Help Shape the CPA Exam's Evolution

Whether you’re a recently licensed CPA or seasoned veteran with decades of experience, think back to when you first took the Uniform CPA Examination. Were you sitting at a computer in a modern test center or packed into a large hall with pencil and paper in front of you? Everyone has their story, but regardless of how or when you took the Exam, this rite of passage is the great equalizer for all CPAs. Passing the Exam means you have the knowledge and skills required for initial licensure as a CPA.

Since the Exam was first used in the licensing process nearly 100 years ago, alignment to professional practice has been its hallmark. Over that time, the AICPA has led the Exam’s evolution, ensuring its content consistently captures the needs of a dynamic profession that regularly faces changes in technology, business practices, and standards.

With that same focus, the AICPA’s Examinations team has spent the last 20 months engaged in an in-depth practice analysis to update the knowledge and skills to be measured by the Exam. This project involved thousands of leaders from the profession and other stakeholders who invested countless hours providing input and guidance to ensure the Exam retains its validity, legal defensibility, and relevance.

The results of this comprehensive effort are captured in the recently released Exposure Draft, Maintaining the Relevance of the Uniform CPA Examination, available for public comment now through November 30. The Exposure Draft is a detailed proposal for the next version of the Exam based on real-world business expectations, which include a need for newly licensed CPAs to possess strong higher-order cognitive skills upon entering the profession.

Our aim for the Exam is to enhance its assessment of a candidate’s ability to think critically, solve a problem, analyze a situation, and make a competent evaluation. The Exam’s structure will include greater content integration and increased task-based simulations throughout all sections, all of which is fully outlined in the Exposure Draft. Additionally, the document covers a variety of other proposed changes, including the introduction of helpful blueprints outlining content topics and skill levels that will be tested. These blueprints, which will replace the current Content Specification Outline (CSO) and Skill Specification Outline (SSO), will be much more informative to academia, regulators and other stakeholders, but most importantly to CPA candidates who will be better informed as they prepare for the Exam.

The evolution of the CPA Exam is just one way the AICPA remains committed to preserving the strength of the profession and upholding CPAs’ mission to protect the public interest. To achieve that, we rely on the valuable input and insights from the accounting profession and related stakeholders. Collectively, we can ensure that newly licensed CPAs have demonstrated the knowledge and skills necessary for initial licensure. Your feedback on the Exposure Draft is critical to this project.

Help shape the next version of the Exam. Review and respond to the Exposure Draft by November 30, 2015. All responses will be considered as we finalize the content, design and structure of the next version of the Exam that will be announced early in 2016 and launched in 2017.

Thank you in advance for your participation in this important effort.

Mike Decker, Vice President-Examinations, American Institute of CPAs.