2014年美国CPA BEC考试内容及所占分值比例

BEC：

此课程对大致的商业环境与概念的理解进行测试。 相关主题包括企业管理知识，与理解全球经济环境及其对企业商业策略的影响密切相关的经济概念。财务风险管理，财务管理过程，信息系统与交流与运营管理。

应试者需证明作为注册注册会计师，可以把相关理论知识应用到审计，鉴证，财务报告，纳税申报实务中。 应试者需证明可完成以下任务：

·理解全球化对商业环境的影响

·区分企业中合理不与合理的管理结构

·评价商业循环再企业运营或其产业中的影响

·全球经济市场对企业商业决策及财务管理策略上的影响

·对企业资本结构的影响因素进行评价

·对财务评估的假设进行合理性测试

·对交易和潜在经济实质与商业原因进行解释

·识别企业会计处理运用的信息管理系统

·评估是否有合理的职责划分

·理解企业的战略策划过程，了解企业策略与市场风险

·识别企业存在的内在灾难恢复计划商业与运营风险

·评估企业运营及质量控制计划以理解企业绩效与成本管理方法

Business Environment and Concepts (BEC)

The Business Environment and Concepts section tests knowledge and skills necessary to demonstrate an understanding of the general business environment and business concepts.The topics in this section include knowledge of corporate governance;economic concepts essential to understanding the global business environment and its impact on an entity’s business strategy;financial risk management;financial management processes;information systems and communications; strategic planning;and operations management.

In addition to demonstrating knowledge and understanding of these topics, candidates are required to apply that knowledge in performing audit,attest,financial reporting,tax preparation,and other professional responsibilities as certified public accountants.To demonstrate such knowledge and skills,candidates will be expected to perform the following tasks:

.Demonstrate an understanding of globalization on the business environment

.Distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate governance structures within an organization(e.g. tone at the top,policies, steering committees,strategies,oversight,etc.).

.Assess the impact of business cycles on an entity’s industry or business operations.

.Apply knowledge of changes in the global economic markets in identifying the impact on an entity in determining its business strategy and financial management policies,including managing the risks of:inflation,deflation,commodity costs,credit defaults,interest rate variations,currency fluctuation,and regulation.

.Assess the factors influencing a company’s capital structure,including risk,leverage,cost of capital,growth rate,profitability,asset structure,and loan covenants.

.Evaluate assumptions used in financial valuations to determine their reasonableness(e.g.investment return assumptions,discount rates,etc.).

.Determine the business reasons for and explain the underlying economic substance of transactions and their accounting implications.

.Identify the information systems within a business that are used to process and accumulate transactional data, as well as provide monitoring and financial reporting information.

.Distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate internal control systems,including system design,controls over data,transaction flow,wireless technology,and internet transmissions.

.Evaluate whether there is appropriate segregation of duties,levels of authorization,and data security in an organization to maintain an appropriate internal control structure.

.Obtain and document information about an organization’s strategic planning processes to identify key components of the business strategy and market risks.

.Develop a time-phased project plan showing required activities,task dependencies,and required resources to achieve a specific deliverable.  

.Identify the business and operational risks inherent in an entity’s disaster recovery/business continuity plan.

.Evaluate business operations and quality control initiatives to understand its use of best practices and the ways to measure and manage performance and costs.

The outline below specifies the knowledge in which candidates are required to demonstrate

proficiency:

I.Corporate Governance(16%-20%)

A.Rights,Duties,Responsibilities,and Authority of the Board of Directors,Officers,and Other Employees

1.Financial reporting

2.Internal control(including COSO or similar framework)

3.Enterprise risk management(including COSO or similar framework)

B.Control Environment

1.Tone at the top–establishing control environment

2.Monitoring control effectiveness

3.Change control process

II.Economic Concepts and Analysis(16%-20%)

A.Changes in Economic and Business Cycles–Economic Measures/Indicators

B.Globalization and Local Economies

1.Impacts of globalization on companies

2.Shifts in economic balance of power(e.g. capital) to/from developed from/to emerging markets

C.Market Influences on Business Strategies

D.Financial Risk Management

1.Market, interest rate,currency,liquidity,credit,price,and other risks

2.Means for mitigating/controlling financial risks

III.Financial Management(19%-23%)  

A.Financial Modeling,Projections,and Analysis

1.Forecasting and trends

2.Financial and risk analysis

3.Impact of inflation/deflation

B.Financial Decisions

1.Debt,equity,leasing

2.Asset and investment management

C.Capital Management,including Working Capital

1.Capital structure

2.Short-term and long-term financing

3.Asset effectiveness and/or efficiency

D.Financial Valuations(e.g. Fair Value)

1.Methods for calculating valuations

2.Evaluating assumptions used in valuations

E.Financial Transaction Processes and Controls

IV.Information Systems and Communications(15%-19%)

A.Organizational Needs Assessment

1.Data capture

2.Processing

3.Reporting

4.Role of information technology in business strategy

B.Systems Design and Other Elements

1.Business process design(integrated systems, automated, and manual interfaces)

2.Information Technology(IT)control objectives

3.Role of technology systems in control monitoring

4.Operational effectiveness

5.Segregation of duties

6.Policies

C.Security

1.Technologies and security management features

2.Policies

D.Internet–Implications for Business

1.Electronic commerce

2.Opportunities for business process reengineering

3. Roles of internet evolution on business operations and organization cultures

E.Types of Information System and Technology Risks

F.Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity

V.Strategic Planning(10%–14%)

A.Market and Risk Analysis

B.Strategy Development,Implementation,and Monitoring

C.Planning Techniques

1.Budget and analysis

2.Forecasting and projection

3.Coordinating information from various sources for integrated planning

VI.Operations Management(12%-16%)

A.Performance Management and Impact of Measures on Behavior

1.Financial and nonfinancial measures

2.Impact of marketing practices on performance

3.Incentive compensation

B.Cost Measurement Methods and Techniques

C.Process Management

1.Approaches,techniques,measures,and benefits to process-management-driven businesses

2. Roles of shared services, outsourcing,and off-shore operations,and their implications on business risks and controls

3. Selecting and implementing improvement initiatives

4. Business process reengineering

5. Management philosophies and techniques for performance improvement such as Just in Time (JIT),Quality,Lean,Demand Flow,Theory of Constraints,and Six Sigma

D. Project Management

1. Project planning,implementation,and monitoring

2. Roles of project managers,project members,and oversight or steering groups

3. Project risks,including resource,scope,cost,and deliverables  

References – Business Environment and Concepts

.The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO):

·Internal Control–Integrated Framework

·Enterprise Risk Management

.Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002:

·Title III,Corporate Responsibility

·Title IV,Enhanced Financial Disclosures

·Title VIII, Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability

·Title IX,White-Collar Crime Penalty Enhancements

·Title XI,Corporate Fraud Accountability

.Current Business Periodicals

.Current Textbooks on:

·Accounting Information Systems

·Budgeting and Measurement

·Corporate Governance

·Economics

·Enterprise Risk Management

·Finance

·Management

·Management Information Systems

·Managerial Accounting

·Production Operations

·Project Management

.International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing

.COBIT (The Control Objectives for Information and related Technology)