What exactly is a Notice to Schedule (NTS)?

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Author: Seth Goodowens, Executive Assistant
Posted: April 17, 2023

After applying for the CPA Exam, being found eligible, and paying the associated fees to register for CPA Examination Sections, you will be issued an NTS from NASBA/CPA Examination Services. The Notice to Schedule (NTS) is not emailed directly to candidates. It becomes available to view/print from your CPA Candidate Portal after the requirements have been met to issue the NTS. The NTS is your ‘ticket’ used to schedule and then take the specified Exam section you signed up for. You are allowed to register for multiple sections of the Exam at one time but those Exam sections you register for must be taken within the time frame as set by your State Board of Accountancy.

You may take your CPA Exam sections at ANY Prometric Testing Center which offers the CPA Exam, regardless of the jurisdiction you applied to (there are some limitations on international administration based on the jurisdiction you applied to, which will be explained later.) Your NTS will have information on how to schedule your Exam appointments.

Schedule your Exam: We recommend you schedule your Exam within 5-7 days of receipt of this notice. Use the online scheduler at https://www.prometric.com/test-takers/search/cpa, or call the Customer Service Call Center at 800-580-9648.

**Candidates with Testing Accommodations will have additional instructions on how to schedule their Exam**

You can use Prometric’s ‘Seat Availability Tool’ or ‘Locate’ action to find available appointments near the address you provide. When you wish to schedule your actual appointment, you will use the ‘Schedule’ action.

Initially, your NTS is classified as a ‘domestic’ NTS and will only allow you to schedule your Exam appointments at North American (U.S., Canada,Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands) testing centers. This means when using the ‘schedule’ action, you can only select locations in the North American Region.

If you wish to schedule your Exam at a Guam Testing site, you must first pay the ‘Guam Administration Fee’ through CPA Examination Services before trying to schedule. Scheduling appointments in Guam will not be available until this fee is paid and your NTS is active for Guam Administration.

If you wish to schedule your Exam at an international location (any testing location outside the United States, Canada, Guam, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands), you must first pay the ‘International Administration Fee’ through CPA Examination Services before trying to schedule. Scheduling appointments for international locations will not be available until this fee is paid and your NTS is active for International Administration. If you are a CPA Exam candidate for Alabama, Idaho, North Carolina and the Virgin Islands, you will not be allowed to schedule your Exam at international testing centers.

These administration fees are additional outside of the fees paid to obtain your original NTS, which must be paid before you can use the ‘schedule’ action to schedule Exam appointments in Guam or an International location.

When scheduling your Exam, use a valid email address, as you will be sent a confirmation email is needed to make changes to your appointment. You will also be required to present the NTS associated with your specific Exam appointment at the testing center, so make sure to print or save an electronic copy of your NTS.