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Performance of BSA Graduates in the CPA Licensure Examination from 2010 to
2019
Research · May 2020
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1
Performance of the BSA Graduates in the CPA Licensure Examination
from 2010 to 2019
Rolando R. Calma, DBA
Luisito V. Correa, CPA, MBA
Abstract
This study is a quantitative trend analysis and description of the performance of
the BSA graduates of one University in Bulacan. The ten-year period performance of the
University from 2010 to 2019 was considered for this analysis. This study is also
concerned with what board exam subjects that the BSA graduates were weak or strong
at that would serve as basis in developing intervention program to improve their
performance in the CPA licensure examination.. Using the official results of the CPA
licensure examination from 2010 to 2019 from the Professional Regulatory Commission
(PRC), it showed that for the last ten years, the University has already produced 242
Certified Public Accountants, representing 44.24% of the total graduates., and even
higher. Also, for the same length of time, the University’s passing rate for the CPA
licensure examination has always been higher than the national passing rate, except for
the year 2010. The best performance of the BSA graduates of the University was the year
2012 with a passing rate of 81.82% which is much higher than the national passing rate
of 47.78%. However, the latest performance of the University, year 2019, has
significantly dropped as compared from the previous years, the lowest in a 10-year
period of licensure examination. Nevertheless, it may still be concluded that performance
of the BSA graduates for the last ten years is better than the national performance.
Generally, BSA graduates obtained higher mean rating in the old Board Licensure
Examination for Certified Public Accountants (BLECPA) than in the new BLECPA and
it may imply that the board subject-questions under the old BLECPA are easier than
the subject-questions in the new BLECPA, considering also that the national passing
rate has been dropping consistently since the changes were implemented. Findings of the
present study and the study of Perez (2015) and Echavez (2006) are consistent in
pronouncing that Practical Accounting Problems 2 was the most difficult board subject.
Findings also show that passing rate percentage for the male graduates is higher than
the passing rate percentage for the female group. Under the new BLECPA, performances
of both male and female graduates were concluded to be weak in Taxation and Auditing
Theory, however they were found to be strong in the board subjects Financial Accounting
& Reporting and Management Advisory Services. Overall, data brought to light that
even in the new BLECPA, male graduates performed better than female graduates
Keywords: Certified Public Accountant, CPA Licensure Examination, BLECPA,
BSA graduates.
2
Introduction
One of the critical success factors of a higher education institution is the quality of the graduates
it produced which is usually determined by its performance in the board examination. In the accountancy
profession, the CPALE or the Certified Public Accountant Licensure Examination is a tool that
measures and ensures the quality of accountants who will join the workforce of various industries. The
Philippine government therefore, recognizes the importance of accountants in nation building and hence,
it develops and nurtures competent and well-rounded professional accountants through licensure
examinations and regulatory measures. This is being done by the Professional Regulation Commission
(PRC) that administers a licensure examinations to graduates of board courses and one of these courses is
the Bachelor of Science in Accountancy(BSA).
Another organization that upholds the integrity and high level of standards of the accountancy
profession is the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants or PICPA. This is the accredited
professional organization of CPAs by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). PICPA aims to:
promote and maintain high professional and ethical standards among accountants; advance the science of
accounting; develop and improve accountancy education; encourage cordial relations among accountants;
and protect the Certificate of Certified Public Accountant granted by the Republic of the Philippines.
(www.picpa.com.ph)
CHED memorandum order # 27, series of 2017 or the revised policies, standards and guidelines
for Bachelor of Science in Accountancy (BSA) clearly states that the primary goal of accounting
education offered by the higher education institutions is to produce competent and ethical professional
accountants capable of making a positive contribution to the profession and society. It is essential that
students develop and maintain an attitude of learning to learn, to maintain their competence as
professional accountants later. CMO # 27 also asserts that the BSA program should, therefore provide a
foundation of professional knowledge, professional skills and professional values, ethics and attitudes that
enable them to continue to learn and adapt to change.
It is not easy to become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) because students are required to
possess higher education commitment than most other careers or professions. One must be a holder of a
Bachelor’s Degree in Accountancy and pass the CPA board examination. To address this difficulty, the
College of Business Administration and Accountancy of one University in Bulacan implements an
admission and retention policy. Admission to the Accountancy program is limited to those students who
can exhibit the likelihood of success in the field of accounting through high academic performance. To be
retained in the program, one of the requirements is that student should have a grade not lower than 3.00
in any of non-accounting academic subject/course, and no grade below 2.50 in any accounting
subject/course.
3
Significance of the Study
Based on the PRC records, the performance of BSA graduates of the University in the CPA
licensure examination for the last ten years show a passing percentage of 46.90% for first timers or
42.77% in the overall performance. This finding may mean that not all BSA graduates of the University
were equipped and prepared to pass the examination. There are even some graduates with honors who
failed the board examination. It is therefore essential that continuous intervention programs be
developed to improve the accountancy graduates’ performance in the CPA licensure examinations. This
intervention program must be a research-based and therefore, findings of this study may serve as a
significant basis for initiating and implementing improvement or enhancement in the BSA curriculum. It
can also serve as a reference point in developing intervening programs to increase the number of passers
in the CPA licensure examination. Since, a high passing rate in the CPA licensure examination is
recognized to be one of the best tests of a school‘s performance in offering the B.S. Accountancy
Program.
Research Questions
The main objective of the present study is to determine and assess the trend of performance in
the CPA licensure examination of the BSA graduates of one University in Bulacan from 2010 to 2019.
This study is also concerned with what board exam subjects that the BSA graduates were found to be
weak or strong at.
Specifically, this study sought to answer the following specific problems:
1. How may the trend of performance of the BSA graduates of the University in the CPA
licensure examination from 2010 to 2019 be described?
