Since I’m sick of writing about 2011 CPA exam changes and none of you asked any CPA exam questions this week, I’ve decided to be nice and offer you five excellent resources for CPA exam candidates, ranked in no particular order of importance.
CPAnet: The CPAnet forums offer a sense of community, suggestions and that all-too-important sense that you are not alone on your journey. Get tips on passing tricky parts, share your misery or get a kick out of helping other candidates by sharing your knowledge. The forums are a must for any candidate wishing to connect with others on the CPA exam adventure.
Twitter: Connecting with other CPA exam candidates and sources of CPA exam information (like @NASBA) can be incredibly useful. Follow the #CPAexam hashtag for news and views on all things CPA exam.
The AICPA: The AICPA has revamped its website and put together a comprehensive collection of CPA exam information, extensive tutorials and plenty of FAQs for your reading pleasure so you better be using them. Their “Become a CPA” section is jam-packed with useful info for international candidates, students interested in the CPA career path along with salary and career info.
NASBAtools: Access NASBA’s Accounting Licensing Library or use CredentialNet to do all the applying for you so you can focus on taking the exam and not worry about being buried in four pounds of paperwork. You can also find more information on licensure from NASBA’s website here.
Me: Wow, what a narcissist right?! In all seriousness, if you aren’t sending in your CPA exam questions or reading previous columns we’ve done on the exam covering everything from simulations to time management, you aren’t using the resources correctly. I don’t write for my own good, I do it so you guys can be informed and prepared for what’s ahead so do me the favor of not making me feel like I’m writing to a wall.
Interesting there must be a shortage of people they can promote from manager to senior manager because so many don’t have their CPAs (or at least the people they would prefer to promote).
I remember being told by multiple people that I should focus on working instead of getting my CPA within my first 2 years of employment at the firm BECAUSE it didn’t matter.
Thankfully I disregarded that advice and got my CPA in 1.5 years…that was absolutely brutal and looking back it only made sense to help land my next opportunity. The personal/professional sacrifices to pass all 4 sections of the CPA didn’t seem worth it at the time.
Nearly 10 years into my career, I am in a comfortable place in my career, thanks to that sacrifice, and those that told me to not get my CPA are stuck as managers…hopefully they can pass soon otherwise I’m sure these firms will have no issue “trimming the fat”.
You need your CPA to be promoted to Manager at any top 100 firm.
For tax, you just need to be an EA. Maybe it’s different for other groups, but I know for a fact you can be promoted to tax manager with just at EA and no CPA. Promotion to Senior Manager requires a CPA.
not always. They are desperate for experienced professionals who can supervise.
“…our evolving talent strategy that prioritizes investing in the next generation of CPAs from day one,” said the firm on its 360 Careers page.”
Wow, this is some real bullshit. The firms aren’t investing in the next generation of CPAs. They’re investing in AI so that they can fire all their CPAs, so that the current partners can pocket even more cash. This $10k bonus is just the latest example of the firms throwing a (very small) bone to the help in order to distract from what they’re actively doing to destroy the accounting professional in the name of short-term profits.