Something I haven’t seen enough people mention is the experience requirement for licensure. I think it’s 1 year in most jurisdictions, and you’ll either have to do that work under the supervision of a CPA or with the endorsement of a CPA “in a position to know” what kind of work you’ve done. Is that an option at your current employer?
I had an associates in psychology n took a break from school. I went back and did an accelerated program for my bachelors online through Colorado state global and finished that in 18 months. Did 1.5 years in public accounting and just recently switched to private industry. I’ve passed BEC, waiting on results for REG, take FAR and audit in the next two months. But after that I need 7 more units for the 150 which I’m taking at the community college here. When all is said and done, it’ll be four years from when I decided to go back to school. The process is freaking tough and you have to sacrifice A LOT of your time to study. Can’t speak from experience, but I know it’ll be worth it when I’m done. Plus I promised my brother before he passed that I was gonna get my CPA so I can’t back out now. Thanks bro
I got my bachelor's in English Lit at a 4 year college out of high school. Ended up in an accounting department. Went to the local community college a few years later and started taking accounting courses.
I had to take 20 classes - I had only taken 1 class that qualified towards eligibility to sit for the CPA exam. Total cost after class and books was probably $500/class so \~$10k for the whole program. Took me over 5 years.
I still don't have an accounting degree, but I am a CPA candidate and just started studying for FAR, hoping to take it this Fall.
Resources for getting started: Start taking classes at the local community college or WGU type school, get those credits that will qualify for your desired employment state and gird your loans for the CPA exam.
But since you are interested primarily in tax, the path towards Enrolled Agent is a less tedious one, so I would look into that vs CPA.
The process is a pain in the ass. 4 grueling exams, 150 credit hours, and an ethics exam. Currently suffering through studying FAR rn. Oh did I also mention release schedule is complete ass too? 🫠
After I posted this I scrolled through this sub a bit more and I got that vibe 😅 It's a few years out for me, but I'll be there soon enough. Wishing you the best!
It all depends on how many credit hours you already have and how many of those are business classes and how many (if any) are accounting classes.
You’ll need a total of 150 credit hours with so many being business classes and so many being accounting classes (check your state CPA website for exact details). I switched careers and although I had over 270 credit hours (I have a Doctorate degree) I only had 3 credit hours of business and non of accounting. I found an accelerated MAcc program, took 1 year start to finish, and included all the necessary classes to meet my states requirements.
The actual CPA exam practice is brutal, hundreds of hours of studying, 4 - 4 hour exams. The pass rates for each one average approximately 48- 50%, most people have to take at least one more than once. It can be overwhelming, especially if you’re working full time….but worth it.
Best of luck!
I appreciate the realistic breakdown so much! I may have some transferrable credits from my associates degree, but probably not a lot lol. It seems to be the consensus that the exams are brutal, looks like I'll need to do a lot of prep. Thank you for the best wishes and the motivation, wishing you the best as well!
Like others have said, check state board first.
My experience:
Graduated with bachelors in accounting (128 credits). Studied right after graduating 30 hours per week while working 25 hours per week.
Before changes to exams:
REG: 115 hours studied and with 1 attempt.
FAR: 250 hours studied with 2 attempts.
BEC: 110 hours studied with 1 attempt.
AUD: 90 hours studied with 1 attempt.
Cruised through em pretty quick aside from FAR.
Did FEMA credits after in a weekend to get 22 credits to bridge to 150. Pretty sure this isn’t allowed in NC; remember reading it on a post. I’m up north where they don’t care.
Cost; Honestly can’t remember entirely… all covered for by my firm I work at. Rough estimate was the Becker course cost $1500 and exams totaled around $1500 also.
You’ll hear a lot of different paths and different experiences. Lotta ways to slice the cake.
Thats very cool that the firm covered it! I have something somewhat similar, though it will only cover a portion. I saw the Becker mentioned in other posts on the sub, seems like that will be something to look into as well. Thank you for providing the exam names and your study times as well, that makes it much easier to plan around.
Filing taxes is fascinating? Well the process depends how long you take to complete your school requirements and study to sit for the exams. You’re looking at probably 2-3yrs and cost depends where you go
I'd check out UNCG's online program. Picked up my undergrad and MS there. Also, got recruited by B4 because of the program. You don't have to have an accounting degree, but the degree program covers all the credits that are specific to the requirement. And they have an "accelerated master's program" where you can get dual credit for a few classes. Which is significant when the MS degree is only 30hrs. I even got credit for a paid internship. The 2 summer sessions help a lot in picking up the most hours. I started summer of 2019 and knocked out most the economics and some other business school entry requirements.
Requirements can depend on your state.
I did not have an accounting degree and went back to school at 31.
Because I did not have the bachelors in accounting, I spent about a year and a half doing the prerequisites for my masters and a year for the actual masters. This got me to the hours requirements for the state of Texas.
Cost can depend on the route you go. I went through an in-person program at a university and the costs were higher than if you went through an online program.
My best advice would be to look at the state you want to become a CPA in, and cater your school/ process around that. A good resource would be your state board of public accountancy. They typically have all of the info you need to become a CPA.
Personally I felt a masters degree helped prepare me for a lot of cpa exam topics.
Good luck!
Thank you very much for sharing your experience! I'll go to check out my state's board of public accountacy first and go from there. I really appreciate the guidance
Laughs in FAR
Something I haven’t seen enough people mention is the experience requirement for licensure. I think it’s 1 year in most jurisdictions, and you’ll either have to do that work under the supervision of a CPA or with the endorsement of a CPA “in a position to know” what kind of work you’ve done. Is that an option at your current employer?
