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When you write the CPA Canada Day 1 Common Final Exam (CFE), you’re expected to find – and recognize in your Situational Analysis Framework (SAF) – two types of quantitative items: 1) financial analysis and 2) quantitative big picture (quant BP) issues. Students often ask me what’s the difference between the two. Let’s review in this post.

What’s Financial Analysis?

Financial analysis is about getting a picture of a company’s financial health. It involves financial ratio and trend analysis where you compare different F/S elements, like revenues, profits, and various ratios. Financial analysis in Day 1 doesn’t need to be in-depth, you can keep it brief.

To know what financial analysis to perform in the Day 1 exam, you need to pay close attention to the details provided in the case. 

For example, in the CPA Canada CFE Day DHC v1 case below, Appendix III provides various benchmarks, comparing company to the industry for the years 2022 and 2019 as follows:

When you see these ratios, it’s a signal to discuss some of these ratios.

You don’t have to discuss all of them nor answer the “so what“, but you gotta compare the key ratios of company vs industry, and state whether it decreased or increased. To know which ratios are important enough to discuss, look for BOD objectives in your case. For example, if the BOD wants to achieve a better current ratio in the next three year, this is a key ratio. If the BOD wants to achieve a better occupancy rate, this is a key ratio. 

Here’s an example response:

About 3-4 bullet points like above are enough. You don’t need to do anything further except to integrate it to your analysis (discussed below).

What are Quantitative Big Picture issues?

Big picture issues in general are overarching, pervasive issues that impact all the other issues in the case and relate to the company’s overall strategic direction. 

Big picture issues can be quantitative and qualitative. As quantitative, they can be financial or non–financial.

Quant BP issues involve constraints, basically limitations on resources that the company needs. Financially these are cash constraints, like company has $10M spending available. Non-financially these are resource constraints, like company has raw materials of only 10M kg.

As I teach in my popular CFE tutoring classes, these are crucial to include in your strategic analysis, recommendations, and overall recommendation. You cannot proceed with that strategic option if it exceeds the constrained resource. For example, if the investment requires more cash than the company has, even if all factors suggest the option is profitable and the pros outweigh the cons, you can’t suggest to proceed with it, unless the company can come up with a way to mitigate it. For example, they can accept a strategic issue to sell part of the company to raise cash and use that cash for other investments.

Here are some examples of quant BP constraints: 

• Cash flow constraints
• Lending constraints
• Covenants
• Management time constraint
• Materials constraint 
• Space constraint

These can be tricky to spot because they require reading between the lines. For example, Day 1 might hint at a covenant tied to the company’s bank loan without explicitly saying it’s a constraint. 

How to Integrate Financial Analysis and Quant BP Issues

Now you learned what are Quant BP issues and Financial Analysis. How do you add those into your response? First, you have to put them in your SAF. Second, you need to integrate factors from the SAF into your analysis of the strategic and other issues in order  to pass Day 1. 

You can add your financial analysis in either or both quantitative and qualitative of strategic options.

Here’s an example of a student integrating their financial analysis into their quantitative analysis in DHC Version 1 case:

Above student tied strategic issue analysis back to their financial analysis by explaining how it will impact DHC’s ratios overall. 

Quant BP issues can also be integrated within either or both quantitative or qualitative. Here’s an example of a student response from CPA Canada Day 1 KTI, Version 1 exam:

In this example, the student integrated the supply constraint of having limited tea leaves available due to KTI’s two contracts expiring from their SAF into their quantitative analysis. The impact on the tea supply is calculated under the scenario that KTI doesn’t renew the May 2025 contract. There would be 1.6M kg in additional tea available to KTI, which is favorable given their limitation on tea supply.

The student also integrated the supply constraint within their qualitative analysis in the scenario the contract is renewed as follows:

Conclusion

Remember the key differences between financial analysis and quantitative BP constraints: financial analysis assesses how the company is doing financially, using ratios and trends, while quant BP issues are constraints that must be considered in your analysis of all strategic options and all recommendations. Both financial analysis and quantitative constraints should be mentioned in your SAF and then integrated, either or both within your quantitative and qualitative analysis of each strategic option. 

Extra Resources

CFE pass rates are lowest on record at 67.3%. 

Check out Gevorg’s CFE Review – Day 1 with Marking. This highly rated tutoring program boasts 91% pass rate and provides supplemental mock CFE Day 1 case, live classes, on-demand video lessons, templates, handouts, technical study notes, to help you become a CPA.

 

As you’re studying for the CPA Canada Common Final Exam (CFE), you’ll notice that Day 1 of the exam is structured differently from that of Day 2 and Day 3. 

The Day 1 exam is considered indirect, which means the assessment opportunities (AOs) aren’t as clearly laid out for you. For example, instead of being told directly to do a NPV calculation for your quantitative analysis, you may need to figure out which financial tool to use based on the information you’re provided.

Likewise, identifying the big picture issues, such as the cash constraint, is also a key challenge on Day 1, because this may require you to read between the lines to uncover it.

What is cash constraint?

A few years ago, passing Day 1 was simple. You had to prepare a Situational Analysis Framework (such as KSF, SWOT, etc.), analyze 3-4 strategic issues, analyze 1-2 operational issues, and prepare an overall recommendation.

