On Thursdays the official NASBA Twitter account publishes #ThursdayThoughts, usually some kind of tip or trick like last week’s advice on what to do if you are having trouble matching to your NASBA Dashboard’s CPA Portal account (here’s the link for that if you need it). But today’s thought is less a tip and more of an abject dream-crusher. Which let’s be real is pretty on-brand for the gatekeepers of the CPA exam.
#ThursdayThoughts Take your exam anytime, anywhere with Prometric’s secure remote-assessment platform, ProProctor™ https://t.co/9RkiTg0bM5 pic.twitter.com/fjUh7cE8R3
— NASBA (@NASBA) November 3, 2022
Here’s my Thursday Thought:
Why this tweet doesn’t have 50 comments from people asking how to schedule remote CPA exam testing is beyond me, the candidates must be busy studying today now that there are only two months left in 2022.
Remote CPA exam testing was first discussed at NASBA in 2020 as a sort of worst case scenario backup plan if the Rona never went away or, God forbid, if some other, equally horrible plague were to find its way to the human population. As recently as February of this year NASBA did say on its FAQ that “NASBA, the AICPA, and Prometric are looking at the possibilities of offering the CPA Exam remotely in the future,” which says to me this could be something that actually happens eventually. That FAQ adds: “However, there are security and software issues that must be addressed in order to protect the Exam.” *cue Price Is Right horn sound* We did hear a bit about a remote testing pilot program last year however a NASBA blog page about it returns a 404 (archive) and that program would have been on a limited basis. Anyone know what happened with that?
The IMA started allowing CMA candidates to test remotely using ProProctor earlier this year and assuming you have a decent internet connection, a computer made in the last decade, and don’t have people banging down your door all hours of the day it seems like a nifty way to test. Although you can find a bunch of CFPs bitching about it here if you’re looking for some downsides. So it’s possible to offer remote professional exam testing, just not something currently offered by the benevolent overlords of the CPA credential as far as we know.
TL;DR NASBA tweeted about remote exams, remote CPA exam testing is not a thing, much disappoint. Sorry.
