The World of Human Capital

GoingConcern gave me the heads up that Deloitte is hosting a fantasy football league for the upcoming World Cup.   Anyone can enter, so head on over and register.  I am glad to see the world’s most popular sporting event is getting some recognition in the US.

The folks over at Going Concern had a nice short summary of a few ways the CPA exam will change in 2011:

Changes to Content Specification Outlines – First and most significantly, the CSOs will undergo a huge overhaul. IFRS will be added – initially – to FAR and eventually international accounting standards and demonstration of an understanding of how they work will play a larger role in examination questions. Keep in mind that IFRS testing will be gradual and likely focus on the differences between IFRS and US GAAP initially until the AICPA BoE feels comfortable with candidate performance and the SEC’s procrastination on IFRS adoption. IFRS will also be tested in AUD and BEC (XBRL for one, which they have already been pre-testing for several windows) but expect a skiddish stance from the BoE in the beginning.

Audit loses 30 minutes to BEC – The reasoning behind this to allow candidates more time in BEC for written communications, which will be removed from FAR, AUD, and REG (where they currently are). Don’t bother trying to avoid written communication altogether by taking BEC this year and the other three next year, it’s an easy 10 points as long as you can write a standard business letter. You do not even have to be correct when you answer the question, you need only stay on topic and use good grammar.

International CPA exam testing is coming – Thirdly, the AICPA, NASBA and Prometric are working together to make international CPA exam testing a reality. Chances are if and when Prometric begins administering the CPA exam offshore, testing will be limited to a handful of countries (likely Japan, Dubai, and possibly India, where large numbers of Chartered Accountants tend to also seek the US CPA designation). We’ll see how this unfolds come 2011, as the AICPA would like to begin international testing with new CBT-e changes.

All in all, accounting is still accounting and the CPA exam will be exactly as it always has been: a test of your basic understanding of many broad topics that you may or may not ever encounter in your professional life. CBT-e will most likely be rolled out in pieces and subject to tweaks along the way.

Caleb over at Going Concern (a great blog for accountants) was kind enough to reach out to me and get my opinion on what jobs are hot, who is finding jobs, and what the market looks like.  Head on over to read the full article: The Job Outlook Is Good for Accountants…But More Competitive

Those of you lucky ones still at work should take a break to check out a blog I came across that relates to the lives of public accountants – Stuff Accountants Like.  This brings me back to my public accounting days which I do not miss at all.  Two that stand out most to me were being required to use the right color pen and sending out emails at odd hours.   I know my family and friends secretly enjoyed getting emails from me between the hours of 2 and 4am.  That way they had something to read the next morning the got into the office and knew I hadn’t gotten lost going to look for a box of tickmarks!