You must be a Canadian Chartered Accountant who has passed the UFE and be a member in good standing in a Provincial Institute. You must have completed your experience requirements. "New" CAs whose service is still incomplete should refer to the second paragraph of the Examination Application page on this website.
The AICPA does not have an articling requirement. In the U.S., many CPAs work in industry, law and government. In setting IQEX, NASBA assumes that Canadian CAs are conversant with general accounting and auditing and these disciplines are not tested.
The final multiple-choice IQEX Exam will be offered in September 2011 at Prometric Centers in major Canadian and U.S. cities. Detailed information will be included in the CPA-NOW course material. You may visit the Prometric website at www.prometric.com. The exam requires you to book a 5 hour time slot. The first half hour is for orientation and the exam itself is 4.5 hours. Most candidates complete it in 3 hours or less.
The annual IQEX Exam will include difficult case-based simulations commencing in 2012. The exam will require much more in-depth knowledge and the use of research references to support candidate answers. In addition, the new IQEX Exam will NOT be offered in Canada and candidates will have to travel to the United States to take it.
Please click on Examination Application Procedures and Deadlines.
IQEX is a multiple-choice test comprising 150 questions. (See the IQEX Syllabus and Grading Stucture.) All questions are single subject and are quite basic. You will have access to a pop-up calculator but any arithmetical questions tend to be quite straight-forward. You will be given a pencil and several blank sheets of scrap paper which you may not take with you when you leave. All questions offer 4 choices (a, b, c, or d) and should be answered. Marks are not subtracted for wrong answers. A pass is 75% or higher.
The grade release date for 2011 has not yet been announced but it will probably be early-to-mid-December.
IQEX is accepted by 45 states and The District of Columbia. The following 5 states do not accept IQEX:
Unless you have a compelling reason to join a particular State Board, we recommend that you apply to the State of Illinois. Illinois charges a one-time fee (presently $345) and has no annual dues or professional education requirements. You may download an application at www.ilboa.org.
Although you may refer to yourself as a CPA, in most jurisdictions a license to sign audit reports is not granted automatically. Such license is also not granted by simply passing the full Uniform Exam in the U.S. Various states impose additional education and/or experience requirements for those CPAs seeking permission to sign audit reports. The NASBA website www.nasba.org lists all the individual State Boards along with contact information.
Unlike Canadian CA exam standards, the CPA Uniform exam and IQEX are both "entry-level" examinations. Taxation questions tend to be very basic. If you are, or will be, living in the U.S., we recommend that you enrol in a tax course such as the one offered each fall by H&R Block. We believe you will need to do this if you want to gain the knowledge needed to adequately serve clients. Preparing U.S. corporation and/or partnership tax returns will probably require work experience within a CPA firm.
Passing the IQEX Exam and becoming a CPA automatically fulfills the recently implemented IRS tax preparer requirements. CPAs may obtain a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) and are exempt from the ongoing testing and continuing education requirements, even without a U.S. Social Security Number.
Vancouver - Friday July 15, 2011 to Sunday July 17, 2011 at the Holiday Inn Express Metrotown, 4505 Central Blvd. Burnaby, BC, V5H-4M3. Telephone: (604) 438-1881.
Toronto - Friday July 22, 2011 to Sunday July 24, 2011 at the Montecassino Hotel, 3710 Chesswood Drive, Downsview, Ontario, M3J-2W4. Telephone: (416) 630-8100.
All sessions will be held from 8:15am to 4:30pm.
Please contact the hotel directly for accommodation requests, and indicate that you will be attending the CPA-NOW session to be eligible for a discounted rate.