April 2026 CPA Exam News Roundup: OBBBA Countdown Begins, 30+ States Now Reforming CPA Licensure, Q2 Discipline Window Opens, AICPA Pushes for OBBBA Tax Guidance, and Kesler Launches PETty Cash Study Game
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April is a big month. The Q2 Discipline testing window is now open, the OBBBA clock is ticking toward July 1, and the 150-hour reform movement has quietly crossed a threshold that would have been unthinkable two years ago. Meanwhile, the AICPA has been firing off guidance requests to Treasury and the IRS at a pace that signals just how many open questions the One Big Beautiful Bill Act left behind.
On the lighter side, we shipped something at Kesler that I’ve been wanting to build for a long time: a virtual pet game that lets you study CPA questions while raising a pixel-art puppy. More on that below.
Here’s everything that happened since our March roundup, and what it means for your study plan.
1. The OBBBA Is Now Less Than 90 Days From Hitting the Exam
If you read the March roundup, you know the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) provisions become testable on the REG and TCP sections starting July 1, 2026. That deadline is now less than three months away, and it should be driving real decisions in your study plan.
The 2026 CPA Exam Blueprints were updated in January to reflect the changes. Provisions with effective dates in 2024 and 2025 become eligible for testing on July 1. Later provisions follow the standard six-month lag after their effective date.
Since March, the AICPA has been ramping up its own guidance activity around OBBBA implementation. In a March 18 comment letter, the AICPA requested guidance from Treasury and the IRS on changes to Section 45S, the paid family and medical leave credit. The OBBBA made this credit permanent and expanded eligibility to a broader group of employers starting in 2026, but there’s currently no published guidance on how to implement the changes. The AICPA also submitted recommendations on Section 68 (the new limitation on itemized deductions), Section 530A (Trump accounts), and Section 174A (domestic R&E expenses) in February.
For exam candidates, the key takeaway hasn’t changed: Surgent’s advice to “marry” REG and TCP together and take both on the same side of the July 1 line remains the smartest play. If you can take both before July 1, you avoid OBBBA entirely. If you’re sitting after July 1, both sections will test it, which at least keeps the law consistent.
What this means for you: If you haven’t started REG or TCP yet and can’t finish both by June 30, stop trying to beat the clock. Plan to take both after July 1 with updated materials. All major review courses (including Kesler CPA Review, Becker, Surgent, and Gleim) are updating their materials to cover OBBBA before July.
For a full breakdown of how the OBBBA affects each section, see our CPA Exam Structure page.
2. The 150-Hour Rule Collapse Accelerates: 30+ States Now Pursuing Reform
This story keeps moving faster than anyone predicted. When we covered it in March, 25 states had formally adopted alternative pathways to CPA licensure. Since then, the momentum has only increased.
According to CFO Dive’s tracker, Wisconsin passed its CPA pathways bill in February 2026. Alabama, Vermont, and Maryland advanced reform legislation in January. Rhode Island and Louisiana introduced new bills in late February. The Minnesota Society of CPAs reports that only Maine, Wyoming, and North Dakota are not yet actively pursuing CPA pathways legislation, and even those states have plans to introduce bills.
Several states have new laws taking effect in the coming months. Texas Senate Bill 262 takes effect on August 1, 2026, removing statutory references to both the 150 and 120 credit-hour requirements entirely. Utah’s alternative pathway goes live July 1, 2026. California’s AB 1175 enters its implementation period now, with new requirements going into effect January 1, 2027.
Even New York, long considered a holdout, has a bill in play. Senate Bill S6891, introduced by Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, would allow CPA licensure with a bachelor’s degree (120 credit hours), two years of professional experience, and a passing CPA exam score.
The pattern across all these states is consistent: candidates can qualify with a bachelor’s degree (120 credits), two years of relevant work experience, and a passing CPA exam score. The traditional 150-hour route remains available everywhere as an option.
Why this matters: The 150-hour requirement has been directly linked to the profession’s talent crisis. CPA exam candidates dropped 27% over the past decade. Accounting graduates hit a 20-year low. Research from MIT Sloan found the rule was associated with a significant drop in minority CPA candidates. These reforms are the profession’s most concrete attempt to reverse that trend.
If you’re currently studying, check our state-by-state CPA exam requirements page to see whether your state has adopted the alternative pathway.
3. Q2 Discipline Testing Window Is Open Now (April 1-30)
If you’re taking BAR, ISC, or TCP this quarter, your window is open right now. Discipline sections are only available during the first month of each quarter, so you have until April 30 to sit.
