[Tono23]

Hello All,

I am certain someone has asked this before in the past or current times. But in all honesty, I am extremely exhausted (mentally) . Therefore, my questions to the forum is: has anyone quit the cpa exam (due to failure after failure, etc.) but was able to have a successful career in accounting? Do mid-size firms let staff go if they never obtain licensure? A private tutor wants to charge me $75.00 per hour.

As an excerpt, I have been testing since 2011 without a pass. Have worked in industry and now in public accounting. I have not told anyone that I have been testing this long at the firm, due to feeling ashamed. All these young people (college grads) are passing. I am at least 10 years older and I feel ashamed, embarrassed and mixed bag of emotions. I worked hard for the firm and produce quality work. I had to vent because no one outside this forum really understands

Thank you.

[Substantive Testing]

It depends what your goals are and where you find yourself in 10 years? I have seen very impressive seniors that couldnt get promoted to supervisors because they did not have cpas. Being senior is not too bad as an career since they dont pay bad for the work that is being done (being a manager pays better but you will probably have to be on 3 engagements per week), but if you are looking forward to go way beyond that, cpa is a most.

[Wannafree]

@TONO23 , I can understand your frustration and let me suggest you shouldn't quit. I assume there is no problem with your background or desire or attitude as its clear you are frustrated because you feel you can do it.
Let me tell you my situation and you can figure out .I started with easiest one BEC ,I was confident in all chapters except Corporate Governance.I work in IT and have background in Accounting.Can solve most of of costing questions easily but failed with 65.Surprised was stronger in Corp Gov and weaker in Cost accounting and IT areas.Felt ashamed.Tried again gone through Beckers and Ninja ,same results now 69.Humbled.Tried to understand the pattern and made a new strategy and concluded that its concept and memory both are required.Throughout my career I had never memorized so it was paradigm shift.Made my own notes because I need to memorize and next time when I took exam ,paid attention to timing and passed the exam.
There are people on this forum who got 99 in Audit and still humble why ?
Why they got 99 and you 65 ? I feel they understood the pattern and changed their strategies .My 2 cents ,As u have appeared many times ,try to recall where you failed ,don't analyse that you know this chapter or that , just see where you failed and try with new approach.Moral :Changed strategy and don't quit ,your old strategies will not lead you to new cheese.

[bhunt815]

First of all, you are allowed to quit this process without shame. This isn't for everyone and if you have tried and failed enough times to know that a CPA for you then go be a non-CPA with your head held high. Having said that…

I can give some guidance since I passed all 4 sections while working full time and with a family at home. I didn't break any records with my scores and my life sucked for 6 months but in the end I'm a CPA.

I forced myself to quit working everyday at 5:00. Then I stayed at work 1.5 to 2 hours each night to study because work after hours is a better study environment than my house (I have a 6-year-old Daddy's girl). I got up at 5:00 on Saturday morning and studied for a few hours before everybody woke up. Then I would spend some time with my family and afterwards go to the library for 3-4 hours of studying. I scheduled all of my tests on Mondays except Audit and would take the Friday before off. I only gave myself an average of 6 weeks for each section (7 for REG and FAR and 5 for AUD and BEC) so it was important for me to peak on test day. Lots of MCQ's, not many SIM's, and tons of book work for the sections that were giving me the most problems. I guaranty you that i would have failed all sections 3 days before I actually took any of the tests. I would bury myself in the subject matter for 3 days before the test, leave the testing center certain I had failed, and then receive a passing score a few weeks later.

FAR 04/11/2016 - 84
AUD 05/12/2016 - 79
BEC 07/06/2016 - 81
REG 08/29/2016

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