Leave it in! Analyzing the responses to a proposal to remove governmental accounting from the certified public accountant examination

Leveraging lobbying theory, we analyze responses to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountant’s (AICPA) proposal suggesting the removal of state and local governmental accounting from the content tested on the uniform certified public accountant (CPA) examination. Furthermore, we compare the responses to a prior exam content review to place the uniqueness of the more recent response in perspective. We examine 181 comment letters obtained from the AICPA website. In addition, the relative concentration of governmental entities across the United States is studied for correlation with the response rate. Consistent with lobbying theory, we 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. 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.

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