Roger Philipp, CPA presents:
WHEN AND HOW DO I TAKE THE CPA EXAM?

(00:00:00)
Now, when can I sit for the exam?

Back in my day, when I was your age, and I sound like your parents. But, back in my day we could sit twice a year, May and November.

So, we studied for four or five months. We had to take all four parts at once. We had to pass at least two of the four parts to keep anything, and if you didn’t pass at least two, you kept nothing. So, once you passed you kept it for the next six exams, if not you lost everything, you had to start all over.

Now, you can book it like a doctor’s appointment. You can take the exam eight months a year. In my day six days a year, three days in May, three days in November. Now, you can take it in January, February, March is a blackout month. January, February, March, April, May, June is a blackout month.

So, months three, six, nine and 12 are blackout months, no exam. The other eight months you could take, one or two, or three, or all four parts.

(00:00:57)
So, we have students that, you know, come in from other countries and take all four parts at once. We have students, a lot of students and we get testimonies all the time. We’ve got plenty of student who will take all four and finish them in two or three months, for example.

So, it’s kind of up to you, we have other students who stretch it out over 12 months. For example, if I am graduating and I am about to get a job at a firm, some of the firms offer a bonus if you pass in the first year, that’s exciting! So, what does that mean, I am going to pass in the first year to get that bonus.

So, therefore you want to setup a proper study schedule to make sure you allow enough time to get through all four parts, in that allot time, in order to get that bonus.

Now, where do you take the exam? You go to a testing center called Prometrics and with Prometrics they’re located all over the country, all over the world. That’s why the exam has gone global, which is great news for us, because once you become a CPA you’re becoming a worldwide CPA.

One of the things you will see to on the exam is they’re introducing a lot more international information. IFRS, International Financial Reporting Standards. That is more heavily, it’s about up to 10 percent on FAR exam, but you’ll notice that’s more international rules.

(00:02:04)
We’ve got information on auditing, like international auditing standards. There’s all the corporate governance. So, a lot more international, but one of the things that’s nice, because Prometric is international. You can take the exam in Japan, in the Middle East, in South America, in places in Europe. So, it keeps just growing and growing, which makes you more and more valuable.

With Prometrics, generally the exam is given six days a week, Monday through Saturday. As far as scheduling you just go online, once you have this thing called a notice to schedule. And I will talk about the application process in a minute. But, once you have that notice to schedule you can go online, and as I said you kinda book it like a doctor’s appointment.

Let’s say I want to take it on a specific day, then be flexible on the location. Let’s say I want a specific location, then be flexible on the day.

They have like, you know a morning, afternoon, evening, you know like a fine dining. We have seating for two, for FAR at table three please.

(00:03:01)
So, when you show up it kind of looks like little cubbies like you see here. You got your headphones, you got your screen, your computer. You go ahead, log on, boom, and start the exam.

You need your copy of the notice to schedule, two forms of ID.

I always tell people arrive early, right, anything that can happen will happen. Right, the day you’re driving the freeway closes down. There is a big accident you don’t want to be late, you don’t want to lose your window, you’ve got to start over with the application process.

So, this is important to make sure as far as the Prometic centers, that you’re properly prepared.