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Here’s Your Open Thread For the Second CPA Exam Score Release of Q1 2019

Posted on by Adrienne Gonzalez

It’s February 25 and you know what that means. Well, you know what that means if you sat for the CPA exam between January 21 and February 14 — score release day tomorrow!

As promised, the AICPA has accelerated the score release process for 2019, so we’ve got two more score releases this quarter after this one. It’s just like good ole times, eh?

Despite the fact that The Powers That Be are able to turn scores around in an impressive week and a half, we’re sure there will be some complaining, probably because some state board lost power this weekend or some lowly IT guy forgot to update the database on Sunday and screwed everything up. If you do have complaints about the score release process, please be sure to complain as loudly and publicly as possible so we can share with the class.

Good luck everyone, even though we know luck has absolutely nothing to do with it. And for those of you who get bad news tomorrow, you might want to bookmark this; it’s old, like me, but also like me has decent advice from time to time.

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Is It Possible To Get a Harder Set of CPA Exam Questions In Different States?

Oh, the things CPA exam candidates come up with when they should be studying.

This winner of a question comes courtesy the CPAnet forums:

It may sound stupid but I wanna ask….. Is there any particular State where you get relatively easier exam and score good marks?

I’m asking this question because somebody told me that you get most difficult exam in California so I was thinking the other way round!

The asker recognizes the ridiculousness of this question immediately so I’ll resist making any comments on that and slide right into the point of this post. Is it at all possible that candidates in certain states get more difficult exams?

I’m going to have to say highly doubtful. There’s no reason that would make sense, as the “Uniform CPA Examination” implies exactly that, uniformity. While we all know different states have different requirements for licensure based on the determinations of the individual state boards of accountancy, the AICPA administers the exam across the jurisdictions. It is presumed that candidates are assigned questions at random from a single database and I have never read, heard or seen anything that tells me otherwise. Logically, I can’t see a reason for this, and we should safely assume that the AICPA will not do anything that might be an unnecessary burden on the already precarious process of administering the exam.

And even if this were true, wouldn’t California be the easiest? They have some of the most lenient requirements to sit for the exam of all the jurisdictions and boast a longer NTS than other states (because who wants to get off the beach and go to Prometric?), surely they would also have easier questions.

What is the takeaway from this, kids? Don’t listen to what your friends told you about the exam.

Top Five Resources For CPA Exam Candidates

Since I’m sick of writing about 2011 CPA exam changes and none of you asked any CPA exam questions this week, I’ve decided to be nice and offer you five excellent resources for CPA exam candidates, ranked in no particular order of importance.


CPAnet: The CPAnet forums offer a sense of community, suggestions and that all-too-important sense that you are not alone on your journey. Get tips on passing tricky parts, share your misery or get a kick out of helping other candidates by sharing your knowledge. The forums are a must for any candidate wishing to connect with others on the CPA exam adventure.

Twitter: Connecting with other CPA exam candidates and sources of CPA exam information (like @NASBA) can be incredibly useful. Follow the #CPAexam hashtag for news and views on all things CPA exam.

The AICPA: The AICPA has revamped its website and put together a comprehensive collection of CPA exam information, extensive tutorials and plenty of FAQs for your reading pleasure so you better be using them. Their “Become a CPA” section is jam-packed with useful info for international candidates, students interested in the CPA career path along with salary and career info.

NASBAtools: Access NASBA’s Accounting Licensing Library or use CredentialNet to do all the applying for you so you can focus on taking the exam and not worry about being buried in four pounds of paperwork. You can also find more information on licensure from NASBA’s website here.

Me: Wow, what a narcissist right?! In all seriousness, if you aren’t sending in your CPA exam questions or reading previous columns we’ve done on the exam covering everything from simulations to time management, you aren’t using the resources correctly. I don’t write for my own good, I do it so you guys can be informed and prepared for what’s ahead so do me the favor of not making me feel like I’m writing to a wall.