[GWS CPA]

Comparison of Old and New Charts of Content Areas

Old (O) and New (N)
Roman numerals are not used; instead, Arabic (regular) numbers are used.

OLD Content Areas

O1: Auditing and Attestation: Engagement Acceptance and Understanding the Assignment
12%-16%

O2: Auditing and Attestation: Understanding the Entity and Its Environment (including Internal Control)
16%-20%

O3: Auditing and Attestation: Performing Audit Procedures and Evaluating Evidence
16%-20%

O4: Auditing and Attestation: Evaluating Audit Findings, Communications, and Reporting
16%-20%

O5: Accounting and Review Services Engagements
12%-16%

O6: Professional Responsibilities
16%-20%

NEW Content Areas

N1: Ethics, Professional Responsibilities, and General Principles
15%-25%

N2: Assessing Risk and Developing a Planned Response
20%-30%

N3: Performing Further Procedures and Obtaining Evidence
30%-40%

N4: Forming Conclusions and Reporting
15%-25%

OBSERVATIONS

AUD has reduced its number of areas from 6 to 4.

O1 and O6 have been combined into N1.

O2 is N2.

O3 and some of O4 (Audit Findings) have been combined into N3.

Other parts of O4 (Communications, Reporting) are in N4.

O5 is scattered in all areas (N1, N2, N3, N4) because these non-audits (preparations, compilations, reviews, examinations, etc.) are similar in nature at a lower scope to audits.

The new content areas greatly fit the 3 standards to Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS):

General Standards are in N1 and account for 15%-25%.
Standards of Fieldwork are in N2 and N3, and account for 50%-70%.
Standards of Reporting are in N4 and account for 15%-25%.

These percentages on GAAS may be less than indicated because of other standards used besides GAAS (for examples; Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services or SSARS, or Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements or SSAE).

Each of the new content areas has a 10% variance (15%-25%), just like the skill level percentages.

NUMBER of Areas, Groups, Topics, and Tasks for Old and New Outlines

Areas: 6 for old; 4 for new

Groups: 32 for old; 27 for new
Topics: 94 for old; 58 for new
NOTE: A group without a topic does not count as a topic itself.

Tasks: 155 for only new because the old outlines did not show the tasks within each group or topic

Since the CPA exam is in the new version, the number of groups and topics for each area of the old outlines are not shown below.

NUMBER of Groups, Topics, and Tasks for each Area in the New Version
N1: 7 Groups, 11 Topics, 37 Tasks
N2: 8 Groups, 17 Topics, 45 Tasks
N3: 7 Groups, 12 Topics, 39 Tasks
N4: 5 Groups, 18 Topics, 34 Tasks
TOTAL: 27 Groups, 58 Topics, 155 Tasks

NUMBER of Tasks by Skill Levels for each Area in the New Version

N1
Remembering and Understanding: 20
Application: 17
Analysis: 0
Evaluation: 0

N2
Remembering and Understanding: 10
Application: 27
Analysis: 7
Evaluation: 1

N3
Remembering and Understanding: 5
Application: 13
Analysis: 13
Evaluation: 8

N4
Remembering and Understanding: 25
Application: 9
Analysis: 0
Evaluation: 0

TOTAL
Remembering and Understanding: 60
Application: 66
Analysis: 20
Evaluation: 9

N1 and N4 have Application as the highest skill level.
N2 and N3 have Analysis and Evaluation because internal controls and evidences involve greater professional skepticism and judgment.

Best of Luck for the CPA candidates taking the new version soon.