Could you wait to answer till you get your FAR score (if that's tomorrow – I'm not up-to-date on the various release windows) and take that into consideration as you make your decision?
I worked (albeit part-time and not in accounting) while in college, got a full-time accounting job as soon as I could after college (which ended up being Sept, but I used the summer to finish out my 150 credits while continuing the part-time job), and didn't even start taking the exams till after my first tax season. So, to me, the idea of having a few months job-free between school and career is foreign. It might have been nice, but was never even an option. I had bills to pay, more importantly I had things to be saving for (like getting my own house in the future), and not working wasn't an option. Paying for the last semester of college had completely drained my last pennies, and I had to start refilling the bank!
That being said…I don't see a problem with starting sooner. Not sure what area you're in, so not sure what you're getting paid, but let's say you're in the $48k/yr range. That's $4k/month, pre-taxes. You're talking about 4 months worth of income that's up in the air – $16k pre-taxes. Probably around $12k post-taxes. $12k is a nice chunk of change! Is another 4 months of being able to relax and take things easy worth $12,000 to you? If so, then wait. If not, then start sooner. Obviously, for me, I wouldn't pay $12,000 for 4 months of taking it easier at this point in the career. 😉 (Especially since if that $12,000 isn't needed right now, then if it was invested in something earning 3% – which is a very conservative return over a long period – for the next 40 years till retirement, then it would be $39,000, which is even more money to be considering not getting!)
I'm not known for being good at living in the moment, though. 😐 My goal is to retire around the age of 40 or 45, which requires a lot of short-term sacrifices for longer-term rewards. So, I do think in terms of “what can this money be in 20 years, and what would that enable for retirement”, like I laid out above. Might not make me much fun now, but hopefully will make me have more fun later. 🙂 So, if I retire in 20 years at 45, that $12,000 at 3% interest would be $21,673. Continuing 3% interest, if I made monthly withdrawals for 30 years (annuity calculation), I could withdraw $91.15 per month from it till I was 75 years old. So, basically, by working the 4 months now, if I didn't need the money for living expenses so could save it all, it's $91.15 towards monthly living expenses for retirement. Let's say I figure I need $2000/mo in retirement (house paid off already). That's 4.6% of my retirement account already set aside for an early retirement, just by starting work a couple months early. 🙂
(Note: I know these calculations didn't include taxes being paid on the interest; it's rough figures for illustrative purposes only…my big workbook at home that tracks my progress towards early retirement includes all of that in it. And maybe 40 or 45 is ambitious, but ambitions keep the heart alive. 🙂 Also inflation isn't account for in here; my hope is that when my investments are larger I can find things which yield 3% after accounting for inflation, and historically that has been a reasonable expectation.)
However………..if you will struggle to pass the exams while working full-time, then maybe it's worth getting them out of the way first. That's why if you're in the May 24 score window, I'd see how you did with FAR. If you know you've got 1 done already, then you know you'll be very motivated to get the other 3 before you lose credit for FAR, so I'd be even more inclined to say go for it. But, if you failed FAR, then you'll know you're going to have some struggles with these, and maybe having time to devote to them prior to working would be better. Also, you won't have expiring credit to keep you motivated. Theoretically, the returns from the CPA will be much greater than the 4 months of entry-level salary work, so it's definitely important to provide an environment that will allow you to pass the exams, whatever that is. People pass them working full-time, in public, and in the B4 all the time, but that's not to say it's easy.
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