The CPA Exam Initial Feedback

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The CPA Exam---Initial FeedbackImportant
Information
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AICPA Information

• June 21, 2004 letter (ASCAP)
• PASSING RATES
• On June 17 the ASCAP Board of Examiners (BOE) met
  and established the passing standard. The result
  is a passing rate that will hover in themid-40s
  for the first testing window.

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AICPA Information

• June 16, 2004 letter(AICPA, NASBA Prometric)
• EXAM VOLUME
• 22,601 sections were completed during April/May!
• July/August more than 20,000 candidates are
  scheduled to test!

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Candidate Comments

• Failure to bring
• Notice to Schedule
• To Test Center
• (Occurred nearly 300 times)

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Candidate Comments
Taking Your Exam

• Arrive Early (at least 30 minutes)
• What to Bring
• NTS
• 2 forms of Personal Identification
• What is provided
• Small lockers for purses and wallets
• Scratch paper booklets pencils
• Reference materials and calculator
• What not to bring
• Large purses or briefcases
• Laptop computers

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Candidate Comments

• Functionality of
• Copy Paste
• Created Issues

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Candidate Comments
Cut and Paste

• Highlights the whole paragraph
• Accurate scoring

Copy and Paste

• You will be able to copy/paste only
• One paragraph at a time you will be able to
  highlight only a block of text (NOT separate
  lines or words) at a time

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Candidate Comments

• Other Functionality Issues

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Candidate Comments
Spreadsheets

• Candidates expressed concerns that functionality
  was limited. Many candidates erroneously think
  the spreadsheet will function like Excel.It is
  NOT Excel.

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Candidate Comments
Calculator

• The calculator does not contain a comma
  delineator which frustrated students because it
  required them to pay close attention to the
  number of zeros on display.
• Many candidates did not realize you could use the
  number lock key to use the key pad as opposed to
  manipulating the onscreen calculator with the
  mouse (mouse is slow in entering numbers, etc.)

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Candidate Comments
No Back Button

• History button provides same functionality.
• Use this to find the last page visited. (A Back
  button is not available). By clicking on History,
  you will be able to obtain a list of up to 20
  last page visits, in reverse order.

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Candidate Comments
Word must be spelled correctly to get a hit.
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Candidate Comments
Searching for subsequent hitswithin a document

• All hits are highlighted within a document
• Finding subsequent hits requires scrolling

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Candidate Comments
Prometric Exam Site Problems

• Interruptions to the Candidate Experience due to
  power outages, screen freezing and operating
  errors. Measures are in place to rectify the
  situation and permit the candidate to continue
  the examination. Only 25 candidates (0.1 percent)
  were required to reschedule.

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Candidate Comments
Duplicate Questions between Testlets???

• Some candidates reported some questions were
  repeated. Investigation determined this
  perception was inaccurate.

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Candidate Comments
Grade Release Timetable

• CPA Exam Services (CPAES), State Boards and
  candidates have begun receiving grades last
  Wednesday / Thursday, July 7th, 8th. Unlike under
  paper and pencil, there is no official grade
  release date. Grades will begin being released
  one section at a time this week, and will
  continue until they are all processed (before the
  end of the month). Grades will only be held for
  individuals with unique issues.
• For clarification, candidates will receive
  section grades before the end of JULY not June.

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Free Research Materials
CPA Exam Candidates Now OfferedProfessional
Literature at No Cost

• NEW YORK (April 19, 2004) The American
  Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
  and the National Association of State Boards of
  Accountancy (NASBA) have teamed up to offer
  eligible CPA Exam candidate a free six-month
  subscription to professional audit and accounting
  literature. The on-line package, which includes
  AICPA Professional Standards, FASB Current Text,
  and FASB Original Pronouncements, was previously
  made available to candidates for 35.00. The new
  computerized Uniform CPA Examination requires
  exam candidates to know how to research
  electronic professional literature.
• With the successful launch of the computerized
  CPA exam earlier this month, NASBA and the AICPA
  decided to make this powerful research tool
  available at no cost to all exam candidates who
  are scheduling to take the exam, said Lorraine
  Sachs, NASBA Executive Vice President. Research
  is one of the key skills tested in the
  computer-based Uniform CPA Examination, and we
  wanted to remove any obstacle, no matter how
  slight, to candidate preparation for this part of
  the test, explained Arleen Thomas, AICPA Vice
  President of Professional Standards and Services.
• Candidates may subscribe at www.cpa-exam.org.
  Only candidates who have applied to take the
  exam, been deemed eligible by one of the 54 state
  boards of accountancy, and have a valid Notice to
  Schedule (NTS) may have access to the
  complimentary package of professional literature.
  NASBAs National Candidate Database ensures that
  all candidate information remains secure and
  confidential.

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Free Research Materials
Opportunity!
Becker Conviser
Strategic Business Plan

• Pay a royalty to the AICPA for the right to
  incorporate the research material into our
  software. (it does not have to be an exclusive
  right if others want to paythats fine)
• There is no lost revenue to the AICPA (registered
  candidates are provided with access to the
  research material for free)
• The AICPA would also avoid the administrative
  expense associated with handling and delivering
  the research material to thousands of students
  annually.
• Our marketing advantage enabling us to provide
  the material BEFORE the student had registered
  for the CPA Exam and the guarantee that the
  research material is as close to the real deal
  for maximum quality assurance.

