The AICPA recently released a list of revisions to the CPA Exam Blueprints, to take effect July 1, 2018. While CPA Exam candidates should be sure to consult the most up-to-date blueprints document, rest assured! The AICPA confirms that these revisions do not change “the nature or scope of content eligible for testing in an Exam section.”
Here’s are some stand-out updates you should be aware of:
Auditing and Attestation (AUD)
Area III, Group D, Topic 5: Performing Further Procedures and Obtaining Evidence – Specific matters that require special consideration – An entity’s ability to continue as a going concern.
Revision: New task statement added: Perform procedures related to the assessment of management’s evaluation and conclusion regarding an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern in an audit of an issuer or nonissuer.
Business Environment and Concepts (BEC)
Area I, Group B, Topic 1 Corporate Governance – Enterprise risk management frameworks – Purpose and objectives
Revision: The task statement was replaced with “Define ERM within the context of the COSO ERM framework, including the purpose and objectives of the framework.”
Area I, Group B, Topic 2 Corporate Governance – Enterprise risk management frameworks –Components and principles
Revisions:
- The second task statement was replaced with “Understand the relationship among risk, business strategy and performance within the context of the COSO ERM framework.”
- Added the following task statements:
- Apply the COSO internal control framework to identify entity and transaction level risks (inherent and residual) related to an organization’s compliance, operations and reporting (internal and external, financial and nonfinancial) objectives.
- Apply the COSO internal control framework to identify risks related to fraudulent financial and non-financial reporting, misappropriation of assets and illegal acts, including the risk of management override of controls.
- Apply the COSO internal control framework to identify controls to meet an entity’s compliance, operations and reporting (internal and external, financial and non-financial) objectives, throughout an entity’s structure, from entity-wide through sub-units, down to the transactional level.
- Apply the COSO internal control framework to identify an appropriate mix of automated and manual application controls, (e.g., authorization and approval, verifications, physical controls, controls over standing data, reconciliations and supervisory controls) to prevent and detect errors in transactions.
Area II, Group A Economic Concepts and Analysis – Economic and business cycles – measures and indicators
Revisions:
- First task statement as replaced with: Identify and define business cycles (trough, expansion, peak, recession) and conditions and government policies that impact an entity’s industry or operations.
- Second task statement removed.
- The following task statements were added:
- “Use appropriate inputs to calculate economic measures and indicators (e.g., Nominal and Real GDP, Consumer Price Index, Aggregate Demand Curve, Money Supply, etc.) and apply leading, coincident and lagging indicators (e.g., bond yields, new housing starts, personal income, unemployment, etc.).”
- “Use economic measures and indicators to explain the impact on an entity’s industry and operations due to changes in government fiscal policy, monetary policy, regulations, trade controls and other actions.”
- “Use economic measures and indicators to explain the impact on an entity’s industry and operations due to changes in business cycles and economic conditions, caused by factors such as exchange rates, inflation, productivity, state of the global economy, unemployment levels, etc.”
Area, Group, or Topic Revised: Area II, Group B Economic Concepts and Analysis – Market influences on business
Revisions:
- Replaced the first task statement with “Identify and define the key factors related to the economic marketplace (e.g., competition, currencies, globalization, supply and demand, trade, etc.) and how they generally apply to a business entity.”
- Second task statement removed
- The following task statements were added:
- “Identify and define market influences (e.g., economic, environmental, governmental, political, legal, social and technological, etc.). “
- “Determine the impact of market influences on the overall economy (e.g. consumer demand, labor supply, market prices, production costs, volatility, etc.).”
- “Determine the impact of market influences on an entity’s business strategy, operations and risk (e.g. increasing investment and financial leverage, innovating to develop new product offerings, seeking new foreign and domestic markets, undertaking productivity or cost-cutting initiatives, etc.).”
- Replaced the third task statement with “Determine the business reasons for, and explain the underlying economic substance of, significant transactions (e.g., business combinations and divestitures, product line diversification, production sourcing, public and private offerings of securities, etc.).”
Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR)
Section introduction – Content organization and tasks section
Revision: The direct reference to FASB ASC Topic 840 was removed.
Area II, Group J Select Financial Statement Accounts – Revenue recognition
Revision: The second task statement was replaced with “Determine the amount and timing of revenue to be recognized under a contract and prepare journal entries.” Also, the third and fourth task statements were removed.
In addition to the task statement updates outlined above, there were also a number of minor editorial updates. View a full list of CPA Exam Blueprint updates.
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