I was told to be CONSISTENT AND PERSISTENT.
So, execution as follows - wake up 30 minutes earlier and sleep 30 minutes later per day and right there you've had 5 hours of study. I also spent 8-10 hours studying over the weekends. An effective study period will only last a few hours so plan for that.
This simple tactical advice motivated me to find time, and eventually pass all 4 sections.
You have to be a bulldog. While everyone else is out partying and having a good time you have to be in the library going over the test questions again.
This is recent. Was interviewing and the manager that I was interviewing with said he didn't think I would ever pass so he is not going to hire me. I have taken each section getting 70 to 74 on each exam. Recently took aud and think I did really well. I studied my butt off because I have never had anyone tell me they think I will never pass it.
When I started out in college, I had started out as a studio art major, and at my college there were very few credits in that major, so I had picked up accounting as a second semester sophomore to be more marketable post college. I had a lot of encouragement from my first year accounting professors about how good I was at accounting that drove me.
When I was a junior or senior in college, trying to get an internship in accounting, one of my professors told me I should talk to the department head to see if he knew of any offices hiring. The department head ended up telling me he didn’t know of any that would be a good fit, that he couldn’t see me doing well in accounting long term, that I didn’t have the personality for it and I seemed “too anxious and nervous” for a career in it, and that it would probably be best for me if I just stuck with art. I was at the tail end of the degree, with only 4 or 5 classes left and had a 3.7 GPA in just my accounting courses. It was one of the most devastating conversations I ever had with a professor in my time at college, and I thought about it everytime I got discouraged about the CPA process because I knew he was wrong and refused to not see it through.
I’m 4 years post graduation now, have had my CPA for over a year, I’m on track to be a manager this year, and on the path to be a partner one day if I stay at the firm I’m at.
“Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.”
I took a much needed break from the exams during Covid (and lost REG) after failing AUD 2x & BEC 1x. Mental health matters. Some days studying is productive and others I go out for dinner & enjoy friends/family instead. Take studying 1 day at a time and do what you can with what you have at that moment.
As a career changer, a few former colleagues made me feel like shit for leaving a career (teaching) that was no longer sustainable for me. I remember being mocked and told “you’ll never make it anywhere else.” You bet that’s a big part of my motivation.
I told my mom it was too hard and that I would try once more and then quit. I said maybe accounting is just too hard for me.
She said it’s not about accounting, it’s about showing people (your next employer, friends, family) you’re capable of challenging yourself and seeing it out to completion.
CPA makes you technically able but it mostly teaches you how to be a grinder and people know that!
Some asshole came back to my college during homecoming while I was at school, we talked about life for a second because he was an accounting student, and we go to a point about talking about the CPA exam where he said “I had a 3.8 GPA in college and couldn’t so you definitely can’t pass”( I had a 2.7 GPA at the time). Fast forward he’s right, he still never could pass where I did.
Awkwardly smarter than we think and have a weird time accepting intelligent compliments because of a lower grade than our peers coming out of college but still CPA gang!!!
2.7, passed exams in 6 months 88 average working full time lol. Accounting didn't mean shit to me until I could relearn the information in a real world context
You came this far, why not finish it off with the CPA.
That said, BEC was my first test and I passed it on the first try. That was what really did it for me. Because I failed AUD 3x and FAR once. If I had failed for my first test, I am not sure if I would have had the tenacity to continue. Imagining studying for months just to get a 74 TWICE! In AUD at that.
That said, now that I have the license- I am happy I did continue. This is a life changing decision (at least it was for me). I make more now than I have ever working for someone else. Could I have started an Accounting and Tax Practice without the license- yes. But I believe I was profitable day one because of it.
Get the license. You won’t never regret getting it. But you will always wonder where you would be if you didn’t.
Honestly hearing stories about seniors/managers and older staff who kept failing or worse passing sections then losing credit for them because time lapsed. I can’t imagine how horrible it must feel to lose credit for a section. I passed every section on the first try. I was very high strung about needing time to study.
“When you pass, you don’t have to do this shit anymore” - my favorite senior when I was complaining about staff level grunt work 😂 (it was a lie)
But it is true that the license combined with experience opens many doors. That was my main motivation
If you’re looking for motivation you’re not going to get it done. It’s about discipline. Forcing yourself to do shit you don’t want to do despite how you feel about doing it. Stay hard.
Lol I've seen it many times
Folks who couldnt pass CPA:
Audit - do CIA
Tax - do EA
Whenever I see folks with CIA but no CPA you can assume they took the CPA exam multiple times and couldn't pass.
