CPA Exam Candidate Numbers Are Back Down After Modest Growth

Posted on August 13, 2018August 13, 2018 by Adrienne Gonzalez

NASBA recently released their yearly Candidate Performance books, which we used to buy and comb through for your sake but stopped after NASBA politely asked us to stop sharing the data they wanted people to pay for. So we won’t be drilling down into that data, but we do have some points to share.

In 2017, the jurisdictions with the highest pass rates were:

Utah (61.79%)
Wisconsin (57.60%)
Missouri (57.59%)

Performance metrics also indicate 95,654 candidates took the CPA exam in 2017 (of which 71,199 were new candidates), with 25,834 candidates passing their fourth section of the examination. Utah and Wisconsin regularly battle it out for the top spot so meh, no surprise there.

In 2017, the universities with the most candidates sitting for a first-time section were:

Baruch College CUNY (733)
University of Illinois – Urbana Champaign (639)
Pennsylvania State University – University Park (455)

If you’re interested in more data, you’ll need to cough up for either the Jurisdiction or University edition(s) of the book from NASBA.

We were most interested in that unique candidate number, which grew by 9% the year prior but appears to have come crashing back down after anticipated CPA exam changes took place. This is expected, as the same exact thing happened back in 2010/2011 at the launch of CBT-e. Y’all are so predictable.

To get an idea of how unique candidate numbers have fluctuated over the years, we crunched the data a little. Very little, but I assure you data was crunched.

As you can see, the 2016 peak is just under that of 2010. 2009 saw 93,195 unique candidates, but we didn’t include that in the graph as it was already getting a bit wide and I was running out of cat pngs.

In 2014, AICPA President, CEO & Durian Master Chef Barry Melancon expressed concern in the “building gap” in those graduating with accounting degrees and those actually taking the CPA exam. “We have had about six consecutive years of record numbers of people majoring in accounting. That’s a great thing. For the last three years, however, we’ve basically had a level number of people taking the CPA exam. So there is a gap that’s building,” he said.

As we can see from my handy-dandy chart, the numbers crept up but still didn’t rival the “record growth” touted by the AICPA [PDF warning] just a few years prior to Melancon’s apocalyptic comments.

We’re willing to bet .0001624 BTC the number crawls back up this year.

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CPA Exam

Delaware CPA Exam Candidate Isn’t Sure About Audit Hours

Adrienne Gonzalez
September 2, 2011

Are you a CPA exam candidate desperate for answers with no clue how to find them? Let me do the Googling for you, shoot me a note and I promise I won’t get snippy (my doctor adjusted my dose).

Hello Adrienne,

I do have 99.99% of the education requirements needed to sit for the CPA exam. All but one, I don’t have any auditing credit hours. Am I going to be able to sit for the CPA or should I go back to school and complete this requirement?

Here’s the good news: in some states, you can sit for the exam before you meet all licensure requirements, and in most, that means experience can wait until you have sat for and passed all exam sections. The lengt ave to complete these experience requirements varies by state and due to the ever-changing nature of exam requirements, you will want to verify any information I’m about to give you with the state board directly just to be safe. No one’s perfect, especially me. Delaware candidates may contact NASBA’s Delaware coordinator Misun Shin at mshin@nasba.org or (615) 880-4263.

So, once you sit for and pass all four parts of the CPA exam, you’ll need to take the AICPA ethics exam, which you can order directly from them. Don’t trip too hard, it’s self-study meaning open book. AICPA members get it cheaper than non-members so be sure to join first before you buy it.

Assuming you’ve aced those two steps, you can then worry about your experience.

Delaware work experience is based on the degree you hold. If you have a Master’s, you will need 1 year of experience as an employee of a CPA firm or equivalent experience as an accountant in other fields (e.g., government, commerce, industry). Bachelor’s holders must have 2 years of experience and Associates (yes, Delaware allows you to sit for the exam with a 2 year degree) must have 4 years of experience to be licensed to practice as a CPA in that state. You can no longer receive a certificate (non-practicing CPA title) from Delaware as of 2006.

Your other option is to complete your work experience requirement as an owner, principal or employee of a public accounting firm (full-time). Double the numbers above; 2 years for Master’s holders, 4 for Bachelor’s and 8 for an Associate.

Nowhere on the Delaware Board of Accountancy’s site do I see a mention of audit hours.

The Delaware State Society of CPA’s BeaCPA website states:

2 years experience obtained in engagement, resulting in the preparation and issuance of financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles or other comprehensive bases of accounting as defined in the standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

as a requirement for Associate and Bachelor’s holders. Master’s candidates must obtain 1 year experience including any type of service or advice involving the use of accounting, attest, compilation, internal audit, management advisory, financial advisory, tax or consulting skills.

What this says to me is that you don’t actually need audit hours at all unless you plan on doing audits. Delaware would like auditing to be a part of your 21 required accounting units that make up your education requirement but does not require it.

Again, check with the state board just to be 100% sure but it looks like you’re all clear to sit for the exam at this point, no reason to wait until you have the experience.

Good luck and please check in with us to let us know how your exams turn out!