THE UNIFORM CPA EXAMINATION MAKING A GREAT EXAMINATION

THE UNIFORM CPA EXAMINATION MAKING A GREAT EXAMINATION EVEN GREATER Presented by Robert A. Pearson Chair CPA Licensing Examinations Committee (CLEC)

CLEC Committee n n n n n Robert Pearson, CPA – Chair (Missouri) Robert Brennan, Ed. D (Iowa) Kay Carnes, CPA (Oregon) William Dresnack, CPA (New York) Rick Elam, CPA (Mississippi) Pamela Hill, CPA (Missouri) Richard Reisig, CPA (Montana) Tom Weirich, CPA (Michigan) Janice Wilson Marcum, CPA (California) Joe Cote, CPA (NASBA)

Report from CPA Licensing Examinations Committee n MISSION Ø Ensure that state boards of accountancy are provided with the best professional licensing examination possible Ø Make a great examination even greater

Issues Facing a Great Examination n Fingerprinting Ø Used by other high-stake examinations Ø Assurance to state boards that they are licensing the person that passed the examination Ø NASBA has received confirmation that fingerprints, and other candidate information, are only available and being used for examination purposes

Issues Facing a Great Examination n International Accounting Standards Ø Public companies – Mandatory in 2013 Ø Timely implementation as part of the examination and the educational process of candidates n Implementation of changes in authoritative material Ø The Invitation to Comment addressed changes to the current examination through CBT-e

Issues Facing a Great Examination n ERB management letter Ø Suggested improvements to the current examination Ø Responses of the three parties – NASBA, AICPA and Prometric – setting forth improvements to be made

Issues Facing a Great Examination n Practice analysis and exposure draft Ø CLEC had unanswered questions regarding the practice analysis and the weighing of the proposed changes Ø Unable to endorse the proposal based upon the materials provided Ø The exposure draft material may very well be correct and acceptable

Monitoring of Issues that Will Make a Great Examination Even Greater n CBT-e improvements and the implementation of the practice analysis, an ongoing process in updating and improving the CPA Examination n Task-based simulations n Situational or dilemma-based ethics n Evolution and implementation of international accounting standards as part of the CPA Examination

How State Boards can Help Make a Great Examination Even Greater n Tell CLEC how your state board would like to change or improve the CPA Examination n Provide CLEC with the name of at least one qualified person willing to be part of the AICPA Examination Committees n IT’S YOUR EXAMINATION– HELP TAKE IT FROM BEING A GREAT EXAMINATION TO AN EVEN GREATER EXAMINATION!