We are going to cover the 2015 CPA Exam changes. Now, if you are not familiar with another71, a little bit about me: I am a licensed CPA in the state of Kansas. I live here in flyover country. I created another71 back in 2008 and since then, it has become the most-visited CPA Exam site on the internet. I've been blessed to do it full-time since 2010, and I launched NINJA CPA Review in 2011, and the NINJA products have helped over 22,000 people pass the CPA exam. I am pretty familiar with what is on the exam and what it takes to pass.

The goals of this video are to cover the 2015 updates from a high level, and also get into some of the frequently asked questions I see the in the another71 forum about the 2015 exam, and also send you some free materials that are updated for 2015, that I think you will find very useful, over 300 pages of content. Hopefully, you will like this video and send it to anyone that you know that is taking the CPA Exam, and hopefully they can get some good out of it too. You can use the link another71.com/2015. You can send them there, and they can watch the video if they want, and more importantly, they can get the free downloads.

Okay. 2015 updates are based on the CPA Exam's policy on new pronouncements, and also the Content Specification Outline that the AICPA provides, which is a lens to view any new standards, regulations or laws that come into play. Only the AICPA knows what is truly going to be on the Exam, but they give us Exam providers some principals to apply as we update our materials. Let's real quickly cover the CPA Exam policy on new pronouncements, because most candidates seem to not understand this.

Basically, accounting and auditing pronouncements are eligible for testing six months after the pronouncement's effective date, unless early application is permitted. And if that's the case, then it's six months after the issuance date. Now when that happens, both the old and the new pronouncements may be tested until the old pronouncement is superseded, which we saw in 2013 on auditing, when the old standards and the new clarity standards were both tested on the Exam. It presented a pretty tricky situation, but then in 2014, only the clarified auditing standards were tested on, and in 2015.

For regulation, the tax law, basically any tax changes, they are eligible on the exam six months after the law's effective date, or the enactment date, whichever is later. If Congress passes some laws that are retroactive to January 1st, 2014, and they do that tomorrow, that doesn't affect you on your exam, because it's six months after the change's effective date, which would be January 1st, 2014, or the enactment date, which is tomorrow, so it's six months from tomorrow, whichever is later. Hope that clears that up just a little bit.

We are going to cover the Exam changes from the least amount of changes to the most amount of changes. Real quickly, I will say that there are not a lot of huge changes to the CPA Exam. I remember a few years ago, FAR had IFRS added, and auditing had the clarity standards in 2013, I believe. Those were some big changes. Basically, there are just a few minor tweaks.

Starting with BEC, there really is no material changes. Same thing for regulation: no material change until July 2015, when the 2015 tax laws are eligible to be tested. From January 2015 through the end of May 2015, because June is a dead month, it will test 2014 tax law. Your 2015 course should cover 2014 tax law for the first half of the year. For auditing, now there is required supplementary information that is tested, and also some changes to nonattest services for attest clients.

For FAR, if we followed the AICPA's policy on new pronouncements, IFRS 15, which is a big deal, would be tested in 2015, but the AICPA came out and said, “Given the scope and significance of IFRS 15,” they're not going to test it until January 1st, 2016. So IFRS 15 not on the table for 2015. However, there are some changes or additions for FAR. There is a change to discontinued operations.

It's a minor tweak, and also there is the special purpose frameworks, which are like cash basis accounting, modified cash basis accounting, income tax basis, the financial reporting framework for small and medium-sized entities, and the public business entities framework. Your review course should cover those. Also, liquidation basis financial statements; not a huge deal, but they are eligible to be tested, and hopefully your review provider gives you those updates.

If you are a NINJA customer, you will get those for free, because NINJA materials come with free updates until you pass. I realize not everyone does that, but that's how we do it.

Can you use old materials to study for 2015 exams?

My caveat is that you should always use updated materials. If I were studying for the 2015 exam, I would be just fine, I would feel comfortable using 2014 auditing, FAR, and regulation, assuming that it the regulation material was updated for July of 2014. If I were studying for BEC, I would probably be fine with studying with 2013 BEC materials.

Of course, you will have people that say, “I passed, I passed regulation using 2013 materials, you know, in November of 2014,” and that's fine. People can do whatever they want. People pass using old materials all the time, but as a general rule of thumb, this is what I would do. If you are a NINJA customer, you don't have to worry about this anyway, because you get free updates.

We covered, previously, new tax laws for regulation. They have no impact on early-2015 exams, and if your exam provider starts throwing in the new 179 deduction changes that Congress passes or whatever, send them this video. For regulation, it will use the 2014 tax law, and any changes that are made now, are not testable for six months from now.

Okay, so now I want to send you some 2015 NINJA downloads.

You can download the NINJA Materials free. Basically, it's 300-plus pages of content. You get a whole chapter of the NINJA book, you get a section of the NINJA audio, you get a link to NINJA BLITZ, you get a chapter of 2015 flashcards to put on your mobile device or your desktop. It works on iPhone and Android, and your desktop.

Basically, this is the real NINJA file; you just get one chapter instead of the whole thing. If you like it, you can buy the whole thing, or you can just use the free chapter, completely up to you. Also, the NINJA notes, which I don't have on here, and also the 2015 NINJA study planner, which is customizable. If you want to study 20 hours a week, you can use that to plan and map out your study time.

I'm also sending you the CPA Exam Survival Guide, which you'll get as a PDF. You can also go to iTunes and search CPA Exam, and then you'll see it. It's been downloaded a bunch of times on iTunes, and 17 kind people took the time to rate it. Sixteen of those gave it a good rating. One person thought it was sub-par, but that's okay.

If you want to send anyone to the site, to refer them to this video or the free downloads, send them to another71.com/2015. I hope this video was helpful. It covered things from a high level, but hopefully your review providers will dive into the material so that you know what's coming. Again, NINJA customers you get all this for free. You get the free update.

Thank you for watching, and I hope that you have an excellent 2015.