March 25, 2022

CPA In India- Syllabus | Exam Pattern | Exam Centres | License

Course Review

A Certified Public Accountant is a professional who has earned the CPA license from any of the 55 state accountancy boards of USA all of which are part of NASBA (National Association of the State Boards of Accountancy). Each state board has the authority to grant CPA license. One must meet all the requirements of the state board including Education, Experience and Examinations.

Due to the wide spread awareness and acceptance of CPA credential, it’s understood that a CPA possesses the required knowledge of all accounting areas as analyzing financial statements, financial planning, tax preparation, internal auditing, income tax and other specializations of accounting. In a nutshell, a CPA is someone who has mastered all the elements of the accounting profession. This is also one of the many reasons, professional organizations seek CPAs for complex accounting and finance jobs.

Exam System And Regulation

Student have to appear for Exam within 6 months from date of registration.
Student has to appear for all 4 subjects within 18 months.
Exam taken in First Two months of Each Quarter (Jan-Feb, April-May, July-Aug, Oct-Nov) and Result is produced in 3rd month of respective quarter ( March, June, September, December)
Student is at liberty to appear for exam at his convenient time and place. i.e. Student can appear for Individual subject wise or all subjects together.
Passing marks are 75 for Each Subject.
After clearing CPA exam, a candidate can apply for CPA Licence once he completes practical training of 2 to 3 years.

Syllabus

SUBJECTS	TOPICS	QUESTION CONTENT BREAKDOWN
Auditing and Attestation (AUD) [Covers SAS (Statements of Auditing Standards)]	Professional Responsibilities & Ethics Planning & Supervision Internal Controls Corroborative Audit Evidence Audit Sampling Audit Reports Other Auditing & Attestation Topics	15-20% Ethics professional responsibilities and general principles 20-30% Assessing Risk and Developing a Planned Response 15-25% Forming Conclusion and Reporting 30-40% Performing Further Procedures and Obtaining Evidence
Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR) [Covers USGAAP and IFRS]	Conceptual framework, Financial Reporting & Misc. Topics Current Assets and Liabilities Investments, PP&E and Intangibles Bonds, Leases and Pensions Deferred Taxes, Equity, EPS & Cash Flows Consolidation, Foreign Currency, Partnerships & NPO Governmental Accounting	20-30% Select Transactions 5-15% State And Local Governments 30-40% Select Financial Statement Accounts 25-35% Conceptual Framework, Standard-Setting And Financial Reporting
Regulation (REG) [Covers US Federal Taxation]	Taxation of Individuals Property Transactions & Depreciation Taxation of C-Corporations Taxation of Other Entities Supplementary Taxation Topics Statutory Reg. & Business Structures Business Law	50-85% Federal Taxation 10-20% Ethics Professional Responsibilities And Federal Tax Procedures 10-20% Business Law
Business Environment Concepts (BEC) [Covers Business Environment & Concepts]	Corporate Governance, Internal Controls & ERM Cost Measurement Financial Management Financial Planning & Risk Management Performance Measures Economic Concepts & Strategy Information Technology	15-25% Operations Management 11-21% Financial Management 15-25% Information Tehcnology ( IT ) 17-27% Corporative Governance 17-27% Economic Concepts And Analysis

CPA Exam Format

The format of the CPA Exam remains the same for candidates testing in the United States or any other international location. Furthermore, each of the four-hour-long exam sections includes different item types, namely, multi-choice questions (MCQs- 1 Question, 4 Answer Choices), task-based simulations (TBS- Multiple sub-questions, with more than 4 answer choices), and written communication tasks (WCT- Essay Type Question, 500 words to be typed).

