(Posted March 2025)
You will have access to Knotia to access the CPA Canada Handbook during the CPA Common Final Examination (CFE) so you should use this when you write practice cases. One of the most common characteristics that Honour Roll candidates share is how comfortable and fast they are using the Handbook. Let’s review how to use the Handbook effectively as you write cases.
Practice Your Navigation Skills
The first step is to practice your navigation skills. You need to be familiar with what guidance is available and where it is located in the Handbook.
- Part I – IFRS Standards
- Part II – Accounting Standards for Private Enterprises (ASPE)
- Part III – Accounting Standards for Not-for-Profit Organizations (ASNPO)
- CPA Canada Handbook – Assurance
Spend time reviewing the table of contents for the various parts of the Handbook so you know what guidance is available and where to find it. Practicing navigating within the sections will help you decide whether it is more efficient to memorize the technical or get it from the Handbook.
You should also practice using the search function and if you plan to use it during the CFE, have a plan for the key words you will use to search for various topics so you can quickly find them. You can identify those key words as you debrief practice cases and keep a list of those key words so you do not forget them.
Plan Your Approach
Step back and think about when you are planning to use the Handbook during the CFE. This may differ when addressing Financial Reporting topics compared to Audit and Assurance topics.
Financial Reporting
- Consider the topic – Some topics are complex, less commonly tested, or have more than a few criteria to apply, such as IFRS revenue recognition or non-monetary transactions. You may choose to copy and paste from the Handbook in these areas. However, you may still decide to memorize the technical for more commonly tested topics such as ASPE revenue recognition or contingent liabilities, so you do not have to spend the time going to the Handbook for these topics.
- Time available – You have more time on Day 2 as compared to Day 3, so you may choose to use the Handbook on Day 2 but not on Day 3, unless absolutely necessary.
- How to search – Consider whether it will be more efficient to do a key word search for each topic compared to searching in the table of contents. The easy part of navigating the Handbook is finding the relevant Handbook section. The tough part of navigating the Handbook is finding the relevant technical within a Handbook section.
Audit and Assurance
- You will likely only need to access the Assurance Handbook if your Day 2 role is Assurance. The testing on Day 3 tends to be less technically demanding and you will not have much time to go searching for technical.
- If your Day 2 role is Assurance, familiarize yourself with the table of contents for the CPA Canada Handbook – Assurance so you know where there are sections for specific topics you may encounter (e.g., CAS 570, Going Concern).
Know Your Technical
Having access to the Handbook does not replace the need for you to know your Financial Reporting and Assurance technical. If you do not know your technical, you will not be able to find the relevant issues as you read the case. Also, you will struggle to actually understand what you are looking for when searching the Handbook if you do not know the key technical to apply for various issues. Access to the Handbook reduces how much you need to memorize and can make your writing more precise, but it does take time. You need to balance the need for detail with the need to use your time effectively.
Copy and Paste Relevant Technical
When using the Handbook, it can be tempting to copy and paste large sections of a Handbook section to make sure you have covered everything they might be looking for. That said, you are only marked on the technical that is relevant to issue and that you use and apply. Therefore, you should only cut and paste the relevant technical portions of a Handbook section, which are those that you are actually going to write about in your response.
Apply Case Facts
The Board of Examiners has noted that “the Handbook is a resource tool to be used to help explain a candidate’s position and not a stand-alone component of a competent response.” As noted above, candidates will often cut and paste technical from the Handbook without applying case facts. This does not add value as it does not show the marker that you know your technical and how to apply it. Each and every time you use technical in a case, you should be applying it to the relevant case facts to show how the criteria are met, or how the accounting treatment would be quantified as a result.
Income Tax Act and Excise Tax Act
You will also have access to the Income Tax Act and the Excise Tax Act through Knotia. That being said, we do not recommend relying on it during the CFE. Both Acts are extremely hard to navigate, and it is very difficult to find what you are looking for. We recommend memorizing commonly-tested tax topics and knowing what is available to you in the Exam Reference Schedule, which is located in CPA’s Certification Resource Centre.
Key Takeaway
The Handbook is a very valuable resource to help you achieve depth on the CFE if you learn to use it correctly. Take the time now to practice using it to enhance your case writing skills.