Scores for Q2 Discipline exams are expected around June 16, 2026. That’s roughly a six-week wait after the window closes.
For Core sections (FAR, AUD, REG), continuous testing remains available year-round. The next Core score release is April 9 for exams taken between March 10 and March 31. After that, scores continue to release every 1-2 weeks on a rolling basis.
Quick reminder on the 2025 pass rates (these are the most recent full-year numbers available):
Core sections: FAR: 42.12% | AUD: 48-50% | REG: 63-64%
Discipline sections: TCP: 77.65% | ISC: 51%+ | BAR: Below 40%
FAR and BAR remain the two toughest sections for the second year running. TCP continues to lead all sections, which the AICPA attributes to candidate preparation rather than reduced difficulty, since most TCP candidates have already passed REG and the content overlaps significantly.
For the full schedule and historical pass rate data, see our CPA Exam Score Release Dates and CPA Exam Pass Rates pages.
4. AICPA Backs Bipartisan Bill to Overhaul IRS Administration
In early April, the AICPA signaled strong support for the Taxpayer Assistance and Service (TAS) Act, a bipartisan bill introduced by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR). The bill contains 63 provisions aimed at improving tax administration and reducing burdens on taxpayers and preparers.
This matters for CPA candidates because a cleaner, more predictable tax administration system directly affects the professional environment you’re preparing to enter. The bill includes provisions the AICPA has advocated for over many years, including digitization of tax returns and correspondence.
Separately, the AICPA also requested penalty relief for qualified farmers impacted by the late release of revised Form 8995 (Qualified Business Income Deduction). The form wasn’t available until February 23 in some cases, which compressed the filing window for farmers who need to file by March 2 to avoid estimated tax penalties. These types of advocacy actions are worth understanding because they show the kind of real-world complexity that shows up on REG.
The full list of 2026 AICPA comment letters is available on the AICPA advocacy page.
5. The CPA Pipeline Crisis Isn’t Easing
The numbers we cited in March haven’t improved. If anything, the picture is getting sharper.
Robert Half’s 2026 Salary Guide reports unemployment among accounting professionals still hovers near historic lows of 1-2%, and 62% of finance and accounting leaders say they’re struggling to hire. Starting salaries for tax, audit, and assurance roles are projected to rise 3.7% year-over-year, well above the 2.1% average increase for the broader profession.
The talent math is brutal: the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects roughly 124,000 annual openings for accountants and auditors, but only about 55,000 students are graduating with accounting degrees each year. And not all of them enter accounting or pursue the CPA. Meanwhile, 75% of current CPAs are baby boomers approaching retirement, and over 300,000 accountants left the field between 2019 and 2022.
The candidates passing their final section of the CPA exam dropped 56% in five years, from 29,539 in 2019 to 13,070 in 2024 according to the AICPA’s Trends Report.
The silver lining for current candidates: The CPA salary premium keeps growing. Robert Half projects that 87% of finance leaders now offer higher pay for candidates with specialized skills. If you’re studying right now, you’re entering a market where licensed CPAs have more leverage than at any point in recent memory.
6. Kesler CPA Review Launches PETty Cash: A Virtual Pet Study Game
DISCLOSURE: I am the founder of Kesler CPA Review. This section covers a product I built.
In April 2026, Kesler CPA Review launched PETty Cash, a virtual pet game built directly into the Kesler platform. You adopt a pixel-art puppy, answer real CPA exam questions to earn coins, and spend those coins on food, furniture, accessories, and room upgrades. Your pet evolves through four stages as you study: CPA Dreamer → CPA Student → CPA Candidate → CPA Certified (CPA Legend).
Why I built this: Every CPA candidate needs study breaks. The problem is that most breaks feel like wasted time, which generates guilt, which kills motivation. PETty Cash is designed to be the break that doesn’t feel wasteful. You’re still answering CPA exam questions, still building streaks, still reinforcing weak areas. But instead of staring at a percentage score, you’re feeding your dog and shopping for a calculator chew toy.
How PETty Cash works:
You start with a puppy named Buddy (rename it whatever you want) living in a tiny Studio Apartment. Answer CPA questions correctly and you earn coins: $25 for a first-try correct answer, $10 on a second try. Build answer streaks for bonus coins up to $50 per question. Wrong answers trigger funny CPA-themed events like “Your dog knocked over the study notes!” and “Audit fleas! Your dog needs a bath!”
