For as long as most reviewees can remember, financial accounting on the CPA board exam came in two separate sittings: Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR) on one day, and Advanced Financial Accounting and Reporting (AFAR) on another. In the 2029 CPALE, that changes — the two become one subject. This guide is an orientation to that merge: what it is, how it is weighted, what each half covers, and what is genuinely new. It is not a study reviewer, and there is nothing here you need to learn yet.
FAR and AFAR merge starting in 2029 — if you're taking the CPALE in 2026, 2027, or 2028, they remain two separate subjects. Your sitting still follows the current six-subject structure and its Tables of Specifications.
What Changed
Under the revised syllabus, the current FAR and AFAR are integrated into one 70-item subject called Financial Accounting and Reporting. The syllabus says so in plain terms: it "is an integration of two (2) subjects currently included in the licensure examination," namely Financial Accounting and Reporting and Advanced Financial Accounting and Reporting. So instead of two exam days for financial accounting, there is one — 70 multiple-choice questions over three hours, credited for one unit.
The single combined subject still expects candidates to know the provisions of the relevant Philippine Accounting Standards (PAS) and Philippine Financial Reporting Standards (PFRS) — and now, explicitly, the Philippine Sustainability Reporting Standards (PSRS) as well.
If you have looked at the US CPA exam, the direction will feel familiar — its redesigned core also consolidates financial accounting and reporting. Treat that as a resemblance for context, not a stated reason: the Philippine Board of Accountancy published its own syllabus and Table of Specifications, and that is what governs this exam. (If you are weighing the two credentials, see our guide on the Philippine CPA vs. the US CPA.)
The Published Split
Unlike some of the other revised subjects, the merged Financial Accounting and Reporting subject comes with a published top-level weighting. The 70 items are allocated across three parts:
| Component | Weight | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| Theory | 20% | Conceptual framework, standard-setting bodies, regulation of the profession |
| FAR | 50% | Intermediate financial accounting — cash & financial assets, non-financial assets, liabilities, equity, leases, income tax, employee benefits, interim, segments |
| AFAR | 30% | Advanced — special revenue recognition, joint arrangements, home office & branch, business combinations, consolidation, foreign currency, funds accounting |
The takeaway: intermediate financial accounting (the old FAR) is still the largest block at half the exam, theory carries a fifth, and the advanced material (the old AFAR) makes up the remaining 30%. That 50/30 split across the two accounting components tells you they are not equal — the intermediate side outweighs the advanced one.
Part 1 (FAR) at a Glance
Part 1 covers intermediate financial accounting and reporting — the concepts and principles behind the accounts that show up in the financial statements of companies in almost any industry. The syllabus runs through the financial reporting framework and standard-setting bodies, the conceptual framework, and the presentation of financial statements, then works across the balance sheet: cash and other financial assets, non-financial assets, financial liabilities, non-financial liabilities and provisions, and shareholders' equity. A final "other topics" cluster covers leases, income tax (deferred tax), employee benefits, interim reporting, and operating segments.
Within Part 1, the heaviest single area in the published per-topic Table of Specifications is non-financial assets at about 12.9% — inventories, property, plant and equipment, investment property, intangibles, biological assets, and non-current assets held for sale. In other words, the PPE-and-inventory family of topics carries the most weight inside the intermediate half, which matches how those topics are taught today.
Part 2 (AFAR) at a Glance
Part 2 covers advanced financial accounting and reporting — the special transactions and topics that used to be a separate exam. The syllabus lists special revenue recognition methods (right of return, principal-agent relationships, consignment, bill-and-hold, long-term construction contracts, franchises, and more), joint arrangements (joint operations and joint ventures), home office and branch accounting, business combinations, separate and consolidated financial statements, foreign currency transactions and translation, and funds accounting. The funds-accounting topic spans not-for-profit organizations and government accounting, including the accounting policies under the Government Accounting Manual (GAM).
These are the topics many candidates find the most demanding, and in the merged subject they are no longer quarantined in their own sitting — they sit alongside the intermediate material in a single exam.
What's Added
The merge does more than staple two old subjects together; the revised syllabus folds in newer content:
- Sustainability reporting. The subject now explicitly references the Philippine Sustainability Reporting Standards (PSRS) and covers the definition, objectives, and principles of sustainability reporting along with the disclosure requirements of an entity's ESG (environmental, social, and governance) goals.
- PFRS for Cooperatives. Among the "other reporting frameworks," the syllabus now lists PFRS for Cooperatives alongside the existing PFRS for SMEs and PFRS for Small Entities.
Neither of these had a clear home in the old FAR/AFAR split, so they are worth flagging as new ground for the merged subject.
What the Merge Means for Study
The practical implications are about structure more than difficulty:
- One integrated subject, not two exam days. Financial accounting is now a single sitting. You prepare for, and are tested on, the intermediate and advanced material together.
- Advanced topics are no longer a separate silo. AFAR's consolidation, business combinations, and special-revenue topics share an exam with intermediate FAR. Treating advanced accounting as an afterthought you "get to later" no longer maps to how the exam is built.
- Budget time across both halves. With FAR at 50% and AFAR at 30%, the intermediate side deserves the larger share of preparation — but the advanced 30% is a third of the subject, not a footnote, and the new sustainability and cooperatives content sits inside that single subject too.
None of this is cause for alarm if you are still in your early years of accountancy. It is the same accounting you would be learning anyway; the change is that it is assessed as one coherent subject rather than two.
For the full picture of the 2029 overhaul — every renamed, merged, and new subject — see our complete guide to the 2029 CPALE changes. And for the structure that still governs every current candidate, see our current CPALE coverage and Table of Specifications guide.
Sources
- Annex "A" — Revised Syllabi and Tables of Specifications — the Financial Accounting and Reporting syllabus and Table of Specifications this guide is based on.
- PRBOA Resolution No. 20, Series of 2026 — the resolution promulgating the revised TOS effective the October 2029 examination.
- PRC Professional Regulatory Boards — the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy and its official issuances.