subject: Board Of Examiners Make Major Changes To The 2011 Cpa Exam [print this page] During the memories of most of us, the CPA Exam has not had radical changes. In fact, the last major overhaul was in 2004 when the exam changed from being given via paper and pencil to computerized delivery. You knew what to expect...until now.
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Board of Examiners has decreed that there will be massive changes in the content and the delivery of the Uniform CPA Exam starting January 1, 2011. As AICPA debuts the new computer-based testing evolution (CBT-e), everything you know about the exam will change.
If you are preparing for the 2010 exam, you know the current question formats, specific content, and scoring weights. After the New Year baby toots his/her horn on January 1, 2011, the new CBT-e exam will have these additions:
*New exam section structure will move all written communications testing to Business Environments and Concepts (BEC) and will remove written communications from Auditing and Attestation (AUD), Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR), and Regulation (REG).
*Short task-based simulations will replace the current long format simulations in Auditing and Attestation (AUD), Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR), and Regulation (REG).
*New scoring weights: For AUD, FAR and REG, multiple-choice questions will account for 60% of your score and task-based simulations will be worth 40%. The weight of task-based simulations will double from 2010 to 2011. For BEC, multiple-choice questions will drop to 85% of your score and written communication tasks will comprise the remaining 15%.
*A new authoritative literature component will be added with codified Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) accounting standards. *A new research task format will be added to AUD, FAR and REG.
*New content and skill specification outlines (CSOs/SSOs), including International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), will be tested.
