General Rules For Fellowship Examination

1.Objective of the examination:

Testing the competence of individuals who desire to obtain SOCPA fellowship certificate regarding their theoretical knowledge and their ability to apply it skillfully, and the extent of their grasp of professional responsibility and the ethical attributes that a certified public accountant should have.
   

2.Subjects of the examination:

The examination consists of the following five subjects: Accounting, Auditing, Zakat and Tax, Jurisprudence and Business Law.
 

3.Date of holding examination:

Examination dates are fixed by the examination committee, provided the examination is held, at least, twice yearly. Candidate is required to complete all registration procedures within the period specified by the examination committee. Candidate may postpone the examination in full or any subject thereof only to two sessions succeeding the postponed examination, provided to inform SOCPA thereby at least two weeks before the examination date.
 

4.Duration of the examination:

4.1. The examination’s number of hours shall be, as follows:
Subject Number of Hours
Accounting 8
Auditing 5
Zakat and Tax 3
Jurisprudence 2
Business Law 2
Total 20


4.2. The examination’s number of days shall be four days distributed as follows:


 
  First Session Second Session
Days Hours Time Subject Hours Time Subject
1st Day 4 8-12 (AM) 1st Paper, accounting
(Multiple choice
questions)
2 1-3 (PM) Business Law
2nd Day 4 8-12 (AM) 2nd Paper,
accounting
(Essay questions)
2 1-3 (PM) Jurisprudence
3rd Day 3 9-12 (AM) 1st Paper,
auditing
(Multiple choice
questions)
2 1-3 (PM) 2nd Paper,
auditing
(Essay questions)
4th Day 3 9-12 (AM) Zakat & Tax X X X





 









 

5.Marks of the examination:

The results of each subject are evaluated separately, and one hundred marks are to be allocated to each subject and the passing score is 60% for each subject.
 

6.Retaking the examination:

Candidates may retake the examination in any subject if they do not obtain the required passing score. If the candidate did not pass all subjects within a period of four years since the date of passing any one of the subjects, the result of that passed subject shall be cancelled, then he should retake it again.
 

7.Topics of the examination:

7.1 Appendix (1) shows an outline of the topics of SOCPA fellowship examination program. Based on real experience, SOCPA examination committee shall continually evaluate the contents of the subjects in order to develop them so as to conform to the objectives of the program.
 
7.2 The questions of the examination for each subject include multiple choice and essay type questions as follow:
 
7.2.1 The Multiple choice questions:
The object of the multiple choice questions is to test the candidate’s knowledge of the subjects of the examination through choosing the correct answer from a number of probable answers. These questions comprise 60% of each subjects of the examination.
7.2.2 The object of the essay type questions is to test the ability of the candidate to understand the problem involved and to explain, compare, analyze or relate accounting information. The answers to these questions depend on the extent of the candidate’s practical knowledge of the subject. These questions comprise 40% of each subject of the examination.
 

8.Preparation of examination questions and model answers:

From among specialized and interested persons, the examination committee selects consultants to prepare the examination questions and their model answers. Each consultant shall separately prepare the questions and model answers of an individual subject. Consultants are to be selected from the following groups:

8.1 Teaching staff members of universities or specialized institutes.
8.2 SOCPA members.
8.3 Accounting and Auditing practitioners and those of other related professions.                                          
8.4 Professional bodies with expertise in preparing examination questions.


 

9.Establishment of data base for the examination questions and model answers:

The examination committee shall select a team to develop a data base for the examination questions and their model answers for each subject separately. Each team shall be composed of not less than two consultants. Each team shall study and review the questions and their model answers prepared by specialists or others, and select the appropriate questions and model answers and submit to the committee for approval as to be stored in the data base.
 

10.Selection of examination questions and model answers:

Each examination will include multiple choice questions and essay type questions as follows:


Accounting:
Classification
Multiple choice questions
Essay Type questions
 
Time (minutes)
240
240
 

No. of questions
90
6

 
           Total
 
 

480     


 
 


 


                                           
Auditing:
Classification
Multiple choice questions
Essay Type questions
 
Time (minutes)
180
120
 

No. of questions
90
3

 
            Total
 
 
  
300                 


 
 
 
 
 
Zakat and Tax:
Classification
Multiple choice questions
Essay Type questions
 
Time (minutes)
108
72
 

No. of questions
54
3

 
            Total
 
 

180                 


 
 
 
 
 
Jurisprudence/Business Law:
Classification
Multiple choice questions
Essay Type questions
 
Time (minutes)
72
48
 

No. of questions
36
3

 
           Total
 
 

120                 


 
 
 
 

 For each subject, the examination committee shall appoint a team consisting of not less than two consultants, to select the examination questions and model answers for each subject from the questions and model answers stored in the data base. The examination committee may use any other alternative method considered by it as appropriate for selection of the examination questions.

11.Supervision of the examination:

The examination committee shall select teams to supervise the fellowship examination, and one member of the committee or any other person assigned by the committee shall supervise these teams.
 

12.Applying the examination:

The examination will be applied under the knowledge and supervision of the examination committee. The committee may seek the effort of competent bodies in order to assist in applying the examination in accordance with the adopted rules.

13.Grading of the examination:

For each subject, the examination committee shall select a team consisting of not less than two consultants to grade each subject of the examination. Grading of the multiple choice questions shall be electronic. Each team shall submit the results of grading to the examination committee for review and approval.
 

14.Approval of the results of the examination:

The examination committee shall look into the results of the examination for each subject and on approval deliver to the secretary general in order to notify each candidate of his result. Candidate may request, in accordance with the adopted measurements, the examination committee to recheck the computation of the marks be obtained in any subject within two weeks from the date of notification with the results.
The fellowship certificate shall be granted by the board of directors, upon the recommendation of the examination committee, to the person who has passed all subjects of the examination.
 

15.Place of examination:

The examination shall be held in the following cities: Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, however the examination may be held in other cities if considered appropriate by the examination committee.
 

16.Educational qualification of candidates

Every person who has a university degree in accounting shall be accepted to take the examination. Candidates who are graduated from university sections other than accounting must fulfill certain measurements to be determined by the examination committee.
 

17.Candidates holding other professional fellowships:

Candidates holding the following fellowships are exempted from examining the accounting and auditing subjects:
- CPA (AICPA)
- ACA (ICAEW)
- CA Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA)
- (CA – Australia)
However, other SOCPA fellowship examination rules shall apply to any of them submitting to take SOCPA fellowship examination.
 

18.Examination fees:

Fees for taking the examination for the first time is SR 1000 (Saudi Riyal one thousand) and SR 500 (Saudi Riyal five hundred) for retaking the examination, in addition to SR 300 (Saudi Riyal Three hundred) for each subject.

 

19.Candidate obligations

Candidate shall abide with the examination rules and instructions. Any candidate who violates any of the rules stipulating candidate obligations or instructions reported to him, shall be subject to the provisions and procedures adopted for violators of the rules of fellowship examination.
Last Update On: 01 Jul 2021