[Anonymous]

How much does a CPA Exam cost (Poll): Thought I had saved money by using Wiley books only, but my total cost including exam fees came out to right around $3k. All those retakes added up, i.e. $300 in reapplication fees.

So did I actually accomplish anything with my painful DIY approach?

[ML]

How dare you come back and complain about exam costs when you've passed all 4 while the rest of us would pay almost anything to pass and end the suffering. Jk jk haha, congrats by the way. I would assume that unless someone somehow paid an exorbitant amount on this exam that's way above what everyone else has paid in general, there's usually not a whole lot of regret once you're done. I mean, from what I've seen on average, the total cost of preparing for and passing the exam ranges anywhere from $2,500-5,000 including retakes, app fees and etc. Just the bare minimum of review course material, a single run through of each exam and app fees alone would cost about $3,000. If you go balls out like Becker + supplemental material + exam and apps fees you're already looking at close to $5,000. In the end though, I would have to say most people would happily and proudly say whichever path they chose to prepare was what worked for them as long as they crossed that finish line. Whether you think your DIY approach was painful or not is subjective because I think this entire process is painful regardless how you prepare. But it will be all worth it, best of luck to you as a newly minted CPA my friend. Hopefully by the end of Q3 I'll be part of that club.

FAR - 7/31/14
AUG - ???
REG - ???
BEC - ???

"These are the precincts of pain. A goddess lives here. Her name is victory." - Unknown

[turo9992000]

I paid $22,133.34 to register, study and pass the exam. A breakdown is below. It took me a while to finally commit, but I kept paying all along and would let NTS expire. It was in mid 2017 when I decided it was time to finally take the exam seriously and actually study rather than buying study software and never looking at it.

[ML]

Holy cow turo! You would definitely classify in the exorbitant amount. But I totally understand your situation because I also dragged my feet in the beginning. I am glad you have finally passed all 4 however, good on you. Off the top of my head I think I'm sitting around $6,200 so far. I purchased Roger CPA review @ $1,700 + about $2,500 in exam and app fees, (I've needed to take each section at least once to pass) + about $1,300 in the repurchase of individual courses (I had passed 2 sections when my review course expired and since I did not renew beforehand I had to buy the 2 remaining review courses individually) + $700 in supplemental material ie flash cards, audio, ninja, etc.

FAR - 7/31/14
AUG - ???
REG - ???
BEC - ???

"These are the precincts of pain. A goddess lives here. Her name is victory." - Unknown

[Anonymous]

So the average (thanks to turo) is $10,400 based on 3 samples. I like that, makes the license seem more valuable.

I wonder who would have the record for the lowest amount spent on the exam. I imagine $1,500 would be near the theoretical limit.

Edit: And thanks Mike, good luck on your last section!

[DoubleBogey]

@calvinus I would say lower than that with extenuating circumstances or passing with just Ninja. I was a Wiley campus rep while in college so they gave me a study system for my troubles, leaving me with just exam fees to pay for. If I pass BEC tomorrow my total exams to pass bill will be $1,028.60. I'm cheap and money is tight at my house right now so this pass is important to me.

[AsianNinja]

It cost me around $4,330 to pass the exam and will cost me $370 more to get the license. Can't wait for my license but the CA state did not cash my check yet 🙁

[Me.]

I am guestimating I spent about $8,000 in total. That was over 5 years(sigh) worth it though to get that CPA! I had Gleim, then CPA Excel and Multiple Ninja Products (Yay! Ninja!) and of course multiple exam fees.

Congratulations turo9992000! Perseverance pays off!

REG - 50, 64, 73, 76
FAR - 67, 65, 67 Ugh!!!
BEC - 65
AUD - November 30

"You just can't beat the person who never gives up." -Babe Ruth

[Anonymous]

Hotel costs? Wow you must not live too close to a testing facility!

[turo9992000]

I took my exams in San Jose or San Francisco at 8 am. I live about an hour from San Jose and about 100 minutes from San Francisco. The hotel room was for the exams I took in San Francisco. There is no way I would take my chances with traffic trying to get to the testing center in the business district in San Francisco at 8 in the morning. Sometimes the hour and a half drive to San Francisco could be a 4-5 hour drive. No bueno.

[TommyTheCat]

i ran an excel on my costs, on a different computer than i am on now, but my all-in cost is about $6k. That includes all of my NTS costs, the review course (Roger), all 4 exam sitting fees, the cost of me getting the 27 extra units from community college, plus textbooks for the classes, plus the finger printing and $250 CA CBA initial licensure application fee.

Assuming I get my application accepted in the next month or two as I expect I'll owe them another $120 and then be a CPA.

[Anonymous]

Total $2,350.00

$1,500 for a review course and then around $850 in exam fees.

[Madhav]

Around $6000. Holycow!!!

[Recked]

4/5/2017 $377 NYS Application Fee
8/30/2017 $536.90 CPA Exam Services (FAR & AUD)
9/4/2017 $1,410.75 Roger CPA Select (Basic 18 month) Course package, plus flash cards for all 4 (25% discount code following free trial)
9/14/2017 $516.40 Gleim TestBank + Physical Text Books (50% off sale)
12/21/2017 $491.80 CPA Exam Services (REG & BEC)

Total Cost = 3,332.85

Redeemed 1,090.04 cash back reward on CC that I had been saving to absorb some of the cost.

Total out of pocket cost = 2,242.81

The real cost is in the hours/time invested, but that's another topic all together. 10 out of 10, would do it the same way again, except the Roger Flash cards.
Would not spend the $93.84 (with 25% discount), barely even looked at them. Just not my learning style.

[kdawg22]

Total cost including the license fee = $4,851. $527 of that was wasted though. I paid $150 for a score review for BEC since I failed by a point and then i spent $397 on the NINJA- 10 point combo for BEC (it was my last exam and I had to wait 2 and a half months to see if I passed so I wanted to study during that time and I ended up not needing it)

[Recked]

Did the score review change your score?? Or did you test again and pass?

[Author]

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