As of Jan. 1, the Uniform Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Examination underwent significant changes.
The previous version of the exam was divided into four sections: Auditing and Attestation (AUD), Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR), Regulation, and Business Environment and Concepts (REG). While the concepts involved in each section will remain part of the exam, BEC topics will be integrated into the other sections which are being combined into the new “CORE” section.
The BEC section will now be a test on a special discipline topic, which those taking the exam will choose ahead of time. They will be able to choose between Business Analysis and Reporting (BAR), Information Systems and Controls (ISC) and Tax Compliance and Planning (TCP).
Any aspiring CPA who has not completed all four sections of the previous version of the test will need to take the new version of the exam, although some credits will carry over. According to Kirsten Piechota, the marketing and communications director of the Connecticut Society of CPAs, the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy and the American Institute of CPAs have been working on the updated exam for a number of years.
“This new CPA exam is part of the nationwide CPA evaluation program,” explained Piechota. “This is designed to make the CPA exam and CPA licensing more modern and flexible. “It will address all the changes in technology and complexities in practice that people are seeing in the profession and the overall business environment.”
Those who completed all elements that make up the CORE section but not the BEC units prior to Jan. 1 will only need to take one of the new specialized sections to complete the exam. Those who completed all sections prior to the end of 2023 do not need to retest, while those who have taken only part of the CORE section will need to retake parts of the test.
Piechota portrayed these changes as necessary to make sure that CPAs are fully prepared for a profession where fast changing regulations and technology can drastically alter best practices. CPAs are required to take 40 hours of continuing education each year to keep their certification.
Professors in the accounting program at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield said the changes had already impacted the way that they will teach their courses, and how they pitch an accounting major to prospective students.
“Part of our job now is to explain to students that even though it looks more difficult, it opens more doors down the line than any other major,” said Dr. Benoît N Boyer of the university’s accounting and information faculty. “Because, you can have a degree in accounting and work in finance or management, but doing reverse is not true. If you have a degree in management or in finance, you cannot [automatically] work in accounting.”
Boyer also expressed concern that the changes to the exam might further discourage participation in a field that is already seeing a shortage of qualified professionals. He was unsure if students will take advantage of the opportunity to select a specialized discipline for the test and may instead feel it is somewhat limiting.
“We don’t have the details yet, but after we have changed our programs to fit the new exams it seems that students take BAR more than the other two areas in terms of the other areas of specialization, and I think that would be very detrimental to the profession,” he said. “If you want to continue in auditing for instance, what you want to take is the ISC which also has a cybersecurity aspect to it.”
Boyer added he worries that selecting a specialization could lead to bigger gaps in knowledge outside of a student’s chosen field. He also noted that some schools take a more theoretical approach to how they teach accounting, with less emphasis on the exam. As a result, they may be slower to adopt ISC oriented classes into their curriculum.
Dr. Danny Pannese, a clinical associate professor at Sacred Heart University, which has accounted for the exam changes in designing its curriculum, will not contribute to that problem should it arise.
“The other universities lack this focus, saying ‘we don’t want to teach to the CPA Exam,” Pannese said. “Ours is much more practical, we are going to get you set to go into any area of accounting, whether it’s industry, whether it’s public whether it’s the government. You should be set.”
According to Piechota, improving and advancing the CPA exam is a necessary step to ensure the profession can adapt to new technology and a changing landscape of rules and regulations. While the differences between the previous and current iterations may seem large, she emphasized the exam has continuously evolved since its inception.
“We have many members who talk about having to go to the animal barns at the Big E just for the paper and pencil exams,” she said.
