[Abcd6789]

Hello everyone. This is my first time posting and I am very grateful to have found this forum. I am currently an undergraduate student at Califonria State University – Sacramento (AACSB Accredited) and majoring in Business Administration – Accounting. I have an overall 3.7 GPA, 3.6 Business GPA, and a 3.3 Accounting GPA. I am not naturally the smartest student, but I simply outwork others. I study around 35 – 40 hours per week to maintain my various respectable GPA’s.

Now to my Question: Next semester (final one!) I have the option of having a relative easy semester or a challenging semester depending on which 2 Accounting classes I take to finish my B.S. (Other 2 classes are just Business classes – much easier than Accounting courses!). After next semester, I will have 150 + units/credits and will satisfy all academic areas required to become a CPA. My options are take Advanced Accounting and Federal Taxation II or take Fraud Examinations (just meets Ethics requirement) and Governmental Accounting (small/easier section of FAR). Clearly, Advanced and Tax II are supposed to be much harder than the latter two. And, Advanced and Tax II are larger portions of FAR and REG than the other two. However, I could definitely maintain a higher GPA if I chose Fraud and Govt. Should I take Advanced and Tax II as those are very important for the CPA Exam? Or, should I take the other 2 easier courses and increase my GPA? Also, I plan on taking the CPA Exam after graduating next semester using Becker and Ninja.

Here are the Accounting Courses I have taken thus far (tried to take appropriate courses for CPA Exam): Intermediate 1, 2, and 3. Auditing and Attestation. Cost Accounting. Federal Taxation 1. And, obviously Financial and Managerial Accounting (Intro Courses) along with the various Business courses. I most likely will take Advanced and Fed Tax II to prepare.

Am I missing out by not taking Governmental, Accounting Info Systems, Fraud Examinations etc? Or, will the accounting courses I have taken, my strong study habits, and review course properly prepare me for the CPA Exam? Thanks to everyone and sorry for the long post!!

– PLEASE EXCUSE ANY SPELLING ERRORS ETC. I HAD TO TYPE THIS CRAP FROM A SMARTPHONE!!

[tuanxn]

That is a huge post to type on a phone lol how long ago did you take tax 1? I didn't feel like regulation went that deep into tax. You could probably get by with tax 1 if you learned it well.

I would personally take advanced accounting and governmental so you're not overloading yourself in your last quarter.

However, if you're planning to get into tax, then tax 2 would obviously be more beneficial.

[jcf175]

Gov't Accounting for sure.

Passed all sections between 5/15 - 10/15 order AUD REG BEC FAR (used Becker only)

[wombataholic]

I think you should take whichever classes interest you the most. Like tuanxn said, if you're planning on going into tax, maybe Tax II is for you.

I took Fraud/Forensic Accounting (Not at CSUS) and read through the class textbook like it was a for-fun reading book, but I find that stuff interesting.

Gov't is really really useful for FAR preparation, especially if you're planning on taking FAR shortly after graduation. Also, Gov't makes up about 10% of FAR – I wouldn't call that a small part of FAR.

You can pass REG without taking Fed Tax II and you can pass FAR without Advanced Accounting.

If you've managed to get your BS, you can pass the CPA exam if you're willing to put in the work. I can't speak for Becker, but Ninja prepared me well for the exam and covered the handful of topics that I hadn't seen in classes.

Lastly, no one will care what your GPA is after you have the CPA designation/work experience. It's just something to fill space on your resume until you have real world experience.

Licensed CPA
Passed each section on the first try with Ninja Notes/MCQ/Audio

[Valleygrl68]

I agree with Womba, definitely do Governmental (because it's important for FAR) ….I just finished Advanced and it was as enjoyable (to me) as Intermed I and II, although they were the hardest they provide what I love most about accounting….I've got Governmental starting next week and then I'm done with my 24 accounting hours and hoping to sit for FAR early summer.

[y_u_no_pass]

Aren't you required to take accounting information systems for the CPA? Check with your state board, that is a requirement in Florida at least. If not I would say tax 2 and government. If you take government and not for profit the FAR coverage of it is not bad, but if you haven't taken it it is tough. I don't think fraud includes anything on the CPA. Accounting information systems is definitely covered in the BEC section and somewhat in the AUD section.

Florida CPA!
Took final exam 2/25/15.
Sent in Application 3/12/15.
Issued License 3/20/15.
Used CPA Excel solely for all exams.

[jcf175]

agreed w/ above, took advanced accounting and Tax II neither of which helped on the exams

Passed all sections between 5/15 - 10/15 order AUD REG BEC FAR (used Becker only)

[Abcd6789]

Thanks for everyone's quick replies! I definitely appreciate the feedback from everyone!

