All things CPA exam

Ethics Exam and Licensing

2009-10-07T17:41:00.001-07:00

Depending on your State, you will have different requirements in the licensing process, but in CA, you must complete a take home ethics exam with 90% or better before you can apply for your license.

The ethics exam was tough, even for a take-home exam! Most of the questions had two or more right answers, and the documentation in the book was not specific as to most circumstances. My advice for passing the ethics exam in CA, is to write the page number you found your answer next to the question, that way if you have to retake the exam (u get three tries per book) you know where to start in finding the proper answer.

Be careful to read the question throughly because the question could be asking about Federal regulations or California regulations.

It took me about 15 hours to complete my ethics exam, and I passed on the first try, with 95%. Put in the time, make sure you pass the first time, because they don't tell you which questions you got wrong, which may make it difficult to find the right answers.

Once I passed the ethics exam, I submitted my application, and once approved, I had a license number within 4 weeks and my wall certificate another 2 weeks later! I am now a proud licensed CPA.

I know once you pass the exam you think, no more studying, well, not exactly true, you still have CPE's every year, but YOU get to choose the topics, and they aren't some large daunting exam that hold you back from your career.

So don't be afraid of the CPA exam, just take it one step at a time, and I promise, you'll get there.

Time elapsed from starting to study, to receiving the Wall Certificate in the mail from the California Board of Accountancy, 1 year 4 months.

Not Bad!

Passed all four exams!

2009-10-07T17:35:00.000-07:00

I cannot even explain the joy when you receive the fourth and final score and realize you are DONE with the exam and nobody can take that away from you.

In the end, I passed three of the four exams the first time, and as you know, three tries to finally pass BEC. All said and done, from the time I opened the first Becker book to start studying to the time I received my final passing score was 10-months. If you follow the Becker schedule exactly, you can be done in about 7-months if you pass each exam the first time and don't have to wait for additional testing periods.

Regardless of how long it takes you, or how many exam tries, it is do-able! I thought it was an impossible task until I passed the first exam. The confidence boost propels you through the rest of the exams and really makes getting your license realistic. Just take things one exam at a time, and keep moving forward and you'll eventually get there. I'm not going to lie, you will reach points where you DO NOT want to study, and that's okay, as long as you push through it, and get back on track.

The end eventually comes, and it is soooo worth it!

Good Luck!

Finally!

2009-10-07T17:29:00.000-07:00

Well, FAR was my last exam, and I have to say I was totally intimidated by the material. Even though I was doing Becker, there was so much material, there was barely enough time in the live classes to rush through each chapter. I did my homework each week as the classes progressed, but I found by the end of the class, when I started doing practice exams, and I completely forgotten the material from the first few weeks!

My advice, especially if you are doing Becker, don't do the homework as you go along, because the class is so long, you may start forgetting chunks from the weeks before. Wait until you have two weeks of class left, then start doing the homework from chapter one. After the terrible experience with BEC, and still not having passed BEC by the time I took FAR, I studied my BUTT off!

When all was said and done, because there was so much material, it is impossible to cover it all in the exam, which I think helped me because I knew some of all the different topics, but nothing really in depth. The day came when I logged onto the website to check my score, and there it was, a beautiful 77!

So Happy!

BEC Exam HELL

2009-10-07T17:19:00.001-07:00

Well, it's been over a year since I've posted, but I wanted to update my experiences so that anyone that comes across this blog understands that there are others out there that have been through the same experiences.

As I wrote in my last post, I was planning on retaking BEC before I received my score, and I was right x 3. The first time I took BEC, I got a whopping 72 thanks to, I believed, variances, my worst subject. So I thought, study again, know variances inside and out, (the reason I *thought* I did bad) and retake. And I end up with a 74, and not one variance question!!! So CLOSE, yet soooooooooo far, that I might as well have gotten a 60! The thing that worried me is that with the first BEC score, IT was my best section, where I scored well above other people taking the exam, but the second take at BEC, IT was my worst section! Are you kidding me?!?!?!

Anyway, I studied my butt off, including restudying IT, retook the exam, and finally, a 75!!! That 75 was as sweet to me as if I had received a perfect score! Remember, you only need a 75, and unless you want the best score in the country, nobody cares what you get (including your employer) as long as you get your license!

Good luck with BEC and I hope you do better than I did!

BEC Exam

2008-08-25T10:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I took the BEC exam and it is the first exam I'm actually planning on retaking before I've even received my score! I figure if I just go ahead and plan to retake BEC at the end October, two weeks after I take FAR, then it will be a pleasant surprise if I actually find out that I passed in approximately three weeks!

I have to admit, I did not study as much as I should have, but the entire BEC exam is a joke. Do we really need to know Economics and Finance to be an accountant, NO! Maybe if one day we want to be an CFO, but hey, we can learn it then, or look it up as we need it, but not to be a CPA.

