Editor’s note: We’re going to start a weekly post on questions that you have related to the CPA Exam. Send your questions to tips@goingconcern.com and we’ll do our best to answer as many of them as possible. You can see all of the JDA’s posts for GC here and all our posts related to the CPA Exam here.
A lawyer with an accounting undergrad wants to know the following:
What is the most efficient CPA prep course/books etc., for an individual that works during the week for about 45-50 hours. I understand that we can take the exam in separate parts, so that will be very helpful.
Caleb reminds me that this answer should be objective so let’s get the “I’m a CPA Exam Expert because of my day job” plug in here.
First of all, lawyer guy, congratulations on diversifying and pursuing your CPA. My experience is that more finance, mortgage, law, and other professionals are gravitating towards the CPA these days (especially since 2007) and that’s a great sign that the industry still carries a level of prestige. Win for us, though some of us think the industry as a whole has some work to do (see also: Dennis Howlett on the Big 4 being TBTF)
So my answer is I don’t have your answer. What you need as a CPA exam candidate is important, and I don’t know you well enough to figure out what you need. Professionally I’ve learned that those from other industries or educational backgrounds tend to have “special needs” like something more intensive than a simple review or additional support in formulating a study plan. CPAnet has an entire forum dedicated to CPA review courses, that’s a good place to start for research into the matter.
Taking the exam in separate parts doesn’t really help because once you pass the first part, the clock is ticking. 18 months doesn’t seem like a long time but it will be over before you know it. I don’t even experience it and sometimes I am amazed when I realized I talked to someone at work when they graduated and now they have a month left to pass FAR or they’ll lose their first credit. Don’t be them. You will have to plan out your time.
That’s my second point for you. 45 – 50 hours? I know people who passed the entire exam in 4 months with two kids at home and a fulltime job at the Big 4. That’s overachieving but if she did it, you can certainly do it working less than I do a week. Plan out every hour of your week and fit in studying where you can. If you say “I will just do it after work…” but don’t have a schedule, trust me, you’ll never do it after work.
Figure to spend about 132 hours on FAR, 96 hours on REG, 80 hours on AUD and 64 hours on BEC. That’s watching review lectures 1 time and doing the AICPA recommended 2 – 3 hours of homework. You might need more, you might need less, that’s for you to figure out. Pencil that in between every other hour of your life – and I mean every hour, from sleeping to work – and get your exams scheduled early. Do some kind of final review 2 – 3 weeks before your exam dates and make sure you studied.
The last thing I can remind you is something my boss has hammered into my head 10,000 times. The CPA exam is not an IQ test, it’s a test of discipline. Keep that in mind and you’ll have nothing to worry about.
I’ve used Becker, Bisk (sp?), and Wiley’s or something like that…Becker is the best. I recommend the self-study cd courses, can use them at your own leisure. Only down side is they expire after a year, and cost approx $1200 or so, so make sure and use them while you get them, i found that out the hard way.
I passed back in 2004. I think if you are fresh out of school, I would use Gleim. They had a CD with +7,000 questions. Work on those and study their lecture guides. If I remember well it was quite affordable. If you do need a refresher because you either did not do well at school or was a while ago, Becker might be good with all the videos and other jazz. Specially if your firm pays for it. Having a good study plan and scheduling the exams properly is key. A motivated person could pass it in 5 months in the offseason May to September.
#3, I am not sure the Gleim exists anymore. I only say that because the courses I took used the Wiley books but in some of the suppliemental class material, the poorly edited documents sometimes referenced Gleim vs. Wiley.
I have a question for you. What law are you practicing where you are working only 45-50 hrs and you think a CPA license is warranted? :) I’m actually in law school now with a CPA license. I agree with No. 1: Becker is the best. If you complete all the assignments, you will be successful. I took it during busy season at PwC, so we were definitely putting in more than 45-50 hrs of work. You may have to sacrifice a lot of social time, but it’ll be worth it. I worked on assignments whenever I had a free moment, i.e. after work, before work, holidays and weekends. It wasn’t fun by any means, but I agree with Adrienne that it is a test of discipline.
I decided to take them back-to-back, so I didn’t have to worry about the time slowly creeping up on me, and the burden would be there for a small period. Obviously, your timing will depend on the type of law you’re practicing. If it is cyclical or somewhat predictable, you might want to consider taking the more difficult sections on the lulls.
Becker is expensive, but it is very good. I would definitely get on it soon because I understand that in a year or two, IFRS will be implemented in the curriculum. I’m assuming your degree was heavy on the FASB/GAAP side, so it would probably be an added inconvenience to have to brush up on IASB/IFRS too. Becker is also organized as a quick reference guide. I still refer to my books for high level reviews.
Best of luck in your pursuit
MDS CPA review out of Columbus Ohio is similar to Becker and a little bit cheaper as well. They give you DVD’s of the lectures as well so you never really have to attend class. Their questions are similar to the CPA exam as well.
It is also taught by three former Becker Professors who started their own company after Devry bought out Becker.
Wiley is good to have a variety of questions after you have finished the regular CPA exam review books, but I think the best is taking the lectures and disciplining yourself.
I also agree test of discipline.
- Current CPA and 3L
I landed an in-house counsel position w/a Fortune 500 Company. Being in-house, you want to know as much as you can about a business, and I work on matters of importance to the CFO and Treasury folks. So having the CPA credential might be worth getting. Not to mention, down the road, if I want to go in-house somewhere else, it may differentiate me from my competition, or if I want to jump to the business-side w/in my current company, a CPA may better my chances. Every legal decision has a financial impact, and having that mindset will make you a better attorney and will help you make practical decisions when assisting your clients.
pay me $2,500 and i’ll give you the answers to the ethics exam.
@8 I have to admit I always laugh when people ask us if we have an ethics course review. Um it’s open book. And everyone just copies each other anyway, wtf?
I agree with #6. MDS is a great program. I compared programs that friends of mine were using. All of the programs use the same questions released by the AICPA from former exams (with some additional questions written in-house by the program). I found MDS to be structured enough to force me to study but significantly more flexible than Becker (and a lot less expensive). After much discussion over the past few years with friends and co-workers, we have come to the conclusion that you can pass with any program, but the key is to a) put in the time studying and b) focus less on the lectures and more on answering the questions and working the problems.
Test of discipline. I was lucky to take it while in my last quarter at school, but that is almost as hard…getting up at 6am on a weekday, forgoing friday nights to be fresh for class on saturday.
Becker was my class. Worth every penny. Do what they proscribe (tests, flash cards, review it all again during the time up to the exam) and you should be fine.
Agree 100% with @11. Becker is expensive, but if you do all the assignments (every lecture, read, answer the questions) you will absolutely get your money’s worth. Also, the way the Becker curriculum is organized, you won’t be wasting any time. It is very structured so that you get the most out of the time you spend on it.
Becker does sometimes emphasize things that don’t need to be used. But I would recommend Becker anyway. I don’t particularly care for Wiley. I’ve heard good things about Gleim (which is still around). And Yeager isn’t bad either, I had a friend who used it with success.