[sbcheung]

Hi everyone,

I’m a non traditional CPA candidate (no public accounting experience nor accounting degree). I’m almost 30 and work as a financial analyst for a non profit. I became eligible to take the CPA exam when I graduated back in 2010 after taking enough accounting units at community colleges. I planned to take the CPA exam back then but things happened in life and I wasn’t serious enough. Knowing about the 2017 changes, I decided to study again last summer with the goal of passing at least one exam before the changes.

BEC: failed (Aug 2016)
FAR: failed (Feb 2017)
REG: failed (I just took this today and bombed it since I only had time to study about 40% of the material)

I have been studying using Wiley everyday since last summer. I feel very devastated and I’m ready to give up. For the past 2 failed exams (FAR & REG), I just stared at the screen without a clue and my brain was blank.

1. Is anyone in the same boat like I am with a non traditional background? I wanted the CPA because it’s a prestigious & well recognized title, and all businesses require the skills of a CPA. I understand my age may be a concern to get hired in public accounting, but I will be happy just working for non-public accounting firms (private firms, government, non-profit) as accountant/financial analyst.

2. If I pass the CPA exams by 31, what is my chance to get hired by public accounting firms given my age?

3. I struggle to give up everyday since I already devoted so much $ and time to this exam. I lost motivation to study and it’s so hard to persist.

Thank you all for your input.

DesperateDoubtfulCandidate

[Anonymous]

Big 4, might prefer them young (wow that sounds wrong), but never sell yourself short. There may be nuggets within your life experience that could come in handy. I had a buddy in his early 40's start at a Big 4. Interact with the partners on your interview.

Not everyone had the luxury of going to college early..In my twenties, I was fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and working to support myself.

If that doesn't work for them, then too bad I guess.

[Pete]

If you're making what a senoir makes now, after 6 years, public accounting would probably be a good direction to go salary-wise. Initially, you will make a little less, but given 2 years, you will probably be back to that salary (as you can make senior at 2 years-especially with the CPA passed). Then, you'll quickly surge beyond your current salary (as CPA firms give much more generous raises).

If you're interested in more upfront money, focus extra effort on larger firms. My last firm (~10 people) had staff working around 110 hours/week, yet they only made a salary of 45k/year starting. In addition, the benefits were terrible; there was a $6,000 deductible for medical coverage. The only way a person would ever get a cent in medical coverage, under this plan, is if the person nearly died.

B=84 This exam was such a b**** that I thought I failed-don't know how these things work
A=76 Slacker I am, I'll happily take it
R=81 I LOVE taxes
F=80 I don't wanna get banned for an expletive I'm thinking with "yea" proceeding it

[shawn in VA]

wow Ratfus- at 110 hours a week thats 16 hours per day (approx) at 7 days a week!! Not sure how a firm can get away with that without HIGH turnover. Must be located in a really depressed area where jobs are scarce if there is little to no turnover.

The firm I am now is 55 hours during busy season, and the worst place i worked was like 70 hours per week.

[shawn in VA]

at 16 hours a day you must go to work, lets say 1 hour round trip commute, leaves you with 7 hours to sleep, eat, exercise…NO thanks…I would get up and leave

[RE2PECT]

The one thing that worries me about getting into a Big 4 at my age, is getting pigeonholed into one area and not really learning much. I had an auditing professor suggest that starting at a smaller firm can be more beneficial long-term because you should have an opportunity to be more hands with other areas. Not sure if that also relates to tax since I'm leaning towards that more than audit.

I guess it all depends on the situation, but I've always thought about that. I'll still explore Big 4 options since I have a couple connections, but it may not be the best fit for me or my career going forward.

FAR: 75 Roger & Ninja (notes/flashcards/audio/MCQ)
AUD: 73, 81
BEC: 71, retake 8/29
REG:

[shawn in VA]

re2pect-

how did you get your BEC score up 9 pts?
how did you get your AUD score up 8 pts?

I am struggling with both. more detail the better. thanks

[CPYay]

Same with me RE2PECT. I'm 34 and have only worked in private. I'm a Senior now. I want to have the public experience on my resume, but I'm afraid of the hours and of taking a paycut. I'm not sure my family can afford either of those, which bums me out. I'm trying to work toward being a Controller and I'm worried that a lack of public experience with hurt my chances.

