What Is A AUD?

What Is AUD, Exactly?

AUD stands for Auditing and Attestation, one of the four sections that make up the Uniform CPA Examination. It is not a separate license, badge, or renewable credential - it's a required exam section that candidates pursuing CPA licensure must pass alongside the other CPA Exam sections. If you're searching "what is a AUD" because you saw the acronym on a study forum or a firm's training checklist, the short answer is this: AUD is the portion of the CPA Exam that tests whether you understand how audits, reviews, and other attestation engagements are planned, executed, and reported on in accordance with professional standards.

Because AUD is a CPA Exam section rather than its own certification, there's no separate "AUD certificate" to hang on your wall. Passing it is a milestone toward CPA licensure, which is granted by your state board of accountancy once you've met all education, exam, and experience requirements. For a broader look at how this section fits into the licensure picture, see our AUD Certification overview and the related What Is AUD? explainer.

Who Runs the AUD Section and How It's Delivered

The AICPA's Board of Examiners is responsible for developing and scoring AUD content. NASBA and individual state boards of accountancy handle candidate administration - determining who is eligible to sit for the exam, tracking credit windows, and coordinating licensure requirements. Prometric is the testing vendor that actually delivers the computer-based exam at its test centers.

This three-way structure matters practically: your eligibility and application questions go through your state board (or NASBA if your jurisdiction uses NASBA CPA Examination Services), your content questions are governed by the AICPA's published blueprint, and your appointment logistics are handled by Prometric. If you're unclear on where you stand in that chain, our AUD Requirements 2026 guide breaks down eligibility, credit windows, and how state-specific rules affect your path.

Exam Format: Testlets, Question Types, and Timing

Under the blueprint effective January 1, 2026, the AUD section is a four-hour appointment structured into five testlets. Across those testlets, candidates face 78 multiple-choice questions and 7 task-based simulations (TBSs). Scoring weight is split evenly: MCQs contribute 50% of your score, and TBSs contribute the other 50%.

Task-based simulations on AUD typically present a mini case - think excerpts from workpapers, client correspondence, or engagement scenarios - and ask you to apply audit judgment: selecting appropriate procedures, identifying misstatements, or completing sections of a report. The exam interface includes spreadsheet functionality and a four-function calculator to support these tasks.

One detail candidates often overlook: there's a standardized 15-minute stopped-clock break after Testlet 3. Because the clock stops, this break does not eat into your four hours of testing time, which is a meaningful difference from unscheduled breaks you might take during other testlets.

The Four AUD Content Domains

The AICPA blueprint organizes AUD content into four domains, each with its own weighting range. Understanding these weights is essential to allocating your study time correctly - a candidate who studies all four domains equally is almost certainly under-preparing for the largest one.

For a deeper dive into task-level detail within each domain - including which specific standards and scenario types show up most often - read our full AUD Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 4 Content Areas.

How AUD Is Scored - and What "75" Actually Means

AUD is scored on a scale of 0 to 99, and a passing score is 75. This is a common point of confusion: 75 is not "75% of questions answered correctly." It's a scaled score that weighs question difficulty, testlet performance, and the contribution of MCQs versus TBSs. Scores are not curved against other candidates in your testing window - you're being measured against a fixed performance standard, not ranked relative to peers.

Because of adaptive testlet design used across the CPA Exam, performing well on an earlier testlet can affect the difficulty (and thus the scoring weight) of questions you see later. This is one reason cramming isolated facts tends to underperform compared to building genuine conceptual fluency across all four domains. For the full mechanics of how points convert to that 0-99 scale, see AUD Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.

On the difficulty side, the cumulative Q1-Q2 2026 pass rate for AUD is 48.65%. That figure reflects a meaningful proportion of candidates not clearing the bar on a given attempt, which is worth internalizing before you schedule your appointment. Our AUD Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows article unpacks that number further, and How Hard Is the AUD Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 compares AUD's difficulty profile against the other CPA Exam sections.

Registration, Fees, and Eligibility Basics

Before you can sit for AUD, you need approval from your state board of accountancy and a Notice to Schedule (NTS). Eligibility rules - including how many college credits you need, how long an approved NTS remains valid, and what happens if you don't test within your window - are set at the jurisdiction level, so requirements can differ depending on where you're licensing.

On the fee side, NASBA CPA Examination Services jurisdictions list a $268.59 exam-section fee for AUD. That figure is separate from application or registration fees, which are determined by your individual state board and can vary. Budgeting for AUD means accounting for both the section fee and whatever board-specific fees apply to you, plus any costs tied to retakes if you don't pass on the first attempt.

For candidates trying to map out eligibility timelines and total cost side by side, our AUD Requirements 2026 guide and AUD Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown article walk through both in detail. If you're trying to figure out when to schedule relative to testing windows and blackout periods, check AUD Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.

Who Hires People Who've Passed AUD

Passing AUD is a required step toward CPA licensure, so the people who care most about it are employers hiring for roles that require or strongly prefer a CPA license or CPA-track progress. That includes public accounting firms across audit and assurance practices, corporate accounting and internal audit departments, and government or nonprofit finance roles where CPA credentialing is valued. Because Domain 3 (Performing Further Procedures and Obtaining Evidence) makes up the largest share of the exam, employers evaluating audit-track hires often expect real fluency in evidence-gathering and substantive testing concepts - not just passing familiarity.

If you're weighing whether investing time and money into the CPA path (and AUD specifically) makes sense for your career goals, our Is the AUD Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 article and AUD Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis look at the career angle in more depth. For a sense of the roles that commonly list CPA licensure or CPA Exam progress as a requirement, see AUD Jobs.

Building a Domain-Aware Study Plan

Generic study techniques - timed sessions, spaced review, self-explanation drills - only help if they're pointed at the right material in the right order. For AUD, that means front-loading time on Domain 3 given its 30-40% weight, while not neglecting Domain 2's risk assessment content, which flows directly into how you approach further procedures.

Once you have a domain-weighted plan in place, pressure-test it against realistic questions. Practicing with material modeled on the actual testlet structure - including the split between MCQs and TBSs - is far more useful than reviewing flashcards in isolation. You can build that exam-day comfort using full-length practice sessions on our practice test platform, which mirrors the pacing and format candidates face at Prometric. For a structured, week-by-week breakdown that goes beyond this outline, see our full AUD Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt.

If you want a condensed reference to keep nearby during final review, our AUD Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts consolidates the highest-yield facts across all four domains. And when you're ready to gauge your actual readiness under timed conditions, running full simulations on the practice test site is the closest you'll get to appointment-day conditions before you walk into Prometric.

Frequently Asked Questions