[Lillian]

I’ve been studying for the CPA certification since 2012. I’ve spent an enormous amount for these exams and I have yet to take BEC or REG. Basically all of my study efforts have been on FAR and AUD. I’ve taken the FAR exam 2 times and didn’t pass and I’ve taken AUD once (currently studying for this exam now). My husband thinks that I should give up on the CPA certification but at this point it has become about the desire to pass simply because I’ve failed so many times and am determined to not give up. What do you all do when you don’t have a support system that lives with you? My mom is very supportive but I would like for my husband to be supportive also.

On my way to a CPA

[SaveBandit]

Were your scores close to 75? Were you giving it your best effort? Were you reviewing the material add you went along? The trick to paas this thing is to ABC. Always Be Consuming the material. Fifteen minute break? Flash cards. Waiting for your table at a restaurant? Becker mcq app on your phone. ABC.

There are also people on this forum who've sat for in excess of 20 exams. It's a little early to quit, IMO.

AUD - 94
BEC - 86
FAR - 85
REG - 90

If you pray enough, you can turn yourself into a cat person.

4 for 4

FAR 85
AUD 94
BEC 86
REG 90

[C / X]

If you didn't say since 2012 I would think your hubby is being a bit of a douche. I don't know what you're doing but you can't take breaks longer than a couple of days studying for these exams (and boy do they cost you..I'm curse myself each time I let other priorities get in the way but at the same time I don't want to cut myself off from everybody like other ppl suggest esp when they need me).

You might want to say give me 1 year and buckle down, I think he might be cool with that. That's a long time for a guy to not have a lot of attention (and unless he's really busy too I doubt he would be cool with it) and all I can say is I've seen a lot of women that get their accounting degree and later lose their relationship and I'm not sure if it's because they didn't make their relationship a priority…or something else.

I told someone who told me about a guy who failed 10 times and I have to wonder if he thinks he can take it enough to get the gist of it, the only ppl that can wing these tests are people with strong retention/knowledge or really really smart (they still have to study a bit…as most of it is very “set” in how it's supposed to be done). Plus I'm pretty sure those questions are taken out of a pool of like a bazillion so there is a limit to how much that can help.

That's a long time not to pass at least one and whatever your strategy is, you may need to rethink it. I don't see why you have to take FAR and AUD first as well, if you're not grasping the material you need to switch materials, study strategies, or regroup (*there is a reason I have TWO books for AUD right now, becuz once I've read one, I don't want to read it again as I don't pay as much attention to it as it's easier to be like bleh..) because while the CPA exams are hard, there are ppl that managed to pass who I found of questionable intelligence. The guy that runs the site says the longest you should study for any is 8 weeks but I would lean more 12 (that's how long I studied for REG…and restudied…ugh).

Honestly I think you need to go all in. It's do or die. Ask him to be supportive, he probably does want you to succeed but the way you're going about it now, ain't working and I can see how you both could get frustrated so you need to make a plan and show you're serious about it. Everyone has the same amount of set time, just a different set of priorities. Decide what's most important to you but don't make excuses or place blame on anyone. The decision is yours so be accountable for it.

AUD - 82
BEC - 85
FAR - NINJA in Training
REG - 80

Now or Never!

[justicebeaver]

@TvilleCPA, I think this is a question probably only you can answer. I agree that at a certain point, it can become a task that you want to pass just for the sake of passing. I would think about whether the CPA makes sense for your career and where you want to take it. I also started studying in 2012 but gave up 1 year in because I wasn't studying for the right reasons. I was studying because I thought I was supposed to. 4 years later, it is so much easier for me to study now than before because I think it's worth it for my career. I agree with @SaveBandit that it's a bit early to give up – unless you find that you really are taking the exam just to take it. Best of luck!

@SaveBandit, off topic but OMG your office username/sig just made my day. *_*

[Tncincy]

Tville,
I have not passed either and have been trying for a few years, various reasons, study habits, money, you name it…..But it's up to you. What are your plans for obtaining the cpa? You have to keep the dream in view. Yes, we all want our spouses to be supportive and understanding, but the agony of defeat effects them as well. The process is not always as quick as others but you have to keep going and convince him that this is what you want to do. Don't forget to study like crazy. When you pass one part, he'll be just as excited, but remember, one part at a time.