2. How may the performance of the BSA graduates of the University from 2010 to 2019 in the
following board subjects be described:
2.1 Old Board Licensure Examination for Certified Public Accountants (BLECPA):
2.1.1 Theory of Accounts,
2.1.2 Business Law and Taxation,
2.1.3 Management Services,
2.1.4 Auditing Theory,
2.1.5 Auditing Problems,
2.1.6 Practical Accounting Problem 1,
2.1.7 Practical Accounting Problem 2,
2.2 Old Board Licensure Examination for Certified Public Accountants (BLECPA):
2.2.1 Financial Accounting and Reporting,
4
2.2.2 Advanced Financial Accounting and Reporting,
2.2.3 Management Advisory Services,
2.2.4 Auditing,
2.2.5 Taxation, and
2.2.6 Regulatory Framework for Business Transaction ?
3. How may the performance of the male and female BSA graduates of the University from
2010 to 2019 be compared?
4. What intervention program/s may be proposed to improve the performance of the BSA
graduates of the University in the licensure examination?
Scope and Limitations of the Study
This study was conducted during the first trimester of School Year 2019-2020. The study is
limited to the official results of the CPA licensure examination of the BSA graduates from 2010 to 2019
and considered only the results or scores of those first-time takers. In this study, however, only the
October examinations were subjected to analysis since most of the fresh BSA graduates would take CPA
licensure examination during this month, except for the year 2019, when the results of the May
examination were considered.
Batch 2019 was supposed to graduate in May 2019 and would take the exam in October. Since
the University changed its school calendar to trimestral system, they graduated earlier, it was December
2018 and subsequently took the May 2019 CPA board examination.
5
Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework used in the study is the Input-Process-Output Model. As shown in
Figure 1, the research study used a process viewed as a series of processing elements connected by
inputs and outputs. The figure illustrates the IPO model that provides the general structure and guides
for the direction of the study.
Input
Results of the
Results of the
CPA licensure
CPA licensure
examinations
examinations
from October
October
from
2010– May
2010–
2019 May
2019
Process
Evaluation and
assessment of
Results of the
results/scores
CPA licensure
of the CPA
examinations
licensure
from October
examinations
2010– May
by:
2019
year
subjects
gender of
examinees
Output
Results of the
Results of the
CPA
licensure
Intervention
examinations
program/s
from October
2010– May
2019
Figure 1. Research paradigm of the study
This research study aimed to determine and assess the trend of performance in the CPA
licensure examination of the BSA graduates of the University from 2010 to 2019. This study also
identified the board subjects that the BSA graduates of Baliuag University were found to be weak or
strong at.
Finally, as can be seen in the figure, the study hopes to propose intervention programs as output
to improve the performance of the BSA graduates of Baliuag University in the licensure examination.
Review of Related Literature
To enrich and broaden the researchers’ perception of the area under study, and to successfully
evaluate the study, the following related literature and studies were reviewed.
In a study conducted by Perez (2015), his subject-university produced 100 BSA graduates from
2006 to 2013, but only 81 of them took the board exams. Out of 81 graduates who took the CPA
licensure examination, 46 or 56.79% became licensed certified public accountants. Further, it was
6
revealed that Practical Accounting 2, Practical Accounting 1 and Auditing theory were difficult exams for
both date of exam and batch of graduates.
Ballado-Tan (2015) found out that, if the following issues are to be attended to properly and
done by all concerned with passion and commitment, performance of the respondents in the licensure
examination could be expected to be higher: availability of the syllabus and its contents; appropriateness
of teaching methods; holding of instruction-enriching activities; recognizing individual differences; use of
varied techniques for evaluating students achievement; having an approved grading system and attending
to various level of learners, positively affect performance.
It was also found out that administration support showed a significant relationship to performance
in the licensure examination. It implied that increase in administration support, performance in the
licensure examination would also increase. However, Ballado-Tan also found out that school’s physical
resources and facilities, did not significantly affect the performance in the CPA licensure examination.
Castillo (2017) conducted a study that aimed to present a trend analysis on the Certified Public
Accountant (CPA) licensure examination performance of an accountancy school in the Philippines and
compared this performance with those of other schools. Results showed that the performance of the
subject-accountancy-school in the CPA licensure examination was declining continuously in the past five
years. Although it had still considerably good performances annually as evidenced by higher passing
percentage compared to national passing percentage, the difference on the passing rates was also
decreasing yearly. However, it was the only school among the ten schools considered here for trend
analysis and comparison that had a continuous decline from 2012 to 2016. It was also found out that the
gap between its passing percentage and those of top performing schools was escalating yearly. It is
suggested that the subject school should look for corrective measures to perform better in next
examinations.
In another study on performance in the CPA licensure examination, Oliva et al. (2017) employed
the retrospective study and documentary analysis of research. Results showed that during May 2013,
Theory of Accounts showed the highest performance rating and it was Business Law and Taxation and
Management Advisory Services for the examination on October 2013. Management Advisory Services
garnered the highest passing percentage for the examination period of July 2014 and it were Auditing
Theory and Management Advisory Services for October 2014. On May 2015 examination, the results of
the percentage in all subjects were appeared to be the same.
Utilizing the correlation analysis, Jalagat (2016) determined that there is positive significant
relationship between graduates’ performance in Math, English and Professional Accounting subjects and
the performance in CPA examination. In order of priority, Math has the strongest relationship followed by
English. He , then, concluded that the higher performance in these subjects would result to higher
performance in the CPA board examination. Jalagat also cited the study of Agunto (1996) concluding
that, English, Math and Science are important subjects necessary for students to excel in high school,
college and in professional examinations. In determining the relationship between the graduates’ socio-
7
demographic profile (age, gender, marital status, Quality Point Index (QPI) , combined income of parents,
family size, education of parents) and the performance in CPA examination, only QPI is the determinant
factor and indicator for the performance in CPA board examination.
