[Nahla2016]

I am wondering those who passed all four parts in six months,what did you do when you had to retake any of the exams? Did you just move on to your next section and then go back to the section that you didn’t pass? What was your general strategy to pass in 6 months? I am just trying to be done with as much as I can before 2017.

[MaLoTu]

You have more than 6 months … Do you mean 6 months of testing (2 months in 3 quarters)?

Not speaking from a place of experience in passing all 4 in 6 months, but it should be doable … just aim for 2 exams a window and stay on a study schedule.

I am sure others will have more insight 😉

[Anonymous]

study full-time?

[Martin]

MaLoTu, I think he or she meant six months total for all four parts. If you are the type of student who always had a very high GPA and learning new material always came easily to you then, of course, you can pass in 6 months. If you are not one of those great students, and you are working full time, then I don't think you will be able to do this in 6 months. The CPA exam is a lot harder than taking ten classes in 6 months during your senior year.

Through God all things can happen!

“You never fail until you stop trying.”
― Albert Einstein
When I was young, I used to admire intelligent people;as I grow older, I admire kind people.
“Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.”

FAR= 72-84
Audit= 73-82
BEC= 74-75
Reg=77

[Jdn9201]

Counting when I started studying, I took 7 months, but it happened sort of by accident. The good news is if you start today, you still have 3 windows before 2017. That does give you some wiggle room in case you have a retake (assuming you aim for 2 per window). I'm not sure how much correlation there is between high GPA and CPA scores. I've seen some people on here struggle with high GPA's, and I suspect that's because some people didn't have good study habits in college, because it came easy for them. This process was a shock to my system, because I was one who didn't have good study habits either. Commitment goes a long way, but I think you're going to have a better idea if 6-9 months is possible once you get into it and see how fast it takes you to get the material and understand it. One of my concerns starting this process was forgetting earlier material if I studied over a long period of time. To prevent this, I kept my study periods short (4-8 weeks) and planned my exams around holidays or busy periods at work for breaks. So, I think it's doable but it depends on the person. Good luck!

BEC - 88 8/29/15
REG - 82 11/14/15
AUD - 83 1/8/16
FAR - 80 2/29/16

[MaLoTu]

@jdn – I was always naturally good at school. I graduated with high honors in all 3 of my degrees; however, because of that I didn't know how to really study. So, I too struggled with the exam despite nearly perfect GPAs.

[Anonymous]

It's realistic to study for 6 weeks and pass a section. If you do that four times in a row, you passed the CPA exam in 6 months. Congrats!

For most people, that means being very serious about studying. Like second job serious. It doesn't leave room for failure but that's the reality. If you fail a section in the April/May/June window, you can retake in the following window if you cannibalize study time from another exam, but it you fail a section in the July/August/September window, you can't retake it before six months from now.

Of course, if someone is not working, they have more time to commit to studying than somebody who works full time, or works overtime regularly. (e.g. busy season in public, month end close in industry)

Good luck whatever you choose to do.

[Anonymous]

I started on September 28th 2015 and have passed three parts and take my last one on April 18th 2016. This equates to approx. 6.5 months. The trick to passing quickly is likely not failing exams. Due to the restrictions on taking exams multiple times within the same test window along with having black out months makes this difficult. I am studying using becker and have done two chapters a week. For REG I went 6 weeks, AUD – 5 weeks, BEC – 5 Weeks and FAR will be 7 weeks total. I took three weeks off after REG, two weeks off after AUD and 1 week of after BEC. Hopefully in April I will get full body frisked by the prometric goobers for the last time. I definitely think this can be done, unfortunately it does take sacrifices. Although I do work a full time job, I'm certainly thankful to not be doing this like some of you who have kids or work busy season in public accounting. Much respect to those of you who do!

It's definitely a grind, but one that will be worth it someday! Good luck, everyone!

[jcbcpa]

I began studying my first section in late July of last year, sat for my first section on August 30th, and passed 3/4 parts by November 30th, which was about 4 months of studying. I was only two points away from passing FAR and being completely done. But I conquered it on February 29 of this year and am now done. So, factoring in study time, I passed all 4 sections in 7 months, with one of them being a retake.

So, yes it is definitely possible to pass all parts in 6 months. And if you start now, you have 8 months to study and get this thing knocked out before 2017. Actually, I believe the changes don't take place until the second quarter of 2017 (someone correct me if I'm wrong), in which case you would have about 11 months, through the end of February of next year.

Do you work, and if so, is it full time? That can make a big difference as to whether you can pass the exams quickly. I was working full time, so it can still be done. Are you married with kids and have lots of household responsibilities? I am not, so that made my journey a bit easier. Also, are you a fast learner?

Ultimately, it will come down to how much work you are willing to put in, and learning your most effective methods of studying. I would suggest if you can, start now!

AUD - 85 (8/30/2015)
FAR - 73 (10/13/2015), 85 (2/29/2016) (AND DONE!)
BEC - 83 (11/04/2015)
REG - 81 (11/30/2015)

[Jdn9201]

Regardless of which study program you are using, I think another important tool are the content specific outlines on the AICPA's website. I relied on them heavily – especially for FAR. They are great at helping you to prioritize your time by focusing on the most important topics. I won't say which ones, but there were topics that I had a hard time with on AUD, REG, and FAR that I either glossed over or skipped entirely, and topics I spent one or several days on, based on their percentages in the outline.

BEC - 88 8/29/15
REG - 82 11/14/15
AUD - 83 1/8/16
FAR - 80 2/29/16

[Stilgoin]

^^^^^^^^^ “Hopefully in April I will get full body frisked by the prometric goobers for the last time” Hahaha- me too!

B | 62, 78
A | 73, 67, 79
R | 82
F | 59, 59, Waiting

Ethics | 93

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
~Winston Churchill

“In a world full of critics, be an encourager."

[Author]

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