Finance certification cost: the exam fees you will really pay, retakes included

The CPA exam costs $1,074 in fees if its four sections pass the first time, plus $268.59 for each section you retake; counting the retakes most candidates need, the three CFA® exams cost about $7,800. Official fees for six US credentials. No course to sell, no e-mail asked.

Independent site: not run by, or affiliated with, any body that sets these exams or charges these fees.

New to these credentials? What each one is, and what you need first ↓

Total cost of a finance credential

Example, not your result yet· change a figure to see yours

No retake counted yet: CPA exam fees if all four sections pass the first time, prep not included

$1,074

Four sections, $268.59 each	$1,074
Retakes you expect: 0 × $268.59	none typed
Your review course and books	not included: type it above
Fees of your state’s accountancy board	not counted: they vary by state

Type how many sections you think you will retake to add them. Pass rates for each section are published by the AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants), which writes the exam; this site does not copy them, so retakes are the ones you type. Review courses are not in this figure unless you type them: they can cost as much as the exam fees, or more.

See how the totals are built

Fees and pass rates read on the official pages, last updated November 8, 2026 · Radif Partners · How the totals are built · Who publishes this site

New to these credentials? What each one is, and what you need first

CPA, Certified Public Accountant: the state license for accounting and audit work. What you need first: Most states ask for 150 college semester hours, about a fifth year after a bachelor’s degree; more and more accept 120 hours, usually a bachelor’s degree, with more work experience.
EA, Enrolled Agent: a tax practitioner authorized by the IRS to represent taxpayers before it. What you need first: No education-hour rule: a three-part IRS exam, the Special Enrollment Examination (SEE), then enrollment and a tax compliance check.
CFP® certification (CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®): for advice on personal financial planning. What you need first: A bachelor’s degree, CFP Board coursework, one exam and 6,000 hours of experience (4,000 as an apprentice).
CFA® Program (Chartered Financial Analyst®): three exams set by CFA Institute, for investment professionals. What you need first: The three levels are taken one after the other, usually over several years.
CIA, Certified Internal Auditor: the designation for internal auditors, granted by The Institute of Internal Auditors (The IIA). What you need first: An application, then three exam parts.
FRM®, Financial Risk Manager: a risk management designation from GARP, the Global Association of Risk Professionals. What you need first: Two exams, Part I and Part II, and an experience requirement.

Hesitating between tax work and accounting? The enrolled agent page compares the EA with the CPA.

Six credentials side by side

Two figures for each: what the fees come to if every exam is passed the first time, and what they come to once the retakes most candidates need are counted. Four credentials are shown at the first-try price only: three have no published pass rate, and the CPA’s are published by the AICPA but not copied here. Neither figure includes prep or the yearly fees paid after you qualify.

Official fee pages and pass-rate files, read on November 7, 2026. Early registration where there is a choice. An attempt is one try at one exam; 6.67 CFA® attempts is an average over all candidates: about 6 to 7 tries. CFP®: the $250 application is included. Enrolled agent: enrollment and one year of the tax preparer ID (PTIN) included.
Credential	What you need first	All passed the first time	With average retakes	Pass rates used
CPA exam (four sections) Paid to NASBA (the national association of state boards) and your state board	College study: 150 semester hours in most states (about a fifth year after a bachelor’s degree), or 120 hours with an extra year of work where a state allows it; work experience for the license.	$1,074	First-try price only: retakes are the ones you type, since this site does not copy the AICPA’s pass rates. Each section retaken adds $268.59.	none copied: pass rates are published by the AICPA
CFA® Program (three levels) Paid to CFA Institute	Entry rules not covered by this site: check them with CFA Institute. The three levels are taken one after the other.	$3,520	$7,800	CFA Institute pass rates, 2017 to 2026: about 6 to 7 tries (6.67 on average; 3 at the least)
CFP® certification Paid to CFP Board	A bachelor’s degree and CFP Board coursework; 6,000 hours of work experience (4,000 as an apprentice) to be certified.	$1,075	$1,520	CFP Board pass rates, July 2026: about 1 to 2 tries (1.54 on average; 1 at the least)
Enrolled agent (three-part IRS exam) Paid to the IRS	No education-hour rule. After the exam: enrollment with the IRS and a tax compliance check.	$1,110	First-try price only: no pass rate published, so no retake counted. Each retake adds $317.	none: the IRS publishes no pass rate
CIA (three parts) Paid to The IIA (Institute of Internal Auditors)	Program requirements set by The IIA, to be met within 3 years of acceptance; details on its site.	$1,515 ($990 for IIA members)	First-try price only: no pass rate published, so no retake counted. Each retake adds about $425.	none found
FRM® (two parts) Paid to GARP (Global Association of Risk Professionals)	A work-experience requirement set by GARP; details on its site.	$1,600	First-try price only: no pass rate published, so no retake counted. Each retake adds $600.	none found

The CPA figure is the same whichever fourth section you pick, and leaves out state board fees; the CPA page adds them for five states, with the retakes you type.

