The question that comes up a lot is, What is the CPA Exam Score Release?

What is it? People sign up to take the CPA exam, and when it comes to the CPA Exam score release, they don't really understand what it is and how it works.

So here we go.

You go to Prometric because you signed up through NASBA to take the CPA exam.

Now, so you go to Prometric … because NASBA gives you permission.

However, the CPA exam is administered by the AICPA, who is in charge of the CPA Exam and in charge of the content.

NASBA is the one that gives you permission to walk in, Prometric is the entity that records your CPA Exam.

After you take your exam, things get a little complicated.

When people get upset with the AICPA about the CPA Exam score release, it's actually not the AICPA that is releasing the scores, it is NASBA that releases the scores.

Now, to further complicate things, it's not always NASBA that is releasing the scores to the CPA candidates.

If you are an independent state like California and Illinois and a handful of others, then your own individual State Board of Accountancy is releasing the scores to you.

Now, those in NASBA Score Release states…

It used to be that the independent CPA exam states got their scores first. There was an advantage to being in Illinois or California or whatever, but then there was a little switcheroo a few years back and now it's NASBA that's been releasing the CPA Exam scores first.

And so, NASBA people get their scores and then soon thereafter, independent states like California and Illinois, they release their scores.

To recap:

NASBA gives you the permission to take the exam.

You take the exam at Prometric.

The content all belongs to the AICPA, and then the scores go to NASBA.

Then NASBA sends the scores to the independent states for those indie states.

NASBA releases the scores to the, what I call the NASBA states.

Independent states release their scores, and that is how the CPA exam score release works.

However, there's a new wrinkle.

I was listening to, I believe it was the Journal of Accountancy podcast, and… I think it was Mike Decker from the AICPA that was on.

Anyway, the AICPA is considering year-round testing, so doing away with what they call the testing windows. So they're talking about continual testing. That's something that they're considering.

They are also discussing the possibility of people being able to retake their failed CPA Exam section within the same testing window.

That would be huge.

And, so… you know, no longer… So if you go in and take BEC and fail it and then, whatever, 20 days later it comes out, you could jump right back in there and take your exam again, and not have to study all over.

I always tell people, when they retake an exam, they're not three “points” away, because it's been like a month, a month and a half since you took your exam.

Now, this would cut way back on the restudying time if you fail.

If you can jump right back in there and take your exam and I think it would cut way down on the average tenure of a CPA candidate.

And I think people would get through the CPA exam a lot faster, so that's a great development.

Get all of the latest CPA Exam Score Release Dates.