You guys need to correct me if I am wrong, but I just don't see how a candidate could skip taking Advanced and Fed Tax II classes. They seem to be very important and two of the most difficult accounting classes. Would the CPA Review course really teach you enough about both of these complex areas to prepare you for the Exam as long as you worked really hard?

From what I have heard, Advanced is the toughest part on FAR and is definitely harder than Govt. I believe I could learn Govt from the Review Course, but I do not know about Advanced.

Also, Fed Tax II is about 30-40% of REG correct? I just don't see how I could skip this course either…

I need to be HONEST, the only reason I have debated about not taking these courses is because I have been having depression, anxiety, and feeling burned out. That is the only reason I have though about taking GOVT and FRAUD because they are both much easier courses at my school.

Thanks again for any feedback. You'll be hearing from me a lot more now that I have found a community going through the same goals and struggles I have been dealing with!

[tuanxn]

You can learn most, if not all, the required material from the review courses. At least enough for a passing grade.

You have to remember that some people have been out of school for years before they take the CPA exam. I doubt they remember how to manually calculate foreign currency translations for foreign subsidiaries that have a functional currency of yet another foreign country.

Burnout is pretty damaging to any momentum you have in your studies, so stick with government and fraud. You'll want a breather before you dive into the CPA exam anyways.

[Abcd6789]

@tuanxn Thanks for the advice. I agree that burnout and depression is definitely not a good thing for your last semester or while preparing for the CPA Exam. And, you made a good point about candidates who have been out of school for many years and pass. I just want to be as prepared as possible. Have you passed all 4 parts of the CPA Exam? Thanks for your feedback.

Any advice from other members is greatly appreciated too.

[Anonymous]

“You guys need to correct me if I am wrong, but I just don't see how a candidate could skip taking Advanced and Fed Tax II classes. They seem to be very important and two of the most difficult accounting classes. Would the CPA Review course really teach you enough about both of these complex areas to prepare you for the Exam as long as you worked really hard?”
Yes. As far as tax goes, I only took Fed Tax I, and the class I took for it was a joke (I learned more doing my personal taxes on TurboTax than I did through my course, seriously), but I learned enough through my Wiley book to pass REG on my first try. Tax II is definitely not required. I did take Advanced Accounting, but my scores in it were terrible and I didn't understand the content well at all (I took all my accounting courses online; my professor for Advanced refused to answer any questions, since he said that to tell me anything would give me an unfair advantage over other students…even if my questions were about concepts, not homework problems). I didn't really learn the material till I studied for FAR. So, you can learn from the review materials even if you didn't learn from college.

I'd say which courses you take is largely up to you. Government is really weird, so getting some more basis in it could be helpful, but it's just a small portion of FAR so if your goal is simply to prepare for FAR, then Advanced will give you more info for FAR than Government will. Fraud Examinations might give you good info for AUD, or it might just be a filler course. But if you've met all the requirements, and if you're on the brink of burn-out, I'd be tempted to advise you take the two courses you'd prefer, and take it a bit easier for your final semester. You can learn from the CPA review courses when you start taking the exams, but getting burnt out and getting poor grades on tough courses you didn't have to take would be a rough way to finish out your college years. 😐

[Abcd6789]

@ Lilla

Thanks for your sound advice. I definitely feel more comfortable with the decision I need to make now. I think my anxiety of not being prepared enough from my undergraduate schoolwork is causing most of my distress. It is just challenging to decide which courses I should or should not take. But, it sounds like the Review Course and studying your ass off is what it takes to pass the Exam – not necessarily your undergraduate courses. Although, I do believe the undergraduate courses prepare you to THINK and ANALYZE transactions and financial statement information like an accountant should (debits, credits, contra-accounts, financial statements, auditing terminology, tax formula, etc). And, the undergraduate courses introduce you to a lot of material that should make it easier for the Exam.

I think I am going to take Advanced since I plan on taking FAR after I graduate. I will probably take Fed Tax II because I will most likely land my first accounting job through a Family friend who is a CPA specializing in Taxation. I just hope I don't burn out and can make it through.

Thanks again for everyone's advice!

[Anonymous]

“Although, I do believe the undergraduate courses prepare you to THINK and ANALYZE transactions and financial statement information like an accountant should (debits, credits, contra-accounts, financial statements, auditing terminology, tax formula, etc). And, the undergraduate courses introduce you to a lot of material that should make it easier for the Exam.”
Oh yes, they definitely do help with that, and it would be very hard to make it through the review courses without any accounting educational background at all, since they do assume you're familiar with basic principles like debits and credits. However, the core requirements of any college will cover the basics principles, and the complex principles will be covered in the review materials (though having a basis from elsewhere definitely wouldn't hurt).

Sounds like you've made a decision that you are comfortable with and can go forward with confidently. Just remember you're on the countdown and in a few months college will be over, so you can make it through this! Take it one day at a time and remember there's not too many “one day at a time”s left. 🙂

[Author]

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