Every cycle, the same question circulates in review group chats a few weeks before the exam: is this new standard going to be tested? This year the question is usually about PFRS 18, sometimes about PFRS 17, and occasionally about a tax law someone half-remembers from the news.
The short answer for the October 24-26, 2026 CPALE: PFRS 18 is not examinable, PFRS 17 is not examinable in the Philippines yet, and the four recent tax laws all are. The rest of this guide shows you the rule that produces those answers, so you can settle the next question yourself instead of asking a group chat.
The rule the Board actually applies
The Table of Specifications governing this exam is BOA Resolution No. 30, Series of 2022. Its own text contains the rule: new laws, implementing rules and regulations, and other issuances effective as of the examination date supersede whatever the 2022 syllabus describes, unless the Board issues an advisory to the contrary.
Two consequences follow, and both matter.
The cut-off is the exam date, not the syllabus date. Resolution 30 was written in 2022. Everything that has come into force since then is fair game even though the resolution's own wording predates it. This is why a reviewer printed in 2023 can be confidently, testably wrong.
The area weights do not move. The rule shifts the content underneath each area, never the allocation. Financial Accounting and Reporting is still 70 items, Regulatory Framework for Business Transactions is still 100, and the percentages in our coverage guide for each subject hold for this sitting regardless of what legislation passed since 2022.
The subtlety that trips people up
Accounting standards do not carry a simple "effective on" date. They carry an effective date expressed as annual reporting periods beginning on or after some date. Read it correctly and the answer falls out:
- A standard effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2026 is in force during the current reporting year of a calendar-year entity. On 24 October 2026, it governs. It is examinable.
- A standard effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027 governs nothing yet. On 24 October 2026, the standard it replaces is still the one in force. It is not examinable.
That single distinction answers almost every "will they test it" question below.
Financial accounting: what is in and what is out
| Standard or amendment | Effective for periods beginning | On the October 2026 exam? |
|---|---|---|
| PAS 21 amendments, Lack of Exchangeability | 1 January 2025 | Yes |
| PFRS 9 and PFRS 7 amendments, Classification and Measurement of Financial Instruments | 1 January 2026 | Yes |
| PFRS 17, Insurance Contracts | 1 January 2027 (deferred locally) | No |
| PFRS 18, Presentation and Disclosure in Financial Statements | 1 January 2027 | No |
| PFRS 19, Subsidiaries without Public Accountability: Disclosures | 1 January 2027 | No |
PFRS 18 is a 2027 problem
PFRS 18 is the standard that eventually replaces PAS 1. It restructures the statement of profit or loss into defined categories, introduces required subtotals, and brings management-defined performance measures into the notes. It is a genuinely large change to how financial statements look.
None of that is on this exam. PAS 1 is still the standard in force on 24 October 2026, and PAS 1 is what your presentation and disclosure items will be written against. Early adoption of PFRS 18 is permitted, but an entity that early-adopts is the exception, and the CPALE tests the rule.
Where the marks actually are: if you have spare hours in the final six weeks, they belong in PAS 1 presentation requirements, not in PFRS 18 previews. Knowing that PFRS 18 exists and takes effect in 2027 is a one-sentence fact. Treat it as one sentence.
PFRS 17 is the trap for anyone reading international material
This one catches candidates who study from IFRS-based resources rather than Philippine ones. Internationally, IFRS 17 has been effective since 2023. In the Philippines it was deferred. The Financial and Sustainability Reporting Standards Council approved a further two-year deferral in February 2025, moving initial application to annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027.
So insurance contract accounting under PFRS 17 is not the live Philippine standard on exam day. If you have been drilling PFRS 17 measurement models because a YouTube lecture told you IFRS 17 is current, you have been spending time on the wrong side of the cut-off.
Taxation: four laws, all in force
Taxation is where the cut-off rule bites hardest, because tax law moves faster than accounting standards and printed reviewers age badly. Four statutes are in force and examinable:
| Law | Effective | What it governs |
|---|---|---|
| TRAIN, RA 10963 | 1 January 2018, with the current individual rate table from 1 January 2023 | Individual income tax, VAT threshold, estate and donor's tax at 6% |
| EOPT, RA 11976 | 22 January 2024 | Taxpayer classification, VAT invoicing, accrual VAT on services, file and pay anywhere |
| CREATE, RA 11534, and CREATE MORE, RA 12066 | 2021 and 2024 | CREATE set corporate income tax at 25% and MCIT at 2%; CREATE MORE retained both and rebuilt the incentives framework, including the 20% enhanced deductions rate |
| CMEPA, RA 12214 | 1 July 2025 | Uniform 20% final tax on interest, 0.1% stock transaction tax, 0.75% DST on share issuance, 15% CGT on unlisted shares |
Each of these has a dedicated guide: CMEPA, EOPT, and CREATE MORE. For the consolidated numbers in one place, see our taxation rates and thresholds reference.
