Category: CPA Exam

News and views about the CPA exam, CPA exam advice, and what’s happening with NASBA.

What If Your Spouse Does Not Support Your CPA Exam Plan?

I’m one of those old-fashioned types (yeah right) who believes you should go to college, take and pass the CPA exam, then get married and have kids. Not for tradition’s sake but because it’s generally the easiest way to go. When you’re young and single, you have only yourself to piss off, and focusing is much easier when you don’t have a new wife/husband or – worse – a few cranky kids at home. I’m not talking about my (questionable) life choices, I’m talking about what is the least painful path for someone considering a career in public accounting, so let’s make sure we’re getting that part.


But what happens if you didn’t take that path and find yourself struggling to appease your s struggling through the CPA exam? I’m going to slap a few links on this sucker and call it a post but I am really counting on you all who have been in this situation to speak up and offer some sage words of advice to a fellow CPA exam candidate whose significant other is about ready to walk if he doesn’t hurry up and pass the exam.

We won’t share the dirty details of this particular OP as we don’t want to reveal his identity (his wife might REALLY leave if she knows he’s knocking on my dirty door looking for some guidance and I wouldn’t blame her, I live in the most disgusting part of DC) but here’s the gist: he’s been studying for the exam for… let’s just say “awhile.” All of you who have been studying for “awhile” know exactly how long “awhile” is, no need to elaborate.

The family has been through lots of ups and downs, including her medical issues and, obviously, his CPA exam “issues.” I’m not sure which is worse, but am sure that both are probably bad for this couple. They do have a couple of kids in the mix, no need to go into more detail on the extra level of drama that adds.

The wife gets that hubby needs to study, but she’s (understandably) sick of her husband being locked in quarantine with his CPA review textbooks and not her. That can take the thrill out quickly as anyone who has been in this situation knows. This is why I date someone who works in the same area as I do; we can talk endlessly about the tedium of work (I mean really, would you listen to your girlfriend blabbering about how shitty anonymous comments on a hack tabloid blog made her feel?) and still want to tear each other up at the end of the day because even though we’re on opposite sides of the spectrum, we sort of get what the other is suffering through. But when you’re talking about 3 – 8 hours a day spent studying, you can see how a spouse might get jealous. It’s like cheating, except the filthy mistress is Peter Olinto. The wife can hear him on the other side of the wall “Don’t confuse DDB with ODB. Do you remember ODB? He was a member of the Wu Tang Clan and he’s dead now actually. Don’t confuse DDB depreciation and ODB from the Wu Tang Clan.” That would turn me off too.

So what do couples have to do? Support each other. I don’t expect my partner to go defend me in the Going Concern comment section when strangers are calling me names but I do expect him to listen to me bitch about it every now and then. What do you do when your partner has no idea what you are going through and is fed up with hearing about it?

There is a line. A recent series of University of Iowa studies shows that unqualified support may actually do more harm than good.

Researchers studying heterosexual couples in their first few years of marriage found that too much support is actually harder on a marriage than not enough. Meaning, your wife shouldn’t have to accept you being locked in a room all day for three years trying to pass the CPA exam.

The study also discovered that when it comes to marital satisfaction, both partners are happier if husbands receive the right type of support, and if wives ask for support when they need it. I hope I don’t offend our four female readers by implying all women want the same level of “support” from their man, and imagine women attracted to public accounting are a bit stronger and tougher-skinned than needing tons of support from their partners. More Susan S. Coffey, less sniveling little girl.

But at what point does wifey have a right to walk on this guy? What is it going to take for him to get through the exam and get back to being a husband and father?

Personally (and I say this having had to deal with being in a relationship with another human being, not knowing anything about what it’s like to balance that and the CPA exam except what those going through it have shared with me), I’d say these two need to have a talk and soon. He needs to commit to a date to be passed by (to show he is dedicated to resolving the very obvious issue in their relationship) and follow through on that plan.