It begins with a 75
Been here too long as a cheerleader.....time to pass

It begins with a 75
Been here too long as a cheerleader....ready to pass

[Lillian]

@savebandit no my scores have been no where near 75. But I admit that during these last four years I have not been consistently studying which ha been part of the problem. I am going to attempt the ABC method that you mentioned though.

On my way to a CPA

[Lillian]

@Christina thank you for posting. You are right, I think that I do need to show him that I'm serious about passing, set a schedule, and stick to it.

On my way to a CPA

[Anonymous]

Are you in Thomasville, GA- I just passed auditing finally and would love an FAR study buddy if so! My FAR test is scheduled for Dec 10th, I've been at it for awhile too, some passes, I actually let some lapse because I became frustrated with the whole process. I am crazily testing all four parts within this testing window and have no life at the moment-I work and study-but that has led me to a pass on the first score release so anything is possible on the ones I'll get on the 22nd. Stay positive, when you are ready you will pass because my moment of realization was that I wasn't studying enough, I thought that I only needed a 75 and I wasted soooo much time and money with the wrong mindset. Honestly my husband wasn't much help either, he still isn't and my house has been a wreck for the past 6 months, but I'm fully focused on my study goal, I even pulled my 7 year old out of football this season because I needed the time for studying. I guess I realized that I needed to be selfish for once and my family was going to understand whether they liked it or not.

[Son]

Did you study for the CPA exam for 4 years and ONLY sat for the exams 3 times (2 for FAR and 1 for AUD)? Well no offense, but let's call a spade a spade: this is not serious studying, or serious anything for that matter. How did you manage to waste a ton of money on this along the way, too?

Here's a realistic plan: to prepare for any section from scratch, you need 8 weeks (10 for FAR) of part-time studying, meaning 2-3 hours during the weekdays and 4-5 on the weekend. If you cannot commit to this schedule, I side with your husband, you should give up on this idea since you lack the motivation at the moment.

AUD - passed
REG - passed
BEC - passed
FAR - passed

[Lillian]

@tncincy Thank you so much for the motivation. I think he does realize that it's hard for me to pass. And just as much as I want to pass, he wants me to pass.

On my way to a CPA

[Lillian]

@cpasomedaymaybe I'm in thomasville nc you and Son make valid points, I don't think I am studying enough. I try to still make time for the family (in and outside of the house) husband and kids, mom and aunt since my family is really small…. I'm starting to see that I can't try to keep up with everybody and everything else…really buckle down and get it done!

On my way to a CPA

[Skynet]

Replace your husband. I can take his place. With me, you'll not only pass the CPA but I'll also cook and clean too : )

AUD - 90
BEC - 78
FAR - 84
REG - 87

World Domination Plan

Phase I : Pass CPA Exams - Complete
Phase II : Megan Fox - In Progress
Phase III : Megan Fox & Scarlett Johansson Lingerie Pillow Fight
Phase IV : Form the new Charlie's Angels with Megan Fox, Scarlett Johansson, & Gal Gadot
Phase V : TBD

BEC : 78
REG : 87
FAR : 84
AUD : 90

World Domination Plan

Phase I : Pass CPA Exams - Complete
Phase II : Megan Fox - Initiated
Phase III : Bring back 8-Tracks
Phase IV : Megan Fox & Scarlett Johansson Lingerie Pillow Fight
Phase V : TBA

[Vanessachy]

I agree with Christina,studying since 2012 is a long time. I used a year and my husband was very lonely during that period. Your husband needs your attention.

Not sure about your study strategy, but you need to give yourself a plan and time period. Those are hard tests, but don't study too long becaue you will forget the concepts and calculation. I don't think you should give it up but I do think you should give yourself a year to kill the tests.

Far, 64 82
Reg, 60 86
Aud, 74 82
Bec, 70 81
Done done done! I did it!!!
Licensed CPA in MA, issued October 2016

Far 10/26/2015, 64, 1/4/2016, 82
Reg 7/10/2015, 60, 2/27/2016, 86
Aud, 5/9/2016, 74 (ouch), 7/26/2016, I cannot wait to take this test again
Bec, 6/10/2016, 70,9/8 retake

[Lillian]

🙂 @skynet


@vanessachy I think I'm getting to the point t where I have to truly make the choice to settle down and knock things tests out. I was thinking last night and I've never done any thing this difficult in my life!! In school I was always able to scrape by and still pull off good grades. The problem now is…..ummmmm….lol, this same mentality CANNOT be used for these exams. I mean if that were the case, we would have a bunch of CPA'S running around here.

