Leave it in! Analyzing the responses to a proposal to remove governmental accounting from the certified public accountant examination
Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management
ISSN: 1096-3367
Article publication date: 2 May 2023
Issue publication date: 20 November 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Leveraging lobbying theory, the authors analyze responses to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) proposal suggesting the removal of state and local governmental accounting from the content tested on the uniform certified public accountant (CPA) examination. Furthermore, the authors compare the responses to a prior exam content review to place the uniqueness of the more recent response in perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors examine 181 comment letters obtained from the AICPA website. In addition, the relative concentration of governmental entities across the USA is studied for correlation with the response rate.
Findings
Consistent with lobbying theory, the authors find that participating governmental entities overwhelmingly argued for the retention of governmental accounting. In contrast, most other groups of respondents (accounting firms, state societies, etc.) had at least one letter that agrees with the removal of the content.
Originality/value
While the letter writers appear to be successful in retaining the governmental accounting content on the CPA exam, the majority of the detailed content has been placed within a specialized area on the new version of the CPA exam, expected to be deployed in 2024. This means that fewer CPA candidates will be exposed to governmental accounting than under the current regime. It has implications for governmental units seeking qualified candidates to fill their staffing needs especially as fewer universities offer governmental accounting courses.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the participants at the 2019 and 2021 Diversity Section Midyear Meeting for the American Accounting Association for their thoughts on earlier versions of the paper.
Citation
Flasher, R., Didia, L. and Skomra, J. (2023), "Leave it in! Analyzing the responses to a proposal to remove governmental accounting from the certified public accountant examination", Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, Vol. 35 No. 5, pp. 667-684. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBAFM-09-2022-0148
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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