Spend coins in the shop on food (Basic Kibble at $5 all the way up to Wagyu Steak at $40), furniture (Food Bowl, Tennis Ball, Dog Bed, CPA Study Bookshelf, Calculator Chew Toy, Study Desk, Cozy Fireplace, Grand Piano), and accessories (Bow Tie, Graduation Cap, Golden Collar). Upgrade your pet’s room from Studio Apartment all the way to the CPA Penthouse ($15,000).
The pet has 7 animated moods (happy, neutral, sad, hungry, sick, sleeping, excited) and reacts to how you study. Don’t feed it and it gets sick. Don’t study for 30 minutes and it falls asleep. Get questions wrong and it gets sad. Click it anytime to give it a pat.
The study integration is the real point. PETty Cash connects to the full Kesler question bank across all 6 CPA exam sections (FAR, AUD, REG, BAR, ISC, TCP). It includes Smart Quiz mode (AI analyzes your weak areas and auto-generates targeted quizzes) and Pick Topics mode. Quiz sizes range from 5 to 50 questions. Confidence tracking lets you rate yourself before and after seeing the explanation. Quiz tools include the calculator, spreadsheet, feedback reporting, and full Learn N GO whiteboard explainer videos.
The critical detail: quiz results from PETty Cash count toward your main course analytics, XP, and achievements. It’s not a separate system. It’s study that happens to look like a game.
Other features: 7 ambient focus music tracks, 11 sound effects, a Top 10 Pets leaderboard ranked by lifetime coins earned, and social sharing to X, LinkedIn, Facebook, Email, SMS, and clipboard. Settings let you toggle music, SFX, and volume.
Access tiers: Anyone can play immediately with no account required (free-play questions, saves to your browser). Create a free account for cloud saves, the full leaderboard, and API-powered questions. Paid Kesler subscribers get the full question bank, premium shop items, and a direct “End Break” button back to their study plan.
PETty Cash joins CPA Exam Survival in the Kesler Games Arcade. Survival is the adrenaline option (zombie shooter). PETty Cash is the peaceful option (cozy virtual pet). Both use real CPA exam questions. No other CPA review course offers study games like these.
Try it free at app.keslercpareview.com/games/petty-cash. No account needed to start.
For the full Kesler CPA Review platform (which includes PETty Cash, Learn N GO, 8,000+ MCQs, and everything else), start a free trial here ($97/month or $997/year after trial).
7. CPA Exam Score Release Schedule: What’s Coming Next
A quick reminder on the upcoming dates:
Core sections (FAR, AUD, REG): Continuous testing year-round. The next score release is April 9 for exams taken March 10-31. After that, scores continue to release every 1-2 weeks on a rolling basis.
Discipline sections (BAR, ISC, TCP): The Q1 Discipline window (January 1-31) scores were released on March 13. The Q2 window is open now (April 1-30), with scores expected around June 16. The Q3 window opens July 1-31, with scores expected around September 11.
Important caveat about the 30-month credit window: Most states have now adopted the extended 30-month credit retention period (up from 18 months). But not every state has formally adopted it yet. Check with your specific state board to confirm your credit window before making scheduling decisions.
For the full schedule, see our CPA Exam Score Release Dates page.
What Should You Do Right Now?
If you’re actively studying or planning to start, here’s the action list based on everything above:
If you’re in the Q2 Discipline window: You have until April 30 to sit for BAR, ISC, or TCP. Scores won’t come back until mid-June, so plan your next section accordingly.
If you’re taking REG or TCP before July 1: Stay focused on current tax law. Don’t waste time studying OBBBA provisions. After July 1, everything changes and you’ll need updated materials.
If you’re choosing a discipline: TCP has the highest pass rate (77.65%). BAR has the lowest (sub-40%). Choose based on your background and career goals, but factor in these numbers. TCP candidates tend to do well because they’ve already passed REG and the content overlaps significantly.
If the 150-hour rule was your barrier: Check if your state has adopted the alternative 120-hour + 2 years experience pathway. Over 25 states already have, with more going live in the coming months (Texas in August, Utah in July, California in January 2027). The list is growing fast.
If you need a study break that doesn’t feel like wasted time: Try PETty Cash. Free, no account required, real CPA questions.
If you haven’t picked a course yet: Take free trials. Kesler (7-day free trial, $97/mo), Surgent ($999+), Becker ($2,499+), and Gleim ($999+ MegaBank) all offer trials or demos. For a full side-by-side comparison, see our Best CPA Review Courses page.
CPA Exam Guide will continue to monitor developments in CPA exam preparation, tax law changes, and licensing reform. For study strategies and tips, check out our 21 CPA Exam Study Tips and subscribe to the CPA Exam Guide Podcast.