The Common Final Examination (CFE) is the culmination of the CPA Professional Education Program (PEP). The CFE is a three-day examination that evaluates students on the competencies defined by the CPA Canada Competency Map, which outlines the knowledge, skills and proficiency levels you must have as a Canadian CPA.
During the three-day CFE you will be required to:
- Demonstrate depth in Financial Reporting and/or Management Accounting and in your Elective depth role and breadth of your abilities across all six technical competencies based on the CPA Competency Map.
- Draw on learning from your Capstone 1 case to complete Day 1 of the exam.
How to Check CFE Results
CPA Canada releases Common Final Exam (CFE) results in late-November or early December (for September CFEs) and August (for May CFEs). Find out if you passed using the links below:
- CPA Western School of Business (BC, AB, SK, MB and NWT, Yukon, Nunavut): https://www.certificationenterprise.net/CPAcp/cpLogin.aspx
- CPA Ontario: https://www.certificationenterprise.net/CPAcp/cpLogin.aspx
- CPA Quebec: https://www.certificationenterprise.net/CPAcp/cpLogin.aspx
- CPA Atlantic School of Business (PEI, NS, NL, NB, and Bermuda): https://www.certificationenterprise.net/CPAcp/cpLogin.aspx
Honour Roll
The list of CFE Honour Roll candidates will be made available at the link below:
Unsuccessful writers, appealing the results
For writers who are unsuccessful, Grigoryan recommends re-writing past CFE exams. “Go as far back as possible, rewrite as many cases as possible, as this will give you the widest technical coverage of topics for the CFE,” says Grigoryan. “The past CFEs are publicly available at CPA Canada’s Certification Resource Centre (CRC).”
For unsuccessful writers considering an appeal of their results, we recommend that you read “Is it worth it to appeal the CPA CFE? Let’s look at the stats,” also written by Grigoryan. “When deciding to appeal the CFE, it’s ultimately a question of costs vs. benefits. You really have nothing to lose except the appeal fees, which is a bit like playing a lottery. If you decide to appeal, keep in mind the success rates, the rigorous marking process and your exam results.”
Congratulations to all the successful writers of the September 2022 CFE. For those who were not successful this time, be sure to read the many articles in the Students section of Canadian Accountant for advice from columnists such as Gevorg Grigoryan, CPA and Andrew Knapman, CPA.
