Certified Equity Professional Institute - Santa … Binder – XYZ Documents Binder includes – XYZ Equity Incentive Plan Document – XYZ ESPP Plan – Sample agreements, notice

Certified Equity Professional Institute

Exam Overview Webinars

General Study Overview

The information presented herein is of a general nature and has been simplified for presentation to a large audience. It is not a complete discussion of all aspects the laws, rules, regulations, standards, and principles that govern equity compensation plans. The contents are neither designed nor intended to be relied upon, and should not be considered, as legal, tax or accounting advice. Your specific situation may involve circumstances that cause the laws, rules, regulations, standards and principles described herein to apply differently. You should consult your own advisors before deciding what, if any, course of action to take in your own particular situation.

© 2015 Certified Equity Professional Institute cepi.scu.edu -2-

Agenda

Exam Content

Reference Texts

Study Binder– Definitions– Syllabi– Reading Lists– Review Guide– XYZ Documents


General Study Tips


Exam Content

All three exam levels are comprised of four disciplines– Accounting– Corporate and Securities Law– Equity Plan Design, Analysis and Administration– Taxation

Number of questions– Level One and Level Two are 110 questions – 100 scored, 10

experimental– Level Three is 77 questions – 70 scored, 7 experimental

– Experimental questions are not scored, and are not identified on the exam


Exam Content

Discipline Level One Level Two Level ThreeAccounting 12% 20% 23%Corporate & Securities Law 25% 28% 26%Equity Plan Design, Analysis & Administration 30% 26% 29%

Taxation 33% 26% 23%

Each exam is weighted by the four disciplines

For example, the Level One exam would have approximately 12 accounting, 25 law, 30 admin and 33 tax questions.


Reference Texts All levels

– CEP Institute Binder– Selected Issues in Equity Compensation– The Stock Options Book– Consider Your Options– GPS| Employee Stock Purchase Plans– Equity Alternatives

Levels Two and Three only– Accounting for Equity Compensation– GPS| Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock Units

Level Three only– Advanced Topics in Accounting for Equity Compensation– Securities Sources for Equity Compensation– GSP| Global Stock Plans– GPS| Performance Awards


Reference Texts

Text editions– Reference texts are generally updated every year to keep up with changes to

the regulations, etc. Some changes are substantial – DOMA, cost basis reporting for ESPP purchase Some changes impact the location of materials

20X1 edition – Chapter 5 ISOs20X2 edition – Chapter 5 RSAsReading lists and syllabi will not match older editions

– All exam questions are based on the current edition of the books


Study Binder

All candidates receive a study binder from the CEPI

This is the base for the whole program and contains:– Ordering information for the reference texts– Standard terminology that will be used in the program– Syllabus for each level– Reading list for each level– Review guide– Sample plan documents and agreements– Section for your personal notes


Study Binder - Syllabus

General information– Syllabus for each level shows which reference texts are used for that level– Syllabus is a list of the topics that are covered in that level and any prior level– Syllabi for Level Two and Level Three show new information in bold

Each level has a syllabus. – Level Two syllabus includes the Level One topics– Level Three syllabus includes Level One and Level Two topics


Study Binder - Syllabus First page of each syllabus:

– General information about the level– Reference texts that are required– New texts are shown in bold


Study Binder - Syllabus Reading assignments:

– For each reference text, lists which chapters are assigned

– The lighter font indicates that the chapter was assigned at a prior level

– New texts are shown in bold– New chapters are shown in bold


Study Binder - Syllabus Topics at this level:

– Topics are listed by domain: Accounting, Corporate & Securities Law, Equity Plan Design Analysis and Administration, and Taxation

– Topics are listed alphabetically within each domain

– ASC 260 comes before ASC 505-50

– The lighter font indicates that the topic was introduced at a prior level

– New topics are shown in bold


Study Binder - Syllabus Topics are listed:

– Use standard outline form with a maximum of four levels

– First level number 1, 2, 3, etc.– Second level A, B, C, etc.– Third level i, ii, iii, iv, etc.– Fourth level a, b, c, etc.


