Accounting students worry about CFE exam remark requests
32 posts in the last 60 days, all from r/Accounting.
“You can't do it across all six competencies with the amount of time left and certainly not with the sheer volume of info in each area. I used densmore and had their study flow chart book which includes "the most commonly tested topics"...I went through those and spent time a)…”
“The marginal pass only needs like 4xissues with yes so it can still pass But for additional issue thats not another option, how do u write the analysis for it”
“IIRC CFE Day 1 2023 was 5 x strategic issue + 1 x additional”
Several accounting students are concerned about the possibility of requesting a remark on their CFE (Chartered Financial Analyst) day 1 exam, and whether it is possible to retake the exam in September 2026. Some express disappointment with their performance and seek advice from others who have faced similar situations.
SOURCES (47)
“Much more likely to pass considering you talked about it. As long as your analysis is reasonable you are probably fine. But why the hell are you ignoring the money anyways? Just choose 2 that fit within, no reason to over complicate things. I literally…”
“Just overall feeling when I spoke to other writers when I was leaving lol. They’d tell me what they put and it was generally not what I put. The cfe is just a traumatic time.”
“Is the last Audit AO a OFSL? I don't know what it is but didn't think about OFSL at all. I left it almost blank can I pass role depth:(”
“Rip I totally missed that part about additional info they might need and risks… Praying that does not cause a fail”
“I got a marginal fail on the first one, and then a marginal pass on the second one. I thought I had it figured out but apparently not”
“You can't do it across all six competencies with the amount of time left and certainly not with the sheer volume of info in each area. I used densmore and had their study flow chart book which includes "the most commonly tested topics"...I went through those and spent time a) looking at the CPA case grading guides to see what was required for a competent answer and b) where to find the details for that answer in knotia. I also looked at thr capstone 2 cases and debriefing them, doi”
“You have a better shot of passing knowing less of the technical and more of how to grind points out of the feedback guides than the other way around I think. Incredibly stupid to go this far and not utilize the feedback guides to understand how you can get points.”
“Bro, what do you think the point of the comparison is? Do you think the grade won't include an analysis of what was missed and what was done well?”
“Proper debriefing requires you to compare your answers to what is in the feedback guide. The feedback guide tells you exactly what the markers are looking for. If you have an AI tool do it for you, then you aren’t learning anything and will fail the exam.”
“Hi all! To those that passed CFE, did any of you guys not look at the feedback guides for the day 2/3 cases during capstone 2? I know people do look at it, but curious if anyone barely looked at it throughout capstone 2 or prepping for CFE, and passed. submitted by /u/Amortized4life [link] [comments]”
“I know lots of post on here about this topic, but didn't see and curious what people think might be the STC day 1 scenario. I am thinking they are going to throw option 3 at us as the scenario based mainly off - option 3 (IFRAC) was the option chosen in the candidate response report provided by CPA Canada, with none of the other options with a recommendation to move forward - They tested us with option's 1 & 2 (wk 1 scenario) and 4 (wk 6) in Capstone 2 practice cases. And especially”
“The marginal pass only needs like 4xissues with yes so it can still pass But for additional issue thats not another option, how do u write the analysis for it”
“Historically speaking (though this can change), yes there’s always been 4 strategic issues. However, there has been at least 1 additional issue, but it could be 2 or even potentially 3 additional issues.”
“Are the case feedback guides accurate for what is needed in the CFE for a C? Sometimes it feels impossible for Cs submitted by /u/AttentionHot7948 [link] [comments]”
“I'm currently retaking the Day 1 CFE exam for MEI, but I had a couple questions regarding the marking scheme/requirements. Would any previous or fellow writers know the answer to the following? Is there any merit to padding the exam with an intro (the purpose of this memo is to assess X, etc) or decision making criteria? Situational Analysis/SWOT -> can I just paste the case fact (The project was very successful) or do I need to detail every single point with the case fact and effect (for”
“Are the Capstone 2 cases harder then what we will see on the CFE? submitted by /u/BenchTop4279 [link] [comments]”
“Yes they are with 2028 being the last one. And if you pass Day 1 or Day 2/3 you get more exemptions from the new program. Also your attempts reset to zero in the new program.”
