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PSA: Do Not Suggest That We Make the CPA Exam Easier in Order to Solve the Accountant Shortage

Posted on by Adrienne Gonzalez
angry guy yelling at laptop

Y’all need to calm down, I’m running out of “angry person” stock photos.

With the accountant shortage in full swing and the profession’s talking heads, peanut galleries, unwashed masses, and unelected old white guys in charge discussing ways to ease it, it’s inevitable that we’ll start throwing out some WILD ideas. Like this one:

Logan meant to open the floor on a discussion about this crazy idea, a noble intention that was immediately met with rage. The kind of rage that only Twitter can stir up.

I’m trying to redirect attention away from the 120 vs 150-hour rule debate

You can make it easier to sit for the test, but that doesn’t mean more people will become CPAs

Lowering hour requirements will increase the pool of who is eligible

But as I said, the difficulty of the test will weed out a lot of candidates

Observations about the reactions towards this tweet…

🚩Seeing a trend with anon accounts being very against increasing the ability to become a CPA

🚩People are so passionate about this topic at a level that doesn’t make sense

— Tax TeleGraf (@LoganGrafTax) March 10, 2023

In fairness to Twitter, some folks understood the assignment. Like David here:

There’s some more reasoned discussion to be had here should you be interested.

SO. Let’s place a moratorium on discussing this particular item, perhaps permanently. What else we got? Have we considered giving CPA exam candidates free toasters upon passing all four parts?

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Studying for BEC Leads a CPA Exam Candidate to Drugs

We don’t have any CPA exam questions in the mailbag this week (you slackers) so we’re resorting yet again to trolling the CPAnet forums for good questions. Here’s an excellent one:

I’ve never had an issue studying, I guess it’s mainly because I always had a logical way of figuring stuff out and completing it extremely quick (which is why REG and AUD were so easy). However, BEC is making a fool of me. I can’t seem to figure out how to attack it, and am severely lacking motivation to study it.

I’ve used adderall a few times, and man d, I’ve had a recent serotonin problem .. and now if I take it, it actually triggers panic attacks which I try to avoid like the plague.

Do you guys have any other suggestions?

If you grew up in the 90s, chances are you knew at least a handful of kids diagnosed with ADD and prescribed Ritalin or other amphetamine-based prescription drugs to treat this “condition.” I graduated high school in 1998 and at that point, several enterprising young men and women in my class were funding their car payments by selling their prescriptions to classmates.

Drugs like Adderall and Ritalin are central nervous system stimulants that artificially force dopamine (the natural “happy drug” in your brain usually released when you are doing something you enjoy like reading Going Concern, writing your resignation letter or sleeping with randoms in your office) to the synapses in your brain. This creates the thrill, so you, in turn, look at studying as something enjoyable. Under the influence of these drugs, you could, in theory, also equally enjoy a root canal, colonoscopy, or your 12th straight hour of busy season gruntwork. Perhaps not ironically, this chemical reaction is similar to the one created in your brain when you fall in love.

The problem with taking Adderall to study for the CPA exam (as opposed to taking it to study for finals in college) is that your brain retains exam information better in smaller pieces over a longer period of time. You simply cannot “cram” for the CPA exam. Not to mention the fact that it’s illegal if you’re buying someone else’s prescription and you are supposed to represent the profession in an ethical manner but we won’t get into that.

Instead, try some of these tips to grease your brain up for studying. Trust us, you’ll be happier and healthier in the long run, though maybe not as unusually happy in the short-term.

Try Omega-3s: While the research is a bit sketchy, it is believed that Omega-3 fatty acids improve general brain function and can positively impact memory. You can find Omega-3s in salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring, flax oil, and walnuts or take a quality fish oil supplement daily.

Avoid simple carbs: Simple carbohydrates like white bread are instantly converted to sugar in your body, filling you with empty calories. Too much sugar at once can actually starve your brain of the glucose it needs to function properly, negatively affecting memory and concentration. Instead, try to eat more complex carbohydrates like peanuts, dried apricots, dried beans and yogurt and stay away from quick fixes like candy.

Eat breakfast: If you are working and studying for the CPA exam, breakfast is probably something you haven’t seen in months or years but numerous studies prove that breakfast has a positive effect on how your brain performs. And if you’re a girl, you might want to try oatmeal instead of cereal, it could improve your short-term memory.

