The Common Final Examination is the final examination of the Chartered Professional Accountantprofessional designation in Canada. The CFE is the culmination of the rigorous two-year graduate-level CPA program. The exam not only includes important accounting disciplines like finance, governance, strategy, and assurance, but also evaluates professional skills such as critical analysis, decision-making, and professional judgment. Previously known as the Uniform Evaluation, the UFE has been discontinued following the unification of the three accounting designations in Canada and Bermuda in June 2015. Administered nationally by CPA Canada, and conducted regionally by the provincial/regional orders, the CFE is written over the course of three sequential days and is the culmination of years of study in financial accounting, management accounting, corporate finance, performance management, taxation and other business-related university courses. Writing the CFE requires successful completion of preliminary education requirements including CPA preparatory courses and CPA Canada's Professional Education Program. Upon passing the CFE and completing 30 months of approved practical experience, the candidate is designated a Chartered Professional Accountant and may use the CPA post-nominal letters. The Common Final Examination is typically offered once per year in September. Sometimes, it may be offered twice a year in Spring and Fall. The May 2020 CFE was originally scheduled to take place between May 27 to May 29. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been cancelled along with many other CPA modules. The upcoming CFEs are scheduled between:
Students must demonstrate the depth and breadth of their abilities according to the CPA Competency Map. Students answer questions which are presented in the form of business cases that include a combination of both explicit and implicit requirements for each case's "users", followed by a list of exhibits that provide case facts from which observations, suggestions and conclusions are derived. Common scenarios include providing advice on how to conduct an audit, advising a client on the pros and cons of investing funds in a given business venture, and providing support to an organization as an internal accountant or auditor. The three-day exam consisted of case based simulations:
Day 1: candidates will have four hours to write a case in relation to the Capstone 1 group project. Candidates will be assessed on enabling competencies such as communications skills and professionalism, as well as some technical competencies.
Day 2: students would choose an elective "depth" area from four competency areas - performance management, finance, assurance or taxation. Day 2 will last five hours in length and students must be rated "competent" in the chosen elective area as well as either financial reporting or management accounting. Note that students wishing to pursue a public accounting licence must have passed the assurance and taxation courses from their prior PEP modules and show depth in both financial reporting and assurance on the CFE.
Day 3: multiple multi-competency cases are provided within a time frame of four hours aimed to evaluate the student's "breadth" in the competency map. A minimum "Reaching Competent " grade must be achieved for every individual competency.
Evaluation Criteria
All CPA cases are evaluated based on "competency ratings". They are:
Not Addressed : candidate has not addressed the assessment opportunity.
Not Competent : candidate has addressed the assessment opportunity, but the analysis is incorrect or not related to the issue.
Reaching Competent : RCs and Cs are both counted towards "breadth" test for day 3. RC candidates demonstrate more proficiency and understanding than NC, but not at the Competent level.
Competent : the amount of Cs are used for the "depth" test on day 2. Competent candidates demonstrate the required competency levels as expected by a CPA.
Competent with Distinction : Candidates are not expected to achieve this high level of competency. CDs are essentially Cs in terms of exam grading.
Pass Rates
National pass rates for the former UFE between 2003 to 2008 have been 65.5%, 74.5%, 74.0%, 79.3%, 74.6%, and 71.7% respectively. Beginning with the September 2009 UFE, the Board of Evaluators no longer released statistics on pass rates. The CFE Board of Evaluators began releasing statistics on pass rates along with Board Reports on candidate performance. The following are the first attempts of CFE Pass Rates:
Every CFE, the Board would release the Honour Roll recipients along with the CFE results. The CFE honour roll members are recognized for their performance in the exam that demonstrated academic excellence and exceptional abilities. The Honour Roll of 80 candidates is determined as the top 1% of the first-time writers that wrote all three days. Among the honour roll members, the prestigious Governor General's Gold Medal is awarded for the candidate with the highest standing in Canada for a cash prize of $5,000, along with 3 provincial gold medalists each awarded $2,500.
Successful Candidates
2019:
CFE Reports
Following every CFE, CPA Canada publishes the CFE Board of Examiners’ report, which provides feedback on candidates’ performance and commentary from the Board of Examiners.
