Starting down the CPA track at 29

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  • #186991
    Ryan Xavier
    Member

    Hello everyone,

    I’m new to this form, and I’m glad I found it; there is a wealth of information on here.

    I’m going to be 29 later this year. I’m in Southern California, married, a child on the way, work full time in City Management and already have my Master of Public Administration (MPA). In my profession, I like the field of accounting/finance and see it as a way of moving up, and I recently completed a basic certificate in governmental accounting.

    I like the idea of attaining my CPA but feel like I may be over my head. With a social science undergraduate degree and a MPA, only a few of my classes transfer over to the CPA requirements. With an online certificate in accounting from UCLA (https://www.uclaextension.edu/pages/ProgramDetails.aspx?reg=CF028), all my requirements would be fulfilled at a cost of $10k

    Here are my questions:

    -Am I too old to start down this path? By time I actually start testing, I may be mid-30s

    -Is a certificate from UCLA my best option?

    -If trying to attain my CPA, would I have to quit my job at some point so that I can attain some kind of required CPA experience?

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 19 total)
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  • #581268
    mla1169
    Participant

    Can assure you not too old. I only had a high school education when I was 33. Started my associates at 33, got my masters and CPA at 42.

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

    Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

    #581269
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Too old? No, there are older people who have done it and are doing it now. Is the certificate your best option? There is more you can do I think. Would you have to quit to get the experience? Only if your job doesn't meet the requirements for experience. If you want to go into public accounting, then by all means pursue the CPA. If you want to continue in public administration but make yourself more marketable you may have better options. You could look at other designations such as CGFO which is Ceritfied Goverment Finance Officer or CGFM which is Certified Government Financial Manager.

    #581270
    Juliemiddle
    Member

    You're definitely not too old – I went back for my M.S. Acct at 28, so I could start working on my CPA (31 now). But, at least in TX, you have to have at least 1 yr. of experience under the supervision a current CPA. If your position doesn't offer that, you'll need to consider what you are and aren't willing to do to pursue this. I think this is a requirement in most states.

    AUD: 84 - Oct. 2013
    BEC: 83 - Feb. 2014
    REG: 91 - May, 2014
    FAR: 68, 96 - Oct. 2014...DONE

    CPAExcel, Ninja Audio (all sections)

    #581271
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I was a semester away from a political science degree when I became a flight attendant on a whim. Five years and two airlines later, I went back to school. I wanted to finish the degree I started and teach, but my wife- a teacher- insisted I choose something else, like business. I chose accounting on a whim. Graduated two years later at 28 with a 4.0, have passed one section, waiting on the score for another, and will take my third exam the day before I turn 29. I assure you my friend, you are at a great point in life to be doing this. I am an entirely different student now then I was at 21, and owe my success to my age.

    #581272
    ridiqls
    Member

    Similar situation here.

    Also in socal.

    Depends on your degree but in my opinion the UCLA extension is not worth the price. It's nice to have that name on the Resume but a lot of the teachers from UCLA extension are teaching over at Santa Monica College. Idk how your money situation is but if you're looking to get the credits without spending $10k or going into debt, Santa Monica's accounting certificate program is top notch. I took 1 class at UCLAx and then am doing the rest of my credits at SMC. It'll be way cheaper and the online teaching structure is the same. I believe UCLAx uses blackboard and SMC uses smconline structure. No real difference, the professors at both places use wileyplus, pearsonlab, or any other textbook online course so it doesn't matter.

    You have to ask yourself, is it worth $10k for you to put “UCLA Extension, Accounting Certificate, GPA 4.0” versus “Santa Monica College, Accounting Certificate, GPA 4.0”? My answer was no. UCLA extension isn't even accredited and doesn't count for grad school credits anyway so the only reason for taking any of these classes is strictly for the CPA. I personally don't want to be in the hole $10 grand esp if I have yet to take a single part of the CPA exam.

    Once you have the CPA, people have said it matters very little where you went to school unless there's a drastic difference in your degree versus your competition. Seeing as how you have a degree and masters, I would just get ante the bare minimum (in terms of cost) and then attempt to get the CPA and just pass the exam.

    #581273
    samdiegoCPA
    Member

    @ridiqls I agree with you.

    Accounting is a subject that is the same at every college unlike science or arts. Maybe I am wrong, but I believe you can go to literally any university for accounting and it's probably the same thing. Then after you get your CPA, who cares because you passed the SAME exam that someone 2000 miles away took and passed. Go the cheapest route to fulfill your education requirements!

    AUD: 84
    REG: 84
    BEC: 79
    FAR: 83

    #581274
    Sarah1421
    Member

    I would agree with the last couple posts – go with the least expensive route to fulfill your requirements and then study REALLY hard for the exam. If anything, pay for great review materials – I wouldn't have passed FAR if it wasn't for Becker… and it's not cheap. I also bought Gleim, which left me drowning in material with nowhere to go. I use it now for practice tests.

    I'm 28 and just started the CPA process. I think there's a lot to be said about life experience in this profession… it can make you a sound decision maker. You know what you want in life, don't you??

