The number one complaint I would hear back in my CPA review days (besides moans and groans about me being a hard ass) was, without a doubt, “I don’t have time.” Not “I’m too busy,” but “I don’t have time.” Think about the difference between those two statements for a moment. One implies that you have too much going on to make time, while the other more clearly states that you simply cannot jam 25 hours into a 24 hour day.
What many people don’t realize is that you can make time, it’s just a matter of figuring out where it’s hiding in your life.
Cruising Facebook can easily turn into a three-hour stalk-fest if you’re not careful but what about the several, quick check-ins you might make in a single day? That time adds up. Do yourself a favor and shut down TweetDeck, close out your Facebook tab and keep your phone charging in the other room so you aren’t tempted with texts and social media. Don’t worry, you aren’t going to miss anything.
Are you making the most of every break you get during the work day? You might look at me like I just licked a frog and am tripping my non-existent balls off for saying that but you do get breaks, even if you’re getting worked like a dog. They allow you to go to the bathroom, right? Bring your phone in there and do a few MCQ on your favorite app while you’re sitting there. Trust me, no one is going to bring it up if you start spending 10 extra minutes in the restroom a day, no one wants to have that conversation.
What about mornings? I know, it’s horrible to even consider but you could potentially have hours to study that you are wasting with sleep. Start setting your alarm an hour early to get some studying in and do it every day; after 3 weeks, your internal clock will be used to it and it’ll hurt less.
Are there things you’re doing around your house that your wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend/kids/cat could just as easily do? Try asking them. Maybe you don’t need to make dinner every night or do as much laundry as you do. Hand off a few chores to other people (unless you don’t have any other people to hand them off to, in which case you might consider paying for a little help around the house if you can afford it) and you’ll free up enough hours over the course of a week to get through at least two modules.
To figure out where you can make time in your life for studying, sit down and account for every single hour of every single day for a week, from the time you get up until the time you get to sleep. I bet if you actually add up those 35 minute showers, time spent folding other peoples’ laundry and the 75 different 3 minute Facebook peeks you make, you’ll realize you have more time to study than you thought.
Wait, is this saying that 60% of the candidates that took their CPA exams in WA, were international candidates?
Or that 60% of the CPAs minted in the great state of WA were for international candidates taking the CPA outside of the US?
The latter is concerning, the former is concerning but not to the extent of the latter.
https://x.com/PSBJ/status/2024299218194604174
“The Washington State Board of Accountancy issued its most licenses ever in 2025. Only a quarter of the new licensees, however, lived in Washington.”
Wtf is TBTB
TPTB = The Powers That Be aka the people who have the most influence and make the decisions.
Boomers in this “profession”, looking at you big Four and mid-tier firms, and their crony politicians are destroying the CPA profession. Globalization has been and will always be a negative factor for Americans. Everything under the sun will or is in process of getting outsourced. Where is all the protests and anger from the AICPA over this?!?
[Editor note: I had to remove your last sentence, sorry. Message me if you want to brainstorm a way to say what you wanted to say that won’t get us nasty emails from the AICPA and/or their lawyers about it. I hear you though! ~Adrienne]
“Where is all the protests and anger from the AICPA over this?!?”
Why do you think the AICPA went global? They are getting dues money from all over the world, so they don’t care where their members live.
Remember, they are now the Association of International… no longer the American Institute
Internationally, having your CPA can be a huge career boost within your own company, and it doesn’t necessarily mean competition with U.S. CPAs – this is partly because the profession has historically done a great job of promoting its values and maintaining a strong reputation. WA has historically had positive business ties overseas, plus their changing CPA eligibility rules make it easier for work-experienced candidates to apply with just a 4-year degree; thus, part of this is the natural combination of those two (it could be any other state with the same factors). Even if not true in every case, this appears to be more a symptom than the problem. U.S. CPA counts are shrinking, no? The work’s gotta get done somehow – the SEC and IRS ain’t gonna wait. With tech expanding the geographic pool of service providers, the ol’ supply/demand curve marches on. Maybe U.S. firms should take a hard look internally as to why their local workforce is shrinking due to a decrease in market entrants and what they can tangibly do about it (i.e. challenge longstanding norms, and *gasp* perhaps put less money in the owners’ pockets just because they suffered through a crappy business model and deserve to be paid to keep it going).
Why can’t we just pay CPA’s more??? Like u gotta increase to at least 6 figures if you want people to go through the hard process of getting the job. I was considering CPA but was hesitant because they get paid as much as a mcdonalds manager and work longer hours
Putting $$ in the owners pockets is all the large firms care about. They could have taken action to address the accountant shortage years ago. We can wonder about whether the shortage was created purposefully or not but offshoring work absolutely benefits large firm owners financially.
“Should We Be Concerned?” No.
Washington is one of the few states that does require residency or a social security number to get your CPA license. A little context goes a long way…
This is beyond shameful, and grassroots CPAs need to demand action from the fat cats at the AICPA. The townhalls have turned into nothing more than a circle jerk of all that is wrong with this profession…
This is disheartening. I am studying for my CPA and there’s already so much competition from offshoring. It makes you really wonder if its worth it if they’re just going to give the job to someone who will work for half the pay.
Having a defeatist attitude and blaming offshoring might be popular among the associates happy hour events but it will not help your career. It blows my mind how so many on this site are afraid of competition.