[Mary 2496]

I have been curious about the general age range of those who take the CPA exam. I am 41 and sometimes feel like I am an old person taking the exam. Any thoughts on age — are you just out of college and in your 20’s or is anyone here a bit older, like myself?

[AScott89]

I'm 25 going on 26 in January. Graduated in May 2012 with my Bachelor's and doing my AUD retake in Nov. Also waiting to hear back from three different accounting interviews so fingers crossed. Props to those who go back and get a different degree later in life. It takes guts to change careers twenty or thirty years down the road. Good luck to everybody on the exam and in starting your careers!

BEC-65
AUD-72(8 '14); 68(11 '14)
FAR-
REG-

[kahtwoloo]

27 I'm hoping to have this finished mid next year.

BEC-51,71,70,77
AUD-50,62,68 (retake july)
REG-55
FAR-15(didnt study)

[The Ex Lurker]

mid 20s here. I agree with the person that posted “it doesn't matter what age you are. If you want the license bad enough, you go get it”. Of course, you have to put in the work ;). I believe a lot more candidates are in there 20s because it is necessary in the Accounting field (in order to earn a modest paycheck). 15-20 years ago, the CPA could have been delayed. Especially with marriage and having kids were a norm at a younger age.

Hopefully this doesn't offend any 40+ candidates but my parents are mid 40s. They've been blue-collar, self employed for about 20 years. They raised me and took care of me so that I don't have to go through their hardship. They've kept me grounded and humbled. I could have easily stopped at graduating college but they are the reason that I keep pushing myself to go after bigger goals. Hopefully, I'll be able to take care of them in the future.

F: Apr 14' Passed
A: May 14' Passed
R: Jul 14' Passed
B: Aug 14' Rematch in Oct *Passed*

[yourmomsaCPA]

I'm 31 and graduated 10 years ago in December with all 150 hours (at 21). I've had an excellent career thus far but I've kicked myself here and there for not sitting sooner.

My entire journey from the start of studying to taking the last test was 9 months. The amount of time I spent pregnant (twice) and looking back, my pregnancies seemed to last sooooo long but now I can barely remember them.

I hated this whole process but God knows what He's doing. I can't complain about 1 thing in the past 10 years as far as my life structure goes (great job, amazing husband, perfect kids) but man, knowing I could kill this exam on the first try sure did remind me that I can do anything I set my mind to do.

FAR - 87 2/18/14
AUD - 84 4/2/14
REG - 87 7/23/14
BEC - 78 8/26/14

I'm finally an *official* CPA - TX

[Travis]

I'm 29, left my first major 3 semesters from graduation, got my AAS in Accounting and took a few years off to work. Kinda did everything backwards getting a mortgage before my 4 year. I have now finished my 4 year while working fulltime and hoping to have my last 3 sections done before 30. Also wedding planning for June so there's extra incentive to be done by February!

[CPA soon]

26 but might get certified at 62 at this pace lol

FAR - 71, 68, 74, (8/31/14) 78 ✔
REG - 67, 71, 71, (10/18/14) 78 ✔
BEC - (11/29/14) 86 ✔
AUD - 73, (4/4/15) 86 ✔

I can't believe this is over! 2 years and 3 months..

[Anonymous]

@CPA soon: i logged in just so i could “hiya” your post LOL. I am in the same boat.

[mmp7183]

31!

Oh-Hey-Yoh Candidate

FAR - 89 Dec 2013 (CPAExcel)
AUD - 89 Feb 2014 (CPAExcel)
BEC - 83 Aug 2014 (Becker)
REG - 85 Oct 2014 (Becker)

CMA (Aug 2011), CFSA (Dec 2008), Philippine CPA (Nov 2004)

[Anonymous]

40 when I took the exams, and 41 now. It seems like the people who have trouble are late 20s – early 30s. Too far out of school to remember the material, but without the life experience to make up for it with dedication. I apologize for the generalization, but the kids and the Gen X seem to do fine.

[Anonymous]

I'm 27 now and just have FAR left (attempt #2 coming up on October 20th!). I graduated with a completely unrelated B.S. in 2010, though I did enroll in a few introductory accounting courses that year to get started on the requirements to sit for the exam. Then I was accepted to and worked on an on-campus M.Acc in the evenings by taking classes part-time while I worked full-time from 2010 to 2012. In early 2012 I decided that the on-campus grad school option was not working very well with my work schedule and dropped it in favor of a full-time online MSA, which I graduated with in December 2013. Less than a week after my official graduation date I submitted my application and transcripts to the VBOA and was approved to sit for the exam on January 24th of this year.

Originally my goal was to have my CPA license by age 28, but I'm really hoping my FAR exam goes well enough next Monday that I can have everything wrapped up before 2015 since I already have all of the credits and experience. I know plenty of people in public accounting in my general area that are in their late 20s/30s/40s/50s/60s and sitting for various exams right now (CPA, EA, FINRA exams, etc.) and I also don't see many who look younger than me sitting for the CPA exam when I'm at Prometric. I would've loved to have started this whole process sooner, but even though I've always done well with schoolwork and studying, I don't think I would have been able to keep with it, and the exam in particular, at 22 or 23. I feel like even just a few more years of experience on top of that gives a lot more motivation to get things done. 🙂

[masa_inn]

Turning 37 after FAR retake.

FAR
AUD 02/10/14 passed
BEC
REG

Roger, WTB, Ninja materials

[Uhartsoccer21]

Being 24 and life revolving around this damn test makes me feel old :O. I'm going to be extra young and reckless after this last test to make up for lost time.

A - 89 10/23/2014
R - 90 2/27/2014
F - 75 5/25/2014
B - 83 8/28/2014

[Gatorgirl1231]

I am 34 and half way done.

Hoping to finish before the end of the year.

Florida Candidate

AUD: 77
REG: 86
FAR: TBD
BEC: 79 (Expired)

[lsutigers03]

I'm 31 and I finished last month.

REG - 78
BEC - 74, 67, 69, 69, 70, 79
FAR - 76
AUD - 69, 69, 69, 74, 85

Licensed Louisiana CPA

“You never fail until you stop trying.”
― Albert Einstein

[JamesBJames]

23, here. Finished my undergrad degree at the end of 2013, studied for the CPA exam from March to August, and starting my job tomorrow.

FAR: May 1st, 2014 - 91
AUD: May 29th, 2014 - 97!
BEC: July 16th, 2014 - 91
REG: August 29th, 2014 - 88

Licensed December 2015

Feel free to add me on LinkedIn by clicking my username!

[Author]

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