[Anonymous]

I work at a CPA firm and have two daughters. Trying to juggle my job, kids schedules and studying for this exam is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It’s overwhelming and completely exhausting. Just wondering if anyone else is trying to manage this – might make me feel a little better. 🙂

[mla1169]

Been there, done that, got the tshirt!

Yeah its the hardest thing you'll ever do. My kids were 11 and 17 at the time but between sports, scouts, cheerleading it was a struggle. On top of that, I was also in school for my masters (one class/semester), working f/t and doing this exam.

Take shortcuts WHEREVER you can. Live with paper plates. Use the crockpot daily. If you do prepare a meal, double it and freeze the extra for an easier night the following week. ask for and accept all help possible, if grandparents can take the kids overnight on a Friday, do it. Embrace the mess that your house will become, its not permanent and nobody will be scarred for life.

Good luck! It can be done. But its not easy!

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[Anonymous]

I have 4 kids (11, 4, 3, & 10m) and I work 2 PT jobs. I work in tax and I passed all three parts of the SEE with very little effort and I just got my rear end kicked by REG. I completely underestimated it. After failing, I wondered if I was kidding myself thinking I could find the time to put into these exams and sometimes I still wonder if I should keep going. Its overwhelming, mentally exhausting, and frustrating at times but I just think of my kids. I want them to be proud of their Mommy and learn from me not to give up when it gets hard. This can be done and hopefully we will all have success stories to share soon!

[Marivy22]

It is possible…

I have just one child, but it was a struggle for me as well. Try JEF's ELL Plan and take advantage of the weekends. Based on my experience, you just need 20 hours per week for 5-6 weeks. 3 hours M-Th and at least 8 hours between Saturday and Sunday.

During the process you are going to feel bad about not sharing the whole weekend with your family, or probably because the house is now a mess, but don't worry IT IS TOTALLY WORTH IT 😉

Keep it up!!!

Done 😉
Class of 2012!!!!
Lots of prayers and hard work....

[KellyP]

Same thing here. . .I am a single mom working FT with a 7 yr old son who is very active. I agree with Marivy22, I do the ELL plan and it has worked great for me. I usually do an hour before work, my lunch hour, and 2 hours at night after he goes to bed. To try and fight off the guilt we have a special night every weekend where we watch movies together or play soccer, whatever he wants to do. I don't study while he's awake during the week and on the weekends he has soccer so he doesn't stay up really late and I usually try to get my studying in before he wakes up or after he's asleep.

For him, as long as I set a schedule and let him know this is what's going on he's good with it. I also plan a few bigger things to do, next month we're going to South Bend for a ND football game which he's really excited about 🙂

AUD - 80
BEC - 83
FAR - 87
REG - 65, 77 5/28/13

*Good-bye Social Life. . .Hello CPA*

[Mom2two]

It will be tough! My situation is two kids (14 and 2)/married. Both kids participate in a few activities a week and we both work full time (me around 50+ a week). My husband's job is pretty flexible so he can take care of the sick days when needed and can pick up from daycare every day. Not sure what your situation is but wanted to give you a background on where I was coming from. 🙂 The exam is STRESSFUL…like a stress I have not felt before. I think it is harder because you have to give up some of the family time for studying. Try to utilize Jeff's ELL plan if you can. I definitely take advantage of the lunch hour studying. I also stay after work and study so when I am home, I am fully committed at home and not trying to lock myself in the study. At least for me that did not work so I do all my studying away from the house. I also listen to the NINJA audio at work most of the day. Utilize the crock pot, make meals in batches if you can, freeze one of them. We plan out all our meals Friday night for the next week so we know what we are having. No dinner dance every night trying to figure out what to have. I let most of the cleaning go…it will be there when I am done. Not sure how happy about that one I am! Also I had to learn to let things go….sigh. My husband is doing the best he can so I try not to get aggravated when he does not get things done. I just let it go. So if your partner is struggling to do more without you I would really encourage you to let things go and not get frustrated with each other. Finally I do take 30 minutes for myself at the end of the day for yoga and meditation to help with mental clarity and decrease the anxiety.

B: 81 (3X) May 2012
A: 76 (1X) Nov 2011
R: 86 (2X) Feb 2012
F: 64, April 2011, retake 10.01.12 - 75!!!!!!!!!!