Calculators by credential

CPA exam and license

CFA® Program

CFP® certification

Tax, audit and risk credentials

Why the price list is not the budget

The comparator opens on the CPA exam. Its four sections cost $268.59 each, so $1,074 if every one is passed at the first attempt, or sitting. A failed section is paid again at the same fee, so type how many sections you think you will retake and the comparator adds them; until you do, its result is marked as an example. Pass rates for each section are published by the AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants), which writes the exam, on its scoring and pass rates page; this site does not copy them. Pick the CFA® Program or the CFP® certification in the first field and the retakes are counted from the pass rates their bodies publish: the three CFA® exams come to about $7,800. That figure, not the price list, is what a budget should start from.

Most pages that answer “how much does the CPA exam cost” or what the CFA® Program costs are written by review-course sellers, and end on a course. Some still list fees that no longer exist, such as the CFA® enrollment fee removed in April 2025; few turn a pass rate into money. This site reads each figure on the official page, names the page and the date, and puts the retakes in the total.

Why pass rates reorder the list

Read the explanation

At the first try, four credentials cost roughly the same: the CPA exam ($1,074), the CFP® exam with its application ($1,075), the enrolled agent exam with enrollment ($1,110) and the CIA at member prices of The IIA ($990; $1,515 for a non-member). The FRM® is about $1,600 with early registration, the CFA® Program $3,520 or more. Once pass rates enter, the order changes. The CFP® exam passes about two candidates in three, so retakes add $445 on average at the early bird fee. The CFA® levels pass about four to five candidates in ten, so retakes add $4,280 at early prices, for the $7,800 shown above. The CPA exam is shown at its first-try price, $1,074: its pass rates are on the AICPA’s page, and the retakes you expect are yours to type.

These are averages over everyone who sat, first attempt or not. They are the right numbers for a budget, since nobody can know in advance which side of the average they will fall on, and the wrong numbers to judge your own chances. A candidate who completes a full study plan does better; one who sits underprepared does worse. The CFA® and CFP® calculators let you change the rate, or set the first try as the plan, and see what a retake would cost; the CPA calculators ask how many sections you expect to retake.

Prep: the line only you can fill in

Review courses, question banks, books and mock exams can cost as much as the exam fees, or more. Their prices depend on the provider, the package and the discounts of the day, and this site has no way to check them without becoming a seller. So every calculator starts at zero and asks for your figure. For the CFA® Program the amount you type is per sitting, since each level has its own material, and it is multiplied by the expected sittings; for the other credentials it is added once. Include a second purchase in your figure if you expect one.

What changed, and what is about to

Fee and rule changes from April 2025 to August 2027, each read on the official page. Guides written before these dates often still show the old figure.

Show the 10 dated changes

April 29, 2025
CFA Institute removes the one-time $350 enrollment fee. Details
February 2026
New CFA® exam prices apply from the February 2026 window: $1,140 early for Levels I and II, $1,240 for Level III. Details
March 1, 2026
A new company, PSI Services, starts running the enrolled agent exam. Details
April 20, 2026
The IRS’s own share of each enrolled agent exam part falls from $99 to $66; a part now costs $317. Details
July 4, 2026
Each CPA exam section costs $268.59. Details
August 1, 2026
Texas opens Pathway B: 120 semester hours and 24 months of experience. Details
November 21, 2026
New York opens its 120-semester-hour pathway with two years of experience. Details
January 1, 2027
California drops the 150-unit requirement and asks for two years of experience instead. Details
January 4, 2027
The IIA’s 2027 CIA price list applies: $355 for Part 1 for members. Details
August 1, 2027
New York’s 150-hour pathway starts requiring set course content. Details

Three candidates, worked through

Show the three examples: a Texas accountant, a CFA® analyst, a CFP® planner

An accounting graduate in Texas with 120 semester hours, a bachelor’s degree. Since August 1, 2026, Texas lets her be licensed with 24 months of experience, so she does not need a fifth year of school. She picks Tax Compliance and Planning as her fourth section because she works in tax; it costs the same as the other two choices. If she passes each section the first time she pays $1,074 in section fees, the $1,074 shown above, $60 in Texas board fees at $15 per section, and $50 for the certificate. Each section she retakes adds $283.59: the section fee again and the $15 board fee. Two Texas fees were not on the pages we read and are not counted. The Texas page sets out both routes.