Day 1 exams are now more complicated. CPA Canada Board of Examiners has introduced several layers of big picture issues. These are overarching, pervasive issues that affect all other issues. They relate to strategic direction of the company (referred to as “SD”), interrelation of issues (which we call “IRI”), non-monetary constraints and cash constraints. This cash constraint big picture issue means that the company has limited financial resources for investments. For example, they may have $2M available, while strategic issues may require $4M or $5M or higher. It’s a constraint you have to be careful to not recommend over the limit. You can think of this like a credit card limit that should not be exceeded.

Why is finding cash constraint important?

Simply put, you need it to pass Day 1. Cash constraint is a big picture issue that you need to tackle in order to score a “Yes” on the “Conclude and advise” AO.

Below is the feedback guide for the Conclude and advise AO from a Day 1 case, which shows how you’ll be marked.

When your overall assessment is determined, you must score a Yes on Conclude and advise to score a Clear Pass.

Below is what will see in your Automatic Feedback Report, if you don’t address the big picture issue and you’re unsuccessful at passing the Day 1 exam:

How to spot the cash constraint?

You might find that the cash constraint is mentioned directly in the case or you might have to dig a little deeper. Here are some places in the case where you can look for information about a cash constraint:

• 1) The narrative (introduction)
• 2) Transcript of the board meeting 
• 3) The company’s financial statements, if provided
• 4) Appendix with financing information, if provided

Below are examples to help you understand better.

1) The narrative

Often, you’ll find the cash constraint mentioned in the first few pages of the case.

Below is an excerpt from the first page of the CPA Canada JRP Version 2 Day 1 case. The highlighted section below tells you that JRP only has $5M available for investments – that’s your cash constraint!

Here’s another example from NPF v1 case:

2) Transcript of the Board Meeting

Sometimes discussions among BOD members reveal cash constraints. In the below excerpt from the CPA Canada API Day 1 case, Jacob, one of the founding shareholders of API, points out the company’s cash constraint. He mentions that although there is $20M available for financing, any new investments must generate enough cash flow to cover the debt. That’s a clear sign of a cash constraint.

3) Financial Statements (if provided)

If the case doesn’t directly mention a cash constraint, that doesn’t mean there isn’t one! If you’re provided with financial statements, specifically a balance sheet or cash flow statement, be sure to review them. If the case doesn’t mention cash constraint anywhere, you should treat the cash balance on the F/S as the constraint. For example, in DHC v2 exam case below, the cash balance was given in the financial statements and not mentioned anywhere else: 

4) Appendix with financing information (if provided)

This is not the same as “financial statements”, this is financing options. You may be provided with an appendix that details the financing available to the company to fund new investments. Below is an example from the CPA Canada CTI v1 Day 1 case:

 

Conclusion

Day 1 of CFE is more complicated now.  Always remember to take a step back and consider if you need to address any big picture issues, such as a cash constraint. Regardless of whether the cash constraint is made obvious or not, it’s important for you to comment on how each proposal could impact the constraint. The cash constraint should be incorporated into your situational analysis, conclusion for each strategic option and overall recommendation. Not addressing it may hold you from passing Day 1!

Extra Resources

CFE pass rates are now at the lowest level on record at just 67.3%. Capstone 2 provides three mock exam cases, only 2 of which are marked. This provides you with limited practice opportunities for Day 1, with cases that are not accurate representations of the actual exam. 

Check out Gevorg’s CFE Review – Day 1 with Marking. This highly-rated exam tutoring program provides supplemental mock CFE Day 1 case authored by Gevorg, CPA to simulate the actual exam so that you can practice the types of questions that may be asked. In addition, you’ll get access to live classes, on-demand video lessons, templates, handouts, technical study notes, and much more.

 

If you’re preparing for the CPA Canada PEP or Common Final Exam (CFE) in 2025, here are the key changes you need to know about reference materials, testable content, and exam format updates.

Changes to Exam Reference Materials

1) Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) Removal

You can find the MD&A reference materials in the Knotia Handbook:

Starting in 2025, this MD&A collection will no longer be included in exam reference materials since it won’t be updated anymore. This means you won’t see it during the exams.

However, you’re still responsible for understanding and analyzing management communications under the CPA Canada Competency Map Financial Reporting (FR) 1.4.3. While you don’t need to quote MD&A reference materials from Handbook, you must demonstrate competency in this area. This means MD&A can still be tested on the exams.

Example of how MD&A may be tested on the CPA Canada exams is below, taken from a recent CFE exam case:

2) Tax Shield Formula Update

The exam reference schedule will now include only one “Present Value of Tax Shield for Amortizable Assets” formula, applicable to assets acquired after Jan. 1, 2024. Previously, there were two formulas—one for assets bought before Jan. 1, 2024 (now outdated) and another for less common CCA classes (no longer included).

You can download the latest Exam Reference schedule in CPA Canada’s Certification Resource Centre (CRC).

(Note: As of Feb 2025, the link above shows the old exam reference schedule with two formulas. CPA Canada still needs to update it.)

Testable Standards and Regulations

1) Cut-off Dates

CPA Canada PEP and CFE exams in 2025 will test standards and regulations that were in effect or substantively enacted as of Dec. 31, 2024.

