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“Most accountants would expect a raise on receiving their CFE results, so there’s a real economic cost for us every month it’s delayed,” said one candidate who wrote the exam in Ottawa.

“It also makes us put our life on hold,” the candidate told the Post, adding that the day results arrive typically “becomes an anniversary date for future promotions and increases.”

Like others who spoke to the Post, the candidates who took the problem-plagued common final exam between Sept. 11 and 13 requested anonymity out of concern that speaking out could have an impact on their results.

The high-stakes Common Final Examination where candidates must analyze a series of complex accounting cases was memorably dubbed a “Fyre Festival for accountants” in an online posting on a candidates’ forum. The tongue-in-cheek reference was to 2017’s well-publicized music festival fiasco in the Bahamas where cheese sandwiches were served instead of the promised gourmet meals and makeshift tents were provided in lieu of luxury accommodations.

Most accountants would expect a raise on receiving their CFE results, so there’s a real economic cost for us every month it’s delayed

According to online postings and interviews with several candidates, the problems during the three-day exam sitting ranged from interruptions and distractions as computer programs froze or crashed in Ottawa to a five-hour delay and no access to required online tax and accounting resource materials in Edmonton.

In Victoria, candidates were ultimately told to use their mobile phones to create “hotspots” that gave them unfettered access to the internet, according to one candidate. He said this provided the potential to cheat by accessing sites that were prohibited and would not be available to other exam writers across the country.