Or he can walk. Whatever. Sometimes it doesn’t work out.

Any tales from the frontlines, people? This guy needs your help.

Student Needs Help Dancing Around State CPA Requirements

If you have a CPA exam related question that you’re dying to have answered, please get in touch. Note: bribes will not make me answer your question any sooner.

Hey Adrienne, I was reading an article on GC about sitting for the exam in another state (with less requirements) then transferring it to the state you want to work in. I was wondering if there was a site for this information. If it matters I will be transferring it to Georgia or Texas. My adviser told me they usually do it through Tennessee in the spring of the MACC program so that once you are done with the 150 hours you should already have your CPA.. Just wondering y’alls thoughts. Thanks!


Is there one site that has this information? Oh dear, you’re obviously new to this whole CPA exam nonsense. While the Internet has done a great job of aggregating publicly-available information in the last few years to make searching for answers a tad easier for candidates, it’s still sort of a crapshoot. If you’re good with Google, you might be able to find a few references but other than that, I can’t think of one place that explains this particular trick.

That said, NASBA’s Accountancy Licensing Library can probably help. Plug in your educational experience and you can figure out which states you can sit in.

Because the CPA exam is uniform meaning every state’s candidates take the exact same CPA exam as other states, you’re able to sit for any other state’s exam in your state. You can use this to your advantage if you’re in a 150 state but want to finish the exam while you are still working on your degree by taking the exam in a 120 state that allows non-residents to sit for the exam and then transferring your scores once you meet your state’s requirements.

The best source to go to for more information on this option would be your own state board. Hopefully they are somewhat helpful and can give you a little guidance. You could also try calling NASBA but I doubt they’re very supportive of folks trying to bypass the system.

Keep in mind that your plan sounds like you will be transferring scores, not the actual license. Since most states have experience requirements and many require that experience to be gained under the supervision of a CPA licensed it that state, it is unlikely that you will actually be licensed as a CPA in the state in which you apply for the CPA exam. But you can transfer passing CPA exam scores, usually with just a simple form.

If you’re prepared for the work involved with sitting for the CPA exam while finishing up your degree, I say go for it. Surely there are some Going Concern readers out there who have done exactly this?

Did You Blow Off the CPA Exam to Have an Epic Summer? Here’s How to Start Your New Job and Study Smart

If you have a CPA exam question for me or (even better), our audience as a whole using me as a pawn in your game to get better information, please get in touch. I’ll try to Google any answers I don’t know and will not berate you for your choices. Unless your choices are stupid.

Hi Adrienne,

I appreciate you offering to give CPA advice to readers of GC.

I am starting with GT next week, but due to summer school, summer work, and an awesome trip to Europe I opted to not even look at CPA exam material until now. I went against better advice saying I should study with the free time I had, and instead opted to genuinely enjoy my last Summer before life officially ends.

China Freaks Out Over Five CPA Exam Questions Illegally Posted to the Internet

Can you guys imagine what would happen if this were to go down in the good old USA?

According to China Daily, answers to China’s national accounting exam (similar to the CPA exam in that it’s an exam professional accountants take to work in accounting, duh) were leaked over the Internet last week and some are concerned that this unfortunate turn of events might erode trust in the exam and – worse – the profession. As if China’s sketchy accounting practices didn’t already achieve as much.


Answers were posted to an Internet forum just before the 2011 Chinese National Uniform CPA Examination was to be taken on September 17 and 18.

Here in America, CPA review providers are given retired CPA exam questions to distribute to their students but are not allowed to share actual exam content. Not like they’d know what’s on the exam anyway – many major review course providers haven’t taken the CPA exam in 10, 15 or even 20 years. Back in those days, they’d hand out copies of old exams to study. Like actual exams. Since the CPA review crew is a close-knit bunch of OGs, it’s highly unlikely that any one of them would risk their close relationship with the AICPA to hand out exam questions to needy students.