Results of the study of Jalagat also showed that schools with strong policies and strict
admission requirements for admission as well as good retention policies significantly affect the
graduates’ performance in the CPA board examination. He, therefore concluded that poor policies for
both admission and retention would likely result to poor performance. When the relationship between the
teachers’ selected profile (age, rank, teaching experience, industry experience, degree graduated, graduate
studies, post-graduate studies, and teaching performance) and the performance in the CPA board
examination was sought, the result clearly showed that only the teacher’s rank correlates to the
performance in the CPA board examination.
Pattaguan (2018) determined the factors that contribute to topping the Certified Public
Accountant licensure examination. His study aimed to present and describe the profile of three
participant cases and the factors that led them to top the licensure examination. Using qualitativedescriptive research design, findings showed that personal factors such as good study habits, coupled with
strong faith in God, being consistent academically, determination and positive outlook in life, represent
the internal environment that play a major role in the achievement of the topnotch graduates.
Complementing the internal environment is the school, home and peer factors- the external environment.
The school’s high standard curriculum, qualified faculty, up-to-date learning resources, Structured
Review Program and Administration’s support form part of school factors that contribute to excellent
performance. These school factors are ably supported by home factors-inspiring family, father as icon of
leadership, and peer factor-with classmates as review buddies/group.
Methodology
Research Design
The researchers made use of the descriptive method of research which, according to Ariola
(2006), is used to analyze, interpret and report the present status of the subject matter. It is applicable in
big sample or larger population. It also requires the use of questionnaire or other instruments to
generate data prepared by the researcher. Data must be organized and presented systematically so that
valid and accurate conclusions may be drawn from them.
Basically, this research is a quantitative trend analysis and description of the performance of the
BSA graduates of the University in the Certified Public Accountancy (CPA) licensure examinations. The
ten-year performance of the University from 2010 to 2019 was considered for this analysis.
8
Subjects of the Study
Table 1
Distribution of Graduates who Took the CPA Licensure Examination
The study considered the scores/ratings of BSA graduates of the University who took their first
Certified Public Accountant licensure examinations from 2010 to 2019.
Year
Graduated
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
Total
No. of
Graduates
28
23
23
39
40
63
69
108
64
90
547
Exam
Takers
24
23
22
38
40
60
67
104
58
80
516
Percentage
(%)
85.71%
100.00%
95.65%
97.44%
100.00%
95.24%
97.10%
96.30%
90.63%
88.89%
94.33%
As can be seen in table 1, there are 547 BSA graduates of the University, and out of this number,
516 or 94.33% took their first CPA licensure examination.
Table 2
Profile of the Exam Takers in Terms of Gender
Gender
Male
Female
Total
F
111
405
516
%
21.51
78.49
100.00
Table 2 shows that more than two-third (78.49%) of the exam takers are female. It can be
concluded therefore that, BSA program of the University is being dominated by female.
As mentioned by Baldo, Tiron-Tudor and Faragalla (2019), in a profession characterized by a
strong female presence as the accountancy profession, analyzing how these women are represented is
nonetheless, something worth investigating. Miller (2018) also reported that statistics show that in
9
regions such as Asia Pacific, and the developing world in particular, the vast majority of entrants into the
accountancy profession are now very much tipped in favor of females.
Miller also mentioned that Grant Thornton International research has found that the Philippines
has the greatest percentage of women in senior management (47%), compared to the global average of
less than a quarter. The International Labor Organization also says the ratio of women to men in executive
jobs in the Philippines is the highest in the world. The Department of Labor and Employment’s Bureau of
Labor and Employment Statistics for Filipino women has echoed this phenomenon, noting that women
have steadily been outnumbering men in executive positions in recent years. There are more female than
male professionals in accountancy, where approximately 69% are female
Instrument
Official results of the CPA licensure examination from 2010 to 2019 were the documents used
in this study for further assessment and analysis. The documents were acquired from the Professional
Regulatory Commission (PRC) through the Dean of the College of Business Administration and
Accountancy. For ethical consideration, all necessary procedures in acquiring the board examination
results were strictly adhered to by the researchers. Likewise, the names and board examination results of
the subjects of this study were treated with utmost confidentiality to protect their interest.
All analyses were based on the said documents only and no interviews were done nor survey
questionnaires distributed and accomplished. The subjects covered by the CPA licensure examination are
shown in the table below.
Table 3
Old and New Board Licensure Examination for Certified Public Accountants (BLECPA) Subjects
Old BLECPA Subjects (2015 backwards)
From
1. Theory of Accounts
2. Practical Accounting Problems 1
3. Practical Accounting Problems 2
4. Management Services
5. Auditing Theory
6. Auditing Problems
7. Business Law and Taxation
New BLECPA Subjects (2016 onwards)
To
1, Financial Accounting and Reporting
2. Advanced Financial Accounting and Reporting
3. Management Advisory Services
4. Auditing
5. Taxation
6. Regulatory Framework for Business Transactions
Table 3 shows the board subjects considered by the researchers. Since the study covered a 10year period, from 2010 to 2019, hence, two groups of scores/results were generated and analyzed.
10
Those BSA students who graduated from 2010 to 2015, they took the CPA licensure examination
with the following 7 board subjects:
1. Theory of Accounts
2. Practical Accounting Problems 1
3. Practical Accounting Problems 2
4. Management Services
5. Auditing Theory
6. Auditing Problems
7. Business Law and Taxation
While, those BSA students who graduated from 2016 to 2019, the following board subjects were
taken:
1, Financial Accounting and Reporting
2. Advanced Financial Accounting and Reporting
3. Management Advisory Services
4. Auditing
5. Taxation
6. Regulatory Framework for Business Transactions
Philippine Regulation Commission (2016) reported that Commission, together with the
Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy, issued PRBOA Resolution # 262, Series of 2015 entitled
“Reduced the number of the BLECPA subjects that are included in the scope of the Board Licensure
Examination for Certified Public Accountant from seven (7) to six (6)” which effective on March 9, 2016.
