AAIA exam dates: registering and scheduling

The AAIA has no fixed exam dates. ISACA's registration is open all year, and once you register you have six months to take the exam on a date you choose, at a PSI test center or at home with a remote proctor. You book the appointment yourself, as early as 48 hours after paying and as far ahead as 90 days. One step comes before all of that: you must already hold a qualifying audit credential. This guide walks through every step from ISACA's AAIA Exam Candidate Guide: the prerequisite, registering, scheduling, choosing between a test center and an online exam, rescheduling and extending, what to bring, and how to pick a date that leaves you ready.

The short answer

• No exam dates to wait for. "Exam registration is continuous, meaning candidates can register any time, no restrictions."
• The prerequisite first. ISACA's AAIA page: "AAIA candidates must hold an active CISA certification or a qualified designation from the list above."
• Six months from registering. "Upon registration, exam candidates have a six-month eligibility period to take their exam."
• Book 48 hours to 90 days ahead. You can schedule "as early as 48 hours after payment of exam registration fees", and "exam appointments are only available 90 days in advance."
• Test center or online, except for residents of India, Mainland China and Hong Kong, for whom "The AAIA exam is exclusively available at testing centers."
• Reschedule up to 48 hours before, free. Inside 48 hours, you take the exam or lose the fee.
• One extension, US$75, for six more months, though one page of the guide contradicts it (see below).
• The fee: US$459 for ISACA members, US$599 for nonmembers, paid in full before you can book.

When can you take the AAIA exam?

Whenever you are ready, within your window. There are no exam sessions or registration deadlines. The guide: "Exam registration is continuous, meaning candidates can register any time, no restrictions." Registering starts the clock: "This means that from the date you register, you have six months to take your exam."

So the date question is really two decisions: when to register, which starts your six months, and when to book, which can be any open appointment from 48 hours after you pay to 90 days ahead. A sensible order is to study first, register when you can see your exam date, and book soon after, while appointments near that date are still open.

Before you register: the prerequisite

The AAIA asks for its prerequisite before you register, not after you pass. Its page lists, under registering for the exam, that "AAIA candidates must hold an active CISA certification or a qualified designation from the list above." The list is the CISA, or one of a set of audit and accounting designations held by someone in an IT audit or IT advisory role: among them the CIA, the US CPA, the ACCA and FCCA, CPA Australia's CPA and FCPA, the Canadian and Japanese CPA, and designations from the ICAEW, CA ANZ, the HKICPA and Nigeria's ANAN. The guide prints the full list on its certification page.

"Active" matters twice: at registration, and for as long as you hold the AAIA, since keeping it requires keeping the prerequisite. AAIA certification requirements covers the list and the steps after the exam.

How to register for the AAIA exam

Registration is online, in steps the guide lists: "Select your certification exam: AAIA", then "Log-in or create an account.", then "Complete the registration process". Three details save trouble later.

• Your name. If you are creating an account, the guide says to "please ensure your name is the same as what appears on your government-issued identification that you will present on exam day." Middle names are not required.
• Your test option. "Before you register for the exam, it is important to verify there is a PSI test site with availability near you or have a compatible device for remote testing." If you plan to test at home on a work laptop, ISACA notes that "you may need your IT department's assistance or approval."
• The terms. During registration you accept ISACA's Terms of Use, section 16, on exams, and the guide warns that "Noncompliance to these Terms of Use can result in score nullification and certification revocation."

Pay the fee in full: "Candidates cannot schedule a testing appointment until exam registration fees are paid in full." The fees are US$459 for members and US$599 for nonmembers, set by your membership status when you register, and "Exam fees are non-refundable and non-transferable." Then watch your inbox: "You will receive a Notification to Schedule email within one business day following registration and payment of the exam."

How to schedule your exam appointment

Scheduling happens on PSI's site, which you reach through your ISACA account. The guide's five steps:

1. "Log-in to your ISACA account"
2. "Click Certification & CPE Management"
3. "Click Schedule Your Exam or Visit Exam Website", which takes you to the PSI dashboard.
4. "On the PSI dashboard, click Schedule Exam."
5. "Follow the step by step instructions in the Scheduling Guide."

