CPA Review | CPA Exam Review | Another71.com

Q: How many times are we allowed to reschedule a CPA Exam section? I already have rescheduled it once. Can I reschedule it again? I still have 31 days before my exam date.

-Rescheduled in Raleigh

A: As someone who rescheduled more than their fair share of CPA Exam sections, you can certainly say that I’ve ‘been around the block’ in this regard. I could probably buy a nice vacation just with the rescheduling fees I paid – including dropping $95 to abort mission the night before my exam.

You can reschedule your exam as many times as you want, but there will be fees involved and a Notice to Schedule time limit to consider, so beware.

If your CPA Exam section is 30+ days away, the fee to reschedule is $0.

If your CPA Exam section is less than 5 days away, the fee to reschedule varies:

Auditing and Attestation (AUD): $111.60
Business Environment and Concepts (BEC): $62.00
Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR): $99.20
Regulation (REG): $74.40

Technically, you are not allowed to reschedule an exam less than 24 hours prior to your exam.

However, I personally rescheduled less than 12 hours prior to one of my exams, but this tactic is very risky and I don’t recommend doing it.

The number for the Prometric Candidate Services Call Center is 800-580-9648.

You can also reach them online at www.prometric.com/cpa.

REMEMBER: Make sure your reschedule date is within the date limit of your CPA Exam Notice to Schedule (NTS).

Jeff@another71.com

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Q: Jeff, I took Regulation this past week and did not complete my 2nd simulation. I didn’t do the research tab and only completed two of the three main tabs. I completed my first simulation and felt pretty good about it, as well as all the MCQs.

Will I be heavily penalized for not completing that second simulation?

-Quentin on Facebook

A: Quentin – you should be fine. Of all the tabs to leave blank, you did the right thing in skipping research. I didn’t finish my 2nd simulation on most of my passing CPA Exam sections.

For Financial Accounting and Reporting, I left 3 tabs plus the research blank for simulation #2 and I still passed.

Honestly, I couldn’t figure out what they wanted me to do on the simulation. I sat there for 15 minutes puzzled because – let’s just put it this way – the instructions on the questions left a lot to be desired.

I flat out knew the material, but the simulation was poorly written and I had no idea what they wanted me to enter into the blanks.

I botched Simulation #2 and I still passed.

You should be fine!

Jeff@another71.com

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Jeff Elliott is a Licensed CPA and Active Member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, The Kansas Society of CPAs, and Founder of Another71.com and Club 75.

Have a question relating to the CPA Exam? Submit it to jeff@another71.com.

Q:

My friend took the CPA Exam in late 2008 and always seemed to get her CPA Exam scores no later than 3.5 weeks after taking her exam.

Is it taking longer to score now than a year and a half ago, or was my friend just lucky and didn’t get any brand new simulations?

Jennifer

A:

This is an excellent question and unfortunately, I don’t have a clear answer. I get asked similar questions all of the time and ultimately, only the AICPA knows what is going on with their score release process.

In 2008 when I was taking the CPA Exam, a resource like another71.com that tracked CPA Exam results didn’t exist, which is why I started doing it.

The first breakthrough in the score release mystery came when the AICPA granted me an interview, which shed a little light on the process.

I will say this: the CPA Exam score release process seems more complicated and mysterious than it did even two years ago.

Is that just my imagination or have things really changed? I honestly don’t know.

The best you can do is keep plugging along in your cpa exam review course while you wait for results (and hope that you didn’t get a new simulation).

-Jeff

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Q:

I sat for Regulation on the 1st of April in Ohio. When will I receive my score?

I am scheduled to take BEC before August, so now I’m anxious about both BEC and REG.

Should I forget about REG for now and concentrate on BEC instead?

Any tips or suggestions?

Thanks for helping me hold onto sanity during this ridiculous experience.

Gina

A:

Since you took Regulation on April 1, this makes you eligible for a Wave 1 CPA Exam results release.

However, if you had a brand new simulation on your exam, you will be in Wave 2 automatically per my Interview with the AICPA.

Let’s assume though that you didn’t have a new simulation and everything is copacetic (I always wanted to use that word in a sentence) on the REG front.

I think your score will be released by the AICPA on or around May 19.

Since Ohio is a NASBA State, your (passing) score should come out the following evening.

I would push Regulation out of your mind. Just assume that you passed and move on mentally to BEC.

Focusing 110% of your efforts into BEC would be a wise use of your time.

It is feasible that you could actually take BEC before you get your REG score if you really crank up your study regimen.

However, taking BEC at the end of May with REG score in hand – for better or worse, is the safer plan.

-Jeff

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Q:

I have a question regarding studying for the FAR section of the CPA Exam using two different CPA Review courses.

I now have both the Yaeger course and another course, both are current. I scored a 73 using the other course and have switched to Yaeger.

I am planning on taking FAR again May 28. I was wondering what you would think the best approach is to studying for FAR using two courses?

Since you took Yaeger and passed I was hoping that you could shed some light on my situation (how to make the best of Yaeger while using the other course as a crutch or visa versa).

Thanks Jeff. I really appreciate you time and dedication to helping all of us hopefuls, it means a lot!

Mike

A:

There aren’t enough study hours to use two full CPA Review courses at the same time and finish in 6-8 weeks.

You have to pick one and then utilize some aspects of the other course, such as software practice problems, during the course of your final review week(s).

Since you made the switch, I would watch the Yaeger Financial Accounting and Reporting videos from start to finish and take tons and tons of notes.

Then, I would work the Yaeger-assigned MCQs in the book (again, do this after viewing all videos). I would also take notes over the MCQs.

Finally, I would re-write my notes and test yourself using the other course’s software package. I wouldn’t “study” with the two courses and move back and forth, but I would utilize their software to test yourself on the concepts you learned from the Yaeger HomeStudy.

Taking good notes and re-writing them takes time and will seem tedious, but you will ABSORB the info better, which is the whole point of taking them in the first place.

Re-writing your study notes isn’t a mainstream idea, but it’s something that I decided to do while I was studying and it paid off.

More and more people are doing this per this site’s recommendation and are PASSING, which reinforces my belief that this is the best approach to studying for the CPA Exam.

Thanks for writing,

Jeff

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Q:

I sat for and passed all four parts of the CPA Exam in New Jersey. I am going to be working however, in either North or South Carolina.

Should I apply for my CPA license in New Jersey and then get the paperwork for reciprocity in North and South Carolina? Where do I get the paperwork to have my work experience signed off? I cannot seem to find it!

Thank you!
Lauren

A:

Licensing requirements and navigating reciprocity issues among states can be very tricky, especially since states change things on a regular basis.

The best resource that I know of that keeps track of all of the states and monitors them for changes to their forms and licensing rules is NASBATools.com.

NASBATools.com will have everything you need all in one place.

I wish you success as a CPA,

-Jeff

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