Here’s what’s included:

• IFRS: Standards in effect up to and including Jan. 1, 2025.
• ASPE, ASNPO, and CAS: Standards with an effective date of Dec. 31, 2024, as published in the Nov. 2024 CPA Canada Handbook.
• Tax Legislation: Laws substantively enacted (including those passed in the House of Commons during a minority government) by Dec. 31, 2024.

There were no major changes to IFRS, ASPE, ASNPO nor CAS in 2024. However, you need to be aware of changes issued but not yet in effect, at different proficiency levels. 

2) Taxation: 2025 Changes

The 2024 Federal Budget and the Fall Economic Statement (Dec. 16, 2024) introduced various tax measures, but not all were enacted by Dec. 31, 2024. Proposed but not yet enacted tax measures include:

• Capital gains inclusion rate adjustments (including changes to the lifetime capital gains exemption).
• New immediate expensing rule for productivity-enhancing assets.
• Changes to the SR&ED program.
• Extension of the accelerated investment incentive.
• Temporary extension for charitable donations in 2024.

You may always apply a more current standard than what is required on the CFE and case portion of the CPA PEP exams, but multiple-choice questions (MCQs) follow the cut-off date rules strictly. So you should ignore above tax changes for MCQs.

However, for the CFE and PEP case portions, you can apply these new tax rules, but you’re not required to. For example, if you get a question on CCA for a manufacturing company purchasing new equipment in 2025, you can choose to apply the extended accelerated investment incentive (AII), which gives enhanced first-year CCA deduction. However, since this extension wasn’t substantively enacted, you can also apply the regular CCA half-year rule instead. Either approach would be valid in a case response.

Exam Format Changes for 2025

Starting March 2025, MCQs will only be available digitally in the exam software for Core and Elective exams. You will still receive a printed case, rough notes, and reference schedule in the exam booklet.

Extra Resources

For the 2025 CPA exams, reference materials are changing, but the core principles of testable content remain the same. Ensure you’re familiar with the latest standards and prepare for the digital-only MCQ format in upcoming exams.

For extra support, check out Gevorg’s CPA Canada exam courses for a comprehensive CPA exam tutoring package.

 

CPA Canada has now released the 2024 Professional Education Program (PEP) and Common Final Exam (CFE) exam pass rates. The 2025 pass rates will be released in February 2026.

2024 CFE Pass Rates

Below are the official exam pass rates as reported by CPA Canada.

The 2024 CFE pass rate is 67.3%.

CFE Offering	Cumulative Pass Rates
	First Attempt	Second Attempt	Third Attempt
May and September 2024*	67.3%	n/a	n/a
May and September 2023*	70.5%	n/a	n/a
May and September 2022*	71.3%	n/a	n/a
May and September 2021*	73.6%	n/a	n/a
September 2020	75.8%	n/a	n/a
September 2019	76.3%	87.4%	n/a
September 2018	77.6%	87.5%	90.8%
September 2017	77.6%	88.1%	90.6%
September 2016	76.8%	88.6%	91.4%
May 2016	68.7%	75.4%	79.9%
September 2015	82.9%	94.6%	96.6%

*In 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021, there were two offerings of the CFE. The 67.3%, 70.5%, 71.3% and 73.6% pass rates are the combined averages of the first-time writers in both the May and September CFEs.

There is a decrease of 1-3% year-over-year, with 2024 CFE pass rate the lowest on record. 

2024 Professional Education Program (PEP) Pass Rates

Below are the updated 2024 PEP exam pass rates:

CPA PEP Module	2024 Pass Rate	2023 Pass Rate	2022 Pass Rate	2021 Pass Rate	2020 Pass Rate	2019 Pass Rate
Core 1	71.9%	72.1%	74.0%	77.1%	81.9%	79.4%
Core 2	80.4%	78.4%	82.5%	85.3%	86.2%	84.3%
Taxation	86.8%	87.6%	87.5%	88.1%	88.0%	88.1%
Assurance	88.1%	87.6%	89.7%	90.5%	89.1%	89.2%
PM	87.1%	90.2%	89.5%	90.9%	90.7%	90.6%
Finance	84.8%	87.1%	87.2%	89.1%	89.0%	89.9%

There is a minor increase  in the Core 2 and Assurance module pass rates in 2024, with Core 2 pass rate of 80.4% and Assurance at 88.1%. Core 1 and Tax remained mostly flat at 71.9% and 86.8%, respectively, while PM and Finance pass rates dropped by 2-3% in 2024.

PEP and CFE Exam Coaching

My name is Gevorg. I’m an instructor and CPA exam coach. If you need helping passing your CPA Canada exams, contact me for consultation or check out my tutoring courses.

 

 

Passing the CPA Canada PER (Practical Experience Reporting) process can feel a bit tricky, especially if you’re on the EVR (Experience Verification Route). You might find yourself submitting reports, only to receive them back with reviewer comments or not getting the levels you were hoping for. If you’re nearing the 30-month practical experience completion mark and want to hit that Level 2 proficiency across both technical and enabling competencies, this guide is here to help you out! We’ll cover both general tips on PERT and specific strategies on how to add 3 examples given the 5,000 character space limitation.

If you’d like to directly jump to how to add the 3 examples within 5,000 characters, scroll down to “3 Example Rule” section below.

