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Attention, People Who Love CPA Exam Stats, NASBA’s 2014 Candidate Performance Book Is Here

Posted on by Adrienne Gonzalez

Hot off the presses, the latest CPA exam candidate performance book is out:

The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) announces the release of the 2014 Uniform CPA Examination Candidate Performance Book. Published annually, the book features comprehensive statistical data from all four (4) testing windows of the Uniform CPA Examination administered in 2014.

Top-ranked colleges and universities, accounting firms, researchers, professors, university accounting programs, corporate recruiters, students and aspiring certified public accountants find great value in the publication’s numerous statistical components.

If you recall, we used to share that data generously until NASBA gently told us to knock it the hell off, so if you want that info, you're going to have to buy a book of your own.

What we do have to share is a summary report, which is published for the public by NASBA every year.

According to 2013 data from NASBA, 94,154 unique candidates sat for the exam that year. As we can see, that number has fallen to 91,384 for 2014. If AICPA President, CEO, and runner up in a Jerry Mathers lookalike contest Barry Melancon was worried about those numbers falling before, he's definitely worried now.

California tops the list in most candidates again, with New York coming in second again as well. The overall pass rate is slightly up from 2013 (49.4%) at 49.5%. Way to apply yourselves, kids!

2014 Overall CPA exam stats

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AICPA Ballparking Future Releases of CPA Exam Scores

Over the past month, many of you anxiously anticipated the release of your CPA Exam score like Ralphie and his Red Ryder. The waiting part isn’t so unlike an eternity in hellfire and when NASBA finally does put the official Tweet, there’s no guarantee that your score will be included especially if you’re in one of those pesky non-NASBA states. It’s agony, really.

Because the AICPA feels your anguish (and frankly, they’re sick of the hysterics), they’ve announced a new score release timeline:

Starting in the fourth quarter of 2011 the U.S. CPA Exam will begin releasing scores earlier and more predictably. Initially this may not seem very interesting; however, the change will mark a major shift in the U.S. CPA Exam experience and the strategies that prospective CPAs employ as they work toward passing the exam.

The AICPA “initially” thought this wouldn’t be too interesting but when they took a microsecond to remember the post that Adrienne wrote a post back in March that garnered 162 comments, half of them bitching about this very topic and the other half accusing of AG of being a good-for-nothing shill for the AICPA/NASBA that’s never taken the exam, they realized that yeah, people would be interested to know when their scores are released.

ANYWAY, here’s the schedule:

Everyone can relax now. I’m sure scores will be out like clockwork going forward.

New Score Release Timeline for the CPA Exam [AICPA]

CPA Requirements: Meeting the 150 Credit Rule on a Budget

Happy Friday, people! Is it a blackout month yet? I guess not. But hey, we have a good question I received via Twitter yesterday to talk about. If you have a CPA exam question, life question, career question or general insult to hurl at me, tweet or email me.

Done w/ exam but do u have any recs on getting 150 cred other than grad school. I don’t want to pay the $$ for it. #cpahelp

Ahhh, the good old 150 rule. Intended to turn bright-eyed young accounting students into skilled leaders of the industry, the 150 rule has driven a lot of you right off the steaming pile of debt. But unless your state actually requires a Master’s (I can’t name a single one that does), there is absolutely no reason to take that route unless you feel that it will improve your salary prospects or if you can afford it. Otherwise? Please.

So. What’s a 4-year-college underachiever to do?


The truth is that many state boards accept credits from any educational institution recognized in that state, meaning you can easily sign up for 30 units at community college and meet the 150 unit requirement for licensure. Now, the key here is to take classes that you think will round you out as a human being, actually be interesting, or at least inspire you to show up for class. In my experience taking night classes at a community college back in the day, community college professors can actually be a lot more fun than the professors you might be used to. Many work in the industry or field that they will be teaching you about, which allows them a real world practical experience that many academic accounting professors might not have (sorry, guys, you know I’m right). If you are single, you can also definitely find some tail at community college, so there’s another bonus.

Community college will be your cheapest option (if recognized by your state board), but if that isn’t something you’re able to do, there are always online colleges. A lot of these are for-profit, overpriced and not always fun to attend, though I can’t say that from personal experience. I’ve heard stories, mmkay? If you have the money, there’s nothing wrong with enrolling to take some online classes this way but it is definitely more feasible for the left-brainers out there.

Whatever you decide to do, take the opportunity to get creative with your education. Those additional units are meant for you to advance your knowledge so you can be better at your job protecting the public trust or whatever it is you’re meant to do when you get your CPA. A fucking art class wouldn’t kill you, it rounds you out.