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Texas Grad Gets Top National CPA Score
Austin, Texas – A May 2002 PPA program graduate of the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin has received the highest score in the nation on his Certified Public Accountants licensing examination.
John McInnis, an auditor at a Big 4 accounting firm in Houston, scored four grades of 99 – the highest score possible -- in the two-day, four-part CPA licensing examination, according to the Texas Board of Public Accountancy, the state agency that administers the test.
He is scheduled to receive the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Gold Medal.
“About like 60,000 people nationally take the exam, and the number of people who score 75% or greater (passing grade) is between 20 percent and 30 percent, so
(McInnis’) score was pretty brilliant, I’d say,” McCombs accounting Professor Ed Summers noted.
“Even before John took the exam, UT’s record of award winners was nothing short of phenomenal,” said Stephen Limberg, accounting department chair, who noted McCombs has produced
six top-three national finishes since 1995. “But John’s perfect performance has now set a new standard of excellence. It is a terrific personal accomplishment.”
“I felt I had done well, I pretty much knew I had passed the exam, but I was truly shocked when I found out what my scores were,”
McInnis said. “I had no idea I would score this high.”
McInnis, who does not believe in cramming, took a semester-long CPA prep course before graduating last May, “and I just kept up with the review material.” In fact, for two weeks before the exam,
McInnis said he spent most of his time watching TV and playing golf. “I probably cracked the books three hours in the weeks leading up to the exam. I was already prepared.”
McInnis, hired as an auditor at the Houston office of Ernst & Young in October, plans to marry this summer. His fiancé, also a Texas graduate, teaches elementary school in Kyle, south of Austin.
McCombs School accounting majors traditionally score high on the CPA exam. In the 1980s, the pass rate among Texas graduates was so high – double the national rate -- that the state accountancy board placed the-then department chair under oath to determine if students were being fed test questions. The board determined they were not.
The two-day, 16-hour CPA licensing exam is divided into four parts, each lasting four hours: auditing; law; tax and government; and financial accounting. Each section contains multiple-choice, problem solving and essay questions. An applicant must pass every section of the exam before being eligible to receive a Certified Public Accountant’s license.
For information on specific programs at the McCombs School, consult our contacts page. For media information, contact the Communications Director by phone at 512-471-3314 or by email at CommunicationsDirector@mccombs.utexas.edu.