This ridiculous section is just a way to generate more income by forcing us to pay for an exam on information we will not use in our jobs, it's like asking a lawyer to be tested on basket weaving on the BAR exam, not necessary!

I can only hope that because my exam had a large amount of IT questions, it will save my score and keep my head above 75!

The waiting has already begun.......

BEC

2008-08-23T08:24:00.001-07:00

Well,..BEC studying has not been going so well. I'd say that I have business formations, economics, and IT down pat, but finance and cost accounting,..can we say,...help?

It's the morning of my test, and I've done the best I can do. I think with it being the summer, I have overschedule my personal life during the BEC section of my life, and I am the first to admit, I have not put in as much time studying for BEC as I have the other sections. But really, finance and cost accounting, yuck! Everytime I sit down to try to memorize the formulas or work the problems, I either get bored, or I can't solve them properly, and I give up.

So here goes to my first exam i'll probably have to retake. I've done what I can do in the short amount of time I've allowed myself to study, and lets hope the entire test is IT, because i've been averaging 88% of the IT practice questions!

Wish me luck, my exam is in T-minus 4-hours and counting. I've convinced myself I'll start studying again as soon as my husband gets back from McDonalds with my McGriddle,..whats the point starting now, then stopping when he gets back to eat?

My point exactly, BEC has drained every ounce of motivation I've ever had to study for this exam!

I actually passed

2008-08-20T08:17:00.000-07:00

The news this morning just brightened my entire day. I've been checking for the scores online each day and reading the forums hoping to see my "score pending" change to "advisory score" and it finally happened for me. Can you believe I got an 84?!?! Wow, after taking the exam I was sure I failed both simulations, but I was comfortable with my multiple choice, I guess it all worked out for me.

When I shared the news with my co-workers, I kept getting the same response, which surprised me,....

Me: (excited) I passed REG!!!
Them: (excited) That's awesome, congratulations, what did you get?
Me: (excited) An 84!!!!
Them: You overstudied
Me: (Confused) How can you overstudy? Isn't it a good thing to have as much knowledge as possible?
Them: Naw, anything over an 80 is overstudying.

Like I said, this conversation happened with a few different people at different times throughout the day and it made me start to think, do they really want me to just skate by in passing these exams, or did they not pass it the first time, and with a very good score, so since I'm a first year, been there less than a year, and am passing the exams my first try with scores in the 80's making them look bad?

Bottom line, who cares,....I got an 84!!!!!

Still Waiting

2008-08-12T09:49:00.001-07:00

It's August 12th, 24-days after I took REG, and only 11-days from when I take BEC, and I starting to get really anxious about my REG score. Hopefully my score will be released in the first wave, which means somewhere between the 15th of the month and when I sit for BEC, and I really want to have passed before I sit for BEC. I need the confidence boost!

Studying for BEC

2008-07-28T13:09:00.000-07:00

Chapter 1 of the Becker BEC was a breeze, I actually got 100% on a progress test for a chapter for the first time on this, but Chapter 2, are you kidding me! Economics was one of my least favorite subjects in school, plus I took it almost 10-years ago, and now I have to relearn it for the exam. Can somebody please kill me now!

REG Studying

2008-07-20T12:53:00.000-07:00

I was on an extended engagement in San Francisco and I didn't put in any studying during the five weeks I was there, and was forced to cram in the entire REG study portion in the last two weeks before the exam. I rewatched some of the lectures on dvd to make up for the poor lectures I received while in San Francisco (see previous entry), and I did multiple choice and simulated exams everyday until my test.

I took the exam on 7/19/08, and I have to say, I felt completely prepared for the multiple choice section of the exam, in fact, the questions may have been easier than the questions I worked over and over in Becker. But again, the simulations threw me for a loop.

The material on my first simulation, oh how I hope it was pre-test material and that it's not graded. The topic was not covered at all in my Becker book, and I've looked into other review materials, that topic was not covered there either! And to top off my terrible simulation, the written communication question, did not belong on the REG exam, but on a different exam section!

Well, it's time to start waiting for my score and studying for BEC.....

AUD Score

2008-06-23T12:50:00.000-07:00

After weeks of tense anticipation, I received my score for AUD ...... 86!!! Holy Crap! I thought I totally bombed the simulations and not only did I pass, but got a pretty good score, I'm in total shock right now. I think I'll ride this wave for a week until I really have to get down and focus on the REG exam coming up on 7/19/08!

Becker Instructors

2008-06-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

Wow, can I point out that all Live Becker instructors are not created equal! I think I've been spoiled taking my classes in Sacramento, because I've had an awesome instructor, and I've just been soaking up the understanding like a sponge!

That is, until I was on an extended engagement in San Francisco and had to make up my classes during two 8-hour long Saturday sessions!

