[JOKEKIDDING]

Hi all,

Yesterday my boss called me to go to his office and asked me to take RTRP (Registered tax return preparer) test. He said everyone in the office has to take that unless you are an CPA or Attorney or passed EA exam in the last 6 month. Recently i just passed my cpa exam. Do you guys have to take that test and how to prepare for the exam.

ps. My boss is only EA, his main business is only individual clients.

FAR 73(11/02/2010),74(08/31/2011), 80(11/30/2011)
BEC 75(11/30/2010)
AUD 87(01/26/2011)
REG 77(07/09/2011)

[Minimorty]

@CPATerminator – What you learn for the CPA exam is a lot of what is covered in a Macc. You are basically learning a lot of the same stuff twice. Employers would prefer you have the broad based business and management knowledge associated with an MBA to complement all of the accounting stuff you learn while passing the CPA exams.

That being said, I still think professional designations and real world experience trump most educational degrees (MBA, Macc, etc., etc.).

[Herbieherb]

Agree with mini and kandis. It depends where you are in life…a kid right out of college with no job or one where they aren't happy go for masters to get better recruitment opportunities….someone with a job already and wants to move up go for CPA…a cpa who want to move up doesn't go for a masters, they go for MBA so they can be a better manager/controller/CFO.

NEW YORK- DONE

[Anonymous]

oh wow!!! thanks guys…I'm young and stupid, so I always thought an MBA was useless…lol..I've only taken two classes for my Macc and I think I'd rather do an MBA instead of learning the same stuff. thanks…thanke…merci…grazie…gracias…

[mla1169]

I had to get a Masters because I don't meet the experience requirement (in MA).

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[italianCPA]

I'll see you at Baruch this Fall for the MS in Taxation.

I really do it for myself (to learn) as I should become a partner at the small firm I've been working for the last year and I want to feel more comfortable (we do a lot of incoming taxation and most of our clients are foreigners).

Plus, as I don't want to wait for 4 years to get licensed in NY by endorsement (I'm getting licensed in CA as we speak), the program automatically makes me meet the education requirement for the State.

I'm actually waiting to get the license to send in the application (I think sending it in as a CPA will help a lot).

FAR - 7/26/10 - 95
AUD - 8/10/10 - 88
BEC - 8/31/10 - 88
REG - 10/15/10 - 95

[JOKEKIDDING]

@italiancpa,

do you have to take gmat to get into the ms program? English is my second language, so i am not confident that i can get 590 (avg) gmat requirement to get into it. So hopefully gmat is not too hard

FAR 73(11/02/2010),74(08/31/2011), 80(11/30/2011)
BEC 75(11/30/2010)
AUD 87(01/26/2011)
REG 77(07/09/2011)

[italianCPA]

JOKEKIDDING,

Yes, you must take it.

However, I just went to take it cold and I did ok, it's not that hard at all (mostly high school math and I graduated high school 16 years ago). English is my second language too and I had to take the PTE (or TOEFL is an option) because I got my bachelor in Italy. Took it on Tuesday, kind of a joke, besides for a couple of sentences to repeat in heavy australian accent lol.

Something about the GMAT: it felt sooooo good to get a raw score when you click the ‘finish' button!!!!

FAR - 7/26/10 - 95
AUD - 8/10/10 - 88
BEC - 8/31/10 - 88
REG - 10/15/10 - 95

[JOKEKIDDING]

@italiancpa,

i almost can tell you did good on gmat even if you are not telling me, bc i can just look at your cpa scores and you must be an excellent accountant as well. I dont have any accounting/tax related experience prior to my current job which i started early this yr. BTW, what material did you use to practice gmat?

FAR 73(11/02/2010),74(08/31/2011), 80(11/30/2011)
BEC 75(11/30/2010)
AUD 87(01/26/2011)
REG 77(07/09/2011)

[italianCPA]

I didn't buy anything.

Just went online (kaplan, I think) and did a simulated test the day before.

Really, you don't need to overdo to get into Baruch (which anyways has a great accounting/tax program).

FAR - 7/26/10 - 95
AUD - 8/10/10 - 88
BEC - 8/31/10 - 88
REG - 10/15/10 - 95

[Morganf]

Seems more logical to go CPA -> JD and get into tax law than CPA -> MBA. I know my university has the exact same classes for undergrad Accounting major and MBA, just a different label. Either way, a CPA seems to be more substantial & comprehensive than those programs.

BEC - 88
AUD - 69, 74, 93
FAR - 78
REG - 79

[jelly]

MBA – I think it really, really depends. I worked at a place that fired all the MBAs during the 2008 crash, and only kept the CPAs. I know 2 from top tier schools (rated top 3) who were still subject to the layoff chopping block several times in the last few years. One from a top 20-25 floats from job to job every 6-12 months, project managing. Of 4 I know that came from non-tier schools, one is nearing his 3rd consecutive year of unemployment, another is trying to do more than individual income tax prep, and two are doing project management work similar to senior computer programmers.

Also, there are a LOT of unemployed MBAs out there. A serious problem is that business schools are major cash cows for most universities, and spent a lot of money in the early 2000s building infrastructure to attract candidates, and now have a difficult time justifying the high tuition, opportunity costs, and poor job prospects.

I don't think the story is that different for CPAs either.

Couldn't pass again!

[Herbieherb]

MBA from top tier only…the rest of them especially the ones at for profit institutions are LOL….and John Doe, MBA from an online unviersity is a joke. Especially when he puts it after his name as a title…on his resume, linked in etc

Just a pet peeve of mine

NEW YORK- DONE

[Author]

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