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Sec. 15, Article III of R.A. No. 9298, known as the “Philippine Accountancy Act of 2004”, provides, to wit:

 

“SEC. 15 Scope of Examination – The licensure examination for certified public accountants shall cover, but are not limited, to the following subjects:

 

(a) Theory of Accounts
(b) Business Law and Taxation
(c) Management Services
(d) Auditing Theory
(e) Auditing Problems
(f) Practical Accounting Problems I
(g) Practical Accounting Problems II

 

“The Board, subject to the approval of the Commission, may revise or exclude any of the subjects and their syllabi, and add new ones as the need arises.”

The Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy (PRBOA) has the power: “(m) to prepare, adopt, issue or amend the syllabi of the subjects for examination in consultation with the academe, determine and prepare questions for the licensure examination which shall be within the scope of the syllabi of the subjects for examination as well as administer, correct and release the results of the licensure examination. (Sec. 9. Powers and Functions of the Board, Art. II of Supra Law).

The CPA licensure examination syllabi are issued by such PRBOA pursuant to the above mentioned provisions of the afore-said law.

I. INTRODUCTION

Purpose of the Examination. The purpose of the CPA Licensure Examination is to test the basic minimum professional competence of the examinees seek to be registered and obtain Certificate of Registration and Professional Identification Cards as CPAs includes:

 

- Adequate technical knowledge in the accounting discipline.
- The ability to apply that knowledge skillfully and with good judgment to problems and situations likely to be encountered in practice; and
- An appreciation of the CPA’s ethical responsibilities and professional attitude.

The level of professional competence tested in the examination is that of a CPA at the start of his/her professional career.

Contents of a Syllabi. The syllabus for a subject contains the body of technical knowledge which a CPA is expected to possess and lists the topics and sub-topics to be tested therein.

Uses of a syllabus. The syllabus is intended to be used for the following purposes:

1. To assure a consistent subject matter coverage from one examination to the next.

2. To assist examinees in preparing for the examination by indicating the topics and sub-topics which may be covered;

3. To guide in the preparation of the test questions and problems that would ensure a fair, comprehensive, and balanced examination; and

4. To conform accounting educators about the subject matter considered necessary to prepare for the examination.

II. TYPE OF EXAMINATION

E.O. No. 200 dated September 20, 1994 mandates the institutionalization of the full computerization of the licensure examinations administered by the various regulatory boards under the supervision of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), and Resolution No. 338, Series of 1994 of the PRC sets the guidelines on the implementation of E.O. No. 200 for the guidance of all concerned. Following are pertinent excerpts from the said guidelines.

Article I
Examination Objectives, Standards and Nature

SEC. 3. Nature of Questions. The examination should emphasize technical knowledge that is currently relevant to the profession concerned, and adequately dis- cussed in textbooks and other professional literatures. Trivial, outdated, unsettled, and controversial questions should be avoided.

SEC. 4. Level of Difficulty. The examination should measure technical competence at the level of new entrants to the profession. Questions should neither be too easy nor too difficult. Between these two extremes, a “difficulty” scale should be adopted so that there is a suitable mixture or “easy”, “moderate”, and “difficult” questions.

SEC. 5. Test of Cognitive Abilities. The examination should have sufficient “depth” to provide meaningful measure of technical competence. Questions should not be limited so merely calling memorized information but should include adequate test of higher cognitive abilities such as comprehension, interpretation, application, analysis, problem-solving and other higher-order thinking skills.

Article II
Establishment and Operation of a Computerized Test Bank

SEC. 7. Establishment of Test Bank. Test Banks for all licensure examinations shall be set up by each of the Professional Regulatory Boards using the computer facilities and specially authorized computer expert personnel of the Professional Regulation Commission.

SEC. 8. Nature and Standard. Type and Classification of Questions for Deposit in the Test Bank. The questions which are deposited in the Test Bank shall meet the examination objective, standards, and nature in Article I of these implementing guide- lines. They shall be classified or categorized according to (1) topic or concept in the approved syllabus for the subject; (2) level of difficulty: “easy”, “moderate”, and “difficult”; (3) cognitive level; memory, comprehension, interpretation, computation, application, analysis, problem solving, and other high-order thinking skills or abilities; (4) knowledge and proficiency level; and (5) question types-objective, essay, problem-solving or de- sign/drawing – shall have four (4) items for the choice of one (1) correct answer. The questions for each category must be representative of the mass.

SEC. 9…..