“Hi guys, I’m writing the CFE next week and I was just wondering from past writers what you guys did the week before? I did a day 1 case today but for the remaining week what would you guys suggest? I was going to redo past AO’s but should I study by competency (ex Strategy and Finance Tuesday, Managerial and Tax Wednesday, FR Thursday and Audit Friday). Or is it better to do all the different competencies each day? Did you guys study at all the weekend before? The Monday before I was going to ju”
“timing is 90% of the cfe game honestly. i passed a few years back and the thing that finally made it click was setting hard cutoffs per AO before i even started reading. like 15 min for a big fr issue, 10 for smaller ones, and if i hit the wall i wrote a one-line conclusion and jumped. you can always come back for quants specifically i started writing my conclusion first, then the calc, then circled back to fill in the logic. sounds backwards but it stopped me from getting lost in the numbers. i”
“Hi everyone! I don’t post on here often, but I’m about two weeks out from the CFE and would really appreciate some advice from past CFE writers. I’ve looked through some older threads, but I think my biggest issue right now isn’t necessarily technical knowledge. It’s figuring out how much is actually enough for a response, what needs to be there to get the C, and what I’m wasting time on. I wrote a Day 2 today and went about 45 minutes over time, which this close to the exam is honestly terrifyi”
“Hey everyone, I'll be writing the Sept CFE in 3 weeks from now and I'm very worried for day 1 (which is funny and ironic considering everyone complains about days 2 and 3 but I'm good on those). I feel like day 1 is honestly full of BS and I seem to have a hard time linking everything together and remembering all the key facts in the case. This is especially relevant for pros and cons. I can't seem to really know how to explain if something is a pro and con in one sentence and ca”
“Hi all, writing the CFE soon and wondering from those who have passed, did you guys ever feel you weren’t “good enough” to pass CFE? I’m doubting myself quite a bit and wondering if I’m even good enough to pass. I know many smart people who have passed, and I don’t consider myself that smart. So wondering if any of you guys felt the same way. Any positive thoughts would be appreciated - thank you! submitted by /u/Amortized4life [link] [comments]”
“CFE (CPA Canada) Hi guys. I’m writing the CFE this September 2026 and I’m wondering if the way I do the risks for my audit procedures is correct. No marker has ever commented about them but it is just a question I am wondering. Is the risk supposed to be very specific? Example when doing an ARO is this a good risk “There is a risk that the useful life of the ARO is overstated” and then can justify it by giving a valid procedure to justify the useful life? Or should the risk be more generalized.”
“June 2026 CFE writer here - I felt like I failed day 2 100%. Turns out I passed all 3 days. Day 1 - just follow the template. For qual side, try to incorporate KSFs, core values, mission and vision. Recommend for each option and state if the option meets the objectives. There are obvious objectives but watch out for other issues such as 'owner wants to sell the company', so just make sure you add if that option will allow them to sell the company. In the end make sure you provide overall”
“I passed june 2026. Never wrote a single day 2 or day 3 case in exam conditions or otherwise. I was a MOU applicant so was exempt from capstone 1 and 2 so not even those cases. I just read past year cases and reports. For day 1 i wrote 1 case 2 days before exam as i was too anxious if i would be able to complete day 1 on time but i read around 5 day 1 cases and exam reports. Everyone has different approach but I think its more important to read solutions than actually writing cases. Also it will”
“Please don’t roast me, i already feel shitty as is. Hi everyone i’m going to write the Sept 2026 CFE in Canada and i’m in the last few weeks of my capstone 2. I’m looking for genuine advice because i’m terrified and anxious and stressed the fuck out. As i write my weekly practice cases by myself i don’t follow the time allocation properly. Every single time i have timed myself i always go over or take breaks by pausing my timer. Idk whats wrong with me i can’t write cases in one sitting nor in t”
“I think I’m going to fail the 2026 September CFE. I am mostly getting RCs with a couple NCs and Cs sprinkled in. I feel like I’m close to Cs on some of the AOs like I just didn’t hit enough points to get a C on some qualitative discussions but other times it is because of technical deficiencies. I’m not sure what to do :-( submitted by /u/HatInternational7367 [link] [comments]”
“Hey everyone! With the CFE right around the corner, I know how expensive objective feedback and practice marking can be. To help a few writers prep, I’m opening up a few spots to mark practice cases and provide detailed feedback/grading grids Day 3 Case: $35 per case Day 2 Case: $70 per case I include detailed grading grid breakdown (RC/C/NA assessments), margin notes, and constructive feedback on where you missed technical or enabling competencies. Shoot me a DM if you're interested!”
