Current through September 18, 2024
1.6.1
Examination Administration Application Process
A. The examination requirement set forth in
R.I. Gen. Laws §
5-3.1-1
et seq. shall be deemed
satisfied by successful completion of the uniform examination (the so-called
Uniform CPA Examination or its successor uniform examination). This examination
is electronically administered as a computer-based examination by a third-party
testing provider, in cooperation with the AICPA and NASBA, which are the
Board's designees for examination functions within the scope of their
respective roles in administering the examination. AICPA is involved in the
exam through its executive committee that is charged with the overall
responsibility for preparing and scoring the exam. NASBA operates the National
Candidate Database (NCD) and CPA Examination Services (CPAES). As such,
different portions of this Part are handled by one (1) or more of these exam
partners as designees of the Board.
B. The Board or its designee will provide
Candidates with application materials, instructions, and deadlines for applying
to sit for the examination.
C. An
application will not be considered filed until the application fee and
examination fee required by this Regulation and all required supporting
documents have been received, including proof of identity as determined by the
Board and specified on the application, official transcripts and proof that
Candidate has satisfied the education requirement.
D. A Candidate who fails to appear for the
examination shall forfeit all fees charged for both the application and the
examination.
E. The Board or its
designee will forward notification of eligibility for the examination to
NASBA's National Candidate Database.
1.6.2
Time and Place of
Examination
Eligible Candidates shall be notified of the time and place
of the examination or shall independently contact the Board or a test center
operator identified by the Board to schedule the time and place for the
examination at an approved test site.
1.6.3
Examination Content
The examination tests the knowledge and skills required for
performance as an entry-level certified public accountant. The examination
includes the subject areas of accounting and auditing and related knowledge and
skills.
1.6.4
Determining and Reporting Examination Grades
A Candidate shall be required to pass all sections of the
examination designated by the administrators (hereinafter "Test Sections") in
order to qualify for a certificate. Upon receipt of advisory grades from the
examination provider, the Board will review and may adopt the examination
grades and will report the official results to the Candidate. The Candidate
must attain a passing grade for each Test Section of seventy-five (75).
1.6.5
Retake and Granting of
Credit Requirements
A. A Candidate may
take the required Test Sections individually and in any order. Credit for any
Test Section(s) passed shall be valid for eighteen (18) months from the actual
date the Candidate took that Test Section, without having to attain a minimum
score on any failed Test Section(s) and without regard to whether the Candidate
has taken other Test Sections.
1. Candidates
must pass all Test Sections of the examination within a rolling eighteen (18)
month period, which begins on the date that the first
(1st) Test Section(s) passed is taken.
2. Candidates cannot retake a failed Test
Section(s) in the same testing window. A testing window refers to a specific
time period in which Candidates have the opportunity to take the examination
(comprised of two (2) months in which the examination is available to be taken
and one (1) month in which the examination will not be offered while routine
maintenance is performed and the item bank is refreshed). Thus, Candidates will
be able to test two (2) out of the three (3) months within a testing
window.
3. In the event all Test
Sections of the examination are not passed within the designated time period,
credit for any Test Section(s) passed outside the designated time will expire
and that Test Section(s) must be retaken.
B. A Candidate shall retain credit for any
and all Test Sections of the examination passed in another State if such credit
would have been given, under then applicable requirements, if the Candidate had
taken the examination in this State.
C. The Board may, in particular cases, extend
the term of conditional credit validity, upon a showing that the credit was
lost by reason of circumstances beyond the Candidate's control.
D. A Candidate shall be deemed to have passed
the examination once the Candidate holds at the same time valid credit for
passing each of the Test Sections of the Examination; provided credit for
passing a Test Section of the examination is valid from the actual date of the
Testing Event for that Test Section, regardless of the date the Candidate
actually receives notice of the passing grade.
1.6.6
Candidate Testing Fee
The Candidate shall, for each Test Section scheduled by the
Candidate to the Board or its designee, pay a Candidate Testing Fee that
includes the actual fees charged by the AICPA, NASBA, and the Test Delivery
Service Provider, as well as reasonable application fees established by the
Board.
1.6.7
Cheating
A. Cheating by a
Candidate in applying for, taking or subsequent to the examination will be
deemed to invalidate any grade otherwise earned by a Candidate on any Test
Section of the examination, and may warrant summary expulsion from the test
site and disqualification from taking the examination for a specified period of
time.
B. For purposes of this
Regulation, the following actions or attempted activities, among others, may be
considered cheating:
1. Falsifying or
misrepresenting educational credentials or other information required for
admission to the examination;
2.
Communication between Candidates inside or outside the test site or copying
another Candidate's answers while the examination is in progress;
3. Communication with others inside or
outside the test site while the examination is in progress;
4. Substitution of another person to sit in
the test site in the stead of a Candidate;
5. Reference to crib sheets, textbooks or
other material or electronic media (other than that provided to the Candidate
as part of the examination) inside or outside the test site while the
examination is in progress.
6.
Violating the nondisclosure prohibitions of the examination or aiding or
abetting another in doing so.
7.
Retaking or attempting to retake a Test Section by an individual holding a
valid Certificate or by a Candidate who has unexpired credit for having already
passed the same Test Section, unless the individual has been directed to retake
a Test Section pursuant to Board order or unless the individual has been
expressly authorized by the Board to participate in the examination.
C. In any case where it appears
that cheating has occurred or is occurring, the Board or its representatives
may either summarily expel the Candidate involved from the Examination or move
the Candidate to a position in the Test Center away from other examinees where
the Candidate can be watched more closely.
D. In any case where the Board believes that
it has evidence that a Candidate has cheated on the examination, including
those cases where the Candidate has been expelled from the Examination, the
Board shall conduct an investigation and may conduct a hearing consistent with
the requirements of R.I. Gen. Laws §
5-3.1-1
et seq. and
§42-35-1
et seq. following the examination session for
the purpose of determining whether or not there was cheating, and if so what
remedy should be applied. In such proceedings, the Board shall decide:
1. Whether the Candidate shall be given
credit for any portion of the examination completed in that session;
and
2. Whether the Candidate shall
be barred from taking the examination and if so, for what period of
time.
E. In any case
where the Board or its representative permits a Candidate to continue taking
the examination, it may, depending on the circumstances:
1. Admonish the Candidate;
2. Seat the Candidate in a segregated
location for the rest of the examination;
3. Keep a record of the Candidate's seat
location and identifying information, and the names and identifying information
of the Candidates in close proximity of the Candidate; and/or
4. Notify the National Candidate Database and
the AICPA and/or the Test Center of the circumstances, so that the Candidate
may be more closely monitored in future examination sessions.
F. In any case in which a
Candidate is refused credit for any Test Section of an examination taken,
disqualified from taking any Test Section, or barred from taking the
examination in the future, the Board will provide to the Board of Accountancy
of any other State to which the Candidate may apply for the Examination
information as to the Board's findings and actions taken.
1.6.8
Security and
Irregularities
Notwithstanding any other provisions under these rules, the
Board may postpone scheduled examination, the release of grades, or the
issuance of certificates due to a breach of examination security; unauthorized
acquisition or disclosure of the contents of an examination; suspected or
actual negligence, errors, omissions, or irregularities in conducting an
examination; or for any other reasonable cause or unforeseen
circumstance.
1.6.9
Implementation and Interpretation of this Part
Wherever this Part refers to actions by the Board that are
regularly performed by the administrator of the uniform examination, such
references shall be interpreted as applying to that administrator as the
Board's designee.
