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Future CPAs of Massachusetts: Hurry Up and Apply For Free Money to Take the CPA Exam

Posted on by Adrienne Gonzalez
Cash money

The Massachusetts Society of CPAs is holding a lottery to award vouchers in the amount of $500 to candidates planning to sit for the CPA exam as a Massachusetts candidate, but there’s a catch: you only have until Feb. 1 to apply. Oh, and there’s another catch: you’re disqualified if your employer pays for review course materials, pays exam fees, and/or offers a bonus for passing. But everyone else, fair game.

To qualify, you obviously must be a resident of the state and be planning to sit for the exam as a Massachusetts candidate between May 1, 2019 and April 30, 2020. Additionally, you must be either a current student or have graduated within the past three years.

The application is an incredibly simple Google Form with just a few questions. If chosen, winners must attest that their employer does not provide financial assistance as stipulated above. Winners will be chosen on March 1, 2019, and up to 20 $500 vouchers will be awarded.

According to MSCPA, the CPA exam lottery is part of “an effort to increase the number of test takers and defray exam costs.” It costs $195 to apply to take the CPA exam in Massachusetts, and $743 for all four parts (AUD $195.35, BEC $176.25, FAR $195.35, REG $176.25).

The Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs offers a similar “scholarship” for CPA exam candidates whose fees aren’t reimbursed by their firm, and the application period for that opens up in April.

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Three Myths About Simulation Questions on the CPA Exam

6 years after the advent of the computerized CPA exam, candidates are fairly used to simulations by now (just in time for them to change) but they can still be a source of fear and apprehension for candidates just starting out.

Let’s start with debunking some popular myths. Remember, all of this information is current to the 2010 CPA exam and will be changing in 2011. Since it doesn’t make sense to repeat myself, I’m talking about what to expect for the next two windows of 2010.


Only one simulation is graded. Only one written communication is graded but both simulations are definitely graded and there is no progressive difficulty like there is with MCQ. If your second simulation feels harder than the first, it doesn’t mean you’re doing better, it probably means you got screwed on a simulation that covers the one subject you blew off when you were studying. This will get easier next year as more, smaller “simlets” make your knowledge of a broad range of topics more vital to the scoring process than your intimate knowledge of two topics is now.

Research is an important tab. It actually isn’t. It isn’t worth too many points so if you have to save anything for last, it’s research. If you have time left over, by all means, knock yourself out.

Written communications are sometimes hand-graded for correctness. Actually they don’t care at all if you are right, you just have to address the issue you are presented with using keywords and write good English use proper business grammar. It’s easy, you’re supposed to be doing this all the time via e-mail and if you aren’t, maybe you should start practicing. Caleb, this means you with your IDKs.

We will dig into the details onCP 2011’s new “simlets” on Friday.

Adrienne Gonzalez is the founder of Jr. Deputy Accountant, a former CPA wrangler and a Going Concern contributor. You can see more of her posts here and all posts on the CPA Exam here.

NASBA Takes the Guesswork Out of Reciprocity with Its Accounting License Library

While most of you are either in the process of getting licensed as a CPA or perfectly content to stick around in the state in which you are already licensed, NASBA reminds everyone that those of you with licenses in different states should not simply let them expire now that mobility (mostly) allows you to hold one license but work in multiple states.


From the NASBA blog (which I didn’t even know existed until now):

Mobility has meant that many CPAs no longer need to keep an active license in a state in order to practice there. But even if the license is no longer needed, there’s more involved than just letting it expire. If you don’t file the proper paperwork to let the board know that you’re voluntarily relinquishing that license, you could face disciplinary action. Without communication from you, the board may assume that you’ve allowed your license to lapse.

The distinction between reciprocity and mobility is an important one, which is why NASBA is enhancing ALL in this regard. If your work in a state were likely to be short-term, then the state’s mobility guidelines would likely cover you for the project’s duration. But if you are licensed in one state and plan to relocate to another, then you’ll need a secondary or reciprocal license from that state’s board. Most states, even with mobility, are requesting that CPAs obtain reciprocal licenses if they are making such a permanent move. Either way, if you find yourself with redundant licenses, ALL can help you relinquish them properly.

Now, NASBA wants to use their Accountancy Licensing Library tool to figure out the rules in your state for relinquishing your license, which is fine. But you can also check with your state board directly for rules on this.

Keep in mind if you relinquish your license in any state you may have to re-apply and retake the exam all over again, assuming you somehow also relinquish your other licenses in other states and have no license to transfer to that state. But who is going to do that?!

The key word here is redundancy. In this day and age, it no longer makes sense to carry multiple licenses, even if your work means you need practice privilege in states other than your own.