Question About California Ethics Exam

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    Topic
  • #178182
    SammyJ
    Member

    Hey all,

    I have researched online a lot and used the search function on this site to learn more about the Ethics exam too.

    Can someone just describe the process from beginning to end for the California Ethics exam requirement?

    Also, I’ve already purchased the 290 page PDF from CalCPA. It also came with something called “Final Exam”. Is this Final Exam which consists of 50 questions the exact exam itself? So like I just do these 50 questions whenver I have the time and just go back online and plug in the answers onto the website. Or will will the online exam questions be DIFFERENT from the “Final Exam” that I bought from CalCPA.

    Also if you fail your first attempts, are the questions for the retake examination going to be exact the same as the first exam or will the questions be different?

    Thanks!

    FAR-81!!
    AUD-69, Retake: 84!!
    REG-86!!
    BEC-81!!
    Education- Done
    Ethics- August 2013
    Experience- 7 Months of CPA Experience and counting!

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
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  • #435993
    evesocal
    Member

    >>Also, I've already purchased the 290 page PDF from CalCPA. It also came with something called “Final Exam”. Is this Final Exam which consists of 50 questions the exact exam itself?<<<

    Yes.

    >>Also if you fail your first attempts, are the questions for the retake examination going to be exact the same as the first exam or will the questions be different?<<

    It's the same.

    Here are a couple of tips that helped me to pass that awful test on the second try:

    1. As you are looking up your answers in the PDF file, *WRITE DOWN THE SECTION AND PARAGRAPH WHERE YOU FIND THEM*. Make up a schedule for yourself numbered 1 – 50, write down your answer and where you found it.

    If you fail, the website will tell you under what sections you got wrong answers and they will be in the order you got them wrong.

    2. Be attentive to California-specific questions! If it states the question pertains to CA (or not) – that matters. Some of the rules are different.

    Good luck, it's a pain in the ass but you'll get through it.

    B: 75
    R: 80
    A: 77
    F: 81
    Ethics: 84, 92 and done!
    Licensed in California

    #435994
    MCLKT
    Participant

    I think the index at the back of the study PDF outlines the sections that are AICPA v. CA v. IFRS etc. That should be helpful when searching.

    A:[73]97 F:[74]85 R:86 B:[74]82
    *NINJA 10 Pt. COMBO & Yaeger*

    #435995
    SammyJ
    Member

    Thank you for answering those and thank for the tip MCLKT. I havent asked this question like 3-4 times on here already and everytime I get someone answering it that misreads what I am asking. Thanks!

    FAR-81!!
    AUD-69, Retake: 84!!
    REG-86!!
    BEC-81!!
    Education- Done
    Ethics- August 2013
    Experience- 7 Months of CPA Experience and counting!

    #435996
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Bump for California peeps who, like me, are working on their Ethics exam – some good information on this post!

    Also, if you sign up as a Candidate on CalCPA (first year is free), you can get a $25 discount on the Ethics materials and test.

    I do have a couple questions to add:

    1. How much study time should I allocate before attempting the test?

    2. Since it's online and can be done from your home, can you stop in the middle of the test and come back to it the next day, or do you have to complete the test in one sitting?

    #435997
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    @bhmnrhpsdy

    1. I studied around 10-12 hours (in total) and passed it on my 3rd attempt. It was hard; read each question carefully and do not take this test for granted.

    2. Do not login to the CalCPA website and begin the exam until you have completely finished the test. The test is open book and non-timed, so simply go at whatever pace you need to finish it. As someone mentioned above, it helps immensely if you keep an answer key with notes of what section and paragraph you got each answer from. Once you're ready, simply login to CalCPA and input all of your answers that you came up with and it will immediately tell you your score.

    #435998
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    @dodgerdawg: thanks for the info, though I'm a bit confused about what you said in #2: “Do not login to the CalCPA website and begin the exam until you have completely finished the test.” Wouldn't I have to log in in order to see the questions and begin the exam???

    #435999
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Yes it is the same 50 questions each time you log into the exam. Just a heads up though, they are in a different order from the “Final Exam” you get for studying.

    #436000
    evesocal
    Member

    bhmnrhpsdy, what dodgerdawg means about not logging in: Write down all of your answers on paper or your computer or something BEFORE you go to the website to answer the test online. You can't start the test online, then stop and go back to it at another time. You have to do it all in one sitting. You don't have to log in to see the exam because it's in the pdf download. And I think the answers are in the same order although another poster here said no, but I'm pretty sure my pdf file exam was identical to the online exam. But I took it in February so perhaps I forgot, or it changed.

    And it's LONG, it takes a long time to find the answers. And the questions are all crazy. I couldn't find all the answers in one sitting, it took a few hours at different times and then I failed the first time. The second time I spent probably 10 hours over a few days trying to figure out what I got wrong. It's not obvious at all. I passed the second time but not with100, so either I changed some right answers to wrong or got new ones wrong. Not that I care because I passed and will never look at it again.

    The first time, I did not quite realize there were California-specific questions. Apparently California has different ethics from the rest of the country in specific situations. That's not confusing at all.

    B: 75
    R: 80
    A: 77
    F: 81
    Ethics: 84, 92 and done!
    Licensed in California

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