PERT General Tips & Tricks To Achieve Level 2

Below are tips and tricks to help you achieve Level 2 in your examples:

• Don’t ever say “us” or we” – Be selfish. Write about what you have done and use the word “I” and “me” in your examples. This shows that you took charge of the tasks. It’s best to avoid using “we” or “our team” as much as possible, even though it’s perfectly fine for your manager to have reviewed your work. 
• Use unique examples – Make sure to use different examples for each technical sub-competency. For example, if you improved a financial reporting process and used this for FR1, don’t re-use that same exact example for FR3 or FR4. However, if you worked on a big project (think ERP implementation), then you can bifurcate several different examples from it and write in different areas. This rules applies to Technicals, you can use the same examples between Technical and Enabling competency without any issues.
• Don’t be generic – When I’m helping CPA students with PERT, I often see them write lengthy descriptions of their job duties. For example, in FR2, students tend to write how they go about analyzing transactions as part of their day to day work. This is not gonna work. PERT team is looking for specific examples. For example, in FR2, you should pick a few specific transactions you analyzed and write about those. Good examples are: impairment, intangible asset, consolidation, financial instruments, tax provision, lease accounting, complex revenue issues, decommissioning costs, assets held for sale and discontinued operations, foreign currency translation.
• Stay within 5,000 characters – Each section in the PERT  has a limit of 5,000 characters (not words!). Before you hit that submit button, double-check your character count. I suggest writing your reports in Google Docs or Microsoft Word, then copy to PERT, because I’ve heard students say that their examples sometimes disappear when they write directly in PERT and leave it there for a while. PERT has gone through many updates and it’s more user friendly now, showing the character count as you type and the text boxes are expandable. Still, I recommend writing in external apps and then copying to PERT to avoid losing your work. To save space, use point form, skip routine details, and use common abbreviations, like “IFRS”(more on this below.)
• Write detailed examples – This contradicts the above tip about being point form, but you do need to be both detailed and point form. You have to find which areas need details and which areas can be left point form. For example, “Stakeholders” section can be point form but “Analysis” should be detailed. Your PERT examples should be at least 3/4 to 1 full page for each competency area.
• Use templates – Gevorg CPA was the first to build PERT templates and teach students how to use them correctly. Now, several years later, CPA Canada is encouraging all students to use templates. It makes sense; templates are best tools to hit all areas of the marking rubric, both on exams and PERT. A template for the sub-competency MA2 is available here on Gevorg’s website. For more PERT templates and examples, you can check  the PER Review success program.

Enabling Competencies: Strategies to Get Level 2

Applying the CPA Way doesn’t stop at the CFE. Enabling Competencies require you to embed the CPA Way into your response, using the following headings:

• Assess the Situation
• Analyze the Major Issues
• Conclude and Advise 
• Communicate 

Remember to do the following to achieve a Level 2 for Enabling:

• Discuss CPA values – Explain what CPA values the situation involved (competence, objectivity, due care, integrity, independence, professional behavior, and confidentiality). Make sure to discuss 2-3 CPA values.
• Add alternatives – Always include alternatives, discussing both the pros and cons.
• 1 example is enough – Unlike Technical, where you need at least 3 examples for Level 2, just 1 good example in Enabling is enough for Level 2.
• New examples – Write new examples instead of continuation of stories from previous reports.

Technical Competencies: Strategies to Get Level 2

This section is relevant if you’re following the EVR.  To achieve level 2, you should:

• Write complex examples – Your examples must require judgement, research, autonomy and working within ambiguities to get level 2. For example, let’s say you’re targeting Level 2 for FR2. If you write 3 examples of how you posted accrual entries, PPE depreciation, and payroll remittance, it won’t qualify for Level 2. You have to think about really complex entries, like the ones I listed earlier in “Don’t be generic” part, and write about those. I can help you come up with strategies on how to do this, even if you work in a junior role.
• Don’t worry about your initial assessment –  When you submit your job description for pre-assessment, PERT team will assess whether your job meets the minimum requirements for PERT. They will give you a report with checkmarks in areas they think you can score levels, like MA1, MA2, FN1 etc. Don’t worry about this report, it’s okay – and even expected – for you to report above and beyond what the checkmarks indicate. For example, if you don’t have a checkmarks in FR1, FR2, FR3, and these tasks were not part of your submitted job description, you can still report in these areas.
• Don’t target Level 2 for “FR1” – FR1 is extremely hard to get Level 2, it requires complex user need analysis and implementing a new financial reporting system. This is something that doesn’t happen 3 times in most accountants’ careers, unless your work in a entrepreneurial start-up company. So just aim for Level 1 here and claim Level 2 in other areas. This will save you a lot of headache and time.
• 3 examples needed – Have 3 examples for each sub-competency (see below)

The 3-example Rule

For each technical sub-competency, you need at least 3 complex examples to get Level 2. Students ask me all the time how can this be done, given the 5,000 character rule. The answer is that these can be from multiple reports, not just one. The ideal path of completing PERT is to submit complex examples across several reports. For example, you submit complex example #1 at the 18-month report, example #2 at 24 months, and a final example #3 at 30 months. By the time you get to 30 months, you’ve submitted 3 complex examples and you’re eligible for Level 2. With this smooth submission strategy, you won’t have problems with the 5,000 character limitation because you’re putting only 1 example in each report.