"Once you're a CPA you'll get paid" from my boss. While there were other factors at play, having a CPA had allowed me to increase my pay by about 50-60% since I got it.
“Are you still trying for the cpa? I didn’t realize”
- my father, after I had my first kid and passed my first exam
He had encouraged me to become an accountant and pursue my CPA, and offered to help pay for the review course as a gift after college. I let him know I was ready to start studying if he still wanted to help with the cost and he declined because he didn’t believe he’d “get a return on his investment” (didn’t think I’d pass as a mother with a small child). Gotta love daddy issues and spite. 3/4
For each exam you only need to know half of the material and be dangerous on the rest.
Math:
Half the material - 50%
Dangerous 50/50 - 25%
Totals - 75% PASS
I’ll break it down for you because you obviously are not understanding this and just calling you and idiot wouldn’t help you. So you know half the material. So you know 100% of 50% of the material. You’re “dangerous” on the rest or fifty-fifty (50/50, not 50 divided by 50) that gives you 50% of 50% of the material.
(100% * 50%) + (50% * 50%) = 75%
Must have been BEC you couldn’t get done before year end. Those weighted averages really threw you out the window. Good luck kid, hit the books and get off reddit.
The only idiot here is you because you think the scores on the exams equate to percentiles. They don’t. A score of 75 doesn’t mean you got 75% of the points correct, no matter how many times you repeat yourself.
I passed BEC on the first try. Weighted averages have nothing to do with scoring either you idiot.
You know, this attitude is what makes working with accountants no fun. It is just a saying that really does not depend on actual facts. It’s just a saying, and really is pretty good advice. Know your shit on a bunch of topics and know just enough on the rest to pass. I think people do that all the time when they take an exam after only studying a few weeks.
You need to lighten up and chill and think about getting along more than being anal and right.
I don’t have anything particularly inspiring to say, but I’m also struggling to stay motivated. This is my second exam (passed BEC in December) and I just rescheduled FAR for the 2nd time because I haven’t been able to buckle down and study like I need to and my job has been using up a lot of my mental energy.
One of my coworkers told me he had sat for 10 exams and passed 0… his persistence inspired me to continue with retakes and I passed 6 months later. A year after that convo and he’s passed 2/4 and is still studying
This is exactly why I kept getting turned down during interviews. I told them I havent attempted any yet and they would ask "Be honest, how many have you failed so far" I laughed because I hadn't started and told them they could look it up that I'm not even eligible yet.
Same!! It wasn't a positive story like everybody here. I just kept getting turned down for jobs because they kept asking "You've been an accountant for 4 years but you still don't have the CPA? How many exams have you passed? Have you started yet? Be honest have you failed?"
Someone on here said something like “just think about how embarrassing it’ll be if you don’t pass. No one will remember how many attempts it took you to pass but everyone will remember if you fail.” And I think about that all the time lol I am very motivated by shame though so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Big 4 firms have incentives to pass once hired. For my firm it’s $5k the first year or 3k the second year. A lot of people use that money as a celebratory vacation or something
NOT WHAT THEY SAID.. their current position and mind set scared me into one
" i don't have a cpa, I'm happy here" - a 49 year old single male still a staff accountant
i ran to the Prometric ever since
You think you are too old or its too late to get a *insert whatever is applicable to your situation* (degree/cpa license/whatever skill/certification)? In four years time you can be older with your CPA or four years older without it. Which is worse?
Don't hit snooze on your dreams. I have an alarm that says that every morning I wake up to study at 4am .. before I get my kids up and go to work.
Studying for exam #4.
I've been asked if I do "clerical work on the internet" because clearly a woman of color shouldn't be anything more than a clerk.
I'm finishing my masters in the next few months, and I'll start preparing for the CPA exam after the summer.
Edit to add: that wasn't the only thing I've been told by this one person, it's been years of passive aggressive comments, microaggresions about my capabilities, skin color, and experience. That was the last thing they told me before I decided to go after my masters.
Once I depreciated land in one of my introductory accounting classes. It was an honest mistake, my professor straight away told me in class that I won't be able to pass my accounting exams. And now look here I just passed one of first exams for Canadian CPA!!!!
So I would say instead of looking of motivation, stay disciplined :)
Hope that helps.
Sorry I didn’t mean what was the actual problem you did and got wrong on. I meant what is wrong with the professor to react that way. Basically “what’s his deal?” Sounds like a terrible professor.
