SHARE:
Fifty Accountancy Boards expect to be ready to move to continuous testing for the Uniform CPA Examination by the target date of July 1, 2020. NASBA is offering to provide legal and legislative assistance to get all 55 Boards ready by that date, NASBA Executive Vice President and COO Colleen Conrad told the Annual Meeting. She assured the Boards that NASBA is making changes to its IT system to be ready to go by that date and is working as a team with Prometric to be ready for implementation on time. Even though the Uniform CPA Examination is updated quarterly, a big change in the Examination’s content is coming as a result of the current practice analysis. Audit analytics will be in the Examination’s blueprint scheduled to be exposed for comment by the end of 2019, AICPA Vice President – Examination Michael Decker stated. The Board of Examiners has been focused on what is needed to be changed and what is required for new CPAs. Their study did not assume there would be any changes in licensing requirements. The Board of Examiners is now in the final confirmation process for the blueprint. Mr. Decker said more emphasis will be on simulations, and less on multiple-choice questions. Manipulating EXCEL is seen as an essential skill for candidates, as the firms are placing greater emphasis on Systems and Organization Controls (SOC) reports. Japan is among the other countries that have shown interest in the Examination’s update process. The new blueprint’s comment period will span from December until the end of April 2020. Ms. Conrad said NASBA will send a response that is expected to be completed early enough so that the member Boards can refer to it as they deliberate their own responses. A tutorial session on the basics of the Uniform CPA Examination’s present makeup and development was presented by Ms. Conrad and Mr. Decker just prior to the 2019 Annual Meeting. They were pleasantly surprised when more than 60 Annual Meeting attendees opted to attend the meeting. |