First off, it's hard enough to make it through a 4-hour class after work from 6-10pm, but to have to make it through an 8-hour class on a Saturday, is a task upon itself! Add to that the cost of these Becker classes, almost $3,000, and you're expecting a review course AND instructor that was worth the investment.

Let me preface this by saying that I had two different instructors in San Francisco, the first, and the one I have a problem with taught the three tax portions of the class I needed to make up, and the second, taught the one law class I needed to make up.

Let's call the tax instructor ML. This instructor was definitely only there to make whatever money Becker throws at their instructors, because he really could care less about the understanding of the students. This instructor rushed through the materials, skipped what seemed like important sections, and finished the first 4-hour class in only 2 1/2 hours. Now, if this were a regular semester length college course, I would have loved getting out early, but I paid ALOT of money for this course, out of my own pocket, and I did not get my money's worth.

The second section of the course was supposed to start at 1pm, and because we finished the morning section early, other students asked if he could just keep going, so we could get out early for the day. The instructor, actually bragged that he had done that once before, but students showed up to make-up just the second part of the class, and because he started early, they missed the first 1 1/2 hours. He told us that he got in trouble with Becker for doing this, and that was why he wouldn't do it the day I was there.

The afternoon section was no different, the 4-hour class ended in only 3-hours, which included two 30-minute breaks! So overall, for the 8-hours of instruction I paid for, I received only 5 1/2 hours from good ol' ML.

Please avoid this instructor at all costs if you are taking the class in San Francisco, and again, do some research, and sit in on a live class with the actual instructor you'll have before shelling out the money for the live classes.

Audit Exam - 5/17/08

2008-05-18T12:23:00.000-07:00

Whew, my first exam is behind me, and I'm not sure how to feel about my performance. The multiple choice questions were very similar to the Becker practice questions, but of course, some of the material is just downright difficult. My testlets got progressively harder, which is good, it means I did well on the first one, but whether I answered the harder testlets correctly, we'll have to wait and see.

The simulations on the other hand, OH MY GOD! I have to admit, I only went through the Becker practice simulations once, and didn't feel I needed to really worry about them, I was sooo wrong! The written communication topic on one of the testlets was a topic I barely spent five minutes on, and the material for the rest of the simulations, not covered too in depth in the review book. Thankfully I've been working in public accounting for a few months and had actually experienced some of the simulation material first-hand, but I'm still very worried about my score.

Now I get to play the waiting game,....

Audit

2008-05-10T12:10:00.000-07:00

I've been studying and studying and studying some more for the Audit section of the exam. Of course it's my first section so I have no idea what to expect on the exam. I can say that I read the chapters before my Becker classes and I was so confused with the material. After each class, the material just clicked, and I definately have to give credit to my instructor for the Sacramento class, Truman Rishard! He is just an awesome instructor, and if I pass, I know it is due in part to his teaching methods!

I've been working the multiple choice questions that come with the passmaster software, and taking the simulated exams over and over, and hopefully it will be enough to pass! I've been putting in approximately 2 hours in the evenings, 8 hours on Saturdays, and anywhere from 1-8 hours at work Mon-Fri depending on whether I have work or not.

For those of you that don't have full time jobs while studying for the CPA exam, I envy you, because it is definately a struggle to find time to study while working full time in public accounting. We're wrapping up busy season, so I should have a bit more time for studying the next few sections before things really pick up again!

I've followed the Becker timeline as far as studying, which is, take the classes, take two full weeks for review, take the exam, then start the next Becker class. I've found that sticking to one section at a time is most productive for me, as I don't want to mix up the material, and not be fully prepared for the exam!

CPA Exam

2008-04-22T11:03:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog, where hopefully I'll be able to share some of my experiences with studying for, and passing (hopefully) the CPA exam. The CPA exam is broken down into four sections, all of which are tested separately in four smaller exams. The exams include Audit (AUD), Regulation (REG), Business Environment and Concepts (BEC), and Financial (FAR), and consist of both multiple choice questions, simulations, research, and written communication (BEC only has Multiple Choice Questions).

I decided to take the Becker Live review courses instead of just self-study with books and cd's because let's face it, I know myself, and if I didn't have a structure where I was required to show up to learn the material, I just wouldn't do it on my own. In addition, I know that when I learn from an instructor versus studying from a book, I tend to absorb 75-80% of the material without ever having to go back over it, thus the Live Becker classes worked for me.

If you are considering taking the Live Becker review classes, please check the class in your area to make sure it has a "real" instructor, instead of just a class aide that pops in the DVD, and calls it a "Live" class. Not all Live classes are created equal. In areas of the country with smaller interest in the Live classes, you get a group viewing of the DVD that comes with the self-study materials, with no interaction via an actual knowledgeable instructor.

If on the other hand, you live in a larger area and have a real life instructor, like I have in Sacramento, again, they are not all created equal. Do some research and make sure that the instructor you have is good. Ask to sit in on a class before deciding to shell out such a large sum of money to make sure the Live class is a good fit.