SEC. 10. Drawing or Extraction of Questions. Based on a program, questions extracted or drawn from the Test Bank to be used in each examination subject shall be representative in each topic in the syllabus to ensure a comprehensive and balanced coverage and categorized according to the level of difficulty – easy, moderate and difficult. No single topic or topics shall receive undue weight in the examination. Two (2) sets of different arranged questions shall be drawn and assembled in an encrypted disk before printing.

In addition to Memorandum Circular No. 93 – 04 of the PRC which requires the use of multiple-choice format for all licensure examinations, the following guidelines shall also be observed:

1. Yes or No, True or False, matching type, or any similar objective-type questions shall not be formulated or allowed; and

2. With at least four (4) items from which only one correct answer will be chosen, the choices shall not include any of these phrases: “none of the above”, all of the above”, or any similar phrases.

III. GUIDELINES FOR PREPARING THE EXAMINATION

The CPA Licensure Examination shall provide reasonable assurance that only examinees possessing the required professional competence are granted the Certificate of Registration and Professional Identification Card as a CPA. Accordingly, extreme care shall be exercised in selecting and constructing test questions and problems so that the examinations may be fair, and reliable.

To achieve the purpose of the CPA examination, the following guidelines shall be considered in preparing test questions and problems:

1. Examination Scope – The examination shall be comprehensive and well-balanced in scope to provide broad coverage of the topics and ensure that no single topic receives undue weight in the examination. Test items shall be limited to the topics enumerated in the syllabi and allocated to the different subject areas. All subject areas shall be covered in each examination.

2. Level of difficulty. Test items shall be constructed at an appropriate level of difficulty.

3. Clarity and Accuracy. Test items shall be expressed in clear, understandable language. They shall be carefully reviewed to eliminate errors, inconsistencies, incomplete data, and ambiguities. Instructions and requirements shall be clearly indicated to the extent possible.

4. Definitive Answers. There shall be a definite answer to each test item, supported by adequate authoritative evidence or reasoning.

5. Originality. Questions and problems shall not be copied verbatim from questionnaires, quizzers, or other similar materials used in the undergraduate and review courses. Samples of old questions or problems may be referred to for guidance only.

6. Relevance to Philippine Conditions. Questions and problems shall be relevant to accounting practice in the Philippines. Whenever applicable, they shall be based on statements issued by the:

a. Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy (PRBOA);
b. Financial Reporting Standards Council (FRSC);
c. Auditing and Assurance Standards Council (AASC);
d. Commission on Audit (COA) in relation to government accounting and auditing;
e. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); and
f. Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA), Inc.

 

In areas not covered by Philippine sources, references may also be made to the official pronouncements of authoritative standard – setting bodies in the United States, the International Accounting Standards Board, and the International Federation of Accountants; provided, these are relevant to Philippine conditions.

7. Current Developments – Questions and problems shall be developed in terms of the most recent developments, pronouncements, and standards in the accounting profession. However, new terms, concepts, principles, or techniques which have not been widely discussed in common textbooks shall be avoided.

8. Revision of Syllabi. – By policy, the syllabi shall be subject to automatic revisions as their particular coverage are affected by any of the following: pronouncements, standards, and updates from the BOA, FRSC/AASC, COA, SEC and such other standard-setting bodies recognized in the Philippines as well as new laws, executive orders and circulars from the concerned government agencies. Adoption of such changes by the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy for inclusion in the licensure examinations shall not be earlier than six (6) months from the date of effectivity of such.

9. Use of Calculators – electronic calculator may be used in the examination. However, programmable calculators are prohibited.

The herein syllabi^* shall be used for the October 2006 CPA Licensure Examination and subsequent schedules.

Let copy hereof be furnished to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for its dissemination to all schools/colleges/universities offering the course of Bachelor of Science in Accountancy.

Adopted: 01 Dec. 2005

                                                                                                                                                                                 

(SGD.) EUGENE T. MATEO
Chairman
(SGD.) JOHN S. BALA
Vice Chairman
(SGD.) SOLITA V. DELANTAR	(SGD.) FROILAN G. AMPIL
Member	Member
(SGD.) MA. ELENITA B. CABRERA	(SGD.) LUCILA C. TARRIELA
Member	Member
Attested:
(SGD.) CARLOS G. ALMELOR
Secretary
Professional Regulatory Boards
Approved:
(SGD.) LEONOR TRIPON-ROSERO
Chairperson
(SGD.) AVELINA A. DELA REA	(SGD.) RENATO B. VALDECANTOS
Commissioner	Commissioner

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^* Text Available at Office of the National Administrative Register, U.P. Law Complex, Diliman, Quezon City