Experience Verification


Candidates within this route are required to record details, via PERT, about their employer, their role, and the specific duties they are performing. These reports must be verified by a supervisor, who is verifying the factual accuracy of the details in the report. The profession, at the time of review, may request additional supportive details.

Pre-Assessment

A pre-assessment is required for all Candidates within the Experience Verification route before their period of practical experience can begin. This pre-assessment is required in order for CPA Alberta to assess whether a Candidate's current position meets the entrance requirements. A pre-assessment is required whenever a Candidate changes employment.

Please see the PERT Guide for Future CPAs for full details on how to request a pre-assessment. In order to request a pre-assessment, candidates are required to:

  1. Attach their job description on company letterhead to their pre-assessment experience report (NOTE: if the job description does not include the employment start date, an additional letter on company letterhead confirming the employment start date needs to be attached as well). 
  2. Add their mentor to their PERT profile. 

Based on our review of the pre-assessment, CPA Alberta may request additional supportive information.

If the Candidate's pre-assessment determines a Candidate's position as not qualifying, this experience will not count.

Visit the CPA Review page for more details on the frequency of reporting in PERT and how to submit reports.

CPA Practical Experience Reporting Competency Guidance and Examples

The below tabs provide further information on practical experience competencies reporting, including examples.

Proficiency Levels

Level 0 typically represents experience at a purely administrative or clerical level. This foundational level work includes tasks such as recording/processing journal entries or transactions, performing basic reconciliations, and preparing tasks at the direction of a superior without any related analysis being performed.

Level 1 typically represents experience at a professional level, but lower than expected of a newly-certified CPA. This can include tasks which are routine in nature, of a low level of complexity and/or executed with a lower level of autonomy. At this level, you will be performing some analysis that will be provided to a superior who will then review and make decisions.

Level 2 typically represents the ability to complete tasks that are both complex and undertaken with autonomy.  Highly complex tasks undertaken with a moderate level of autonomy may also count as Level 2 experience.  Here you will be evaluating analysis, prepared either by yourself or a junior staff member, and making decisions, recommendations or conclusions.  It is important to keep in mind that Level 2 proficiency means that you're operating at the level of a newly designated CPA, and that the skills you have obtained are transferable outside of your present role/organization.

  • Ensure that you include to whom you provided your work and for what purpose they required it.
  • Be clear on your involvement in the duties you report. Avoid terms such as “I assist with” or “my team prepares this” or “my company” – we expect that you will often be working as part of a team, or will be working under supervision. However, we need to understand the duties that you yourself performed, even if it was under supervision.
  • Where possible, provide details on the frequency of the duties you have described. For example, do you perform this monthly, quarterly, or annually? Have you performed the duty more than once?
  • Where possible, provide at least two examples that demonstrate how you have achieved a particular sub-competency.

Describe a situation in which you are required (as part of your regular job duties) to determine the financial reporting needs of a stakeholder, ensuring to describe what the needs are and what the stakeholder is using the information for. Describe how you ensured that this information was accurate/reliable. Include who the stakeholders are. In addition, there are two elements in the competency definition, separated by the word ‘PLUS’. Your position duties must meet both parts for the competency to be recognized.

Provide several examples that demonstrate how you are researching and/or reviewing accounting policies, procedures or transactions.  Ensure to indicate the resources you used, and any alternatives considered.

Describe your involvement with the financial statements and note disclosures, ensuring to provide the sections of the financial statement sections if you are not preparing the entire financial statements and the disclosures you are responsible for preparing, along with what accounting framework your sections/disclosures are in accordance with.

Provide a minimum of two examples of analysis that you performed on the financial statements along with how and to whom this analysis was communicated.

For this sub-competency, you need to demonstrate how you meet each of the three requirements, using examples.  Please consider the following:

  1. What management information requirements are you explaining to stakeholders?
  2. What types of information systems are you analyzing and what tasks are you performing as part of your analysis, including any recommendations made?
  3. Discuss any ethical and privacy issues analyzed or considered.  Remember that there are three elements in the competency definition, separated by the word ‘PLUS’.
Your position duties must meet all three parts for the competency to be recognized.

For this sub-competency, you need to demonstrate how you meet each of the three requirements, using examples.  Please consider the following:

  1. Describe your analysis of the inputs for the budget, plan or forecast, including how you performed the analysis.
  2. Discuss your specific role in the preparation of the plans, budgets or forecasts.
  3. Discuss your role in any variance analysis including examples and any recommendations made.

Remember that there are three elements in the competency definition, separated by the word ‘PLUS’.  Your position duties must meet all three parts for the competency to be recognized.

For this sub-competency, you need to demonstrate proficiency in one of the three requirements (cost OR revenue OR profitability management), rather than all three.  Please indicate which of the three areas you are targeting (Cost management?  Revenue management?  Profitability management?).  Consider the following items:   

Cost management: Using examples, discuss what cost management techniques you are applying along with any decisions that your work supports.  Discuss any analysis of potential changes you make to cost management techniques or process improvements, including recommendations/conclusions made.  

