CPA Ethics and Governance study plan

Define ethics, morality and law, and distinguish each with three original examples per category

Compare consequentialist, deontological and virtue-ethics reasoning by resolving one dilemma three different ways

Map the accounting profession's public-interest obligation to the fundamental principles of integrity, objectivity, competence, confidentiality and professional behaviour

Explain how the conceptual framework's threats-and-safeguards approach differs from a rules-only compliance approach

Apply a structured ethical decision-making model (identify facts, stakeholders, principles, options, consequences, decision) to four practice scenarios and justify the chosen action

Classify self-interest, self-review, advocacy, familiarity, intimidation and management-participation threats in twelve short vignettes

Design appropriate safeguards for each threat type, distinguishing safeguards created by the profession, legislation, the firm and the client

Evaluate independence requirements for audit and assurance engagements, including fees, long association, and provision of non-assurance services

Resolve conflicts of interest and confidentiality dilemmas where obligations to client, employer and public interest collide

Differentiate agency, stakeholder, stewardship, shareholder and transaction-cost theories and state the governance problem each explains

Analyse separation of ownership and control and derive the resulting agency costs and monitoring mechanisms

Critique shareholder-primacy and stakeholder-inclusive models using stated assumptions and evidence

Explain how board structure, incentives and disclosure respond to specific theoretical problems

Distinguish unitary, two-tier and dual-board structures and evaluate when each is appropriate

Specify the role, composition, independence and authority of the board and its audit, risk, remuneration and nomination committees

Assess chair and CEO role separation, board diversity, and director appointment, tenure and removal processes

Evaluate director duties of care, diligence, good faith and avoiding conflicts against a factual scenario

Apply the substance of governance-code recommendations on board composition, independence, disclosure and shareholder engagement to a company fact pattern

Construct accountability chains linking shareholders, board, committees, management, external auditor and regulators

Diagnose governance failures in a documented corporate collapse and attribute them to specific mechanisms that did not operate

Explain the external auditor's reporting and communication obligations to those charged with governance and to the market

Distinguish CSR, corporate citizenship, the triple bottom line, sustainability and ESG, and specify the accountability each implies

Apply stakeholder salience (power, legitimacy, urgency) to prioritise claims in a contested scenario

Compare integrated reporting, sustainability reporting frameworks and mandatory climate disclosure on scope, assurance and comparability

Evaluate greenwashing risk and the assurance and governance controls that mitigate it

Integrate sustainability duties with professional-conduct obligations where commercial pressure conflicts with public-interest reporting

Resolve cross-domain scenarios that combine governance failure, ethical threat and stakeholder claim

Re-audit personal error logs from weeks 1 to 6 and rebuild notes on the three weakest sub-topics

Practise timed written answers under exam conditions across all five domains

Sit two full-length mock exams under timed conditions and self-mark against the official weighting

Rank all five domains by mock performance and re-drill only the bottom two

Rehearse answer structure: issue, principle or theory, application, conclusion, within time budget

Memorise and reproduce from memory the core lists: fundamental principles, five threat types, board committee functions, governance theories, sustainability frameworks