The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy has released its annual Candidate Performance Book for Uniform CPA Examination candidates, presenting comprehensive statistical data from all four testing windows of the Uniform CPA exam last year.

The latest edition of the book features a new design, along several enhanced reporting options designed to meet the needs of various constituencies, including academics, researchers, CPA firms, state boards and prospective students. Among the new inclusions a colorful, two-page dashboard displaying demographics, residency, degree type and a candidate comparison for each jurisdiction represented in the book. The featured tables also provide a more granular view of event and performance data.

The tables in the book include:

•  2011 annual and quarterly summaries
•  Jurisdiction summary statistics
•  Top 30 countries (by number of candidates)
•  Demographic trending (age, gender, degree)
•  2011 top 40 institutional rankings by first-time examination performance

Appendices represented in the book include:

• Summary performance by institution attended (all, first-time only, bachelor’s, advanced)
• Section performance by institution attended (all, first-time only)

This year, NASBA is making the publication available during the first quarter of 2012, several months earlier than in prior years. The earlier release is due in part to NASBA’s use of new technologies, which make the process of tracking and tabulating the data more efficient. All of the data used to develop the reports came from NASBA’s Gateway System, which houses the Uniform CPA Exam’s application and performance information for all 55 U.S. jurisdictions.

NASBA first began gathering data on CPA Exam candidates in 1982 and has published reports on their performance and selected characteristics since 1985, while working to improve them over the years.

“During the past nine months, we have worked closely with many subject matter experts, including accountancy boards, schools, review course providers and media outlets, to transform the Candidate Performance Book into a product that more closely meets the needs of its many users,” said NASBA director of continuous improvement and analytics James Suh in a statement. “Although we are very happy with our initial work, we see this publication as a starting point in our mission to develop a comprehensive suite of products that will give the accounting community a view into the CPA examination that has never before been available.”

Uniform CPA Examination: Candidate Performance is published in various formats, including paperback and e-book. The paperback version is available for $120, while the eBook version costs $100. Standard online reports and customized reports are also available by special request.

For more information, visit http://www.nasba.org/products/candidateperformancedata/candidateperformancebook.