After booking, "You will receive a scheduling confirmation email from no-reply@psiexams.com confirming your exam appointment." If you cannot find a date, remember the horizon: "If you do not see your exam site or date available more than 90 days in advance, please check back when it is closer to your desired exam date." If dates still do not appear, the guide suggests checking in your ISACA account that your eligibility has not expired.

Test center or online?

ISACA offers both: its exams are "computer-based and administered at authorized PSI testing centers globally or as remotely proctored exams."

At a test center. The guide's checklist is to locate the center and confirm the start time, map out your route, "Plan to arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the exam start time", and plan where to store your belongings, since you cannot reach them until the exam is submitted. It also warns that you may share the room: "Your exam may be administered in a room with other test takers. Please note that some noise should be expected and is considered normal."

Online, with a remote proctor. Run ISACA's compatibility check before exam day; on a company device you may need your IT department's help "to download the secure browser." At check-in, "you must complete a room scan as part of the check-in process": a 360-degree scan of all four walls, a desk scan that includes the area under your laptop or keyboard, and a scan from the floor to the ceiling, using an external webcam, your laptop camera with a mirror, or your phone through a QR code. Then "ISACA will require a mirror check for each exam following the room scan", to show the proctor your screen, keyboard and the edges of your laptop. "Candidates can communicate with remote proctors in English using a live chat tool during the exam", and "Other languages are not available for communicating with remote proctors."

The online rules are strict: "The exam is online, closed book and remotely proctored." Among the things the guide lists as not allowed are "Reading the questions out loud", "Eating or drinking", "Walking around the room", "Other people standing in or walking through your work area", "Stepping away from your exam/computer" and "Taking notes". The rule on food and drink covers water too, at a center or at home. A phone may be used for the room scan or mirror check, and must then be placed out of reach. "Failure to comply with any of the above will result in your exam being voided and forfeiture of your exam fees."

Three regions are test-center only. ISACA's AAIA page: for residents of India, Mainland China and Hong Kong, "The AAIA exam is exclusively available at testing centers. Individuals in these regions cannot use live remote proctoring for this exam." If that is you, check a PSI site near you before you register.

Rescheduling, extensions and missed appointments

• Rescheduling. "You can reschedule your exam anytime, without penalty, during your eligibility period if done a minimum of 48 hours prior to your scheduled testing appointment." Inside that window, "you must take the exam or forfeit the registration fee."
• Extending. "If you need additional time to take the exam, you can purchase a six-month exam extension for US $75." The option appears on your dashboard "30 days before and after the expiration of your eligibility", a booked exam must be canceled at least 48 hours ahead to extend, and "There is a maximum of one extension on an exam."
• A caution on extensions. A later page of the same guide says "No eligibility extensions are allowed." The registration section describes the extension in detail, with its price and its timing, so it reads as the specific rule. Even so, if you are counting on one, confirm with ISACA before your window runs short.
• What forfeits the fee. Not taking the exam in the six months, missing the appointment, or being "more than 15 minutes late for a testing appointment."
• A personal hardship. If illness, a death in your immediate family or a traffic accident keeps you from your appointment, the guide says "you may be able to reschedule without forfeiting your exam registration fee." Contact PSI within 72 hours of the appointment, with documentation such as a doctor's note or a police report. "If the request is denied, you are required to register again and pay the full exam registration fee."
• If the center closes. For severe weather or an emergency, "If the site is closed, the exam will be rescheduled at no additional charge."

Changing your name, language or exam type

The guide lists three common changes. "The name on your ISACA account must match the name on the ID used to check-in for your exam", and you update it in your ISACA profile. The AAIA is offered in English, Simplified Chinese and Spanish, and "If you need to change your exam language, you also must reschedule the testing appointment." To switch between a test center and remote testing, contact ISACA support. "All change requests must be completed a minimum of 48 hours prior to your scheduled testing appointment."

