The CPA-AUD Exam (Auditing and Attestation) section focuses on the examination entity’s processes, compliance, and financial statements. This section evaluates the understanding of standard auditing procedures, fundamental principles, gathering evidence, and internal control concepts, etc of the candidates.
Many CPA aspirants think the CPA-AUD exam is related to the FAR section; it is because there’s a minor overlap in the requirements of GAAP reporting tested on both exams. Yes, there’s an overlap, but that wouldn’t be significant enough to base the entire CPA exam schedule on this one fact.
Let’s know what is on the CPA-AUD exam.
Topic Areas & Concepts:
It is a 4-hour exam with topic areas and concepts given below:
| Topic Areas & Concepts | Allocation |
| Assessing Risk & Developing Planned Processes | 20 to 30% |
| Professional Responsibilities, Ethics and General Principles | 15 to 25% |
| Performing Procedures & Obtaining Evidence | 30 to 40% |
| Forming Conclusions & Reporting | 15 to 25% |
Assessing Risk & Developing Planned Processes: – Includes topics like learning about the entity in question, how to analyze different environments, identifying the risk associated with misstatements.
Professional Responsibilities, Ethics, and General Principles: – Consists of requirements for documentation, going over accepted conduct, the scope of engagements, internal control, and communication with other parties.
Performing Procedures & Obtaining Evidence: – Involves the importance of evidence, independence, and sampling techniques.
Forming Conclusions & Reporting: – Includes topics like reviewing service engagements, auditing, and attestation.
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AUD CPA Exam Structure and Format:
The Audit exam consists of two testlets with 36 multiple-choice questions in each testlets. After completion of these two testlets there will be 3 testlets which consist of a total 8 task-based simulations.
| Testlet | Questions | Suggested Time |
| 1 | 36 Multiple-choice questions | 60 minutes |
| 2 | 36 Multiple-choice questions | 60 minutes |
| 3 | 2 Task-based simulations | 30 minutes |
| 4 | 3 Task-based simulations | 45 minutes |
| 5 | 3 Task-based simulations | 45 minutes |
| Question Type | No. of Questions |
| Multiple-Choice Questions | 72 |
| Task-Based Simulations | 8 |
| Written Communication | 0 |
You have a total of 4 hours for the CPA-AUD exam. You have to allocate time properly. The best time allocation for the audit exam is 35-45 minutes to MCQs in each testlet and 15-25 minutes to reviewing MCQ answers and about 2 hours for the simulations in total.
Conclusion:
Hope this article gives you insights on the CPA-AUD section including exam structure, format, syllabus, duration, and so on. Still, if you have any queries regarding the Audit section, feel free to comment below.
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