FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Students must have a University degree. Following the completion of a degree students would generally complete a post graduate program CPA Canada has developed called the CPA Professional Education Program (CPA PEP); this Program involves going through a number of modules and then writing and passing the CFE (Common Final Exam).

The first 2 modules, Core 1 and Core 2 cover all of the various competencies students are responsible to know and are relevant for all students pursuing a CPA; the main focus of Core 1 is financial reporting and the chief focus of Core 2 is management accounting.  Students would then choose to do 2 elective modules form among the following areas: Assurance, Taxation, Finance and Performance Management.

Each of the four modules involves passing an exam. After you have passed the exams you would then go on to Capstone 1. The main focus of capstone 1 is completing a business case which students work on as a group rather than individually. For this module there is no exam; however the student group is required to submit a report and present it.

After Capstone 1 students would do Capstone 2 which involves writing practice cases (including a mock exam) which are debriefed and intended to help you get through the CFE. There is no final exam for Capstone 2; however students need to make a reasonable attempt in order to go on to the CFE.

Students who have a degree in accounting and have completed 120 credit hours are generally able to go directly into PEP.  However if the student’s degree is not in accounting the student can make up for missing prerequisites required for admission to PEP through  the CPA Professional Education Program (CPA PEP). CPA PREP is an accelerated bridging program that is delivered part-time through distance learning by the provincial (or in some cases regional) bodies.

For further information on the requirements for entering PEP as well as PREP we would suggest that students visit the CPA Canada website or provincial websites.

There are various universities which offer Masters or Diploma programs that have been accredited to offer all or part of PEP.  Students who participate in these programs would be exempt from all or some of the PEP modules.

One downside is the cost. Many of these programs cost several thousand dollars. Furthermore they generally involve spending more time at university which may delay starting to work and earn money. Also we have spoken to some of the students who participated in these programs who were concerned that they would be going on to the write CFE without going through the same preparation as students who completed the PEP module exams offered directly through CPA Canada.

No you do not need a job. As a matter of fact if you don’t yet have a job, passing the exams leading to a CPA may help you get one as it will improve your resume.

No Canadian students must take the modules although there are some exceptions for some international students who can write Challenge exams and are not required to take the modules.

For further details please visit the CPA Ontario or CPA Western School of Business websites.

Yes. There are deadlines for enrolling in all of the modules.  It is important for students to refer to the respective Provincial Institute module schedule to find out these dates (e.g. CPA Ontario for Ontario students or the CPA Western School of Business if you are in a western province), so as not to be disappointed and miss an exam sitting, simply because a deadline was missed. These schedules provide the enrollment period for each exam.

People who wish to write the CFE in May must complete Capstone 1 in the winter prior to the CFE and people writing in September  must complete Capstone 1 in the spring prior to the CFE.

There are actually a number of benefits to doing the Challenge exams rather than doing the modules. Firstly, there is a large cost savings.  The cost of doing all 4 modules is over $5,000 whereas the cost of writing the Challenge Exams is under $2,000.

Secondly, the modules require a major time commitment as students must submit assignments (e.g. cases) throughout the modules. This can be challenging for students who are balancing PEP with work.

Thirdly, it normally takes 2 years to get through all of the modules; if one does the Challenge Exams one can write the CFE and be completely finished in only one year. Also if the CFE is written within one year of starting the program there is less time for students to forget important knowledge required for the CFE.

We would not say that anybody "needs" to take the PASS PEP Module Exam Course. We however believe that it is very beneficial to students. This is due to the fact that there is a tremendous amount of material for which students are responsible on the PEP Module Exams which has been accumulated over a number of years at university. The purpose of the PEP modules is not to teach you all of the technical you need t pass the exam.

Yes. It would not be a problem for the student to take the PEP Module Exam courses he/she requires. These are priced separately on the site, which you can see in the PEP Module Exam Course description.

This page describes our recommended courses.

This page describes our recommended courses.

Yes: After the lecture on a given topic students write practice objective format questions - mainly multiple choice questions - which are taken up in class. Students are also provided with practice exams, which include numerous objective format questions and cases. Finally for the elective modules students can submit the practice exams which are marked by professional markers and returned to students with constructive feedback. Please take a look at the course description on the PASS website.

The course fee includes all of the material, i.e. both the technical and case binders.

PASS provides resources to help students to develop their technical and case writing skills, both of which are important for the PEP module exams, to get through CPA PEP. To help students prepare from a technical perspective PASS provides extensive technical resources for PEP students and for students in Accredited Programs or students exempt from the Core and Elective Modules, including notes as well as videos which cover all of the major technical topics for which students are responsible. For case writing, PASS provides effective case writing resources which include simulated cases students can write in order to practice their case writing as well as professional marking of the cases and videos of case take-ups by an experienced instructor.

PASS will help students get through CPA the PEP modules by providing resources for Core 1 and Core 2 as well as the Assurance and Taxation Modules.

It is not absolutely essential for students to obtain additional resources beyond those provided by CPA Canada. However many students find the additional resources provided by PASS to be very helpful for CPA PEP for a number of reasons.

• PASS provides a technical binder with a summary of technical topics all in one binder making it very easy and efficient to study.
• PASS also provides thorough video technical lectures by very knowledgeable instructors on all difficult topics, which is particularly helpful for some of the more difficult technical topics; this complements the training provided in the modules.

PASS has been offering courses for students wishing to obtain their CPA for over 30 years.  

PASS has provided courses to students from firms ranging from one partner firms right through to the Big Four. As a matter of fact over the years we have offered courses to all of the Big Four firms including PWC, Deloitte, EY and KPMG. For the last 22 years PASS has delivered the PWC national UFE program and is now delivering the PWC CFE program.

The live online courses are courses offered by a live instructor; they are however offered electronically rather than in a physical class room. Students have the opportunity to ask questions orally or using a chat box as the sessions are conducted in real-time (i.e. students sit at their computer and watch the instructor lead the session and students have the ability to ask questions either by text or voice).

This is quite different than a video online session which is not live where students simply watch the video.

You may wish to refer to the detailed description of course venues on our website.

Yes

In most instances we would recommend live online sessions over video sessions as it is very beneficial to have a live instructor who can answer student questions in real time. Also it is easier to focus in an online session compared with watching a video.

The only advantage of the video session is that videos can be watched at the student's convenience.

This can be very helpful when for example the student has a work schedule which conflicts with the times that live sessions are being offered. Also with a video the student can control the pace.

However, all students who take the live online sessions have access to all of the videos and can watch them whenever they wish.

Michael Levi and Ira Walfish teach most or all of the financial accounting (core 1), assurance and management accounting (core 2) sessions. Most of the tax sessions are usually taught by Professor Joanne Magee, of York University. See the list of PASS instructors for more information.

No - You can have access to all videos as long as you need them and watch them as many times as you wish.

Yes - we constantly get feedback that the live online sessions are very useful.

Students come in live, ask questions and don't have to travel anywhere. If something is missed, students just watch the video, as all live sessions are recorded and students get access to all recordings for as long as they need them.

That is certainly possible. Many former PASS students have taken advantage of this flexibility and have used both venues - live online and video online - for the same course.

Yes, that is one of the nice things about PASS. All students regardless of the venue they use, have access to all of the videos relating to their courses.

No. Students are not required to be registered with a provincial CPA Institute in order to register with PASS, although students must register with their provincial CPA Institute (or CPA western School of Business if you are writing out west) before they can write any of the exams which comprise the CPA certification program.