assume they will pass everything on the first attempt and rarely budget for the 50-percent probability of at least one retake. The $450 retake budget is the line item most likely to surprise you.

Sources

1.NASBA: CPA Examination Fees(accessed May 27, 2026)
2.AICPA: CPA Exam Pass Rate Data(accessed May 27, 2026)
3.Atlas CPA Index: CPA Costs by State(accessed May 27, 2026)

Related on Atlas CPA Index

CPA Costs by State (research data) →Cheapest CPA Review Course →Becker CPA Cost 2026 →CPA Pass Rates →State CPA Requirements →

Frequently Asked Questions

Brennan Kolar

Founder, Atlas CPA Index

Brennan Kolar is the founder of Atlas CPA Index, an independent CPA review comparison platform covering all 55 U.S. jurisdictions. With over 10 years of experience with CPA review, he built Atlas to help candidates find the right review course based on how they actually learn, not which provider has the biggest ad budget.

Learn more about the author

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