NC CPA Exam Candidate Bulletin
November 2024
Did Recent Natural Disasters in North Carolina Impact Your CPA Exam Plan?
The State CPA Board is deeply concerned for all individuals impacted by the recent natural disasters in North Carolina (Hurricane Helene and the September 2024 tornado in Nash County) and is committed to supporting them during this challenging time. Recognizing the hardships faced, the Board has implemented measures to ease the burden on affected individuals. This includes refunding Exam fees to candidates unable to sit for scheduled Exams and extending Notice to Schedule expiration dates.
Exam Fee Refunds
Although the Board incurs a cost related to all approved Exam applications, the Board approved a temporary policy allowing the Board’s Executive Staff to approve and issue Exam fee refunds to candidates who cannot take planned Exam sections because of Hurricane Helene or the Nash County tornado.
To be eligible to request an Exam fee refund, you must have an approved initial or re-exam application on file with the Board. The application must be open, meaning you have not sat for the Exam section. If you have already scheduled a testing appointment for a section, you must contact Prometric to cancel the appointment. If you don’t cancel the appointment, you will be identified as a “no show” and incur additional costs.
To request a refund, please email Phyllis Elliott your full name, candidate ID number, and the reason for the request. If multiple Exam sections are involved, you must identify whether the refund request is for all open Exam sections or a specific section.
The Board’s Executive Staff will review and approve or deny the refund request. Because the Board does not maintain personally identifying information related to credit or debit card transactions, the Board staff will request this information when your refund request is approved.
Your refund will include the administrative and test section fees paid with the approved Exam application. When you are available to resume testing, you will be required to make payment based on the original filed status of your application, initial or re-exam.
Extended Notice to Schedule
For Exam candidates who plan to continue testing but need additional time because of the natural disasters, the Board can extend an existing Notice to Schedule (NTS). An NTS is valid for six months, starting when an application is approved; a separate NTS is generated for each approved Exam section.
With the scheduling of the Discipline sections of the Exam limited to the first month of each quarter in 2025, it may be beneficial for you to extend the NTS to a date that would allow you to continue the testing process.
To request an NTS extension, please email Phyllis Elliott your full name, candidate ID number, and the reason for the NTS extension request. If multiple NTSs are involved, you must identify whether the extension request is for all open NTSs or a specific NTS.
The Board’s Executive Staff will review and approve or deny your NTS extension request and notify you of the new NTS expiration date.
CPA Exam Voucher Program
The Board administers the Uniform CPA Examination Voucher Program (Voucher Program) to help North Carolina college and university students offset the costs of applying for the CPA Exam. Continuance of the Voucher Program is based on funding availability and may be discontinued at any time.
The Voucher Program provides vouchers to eligible students to cover the administrative and per-section fees for the CPA Exam. Vouchers are available annually to public and private North Carolina colleges and universities with accounting degree programs and/or master’s programs in accounting. The NCACPA Foundation also receives Exam Voucher packages to award to eligible students.
The Board does not determine to whom an Exam voucher package is awarded; instead, that decision is made by the awarding body based on its criteria. The Board’s minimum requirements for an Exam voucher package recipient are:
- The individual must meet the requirements for Uniform CPA Examination applicants outlined in 21 NCAC 08F and NCGS 93-12.
- The individual will take the CPA Exam as a North Carolina candidate.
- The individual is a first-time Exam applicant.
The Board encourages North Carolina colleges, universities, and the NCACPA Foundation to select voucher recipients who intend to become licensed in NC.
Discipline Sections on the Exam: Tax Compliance and Planning (TCP)
If you didn’t complete BEC (Business Environments & Concepts) before the new Exam launched in January 2025, you must pass one of the three Exam discipline sections (BAR, ISC, TCP) in addition to the three core sections (AUD, FAR, REG). But how do you decide which discipline section to take? Below is a broad overview of TCP (Tax Compliance and Planning) that may help you decide. We provided an overview of BAR in our June 2024 Candidate Bulletin.
As laid out in the AICPA Blueprints, TCP includes four content areas:
- Area I: Tax Compliance and Planning for Individuals and Personal Financial Planning,
- Area II Entity Tax Compliance,
- Area III: Entity Tax Planning, and
- Area IV: Property Transactions (disposition of assets)
Because TCP tests advanced tax topics similar to the content in the Regulation (REG) section, you may want to select TCP as your discipline if you scored well on REG.
Candidates who choose TCP may already have a solid foundational knowledge in tax or already work in the tax field. Also, candidates who are recent college graduates who took advanced tax classes may be more familiar with the topics that will be tested. The TCP section may be a good choice if you’re interested in a potential career as a tax analyst, tax compliance officer, corporate tax manager, or tax practice entrepreneur.
Official Candidate Exam Records
The Board continues to receive questions about Exam section expiration dates. Over the past couple of years, the Board has extended credit expiration dates because of CPA Exam Evolution and the Credit Relief Initiative. Most changes should be reflected in your NASBA portal; however, there are some situations where they are not. The Board maintains each North Carolina Exam candidate’s official records from initial Exam application to CPA licensure and beyond, so if you have a question about when an Exam section expires or if a passed Exam section qualifies for the 30-month credit window, please contact the Board.
Testing Centers and Exam Scheduling
There are six Prometric Testing Centers in North Carolina: Asheville, Charlotte, Greensboro, Greenville, Raleigh, and Wilmington. You may schedule your Exam at any of these testing centers or sit for the Exam as a North Carolina candidate at any official Prometric Testing Center in the US. Site availability will vary due to individual test center hours of operation.
Please schedule your Exam appointment as soon as possible after you receive your NTS from NASBA. To increase the likelihood of receiving your first choice of date, time, and location, you should schedule at least 45 days before the desired test date. However, you must schedule your appointment at least five days before the test date.
2024-2025 Testing Dates & Score Releases
All dates are tentative and subject to change. For official testing and score release dates, check the AICPA website. For score release notifications, please follow @NASBA on X (Twitter).
Contact Us
Phyllis Elliott, Exam Specialist | (919) 733-4224
S. Lynne Sanders, CPA, Deputy Director | (919) 733-4222
David R. Nance, CPA, Executive Director | (919) 733-4222
Visit our website at https://nccpaboard.gov/.
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