If you’re preparing for the US CPA Exams , you need to keep track of the latest changes coming to the exam in 2021. Here we have summarized the key changes for US CPA exams as per the recent announcements made by AICPA . It is important to note that the significant changes in US CPA exams in India are in the AUD and BEC sections.
How is the US CPA Exam changing in 2021?
In 2020, the US CPA exam in India had few changes; the most prominent change was the introduction of the CARES Act to the REG section effective in Q4 2020. In 2021, the US CPA Exam will undergo additional changes, mainly to the AUD & BEC sections, with minor revisions to the remaining two sections – FAR & REG.
The CPA Exam changes regularly. Gleim CPA Review takes new pronouncements, law changes, and the AICPA Blueprints into account when developing our materials, so there is really nothing for you to worry about. In other words, you don’t need to stress about learning each of the Blueprint changes because Gleim updates your CPA review materials based on all of these changes. But if you want to keep up with the landscape of CPA Exam changes, read on!
When are the changes taking place
Beginning on July 1, 2021, the US CPA Exam will undergo changes as a result of new CPA Exam Blueprints that were released in October 2020. Changes are predominately in the AUD and BEC sections, with minor revisions in FAR and REG. Read below to see the specifics for each section.
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AUD changes
The AUD section of the US CPA Exam will see changes to the content & skill allocation weightings effective July 1, 2021.
1.Assessing Risk and Developing a Planned Response will now be 25-35% of your exam.
2.Area IV – Forming Conclusions and Reporting will change to 10-20%
3.The Analysis skill allocation will increase to 20-30% of your exam.
4.The Remembering and Understanding skill allocation will decrease to 25-35%
What does this mean?
You will more than likely see more content being tested with Task-Based Simulations and less with Multiple-Choice Questions. This does not mean you will see a change in the number of MCQs or TBSs; it just means that more content will be tested at a higher skill level.
Each area of the AUD blueprint saw changes to the representative task statements as well as some of the content topic areas. Of those changes, the most significant include the following:
1.Area II, topic C.2. has been change to Business processes and the design of internal controls, including IT systems. The representative tasks for this content area were also updated, supporting the need for increased knowledge in the area of overall business processes. Area II, topic C.4. – Information Technology (IT) general and application controls has been removed.
2.Area II, topic G. – Planning for and using the work of others saw some changes in the representative tasks, with focus on the IT audit function.
3.Area III saw significant changes to the topic areas and the representative task statements. This area has been updated to include more data analytics, an area that has been alluded to for the past year.
4.Area IV – Forming Conclusions and Reporting saw minor changes in the topic areas and representative task statements.
You can rest assured that your Gleim study materials will always contain the most up-to-date information in order to prepare you for the CPA Exam.
BEC changes
The BEC section of the US CPA Exam also has some of the more significant changes taking place as of July 1, 2021.
1.Area I – Corporate Governance has been renamed Enterprise Risk Management, Internal Controls and Business Processes. Its content weighting has been changed to 20-30% (previously 17-27%)
2.Area II –Economics has an amended content weight of 15-25% (previously 17-27%)
3.Area III – Financial Management has an amended content weight of 10-20% (previously 11-21%)
There are no changes to the skill allocation weightings.
While there are changes to all areas in the updated BEC blueprints, the most significant changes take place in Area IV – Information Technology. Changes have been made to support the increased emphasis of data analytics, including new topic areas and new representative task statements. There is an entirely new topic area titled Data management and relationships, which includes several task statements providing guidance on how testing will take place within this content area.
BEC changes
The FAR section of the US CPA Exam will only have minor revisions to the content areas taking place as of July 1, 2021.
The FAR section of the US CPA Exam will see the elimination of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) framework and the IFRS versus US GAAP content area. There are no changes to the content or skill allocation weightings in this section.
1.Area I – Conceptual Framework, Standard-Setting and Financial Reporting, topics B.8. and B.9., Discontinued operations and Going concern have been removed
2.Area II – Select Financial Statement Accounts saw some minor revisions within the representative task statements in topic G
3.The title for Area II, topic K. was changed to Stock compensation (share-based payments) (previously Compensation and benefits)
4.In Area III – Select Transactions, topic D. – Derivatives and hedge accounting, two representative task statements were removed.
REG changes
The REG section of the US CPA Exam will only have minor revisions to the content areas taking place as of July 1, 2021.
The REG section of the CPA Exam will see the elimination of estate taxation as well as the removal of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 from the authoritative references.
1.Area II – Business Law includes changes to representative task statements in topic C. – Debtor-creditor relationships and topic D., now titled Federal laws and regulations(previously Government regulation of business).
2.Area III – Federal Taxation of Property Transactions, topic C. All task statements referencing estate taxation have been removed.
3.Area IV – Federal Taxation of Individuals, topic H. – Alternative minimum tax has been removed
4.Area V – Federal Taxation of Entities, includes the removal of several representative task statements in topics C.2., D.2., E.1., and G. Topic H.2. – Obtaining and maintaining tax-exempt status, has been removed entirely
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Courtesy – Article originally published by: Gleim Exam Prep