The subjects in the BLECPA, according to the Commission, have remained unchanged since
1975 and are now long overdue for revision to take into account the requirements of the current times.
Data Gathering Procedure
The list of graduates from 2010 to 2019 of Bachelor of Science in Accountancy was taken from
the registrar‘s office of the University. The list was compared and verified with the actual list of CPA
board exam takers from Professional Regulatory Commission. The number of those who took and did not
take the exams was accounted for.
The raw data of each board examinee were gathered and processed. Only the scores or ratings
when the examinees first took the exams were considered.
11
Data Analysis and Statistical Treatment
The data collected from the documents were organized, tabulated, analyzed
statistically using percentage (%) and mean.
and
treated
The researchers followed how Perez (2015) analyzed and described the data for the similar study
he conducted. For every date of licensure examinations, mean rating per board subject taken was
computed. This was done for all the ten years of examination. The total mean was taken for the total of
ten years of licensure examinations. Then, the means were ranked. As to batch of graduates, after
getting the mean per subject per year, the researchers computed the total mean ratings and interpreted
using the following scale:
Range of Mean Ratings
92.00– 100.00
84.00 – 91.99
76.00 – 83.99
68.00 – 75.99
60.00 – 67.99
Interpretation
Very Strong Performance (VSP)
Strong Performance (SP)
Moderate Performance (MP)
Weak Performance (WP)
Very Weak Performance (VWP)
Results and Discussions
This part of the study deals with the presentation, analysis and interpretation of data to determine
and describe the trend of performance in the CPA licensure examination of the BSA graduates of the
University from 2010 to 2019
Table 4
Performance of Baliuag University - BSA Graduates in the Licensure Examination Graduates’ Performance (First-time Takers)
Passing
Year Passed Failed Cond
Total
%
2010
9
9
6
24
37.50%
2011
13
9
1
23
56.52%
2012
18
4
0
22
81.82%
2013
26
10
2
38
68.42%
2014
23
11
6
40
57.50%
2015
36
17
7
60
60.00%
2016
41
25
1
67
61.19%
2017
37
65
2
104
35.58%
2018
24
30
4
58
41.38%
2019
15
62
3
80
18.75%
Total
242
242
32
516
46.90%
National
Passing
%
48.36%
47.70%
47.78%
40.84%
37.02%
41.06%
36.48%
30.45%
25.19%
16.47%
37.14%
12
As can be seen in Table 4, for the last ten years, the University has already produced 242
Certified Public Accountants. This number might increase to a certain point, considering that the table
above presents only the performance of BSA graduates who took the examination for the first time and
those who got rating of conditional might also pass the next time they would take the examination.
For a 10-year period, the University’s passing rate for the CPA licensure examination has always
been higher than the national passing rate, except for the year 2010. The best performance of the BSA
graduates of the University was the year 2012 with a passing rate of 81.82% which is much higher than
the national passing rate of 47.78%. However, results reveal that the latest performance of the
University, year 2019, has drastically dropped to 18.75% as compared from the previous years, the
lowest in a 10-year period of licensure examination. Although it is still higher than the national passing
rate of 16.47%,
Considering the average passing rate of the BSA graduates (46.90%) for the last ten years, its
performance is still considered to be better than the average national passing (37.14%).
Much improvement can be seen if the performance of the BSA program for the last ten years is
compared with its own performance based on the study conducted by Echavez (2006). In his study,
Echavez found that the performance of the University in the CPA licensure examination in terms of the
average passing rate from 2001 to 2005 (October examination only) was 23.03%, again higher than the
national average passing rate of 20.54%. Likewise, findings of the study of Echavez showed that years
2003 and 2004 when University’s passing rates were lower than the national passing rate. Thus, data in
Table 4 undoubtedly tells that University’s performance in the CPA licensure examination for the last ten
years is much better than its performance in 2001 to 2005. It is because, aside from the passing rate, there
was only one examination year for the ten years that University obtained passing rate lower than the
national passing rate.
13
Table 5A
Mean Rating of Students’ Board Exam per Subject per Year (Old BLECPA)
Year
2010
mean rating
interpretation
2011
mean rating
interpretation
2012
mean rating
interpretation
2013
mean rating
interpretation
2014
mean rating
interpretation
2015
mean rating
interpretation
Overall mean
Interpretation
Legend:
Theory
of
Accounts
Business
Law and
Taxation
Mgt.
Services
Auditing
Theory
Auditing
Problems
Practical
Acctg.
Problems
1
Practical
Acctg.
Problems
2
Overall
Mean
Rating
75.67
WP
77.52
MP
82.77
MP
82.89
MP
77.63
MP
75.73
WP
78.70
MP
80.33
MP
75.87
WP
79.36
MP
77.55
WP
73.78
WP
75.83
WP
77.12
MP
73.92
WP
74.65
WP
79.55
MP
76.63
MP
84.58
SP
81.68
MP
78.50
MP
79.42
MP
76.22
MP
76.64
MP
73.42
WP
73.38
WP
74.28
WP
75.56
WP
78.38
MP
75.78
WP
87.68
SP
79.34
MP
75.58
WP
77.82
MP
79.10
MP
64.54
VWP
79.70
MP
83.41
MP
76.39
MP
85.63
SP
71.85
WP
76.92
MP
61.17
VWP
78.26
MP
81.27
MP
77.47
MP
69.95
WP
72.67
WP
73.47
WP
73.35
WP
76.86
MP
81.53
MP
77.67
MP
77.21
MP
75.70
WP
77.05
MP
VSP – Very Strong Performance
SP – Strong Performance
MP – Moderate Performance
WP – Weak Performance
VWP – Very Weak Performance
If the old BLECPA is considered, BSA graduates’ overall performance was found to be weak in
Practical Accounting Problems 2 and Auditing Theory with an overall mean ratings of 73.47 and 75.56
respectively. The performances of the graduates with the rest of board subjects , namely, Auditing
Problems (79.10), Theory of Accounts (78.70), Management Services (78.50), Business Law and
Taxation (77.12), and Practical Accounting Problems 1 (76.92), were found to be moderate.
