US CPA Exam Preparation: Business Analysis and Reporting (BAR)
Prepare for Business Analysis and Reporting, the US CPA discipline section for candidates heading towards financial reporting, corporate finance or controllership roles.
About this course
Prepare for Business Analysis and Reporting, the US CPA discipline section for candidates heading towards financial reporting, corporate finance or controllership roles. The course follows the published content areas: business analysis, technical accounting and reporting, and state and local governments.
You will move from ratio analysis, budgeting and capital investment decisions to business combinations, derivatives and hedging, public company reporting and government financial statements. Timed practice with multiple-choice questions and task-based simulations runs throughout, so your exam technique develops alongside your knowledge.
What you'll learn
- Analyse financial statements using ratios, trends and data analytics to support business decisions.
- Apply cost accounting, budgeting, forecasting and capital investment techniques.
- Account for advanced technical topics, including intangible assets, revenue recognition and share-based payment.
- Prepare consolidated financial statements and account for business combinations.
- Account for derivatives, hedging relationships and lessor arrangements.
- Apply public company reporting requirements, including earnings per share and segment reporting.
- Prepare and interpret state and local government financial statements.
- Practise exam-style multiple-choice questions and task-based simulations under timed conditions.
Curriculum
- Choosing a discipline section
- Exam structure and question types
- Content areas and skill levels
- Building a personal study plan
- Ratio and trend analysis
- Comparing performance against benchmarks
- Data analytics for business decisions
- Interpreting analysis results
- Cost behaviour and cost allocation
- Costing systems
- Variance analysis
- Performance measures
- Budgeting and forecasting
- Capital budgeting and discounted cash flow
- Economic concepts for business analysis
- Identifying and managing business risk
- Indefinite-lived intangible assets and goodwill
- Advanced revenue recognition
- Share-based payment
- Research and development costs
- Acquisition method
- Non-controlling interests
- Consolidation procedures
- Intercompany transactions
- Derivative instruments
- Hedge accounting
- Lessor accounting
- Foreign currency transactions
- SEC reporting requirements
- Earnings per share
- Segment reporting
- Interim reporting
- Governmental reporting framework
- Government-wide and fund financial statements
- Reconciling fund and government-wide statements
- Typical government transactions
- Timed multiple-choice sets
- Task-based simulations
- Full mock exam
- Reviewing errors and weak areas
Who it's for
CPA candidates who have chosen BAR as their discipline section, typically those working in financial reporting or corporate finance.
Before you start
- Strong knowledge of financial accounting and reporting under US GAAP.
- Preparation for the core sections of the exam is helpful, as BAR builds on the financial reporting content.
Prepares for
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