To qualify as a CPA, students must complete Canadian CPA Certification program, which includes: (1) prerequisite education, (2) the CPA Professional Education Program (PEP), (3) the Common Final Examination (CFE), and (4) practical experience. For details, see Prospective Students.
As a CPA Canada accredited program, Ivey’s HBA in combination with the Ivey stream at Western Graduate Diploma in Accounting (GDip Accounting) provides advanced standing into the CPA Professional Education Program (PEP). With the GDip Accounting, Ivey HBAs are exempt from the two Core and two Elective modules of the CPA PEP, including the related exams, and must complete only the two Capstone Modules before challenging the Common Final Examination (CFE). This option is described below in ‘Advanced Standing’.
As an alternative, Ivey HBAs can complete the required prerequisite education by taking courses covering specific competencies during the HBA program plus one additional course in advanced financial accounting and then enter the CPA PEP at the beginning. This option is described below in ‘Entry Level’.
Entry Level:
To qualify for entry into the CPA PEP, candidates must complete academic prerequisites and an undergraduate degree. Ivey's undergraduate program offers all but one of the courses required to satisfy the academic prerequisites through a combination of required courses, elective courses and one accounting add-on course.
Required courses: BUS 2257 (Accounting and Business Analysis) (or equivalent), BUS 3321 (Accounting & Financial Fundamentals), BUS 3300 (Strategy), BUS 4624 (Managerial Accounting & Control), BUS 3303 (Finance), BUS 3322 (Leveraging Information Technology), BUS 4505 (Global Macroeconomics for Managers) (or ECON 1020), BUS 3316 (Decision Making with Analytics), and BUS 3301 (Marketing).
Elective courses: BUS 4417 (Corporate Financial Reporting), BUS 4497 (Auditing), BUS 4479 (Taxation for Managers), and BUS 4450 (Business Law).
Accounting add-on course: BUS 4477 (CFR II).
To qualify as prerequisite courses, students must obtain an overall average of 70% in the courses and a minimum grade of 60% in each course.
By completing this list of courses successfully plus one additional course in advanced financial accounting, Ivey HBA graduates satisfy the prerequisite education requirements for entry into the CPA Professional Education Program (PEP).
Advanced Standing:
Since Ivey’s CPA program is accredited by CPA Canada, Ivey HBA students may complete the Graduate Diploma in Accounting (GDip Accounting) and receive advanced standing into the CPA Professional Education Program (PEP). With the GDip Accounting, Ivey students are exempt from the two Core modules and the two Elective modules, including the related examinations. Students must only complete the two Capstone modules prior to writing the Common Final Examination (CFE).
The Ivey GDip Accounting runs for approximately 13 weeks each year from May to the end of July. The program consists of five courses: (1) Advanced Audit, (2) Advanced Corporate Financial Reporting, (3) Advanced Taxation, (4) Risk, Control and Governance, and (5) An Integrated Approach to the Competencies.
Students must achieve an overall average of 72% across the entry level courses (excluding BUS 2257) for admission to the Ivey GDip Accounting Program.
Elective areas: Ivey’s HBA in combination with the Ivey stream GDip Accounting offers the necessary courses for students to choose any of the four elective areas of the CPA PEP: (1) Assurance, (2) Performance Management, (3) Taxation and (4) Finance. Public accounting candidates must choose the Assurance and Taxation electives.
CPA Certification Program Summary:
The chart below illustrates the potential entry points for Ivey students into the CPA Certification Program. Click the image to see the chart in higher resolution.