The above is the ideal path but the reality is that most students are behind. If you’re at the completion mark but haven’t reported any examples, things are tougher because you need to add 3 examples in one or two final reports. This is still very much doable. To achieve this, you need to write very concisely and avoid repeating the same sections, like “Stakeholders”, “My involvement”, in each example. It also helps to use abbreviations, like IFRS, F/S, ASPE, IFRS, Ex#1, Ex#2, etc. to keep the report concise. Make sure to avoid filler words like “very,” “actually,” “basically.” Another tips is to focus on using action-oriented language to demonstrate your competencies effectively. For example, instead of writing: “My first step was to find the root cause and determine why the performance has deteriorated as it was critical for the success of this project”, you should instead write: “I determined root cause for performance decease by doing XYZ.” I have several more specialized resources for writing 3 examples under 5,000 characters, please see the Extra Resources below for more details.

Extra PERT Resources

Check out Gevorg’s CPA PER Review, Canada’s first and only comprehensive PER coaching program that features several Level 2 examples, templates, video lessons, marking services, and support to help you pass PERT. This program recognizes your need for clear and concise content and has been designed to meet your busy schedule.

 

CPA Canada exams often include Assurance assessment opportunities (AOs) that test your knowledge of different reports used in assurance and related engagements. Though there are several special reports, in this blog, we’ll focus on learning audits, reviews, and compilations.

Summary

What’s an Audit engagement?

An audit engagement checks a company’s financial statements and underlying data to ensure they accurately reflect the company’s financial situation for users like investors. An audit provides reasonable assurance, the highest level of assurance available. 

Audits require extensive work and are more expensive than other engagements. Auditors must gather detailed documents and third party support such as bank confirmations. Audit procedures involve detailed substantive testing and tests of controls such as inspecting inventory, and tracing invoices back to the general ledger.

The audit report provides a positive opinion which states: “In our opinion, the financial statements of ABC Company present fairly, in all material respects.”

What’s a Review engagement?

A review engagement is similar to an audit but requires less effort and therefore less time. Reviews provide a lower level of assurance, called limited assurance. Rather than stating the financial information is “reasonable”, a review checks if the information seems “plausible”, meaning it makes sense in the company’s situation.

In reviews, procedures involve inquiries, discussions, and analytical procedures, rather than detailed testing. The documentation needed is less extensive and doesn’t always require third party input. For example, cash can be tested in a review using bank statements provided by the client rather than bank confirmations sent to the client’s bank directly.

The review engagement report provides a negative conclusion stating, “Nothing has been brought to our attention to suggest that the financial statements are not fairly presented in all material respects.”

When presented with an AO on Audit or Review, and you’re asked to provide procedures, you should use the risk, assertion, procedure (RAP) framework for both audit and review procedures. For example, a procedure for review may be:

• Risk: ABC Inc. has seen an unusually large increase in property, plant, and equipment (PP&E) this year. There is a risk that this PP&E does not exist.
• Assertion: Existence
• Procedure: Inquire ABC Inc. management about any capital additions in the year and compare this to the general ledger to determine if the GL balance is plausible thus ensure existence of PPE. 

What’s a Compilation engagement?

A compilation organizes financial information provided by the client into financial statements. The accountant does not verify the information, rather ensures it’s compiled in accordance with the chosen basis of accounting and that the financial statements are mathematically correct. A compilation provides no assurance and no audit opinion or review conclusion.  

Examples of bases of accounting include: 

• Cash basis of accounting
• Cash basis of accounting with certain accruals and estimates
• Other basis of accounting as required by the user

At the end of the engagement, a compilation report is provided to the client, including a note that explains the basis of accounting used to prepare the financial statements to the users.

How to approach these AOs to score a C

Below is a step-by-step framework on how to approach these AOs in the CPA Canada exam cases, with explanations:

Step 1: Identify valid report options based on the user’s needs.

Step 2: Briefly explain the different reports you identified in Step 1, making sure you discuss the assurance level of each.

Step 3: Discuss the important differences between the reports you’re comparing. Indicate whether each factor is a pro or con for each report and explain why. Only discussing one factor such as cost, will not get you to a C. Look at the case facts you are provided and discuss all relevant factors linking back to the user’s needs. Consider the following:

• The level of assurance needed (reasonable, limited, or no assurance)
• Cost
• Timeliness
• Type of procedures required

Unless stated otherwise, assume that the person you are explaining these reports to doesn’t know what the reports are. You need to explain everything in detail. For example, for the level of assurance, explain what reasonable versus limited assurance means. For procedures, if you state that an audit requires detailed substantive tests, explain what this means and what kinds of procedures are involved. 

Step 4: Provide a firm, definitive conclusion on the type of engagement your client should request, consistent with your analysis.

Step 5: If applicable, request the client to clarify unclear terms with the user like “check” or “verify” to confirm the level of assurance required. 

Step 6 (if asked): Provide 2-3 valid procedures for each report.

Read the case carefully to determine whether you need to provide procedures for all reports you are comparing or only the one you concluded to use. For review procedures, refer only to inquiry, discussion, or analytical procedures, not substantive tests like inspection, vouching, and so on, which are audit procedures.

