AICPA Unveils Redesigned CPA Exam Blueprints

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In January 2023, the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) released the updated Uniform CPA Examination® Blueprints, the official document of content eligible for assessment on the Exam starting in January 2024. The Blueprints are based on the knowledge and skills required of a newly licensed CPA to meet the demands of firms, employers and clients. According to the AICPA, today’s CPAs need deeper skill sets, more competencies and greater knowledge of emerging technologies and their impact on tax, accounting and audit. Therefore, to prepare CPA candidates and accounting students for this new environment, the licensure model is evolving through the AICPA and National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) joint CPA Evolution initiative.

“The CPA Evolution-aligned Exam will ensure that candidates possess the knowledge required for the profession now and in the future,” said NASBA Executive Vice President and COO Colleen Conrad, CPA. “For current candidates, we developed a transition policy to allow them to seamlessly continue their CPA Exam journey from where they are when we transition to the 2024 CPA Exam.”

The licensure model requires candidates to take three Core sections: Financial Accounting and Reporting, Auditing and Attestation, and Taxation and Regulation. Then, each candidate will choose a Discipline in which to demonstrate additional knowledge: Business Analysis and Reporting (BAR), Information Systems and Controls (ISC) and Tax Compliance and Planning (TCP). Regardless of a candidate’s chosen Discipline, this model leads to full CPA licensure.

The Blueprints are a result of the AICPA’s Practice Analysis research to align the CPA Exam to the CPA Evolution initiative and are included in its final report. Access to the full transition policy and related webcast recordings and FAQs are available on NASBA’s website.