Caffeine is OK, in moderation: Caffeine works in a similar way to Adderall except much milder, in moderation. If you must get a fix, try to avoid sugary energy drinks and stick to plain coffee. Adding flavored cream or sugar to coffee adds empty calories that you might regret once you’re actually done with the exam and needing to shed the extra 10 or even 20 pounds you packed on during studying.

bullseye in black and white

What Your CPA Exam Scores Say About You

Since it’s score season, here’s an overly appropriate question from the mailbag:

Just a quick question. Does CPA exam score reflect one’s ability at work? Does 76 on AUD necessarily mean one would be a bad auditor?

90 on REG means one would good at tax? Not sure how should I choose career-path between tax & audit.

The short answer here is that a 76 on AUD means you studied just enough to pass (congratulations) and has absolutely nothing to do with how good (or bad) of an auditor you might be.

Remember that the CPA exam tests entry level knowledge required to be a CPA. An 88 or even a 99 doesn’t mean you’d be a better auditor than someone who failed that section, it just means that you have a better command of entry level skills. That’s great as far as passing the exam goes but has little to do with your career.

The CPA exam and the real world are two completely different places. The exam assumes scenarios that you will never see “in the wild,” as it were, an environment where companies always do the indirect method and auditors always do more testing than necessary.

A higher score on one section could mean that this is a better place for you to look when it comes to picking a career path if, say, you barely studied to get that 90 and actually enjoyed taking that section. Just like you shouldn’t rely on your score report as the gospel, you shouldn’t take that to be a sign that you’re destined for a life in tax but you can certainly take that as a strong hint if you didn’t mind sitting for that section, understood the concepts and kind of liked the process.

Hope that helps!

9 thoughts on “PSA: Do Not Suggest That We Make the CPA Exam Easier in Order to Solve the Accountant Shortage”

  2. A CPA is a prestigious position and it shouldn’t be dumbed down for anyone. Competency is a critical part of becoming a CPA, so making the exams easier would be a disservice to our society. Perhaps, if taking the exams were more affordable, that might bring in more candidates. However, it wouldn’t be fair to those who paid all that money, previously, to get certified. I think recruiting candidates through networking with college graduates would be an effective way to gain more CPAs in the field.

  3. How has the difficulty of the exam been determined in the past and how do we determine that inthe future? Simply pass/fail rates?

  4. We’re all in favor of solving the shortage by increasing pay because both incoming and incumbent accounting professionals benefit from that scenario. Only prospective CPA’s benefit from making the exam easier while it waters down both the prestige and marketability and therefore compensation for existing CPA’s. Pretty easy to see why this is a nonstarter.

  5. i believe anyone should be able to sit for the exam regardless if they have a degree. I can learn all i need to know to pass the CPA, CFA, CGMA, ABV, etc. through the internet without having to pay a fortune for school. If someone can pass these exams without schooling, they should be eligible to practice. The CPA exam should not be made easier, but anyone should be eligible to sit.

    1. You can pass without a degree because college DOES NOT adequately prepare you for the exam. However, you will not be able to do the work of a CPA without proper education.

  6. Personally, I’m not against the education or experience requirements or even the difficulty of the exam. I think extending the window would be helpful to so many people. I know there are people who sacrificed time with their spouse and children, sleep, fitness, etc to get the exams done as they are. But that should have to be required to pass these exams.
    If you look at the CMA you have 2 years to get the next exam done. I would love it if the exam had a 36 month window. One test a year is manageable.

  7. Remove licensure requirements such as:

    36 semester (54 quarter) hours in general business. (New York)
    Completed at least 24 semester hours in general business courses (New Jersey)

    I have 150 units and I passed the exam. But I can’t get licensed where I live because I didn’t spend an extra year of my life taking econ or whatever “general business” means. I have a degree, then I took accounting classes, then I passed the exam. Why isn’t that enough?

  8. The issue isn’t the difficulty of the exam – it’s the time constraint. I’d argue that the exams should require a higher score to pass but increase the 18 month window to 36 months.

    It takes at least 500 hours to properly study for all four exams – most people do not have that much excess time in an 18 month window. I took great joy in fully understanding the material but it took me 10 years post graduation to make time for the exams. I’ve worked full-time in both public accounting and industry (both require at least 60 hours a week). It’s a satisfying but unforgiving career – long hours and low pay.

    I did not have an undergraduate degree in accounting so had very little exposure to intermediate and advanced accounting. I went straight from financial / managerial classes to tax classes in my masters program. I learned most of the material on the CPA exam on the job and during my review courses.

    Lastly – if the large accounting firms stopped sponsoring Becker and allowed their employees to choose a better preparation course – we’d see more CPAs. Becker is very gimmicky – circle this, highlight that, draw a line there. If you want to actually learn the material – there are better courses out there.

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