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Academic Advising

CPAWSB is pleased to provide academic advising support on-demand via phone to all CPAWSB learners. These services are free of charge and learners may inquire further about academic advising and request a link to schedule a date/time to receive a phone call.

Students

Candidates

Candidates - CFE

Referral to a third-party counselling service

Candidates and students, along with their immediate family members, may access free counselling assistance services. For more information, please refer to the links provided below. 

Students

The CPA preparatory courses advising team is available to offer assistance to any student enrolled in the CPA preparatory courses, contact us at [email protected] with any questions or to set up a one-on-one advising appointment.

Some common advising topics:

  • Applying and renewing study permits
  • Navigating student membership
  • Course exemptions and exemption expiry
  • Assistance in preparing a schedule to complete the CPA preparatory courses including advising on taking more than one course per semester, course sequencing, and the timeline for transitioning to CPA PEP
  • Getting started in your first course including IT requirements and how to navigate Desire2Learn (D2L)
  • Meeting CPA preparatory course completion requirements and writing the final exam within the one-year time limit
  • Transitioning from the CPA preparatory courses to CPA PEP
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Candidates

Advising on CPA PEP elective module selection

Deciding which two CPA PEP elective modules to enroll in can be a difficult decision, which must be made early in the CPA PEP (often right after Core 2). This is a big choice and can have implications for CFE preparation, CFE role selection, and eligibility for public licensure certification. Furthermore, each province in the Western region has different requirements for public licensure, and in some cases even tiered licensure. To assist candidates with this decision and what factors should influence your decision, CPAWSB offers academic advising to discuss your current situation and future aspirations to help you make the best choice of elective modules. You can reach our academic advisors at [email protected], and we would be happy to assist you with your PEP module selection.

Learn more...

Capstone 1 Groups

Discussing challenges with group dynamics

Working in a professional environment often requires collaborating on a team with different types of personalities, communication styles, and availability. Capstone 1 seeks to prepare candidates for these real word circumstances with the development of enabling competencies.

In a normal group setting, all teams are likely to experience issues. Candidates are responsible for reporting any significant team issues first to the facilitator (through peer reviews, chat calls, and/or through email). If the facilitator is unable to help the team resolve the issue, then it will be escalated to the mentor and regional or provincial administrator.

If the team is unable to demonstrate the use of their enabling competencies to resolve common team issues, the individuals responsible for preventing the resolution of the issue could be at risk of failing Capstone 1 on an individual level, even if the team passes the written report and the oral presentation components of the module.

After working with your facilitator, if you or members of your team feel the benefit from additional support to help resolve any challenges with team dynamics that may be stopping your team from proceeding further, please contact [email protected] to request academic advising support.

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Candidates - CFE

Unsuccessful CFE Writers

The CFE Results Transcript is a valuable tool to identify gaps in technical and enabling competencies and where to focus your preparation efforts for the next CFE sitting. The first step in understanding your CFE Results Transcript is to read the CPA Canada Transcript Explanation document found on the CPAWSB CFE Results webpage. However, after reading this document you may find that you still have questions as to where you went wrong, and how you can use your CFE Results Transcript to guide your future CFE preparation plan. We welcome you to reach out to the Learner Support team at [email protected] to request an academic advising call to learn more about how to use this valuable document. 

Deciding whether to invest in requesting an appeal can be a big decision and difficult to weigh the odds of success. Additionally, this decision must be made quickly as the deadline is often shortly after the CFE results release date. To help with your decision, we recommend reading the CPA Canada Appeals and Performance Analysis Report document found on the CPAWSB CFE Results webpage. This document will show you the historic number of appeal applications and the number of successful appeals. However, if you feel that you’d benefit by getting some advice from our academic advising team to help make your decision, reach out to us at [email protected], and we would be happy to discuss your specific situation to assist you in making your decision. 

Some candidates may find it difficult to decide how to best prepare for their next attempt at the CFE and best utilize their available time and learning resources. To help candidates more effectively use their available time, CPAWSB offers academic advising to all unsuccessful CFE candidates to provide an individualized study plan specific to each candidate’s competency gaps. To request an academic advising call to discuss your specific timeline and circumstances, please contact us at [email protected]. 

First-Time CFE Writers

You will need to declare your CFE role when you register in Capstone 2. Many candidates align their selection of a CFE role with their chosen electives; however, you are permitted to select any CFE role you wish. For example, if you took Assurance and Taxation elective modules and received a marginal pass, and are not working in public practice, you can consider selecting the Finance or Performance Management role on the CFE. To help candidates prepare for a role that is not aligned with their electives, CPAWSB offers access to the module materials via Review Materials Modules. The School also provides academic advising support on what CFE role to choose. 

If you are working in public practice and are considering applying for public accounting licensure, the Assurance role may be the right choice for you. However, candidates should also be aware that public accounting licensure will also require you to demonstrate depth in Financial Reporting, as well as have a significant number of assurance work experience at the time of application to membership. If you decide later that you are interested in a public accounting license, you can take the Post-Designation Public Accounting (PDPA) Program after passing the CFE. CPAWSB also offers academic advising support to assist candidates in navigating the requirements for public accounting licensure either pre or post CFE. 

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Contact Us

To receive an academic advising call, please fill out the following Learner Support Intake Form.

Learner Support Intake Form