The accounting profession is facing enormous change, much of it related to technology. This not only includes the use of data analytics and the automation of many accounting tasks, but also the rising challenges of cybersecurity and IT governance. The role of accountants has changed too, becoming more strategic than in previous eras.
Accountants are still expected to report the numbers; they’re also increasingly relied upon to use that data to inform business decisions, and that requires a greater emphasis on critical thinking skills. It’s also made it necessary for CPAs to more actively contribute to long-term financial strategy and not just the current numbers.
This evolution of the profession will be reflected in a new CPA exam that will be launched by the AICPA and NASBA beginning in 2024.
The new exam will include three core exams covering accounting, auditing and tax, and three "discipline exams:" business analysis and report, information systems and controls and tax compliance and planning. All candidates will be required to complete the core exams, and then each candidate will choose a discipline exam to demonstrate deeper skills and knowledge.
Current undergraduates who enrolled in accounting programs starting in the fall of 2020 will be taking the updated exam. But the exam itself (the proposed content of which will be unavailable until June 2022) isn’t all that will change; to prepare students and academics for the new exam, the curriculum for accounting courses will have to change as well.
For that reason, AICPA and NASBA developed and launched the
The goal of the model curriculum is to support existing accounting programs as they navigate the evolution of the accounting profession and the CPA exam, and to serve as a reference point for faculty to leverage as they deem appropriate based on their program objectives.
Most of the concepts outlined in the model curriculum are currently tested on the CPA exam but there are a few components that go beyond what is currently tested. The Accounting and Data Analytics Core includes critical thinking, which is defined as the ability to identify financial data risks and opportunities using relevant facts to make appropriate financial decisions.
The addition of a critical thinking module indicates the enhanced importance to the CPA exam — and to the accounting profession as a whole — of competency related to thinking beyond the numbers to inform decision-making.
The CPA of the future will need to think more strategically about utilizing information to achieve long-term goals. Additionally, the Accounting and Data Analytics Core includes two other new modules: financial data analytics and digital acumen. Digital acumen has also been included in the Audit and Accounting Information Systems Core and the Tax Core.
The discipline tracks have been designed to give future CPAs a deeper focus on areas of advanced or emerging content, with a greater emphasis on technology. The model curriculum for the BAR Discipline includes an extensive focus on advanced data analytics, while the ISC Discipline curriculum includes the use and management of data, including data governance and data preparation and manipulation.
ISC also includes a much stronger emphasis on information systems, security, IT controls and other related technology concepts, again reflecting the need to prepare future CPAs for technological change. Technology has been added to the TCP Discipline, emphasizing analytical review leveraging data and regulations regarding use of technology in tax compliance and planning (an increasingly important competency due to cybersecurity issues).
There is also a new module on personal financial advisory services in the TCP Discipline entailing individual tax planning, estate, gift and trust taxation, compliance and planning, and retirement planning.
Time to worry?
Should educators and students be concerned about these changes? Adjustments will need to be made, especially when it comes to choosing a discipline track. Students may feel stressed or intimidated about committing to one track or another (as opposed to now, when they take all four existing parts of the CPA exam).
But making this decision need not be overwhelming; educators can work closely with students to capitalize on the students’ strengths and interests to choose a track, and hiring organizations can also be involved in the conversation. Ultimately, students will have the opportunity to specialize in a particular area of accounting and thus improve their own competency and employability.
The increased emphasis on technology across the curriculum might seem overwhelming to students and educators, but they should keep in mind that the AICPA and NASBA are updating the focus of the curriculum based on the technology being used in the field, not jumping ahead of the profession as a whole.
For anyone concerned about these developing changes, just remember that CPA Evolution is not CPA Revolution; what we’re seeing is a gradual and necessary adaptation in line with the current reality of the profession, not a sudden shaking up of everything familiar. Keep calm, carry on and just pay attention as the new exam curriculum unfolds.
