CPA Evolution: Curriculum revision for Higher Education

Abstract

Recent proposals from the National Association of States Board of Accountancy and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants aim to modify the CPA license model to reflect the knowledge and abilities that new CPAs will need both now and in the future. The Uniform CPA Examination has recently undergone its most significant modification in many years thanks to the CPA Evolution project. This article discusses the exam's revised structure and content, evaluates the anticipated effects of those changes on accounting education, and explains how colleges will need to modify their curricula to meet the new exam core Plus requirements. Today's accountants and the accounting industry require different technical capabilities than they did even a few years ago. For the accounting profession to advance, proficiency in technology, data analytics, risk management, and IT governance are becoming crucial competencies. The joint CPA Evolution project of the AICPA and NASBA acknowledges the rapidly evolving abilities and competences needed by today's CPAs. The quick development of technical advancements, such as data analytics, robots, and artificial intelligence, among others, is significantly altering the way CPAs do their business. Additionally, this report illustrates the constraints that the COVID-19 placed on the world's environment and economy. The CPA profession is changing, and data from IPEDS and responses from participating U.S. universities and public accounting companies enable us to assess the effects of this change on both the supply and demand of new accounting. The public accounting firms have started to fill the technology and data analytics talent gaps among accounting recruits by hiring non-accounting staff, according to the AICPA's 2021 Accounting Graduate Supply and Demand Report, which includes a survey of the hiring practices of public accounting firms. According to the research, new hires of master's graduates increased by 2% in 2020, despite a 10% decline in the total hiring of new accounting graduates.