The above 6 steps provide detailed walkthrough of how to appraoch these AOs.  A shorter version of these 6 steps can be remembered with the acronym SAPPY:

• Special report (what reports?)
• Assurance level (reasonable, limited, or no assurance?)
• Pros/cons (level of assurance, cost, timeliness, type of procedures, user needs)
• Preferences of users (what do they want?)
• Your recommendation (including an assumptions and procedures, if asked)

Extra Resources

As you study, refer to the relevant Canadian Auditing Standards (CAS) and when discussing reports, remember to include the relevant CAS number in your case response.

Looking for help with passing the exams? Check out Gevorg’s CPA Assurance CAS Technical Study Notes. 

 

As you’re preparing for your CPA Canada exams, including the CFE, you may feel that CPA modules are very fast-paced. How do you build technical review into your already packed study schedule? This guide offers simple tips to efficiently study Financial Reporting (FR) and Management Accounting (MA) concepts and boost your performance on the CPA exams.

Technical Study Tips and Tricks

There are lots of resources and you don’t have a lot of time! Choosing the right material to focus on can be tricky. To make the most of your time, focus on 2-3 reliable sources and stick with them while you prepare for the exams. For example, you can focus on:

• CPA Canada’s eBooks
• Flashcards (given in Capstone 2)
• Gevorg’s technical summaries

As you’re reviewing these materials, it’s important that you develop your personal notes. We’ll look at developing flashcards and summaries.

Flashcard is a small card that has information written on it to help you learn and learn. One side has a question or a term, and the other side has the answer or explanation. For example, one side of the card might have a term, like “Equity,” and the other side might have the definition: “Ownership interest in the assets after deducting its liabilities.”

If you’re in Capstone 2, take advantage of CPA Canada’s flashcards! These are given for free in the module. You can print them out, review the contents, and add your personal notes. This is a strategy that has been used by many CPA honour roll students in the past.

If you’re in Core 1, Core 2 or elective modules, you can build the flashcards yourself by writing down key terms, formulas, and concepts from the module readings and practice cases.

Another effective strategy is to create short, simple summaries of key topics. Here’s an example for a FR topic:

For FR technicals, align your summary with the relevant standard per the CPA Canada Handbook. Identify important criteria from the handbook like definition, measurement, recognition and disclosure, and write down notes in your own words. This method helps you not only review the technical content but also practice locating information in the Handbook. 

Here’s an example for a MA topic, a make vs. buy decision, which requires net present value or NPV calculation:

To make sure you really understand the concepts, shuffle through your flashcards and summaries and practice recalling the criteria and steps without peeking. This study method is called “active recall” and it’s been proven by cognitive science as an effective study strategy.

Financial Reporting Study Tips

There’re a lot of FR concepts you are required to know for the CPA exams, especially CFE, so FR study should make up a large chunk of your review. To avoid getting overwhelmed, start by identifying commonly tested FR topics. Focus on these first and gradually add more as you progress through the modules.

For theoretical subjects like FR, it’s important that you don’t just memorize, but also understand the concepts. As you’re reading, ask questions:

• How does it compare to other standards?
• Why do we recognize this way?
• How is it different from other criteria?
• Under which scenario can this standard be tested?

Once you understand the concept deeply, you can then choose to memorize the standard or look them up in the Handbook. For standards that are simpler, I suggest to memorize to save time on the exam. For example, topics such as inventory, non-monetary transactions, related party transactions, impairment, ASPE revenue recognition, and so on, can be memorized to save time during the exams. For others, practice navigating the Handbook so you’re ready to find what you need quickly.

Also, make sure you understand FR technical under both IFRS and ASPE. For example, if your notes are based on IFRS, include a section that highlights the ASPE differences.

Management Accounting Study Tips

MA is a very practical subject, like mathematics and calculus. It’s not much about knowing the theory, but on understanding the terms and following the correct formula/approach. 

Being a practical subject, I don’t recommend reading too much of the theory. Instead, first understanding what the terms mean. For example, what does “joint costing” really mean? What does “machine overhead” men? Understand these by reviewing the examples in your readings and ask your CPA facilitator or tutor if you don’t fully understand. Secondly, build notes of how to solve these problems step-by-step (see sample picture above). Lastly, do lots of practice through exercises, drills, practice problems and cases. Write cases and if time permits re-write the MA sections of past cases too. As part of your debrief, identify what kept you from scoring a C and think of strategies to improve your speed on each type of MA AO. For example, can you format your quantitative analysis for a cost allocation AO more efficiently? Identify changes and add these points to your notes and summaries.

Extra Resources

In addition to developing strong case-writing skills, having solid FR & MA technical knowledge will prepare you to tackle these AOs on the CPA exams with the depth and speed necessary to score Cs. Regularly practice applying your FR and MA technical knowledge by writing cases. As you debrief, think about whether you’ve really grasped the FR & MA concepts, and if not, add to your flashcards or summaries and keep going until you are consistently scoring Cs on those AOs.

For extra support, check out Gevorg’s CPA Canada exam courses for a comprehensive CPA exam tutoring package.

 

Results day is here and I hope that you achieve the success you’ve worked so hard for. If you didn’t pass the CFE, in this article I’ll help to interpret your transcript and help you understand where things may have gone wrong, what your AO grades mean, and how to prepare for your next attempt.

Accessing your transcript

The first thing you need to do is log in to the CPA Canada results website and download your transcript. Be patient—this site tends to run slowly on results day. Once you have it, you can begin analyzing your performance.

