Any type of major transition from one thing to the next requires adequate planning, troubleshooting, and an allotment of time before the switch is seamlessly made. It goes without saying, then, that this logic also applies to the CPA Exam, and touches on all parties involved, including the AICPA, NASBA, CPA Exam review providers, and of course—CPA Exam candidates.
What has become an area of concern for many candidates is the score release date for the April/May Q2 testing window.
This is denoted in the chart below:
“There will be a delay in the release of scores with a single score release for all candidates approximately 10 weeks after the close of the Q2 testing window. The delay in score release is necessary to provide sufficient time to statistically validate candidate performance on the new exam.”
Currently, if candidates take any exam sections between April 1 – May 31, they will not receive their score for those sections until August 16 – August 18th. Normally, candidates receive their scores 1-3 weeks after testing; however, candidates testing in the Q2 will have to wait up to 4 months to receive their scores. The AICPA stated the following:
For those whose 18-month window to pass all the exams will begin in Q2, the delay of this score release isn’t so problematic.
However, for candidates whose 18-month window will expire shortly after Q2, the concern is much greater.
So if you’re a candidate whose situation is the latter, there’s good news.
The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) has recognized the dilemma for such candidates, and has made it clear that the decision on whether to grant conditional credit until August for candidates who took their final exam during the Q2 testing window is completely up to the individual state boards.
NASBA is recommending that state boards give candidates conditional credit until December 31, 2017; however, each state will determine how they want to handle this unique situation, which could be on a case-by-case basis.
Our recommendation
We highly recommend that if you are in this boat that you contact your State Board of Accountancy since they will have the final authority to grant an extension. They will have access to the national candidate database to pull your records and confirm that your 18-month window is indeed expiring after Q2. As long as you have attendance, they will not run the expiration credit.
What we’re doing to help
At Roger CPA Review, we want to make sure we’re giving our students everything they need to achieve CPA Exam success—especially as the exam transitions to its new version.
Therefore, to help our students whose 18-month window will be affected by the 2017 Q2 delayed score release, our Customer Care team will be working on an individual case-by-case basis to extend, if necessary, course access to fit their unique situations.
Students can reach out to our Customer Care team at support@uworld.com or by giving them a call at (972) 887-3293.