On a yearly basis, year 2012 when the BSA graduates got the highest mean rating of 81.53,
verbally interpreted as moderate performance. It can also be observed that under the old BLECPA,
covering 6 years of examination, the graduates had 4 performances that were moderate and 2
performances that were weak. Overall, the graduates’ performance was considered moderate with mean
rating of 77.05.
In a related study conducted by Perez (2015), the most difficult subjects were Practical
Accounting Problems 1 followed by Practical Accounting Problems 2 and Auditing Theory. Evidently,
these findings are exactly the same with the findings of the present study, since these 3 board subjects are
found to have the lowest mean ratings among the seven subjects. However, in the study conducted by
Echavez (2006), it was revealed that Theory of Accounts, Business Law and Taxation and Practical
Accounting Problems 2 were found to be difficult. Only one board subject was found to be easy, namely,
Practical Accounting Problems 1. The rest of the board subjects, Management Services, Auditing Theory
and Auditing Problems, were found to be moderately difficult.
14
It may be concluded therefore that, in the old BLECPA, findings of the present study and the
study of Perez (2015) and Echavez (2006) are consistent in pronouncing that Practical Accounting
Problems 2 was the most difficult board subject.
Table 5B
Mean Rating of Students’ Board Exam per Subject per Year (New BLECPA)
Year
2016
mean rating
interpretation
2017
mean rating
interpretation
2018
mean rating
interpretation
2019
mean rating
interpretation
Overall mean
Interpretation
Legend:
Financial
Acctg. &
Reporting
Adv.
Financial
Acctg. &
Reporting
Mgt.
Advisory
Services
Auditing
Taxation
Regulatory
Framework
for Business
Transactions
Overall
Mean
Rating
77.81
MP
68.66
WP
76.60
MP
64.18
VWP
71.81
WP
74.27
WP
68.33
WP
76.50
MP
64.14
VWP
70.81
WP
80.55
MP
69.47
WP
71.59
WP
66.39
VWP
72.00
WP
77.73
MP
71.60
WP
68.50
WP
58.94
VWP
69.19
WP
73.27
WP
67.48
VWP
65.24
VWP
54.86
VWP
65.21
VWP
75.54
WP
70.97
WP
72.43
WP
60.61
VWP
69.89
WP
76.53
MP
69.42
WP
71.81
WP
61.52
VWP
69.82
WP
VSP – Very Strong Performance
SP – Strong Performance
MP – Moderate Performance
WP – Weak Performance
VWP – Very Weak Performance
When the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy (PRBOA) reduced the number of the
BLECPA subjects that are included in the scope of the Board Licensure Examination for Certified Public
Accountant from seven (7) to six (6), Income Taxation emerged to be the board subject where the
graduates’ performance is very weak with the lowest overall mean rating of 65.21. It can also be noted
that for the last four years, Taxation has always been the board subject with the lowest mean rating. It
cannot be compared with the old BLECPA wherein Taxation and Business Law is a combined board
subject.
Performance of the BSA graduates in Auditing (69.19) is found to be weak and this situation
remains for the last two years. It is somehow complicated to compare this result with the old BLECPA.
Auditing, in the new BLECPA, is a single subject and it used to be two separate subjects in the Old
BLECPA, Auditing Theory and Auditing Problems, where graduates were found to have weak
performance and moderate performance respectively.
It can also be observed that performances of the graduates in Management Advisory Services
(72.00), Financial Accounting and Reporting (71.81), Advanced Accounting and Reporting (70.81), ,
and Regulatory Framework for Business and Transactions (69.89), were all found to be weak.
15
Accordingly, it is concluded that the overall performance of the BSA graduates in the CPA
licensure examination under the new BLECPA is found to be weak, with overall mean rating of 69.82.
Also, it can be noted that year 2019 was the worst performance of the graduates, having 61.52 mean
rating, the lowest for the last 10 years and verbally interpreted as very weak performance.
As can be observed, in the old BLECPA, BSA graduates got a general mean rating of 77.05
(moderate performance) while in the new BLECPA, the general mean rating was 69.82 (weak
performance) . The findings may imply that board subject-questions in old BLECPA are easier than the
subject-questions in the new BLECPA, considering also that the national passing rate has been dropping
consistently since the changes were implemented.
In an article written by Boyd (n.d) entitled “Which CPA Exam Section is the Hardest?” , he
reported that based on the AICPA’s published pass rates, the hardest part of the Uniform CPA exam is
FAR (Financial Accounting and Reporting). The 2016 cumulative pass rates show that candidates
consistently performed worst on FAR than the AUD (Auditing) , BEC (Business Environment and
Concepts) , and REG (Regulation) with pass rates of 45.42%, 45.82%, 55.54%, and 48.41%, for all four
sections respectively.
However, according to Boyd, the pass rates really don’t tell which CPA exam is the most
difficult. Instead, they simply tell which CPA exam sections candidates scored the lowest on. A
candidate might find memorizing tax codes really difficult. Consequently, he spends more time studying
for REG (Regulation) than the other exams. At the same time, economic concepts and writing come
naturally to him, so he spends less time studying for BEC (Business Environment and Concepts). Hence,
this candidate might score higher on REG questions than on BEC simply because he studied for it more.
Boyd also added that ultimately, candidate’s lower BEC score doesn’t mean that BEC is more
difficult than REG. In fact, it would mean the opposite; the candidate was able to pass BEC while
studying less than studying for REG. For the question about FAR being the most difficult section of the
CPA exam; the answer is yes, for some people.