FURTHER READING: Unsuccessful Results for September 2024 CFE: What to Do Next

Day 1 Results: Pass or Fail

Day 1 results are straightforward: it will simply say Pass or Fail. A detailed Automatic Feedback Report for Day 1 will be released a few weeks later, providing additional insights. For now, let’s focus on Days 2 and 3, which are broken down into levels.

Days 2&3 Results: Understanding the Levels

I’ll start explaining from Leve 4, as it’s more straightforward compared to other levels.

Level 4: Breadth of Competencies (Days 2 & 3)

To pass, you need at least 2 RCs in every area from combined CFE Days 2 and 3. If you have even one area with only NCs or NAs, you won’t pass Level 4.

Example:

Above student had strong performance across most areas but only NCs in Finance. Despite doing well elsewhere, they didn’t pass Level 4 because Finance didn’t meet the 2 RC minimum.

Advice: If you didn’t pass Level 4, focus on studying secondary technical competencies, these are topics other than your role or FR/MA.

Level 3: Role Competency (Day 2 only)

Level 3 evaluates your performance in your Day 2 role. You need 4–5 Cs in the 7 AOs specific to your role from Day 2 to pass.

Example:

Above student had many Cs overall but only 2 Cs in their Day 2 role section. Since Level 3 depends only on Day 2, and it must be Cs, this wasn’t enough to pass.

Advice: Focus on mastering role-specific technicals and re-doing your elective module cases as these have relevant AOs that show up on the CFE Day 2.

Level 2: FR or MA (Days 2 & 3)

To pass Level 2, you need 3–5 Cs in either FR or MA. It’s important to note that it’s one or the other—you don’t need to meet the threshold in both.

Example:

Above student had only 2 Cs in both FR and MA, across Days 2 & 3. They passed all other levels but failed Level 2 due to insufficient Cs in both FR and MA areas.

Advice: Prioritize FR or MA in your next attempt. Focus on achieving Cs in the area you’re targeting and don’t try to get Cs in both, target only FR or MA and aim to get RC in the other.

Level 1: Overall Competency (Days 2 & 3)

Level 1 is the toughest one for students to understand. It checks how many RCs and Cs you got across all areas in both CFE Days, and it has a decile ranking. A lower decile (e.g., 1–3) means you were close to passing, while a higher decile (e.g., 6–10) means you were far from passing.

Example:

Above student passed Levels 4, 3, and 2, but failed Level 1 due to a high number of NCs. Level 4 is a pass because they have at least 2 RCs in all area, across Days 2 and 3. Level 3 is a pass because they have 5 Cs in the role. Level 2 is a pass because in both FR and MA they scored 4 Cs.   

Advice: You’re most likely skipping AOs due to time constraint or difficulty in solving tough AOs. Work on time management and practice the more challenging technical topics to avoid skipping AOs in the next attempt.

CFE May 2025 and September 2025

Above examples are sample transcripts, for more personalized feedback, consider purchasing the PAR Report from CPA Canada. While it won’t show grades for each AO, it gives good insights into your performance and areas needing improvement.

If you’re planning to write the CFE in 2025, don’t go through it alone. At gevorgcpa.com, we provide high-quality study notes, practice cases, and review courses. My students have a 90% success rate, and I’m committed to helping you achieve your goal of becoming a Canadian CPA. Check out CPA CFE Review for a comprehensive coaching package.

Similar to prior CPA Canada Common Final Exams (CFEs), the September 2024 CFE had two Day 1, one Day 2 and three Day 3 cases.

The following Day 1 cases were tested:

• Amuzu Parks Inc. (API) V1 (Download)
• J.R. Pets Inc. (JRP) V2 (Download)

The following Day 2 and Day 3 cases were tested:

• Day 2 (Download)
  • Inspired Books Ltd. (IBL) (300 minutes)
• Day 3 (Download)
  • Fresh Fashion Inc. (Fresh) (90 minutes)
  • Percy & Thrower Inc. (PT) (80 minutes)
  • Prairies Wheel Company (Prairies) (70 minutes)

For the May 2025 CFE, the following Day 1 cases will be tested:

• Viviana’s Trattoria Ltd. (VTL) v1
• Neptune Point Fisheries Inc. (NPF) v2

For the September 2025 CFE, the following Day 1 cases will be tested:

• Meadowlark Entertainment Inc. (MEI) v1
• Amuzu Parks Inc. (API) v2

Where can I get the solutions?

CPA Canada will release the official solutions to September 2024 CFE cases in May 2025.

Will I get these cases in Capstone 2?

If you are registered for the Capstone 2 module for Spring 2025, you will NOT receive these cases at the module. You should download using the links above. If you are someone challenging the exam, such as an internationally trained accountant applying under MRA/MOU, please also download using the links above.

How do I prepare for the CFE?

There are several prep methods for the CFE. You will need to focus on these three items:

1. Technical knowledge
2. Case writing skills
3. Strategy

I speak a lot about these items on my YouTube channel and webinars. You can check out my latest webinar.

