Title
PRC Board on CPA Exam Syllabi
Law
Prc Board Of Accountancy No. 121, S. 2005
Decision Date
Dec 1, 2005
The Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy establishes comprehensive syllabi for the Certified Public Accountant licensure examination, ensuring consistent subject matter coverage, relevant technical knowledge, and adherence to current accounting standards and practices.
accountancy act
business law
auditing theory

Legal basis and authority of PRBOA

  • Section 15, Article III of Republic Act No. 9298 requires that the CPA licensure examination covers defined subject areas, including both theory and practical problem-solving areas.
  • Republic Act No. 9298 authorizes the Board, subject to approval of the Commission, to revise or exclude any subjects and their syllabi, and to add new ones as need arises.
  • Section 9, Article II of Republic Act No. 9298 grants the PRBOA the power to prepare, adopt, issue, or amend the syllabi of subjects for examination.
  • Republic Act No. 9298 also empowers the PRBOA to determine and prepare questions for the licensure examination within the scope of the syllabi, and to administer, correct and release the examination results.

Scope of CPA exam subjects and syllabi contents

  • The CPA licensure examination covers the following subject areas under Section 15, Article III of Republic Act No. 9298:
    • (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
  • A syllabus for a subject contains the body of technical knowledge a CPA is expected to possess and lists topics and sub-topics to be tested therein.
  • The syllabi are intended to assure consistent subject matter coverage across examinations.
  • The syllabi are intended to assist examinees by indicating topics and sub-topics that may be covered.
  • The syllabi are intended to guide preparation of test questions and problems to ensure a fair, comprehensive, and balanced examination.
  • The syllabi are intended to align accounting educators on subject matter considered necessary for preparation of the examination.

Purpose, competence standard, and exam nature

  • The purpose of the CPA Licensure Examination is to test basic minimum professional competence of examinees seeking registration and issuance of Certificate of Registration and Professional Identification Cards as CPAs.
  • The examination tests:
    • Adequate technical knowledge in accounting;
    • The ability to apply that knowledge skillfully with good judgment to problems and situations encountered in practice; and
    • An appreciation of the CPA’s ethical responsibilities and professional attitude.
  • The level of professional competence tested is that of a CPA at the start of professional career.
  • The examination questions emphasize technical knowledge currently relevant to the profession and adequately discussed in textbooks and professional literature.
  • The examination must avoid trivial, outdated, unsettled, and controversial questions.
  • The examination must measure competence at the level of new entrants to the profession, using an easy–moderate–difficult mixture through a “difficult” scale.
  • The examination must test higher cognitive abilities, including comprehension, interpretation, application, analysis, problem-solving, and other higher-order thinking skills.

Computerized exam test bank rules

  • Test Banks for all licensure examinations shall be set up by each Professional Regulatory Board using PRC computer facilities and specially authorized PRC computer expert personnel.
  • Questions deposited in the test bank must meet examination objectives, standards, and nature, and must be classified according to:
    • (1) Topic or concept in the approved syllabus;
    • (2) Level of difficulty: easy, moderate, and difficult;
    • (3) Cognitive level, including memory, comprehension, interpretation, computation, application, analysis, problem solving, and other high-order thinking skills/abilities;
    • (4) Knowledge and proficiency level; and
    • (5) Question types, including objective, essay, problem-solving, or design/drawing.
  • Objective questions of the specified type must provide four (4) items for choice of one (1) correct answer.
  • Deposited questions for each category must be representative of the mass.
  • Questions extracted or drawn from the test bank for each subject must be representative across each syllabus topic to ensure comprehensive and balanced coverage.
  • Questions for each subject must be categorized by level of difficulty (easy, moderate, difficult) and drawn so that no single topic receives undue weight.
  • Two (2) sets of differently arranged questions must be drawn and assembled in an encrypted disk before printing.
  • Examination question formatting rules require observance of a multiple-choice policy.
  • The rules prohibit Yes or No, True or False, matching type, or any similar objective-type questions.
  • The rules prohibit choices that include the phrases:
    • “none of the above”, “all of the above”, or any similar phrases.
  • For objective-type questions with four choices, only one correct answer must be selected.

Guidelines for constructing and using test items

  • Examinations must provide reasonable assurance that only examinees with required professional competence are granted the Certificate of Registration and Professional Identification Card as CPAs.
  • Extreme care must be exercised in selecting and constructing test questions and problems so the examination remains fair and reliable.
  • Test items must be:
    • Comprehensive and well-balanced in scope, covering broad topics and ensuring no single topic receives undue weight;
    • Limited to the topics enumerated in the syllabi and allocated to the different subject areas;
    • Set at an appropriate level of difficulty.
  • Test items must be expressed in clear, understandable language, and reviewed to eliminate errors, inconsistencies, incomplete data, and ambiguities.
  • Instructions and requirements must be clearly indicated to the extent possible.
  • Each test item must have a definite answer supported by adequate authoritative evidence or reasoning.
  • Questions and problems must not be copied verbatim from questionnaires, quizzers, or similar materials used in undergraduate or review courses.
  • Old questions or problems may be used only as samples for guidance.
  • Test questions and problems must be relevant to accounting practice in the Philippines and, whenever applicable, based on statements issued by:
    • Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy (PRBOA)
    • Financial Reporting Standards Council (FRSC)
    • Auditing and Assurance Standards Council (AASC)
    • Commission on Audit (COA) in relation to government accounting and auditing
    • Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
    • Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA), Inc.
  • In areas not covered by Philippine sources, references may be made to authoritative standard-setting bodies in the United States, the International Accounting Standards Board, and the International Federation of Accountants when relevant to Philippine conditions.
  • Questions and problems must be developed in terms of the most recent developments, pronouncements, and standards in the accounting profession.
  • New terms, concepts, principles, or techniques that have not been widely discussed in common textbooks must be avoided.
  • Syllabi are subject to automatic revisions when affected by:
    • Pronouncements, standards, and updates from the BOA, FRSC/AASC, COA, SEC, and other recognized Philippine standard-setting bodies;
    • New laws, executive orders, and circulars from concerned government agencies.
  • Adoption of such changes for inclusion in licensure examinations must not occur earlier than six (6) months from the date of effectivity of those changes.
  • An electronic calculator may be used in the examination.
  • Programmable calculators are prohibited.

Adoption, adoption mechanics, and administration

  • The CPA licensure examination syllabi shall be used for the October 2006 CPA Licensure Examination and subsequent schedules.
  • The resolution is adopted on 01 Dec. 2005.
  • The resolution is signed by the PRBOA Chair and other board members, and is attested by the PRBOA Secretary.
  • The resolution is approved by PRC Commissioners designated for approval in the resolution’s signatures.

No subject revision details in this resolution

  • The resolution establishes the syllabi coverage concept tied to Republic Act No. 9298 subject areas and the examination framework governing question standards.
  • The resolution sets the operational rules on how CPA examination test questions are built, extracted, and administered through a computerized test bank structure and cognitive standards.
  • The resolution directs dissemination to the education sector through CHED for schools/colleges/universities offering the Bachelor of Science in Accountancy.

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