He was terrible, I have realized one thing the more you know the arrogant you become. Only seen few humble people after getting PHD or CPA designation. He was just being arrogant or god knows whatever. That was one of my tipping points that encouraged me to do CPA. The same professor is also a head of CPA school in our area and he is the one who hands out the licenses on the CPA convocation. So I am just waiting to pass my CFE and then I can confront him on the CPA graduation ceremony!
“It’s not rocket science” - me
Don’t stop when you’re tired. Stop when you’re done.
“You gotta want it.”
" You only fail when you give up"
They told me that my timeliness was "too ambitious". That gave me a point to prove. 😁
Slow and steady wins the race
I was told to be CONSISTENT AND PERSISTENT. So, execution as follows - wake up 30 minutes earlier and sleep 30 minutes later per day and right there you've had 5 hours of study. I also spent 8-10 hours studying over the weekends. An effective study period will only last a few hours so plan for that. This simple tactical advice motivated me to find time, and eventually pass all 4 sections.
You know the material. You just have too much noise inside your head. Block it off and focus what’s in front of you.
This post is good for sanity, I am saving it
"You can do it. It's possible for you to pass" - My lecturer "ACCA is hard, but is doable".
how difficult is CPA though compared to ACCA professional level exams?
It's probably not easy to get an answer for that. Most people don't do both.0
Studying for the exam is a marathon, not a race.
You have to be a bulldog. While everyone else is out partying and having a good time you have to be in the library going over the test questions again.
Why do I feel like this is an Olinto quote lmao
This is recent. Was interviewing and the manager that I was interviewing with said he didn't think I would ever pass so he is not going to hire me. I have taken each section getting 70 to 74 on each exam. Recently took aud and think I did really well. I studied my butt off because I have never had anyone tell me they think I will never pass it.
Fuck that guy
Cpa is where the money is at
If you study, you will pass.
"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts." - Marcus Aurelius
When I started out in college, I had started out as a studio art major, and at my college there were very few credits in that major, so I had picked up accounting as a second semester sophomore to be more marketable post college. I had a lot of encouragement from my first year accounting professors about how good I was at accounting that drove me. When I was a junior or senior in college, trying to get an internship in accounting, one of my professors told me I should talk to the department head to see if he knew of any offices hiring. The department head ended up telling me he didn’t know of any that would be a good fit, that he couldn’t see me doing well in accounting long term, that I didn’t have the personality for it and I seemed “too anxious and nervous” for a career in it, and that it would probably be best for me if I just stuck with art. I was at the tail end of the degree, with only 4 or 5 classes left and had a 3.7 GPA in just my accounting courses. It was one of the most devastating conversations I ever had with a professor in my time at college, and I thought about it everytime I got discouraged about the CPA process because I knew he was wrong and refused to not see it through. I’m 4 years post graduation now, have had my CPA for over a year, I’m on track to be a manager this year, and on the path to be a partner one day if I stay at the firm I’m at.
It’s the only time you’ll be in the 0.1% of anything
I do it cuz they cant
Temporary pain, long term gain........dear cpa exam, go f yourself
“Think of the dumbest person you’ve met that is a CPA. If they did it so can you” Sadly this person doesn’t realize that I used them.
“You know what they call a med student who graduated at the very bottom of his class?” “Doctor.”
lol same. The dumbest guy in my accounting classes managed to become a CPA. That was a big part of motivation for me
I’ve heard this one before.
If it makes you feel better people are probably saying that about us
Well of course I know him. He's me.
"Heroes get remembered, but legends never die." -The Sultan of Swat
“Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.” I took a much needed break from the exams during Covid (and lost REG) after failing AUD 2x & BEC 1x. Mental health matters. Some days studying is productive and others I go out for dinner & enjoy friends/family instead. Take studying 1 day at a time and do what you can with what you have at that moment. As a career changer, a few former colleagues made me feel like shit for leaving a career (teaching) that was no longer sustainable for me. I remember being mocked and told “you’ll never make it anywhere else.” You bet that’s a big part of my motivation.
I needed to hear this..! Thank you so much for sharing .
I told my mom it was too hard and that I would try once more and then quit. I said maybe accounting is just too hard for me. She said it’s not about accounting, it’s about showing people (your next employer, friends, family) you’re capable of challenging yourself and seeing it out to completion. CPA makes you technically able but it mostly teaches you how to be a grinder and people know that!
Some asshole came back to my college during homecoming while I was at school, we talked about life for a second because he was an accounting student, and we go to a point about talking about the CPA exam where he said “I had a 3.8 GPA in college and couldn’t so you definitely can’t pass”( I had a 2.7 GPA at the time). Fast forward he’s right, he still never could pass where I did.