[jcw1503]

I know it must be tuff….I work 50-60 hours a week and another 30-40 hours worth of studying. I couldn't imagine having kids, however I will in November. We are expecting our first child, and I was realyy hoping to pass the CPA exams before then, but it is not looking good. I am having to rush my retake for BEC because there are things that need to be done before the baby comes and I didn't want to have to worry about the exam. As you can tell below I am retaking BEC on Oct. 15th and I take REG on Oct. 6th…8 days to study for retake of BEC….It is hard to study now, so I have tremendous respect for ya'll who have kids too….Good Luck on your tests…

FAR - Attempt 1-(70)...Attempt 2 (Passed Baby)-Praise the Lord-Couldn't have done it without him.
AUD- Attempt 1-Passed!!!!!!!!! )-Praise the Lord-Couldn't have done it without him.
REG-Attempt 1-(73)...Attempt 2 (Passed Baby)-Praise the Lord-Couldn't have done it without him.
BEC-Attempt 1-(71)...Attempt 2 (Passed Baby)-Praise the Lord-Couldn't have done it without him.

****What is one Golden Rule for Passing the Exam? 1) Read the question properly. and 2) Leave yourself enough time to answer all of the....
****Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They makes mistakes, but they don't quit.
****Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.

[Mom2two]

One other thing…I second what Marivy22 said about 20 hours a week. I try to set out a six week study plan around 20 hours a week. I kick it up to 25 a week three weeks out from the exam. Stick to the schedule so studying does not become overwhelming. That way you know today I am studying this…not crap how do I study this whole book!! 🙂 If you set a schedule on times you will study around that 20-25 hours you might find that you have time to do some important things, like be home in time for bathtime or reading a story, etc. Maybe take Friday night off and do dinner together. My first attempt I failed, failed, failed because I thought I had to do everything, make dinner, play, do the activities, bathtime, nighttime, clean up the house THEN I would start studying at 9 at night and I was exhausted. Now I study and do those things that don't require much thought like cleaning after so even if I am tired…not a big deal then. Lots of parents do this, you can do this too!! You will be so proud of yourself when you are done.

B: 81 (3X) May 2012
A: 76 (1X) Nov 2011
R: 86 (2X) Feb 2012
F: 64, April 2011, retake 10.01.12 - 75!!!!!!!!!!

[yellowboy817]

It’s good to hear that it is possible – I’m a single dad and have a 10 year old daughter.

Currently taking my last class to get my master in accounting but will start studying for the CPA in NOV.

From everyone’s comments – the main thing is just to stay on schedule …

I’m kind of nervous right now but hearing all the success gives me great hope.

[Anonymous]

One more useful tip (besides the great advice everyone else has already given): don't be afraid to let people help babysit. Sometimes it's just easier to study during the day with no distractions.

We are already Super Parents for juggling kids, a job, and the tests! The cleanliness of your house is much less important.

[jomarie]

I agree with what everyone said. I set myself up with a study schedule and I stuck to it!! I started doing that back in 2011. The couple of things I made sure of was, the kids were taken care of and the bills were paid. The house was last on the list. I was lucky that my husband help me out a lot. During the week I was pretty much a single mom. My husband worked out of town and wouldn't come home until 7 or 8 at night. He also left for work at 5 in the morning, so I utilized Jeff's ELL plan A LOT!!! On days that he left work early, he took care of the kids, made dinner, and cleaned the house, while I hit the library. So my advice, make a schedule and stick to it and take any help you can get with kids and/or house chores.

Good Luck to you!!! If I can do it, you can do it!!

Started sitting in May 2002, on and off. But since 2008 I've been nonstop and my scores are....
AUD - 39, 48, 56, 65, 68, 73, 76!!! (Finally passed in Oct 2011!!!) Becker, NINJA, & Wiley
REG - 75 (Lost Credit) 72, 68, 73, 75 (Passed again in Aug 2011) Becker, NINJA, & Wiley
FAR - 65, 68, 75 (Lost Credit) 68, 73, 73, 80 (Passed again in May 2012) Roger, NINJA, & Wiley
BEC - 65, 68, 71, 72, 72, 71, 76 (Lost Credit)- 70, 76!!!! I AM DONE!!! - Roger, NINJA, & Wiley
After 10 long years of studying, I AM DONE!!!! Finally a Licensed CPA in the State of New York!!