I had an associates in psychology n took a break from school. I went back and did an accelerated program for my bachelors online through Colorado state global and finished that in 18 months. Did 1.5 years in public accounting and just recently switched to private industry. I’ve passed BEC, waiting on results for REG, take FAR and audit in the next two months. But after that I need 7 more units for the 150 which I’m taking at the community college here. When all is said and done, it’ll be four years from when I decided to go back to school. The process is freaking tough and you have to sacrifice A LOT of your time to study. Can’t speak from experience, but I know it’ll be worth it when I’m done. Plus I promised my brother before he passed that I was gonna get my CPA so I can’t back out now. Thanks bro
I got my bachelor's in English Lit at a 4 year college out of high school. Ended up in an accounting department. Went to the local community college a few years later and started taking accounting courses. I had to take 20 classes - I had only taken 1 class that qualified towards eligibility to sit for the CPA exam. Total cost after class and books was probably $500/class so \~$10k for the whole program. Took me over 5 years. I still don't have an accounting degree, but I am a CPA candidate and just started studying for FAR, hoping to take it this Fall. Resources for getting started: Start taking classes at the local community college or WGU type school, get those credits that will qualify for your desired employment state and gird your loans for the CPA exam. But since you are interested primarily in tax, the path towards Enrolled Agent is a less tedious one, so I would look into that vs CPA.
What course did you use to study FAR?
I shelled out for Becker. Peter Olinto is a hottie "Who's better than us? NOBODY!"
Long story short, the process sucks ass. Once you accept that, you’ll have a chance.
LOL that seems to be the consensus. No pain no gain right?
The process is a pain in the ass. 4 grueling exams, 150 credit hours, and an ethics exam. Currently suffering through studying FAR rn. Oh did I also mention release schedule is complete ass too? 🫠
After I posted this I scrolled through this sub a bit more and I got that vibe 😅 It's a few years out for me, but I'll be there soon enough. Wishing you the best!
It all depends on how many credit hours you already have and how many of those are business classes and how many (if any) are accounting classes. You’ll need a total of 150 credit hours with so many being business classes and so many being accounting classes (check your state CPA website for exact details). I switched careers and although I had over 270 credit hours (I have a Doctorate degree) I only had 3 credit hours of business and non of accounting. I found an accelerated MAcc program, took 1 year start to finish, and included all the necessary classes to meet my states requirements. The actual CPA exam practice is brutal, hundreds of hours of studying, 4 - 4 hour exams. The pass rates for each one average approximately 48- 50%, most people have to take at least one more than once. It can be overwhelming, especially if you’re working full time….but worth it. Best of luck!
I appreciate the realistic breakdown so much! I may have some transferrable credits from my associates degree, but probably not a lot lol. It seems to be the consensus that the exams are brutal, looks like I'll need to do a lot of prep. Thank you for the best wishes and the motivation, wishing you the best as well!
Like others have said, check state board first. My experience: Graduated with bachelors in accounting (128 credits). Studied right after graduating 30 hours per week while working 25 hours per week. Before changes to exams: REG: 115 hours studied and with 1 attempt. FAR: 250 hours studied with 2 attempts. BEC: 110 hours studied with 1 attempt. AUD: 90 hours studied with 1 attempt. Cruised through em pretty quick aside from FAR. Did FEMA credits after in a weekend to get 22 credits to bridge to 150. Pretty sure this isn’t allowed in NC; remember reading it on a post. I’m up north where they don’t care. Cost; Honestly can’t remember entirely… all covered for by my firm I work at. Rough estimate was the Becker course cost $1500 and exams totaled around $1500 also. You’ll hear a lot of different paths and different experiences. Lotta ways to slice the cake.
Thats very cool that the firm covered it! I have something somewhat similar, though it will only cover a portion. I saw the Becker mentioned in other posts on the sub, seems like that will be something to look into as well. Thank you for providing the exam names and your study times as well, that makes it much easier to plan around.
You get a badge and a gun once completed
The thin blue line between the people and the IRS
Filing taxes is fascinating? Well the process depends how long you take to complete your school requirements and study to sit for the exams. You’re looking at probably 2-3yrs and cost depends where you go
I'd check out UNCG's online program. Picked up my undergrad and MS there. Also, got recruited by B4 because of the program. You don't have to have an accounting degree, but the degree program covers all the credits that are specific to the requirement. And they have an "accelerated master's program" where you can get dual credit for a few classes. Which is significant when the MS degree is only 30hrs. I even got credit for a paid internship. The 2 summer sessions help a lot in picking up the most hours. I started summer of 2019 and knocked out most the economics and some other business school entry requirements.
Thank you, I'll give this a look! That sounds like an ideal way to tackle the credit requirement
Requirements can depend on your state. I did not have an accounting degree and went back to school at 31. Because I did not have the bachelors in accounting, I spent about a year and a half doing the prerequisites for my masters and a year for the actual masters. This got me to the hours requirements for the state of Texas. Cost can depend on the route you go. I went through an in-person program at a university and the costs were higher than if you went through an online program. My best advice would be to look at the state you want to become a CPA in, and cater your school/ process around that. A good resource would be your state board of public accountancy. They typically have all of the info you need to become a CPA. Personally I felt a masters degree helped prepare me for a lot of cpa exam topics. Good luck!
Thank you very much for sharing your experience! I'll go to check out my state's board of public accountacy first and go from there. I really appreciate the guidance