In China, a former writer of architect exam questions was sentenced to 18 months in prison for leaking state secrets after he was caught giving his students copies of exam questions during tutorials. Different world, eh?

Anyway, according to the few Chinese media reports we’ve seen, five audit multiple choice questions and answers were posted to the Internet and the Chinese CPA exam folks are understandably in a tizzy over this. To put it in perspective, their audit section consists 47 questions worth a total of 105 points, and candidates must answer at least 60 correct to pass. So really? Five questions?

That’s not all. Apparently some candidates received texts asking if they might be interested in, er, peeking at the upcoming exams’ content.

“I began to receive at least five text messages a day selling exam questions a month before the exam took place. All of them claimed they could provide genuine questions and answers. They also promised a full refund if the questions were not genuine,” 28 year-old Zhu Hua told China Daily. “I wonder how they got my number in the first place, because I only provided my contact information when I registered for the exam.”

Was this an inside job?

The Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CICPA) has sworn to conduct an investigation into the leaks and to prosecute anyone found to have leaked this information to the full extent of the law. Prepare for hangings, people, this is serious shit.

Ambitious Future CPA Wants to Shortcut CPA Exam Application

While I have not and will not ever sit for the CPA exam as we have already discussed ad nauseum, I still know a thing or two about how to get through it and – most importantly – how to buck the system. So if you have a CPA exam question, please get in touch. I haven’t missed an answer yet, must be doing something right.

Today’s question comes from an ambitious future CPA exam candidate interested in getting this nonsense over with as quickly as possible so he can move on with his life and pursue his dreams of a fantastic life in public accounting. I love candidates like this, they breeze right through the exam and leave it beaten and battered they run off to make tons of money.

Hi Adrienne,

I’m e-mailing in response to something you mentioned in a post you made last November about a CPA exam sign up short cut that involved “fake” applying to sign up for the exam before eligibility so that when you re-apply it goes through much quicker. My situation is I’m a dual degree major, I get my 150 credits this coming May, graduation date of 5/21/2012. I have a full-time big four job lined up and want to get the whole thing out of the way before I start in Sep/Oct, as I’ve heard I have a snowballs chance in hell of getting it done while working. While my state (Virginia) allows you to sit with 120 (which I have) you have to have an official bachelors degree, which they don’t give me until May. Since my spring semester is going to be very light, I was hoping to try your little trick and see if I can study during the spring and sign up really quickly in May and get one part out of the way. There would be 9 days left in May after I’m official. Is this doable? Or just dumb? Worst case scenario I just don’t have a summer and take all four in one period. Thanks.

Regards,

CPA Scheduler

The trick to which this candidate refers involves applying for the CPA exam before you are actually eligible in order to cut down on processing time when you do actually qualify. A re-application only takes a week or two (not including the time it takes to get your payment coupon and NTS), so you can start scheduling exams much sooner than you’d be able to if you waited to apply after you got your degree and met the other requirements. To my knowledge, this works in California for sure and the board will even tell you to do it if you talk to the right person. I don’t see why it wouldn’t work in other jurisdictions as well, and if anyone in another state has done this, please let us know.

Anyway, even if this candidate does that, there’s no way he’s going to be able to get in two parts before the close of the April/May window.

The other option here would be to apply in a different state that doesn’t require a bachelors. Off the top of my head, I can’t name one but NASBA’s Accountancy Licensing Library should be able to help. Sit for the exam in that state, then just transfer either your exam scores or license over after the fact. It’s easier to transfer a license than scores but in order to be licensed in the state you applied to that isn’t your own, you’ll probably have to meet that state’s experience requirements, which might require experience under a licensed CPA in that state. Contact any state boards you are looking at and your own for more info straight from the source on how transferring works.

Long story short, even if you can only manage to get two – three parts done over the summer before you start work, you’ll be in great shape. Just the fact that you’re thinking about these things now tells me you will do just fine and will figure out where to make time to study even after you’re working. I wouldn’t recommend trying to knock out all 4 in one testing window, mostly because you don’t actually have to do that. If you think you’re up for it then by all means knock yourself out but there’s no reason to put yourself through that if you don’t have to.