I appreciate all of the comments!

On my way to a CPA

[Anonymous]

Saw this thread when it was first posted but didn't have time to reply. Now some of the things that I would've said have been said already, so here's what I'll add:

You said:
“at this point it has become about the desire to pass simply because I’ve failed so many times and am determined to not give up.”
That's not a good enough reason to continue, cause if you keep doing what you've done, you'll keep getting the result you got. Don't do it just to not stop doing it; that's seriously a lame reason. “Not giving up” is only admirable when you're making progress towards a goal; doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results is insanity.

You've realized, it sounds like from your later posts, that you need to buckle down and be serious and shut out everything if you're going to pass. You said your husband thinks it's time to quit, and others have pointed out that 4 years is a long time to be lonely. My advice to you is take a year off from the exams. Give your husband, kids, aunt, grandma, etc., all that time that you've not been able to give them. You think that you've still made time for them, but you've also taken time away from them, just by the simple equation of “all my free time minus some study time equals less free time”. So, take a year, and make it 100% about family, with priority being your husband. Go on “date nights”, take family day trips, pretend you're 20 again and stay up till 3am with yours husband – uhh – “in the bedroom”. Make this be a year all about him and your family.

Then, in a year – or we'll make it a year and a couple months, after the holidays next year – take a year to buckle down and prioritize these exams before anything else. Tell your husband before the start of the family year that this is your plan, but tell him again at the start of the “study like crazy” year that you're doing this for one year. That should be enough time to allow you to take all the exams twice each. Tell him that at the end of that year, you'll sit down and discuss it honestly with him, and be wiling to consider whether this is still part of what you need in life, and assess how much you've passed with this level of effort and how much longer it will take to pass all. Honestly, at the end of a year, you should have them all passed if you're willing to do what it takes and it's something that you should be doing. Unpopular belief: CPA is not for everyone. Just like college is not for everyone. And that's not a judgement on how smart or dumb someone is; my boyfriend is the most brilliant person I know, and college is not for him, let alone CPA.

There's several reasons that I suggest you take the next year to devote to husband and family:
– You're not going to pass the exams before the 2017 changes (c'mon, be honest), so waiting till they've been in place for about a year will have given the exam review companies times to catch up with all the changes, and I think will be about the time the score release schedule goes back to normal
– Your husband is missing you; it's best to listen to the calls for attention while you have a chance to
– Your husband and family are more important than this exam. They might not seem as urgent, but they're more important. Give them their year first.
– You don't have a single exam passed, so you've got no credit on the 18-month timer to have to worry about
– You've been at it too long to easily step back, reassess, change plans, etc., without a break. A years' break will help you come at it as a new beast, instead of just adding a couple twigs to the bundle you're using to poke the old beast.

So, from my perspective, a year off devoted to family fun will give you a better chance at passing these exams (new mindset, materials accustomed to the 2017 changes, etc.), and also be a whooooole lot better for your family. Don't forget, families can be lost (which does include divorce with a husband getting lonely and impatient, but that's not the only threat – it can also include car accidents and anything else). Go strengthen bonds, make memories while the kids are younger, etc., and then come back to the exams with a limited time frame (1 year) after which you promise to reconsider.

(P. S. tncincy, I haven't been around much recently to see details of your progress, but I wonder if you might benefit from the above plan too? If now you might have the right ideas of how to study etc., but just be so burnt out from years of study that it's not effective? Maybe let others be the guinea pigs for the 2017 exams, take a year off, and come back at it in a year or so refreshed and ready to whoop some CPA exams.)

[Missy]

I think once you're fully committed to it you'll get his support. You're not all in and already frustrated, he doesn't want that for you and I'd recommend my spouse quit too if that were the case. Once you're full steam studying every single day no matter what and sitting for at least one section per window either he'll get on board or you'll just be too busy to care if he is or isn't.

Old timer,  A71'er since 2010.

Finance manager/HR manager

 

 

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[Author]

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