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Ontario, its universities and the Ontario Institute's School of Accountancy (SOA)

Core-Knowledge Exam & School of Accountancy

Core Knowledge Exam

Once students have completed their academic requirements of 51 university credit hours, they will be required to write a Core-Knowledge Exam (CKE). The exam is comprised of a 4-hour, ‘closed book’ exam in which students will be expected to answer 100 multiple-choice questions. The CKE is designed to test the minimum level of core knowledge in the following areas:

Performance Measurement
Assurance
Governance, Strategy and Risk Management
Finance
Taxation
Management Decision Making

The objectives of the CKE are to:

Offer those admitted into the School of Accountancy with a diagnostic assessment of their strengths, weaknesses, and areas of improvement.
Provide students with an introduction to the core knowledge areas that are expected of an entry-level CA.

The CKE is offered twice a year during the months of January and May. Admission into the School of Accountancy (SOA) and/or eligibility to write the SOA exam is conditional on achieving a minimum level of performance on the CKE. In addition, students can only proceed to the School of Accountancy within three years of successfully completing the CKE.

School of Accountancy

ICAO’s School of Accountancy (SOA) is the most important aspect of the Professional Program. The course is comprised of a three-week, full-time study beginning in June. Students will be required to complete self-study readings and assignments prior to commencement of the SOA.

The School of Accountancy is designed to ensure students are able to develop and enhance the specific CA competencies necessary for the UFE and their professional careers. The program also allows students to develop pervasive CA qualities. These include:

Ethical behavior
Personal attributes
Professional perspective and judgment

While the program delivers extensive technical knowledge, its focus is on providing its students with real-life applicability to the material learned. As a result, the lecture format is not used. Instead, SOA makes use of:

Case studies
Group projects
Presentations

Once students have completed the three-week program they will be required to write the SOA examination in July. The exam will be written over two days. Day 1 will consist of one comprehensive question followed by Day 2 which will consist of multi-competency case-type questions designed to test students’ professional skills and core competency levels.

Only those students who have successfully completed the SOA will be eligible to write the UFE. The results are as follows:

Satisfactory – permitted to write the UFE
Warning – Permitted to Write the UFE: while these writers have successfully completed the School requirement, they must remedy certain weaknesses to be able to successfully attempt the UFE.
Unsatisfactory – Not Permitted to Write the UFE: these writers have not successfully completed the School requirement and may no attempt the UFE.

Go to ICAO's website

FAQ no.13

What kind of training does BDO have for employees? How does the Professional Development process work?

At BDO, as with the entire accounting and consulting profession, there is a significant commitment to training. It is a major part of the culture. Specific training depends on your needs, and may be offered within the firm or through an outside training organization. We want to be sure that you are appropriately trained to do your job, so we support training programs that increase your job skills and enhance your career development.