Let us know how it goes and good luck! You’re one I won’t be worried about at all.

AICPA Ballparking Future Releases of CPA Exam Scores

Over the past month, many of you anxiously anticipated the release of your CPA Exam score like Ralphie and his Red Ryder. The waiting part isn’t so unlike an eternity in hellfire and when NASBA finally does put the official Tweet, there’s no guarantee that your score will be included especially if you’re in one of those pesky non-NASBA states. It’s agony, really.

Because the AICPA feels your anguish (and frankly, they’re sick of the hysterics), they’ve announced a new score release timeline:

Starting in the fourth quarter of 2011 the U.S. CPA Exam will begin releasing scores earlier and more predictably. Initially this may not seem very interesting; however, the change will mark a major shift in the U.S. CPA Exam experience and the strategies that prospective CPAs employ as they work toward passing the exam.

The AICPA “initially” thought this wouldn’t be too interesting but when they took a microsecond to remember the post that Adrienne wrote a post back in March that garnered 162 comments, half of them bitching about this very topic and the other half accusing of AG of being a good-for-nothing shill for the AICPA/NASBA that’s never taken the exam, they realized that yeah, people would be interested to know when their scores are released.

ANYWAY, here’s the schedule:

Everyone can relax now. I’m sure scores will be out like clockwork going forward.

New Score Release Timeline for the CPA Exam [AICPA]

CPA Review Instructor Wants to Know Where BEC Got Its Start

Ah, CPA review instructors, got to love them. They teach you everything you need to know, invade your home, isolate you from your spouse and get those annoying mnemonics stuck in your brain.

This one reached out to us to get a bit of background on the CPA exam to share with her students, who I’m sure will appreciate a primer on what becomes many candidates’ favorite exam section.

Hello Going Concern – I have a question about the BEC (Business Environment & Concepts) portion of the CPA exam. I know this is a fairly new section – at least in its current structure. Didn’t it come into being with the advent of the computerized exam, on the 18-month pass window, in the mid-2000’s?

The reason I ask – I am an instructor for one of the CPA review course companies, and I will be teaching the BEC portion of the exam soon. I would just like to give students a little history & overview. I cannot really find anything on the AICPA’s website.

Any help or comments would be appreciated.

Thanks,
“Teach”

You are sort of correct that no one knew what a BEC was until 2004 when the computerized exam arrived on the scene. Prior to that, the four sections of the exam were Business Law, Audit, ARE and FARE. We all know that FARE has since evolved into FAR, likely dropping the extra E to better match with the other three CPA exam sections (fun fact: when I started in CPA review in 2007, the E was still in use by a large number of students). At that time, ARE covered accounting and reporting, tax, and government/non-profit accounting.

Some components from the Business Law (shortened as LAW pre-2004) became the BEC we know today but it is fairer to say LAW became REG, which is why up until this year, some areas of BEC and REG overlapped and covered the same material.

I like to call BEC the junk drawer of the CPA exam, as they’ve tend to stick whatever they can’t stick anywhere else in that section. It seems to have gotten better with CBT-e but it’s too early in the new exam’s form to say that for sure.

When comparing the paper-and-pencil exam to its current computerized form, it’s pretty clear that the breadth of topics covered has increased. BEC has allowed examiners to stick in technology, IT (unrelated to audits), economics, corporate governance and ERM, among other things.

Hope that helps!

What to Do If You’re Stumped on One Section of the CPA Exam

I’m assuming not all of you are going to have great news as CPA exam scores trickle out, so maybe the following reader question can help you, too.

Adrienne,

Hi I’m looking for some advice regarding the Audit section. I have passed FAR, BEC, and Regulation thus far. However, I can’t wrap my brain around auditing.