16
Table 6
Performance of the BSA Graduates in the CPA Licensure Examination by Gender
Year
MALE
Passed
Failed
FEMALE
Cond.
Total
Passed
Failed
Cond
Total
f
%
f
%
f
%
f
%
f
%
f
%
f
%
f
%
2010
2
50.00%
1
25.00%
1
25.00%
4
100%
7
35.00%
8
40.00%
5
25.00%
20
100%
2011
4
80.00%
1
20.00%
0
0.00%
5
100%
9
50.00%
8
44.44%
1
5.56%
18
100%
2012
3
60.00%
2
40.00%
0
0.00%
5
100%
15
88.24%
2
11.76%
0
0.00%
17
100%
2013
9
75.00%
2
16.67%
1
8.33%
12
100%
17
65.38%
8
30.77%
1
3.85%
26
100%
2014
7
70.00%
1
10.00%
2
20.00%
10
100%
16
53.33%
10
33.33%
4
13.33%
30
100%
2015
12
70.59%
3
17.65%
2
11.76%
17
100%
24
55.81%
14
32.56%
5
11.63%
43
100%
2016
9
81.82%
2
18.18%
0
0.00%
11
100%
32
57.14%
23
41.07%
1
1.79%
56
100%
2017
7
43.75%
8
50.00%
1
6.25%
16
100%
30
34.09%
57
64.77%
1
1.14%
88
100%
2018
7
43.75%
8
50.00%
1
6.25%
16
100%
17
40.48%
22
52.38%
3
7.14%
42
100%
2019
6
40.00%
8
53.33%
1
6.67%
15
100%
9
13.85%
54
83.08%
2
3.08%
65
100%
Total
66
59.46%
36
32.43%
9
8.11%
111
100%
176
43.46%
206
50.86%
23
5.68%
405
100%
For the last ten years, there have been 516 BSA graduates of the University who took the CPA
licensure examination in their first time. Out of this figure, 111 or 21.51% are male and 405 or 78.49%
are female. As illustrated in Table 6, passing rate of the male graduates (59.46%) is higher than the
passing rate of the female group (43.46%). In a 10-year period, only in year 2012 when the passing rate
of female graduates (88.24%) surpassed the passing rate of the male graduates (60%).
Franklin, Lepak, Myers (2017) conducted a study that aimed to analyze gender and age effects
on CPA examination pass rates. Using linear models to assess state performance on the CPA examination,
it was revealed that pass rates decrease linearly with age and that pass rates lower for women at all ages.
They concluded that log first-time CPA exam state pass rates are significantly lower for females than
males.
Findings of the study of Franklin, Lepak, Myers are consistent with the results of the study
conducted by Trinkle, Scheiner, Baldwin, and Krull (2016). They hypothesized that male candidates
would have a higher probability for success on the Uniform CPA Exam than female candidates. Using
survival analysis modeling, it was found that gender was a significant influential variable for all
individual section exams and was significant for the complete exam. They concluded that candidates
were more likely to succeed on the Uniform CPA Examination if they were male, younger, received a
degree from a college or university with an AACSB accredited business school and separately AACSB
accredited accounting program, and received a degree from a private college or university. They even
suggested that Accounting programs need to be aware that a gender issue exists regarding the potential for
success on the CPA exam and to examine their programs and materials to determine if there are areas for
improvement that may address the influence of gender on exam success.
17
Table 7A
Performance of the BSA Graduates in the CPA Licensure Examination by Gender per Subject
(Old BLECPA)
MALE
Year
2010
mean rating
interpretation
2011
mean rating
interpretation
2012
mean rating
interpretation
2013
mean rating
interpretation
2014
mean rating
interpretation
2015
mean rating
interpretation
Overall mean
Interpretation
Theory
of
Accounts
Business
Law and
Taxation
Mgt.
Services
Auditing
Theory
Auditing
Problems
Practical
Acctg.
Problems
1
Practical
Acctg.
Problems
2
Overall
Mean
Rating
77.00
MP
80.80
MP
81.80
MP
85.58
SP
81.30
MP
78.82
MP
80.88
MP
86.00
SP
77.00
MP
74.60
WP
78.75
MP
76.70
MP
79.76
MP
78.80
MP
80.75
MP
78.20
MP
78.60
MP
79.25
MP
84.70
SP
85.24
SP
81.12
MP
84.75
SP
77.00
MP
72.60
WP
77.92
MP
75.60
WP
76.18
MP
77.34
MP
83.00
MP
79.80
MP
87.00
SP
86.08
SP
80.30
MP
81.00
MP
82.86
MP
72.00
WP
84.60
SP
78.60
MP
79.75
MP
87.10
SP
76.00
MP
79.68
MP
62.00
VWP
86.40
SP
79.80
MP
81.00
MP
75.40
WP
78.18
MP
77.13
MP
77.93
MP
80.54
MP
79.00
MP
81.19
MP
80.16
MP
79.31
MP
79.69
MP
FEMALE
Year
2010
mean rating
interpretation
2011
mean rating
interpretation
2012
mean rating
interpretation
2013
mean rating
interpretation
2014
mean rating
interpretation
2015
mean rating
interpretation
Overall mean
Interpretation
Legend:
Theory
of
Accounts
Business
Law and
Taxation
Mgt.
Services
Auditing
Theory
Auditing
Problems
Practical
Acctg.
Problems
1
Practical
Acctg.