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AICPA Exam Details Advice
AICPA Time Management ------ Information
Recommendations

• Welcome
• Directions
• Testlet 1 (mcq)
• Testlet 2 (mcq)
• Testlet 3 (mcq)
• Testlet 4 (simulation)
• Testlet 5 (simulation)
• Brief Survey

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AICPA Exam Details Advice
Clarification on Written Communicationand
Writing Skills

• AICPA released final weights as follows

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AICPA Exam Details Advice
Clarification on Written Communication and
Writing Skills (continued)

• The written communication exercise is contained
  within the simulations. However, it is graded as
  10 of the total exam grade. The Written
  Communication tab will be in every simulation and
  will be graded strictly for writing skills once a
  minimum content threshold has been achieved.
• The written response to the question posed must
  be
• On topic
• Address the concept (not merely restate the
  concept)
• Contain a clearly identifiable thesis statement
• Contain developed main and support ideas
• Grammatically correct
• Contain correct punctuation and spelling
• At the outset of the exam, the ultimate
  conclusion reached by the student in answering
  the question does not have to be correct to
  achieve the writing skills points.

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AICPA Exam Details Advice
Financial Accounting Reporting 4.0 Hours
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AICPA Exam Details Advice
Financial Accounting Reporting
20 Points Simulations 10 points (Written
Comm.) 30 points
70 Points M/C
MultipleChoiceTestlet1(30 M/C)
MultipleChoiceTestlet2(30 M/C)
MultipleChoiceTestlet3(30 M/C)
Simulation1
Simulation2
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AICPA Exam Details Advice
Understanding your test taking skills then
Caution Hold break until after MCQs.
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AICPA Exam Details Advice
Things to consider

• FARE includes calculations
• Allocate 1.5 minute per multiple choice question
  as a benchmark (45 minutes per testlet)
• Allocate 45 minutes per simulation
• Allocate 10 minutes for break
• Leaves 5 minutes

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AICPA Exam Details Advice
Regulation 3.0 Hours
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AICPA Exam Details Advice
Regulation
20 Points Simulations 10 points (Written
Comm.) 30 points
70 Points M/C
MultipleChoiceTestlet1(24 M/C)
MultipleChoiceTestlet2(24 M/C)
MultipleChoiceTestlet3(24 M/C)
Simulation1
Simulation2
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AICPA Exam Details Advice
Understanding your test taking skills then
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AICPA Exam Details Advice
Things to consider

• Allocate 1.5 minute per multiple choice question
  as a benchmark (36 minutes per testlet)
• Allocate 35 minutes per simulation
• No break, but watch your benchmark

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AICPA Exam Details Advice
Auditing Attestation 4.5 Hours
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AICPA Exam Details Advice
Auditing Attestation
20 Points Simulations 10 points (Written
Comm.) 30 points
70 Points M/C
MultipleChoiceTestlet1(30 M/C)
MultipleChoiceTestlet2(30 M/C)
MultipleChoiceTestlet3(30 M/C)
Simulation1
Simulation2
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AICPA Exam Details Advice
Understanding your test taking skills then
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AICPA Exam Details Advice
Things to consider

• Use 1.5 minutes per multiple choice question as a
  benchmark (45 minutes per testlet)
• Allocate 45 minutes per simulation
• Allocate 20 minutes for breaks
• Leaves 25 minutes excluding breaks

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Business Environments Concepts 2.5 Hours
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AICPA Exam Details Advice
Business Environment Concepts
100 Points M/C
MultipleChoiceTestlet1(30 M/C)
MultipleChoiceTestlet2(30 M/C)
MultipleChoiceTestlet3(30 M/C)
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AICPA Exam Details Advice
Understanding your test taking skills then
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AICPA Exam Details Advice
Things to consider

• Allocate 1.5 minutes per multiple choice question
  as a benchmark (45 minutes per testlet)
• Leaves 15 minutes
• Take first two testlets and then evaluate

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Miscellaneous
Scoring the Examination

• Generally, Boards of Accountancy will report
  scores on a numeric scale of 0-99, with 75 as a
  passing score. This scale does NOT represent
  percent correct. A score of 75 reflects
  examination performance that represents the
  knowledge and skills needed to protect the
  public. A few Boards of Accountancy have elected
  to report a pass or fail status instead of
  numeric scores.
• Other than the written communication part of the
  examination, which will require you to complete
  tasks such as creating a letter or memo, the
  questions contained in the examination are
  formatted to allow responses to be scored
  electronically. Human graders will score all
  written communication responses.

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Miscellaneous
Scoring the Examination (continued)

• You will receive points for each correct answer
  to a multiple-choice question. Similarly,
  responses to the questions asked in the
  simulations will receive points when you provide
  a correct answer or complete a task correctly.
  Points are not subtracted for incorrect
  responses. The points are accumulated according
  to the relative contributions of each question,
  which is weighted (see contest specification
  outlines and skills definition documents for
  specific content areas and weights at
  www.cpa-exam.org). Overall scores are then
  adjusted to ensure scores for all candidates
  (even those who test in different administrations
  with different examinations) are comparable.

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Miscellaneous
Other Information

• In Regulation simulations, candidates will not be
  asked to complete entire tax returns, but may be
  asked to complete specific forms and schedules
• Within simulations, in situations where a
  candidate calculated answer is incorrect but is
  required to be used in subsequent calculations,
  the candidate will only lose points for the
  original incorrect answer the remainder of the
  calculations utilizing the wrong answer will be
  given credit if calculated correctly in all other
  respects.

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Miscellaneous
Other Information (continued)

• Simulations are not expected to be added to the
  Business Environment and Concepts section until
  Summer 2005.
• For the Regulation research questions, database
  for research contains only the IRS Code and
  Publication 17 (no regulations).
• The tax topic of Exempt Organizations has been
  removed from the Regulation section.