“under technical - study bank. you can select which chapters you want to generate questions from and give it a go. first thing i did was i identified which chapters corresponded to which FR topic, then i did practice questions for each FR topic one at a time”
“I failed the June 2026 CFE and feel Sep 2027 is a long shot. Did anyone try to register late for the Sep 2026 exams? I took PM role, and it was tough! Should I take Assurance instead, although I don't have an audit background? submitted by /u/No_Clerk469 [link] [comments]”
“Are there any updates on if you guys were able to enrol? I am in Ontario as well and wanted to know if I should reach out.”
“So the V2 version has different case facts in the original case than the V1? or Just the material we're given during the exam is different than V1? How do I get the V2 case?”
“Hi I’m writing the sept 2026 CFE (Canada) and I study 12 hours a day and with each week of capstone 2 I’m getting progressively worse (started off with RCs and a touch of Cs) progressively getting more and more NCs. The densmore marking guides seem to have different expectations compared to capstone ones and because of that I think I’ve started to write less - like only 3 internal control weaknesses (per densmore) instead of 5 (per capstone) I am also finding it incredibly difficult to stay on t”
“I passed in my 3rd attempt. What i changed was time mngt. On day 2, I left all the mngt questions for the end. Consider at least 1.5 hours for audit after you write all your procedures for FR issues. You need at least 4 procedures for each issue. So, unfortunately I left all 3 mngt AOs blank on day 2. If you miss audit in day 2, there's no saving from it. I put all my effort for mngt in day 3. I left 2 WIR (audit) questions in day 3 blank.”
“Does anyone who has written the tax role have and advice? I’m writing in September for the first time as well and would really appreciate any guidance”
“Hi June 2026 CFE passers, I’m writing September 2026 CFE and looking for encouragement or morale boost (or anything tbh lol). Did any of you walk out of any of the days thinking you bombed it and would have to rewrite it again? Did you miss out on AOs related to your role, or in general any AOs? I’m just looking to see how you felt walking out and whether you thought you’d pass or fail. I’m super overwhelmed with the amount of stuff we need to know, so any kind words or encouragement would be ap”
“This guy had 1 attemp in 2019 where CFE was a shit show so whoever failed, CPA didn't count it as an attempt.”
“I failed first 2 attempts of CFE IN 2024 and 2025. I re wrote June 2026 CFE and passed day 2&3. I want to appeal for the 4th attempt as it’s just one day now. Want to appear for Sept 2026 day 1. If someone has experience in securing a 4th attempt, can they please reach out as I’m not sure how to approach it and if my situation will be accepted or not. TIA submitted by /u/Roop1503 [link] [comments]”
“Failed the breadth in assurance and passed everything else, is it worth remarking”
“Thanks so much for the detailed response and words of encouragement man, really appreciate it. This does really help so I will keep these things in mind when re-writing. I'll get my confidence back and believe i def will pass next time around! Cheers!”
“Thank you for the advice and congratulations on passing! Hopefully I get to say the same in 3 months time.”
“On Day 2/3, I failed level 2 only. Throughout these days since June until August 21st, I did not continue studying. Should I take the September 2026 CFE? (I am 5 weeks pregnant, so I can't commit to sitting all day & not doing job) Plz suggest submitted by /u/aminriddhi17 [link] [comments]”