(Posted October 2024)
The process of preparing for the CPA Common Final Examination (CFE) is very demanding on your time. Whether you are a first-time writer or an experienced writer, there are a few things you can start early to improve your chances of success when writing the CFE.
Technical Review
We encounter many writers about 2-3 months out from writing the CFE whose main concern is their lack of technical knowledge. We know that to get to this point in the process, you had to prove that you have (or at least had) this technical knowledge. Some of you may have taken the Core and/or Elective PEP modules more than a year ago. Some of you may have completed the PEP modules through an accredited program that finished earlier this year. Regardless of your path to this point, it is easy to think you have forgotten some, most, or all of your technical knowledge.
By starting your technical review early, you can help rebuild that technical knowledge base before you start writing CFE cases. If you are taking the Capstone 1 PEP Module, it will be difficult to get any technical review done during those seven weeks. We recommend spending 4-5 hours per week reviewing your technical during the following months:
| Writing the May CFE | Writing the September CFE | |
| Taking Capstone 1 | November, December, January | January, February, March |
| Not Taking Capstone 1 | April, May, June | May, June, July |
Our CFE Prep courses provide you with early access to a variety of technical review resources.
- Our Scenario Flowcharts Workbook reviews the most commonly tested CFE topics in each technical competency area and helps you understand not only the key technical to apply, but also the thought process to apply as you are writing the topic in a case setting. This helps you avoid pure memorization of technical facts and instead learn how to think about the topic in the context of how you will see it on the CFE.
- Our Skill Drills contain exercises on a variety of topic areas across all six competencies. These are single requireds in a case setting that allow you to practice your case writing and technical knowledge application quickly.
- We also offer a variety of sessions meant to help you better understand the CFE, how to effectively perform your technical review, and how to best prepare for Capstone 1.
We also offer our CPA Competency Map Study Notes publication as a separate option if you need a technical resource. The study notes summarize the technical knowledge needed for each of the six technical competency areas as well as Data Analytics and Information Systems.
Spending time on your technical review early will help reduce your stress when you get to your CFE study period. It will also help minimize the time you need to spend on technical review when you should be focusing on developing and refining your case writing skills. This is especially important if you know you will have limited time off leading up to the CFE.
Time Off
We encounter many writers each year who tell us they have limited or no time off for their CFE study. We encourage you to step back now and think about your ability to take time off before the CFE.
Ideally, we recommend taking at least four to five weeks off prior to the week the CFE is written. However, we do understand that not all employers or life situations will permit that. Understand that the CFE study process is intense. If you are working full-time, you will be spending some evenings and every weekend studying for the 8-10 weeks prior to the CFE. That can be very demanding to say the least.
Think about whether you can use vacation time to enhance your available time off. Even if you can’t take it directly before the CFE, consider a few long weekends during your study period to help lighten the load and give you a few days off to rest your brain. For example, if you cannot take entire weeks off leading up to the CFE, can you take 1-2 days off each week?
Also, think about your personal life situation. Are there major events happening in your life during the CFE study period that will make it difficult to focus on preparing to write the CFE? Remember that this is something you ideally want to only have to do once, so your focus needs to be on your studies.
Typing Speed and Accuracy
We often hear from candidates in the weeks before the CFE that they wish they could type faster or type more accurately. It takes time to improve your typing skills so starting early will give you ample time to practice before you begin case writing as part of your CFE preparations. If you know you are a slow typer, review this blog on how to improve your typing speed.
Next Steps
If you are ready to tackle your CFE preparations early, consider signing up for one of our CFE Prep courses so you can access the technical review resources that are available to you now.