The Journey of a Future CPA

As you may be aware, I took my first CPA exam today, August 31.  There are 4 parts, all of varying degrees of difficulty.  I decided to take the easiest one (BEC) first, but not for that reason.  I thought I’d start with the business section because I find it most interesting and because it’s what I do best.

You see, accounting has never been my strongest subject.  I have gotten easy A’s in classes like finance, economics, marketing, and management.  Not accounting.  Perhaps I study it because it challenges me.

My original plan was to take BEC on August 1^st, and to take another one on the 31^st(today).  But I had to wait forever before I got my “Notice to Schedule.”  For me, the NTS required filling out 2 hours worth of forms, paying $717, and sending transcripts from 2 different universities (because I did post-secondary in high school).  My application should have taken four weeks to process but there was an issue with my transcript.  Apparently, my summer classes hadn’t been posted yet, and the exam services said I was 2 credit hours short.  After 2 more weeks dealing with the CPA examination services and the BGSU Registrar’s office, I finally received my notice to schedule.

I had done two weeks of serious studying at the beginning of July.  But then I realized my NTS wouldn’t be ready when I wanted to take it.  I had no idea when it would be ready.  So I stopped for a while and relaxed.

My NTS arrived two weeks ago.  I didn’t think I would have enough time to prepare so I wasn’t going to take it until October.  Then my friend Jeff Koons told me that I could do it and that I should take it in August.  That was all the convincing I needed.  I signed up for the exam at 3:30 AM.

I only had two weeks to prepare.  Granted, I had already studied two sections, but that was a month ago and I barely remembered it.  In order to be ready for the exam, I had to complete three sections in the first week, and spent the entire second week reviewing and taking practice exams.  Each section took about 10 hours.

The last two weeks have been filled with constant studying.  When I thought I was finished for the day, I did a little more.  For about 10 straight days I studied. 

I took my first Becker practice exam on Saturday.  I was ecstatic to find that I had scored a 91%.  OMG!!  For the rest of the day, I was extremely confident.  The next day, I went to take another exam.  I scored a 72%.  I was stunned.  In order to pass, I need a 75%. 

Granted, the multiple choice questions are worth 85% and the writing is worth 15%.  I’ve always loved to write, so I was fairly confident in my abilities.  But I did some calculations and realized a perfect writing score wouldn’t have saved me from a 72%.  Then I realized that the writing portion can’t really make you, but it can break you.

By Tuesday, I had lost all motivation in studying.  I decided to relax because I wanted to feel refreshed on exam day.  I ate a healthy dinner and prepared for the next day.  After telling a few people my exam was in Stow, I realized it was in Niles.  I wasn’t really sure where either of them was but I knew it was far. 

According to Google maps, my testing center was an hour and twenty minutes away.  I had to be there at 8:30 and was worried about getting caught in traffic.  I decided to leave at 6:30 am so there wasn’t any room for error.  Once I got to the center, I would review flashcards in my car.

I woke up at 5:30 and showered.  I wanted to look my best so it would give me an extra boost of confidence.  My clothing choice was important, as I didn’t want to be cold, so I wore a pair of jeans and a sweater thing over a tank top.  I left at 6:45, and after a long drive on several different highways (listening to Lady Gaga of course), I made it to the testing center at 8:00 am.  I went through every flashcard at which point it was 8:30.  Thirty minutes to go.

After a high security sign-in process, complete with two forms of ID, a password, a picture, and fingerprints, I was allowed to take my exam.

I sat down, clicked through the opening prompts, and read the first question.  I didn’t even know it.  I shrugged, marked the question with a flag, and kept going.  I knew a lot of the answers but there were others that I swore I had never seen before.  I finished the exam 10 minutes early, with no idea if I passed or failed.

My MAcc cohort and future colleague lived 5 minutes from the testing center, so we met for lunch.  He had just taken FAR, the hardest CPA exam, two days before.  We exchanged horror stories about the whole process.

On the way home, I had a lot of time to reflect on the questions I was unsure of during the exam.  I think I got a lot of them right.  When I went home, I looked up a few answers and validated that belief.  However, I found a few other questions that I thought I got right that I actually got wrong.  So I really don’t know what that means.

My score on the exam will not be know for at least a month, probably more.  During that time, I will be studying for my next section—REG.  I may even take my second exam before I find out if I passed the first one.  After I take REG, I begin my career as an auditor at Grant Thornton.

These are my personal experiences relating to the CPA exam.  I’m sure it varies greatly between people who take it.  Statistics say less than 10% of individuals pass all 4 parts of the CPA exam on the first try.  My goal is to be one of them.  My other goal is to pass all 4 parts by next October.  It will be a great deal of work, but I know it will be worth it in the end.  If getting a CPA was easy, it wouldn’t mean nearly as much.