Technicals:

• Know the key topics on each of the competencies
• Distinguish depth from breadth
• Debrief

Case writing skills:

• It’s all about following the CPA Way
• Know your case inside out
• Integrate throughout the case

Strategy:

• Prepare a study plan
• Obtain study materials
• Get support and resources

Pass the CPA Canada CFE Exam

I’m Gevorg. I’m an instructor and a CPA exam coach. If you want coaching with me, sign up for my CPA CFE Review Course, for a comprehensive prep package.

If you find yourself behind on your CPA Canada Professional Experience Requirements (PER), don’t panic! While the pressure can be overwhelming, there are effective strategies you can use to get back on track. Here’s a breakdown of what you need to know and do when you’re behind on a CPA PER reports. 

Behind on PERT reports

First, you should know that you’re not the only student behind on PERT. I receive messages daily from students who are behind on PERT – or who’ve never submitted any PERT reports – and their deadline is fast approaching. This is common and CPA PER reviewers are used to this. 

Here’s my advice based on your situation:

1. Your CPA program deadline is approaching: If your CPA deadline is within the next 6 months, your first course of action is to ask for an extension. The process is to send a message to your provincial CPA PER team and outline the extraordinary reasons that have prevented you from completing your program requirements on time. If you’ve already passed CFE, your chances are even higher. I’ve successfully consulted and helped students get extension and complete their requirements before the deadline. 
2. You haven’t submitted reports for a long time: If you haven’t submitted PER reports for a while, but your deadline is 6-12 months – or even farther down the road, don’t worry about extension at this point. In fact, PERT team doesn’t allow extension requests until you’re within the 6-month range. Your first course of action is to catch up – and you need to do it ASAP.

How to catchup on PERT

Let’s say you haven’t submitted PERT for 1, 2 or even 3 years. In situations like this, CPA PER team asks that you write 1 big report for the entire period. They don’t require you to go back and re-do the missed reports and mentor meetings, unless you changed jobs during that period or your title changed.

If your job or title changed, then they ask that you split your catch-up report for each of those segments. For example, let’s say you haven’t submitted PER for 3 years and you switched jobs 4 times. You would write 4 catch-up reports for each of those jobs, putting the date range based on when you worked in each company.

Before you start writing the reports, I recommend that you send a brief email to your provincial PER team and let them know your plans. Tell them that you’re behind on PER and you’re planning to do a catch up report for each of your jobs. They will give you confirmation to go ahead and you can write the reports. If for some reason they ask you to combine the reports, or write extra reports, follow their instructions and write as they say. CPA PER requirements are set provincially and PER team is very inconsistent. Though they have harmonized policies, each province has its own team that reviews and approves PER submissions. Some provinces, like Ontario, are consistent in their responses and requirements. Other provinces, like BC and Alberta, are less consistent. For this reason, it’s better to be proactive and communicate your intentions, rather than spending your time writing the reports and getting the feedback from them that you were expected to follow another procedure.

When writing your catch up reports, it’s important that you show progression. This means in the first few reports, claim only level 1 – don’t claim level 2 at all. Then in the final report(s), claim the level 2s.

Now, let’s look at the scenario where you’re behind and you haven’t changed jobs nor titles.  For example, let’s say you haven’t submitted PER for 3 years and you worked in the same company and role for the whole period. In this case, create 1 big report for this entire date range.  Don’t split your report into smaller segments. Similar to above, you should send a brief email to your local CPA PER team and let them know you’re planning to write 1 big report and let them give you green light. As I said earlier, CPA PER team is inconsistent, it’s best to have written communication from so that your bases are covered. 

When you’re writing the 1 big report, the progression (ie, Level 0 and Level 1) can be skipped, you’re assumed to be already at level 2 because it’s a wide range, so claim mostly level 2s. Your challenge will be to write concisely because they will be looking for multiple examples in each area. I have a specialized PER template that will help you write multiple examples in 1 report and stay within the 5,000 character limit in my CPA PER Review coaching program.

Penalties when you’re behind on PERT

In an ideal world, candidates would create a PER report bi-annually (twice a year or every 6 months), meet their mentors twice a year and finish PERT at the exact 30-month point. The reality is that many students are behind on PER and they miss report submissions and mentor meetings. 

CPA provincial bodies penalize 1 month for every missed mentor meeting. So if we normally need 30 months to graduate, if you’re behind on PER, you’ll need more than this. For example, if you haven’t done PER reports nor met your mentor for 2 years, then you missed 4 mentor meetings (twice every year for two years). You’ll be penalized 4 months. This means you will need a total of 34 months to graduate. Your best course of action is catch up as soon as possible, by writing the catch up report(s), and once you get up-to-date, finish off any remaining months from your current job.

You can see what your penalty is by accessing your online PERT tool, clicking on Consolidated Summary and running it for all your reports. This will not display properly if you haven’t submitted any reports, so you will need to wait until you’ve submitted the catch up report(s) to find out.

How to write a PER report

I’ve written tips and tricks on PER in the articles below:

• CPA PERT: Here’s MA2 Template and Example
• CPA PERT: Can you Claim Part-Time and Multiple Jobs?
• Writing CPA Canada Practical Experience Requirements (PERT) – Technicals
• 7 Tips on How to Write CPA Canada Practical Experience Requirements (PER) Experience Reports

Keep an eye on my blog posts and social media channels for more articles. For personalized support, check my CPA PER Review courses for consultation, templates, examples and tailored support with writing your CPA PER reports.