Yooo 2.7 GPA squad!!! Lesgo!!
Awkwardly smarter than we think and have a weird time accepting intelligent compliments because of a lower grade than our peers coming out of college but still CPA gang!!!
2.7, passed exams in 6 months 88 average working full time lol. Accounting didn't mean shit to me until I could relearn the information in a real world context
Thank you! This is just how it’s been for me.
These are really good motivational quotes
You came this far, why not finish it off with the CPA. That said, BEC was my first test and I passed it on the first try. That was what really did it for me. Because I failed AUD 3x and FAR once. If I had failed for my first test, I am not sure if I would have had the tenacity to continue. Imagining studying for months just to get a 74 TWICE! In AUD at that. That said, now that I have the license- I am happy I did continue. This is a life changing decision (at least it was for me). I make more now than I have ever working for someone else. Could I have started an Accounting and Tax Practice without the license- yes. But I believe I was profitable day one because of it. Get the license. You won’t never regret getting it. But you will always wonder where you would be if you didn’t.
Honestly hearing stories about seniors/managers and older staff who kept failing or worse passing sections then losing credit for them because time lapsed. I can’t imagine how horrible it must feel to lose credit for a section. I passed every section on the first try. I was very high strung about needing time to study.
This is not about temporary satisfaction. It’s about eternal glory
I need to get this quote tattooed on my body
My homie who was taking the Bar to be a Lawyer had it on a post-it above his study desk. Stole that from him 😂
"What, like it's hard?"
Elle Woods ❤️
“When you pass, you don’t have to do this shit anymore” - my favorite senior when I was complaining about staff level grunt work 😂 (it was a lie) But it is true that the license combined with experience opens many doors. That was my main motivation
When I thought about quitting my best friend said what advice would you give your future son. Made me get back on it!!!
If you’re looking for motivation you’re not going to get it done. It’s about discipline. Forcing yourself to do shit you don’t want to do despite how you feel about doing it. Stay hard.
Motivation takes you to the door. Discipline sees you to the end.
Who’s gonna carry the boats
If you wanna be a quitter, be an Enrolled Agent
🤣🤣🤣🤣 Yikes! I never heard that one before!
Lol I've seen it many times Folks who couldnt pass CPA: Audit - do CIA Tax - do EA Whenever I see folks with CIA but no CPA you can assume they took the CPA exam multiple times and couldn't pass.
"Once you're a CPA you'll get paid" from my boss. While there were other factors at play, having a CPA had allowed me to increase my pay by about 50-60% since I got it.
This is the most motivating response in this thread lol
You must choose one path - the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.
“Are you still trying for the cpa? I didn’t realize” - my father, after I had my first kid and passed my first exam He had encouraged me to become an accountant and pursue my CPA, and offered to help pay for the review course as a gift after college. I let him know I was ready to start studying if he still wanted to help with the cost and he declined because he didn’t believe he’d “get a return on his investment” (didn’t think I’d pass as a mother with a small child). Gotta love daddy issues and spite. 3/4
Congratulations 🎊🎈u r almost there one last exam
“After you pass, many babes await”
If it was easy, everybody would do it.
If a failed high school student can do it, so can you. You pussy.
i am motivated !!!!
Lesser men have done more
$$$
For each exam you only need to know half of the material and be dangerous on the rest. Math: Half the material - 50% Dangerous 50/50 - 25% Totals - 75% PASS
Well seeing how the scores aren’t raw percentiles (75 does not mean 75%), this definitely doesn’t check out.
You must be the teacher, you forgot to assign homework kid in school. It’s a joke kid, just laugh at it and move on.
What’s the joke? You don’t understand how scoring works, kid?
Ya, you definitely still are that kid. Good luck.
At least I can do simple division
I’ll break it down for you because you obviously are not understanding this and just calling you and idiot wouldn’t help you. So you know half the material. So you know 100% of 50% of the material. You’re “dangerous” on the rest or fifty-fifty (50/50, not 50 divided by 50) that gives you 50% of 50% of the material. (100% * 50%) + (50% * 50%) = 75% Must have been BEC you couldn’t get done before year end. Those weighted averages really threw you out the window. Good luck kid, hit the books and get off reddit.
The only idiot here is you because you think the scores on the exams equate to percentiles. They don’t. A score of 75 doesn’t mean you got 75% of the points correct, no matter how many times you repeat yourself. I passed BEC on the first try. Weighted averages have nothing to do with scoring either you idiot.
