THE UNIFORM CPA EXAMINATION
MAKING A GREAT EXAMINATION EVEN
GREATER
Presented by
Robert A. Pearson
Chair
CPA Licensing
Examinations Committee (CLEC)
CLEC Committee
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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
 MISSION
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Ensure that state boards of accountancy are
provided with the best professional licensing
examination possible
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Make a great examination even greater
Issues Facing a Great Examination
 Fingerprinting
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Used by other high-stake examinations
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Assurance to state boards that they are
licensing the person that passed the
examination
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NASBA has received confirmation that
fingerprints, and other candidate information,
are only available and being used for
examination purposes
Issues Facing a Great Examination
 International Accounting Standards
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Public companies – Mandatory in 2013
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Timely implementation as part of the examination and the
educational process of candidates
 Implementation of changes in authoritative material
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The Invitation to Comment addressed changes to the current
examination through CBT-e
Issues Facing a Great Examination
 ERB management letter
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Suggested improvements to the current examination
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Responses of the three parties – NASBA, AICPA and
Prometric – setting forth improvements to be made
Issues Facing a Great Examination
 Practice analysis and exposure draft
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CLEC had unanswered questions regarding the
practice analysis and the weighing of the proposed
changes
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Unable to endorse the proposal based upon the
materials provided
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The exposure draft material may very well be correct
and acceptable
Monitoring of Issues that Will Make a Great
Examination Even Greater
 CBT-e improvements and the implementation of the
practice analysis, an ongoing process in updating
and improving the CPA Examination
 Task-based simulations
 Situational or dilemma-based ethics
 Evolution and implementation of international
accounting standards as part of the CPA
Examination
How State Boards can Help Make a Great
Examination Even Greater
 Tell CLEC how your state board would like to
change or improve the CPA Examination
 Provide CLEC with the name of at least one
qualified person willing to be part of the AICPA
Examination Committees
 IT’S YOUR EXAMINATION– HELP TAKE IT FROM
BEING A GREAT EXAMINATION TO AN EVEN
GREATER EXAMINATION!