[Mary 2496]

Hi, all. New here. I am so frustrated and more than that, so TIRED!

I passed BEC in January after four tries. (Go on, it’s okay … you can laugh!) I know that many people find BEC easy but for me, it was really challenging. I was never good at cost accounting, economics, or many of the other topics they test in BEC.

Anyway, I finally passed it this January. I just took auditing for the THIRD time yesterday. I got a 71 the 1st time and a 72 the second time. I then took FAR although I really knew deep down that I wasn’t ready. I took it in August and got a 63. I am now studying for my second REG retest. I took it in August also, and got a 73.

I am sooo tired. To top things off, I had been going through the exam and had my friend by my side. She passed FAR and then failed AUD so she quit. I feel like I am so alone in this. My mom ran our company and suddenly had to retire because my grandma had some horrible, sudden health issues. I was supposed to take over as CEO in a year or two but we had to move it way up because of it.

I am so, so, so tired of hearing people say, “well, you’ve been an accountant for umpteen years, why can’t you just pass these?” I so much feel like walking away from it all. The only thing that’s currently stopping me is how much I love accounting and what I do. Way too stressed.

Anyway, this has been really hard since my friend quit. Thanks for listening. It’s a great place you’ve got here.

[Mary 2496]

@ Kim – yes, I am. I have to work the exam sections in my work schedule since I can't be away from work on certain days. I missed reg. by two points last time. 🙁

[Kimboroni]

I think that's part of the problem is that you are underestimating these on the retakes as well. Can you reschedule REG to sometime in January and start studying for FAR now?

AUD 84 (1/9/14-Wiley books/TB + free materials)
FAR 83 (5/21/14-the above + NINJA 10 Pt Combo Lite)
REG 84 (7/9/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC/Notes)
BEC 76 (10/5/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC)

Disclaimer: My ninja avatar is not meant to imply that I have any affiliation with this site other than being a forum member. That's a pic of a T-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday. 🙂

[Mary 2496]

I am too far into reg – I am going to stay with the retake.

[Kimboroni]

Good luck to you, then!!!! Knock it out of the park 🙂

AUD 84 (1/9/14-Wiley books/TB + free materials)
FAR 83 (5/21/14-the above + NINJA 10 Pt Combo Lite)
REG 84 (7/9/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC/Notes)
BEC 76 (10/5/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC)

Disclaimer: My ninja avatar is not meant to imply that I have any affiliation with this site other than being a forum member. That's a pic of a T-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday. 🙂

[Mary 2496]

Thanks!!!

[Anonymous]

I have two kids 5 and 3. I work crazy hours in public accounting. My wife works full time and travels out of town sometimes. My study sessions don't start until 9pm and I get up at 4:30am to work out. Is it hard? Yes but only for the first two weeks of ramp up time. Once you get past that point I believe that you get used to the super crazy schedule. I am taking BEC – again – in November but this time I am going to crush the exam. Stick with it.

[Mary 2496]

My current schedule has been 4:00 a.m. to around 11:00 p.m. (sometimes 10 if I call it an early night). I am used to it and I do sleep a few hours later on the weekends! It's the only way I can possibly fit everything into my day.

[Peach1024]

To throw a probably unpopular opinion out there, I don't think there's anything wrong with making a conscious decision NOT to pass the CPA exam.

It is nice to have the credentials? Yes, of course. Is it helpful in the job market? Absolutely. Is it “worth it”?

Well, I guess that depends on what you're giving up for it (I think back in BEC they called that opportunity cost, but I'd rather pluck my eyeballs out than re-open my BEC book to find out).

It is drilled into a lot of our heads from our very first day in public accounting that we absolutely need to have a CPA license in order to be an accountant. That's simply just not true. I know plenty of professionals in private accounting who make decent money, don't have the crazy work schedule that comes with public accounting, and whose companies truly do not care whether they're CPAs. They're not lesser accountants, they're not missing anything; they simply chose a career path within our field where a CPA license is not necessary. If you work for a family company and it's not required (and your clients aren't concerned with it), then I would think it would be less important to your career than, say, someone who is fresh out of college and climbing the corporate ladder in a CPA firm.

I've felt like walking away at times but I made the decision that, for me, it's “worth it”. My husband and I don't have children, I want to stay in public accounting for the time being, and this is worth a year or so of my life in order to be able to have the job security and title. To contrast that, a few of my friends walked away from the exam years ago and they have no regrets. They are just as smart and as capable as I am (if not moreso, in some cases!), but they just have different goals, and that's totally fine.

Just offering a different perspective than the constant, “YOU CAN DO IT!” Of course you can do it, but if you decide not to, that's okay too. It's a personal decision you have to make and I don't think there's really a right or a wrong.

AUD - 88
REG - 76
BEC - 88
FAR - scheduled for 10/20/14

[Mary 2496]

A really good friend of mine recently walked away after passing FAR and not being able to pass BEC or AUD. It has made it really hard – she was my main support!

I do agree with you. The CPA path isn't for everyone and no, you don't “have” to have it to be successful. My mom ran our accounting firm since its inception (until I recently took over due to her retirement). She wasn't a CPA, she was an enrolled agent. She had the big salary and all of the luxuries you would find that a CPA running an accounting firm has even though she was not a licensed CPA. Also, she had more knowledge than many licensed CPA's that I do know.

You make great points.

[Gironhe]

Don't blame you. I was in your shoes not to long ago. I passed BEC, one day prior my FAR expiring. Test taking is also about faith, believe in yourself,but don't get too comfortable.

[kujayhawks02]

You can totally do this! The only exam I failed on the first try was BEC so I definitely understand struggling with that one. I strongly recommend using Ninja MCQ's on your retake, in my experience it was just enough to get me over the hump to passing the exams. I would also stick with passing one exam at a time. So I wouldn't study for FAR anymore until you are certain you passed REG. If you can move the FAR test date back that will help. When I initially started I was trying to study two sections at one time and I wanted to pull my hair out. I found limiting myself to the amount of material on one exam was as much as I could handle. I know you are dealing with a ton right now and you may not be able to control everything going on around you, but you can control your attitude and your effort so stay positive and know that one day this will all totally be worth it! You are already at least 25% done and possibly 50% done. We are all rooting for you!

FAR - 79
BEC - 72, 79
REG - 75
AUD - 84

[005]

If you're truly going to take over that firm, you need this license.

Best advice I can give you is don't jump around; focus on one section until you pass it.

Good luck.

BEC - ✔
REG - ✔
AUD - ✔
FAR - 11/29/14

CPAExcel, Ninja MCQs, and a sh*t ton of coffee

[Author]

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