The first time I took audit I got a 73 and I felt like I did not know any of the material. This was with three weeks of studying with Becker.

The second time I took audit, I got a 71 and I felt like I knew everything. This was with one month of studying with Becker and the computer Becker Final Review.

I just started working and I’m trying to determine the correct approach for studying audit again. I feel that it would be a waste to watch all of the Becker videos again unless I’m just absolutely confused on a section.

I plan on purchasing another study tool for more problems, etc, but I’m not sure which one to buy. I’m torn between the Gleim, Wiley, and Yaeger CRAM. The reasoning I have to purchase another tool is that I have a familiarity with the Becker questions already since I have tried them all twice.

Do you have any advice?

I absolutely have some advice, having seen a good chunk of our CPA review students go through this for a variety of reasons, none of which was related to the quality of the material or even the material itself.

Audit, of all the sections, can sometimes be the one that requires your brain to be the most bulimic (meaning learn it and barf it out at Prometric), mostly if you have no educational experience in that area and no affinity for the material covered. Auditors are – as we all know – unique, so it requires a different sort of thinking to truly thrive in that area.

You have the right idea. If you score between 70 – 74 (especially twice), you already have an excellent command of the information, so watching lectures you’ve already watched is a waste of time and won’t help you understand the concepts any better unless, as you said, you’re really lost on a particular part. You’re also doing the right thing by considering a supplement that will provide you with new problems, as memorization is not only a waste of time but also a detriment on exam day.

I have heard good things about Gleim’s MCQ, and some have had success using those alone. Since you already have the foundation of a full review, a cram is also a good option. But keep in mind crams involve videos and I don’t think it’s the basics you’re struggling with, it’s the tedious details. Crams usually cover the most heavily-tested material, which is probably not your issue at all.

Your best bet at this point will probably be to do as many practice questions as you can leading up to your exam retake. You have hopefully scheduled it soon while the information is still fresh in your mind.

I leave it to our readers who have undoubtedly been in a situation similar to yours to take it from here and tell you which they used to get over the hump as it were. Good luck!

NASBA To Launch “All New” CPA Exam Tool

Remember the guy who told NASBA its website looked like it had been hacked by the 1990s, given its design a rating of “Corey Feldman with a crayon” on a scale of Caveman to Picasso? Ouch.

Obviously NASBA listened to this and other criticism, as they’ve since updated their website from the drab, Geocities-esque throwback to a slightly slicker, more modern design. Hats off to them for that bold decision.

And now, they’ve promised to make CPA exam candidates’ experience with the NASBA website more streamlined, easy to follow and organized. CPA exam candidates already got this email from NASBA last week but if you are not a current candidate or in the habit of ignoring NASBA emails because you aren’t interested in exclusive CPE deals, read on:

NASBA is excited to announce the upcoming launch of the new Uniform CPA Examination Online Application System. Through this new system, at cpacentral.nasba.org, candidates will not only be able to apply online to take the CPA Examination, but also access application information including status and payment history, import prior application data and even view examination scores.

Upon first visit to the site, users will create an online account with a unique username and password. This includes anyone who has previously applied for the exam via the old online application process or through the mail. Creating an online account will give users more freedom to access exam information, thereby improving the experience throughout the process of becoming a Certified Public Accountant.

Don’t try to click on the link, it isn’t ready yet, but will be available Wednesday according to NASBA. The new system is only available to candidates in any of the 32 jurisdictions served by NASBA, so California candidates can go back to lounging at the dispensary and relaxing by the beach.

So… uhh… how exactly is this any different from clicking on the “EXAMS” tab and following the prompts to access the information or applications you need? We aren’t really sure. Presumably, the difference will be that you will have one central account to log into, versus menus to navigate on the current page. But most of you (even those of you that aren’t considered the brightest crayons in the box) can figure out how to get what you need from NASBA’s website as is, especially after a few exam sections.

We’ll go check it out when it goes live later this week but probably won’t have anything new to report unless it’s a really slow news day.