[Anonymous]

Hey guys, I am just starting my CPA journey. I am currently working for a company that I think has a lot of growth potential. How do you handle working full-time (+overtime) and also sitting for the CPA exam? Studying for FAR and planning to take it in September… I’m managing about 5 hours per week? Any tips or techniques would be helpful.

[Meg267]

I work 40+ hours a week and I'm putting in about 20-25 hours of studying per week. I'm currently studying for FAR with a test date in August. During the week, I can usually get in 3 hours/day. I take an hour for lunch and study at my desk with my packed lunch. When I get home, I have dinner with my husband and then I study for 2 hours. On the weekends, I usually study 2-4 hours on Saturday and closer to 4-6 on Sunday.

I try to stay flexible when it comes to the weekend. This weekend, my husband and I are going out of town on Friday and won't be back until Sunday. I won't get as much study time in, but I'll study when I get back into town on Sunday evening for a while.

Good luck!

[Finally_a_CPA]

I agree with Meg267 that 5 hours a week might not be enough. I know we are all different but the CPA exams require a LOT more time and effort. You are giving yourself a good four months but even then, five hours is not enough. I was also averaging approximately 25 hours per week even during tax season. It's tough (even though I'm lucky enough to not have kids/spouse) but I just wanted to be done with these exams.

The best advice I can give you is that you should do whatever has worked for you in the past. Did you take notes in college? If so, did you ever review them?
I say this because when I was studying for FAR, I wrote down so many notes at first. I eventually realized that there was no way I would ever review them so I stopped taking them. That also saved me a lot of time because taking notes can be time consuming.

Other than that, good luck to you. It's probably too soon for you to realize it but this is a tough journey and in my experience, one of the most demoralizing experiences I have been through but once you get through it, it's so worth it.

[Missy]

I was working full time at job #1, part time at job #2, taking 2 classes for my MSacc and had 2 kids.

Study time was 10p-midnight on weekdays, and 3-5 hours on weekends before the kids got up and I had to go to weekend job.

Also relied HEAVILY on the audio, listened in my car, while I was waiting for thing 1 and thing 2 after activities and at friends' houses, listened at my desk at work in lieu of a radio (my coworkers were glad to get rid of that soothing sound when I finished) and listened while I did housework.

Sacrificed some sleep for sure but it was worth it.

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

[CS]

@ Boss, welcome aboard, I'm fairly new also, as I just started offically studying 1 week ago so my input probably isn't as valuable as the more experienced members here.

I also work full time (50-60 hours per week), have a family etc. and am managing to get in about 3 hours of studying + 1-1.5 hours of Ninja Audio per weekday (more useful than I thought it would be, constantly listen to and from work during rush hour – amazing how the information sinks in). I have to get my daughter up at 5 30 for day care so I'm studying by 3:30 until about 5:15, then get another hour in since I get into the office early. I leave late and since I'm on about 4 – 4.5 hour sleep I don't really study at night since I think being on, say 3 hours a day, will start to wear on my brain (though I'm sure plenty do it). My test is Aug 31st so I have myself 3 months.

@mla11692 Great stuff, that's Champ effort. Besides the time, to retain CPA-specific knowledge while also studying other material (and MSAcc is far from easy)….at this point in my life, I don't think my brain is cut out for that unfortunately…massive kudos to you!

[tygolfer]

I maybe have a litte different mindset than most people….I don't think you necessarily need to study 20+ hours a week. For all of my tests so far, I studied about an hour a day during the week (mainly watching lectures) and then did 4-5 hours of MCQ's on the chapter I watched on Saturday, and took Sunday off. That was my schedule for the first 6 weeks or so, and then I cranked it into high gear probably studied 50-60 hours the last two weeks.

For me this method worked well, because I was able to slowly go through and absorb the material, and then really go hard and get everything down the last two weeks. I heard someone on this forum compare studying to putting items on a conveyor belt, you put something on the belt and then move on to something else, only to have the last item fall of the end of the conveyor belt. Put as much as you can on the conveyor belt that last 2 weeks and hope it doesn't fall off lol.

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys! I am questioning whether or not I want to obtain CPA. I have been hearing that it is not as valuable as it once was, especially with automation and all. Has anyone ever heard of Andrew Argue?

[Author]

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