    The experience requirement is different depending on what state you are applying for… WA doesn't have an experience requirement. So, here I am!

    My Bachelors is from UoPX…. Did I see your name in one of my online classes? If so, small world.

    FAR - 90
    AUD - 91
    BEC - 86
    REG - 87

    #581275

    Agree 100% about the classes. I'm in socal and took all of mine at Saddleback in south OC. Fantastic professors? They were good but not great. To me the best professors for advanced accounting are the ones who can break it down to where you really understand it. I'd say at least my two intermediate accounting classes were taught very much that way. Gave me a head start in FAR. Online selection can be poor depending on the college, which might be a good reason to do something like UCLA extension online. If you aren't necessarily stuck on the online option though I would give it a look.

    Oh ya. I'm 39.5

    MBA,CMA,CPA, CFF?, ABV?

    #581276
    ridiqls
    Member

    Also want to add, one reason UCLAx is good is because they offer all those classes almost every quarter, year around. It is like clockwork. I had to go to santa monica a few times to meet with a counselor so they can remove the prerequisite waiver thing off my account if I remember correctly, as well as deal with a financial aid issue. But aside from those 2-3 trips, it was very painless.

    SMC offers a lot of classes actually. They offer some that UCLAx does not offer and vice versa.

    SMC has accounting 1,2, Intermediate series, Advanced, Accounting consolidation, Income tax I and II, Cost accounting, Audit, and they also quickbooks, Spreadsheet accounting using Excel, bookkeeping, etc. All of these classes you can get credit for the CPA. UCLA offers nonprofit, government, and a few more not offered at SMC.

    The downside is, it is a college so you need to deal with enrollment times and priority for classes. They give priority to people who have been attending longer. but so far I haven't had any problems getting accounting classes. they offer good amount of classes.

    Professor Ming Lu teaches the Intermediate series at SMC as well as UCLAx and he's very good. He's detailed, grades reasonably and focuses very much on helping you be successful for preparing for the CPA.

    #581277
    floacct
    Member

    My two cents. There are not enough cpa s to go around. What is important is that u can pass the exam if u want to be a cpa not so much what school ur resume has listed on it. Go the cheapest route but just make sure u really understand the fundamentals of accounting or u will probably never pass the exam even with a review course. Its nice to have UCLA on it resume but like previous posters have said probably not worth 10 large to list that on your resume.

    #581278
    TaxLife
    Member

    You are definitely not too old. However, you might benefit from going into a daytime cohort program. These programs are accelerated 9 month programs where you can obtain your Master's degree in accounting. Most of these programs have very high rates of employment upon graduation. I have a friend who just made it into the Big4 as entry-level at age 30, so good luck!

    #581279
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    You're not too old. I was 31 when I got my BS. You may need to take a pay cut to get required CPA experience.

    As far as the school goes, just go cheap and make sure it is accredited by the AACSB. With as much experience as you have, no one cares about your education unless it is from a top tier school (Ivy League, Stanford, etc.).

    #581280
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    No. You are not too old. I just started studying for the exam this month and I'm 27. Hopefully I will be done with the exam by 28. While sometimes I wish I would have gone into public accounting instead of private accounting (A/R, A/P, general accounting) right out of college at 22. Honestly right out of college at 22, I didn't really know what I wanted out of accounting, let alone public accounting. In a way, not getting into public sooner could be a blessing to me because I have had time to really think about what I want out of my career in accounting, plus I have plenty of study time because I don't work long hours. I said all that to say, everyone has a different path in getting to where they want to be in life. Some get there quicker than others, but as long as it's what you really want, you have determination, persistence, and faith, then anything is possible. Anything. I've had someone tell me I might me too old to get into public, but I don't listen because people like to project their fears and doubts onto others sometimes. I know people to be mid 30's even 40 before they even started studying for the exam and getting into public accounting. It's about knowing what you want and going after it.

    #581281
    numbercruncher123
    Participant

    Hey nice to see some SoCal members!

    To the op, u r definitely not old. There r so many people here taking the CPA in their late 20's early 30's, in fact I think it's an advantage. We are not as immature like our early 20's counterpart and we are adult enough to fit in with d big boys. A few things to consider while on this CPA journey is make sure your boss is a license cpa otherwise your experience may not count. Also, depending on whether you want to pursue public acctg, u would need audit experience. If not, u can just pursue a non reporting license in which u still have d title, but u will not be able to do audit. Best of luck to u!

    Review Materials: RogerCPA, WTB, NINJA

    BEC - IP (May 2014)
    AUD - TBA 2014
    REG - TBA 2014
    FAR - TBA 2014

    #581282
    numbercruncher123
    Participant

    Edit on my above post: I meant with a non reporting license you will not be able to sign off on fin stmnts.

    Review Materials: RogerCPA, WTB, NINJA

    BEC - IP (May 2014)
    AUD - TBA 2014
    REG - TBA 2014
    FAR - TBA 2014

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 19 total)
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