Study Binder - Syllabus Summary of syllabi information

– First page will list all of the reference texts that are needed for that level– The next pages will list all of the readings that are required by reference text

Lists chapters (or “all pages”) that are assigned Very high level – no association between the assigned reading and the specific

topics– Assigned topics are listed by domain

Accounting Corporate and Securities Law Equity Plan Design Analysis and Administration Taxation

– Within each domain, topics are listed alphabetically– Topics are listed in standard outline format– Topics that are new for that level are in bold font


Study Binder – Detailed Reading List

Each level has a detailed reading list

Reading lists are key to linking the topics to a particular topic– Syllabus assigns the reading material at a very high level– Reading list assigns each topic from the syllabi to the particular chapter or

section of a reference text

Using the reading list in conjunction with the syllabus is critical– Best when used together


Study Binder – Detailed Reading List Lists are sorted

by domain

Each reference text has a column

GPS and XYZ documents share a column

If the text is not used at that level, it is grayed out


Syllabus to Detailed Reading List


Syllabus to Detailed Reading List







Assigned at Level One

Assigned at Level Two


Study Binder – Detailed Reading List Summary

The reading list topics are copied from the syllabus– Only the first two levels are copied over– The bold and light font from the syllabus carry over– Links specific chapters or sections of the texts to a topic on the syllabus

For each text– If it is not used at a level, it is grayed out– If it is introduced at that level, all of the assigned readings will be shown in

bold font

Assigned readings– For each topic, the list shows where to find information for that topic– A bold font indicates that the chapter is new for that topic


Study Binder – Review Guide

Review guide for the following reference texts:– Selected Issues in Equity Compensation– Stock Options Book– Equity Alternatives– Accounting for Equity Compensation– Advanced Topics in Equity Compensation Accounting

For each text– Each assigned chapter has a list of Key Concepts

Each concept will show which Level(s) it applies to– Each assigned chapter has a series of open ended review questions

Each question will show which Level(s) it applies to



Review guide lists • Key concepts• Review questions• Identifies levels



Supplemental study tool

Concentrate on the concepts and questions for your level and all lower levels– Remember that Level Two includes all of the Level One concepts, and Level

Three includes all of Level One and Level Two concepts

If you are not familiar with a concept, or have trouble answering the question, reread that chapter


Study Binder – XYZ Documents

Binder includes– XYZ Equity Incentive Plan Document– XYZ ESPP Plan– Sample agreements, notice of exercise, grant notice, ESPP subscription and

withdrawal documents

Read the plans and supporting documents

Understand the plan and award provisions



Overview webinars for each domain for each level(12 total)– Accounting – Levels One, Two and Three– Corporate and Securities Law - Levels One, Two and Three– Equity Plan Design Administration and Analysis - Levels One, Two and Three– Taxation - Levels One, Two and Three

Conducted by CEPs – they have been through the program

Not a substitute for studying


General Study Tips

Complete all of the assigned reading– Don’t forget the XYZ Plan Documents

Use the reading list and syllabus together– Need to use both to really target the topics

Listen to the webinars

Open book test– Bring your materials to the exam! – Cannot memorize everything, but know where to find the information– Use a method that works for you

Highlighting, flags, post its, etc….


General Study Tips Be aware of the time. Bring a watch

– Level One and Two – 110 questions or 2.45 minutes per question– Level Three – 77 questions or 3.5 minutes per question– Use a time sheet in your binder to measure expected progress

For Level Two, at one hour you should be at least at question 24, at 3.5 hours you should be at question 86, etc…. Factor in review time if you want

– All questions worth the same – so if you don’t know an answer, skip it and come back at the end

Read the entire question BEFORE you try to answer it

Scantron answer sheet– Keep track of question number and answer number– No stray marks


More Information CEPI webpage - cepi.scu.edu

NCEO webpage for ordering materials – nceo.org

Your network – Ask a CEP for advice on how to study

Study groups


Educational Courses to Assist In Exam Preparation

– NASPP https://www.nasppuniversity.com

– NCEO http://www.nceo.org/training/cepstudy.html

Although the CEP Institute makes this information available to candidates, we do not endorse educational programs. The candidate must determine whether the program is suitable for his/her needs.