Revenue management: Discuss the tasks you perform to analyze revenue sources/drivers and any recommendations/conclusions made.   

Profitability management:  Using examples, discuss any sensitivity analyses you perform, including recommendations made.  Next, discuss the tasks you perform to analyze alternatives for profit maximization or capacity management performance, including recommendations/conclusions, using examples. 

This sub-competency focuses on the analysis of organizational performance issues, especially as it relates to financial performance.  Describe how you are analyzing root causes of these performance issues, including examples.  Next, describe how you meet one of the three additional requirements.

Provide a minimum of two examples of situations in which you have analyzed the risk assessment process(es) or have analyzed the information system process(es).  Ensure to clearly describe the analysis performed, any alternatives considered and any conclusions reached.  Note that performing internal control tests is not appropriately recorded here as you need to be analyzing the processes that encompass internal controls.

Provide two examples of situations in which you have analyzed the assurance needs or the implications of changes in assurance standards, along with analyzing the criteria/standards/guidelines and performed a risk assessment.  If you are not working in external or internal audit, it is unlikely that you will achieve this sub-competency.

Provide a minimum of two examples of external or internal audits or assurance engagements you have conducted. Ensure to clearly describe your involvement with the procedures performed, analysis of the evidence, and the conclusions drawn and communicated to stakeholders.  If you are not working in external or internal audit, it is unlikely that you will achieve this sub-competency.

Discuss the tasks you performed to analyze the financial health of the organization using examples, including any recommendation made.  Or, describe any analysis you performed on financial proposals and financing plans, including any recommendations made.

Describe your role in the calculation/analysis of the entity’s working capital and cash flow.  Next, describe how you meet one of the additional four items, using examples and including any recommendations made.  It is recommended that you indicate which of the additional items you are targeting.

Describe your role in the analysis of financial models as they relate to capital budgeting, valuation or related decisions.  If you are performing valuation work, indicate the methods you use (e.g. DCF, ABV, multiples, etc.) Next, describe how you meet one of the additional seven items, ensuring to indicate which item you are targeting, and providing any recommendations that you made.  

Describe how you are responsible for analyzing the entity's governance policies/processes/code along with the analysis you perform to ensure that the entity remains compliant with regulatory/compliance requirements.  Alternatively, you can describe how you are responsible for analyzing how management's decisions align with the entity's mission, vision, and values.  For both alternatives, you must describe how you perform these duties as part of your regular job duties.

There are three areas in which you can obtain proficiency in this sub-competency.  For whichever one you report on, ensure to provide two examples of when you have performed these tasks, as part of your regular job duties, along with any recommendations made.  We recommend that you indicate which area you are targeting.

Describe how you, as part of your regular job duties, research/analyze/review components of a risk management program including the impact on stakeholder value.  

Provide a minimum of two examples of the tax issues you have researched and indicate the resources used to perform this research, including any conclusions reached or recommendations made.

There are two areas in which you must obtain proficiency for this sub-competency.  Describe a minimum of two examples of tax compliance issues you have been involved with, ensuring to articulate your level of involvement.  In addition, you need to demonstrate that you prepared or analyzed a tax return or supporting information, including examples of the tax return sections that were prepared or analyzed.  Please note that this sub-competency relates specifically to Income Tax and proficiency will not be awarded for work supporting Excise Tax or Payroll Tax.

Describe, with examples, tax planning for corporate or personal income taxes you have performed.  There are three areas in which you can obtain proficiency for this sub-competency.   It is recommended that you indicate which of these three areas you are targeting.

Practical Experience Reporting Templates

Why use these templates

These templates can be used to format your responses when submitting your experience for both technical and enabling competencies. While using these templates is not a requirement, you may find them helpful in keeping your response concise and providing the reviewer with relevant information, which may reduce the number of future revisions.

Instructions:

1. Review the Guiding Questions to determine which technical competency areas your job duties are suited to. This document will also provide supplemental information on the technical competencies. For additional information on the technical competencies, you may also consult our technical competency videos and deep dive webinars.

2. Use the templates below as a guide for how to format your responses. These templates can be copied and pasted into the PERT (Practical Experience Reporting Tool) text boxes. Note that these templates are a guideline for your responses. You may tailor the headings to better suit your response if required.

3. If you have any questions on the technical and enabling competencies or these templates, please contact your provincial body to connect with a CPA Reviewer at practicalexperience@cpaalberta.ca.

Templates:

Technical Competencies Guiding Questions

This document will help guide CPA candidates through the process of documenting their technical competency responses.

Enabling Competencies Guiding Questions

This document will help guide CPA candidates through the process of documenting their enabling competency responses.

CPA Public Accounting Chargeable Hours Submission Form

This form is only to be completed by CPA candidates who are reporting CPA practical experience through the online Practical Experience Reporting Tool (PERT), are employed with a registered public accounting firm and need to report chargeable hours.

 

Questions? Contact: practicalexperience@cpaalberta.ca

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