Problems
2
Overall
Mean
Rating
75.40
WP
76.61
MP
83.06
MP
81.65
MP
76.40
MP
74.51
WP
77.94
MP
79.20
MP
75.56
WP
80.76
MP
77.00
MP
72.80
WP
74.28
WP
76.60
MP
72.55
WP
73.67
WP
79.82
MP
75.42
WP
84.53
SP
80.28
MP
77.71
MP
78.35
MP
76.00
MP
77.82
MP
71.35
WP
72.63
WP
73.53
WP
74.95
WP
77.45
MP
74.67
WP
87.88
SP
76.23
MP
74.00
WP
76.56
MP
77.80
MP
63.05
VWP
78.33
MP
84.82
SP
74.85
WP
85.13
SP
70.21
WP
76.07
MP
61.00
VWP
76.00
MP
81.71
MP
75.85
WP
68.13
WP
70.49
WP
72.20
WP
72.43
WP
75.83
WP
82.27
MP
76.05
MP
76.23
MP
74.27
WP
VSP – Very Strong Performance
SP – Strong Performance
MP – Moderate Performance
WP – Weak Performance
VWP – Very Weak Performance
76.18
MP
18
Table 7A shows that in the old BLECPA, performances of the male graduates were found to be
moderate in all seven subjects through the years. Data reveals that Auditing Problems (82.86) has the
highest mean rating and Practical Accounting Problems 2 (77.13) has the lowest mean rating.
For the performance of the female graduates, it was found that among the seven board subjects,
they showed weak performances in Practical Accounting Problems 2 (72.20) and Auditing Theory
(74.95), while male graduates were found to have moderate performances in these two board subjects.
Male graduates had consistent moderate performance in all 6 years under the old BLECPA,
female graduates, on the other hand, showed weak performances in 2 consecutive years, 2010 and 2011.
Overall, male graduates with a general mean rating of 79.69 performed better than female
graduates with a general mean rating of 76.18.
Table 7B
Performance of the BSA Graduates in the CPA Licensure Examination by Gender per Subject
(New BLECPA)
MALE
Financial
Acctg. &
Reporting
Adv.
Financial
Acctg. &
Reporting
Mgt. Advisory
Services
Auditing
Taxation
Regulatory
Framework for
Business
Transactions
mean rating
84.09
78.36
86.55
81.18
75.36
79.27
interpretation
SP
MP
SP
MP
WP
MP
mean rating
72.75
72.56
71.19
76.56
68.81
72.00
interpretation
WP
WP
WP
MP
WP
WP
Year
2016
2017
2018
2019
mean rating
76.38
76.83
71.71
68.79
64.45
72.40
interpretation
MP
MP
MP
MP
VWP
WP
mean rating
75.27
70.33
72.33
67.87
66.33
68.73
interpretation
WP
WP
WP
VWP
VWP
WP
Overall mean
77.12
74.52
75.45
73.60
68.74
73.10
Interpretation
WP
WP
WP
WP
WP
WP
Financial
Acctg. &
Reporting
Adv.
Financial
Acctg. &
Reporting
Mgt. Advisory
Services
Auditing
Taxation
Regulatory
Framework for
Business
Transactions
mean rating
76.57
73.46
79.38
77.05
72.86
74.80
interpretation
MP
WP
MP
MP
WP
WP
Overall
Mean Rating
80.80
MP
72.31
WP
71.76
WP
70.14
WP
73.76
WP
FEMALE
Year
2016
2017
2018
2019
mean rating
67.92
67.56
69.16
70.69
67.24
70.78
interpretation
VWP
VWP
WP
WP
VWP
WP
mean rating
77.19
75.63
71.25
67.75
67.31
72.50
interpretation
MP
WP
WP
VWP
VWP
WP
mean rating
60.68
61.76
64.03
56.02
51.42
57.85
interpretation
VWP
VWP
VWP
VWP
VWP
VWP
Overall mean
70.59
69.60
70.95
67.88
64.71
68.98
Interpretation
WP
WP
WP
VWP
VWP
VWP
Overall
Mean Rating
75.69
WP
68.89
WP
71.94
WP
58.63
VWP
68.79
WP
19
Under the new BLECPA, both male and female graduates got the lowest mean ratings of 68.74
and 64.71 respectively in Taxation subject. However, performance of the male group was verbally
interpreted as weak, while the performance of the female graduates is found to be very weak.
Data in Table 7B also presents that male graduates’ highest mean rating was 77.12 for the subject
Financial Accounting and Reporting while female graduates’ highest mean rating was 70.95 for the board
subject Management Advisory Services. Both have verbal interpretation of weak performance.
For the last four (4) years of the CPA licensure examination under the new BLECPA, male
graduates had one (1) moderate performance and three (3) weak performances while female graduates,
on the same period, had also (three) 3 weak performances and (one) 1 very weak performance.
Looking at the table, it clearly tells that, out of 24 mean ratings, male graduates recorded three
(3) very weak performances while female graduates did eleven (11) very weak performances. In terms
of strong performances, male graduates had two (2) strong performances and nothing for the female
counterparts.
Overall, data in Table 7B brings to light that, even in the new BLECPA, males performed better
with a general mean rating of 73.76 than females with a general mean rating of 68.79. But then again,
with the same verbal interpretation of weak performance.
Recent data from US-National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (Suh 2013) as cited
by Trinkle, Scheiner, Baldwin, and Krull (2016), clearly shows that females performed below males.
They also mentioned that specific to the success of CPA candidates, male candidates may, however, be
more likely to be employed by the larger firms, and therefore may receive better support leading to CPA
exam success.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Based on the foregoing discussions, it was found that out of 547 BSA graduates of the University
for a 10-year period, 516 or 94.33% took the CPA licensure examination for the first time, dominated by
female candidates (78.49%). It was reported that in regions such as Asia Pacific, and the developing
world in particular, the vast majority of entrants into the accountancy profession are now very much
tipped in favor of females. The Department of Labor and Employment’s Bureau of Labor and
Employment Statistics for Filipino women has echoed this phenomenon, noting that women have steadily
been outnumbering men in executive positions in recent years. There are more female than male
professionals in accountancy, where approximately 69% are female
Using the official results of the CPA licensure examination from 2010 to 2019 from the
Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC), it showed that for the last ten years, the University has
20
already produced 242 Certified Public Accountants and even more. This number might also increase to
a certain point, considering that this study focused only on the performance of BSA graduates who took
the examination for the first time and those who got rating of conditional might also pass the next time
they would take the examination.
