Auditing
4 hrs
Financial
4 hrs
Regulation
3 hrs
Business
Environment
&
Concepts
3 hrs
Standards, Planning & Evidence, Internal Control, Reports, Compilations &
Reviews
Business Enterprises, Governmental Entities, Not-for-Profit Organizations
Federal Taxation, Ethics, Professional and Legal Responsibilities, and Business
Law
Cost Accounting, Economic Concepts, Financial Mgmt., Information
Technology
Multiple Choice Questions:
One question and four potential answers, MCQs make up the majority of each exam.
Task-Based Simulations:
Questions that require you to apply practical knowledge found in the AUD, REG, and FAR exams. This question type may include filling out a form or completing a research question.
Written Communication:
Questions that require properly composed written essay responses and found only in the BEC exam.
The Auditing & Attestation (AUD), Financial Accounting & Reporting (FAR), and Regulation
(REG) Exams are similarly formatted. These three exams are composed of 60% Multiple Choice
Questions and 40% Task-Based Simulations.
The Multiple Choice Questions are broken up into 3 individual testlets: 30 questions per testlet for AUD and FAR, 24 questions per testlet for REG. The MCQ portion of the exam is followed by the Task Based Simulations (TBS): Seven TBS for AUD and FAR, and six for REG.

85% of the Business Environment & Concepts (BEC) exam is comprised of Multiple Choice
Questions. Just like the other 3 exams, the MCQs are broken into 3 individual testlets, with 24 questions in each. The MCQ portion of the exam is followed by the Written Communication.
There are three Written Communication questions - one of which is pre-tested - that require a written response in a memo format.
70% Auditing & Attestation


Internal Controls Testing
Audit Reports & Opinions
20% Professional Responsibility
10% Accounting & Review Services
 International Standards on Auditing vs. U.S. Auditing Standards
80% Financial Accounting
 Bonds, Leases, Pensions



Prepare Consolidated Financial Statements
Identify & understand the difference between financial statements prepared on the basis of GAAP vs. IFRS
20% Governmental & Not-for-Profit
60% Tax



Individual Taxes (Form 1040)
Partnerships
Corporate Taxation (S-corps & C-corps)
20% Business Law


Contracts
Uniform Commercial Code
20% Ethics, Professional and Legal Responsibilities
 AICPA Code of Professional Conduct





35% Financial & Operations Management
15% Information Systems
30% Corporate Governance
20% Economic Concepts & Strategic Planning
Demonstrate an understanding of globalization on the business environment and business strategies
Most of the 2015 CPA Exam changes are expected to appear on the Financial Accounting and
Reporting (FAR) Exam. Auditing and Attestation (AUD) will have some changes, however, none that will have a large impact on the exam during the four 2015 testing windows. Regulation
(REG) and Business Environment and Concepts (BEC) content will go through very minor changes with all of the heavily-tested information remaining the same.
 The AICPA has indicated that understanding the differences between the following
Special Purpose Frameworks will now be tested. o General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)

o International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) o Tax basis of accounting o Cash basis of accounting
 The FASB modified certain rules to address the needs of smaller companies. There are three specific areas that will be pertinent during the 2015 testing windows. The new
“Small GAAP” approaches to the following topics have been developed to simplify the procedure and reduce the cost of accounting for a smaller operation. o A new approach has been developed for accounting for interest swaps. As a little reminder, interest swaps are derivatives that companies use to “swap” a loan that bears interest at a variable rate into a fixed rate loan. o o
A new, simpler, approach has been developed for accounting for goodwill. The new approach reduces the cost of testing for impairment and eventually eliminates goodwill from the small company’s financial statements.
A new approach has been developed for lease accounting for “Small GAAP”
 companies. While publicly held companies are required to perform an extensive analysis to determine if the lessor should be included in the financial statements of the lessee as a variable interest entity (VIE), nonpublic companies are now allowed to avoid analyzing a relationship with the lessor that is related and simply account for the lease by applying lease accounting.
The AICPA is working on a major update to revenue recognition standards that will have a large impact on both the accounting community and the CPA Exam. New International
Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) will come into effect as part of the 2015 CPA exam. However, General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) will be fully updated by approximately 2017. Though the IFRS change is significant, it will mean much more and is likely to be more heavily tested once GAAP is updated. For the 2015 exam, it is important to be familiar with the updated IFRS rules; however, this update will not be as major as the other two FAR updates described above.
 A minor update to auditor responsibilities will become a part of the 2015 exam.
According to the new standards, the auditor now has additional responsibilities in relation to required supplementary information that accompanies a set of audited financial
 statements.
A minor update to external auditor’s ability to use client’s internal auditor will become a
 part of the 2015 exam. This AICPA update further signifies that if analysis and decision information is obtained from the internal auditor, the ultimate evaluation of all information, at every step, is the responsibility of the external auditor.
A larger update for the AUD exam relates to the less stringent compilation and review engagements that may be requested if an audit is not required. Minor changes to how compilation and review services are performed and the associated reports are a part of this update. Perhaps the most significant change is the introduction of the accountant’s ability to also assist their clients in preparation of financial statements. Whereas before an accountant could not submit financial statements without providing at least a compilation report, a new set of standards allows the accountant to assist with preparation of financial statements as a non-attest service.

 The 2015 REG update will not represent any changes to the rules and concepts tested on the exam. The update is expected to consist of a few revisions to numerical thresholds and percentages associated with the passing of the Affordable Care Act and elimination of expiring tax law provisions.
 The only potentially significant change to BEC results from provisions of the Dodd-
Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that have gone into effect and will be tested during the 2015 testing windows. Sections of Dodd-Frank are already tested as part of the Regulation exam. However, the sections tested on the BEC exam are expected to concentrate on the topic of corporate governance, thus testing a more specific set of laws.
As anyone studying for the FAR exam knows, IFRS stands for International Financial Reporting
Standards and CPA Candidates are expected to have a broad base of IFRS knowledge for the
CPA Exam. Well, that might change.
Last week at a college conference the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's chief accountant, James Schnurr, stated the following :
 There is virtually no support to have the SEC mandate IFRS for all registrants;
 The staff has found little support for the SEC to provide an option allowing domestic
 companies to prepare their financial statements under IFRS; and
There is continued support for the objective of a single set of high-quality, globally accepted accounting standards.
While the SEC has not yet released an official statement on its position regarding IFRS, these public remarks from Mr. Schnurr are a good indication of what we may hear soon from the SEC.
It appears that, based on these remarks, entities will not be required to apply IFRS and will simply be allowed to provide supplementary information under IFRS if they elect to do so.
This makes it likely that the AICPA will, at a minimum, reduce its coverage of IFRS on the CPA exam in the future. We will keep you updated!

On April 7, 2015, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update 2015-03 on debt issue costs. It goes into effect for periods beginning after December 15, 2015 with early adoption permitted. As a result, it is theoretically eligible for testing on the CPA Exam in October or November of 2015.
According to the FASB Accounting Standards Update , Accounting Standards Update No. 2015-
03, InterestImputation of Interest (Subtopic 835-30): Simplifying the Presentation of Debt
Issuance Costs, The Board is issuing this Update as part of its initiative to reduce complexity in accounting standards (the Simplification Initiative). The objective of the Simplification Initiative is to identify, evaluate, and improve areas of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for which cost and complexity can be reduced while maintaining or improving the usefulness of the information provided to users of financial statements.
Furthermore, To simplify presentation of debt issuance costs, the amendments in this Update require that debt issuance costs related to a recognized debt liability be presented in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of that debt liability, consistent with debt discounts. The recognition and measurement guidance for debt issuance costs are not affected by the amendments in this Update.