Exam Section	Testlet 1 (MCQs)	Testlet 2 (MCQs)	Testlet 3 (TBSs)	BREAK (15 minutes)	Testlet 4 (TBSs)	Testlet 5		Total Duration	Score Breakdown
Exam Section	Testlet 1 (MCQs)	Testlet 2 (MCQs)	Testlet 3 (TBSs)		Testlet 4 (TBSs)	TBSs	WCTs	Total Duration	Score Breakdown
Auditing & Attestation (AUD)	36	36	2		3	3	–	4 Hours	50% Multiple-Choice Questions 50% Task-Based Simulations
Business Environment & Concepts (BEC)	31	31	2		2	–	3	4 Hours	50% Multiple-Choice Questions 35% Task-Based Simulations 15% WC Tasks
Financial Accounting & Reporting (FAR)	33	33	2		3	3	–	4 Hours	50% Multiple-Choice Questions 50% Task-Based Simulations
Regulation (REG)	38	38	2		3	3	–	4 Hours	50% Multiple-Choice Questions 50% Task-Based Simulations

US CPA Exam Pattern and Passing Score

How exactly is the CPA exam scored and graded?

A candidate needs a 75 or more score to pass the CPA exam and become a Certified Public Accountant. According to AICPA, the CPA exam is scored on a scale of 0-99. Candidates usually get confused if those 75 scores are supposed to be 75 percent or points. It is necessary to understand that the candidate needs to achieve 75 points to clear the exam successfully.

Multiple-Choice Question Scoring:

The MCQ testlets use what’s called a multi-stage testing approach. This means that as the candidate keeps performing through each section, the level of difficulty of the next changes accordingly. If you perform really well in the first set of questions, the next set will be difficult ones. Difficult MCQs are weighted more than easy MCQs. Thus, one correctly answered difficult MCQ would improve your score more than several correctly answered easy MCQs.

Task-Based Simulation scoring:

These consist of problems that you need to solve based on situations and concepts. They are matching or fill in the blank kind of questions

Written Communication Scoring:

This tests your ability to perform communication tasks like demonstration and creative writing. Mostly the BEC section of the CPA exam has written communication and in this you have to type out the answer in a blank word document.

CPA Exams in India

After a successful pilot testing of the CPA exam in India during 2020, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) have decided to switch to continuous CPA Exam testing from January 1, 2021. This will ensure greater convenience for Indian CPA candidates who were required to travel to the US or the Middle East for the CPA exam until earlier this year. In order to test in India, you must be or become an eligible CPA Examination candidate with citizenship or a long-term resident of the following countries:

India
Bhutan
Bangladesh
Myanmar
Maldives
Nepal
Sri Lanka
USA

Exam Centres in India

You can administer the CPA Exam in India at eight Prometric test centers:

Ahmedabad
Bangalore
Calcutta
Chennai
Hyderabad
Mumbai
New Delhi
Trivandrum

CPA Exam & Score Release Dates 2022

If you take your exam on/before	Your target score release date is
July 23	August 10
August 15	August 24
September 7	September 15
September 30	October 12
October 23	November 9
November 15	November 23
December 8	December 16
December 31	January 11

CPA License

The NASBA (National Association of State Boards of Accountancy) and the state board of accountancy governs the eligibility rules of CPA. The CPA exam requirements vary by state jurisdiction. Every state board of accountancy has a different set of requirements, but most states have a core set of qualifications for a candidate to be eligible for the CPA exam.

Let’s go through the CPA license requirements.

In general, many states ask for 150 credit hours in some specific courses from a university or an accredited institute under NASBA.
The candidate should pass the Ethics exam.
Must have 2,000 hours of work experience in taxation, auditing, accounting and management consultancy (need not be under a CPA supervisor).
Age limit: 18+ years.

Besides the above requirements, the candidate must have a bachelor’s degree in Commerce/Accounting/Business with any of the below qualifications:

Member of the “Institute of Costs & Works Accountants in India.”
Member of the “Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.”
Member of the “Company Secretaries in India.”
MBA.
Master of Commerce.

CPA licensed professionals are hired by individuals, corporate houses, industry, government, private and non-profit organisations.

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