[Anonymous]

What kind of questions do they ask in an interview at 30?

I think they would expect you to have a lot of experience in a particular industry at least so they can place you where you would be most effective or interested in rather than a general accountant position.

With that said, when you apply to a position, how are you supposed to know what kind of clients they have beforehand so you can determine if that location is a good match for you or not?

[CPYay]

@ Brickell cpa

I'm not sure about the questions asked at Public firms (never interviewed at one), but I imagine they'll ask about your responsibilities and industry knowledge to see what you're familiar with.

As for the types of clients they serve, most firm sites will have a list of what their focus is in. For example, I know some of the local firms in my area do this. I was looking at one in particular and they showed agriculture, dairy, and educational institutions on their website.

[Anonymous]

What's up Y'all

This is a great thread. Im 28 years old and i have passed two sections of the journey to be a CPA. I only have experience doing individual tax returns and 2 years of staff accounting for a pop & mom small firm back in 2010-2012. The majority of my career has been spent on the banking industry as bank teller, personal banker (holding finra series 6 & 63).

What should be my approach to break into a major accounting firm? would i be marketable with only 2 section of the CPA passed? is public accounting necessary to hold a managerial position by the age of 35? i didn't go to a big time university ( I went to a CUNY school).

I definitely eager to get out of the banking/lending industry.

[RE2PECT]

@ shawn in VA- For AUD, I read the Ninja book and did all the mcq's for that section after reading it. Used Roger and Ninja mcq for first attempt. After I got through the whole book and mcq's, I did missed last time and trouble questions and threw in some sims. I also got more familiar with the AL and where everything was located. It helped for a couple sims and I was able to find almost all the answers to them. Studied about 3.5 weeks for the retake.

For BEC, I finally got an exam that wasn't filled with a bunch of random IT questions. I didn't change anything as far as studying, except working some mcq's from an old Wiley book I had. I felt the third exam was the most fair and spread out all the topics pretty evenly. I was a little more comfortable with cost accounting too, which definitely helped. Studied 3 weeks and mostly hit mcq's and reread the Roger.

@ andito0527- What school did you go to? I got most of my accounting credits from Queens College.

FAR: 75 Roger & Ninja (notes/flashcards/audio/MCQ)
AUD: 73, 81
BEC: 71, retake 8/29
REG:

[Anonymous]

@re2pect i went to Lehman College. I considered enrolling in Queen College but the commute for me was terrible.

[FL_CPA to be]

@Ratfus
Thanks for your advice. Are you still in the public accounting? If so, what's the rank of your firm (Top10 etc)? As RE2PECT mentioned (and I heard similar from my contact working in tax) that you would have more exposure working at a smaller firm. For example, I was told if you are at Big4 tax you can just get stuck doing depreciation for a while without seeing other aspects since the volume of a particular task is so big. Are you still in the public accounting? If so, whats your experience/opinion in terms of exposure?

I understand those who don't want to get a pay cut by switching to public (as I am sure it took time and effort for all of us to be where we are now and just “giving it away” is not that easy) and also knowing that with money you would compromise your work-life balance…

[Anonymous]

check out my signature to see some of my details. Long story short, I got my license in october 2015, tried for over a year to get a job at a CPA firm (I was limited geographically since we're not able to move). Was recruited from my linkedin profile and was hired this january into a private position at a nice $ as controller.

[ellejay]

I'm 31 and haven't passed any portion of the CPA exam yet (working on FAR and struggling). I just graduated with my bachelor's in October 2016. I have been working for a small CPA firm since November 2013. I got the job as an administrative assistant and worked myself into the role of now accountant. Once I'm certified I will play a larger role in the firm, as my boss will open a 2nd office for me across town.

There are pros and cons to working for a small firm but in my opinion it can be easier to get a job through them. You generally get to touch everything at a small firm from partnership returns to basic bookkeeping, and in my experience you generally get a flexible schedule (speaking from my own experience and other CPAs in my area we have relationships with). There are also cons – you may not get as good of pay or benefits, networking might be harder… But I actually don't mind giving up a little bit of pay for a job I enjoy doing and feel satisfied doing.

[Author]

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