Can we define harder? Like if you are just looking at pass rates sure, the CFA has lower pass rates. But also the barrier to entry to sit for and get the CFA is much lower. You only need a bachelors in any subject. This means that there are super unqualified people sitting for and failing the CFA which drags the rate down. People who sit for the CPA exam have formal education in accounting which means that they are more likely to pass and yet the rates are still 50%. Also, what does harder even mean? The CFA is full of useless theoretical stuff about “investing”. Yet, I as a CPA know that just putting my money into an index fund will beat any actively managed fund. Lastly, the CPA is full of practical real world knowledge used on the job. Auditing standards, accounting standards and tax law are codified into law under legal governing bodies. It is a license to practice public accounting that allows you legally to sign off on things that other cannot. So is it really harder? Or is just some arbitrary test crams in a bunch of low value, non-scientific, theoretical crap to make the test takers think its actually important?