For a 10-year period, the University’s passing rate for the CPA licensure examination has always
been higher than the national passing rate, except for the year 2010. The best performance of the BSA
graduates of the University was the year 2012 with a passing rate of 81.82% which is much higher than
the national passing rate of 47.78%. However, the latest performance of the Universit, year 2019, has
significantly dropped to 18.75% as compared from the previous years, the lowest in a 10-year period of
licensure examination, although it is still higher than the national passing rate of 16.47%. It may
therefore, be concluded that, based on the data presented, the average passing rate of BSA graduates
(46.90%) for the last ten years is still found to be better than the average national passing (37.14%).
It is also concluded that there has been much improvement if the performance of BSA program
for the last ten years is compared with its own performance based on the study conducted by Echavez
(2006). In his study, Echavez found that the performance of the University in the CPA licensure
examination in terms of the average passing rate from 2001 to 2005 (October examination only) was
23.03%, again higher than the national average passing rate of 20.54%. Likewise, findings of the study
of Echavez showed that years 2003 and 2004 when the University’s passing rates were lower than the
national passing rate. Undoubtedly, the University’s performance in the CPA licensure examination for
the last ten years is much better than its performance in 2001 to 2005. It is because, aside from the
passing rate, there was only one examination year for the last ten years that University obtained passing
rate lower than the national passing rate.
In the old BLECPA, BSA graduates’ overall performance was found to be weak in Practical
Accounting Problems 2 and Auditing Theory and moderate performance with the rest of the board
subjects , namely, Auditing Problems, Theory of Accounts, Management Services, Business Law and
Taxation, and Practical Accounting Problems 1.
It can also be observed that under the old BLECPA, covering 6 years of examination, the
graduates had 4 performances that were considered moderate and 2 performances that were found to be
weak. But overall, the graduates’ performance was considered moderate.
Findings of the present study and the study of Perez (2015) and Echavez (2006) are consistent
in pronouncing that Practical Accounting Problems 2 was the most difficult board subject.
When the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy (PRBOA) reduced the number of the
BLECPA subjects that are included in the scope of the Board Licensure Examination for Certified Public
Accountant from seven (7) to six (6), Income Taxation emerged to be the board subject where the
graduates’ performance is very weak and it has always been the board subject with the lowest mean
rating.
21
It is concluded that the overall performance of the BSA graduates in the CPA licensure
examination under the new BLECPA is found to be weak and that year 2019 was the worst performance
of the graduates, having the lowest mean rating and verbally interpreted as very weak performance.
The findings may, therefore conclude that board subject-questions in the old BLECPA are
easier than the subject-questions in the new BLECPA, considering also that the national passing rate has
been dropping consistently since the changes were implemented.
When the performance of the graduates are compared between males and females, it is concluded
that performances of the male graduates were considered moderate in all seven (7) subjects in six (6)
years, Auditing Problems having the highest mean rating and Practical Accounting Problems 2 with the
lowest mean rating.
For the performance of the female graduates, it was found that among the seven board subjects,
they showed weak performances in Practical Accounting Problems 2 and Auditing Theory.
Overall, male graduates performed better than female graduates, under the old BLECPA
Under the new BLECPA, both male and female graduates got the lowest mean rating in Taxation
subject. Performance of the male group in this subjects was found to be weak, while the performance of
the female graduates was considered very weak.
Findings also show that male graduates’ highest mean rating was in the subject Financial
Accounting and Reporting while female graduates’ highest mean rating was recorded in the board subject
Management Advisory Services. Both are considered weak performances.
Overall, findings of the study bring to light that, even in the new BLECPA, males performed
better than females, although bearing the same verbal interpretation of weak performance.
Based on the foregoing conclusion, the following recommendations are being proposed:
1. The different course syllabi based on PRC and Board of Accountancy in comparison with the
course syllabi being used by the accounting professors and in-house CPA reviewers of the
University, particularly in board subjects where the graduates’ performance is weak should be
re-evaluated.
2. A more stringent implementation of admission and retention policy must be observed or the
policy per se should be thoroughly reviewed.
3. Accounting professors and in-house CPA reviewers of the University must be fully aware of
the subjects where the graduates’ performance is weak and understand that gender issue
exists regarding the potential for passing the board examination.
22
4. BSA students who have shown a high probability of failing the CPA licensure examination
should be counseled and encouraged to study harder or to abstain from taking the licensure
examination. Remedial classes or programs, or refresher courses may also be instituted for
them.
5. The practice of administering diagnostic exam and pre-board and final board examinations
patterned from the problems given in the CPA board examinations must continue or reassessment of these examinations can be done if necessary.
6. Teaching methodologies and techniques of the accounting professors and in-house CPA
reviewers may also be re-assessed. Innovation and enhancement may be introduced by
adopting out-of-the-class learning such as inviting resource speakers to provide expertise on
board subjects where graduates were found to have weak performances. They may also be
encouraged to attend outside seminars, trainings and informative lectures highlighting current
accounting trends and issues.
7. Accounting professors and in-house CPA reviewers should continue finding ways to research
and obtain firsthand information affecting accountancy profession.
8. The BSA program may also consider benchmarking with highly performing institutions in the
CPA licensure examination.
9. Future studies may be conducted to include the determination of specific factors such as
performance in general education subjects (not only in accounting courses), curriculum,
instruction, administration support, admission and retention policy, and physical facilities and
resources that may lead to improving the BSA graduates’ performance in the CPA licensure
examination. Thus, a comprehensive and in-depth qualitative studies regarding performance
of the graduates in the CPA licensure examination may also be done.
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