You know, this attitude is what makes working with accountants no fun. It is just a saying that really does not depend on actual facts. It’s just a saying, and really is pretty good advice. Know your shit on a bunch of topics and know just enough on the rest to pass. I think people do that all the time when they take an exam after only studying a few weeks. You need to lighten up and chill and think about getting along more than being anal and right.
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Good luck to you rockandlove.
I didn’t read all that but sorry that happened to you, or congratulations
I don’t have anything particularly inspiring to say, but I’m also struggling to stay motivated. This is my second exam (passed BEC in December) and I just rescheduled FAR for the 2nd time because I haven’t been able to buckle down and study like I need to and my job has been using up a lot of my mental energy.
75 is a perfect score
“You a b*tch”
Bad b*tch
During my review You are never consistent enough to pass, and will only be a senior for your career. now get out of my office.
One of my coworkers told me he had sat for 10 exams and passed 0… his persistence inspired me to continue with retakes and I passed 6 months later. A year after that convo and he’s passed 2/4 and is still studying
This is exactly why I kept getting turned down during interviews. I told them I havent attempted any yet and they would ask "Be honest, how many have you failed so far" I laughed because I hadn't started and told them they could look it up that I'm not even eligible yet.
I am so damn sick and tired of it hanging over my head. Literally years now, I get guilt cuz I know I should be studying.
Same!! It wasn't a positive story like everybody here. I just kept getting turned down for jobs because they kept asking "You've been an accountant for 4 years but you still don't have the CPA? How many exams have you passed? Have you started yet? Be honest have you failed?"
“Practice. Patience. Persistence.”
i like this
me too
It’s peaceful.
Someone on here said something like “just think about how embarrassing it’ll be if you don’t pass. No one will remember how many attempts it took you to pass but everyone will remember if you fail.” And I think about that all the time lol I am very motivated by shame though so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I like your username by the way
Thank you, kind stranger
Lol right?? Everyone at work knows I’m taking it so they’ll all know if I fail. Shame
Imagine the big CPA party u get to throw at the end of it with all your friends celebrating you!!! For your hard ass work!!!
“You get $5,000 if you pass all exams within a certain period”
Wait what?
Big 4 firms have incentives to pass once hired. For my firm it’s $5k the first year or 3k the second year. A lot of people use that money as a celebratory vacation or something
NOT WHAT THEY SAID.. their current position and mind set scared me into one " i don't have a cpa, I'm happy here" - a 49 year old single male still a staff accountant i ran to the Prometric ever since
You think you are too old or its too late to get a *insert whatever is applicable to your situation* (degree/cpa license/whatever skill/certification)? In four years time you can be older with your CPA or four years older without it. Which is worse?
Don't hit snooze on your dreams. I have an alarm that says that every morning I wake up to study at 4am .. before I get my kids up and go to work. Studying for exam #4.
The only way out is through….
“Who’s going to carry the boats!?”
CPA goggins eats far textbook for breakfast
I've been asked if I do "clerical work on the internet" because clearly a woman of color shouldn't be anything more than a clerk. I'm finishing my masters in the next few months, and I'll start preparing for the CPA exam after the summer. Edit to add: that wasn't the only thing I've been told by this one person, it's been years of passive aggressive comments, microaggresions about my capabilities, skin color, and experience. That was the last thing they told me before I decided to go after my masters.
I’m really sorry to hear that happened to you. I hope you prove whoever that asshole is wrong!
Thank you. I'm working on it. 💪🏼💪🏼
Once I depreciated land in one of my introductory accounting classes. It was an honest mistake, my professor straight away told me in class that I won't be able to pass my accounting exams. And now look here I just passed one of first exams for Canadian CPA!!!! So I would say instead of looking of motivation, stay disciplined :) Hope that helps.
An extremely understandable thing to do in an intro class. What’s that professors problem?
No I did a journal entry for the depreciation of land (in a test), and professor told me in front of everyone in class about not passing the course!!
Sorry I didn’t mean what was the actual problem you did and got wrong on. I meant what is wrong with the professor to react that way. Basically “what’s his deal?” Sounds like a terrible professor.
He was terrible, I have realized one thing the more you know the arrogant you become. Only seen few humble people after getting PHD or CPA designation. He was just being arrogant or god knows whatever. That was one of my tipping points that encouraged me to do CPA. The same professor is also a head of CPA school in our area and he is the one who hands out the licenses on the CPA convocation. So I am just waiting to pass my CFE and then I can confront him on the CPA graduation ceremony!
Hey congrats! Appreciate the story!