The BEC Exam Faces Changes for Test Takers in 2021 by Kyle Ashcraft, CPA

Auburndale, FL -- (SBWire) -- 10/18/2021 --The Business Environment and Concepts (BEC) exam will exclude certain topics that were included in prior years, such as regulatory frameworks other than SOX and general macroeconomic content. Students should still be familiar with Sarbanes Oxley and its impact on the accounting and auditing profession. Even though topics like GDP and money supply will no longer be tested, students should still know about microeconomic concepts, such as the demand and supply curves.

There will now be new topics introduced on the BEC exams, which include business processes, data management and analytics, and systems development and change management. Before this change, students only needed to know about business processes for the AUD exam, such as the revenue cycle and the relevant documents. Now, students will also need to know these topics for the BEC exam.

Lastly, certain topics will now be tested on a more simplified level, which includes capital structure, IT systems development and maintenance, and IT continuity and recovery plans. Capital structure refers to a company's decision regarding its reliance on debt financing versus equity financing. The topic of IT recovery plans refers to the need for a backup site in the case of an unexpected IT situation.

There have not been any exam changes yet announced for the U.S. CPA exams for 2022.

Kyle Ashcraft
Maxwell CPA Review, LLC