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Certied Public Accountant (CPA)

CPA is one of the leading nancial accounting qualications around the world. The CPA credential is a license issued by one of the 55 states or territories of the United States through their board of accountancy. One component of the licensing requirement is the uniform CPA examination administered by the american institute of certied public accountants (AICPA).

What will I learn?

Training sessions will cover the subjects in the AICPA content specication outline. These include nancial accounting and reporting, audit, business concepts and regulation.

Why qualify as a CPA?

CPAs are qualied to handle a wide variety of important business functions. A CPA is always an accountant, but not all accountants are CPAs. CPAs are considered trusted nancial advisors who can help businesses and other organisations plan and reach their nancial goals. You will nd CPAs holding positions such as Financial Controller, Chief Financial Officer and even Chief Executive Officer. One of the more important roles CPAs can perform is that of a consultant. This might include researching ways to save money for a corporation or a small business, or developing nancial plans that will make the business or corporation attractive to investors. CPAs are bound by a code of ethics to give clients good, sound and ethical advice.

Why study for your CPA qualication with PwCs Academy?

You will learn from our expert lecturers who are PwC professionals with years of practical experience. Training will be mainly in English but may include some Arabic language facilitation, when needed. Participants will be given plenty of opportunity to discuss the course content and ask questions. Our courses materials have been developed by Kaplan, world leader in CPA review materials and include; Study manuals Online, on demand video instruction CPA pro Qbank.

CPA

Certied Public Accountant

Enrolment in CPA programme

In order to enrol in the CPA programme and register for the exam, applicants must: Either be a US citizen or a citizen or long-term resident of the countries in which the exam is administered; Have a bachelors degree or higher (usually 150 semester hours in specic subject areas determined by the states board of accountancy); and Be prepared to take the exam in English. Once applicants are satised that they meet this criteria, they should undertake the following steps; Step 1: Check the requirements of each state board of accountancy that is currently part of the International Administration of the CPA Examination and assess which states requirements best t their credentials. Please visit www.nasba.org for more details. Step 2: Get their credentials evaluated by an approved evaluation service agency. Refer to the NASBA website for the links to these agencies. There will be a fee charged for this service. Step 3: Fill in the application form obtained from their chosen state board website. Step 4: Make sure they receive their authorisation to test. Step 5: Visit NASBA website to pay the additional fee for international candidates. Step 6: Ensure receipt of notice-to-schedule (this usually has a six month validity). Step 7: Schedule their exam - contact the Prometric Testing Centre www.prometric.com/CPA/default.htm.

Exam subjects

Exam content

Exam Structure

Auditing and attestation: engagement Exam time: acceptance and understanding the 4 hours assignment (12% - 16%) Auditing and attestation: understanding the entity and its environment (including internal control) (16% - 20%) 3 Testlets: Auditing and Auditing and attestation: performing 90 multiple attestation audit procedures and evaluating evidence choice questions (AUD) (16% - 20%) (60%) Auditing and attestation: evaluating audit ndings, communications, and reporting (16% - 20%) 1 Testlet: Accounting and review services 7 Task-based engagements (12% - 16%) simulations Professional responsibilities (16% - 20%) (40%) Corporate governance (16% - 20%) Economic concepts and analysis Business environment (16% - 20%) Financial management (19% - 23%) and Information systems and concepts communications (15% - 19%) (BEC) Strategic planning (10% 14%) Operations management (12% - 16%) Exam time: 3 hours 3 Testlets: 72 multiple choice questions (85%) 1 Testlet: 3 written communication tasks (15%)

Regulation (REG)

Exam time: 3 Ethics, professional, and legal responsibilities (15% - 19%) hours Business law (17% - 21%) 3 Testlets: 72 Federal tax process, procedures, multiple choice accounting, and planning (11% - 15%) Federal taxation of property transactions questions (60%) (12% - 16%) 1 Testlet: 6 Federal taxation of individuals Task-based (13% - 19%) simulations Federal taxation of entities (18% - 24%) (40%)

Exam process
Students have 18 months to complete all exam subjects from the date of registration. The exams are computer based. The pass mark for all papers is 75%. The rst two months of each quarter each year are the testing windows, both in US and International locations (January-February, April-May, July-August and October-November). The exams can be scheduled with authorised Prometric test centers in the US, Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates.

Enrolment fees and registration

We recommend starting the registration process with the board of accountancy of your selected state early to ensure that you are eligible to sit for the exam. Candidates have to pay an application fee, an exam fee and for international students, an additional registration fee. These vary depending upon the state board chosen and candidates should check the relevant website.

Exam subjects
AICPA decides on the content of the exams, prepares the exam questions and determines the method of scoring. Below is the Content Specications Outline for the Uniform CPA Examination effective 1 January 2013.
Exam subjects Exam content Exam Structure

Becoming a CPA
In addition to passing all 4 exams, candidates may have to complete a period of work experience in order to obtain a CPA license. Candidates should check with the relevant state boards website.

Financial accounting and reporting (FAR)

Conceptual framework, standards, Exam time: standard setting and presentation of 4 hours nancial statements (17% - 23%) Financial statement accounts; recognition, measurement, valuation, calculation, presentation and disclosures 3 Testlets: (27% - 33%) 90 multiple Specic transactions, events and choice questions disclosures: recognition, measurement, (60%) valuation, calculation, presentation, and disclosures (27% - 33%) Governmental accounting and reporting 1 Testlet: (8% - 12%) 7 Task-based Not-for-prot (nongovernmental) simulations accounting and reporting (8% - 12%) (40%)

Where can I study for my CPA qualication and how to apply?

Register with PwCs Academy for our CPA course to prepare to pass the exams successfully. Check out the latest schedules of our various courses on our website at www.pwc.com/middle-east/academy. For any further information, please send an email to academy.me-ae@ae.pwc.com.

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