Exam changes ahead? Armed with concerns, CBA has Uniform CPA exam in crosshairs.

• Author: Allen, Bruce C.
• Position: Government relations - California Board of Accountancy - Cerified public accountants

The California Board of Accountancy expressed frustration during its May meeting with a number of issues related to the new computer-based CPA Exam, which was rolled out last year.

The CBA's concerns include scheduled cost increases, difficulty for candidates to schedule exam dates, instances of computers crashing during the testing, identity matching difficulties and one instance where an exam scheduled for future delivery was given to 500 candidates.

Approximately 40 of those candidates who received the wrong test were from California and all were offered the opportunity to re-sit for the affected sections without charge or wait until the next exam window closed (in three months) to receive their results.

All of these situations are troubling for the individuals affected, but no system of this magnitude is without issues and glitches.

Carol Sigmann, the CBA's executive officer, reported that she has communicated with the executive officers of other large states, including New York, Illinois, Florida and Texas, and there was some interest in pursuing an alternative to the current exam.

Additionally, Sigmann reported on a preliminary discussion with individuals in the testing unit of the Department of Consumer Affairs, who indicated that it would require $2 million and two to three years to develop a test for CPAs.

Sigmann also reported that a list of 91 concerns was developed by executive officers of other boards of accountancy during a March meeting on exam issues. While some improvements stemming from that list had been made, she said, there was general dissatisfaction with slow response times to board complaints.

The CBA authorized Sigmann to pursue releasing a Request for Information that would be sent to exam vendors to determine the feasibility of developing an independent exam.

Sigmann sent a letter via e-mail June 6 to the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy requesting that the organization issue an RFI by Dec. 31, 2005.

The letter copied every state board of accountancy and encouraged those boards to also contact NASBA and express support for issuing the RFI.

NASBA is a Tennessee-based, private nonprofit organization to which current and former members of regulatory boards belong. It has a for-profit subsidiary that administers testing services for a variety of professions.

The current Uniform CPA Exam is owned by the AICPA and administered to every candidate for a CPA license through a contract with NASBA and...