The CPA is evolving — and so is the test

Beginning in 2024, prospective CPAs will sit for the CPA Exam and face a brand-new model for licensure. As the profession becomes more technology and data-driven, the CPA profession investigated how to properly devise a new licensing Exam to capture today’s relevant competencies.

Through the CPA Evolution initiative, the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) worked with stakeholders to develop a new Exam and model for licensure.

In January, the 2024 CPA Exam Blueprints were released, debuting a different Exam format that allows accountants to demonstrate their strengths and interests. The blueprints define the subject matter eligible for the Exam.

The Exam core will be similar to the current Exam version: one section each for auditing and attestation, financial accounting and reporting, and taxation and regulation. Each candidate will then take a new discipline section of their choice: business analysis and reporting, information systems and controls, or tax compliance and planning.

Check out the blueprints for yourself at evolutionofcpa.org

Educators: Learn more on CPA Evolution at our June 9 virtual Accounting Educators’ Exchange; see vscpa.com/ accounting-educators

Students: Attend our free virtual CPA Evolution Lunch & Learns in June and July; vscpa.com/college-students

Ticker

$42 MILLION

Profit received by the Virginia Lottery from the $2 billion Powerball jackpot in November 2022.

$3.75 BILLION

Record amount of sales reported by the Virginia Lottery for fiscal year 2022, resulting in $779.6 million in profits for K–12 education.

10

Number of states offering the option to buy scratch-off and other lottery games online, of which Virginia has the highest per-capita sales.

FOCUS ON DEI >> VSCPA is an Accounting+ partner

45

Percent of CFOs in 2022 for the largest corporations who majored in accounting.

26

Percent of CEOs in the financial sector who were promoted from the CFO position.

14 MILLION

Number of 2021 tax returns the IRS corrected due to adjustments from laws like the American Rescue Plan of 2021.

$1,232

Average refund received by taxpayers with corrected 2021 returns.

Promoting the CPA profession as an exciting career path for students — particularly minorities — is a major VSCPA priority. That’s why we’ve committed to partnering with the Center for Audit Quality’s (CAQ) Accounting+ initiative.

Accounting+ is a first-of-its-kind, national brand awareness campaign focused on reaching Black, Hispanic and Latino students at the high school and early college levels. The campaign communicates to students where they are — on social media and in classrooms — to provide access and support for accounting.

The VSCPA is proud to commit $15,000 over two years to Accounting+ to help the next generation of diverse candidates reimagine what it means to be an accountant. This is just one of our many DEI-focused initiatives to promote the CPA pipeline (see them all at https://www.vscpa.com/dei-students).

We’re already making a difference! On March 22, 2023, three VSCPA members spoke to accounting students at an Accounting+ event, Accounting for Your Future, at H.D. Woodson STEM High School in Washington, D.C. Courtney Arrington, CPA, Jessica McClain, CPA, and Jamil White, CPA, shared their perspectives on how students can shine in accounting.

Check out more about the program at joinaccountingplus.com and boldambition.org.

78

Percentage of CFOs who believe “quiet quitting” is a problem.

32

Percentage of CFOs who said accounting was the most important knowledge base needed on their teams, reflecting a shortage of finance team talent.

As enrollment in Virginia’s four-year public universities and private colleges fell overall from 2020–2022, two historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) saw undergrad enrollment increase: Virginia State University by 18% and Norfolk State University by 7%.