Special accommodations

"Special testing accommodations must be requested during the registration process and approved by ISACA before scheduling the exam." You tick the accommodation field when you register, complete ISACA's request form, which "must be completed by you and your health care professional", and submit it through ISACA's support site. Two deadlines matter: "Special accommodation requests will not be considered until exam registration fees are paid in full", and "All requests must be submitted to ISACA no later than 4 weeks prior to your preferred exam date and are only valid for that one exam administration."

What to bring: identification

"To enter the testing center or check-in for your online exam, you must present an acceptable form of identification (ID)." It must be "current, valid, and original", issued by a government, and show your name, signature and photograph. "Please note, the first and last name shown on your ID must match the name with which you registered for the exam, or you may not be permitted entry to your exam." Three details from the guide:

• One document. "All information must be demonstrated by a single form of ID (cannot be a copy or handwritten)."
• Japan. "Driver's Licenses issued in Japan without a signature will be accepted."
• The accepted forms: a driver's license, a state identity card, a passport, a passport card, a green card, an alien registration card, a permanent resident card or a national identification card.

Without an acceptable ID you will not be allowed to test, and you forfeit the fee. A center may also ask for more identification, and if your identity is in doubt, "This will be considered a no-show, and you forfeit your exam fees."

While you wait: a sample question

The steps above are administration; the exam itself is judgment. Here is a question in its shape, on topic 2G, incident response management specific to AI, where the answer turns on what counts as evidence:

How to pick your exam date

ISACA publishes no recommended study time, so the date has to come from your own plan. Our course's estimate for the AAIA is about 29 hours, or 4 weeks at about 7 hours a week; less if the AI side is familiar, more if it is not. Three rules of thumb:

1. Work backward from the date. Count your available hours per week, divide 29 by it, and add a week for timed mocks and their review.
2. Register when the date is in sight. Registering starts the six months, and booking opens 90 days ahead, so there is no advantage in registering long before you can book.
3. Leave room for a second attempt. "Individuals have 4 attempts within a rolling twelve-month period to pass the exam", and "Customers must wait 30 days from the date of the first attempt", so a date well before any deadline of your own gives you a second chance inside it. Each attempt costs the full fee.

A study plan helps most once you have a date. Give our course your exam date and it paces the plan to your weeks; how to study for the AAIA sets out the four weeks topic by topic.

A checklist, from registration to result

1. Confirm that your CISA or other qualifying credential is active, and that your ISACA account name matches your ID.
2. Check a PSI test site near you, or run the compatibility check on the computer you will use.
3. Register for the AAIA and pay the fee in full; your six months start.
4. Watch for the Notification to Schedule email, within one business day.
5. If you need accommodations, request them now: at least 4 weeks before your preferred date.
6. Book your appointment on PSI's dashboard, between 48 hours and 90 days ahead, and keep the confirmation email.
7. Reschedule only if you must, and at least 48 hours before the appointment.
8. On the day, bring an acceptable ID, arrive 30 minutes early at a center or complete the room scan and mirror check at home, and do not be more than 15 minutes late.

After the exam

"You will be able to view your preliminary passing status on screen immediately following the completion of your exam", though you may not photograph that screen, and "Your official score will be emailed and available online within 10 working days." If you pass, "you will receive details on how to apply for certification", and ISACA's AAIA page says "Candidates have five years from passing the exam to apply for AAIA certification".

If you do not pass, you can ask for a rescore "within 30 days following the release of the exam results", for a fee of US$75, or plan a retake under the rules above. Concerns about the exam day itself go to ISACA's support site within 48 hours of the test. AAIA format and scoring explains the score report, and every AAIA fee lists what each step costs.

Where to start

Before you register, try the material. A free account opens AI models and requirements in full, lessons, questions and flashcards, plus a short diagnostic that asks about all 17 topics. Full access to the whole course is a single payment, with nothing to renew. For ISACA's security credential, AAISM exam dates covers the same steps.