Competency Map

New Professional Program

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This page provides information about the Competency Map for the new CPA Professional Program, offered starting in 2027.

If you are enrolled in the current CPA Professional Education Program, ending no later than 2028, please refer instead to the Competency Map for that program.

What is the new Competency Map? 

The new Competency Map lays the foundation for the new CPA Professional Program. It harnesses transformative forces and considers how they can be integrated with the core competencies that CPAs have always brought to the table such as critical knowledge and analysis and a commitment to ethics.  

Under the new Competency Map, candidates who want to pursue a career in public accounting (amongst other choices that the profession offers) will continue to learn specific skills and competencies related to financial reporting, assurance, and tax.. But the new Competency Map is also more flexible and will help ensure the profession can be responsive and adaptable to new technologies and changing social values. 

The new map is informed by the best available evidence and extensive consultations that our Competency Map Task Force has undertaken over more than two years with employers, educators, candidates and CPAs across the country. 

Why Update the Current Map? 

The world we work in is changing rapidly. The pace of change is so fast that we need to adopt a mindset as CPAs that allows us to stay agile and adaptable to the changing expectations and needs of businesses and society. 

As we think about the future, data governance, artificial intelligence, machine learning and other innovative sectors are creating new areas of opportunity where CPAs can excel, provided they have the right skills. We are seeing automation present an ever-increasing challenge to the accounting profession – future CPAs need to be agile, adaptable and highly-skilled while at the same time, provide the assurance and ethical lens that are critical to ensuring organizations are equipped to manage this transition.   

In addition, we have seen – and will continue to see – changes that require CPAs to use new skills and add value in new ways to analyze environmental and social performance measures, such as diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

Protecting the public also continues to be at the core of the profession. For example, CPAs with public accounting licenses play an important role in protecting the public, ensuring the integrity of the country’s capital markets, and fostering public and investor confidence.  

Markets are increasingly using intangible data to value companies - and CPAs have an important role to play in providing assurance in new ways as value creation changes. 

With all of this in mind, there is both a need and opportunity to ensure that CPAs continue to be perceived as leaders in our future economy and society - while maintaining strengths in traditional accounting competencies, coupled with a core focus on protecting the public.