Are you planning to take the CFE exam? If yes, then you might be wondering whether you should write the old UFE cases that you’ll gain access to once you start Capstone 2. If you’re not familiar with UFEs, let me give you a brief background.
What’s UFE?
The UFE (Uniform Evaluation) used to be the final examination for Chartered Accountants (CA) in Canada. In 2015, the three designations (CA, CGA, and CMA) merged to form the Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designation, and the UFE was replaced with the new CFE exam.
Now, the question is, should you write the UFE cases once you have access to them during Capstone 2? The answer depends on whether you’re a first-time CFE writer or an experienced writer.
Should you practice UFE?
If you’re a first-time CFE writer, then there’s no point in writing UFE cases. You’ll have so many CFE cases to deal with that you won’t have enough time to write UFEs alongside them. Instead, focus on the CFE cases and supplemental cases that are relevant to your current exam.
However, if you’re an experienced CFE writer, then I recommend writing some UFE cases as a technical review. I suggest allocating them at the beginning of your studies, before you start writing all the CFEs and supplemental cases. UFE cases will help you review technical areas, such as MA, Finance, and S&G, which do not change over time.
It’s important to note that UFE cases are quite different from CFEs in terms of finding requireds and solving the AOs. Additionally, some of the technicals, like Tax, are outdated. Therefore, use UFEs mainly for technical review and not to simulate the exam experience.
Which UFEs should you write?
Here’s a list of UFE cases that I personally recommend. You can start with these, and if you have more time, you can expand and write even more of the UFEs.
Day 2:
- Kinfolk Limited
- HandySide
Day 3:
- Bold Spice Ltd
- PonyUp
- Carl Carlson
- RWD
- Long Haul Trucking Inc
- Hemp Co
- Browns
- Get-a-Deal
- Bruin Car Parts
- Molly-Sue Brews
- Rent-a-Bike
- Fire in the Sky Inc.
- Digital Future Technologies
- Chinook Trailers Limited
Extra Resources
In conclusion, for most people, there’s no need to write UFEs since they’re outdated. However, if you’re an experienced writer and have already gone through all CFEs in one round, writing UFEs can be useful for technical review. Just remember to treat them as a review, not as a simulation of the actual exam.
You can get extra CFE practice cases and exam resources here.
