Information About the IQEX Exam
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The purpose of IQEX is to facilitate the U.S. CPA qualification process for those accounting professionals from
other countries whose professional bodies have entered into reciprocity agreements with the U.S. accounting
profession. At present, such agreements are in effect only with the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants
(CICA), the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (ICAA), Chartered Accountants Ireland (ICAI), the
Instituto Mexicano de Contadores Publicos (IMCP), the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants
(HKICPA), and the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA).
The IQEX program is a function of the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) and prepared by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). The exam mimics, in content and format, the current U.S. CPA Exam's Regulation section, meaning that the exam is 3 hours long and contains 4 testlets (wherein the first 3 testlets have 24 multiple-choice questions and the last testlet is a 6-task simulation). The examination is only offered in English and is administered as a Computer-Based Test (CBT) during the first two months of each calendar quarter. These months of testing are known as the "testing windows" (January 1 - February 28/29, April 1 - May 31, July 1 - August 31, and October 1 - November 30).
The examination is not given during the third month of each calendar quarter to allow for systems and databank maintenance, so it is important to plan accordingly. It is your responsibility to schedule your examination before your Notice to Schedule expires; NASBA and Prometric are not responsible if you cannot schedule an appointment before the expiration date of your Notice to Schedule (NTS).
Parts (same as Regulation): I. Ethics, Professional, and Legal Responsibilities 17% II. Business Law 19% III. Federal Tax Process, Procedures, Accounting, and Planning 13% IV. Federal Taxation of Property Transactions 14% V. Federal Taxation of Individuals 16% VI. Federal Taxation of Entities 21% -
The registration for the IQEX is similar to registration for the International Administration of the Uniform CPA
Exam. In order to take the CPA Examination outside of the U.S., candidates must establish their eligibility
through a State Board participating in the International CPA Examination Administration program. International
candidates must then pay an examination fee of $835.00 USD. Once your application has been processed, you will
receive a Notice to Schedule (NTS).
Find additional information on your country's IQEX eligibility requirements at http://www.nasba.org/exams/iqex/iqex-eligibility-requirements/.
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It typically takes up to 5 business days to process a Notice to Schedule (NTS) once your application and Letter of
Good Standing have been received. You will receive your NTS via the contact method you indicate on your
application, however, if you do not receive your NTS, you can reprint it at nasba.org.
Once you have received your Notice to Schedule it will be valid for 6 months from the date it was issued. This time period will include some non-testing time (see information on testing windows above for additional information). You will not be able to schedule an examination appointment or take the examination without a valid NTS. After the 6 month period during which your NTS is valid, it will expire and all fees will be forfeited. If you do not take the examination before the NTS expires, you will not be able to extend it, apply it to the next examination, or receive any refund of any of the fees you have paid.
When you receive the NTS, verify that all information is correct, and that the name appearing on your NTS exactly matches the name on the identification documents that you will use during the check-in process at your testing center. If the information on the NTS is incorrect, or the ID and NTS do not exactly match, immediately contact the NASBA to request a correction.
You must bring your NTS and proper photo identification with you to the examination, and if they do not match exactly you will not be admitted and your examination fee will be forfeited.
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After you have received your NTS and verified that the information is correct and exactly matches your ID, you
should schedule your examination appointment as soon as possible. This increases the likelihood that you will
receive your first choice of date, time, and location.
You must schedule your examination appointment at least 5 days in advance of the test date. For example, if you call or use the Internet on Monday to schedule an appointment, the first available date would be Saturday of that same week. No walk-in appointments are permitted, so be sure to plan ahead and schedule early. [Please note that candidates in need of special testing accommodations must schedule at least 10 days in advance of the desired test date (see "Pre-Approved Special Testing Accommodations" for additional information)].
You may not take the examination more than once during any one testing window.
There are two options for scheduling (both will require information from your NTS during scheduling, so be sure to have it in front of you):
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Visit prometric.com/cpa on the Internet
You will find using the Internet to be the easiest and quickest method to schedule (as well as reschedule and cancel an appointment, if necessary) an examination appointment. Using the Internet provides 24 hour access to scheduling and avoids any "on hold" waiting time. Because of this, you will have the most direct access to preferred dates and testing center locations. Additionally, you receive immediate and detailed confirmation of your appointment both on screen and via email. (The International Qualification Exam is listed under Uniform CPA Exam program on Prometric's website.)
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Prometric's Candidate Services Call Center
Call 1-800-864-8080 to reach Prometric's Candidate Services Call Center. They are open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. [Hearing-Impaired candidates using teletypewriter (TTY) may call 800-529-3590 to schedule appointments.]
As you will not receive written confirmation of your appointment, be sure to write down the date, time, location, and confirmation numbers for your appointments. If you need directions to the test center, ask the customer service representative when you make your appointment. Be sure you are certain of the correct test center location as there are multiple test centers in some metropolitan areas.
After making your appointment, we strongly encourage you to visit prometric.com/cpa to print a confirmation of your appointment.
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Visit prometric.com/cpa on the Internet
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For the taxation area, candidates are responsible for knowing the Internal Revenue Code and federal tax
regulations in effect 6 months before the beginning of the exam windows. For the business law area, candidates are
responsible for knowing federal laws 6 months after their effective date and uniform acts beginning 1 year after
their adoption by a simple majority of the jurisdictions.
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The AICPA Regulation content specification outline identifies the technical content and the
knowledge and skills to be tested on each of the six parts of IQEX.
The approximate weight given to each part is indicated by the percentage listed. No weight allocation is given for areas, groups, or topics. The examination will sample from the areas, groups, and topics listed within each part to meet the approximate percentage allocation. In addition, if there are several areas within a part or several groups within an area, no inference should be drawn about the relative importance or weight to be given to these areas or groups on an examination.
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The Gleim System for Success, while designed with the four-part CPA exam in mind,
covers the six parts of the IQEX exam in its Regulation section, and the study units are easy to study and complete.
To see exactly what you need to study, refer to the Regulation CSO cross reference in Study Unit 2 of
CPA Review: A System for Success.
See our listing below for the outline of the Gleim Regulation study units:
Regulation 1. Ethics and Professional Responsibilities 2. CPAs and the Law 3. Individual Taxation and Gross Income 4. Self-Employment, Farming and Adjustments 5. Deductions from AGI, Credits, AMT, and Limitations 6. Property Transactions 7. Corporate Taxable Income 8. Corporate Tax Computations 9. Corporate Tax Special Topics 10. S Corporations 11. Partnerships and Exempt Organizations 12. Estates, Trusts, and Wealth Transfer Taxes 13. Federal Tax Legislation, Procedures, Planning, and Accounting 14. Noncorporate Business Entities 15. Corporations 16. Agency and Regulation 17. Contracts 18. Sales and Secured Transactions 19. Negotiable Instruments and Documents 20. Debtor-Creditor Relationships - The Gleim CPA Review System has assisted numerous CPA candidates in PASSING the CPA exam. Now you can use it to PASS the IQEX.
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