[grio19]

I feel your pain. Work full time (with an hour commute each way). 2 kids (5 and 2), one of which is playing both soccer and baseball at the moment. I am coaching his baseball team. I have a very supportive wife though. It can been done, I have been sacrificing on the sleep though. Keep plugging away. It is a struggle, but once you pass, you never have to look back! Good luck!

AUD - 8/6/12 - 83
BEC - 8/31/12 - 77
FAR - 11/12
REG - 1/13

[Anonymous]

This is why I feel passing the CPA is a team effort. I had an amazing spouse who picked up a lot of the slack for our attention hungry 3 and 5 year olds. We also both worked full time. If you're going to sacrifice and put the effort into passing this difficult test then your spouse should sacrifice a little of their time and help out more too. Tensions will run high at times but remind them it's better to sacrifice in the short term then drag this exam process out any longer than it needs to be.

[kristen1479]

@dlgmarchand- I agree with you, this is definitely the toughest thing I've ever attempted. And that's saying a lot because I was also in the Marine Corps and completed MC Boot camp.

With that being said, it is completely doable. I am a single mom with two daughters 7 and 10. Their dad doesn't live in this state and works out of the country. I graduated college in 2005, and started studying for these exams at the end of 2010. A few months after I started my mom got diagnosed with cancer, a few months after that my stepdad did too. I took about 7 months off of studying, after passing BEC and REG (after a halfass audit attempt), to care for my mom. They both passed away while I was doing this, and left estates for me to handle (which are like part time jobs). And I just passed my last section.

I just focused on getting at least 2 hours of studying in each weeknight. My daughters and I would eat dinner together (which was often the quickest thing I could put together or pick up) every night and go to practices if they were happening, but after that, they were on their own for the evening. On weekends I would try to get in anywhere from 4-8 hours a day of studying, depending on how close to my exam date I was. I would rent the kids movies or send them with friends or family when I could. I also realized that no one cared how clean my house was other than me. And my kids were really happy if I let them eat Happy Meals instead of spending an hour making dinner.

You can definitely do this! I know that at times it feels impossible. I felt like that so many times! But trust me, it isn't.

BEC- 73, 73, 80
REG- 74, 83
FAR- 50(didn't study), 76 (<--How the heck did that happen?)
AUD- 71, 71, 79!!!!!
Finished!!

[Mom2two]

@kristen1479…you are a total inspiration. Good for you for getting this done!!! You totally rock!

B: 81 (3X) May 2012
A: 76 (1X) Nov 2011
R: 86 (2X) Feb 2012
F: 64, April 2011, retake 10.01.12 - 75!!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

1. Bite sized pieces……reminds me of that old joke about how you eat a whale—one bite at a time. 😀 Do NOT focus on the enormity of the task at hand. Put all of the books for future parts away and out of sight, they'll just depress you.

2. Prioritize. It's just a fact that you wil have to sacrifice something to make this happen. Identify what will be sacrified, accept it, and say so long to it.

3. Establish a study plan ahead of time to figure out what resources to use. Many people get panicked and flail about right before the exam and in doing so realize they don't have time and must skip chapters/topics. Ensure your study plan gives you time to cover al pieces of the puzzle and skip nothing. Too many people study with a hope to pass…you need to study with an intention to pass. Treat it almost like a project at work–if someone were to hire you to project plan a path to the CPA for someone with your life (given your time and constraints), what plan would you submit?

4. Execute as if the CPA exam were your child or your job. You wouldn't let either down, so treat the CPA with the same priority.

Sounds simple but it's very hard.

I started in December of last year after getting laid off mid-year 2011 and starting a new job in Finance. It was a full time and a half job. I have a side business as an EA. I am very active in my church. I lost my Mom in April right before my REG exam. I have a wife and two kids. My Father is now leaning on me for more of his needs. Oh and I was just promoted to one of the more visible and risky positions in my company right before FAR. Lots on my plate and this new wrinkle of the promotion wil require some replanning. I'm not saying this to say I have it rougher than everyone else, just showing that it's possible to pass with all of this.

CPAPending

[Author]

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