The recurring failure here is not ignorance of the new law. It is using the old number with confidence because a printed reviewer said so. A 15% rate on foreign currency deposit interest, a 1% minimum corporate income tax, an official receipt for services: all three were correct once, and all three are wrong now.
Put this into practice.
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Auditing: the overhaul already happened
Candidates sometimes ask whether the quality management standards are "new enough" to be examinable. They are not new at all. Philippine Standard on Quality Management 1 has been effective since 15 December 2022, which means it has been examinable for several sittings already, including both 2026 exams.
Treat quality management as core material rather than as a recent development, and apply the same cut-off test to any other standard you are unsure about. The Auditing and Assurance Standards Council publishes the current list of Philippine Standards on Auditing with the effective date of each, and that list is the authority. Find your standard on it, read the effective date, and compare it to 24 October 2026. If a revision has not taken effect by then, the version it replaces is the one being tested.
Our auditing standards guide covers the framework as it currently stands.
Regulatory framework: what moved recently
Regulatory Framework for Business Transactions carries 100 items, the largest single subject on the exam, and much of it is memorized figures. Several changed recently enough that most printed reviewers still carry the old value. Three of the most commonly tested:
| Item | Old value | Current value | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| PDIC maximum deposit insurance coverage | ₱500,000 | ₱1,000,000 per depositor, per bank | 15 March 2025 |
| SSS contribution rate | 14% of monthly salary credit | 15%, split 10% employer and 5% employee | January 2025 |
| Merger notification thresholds under the Philippine Competition Act | ₱8.5B size of party, ₱3.5B size of transaction | ₱9.1B size of party, ₱3.8B size of transaction | 1 March 2026 |
All three took effect before 24 October 2026, so all three are examinable at their current values. They are not the complete set. Two more moved that are not peso figures: government procurement is now governed by RA 12009, whose implementing rules repealed RA 9184 on 25 February 2025, and the solo parent leave service requirement fell from one year to six months. The regulatory framework numbers reference carries all five. The competition thresholds are adjusted annually against nominal GDP growth, so this is a figure worth confirming rather than memorizing once and trusting forever.
The full set is collected in our regulatory framework numbers reference.
What is not changing: the blueprint itself
One more source of anxiety deserves a direct answer. The Board has published a restructured syllabus that merges and renames subjects, introducing Business Analysis and Reporting and Information Systems and Controls. None of that applies to this exam. Resolution 30 governs the October 2026 sitting, with the same six subjects and the same 450 items across three days.
If you want to understand the coming restructure for planning reasons, start with our guide to the new exam structure. Just do not let it consume study time you need for the exam in front of you.
How to use this in your last six weeks
- Audit your reviewer against the four tax laws. Open to the rate tables. If you find a 15% rate on foreign currency deposit interest or a 1% minimum corporate income tax, the book predates 2025 and every rate in it needs checking.
- Confirm the three regulatory framework figures above. Two items on deposit insurance and social security is a plausible haul, and they are pure recall.
- Stop reading about PFRS 18. One sentence of awareness, then close the tab. PAS 1 is the standard being tested.
- Do not chase the restructured syllabus. It is not this exam.
Practice with current rates
The fastest way to find out whether you have absorbed an old rate is to answer a question written against the current one. The 6,100+ questions on cpareview.ph are maintained against the laws and standards in force, and the AI tutor will explain why a deposit placed before July 2025 is taxed differently from one placed after. Start your free 7-day trial to review against current law.
Key takeaway
The cut-off is the exam date. On 24 October 2026, PAS 1 governs presentation, PFRS 17 is still deferred in the Philippines, and PFRS 18 and PFRS 19 have not taken effect. TRAIN, EOPT, CREATE MORE and CMEPA are all in force and all fair game. The quality management standards are old news, not new material. And three regulatory framework figures moved recently enough that your reviewer is probably still printing the old ones.
Sources
- BOA Resolution No. 30, Series of 2022 — the Table of Specifications governing the October 2026 CPALE
- IFRS 18 Presentation and Disclosure in Financial Statements — IFRS Foundation, effective 1 January 2027
- Grant Thornton Philippines — Navigating the Changes to IFRS Accounting Standards, 2026 edition — effective dates by standard
- FSRSC approves further deferral of PFRS 17 — Philippine deferral to 1 January 2027
- PDIC — Increase in Maximum Deposit Insurance Coverage — ₱1,000,000 effective 15 March 2025
- SSS — contribution rate increase to 15% — effective January 2025
- PCC adjusts the merger notification thresholds effective March 2026 — Philippine Competition Commission
- Auditing and Assurance Standards Council — current Philippine Standards on Auditing and their effective dates
Last updated: September 2026, for the October 24-26, 2026 CPALE. Effective dates are stated as published by the issuing bodies. Confirm any issuance released after this date before the exam.