With the transition to writing the CPA Canada Common Final Exam (CFE) in hotel rooms, a software called FolioViews has been implemented by CPA Canada to replace Knotia as reference during the exam. You’ll get access and download FolioViews in Capstone 2. I’ll share tips and tricks in this post.
Tip #1: Narrow the search
When searching in FolioViews, you search through the entire database. This means your results will be all over the place. To be efficient, checkmark the standard you would like to search and it will narrow down the search. For example, if your CFE case is IFRS, checkmark IFRS so that FolioViews searches only there:
Tip #2: Use advanced search
There are two ways to search in FolioViews: [Basic] Query and Advanced Query. Both are accessible through Search drop down on the top toolbar:
The basic Query will search in the database and show you the results on the bottom of the screen. For example, I searched the term “biological” and FolioViews found several results:
The Advanced Query is better in the sense that it lets you see the number of results before you perform the search. It also shows you the results when you use phrases. For example, when I search “biological asset” using Advanced Query, it shows me that there are 48 matches. This is useful in determining if my multi-word query will lead to results (or no results) before I execute the search.
Tip #3: Assign a hotkey to Query
The first instinct when making a search is to press CTRL + F (like you do in other programs). In FolioViews, this brings up “Find Infobase”, which is not that useful. Let’s re-map this hotkey so that CTRL + F performs a basic Query:
- Click on Tools > Customize
- Choose Keyboard
- In Command Category, pick Search
- Click on Query
- Click on the box “Press new shortcut key” and press CTRL and F on keyboard. It will say that this hotkey is assigned to another command. Ignore it, click Assign on the top.
- Press OK to accept the changes.
Now you can perform a basic Query with CTRL +F and Advanced Query with the default hotkey F2.
Tip #4: Use HitList tab
In both basic Query and Advanced Query, the results are shown in All tab, on the bottom:
This is hard to work with, so I suggest clicking on HitList tab and scrolling through results there. This is much faster than clicking on next/previous hit buttons. Once you found your desired result, double click and it will open that record. Note that it will then take you to Document tab; click on All tab to return to the original view.
FolioViews Installation Guide
As candidates will be required to access their reference material through FolioViews, below is a short guide on how to install FolioViews as well as NFO files.
- Installation files are in D2L “Introduction to Capstone 2” and the CFE.
- Right click on the zip file and select open.
- To start installing, double click on the file “VPL_FOLIO_VIEWS_471.exe”.
- Follow the steps that appear on your screen, such as “ accept the terms of the licence agreement.” and selecting “Typical (Local) Installation”.
- Download CPA Handbook Folio and Income Tax Collection Folio (shown above) by right clicking on the files and selecting “Extract All”
- Select “Browse” and find destination “C:VPL\NFO”. Then click “Select Folder” and “Extract”
- Click on the “Start” button in Windows and find the folder “Virtual Professional Library”. Click on the “Folio Views 4.7.1” link.
- Upon start up, the page “Folio Views Getting Started” will appear.
- Open the files you downloaded within the NFO folder by clicking “File” and “Open”.
Other notes:
- FolioViews is not compatible on Macs.
- If you’re using an employee-issued laptop, ensure no conflicts with any existing software with your IT department.
- FolioViews files can be downloaded an unlimited amount of times.
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