An analyst who registers for each CFA® level at the standard price, not the early one. At CFA Institute’s ten-year pass rates he should expect about 6 to 7 tries across the three levels, as in the comparator. The comparator’s $7,800 assumes early registration every time; at the standard price each try costs $350 more, so the same tries come to $10,134. Level I is where most of the retakes are; the Level I page lists every session’s rate.

A planner heading for CFP® certification, registering early and counting five certified years. With the same pass rates as the table and the CFP® page (69.0% at the first attempt, 57.4% for a retake), she expects about 1 to 2 tries (1.54 on average). Her exam fees and the $250 application come to the $1,520 shown above; $2,875 in yearly certification fees bring her to $4,395 before the education program, which a CFP Board-registered school prices on its own. The CFP® certification cost page adds it.

What the totals leave out

Only fees charged by the credentialing bodies and the state boards are loaded. Not included: review courses and books (you type them), CFA Institute and local society dues (you type them, because we could not read a current schedule on CFA Institute’s site), the education program for the CFP® certification, fees we could not confirm (the California CPA license fee, Florida’s board fees, two Texas fees, the New York and Pennsylvania exam application fees), travel, and time off work. The salary that a credential may bring is not estimated either: this site measures cost, not return.

The time a credential takes is part of its cost but is not converted into dollars here. The pages on CFA® exam dates, CFP® experience hours and CPA licensure routes give the calendar instead.

Sources

Each exam fee, pass rate and board rule on this page comes from the official pages below (the credential bodies, the IRS and five state boards), read on November 7, 2026.

Show the 32 official pages

Questions candidates ask before they register

Tap a question to see the answer.

Which finance certification is the cheapest to earn?

On fees alone, at the first try, the CIA for a member of The IIA ($990 at 2026 prices; $1,515 for a non-member), then the CPA exam ($1,074 in section fees), the CFP® exam with its application ($1,075) and the enrolled agent exam with enrollment ($1,110). Retakes change the order: each CPA section retaken adds $268.59, and the CFA® exams, with their published pass rates, rise to about $7,800.

Which finance certification costs the most?

The CFA® Program: about $7,800 in exam fees once retakes at CFA Institute’s ten-year pass rates are counted, with early registration. Only a candidate who passes all three exams at the first try pays less, $3,520. Prep for three exams and the dues after the charter come on top.

How is the expected number of retakes worked out?

From the pass rates CFA Institute and CFP Board publish. When about half of candidates pass, an average candidate sits the exam twice; when two in three pass, about one and a half times. For the CFP® exam, where CFP Board publishes separate rates for first attempts and retakes, the first attempt uses one and later attempts the other. For the CPA exam you type the retakes you expect. Your own odds may be better or worse than the average.

Why are review course prices not included?

Because this site sells none and has not checked any. Review providers set their own prices and packages, often the largest single line of the budget. Every calculator has a field for your own figure and adds it to the official fees; on the CFA® pages the figure is per sitting.

Are these figures up to date?

Every fee and rate was read on the official page named next to it, on November 7, 2026. Fees change, often once a year, and some changes are already scheduled, such as the CIA price list of January 4, 2027. The page you pay on is the one that counts; the date of each source is given so you can check.

Is this site connected to CFA Institute, CFP Board or the AICPA?

No. It is an independent site, not affiliated with CFA Institute, CFP Board, AICPA, NASBA or FINRA, nor with any state board, the IRS, The IIA or GARP. CFA®, CFP® and the other marks belong to their owners and are used only to name the credentials.

Do I need to give an e-mail to use the calculators?

No. There is no form, no account and no newsletter. The calculators run in your browser and nothing you type is sent anywhere; the address bar changes only if you choose to copy a link to your own figures. Nothing is stored after you close the page.

Totals worked out by Radif Partners

Independent publisher of total-cost calculators for US finance and accounting credentials, built from the fee schedules and pass-rate files of the credentialing bodies

Fees and pass rates read on November 8, 2026 · Editorial policy · Contact

Fee schedules for 2026, read on November 8, 2026. Estimates only, from official fee schedules and published pass rates: a budget, not a quote, and not financial or career advice. Fees change; the body’s own page is the one that counts.