[Givemesleep]

If you pass the exam that should mean you have the knowledge to be a CPA, if not make the exam harder. The other reason is if you need 150 credit hours you shouldn’t be able to get a college degree in accounting with less than 150 hours. Experiece I understand, but if you can pass the hurdle of the exam tacking on a 5th year of college makes no sense. How does basket weaving make me a better accountant? I can see 120 hours plus 5-7 years experience in public or something like that. Maybe it’s just a barrier to keep the financialy challenged or older folks out of the license game. It’s a joke that a hedge fund manager can manage billions without a license or 150 hours but someone can’t sign a compilation even though you pass the rigid CPA exam and have 120 credit hours and experience. Okat back to FAR studying now. I must pass this nightmare already. Government should be a separte designation. How many CPA’s really do this stuff.

Reg 11/15/2011 - 80
Aud 02/28/2012 - 81
Bec 05/31/2012 - 78
Far 08/31/2012 - 83 Do you believe in Miracles, YES !!!

CPA License received 10/2012 !!
CFE License received 04/2013 !!
EA License received

Givemesleep

[Whatdidyou]

^^I agree on all counts.

What explanation was given when the credit hours were moved up to 150? I mean pass rates essentially stayed the same after the credit hour requirement was changed, right? So now you have highly educated people (with education of ~5 years) taking and flunking the exams in equal measures – that either doesn't reflect well on the quality/helpfulness of the extra year (in which case it is as people say, just a purposely created barrier to entry) or the relevance of the CPA exam, or it means the exam has increased in difficulty.

-Probably a combination of all of the above!

Also: Studying REG is sort of pointless for audit folks.

Didn't they used to have it so there were no education requirements? If you only had a two year degree, and were able to study your butt off and pass, then good for you?

REG - Passed!!
BEC - Passed
FAR - Passed
AUD - Passed

Study Materials: Becker basic course

[Anonymous]

I feel what both of you are saying and could not agree more. I understand that the IDEA behind the requirement, if I remember correctly, was to give the CPA an extra year of school to round out his/her business education…

But I've got 137 hours, with somewhere around 35-40 in accounting, which means if I'm lucky enough to get through this CPA exam process alive, I'm going to take 4 of the most cupcake classes I can possibly get away with to finish up my education requirement.

150 went into effect in, what, 2001-ish? I think I remember in 2000 speaking with one of my professors (at a community college) about sitting for the exam. He mentioned that I'd better do it soon or else I'd have to fulfill that requirement going forward. Unfortunately at that point in my life I had no intentions of going to a 4 year school, but would have been DESTROYED had I tried to take the test. So here I sit, studying my tail off, hoping to pass so I can take the aforementioned basket-weaving, Intro to Texting, Excellent Flicks of the 90's 101, and US History: May 14th 1957-May 16th 1957.

/rant over

Back to getting obliterated by transaction cycles and the many nuances of the Audit exam!

[gans555]

I completely agree. I just graduated with my undergrad in accounting and I am now FORCED to go right into my MACC program. I am also trying to knock a couple sections of this exam out during my short break. However, the one positive for me is that I won't have to go get my master's while I'm working. I am just busting it out in one year, then I am done with school forever!!

[porschify]

Im having a hard time understanding the point of this post…those are the rules if you dont like then you do not have to do it. I dont care if it required 300 hours; rules are rules and if you want the designation you have to play by them.

REG- 81
BEC- 72,76
AUD- 67,88
FAR- 78

Done!

[mla1169]

It's important to question rules/authority. That is the catalyst for progress and how we came to be a country, There should never be an attitude of “those are the rules, if you don't like them, don't participate In this”

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

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[Anonymous]

Thanks mla1169 for replying nicely, I was about to rip into them good.

Intelligent members of society have a duty to question the status quo otherwise the USA would still have rules like: legal to own another person or drown a woman to see if she is a witch.

To OP,

It is 2 parts:

1) additional revenue for a university

2) additional barriers of entry which makes the title appear more prestigious / professional

[The Dingo]

I think we can look at the “5th year” rule from a couple of angels:

The exam complexity has increased over the years, with the addition of IFRS, new FAS pronouncements, and the tax code will never get any simpler. The Wiley books from 10-15 years back were lighter.

And yes, the audit guys are tested on tax topics, the tax guys fret over the IT content (maybe everyone frets about the IT content, but only for the sake of re-stating the broad content out favorite exam covers)

Many practitioners will work for small firms at some point in a career, or even open your own, so having all of public accounting aggregated in a single license has its benefits, that and it presents a uniform representation for the profession, which also promotes dialog across the practice areas, because the tax, audit and corporate accounting guys have a vested interest in cross-collaboration.

So, the 150 hour thing…which is, of course, regulated by states individually but there is communication across NASBA…While the test rates didn't jump dramatically, in my opinion it's beneficial to get a few extra hours.

Most Accounting BS programs give you at least one class in each discipline, but with the 5th year, you're more likely to get a second audit, a second tax…maybe that “Advanced Accounting” you didn't take as an undergrad….Then facing the CPA exam, the course content from Advanced helps with the ForEx calculations and M&A and combined financial statements…If you took the corporate tax class, you've got more strength in the Partnership and Subchapter-S questions than without that course.

I ended up taking both an intro and advanced cost accounting class, and we all know how fun the BEC variance problems tend to be. So while it is a pain, and yes, it's absolutely a barrier to entry, I think there are some benefits. (no flame wars, please, just a perspective of how the extra course work can provide some benefit.)

And as long as we seek to continue representing the profession under one uniform credential, I think the integrity of the profession will demand more and more of us as practitioners.

One final note:

It is a barrier to entry, and while the general public may not understand all the hoops we jump through, one day you will sit in a room and something like this will happen:

Around the conference table people are introducing themselves. One guy has a “PMP” after his name…sure, it's a credential, you need some time of project management experience, a one-week class and you take the test on a Friday afternoon…Not the most prestigious of certifications, IMHO.

Next guy is a CIA…sure it requires some education and experience and I understand the test requires some investment of study time….

Then there's YOU…”Hi, I'm Blah Blah, I'm a CPA”…

You have the golden credential and everyone in the room knows it. I don't mean to take away from the CIA guys, but in professional circles the CPA holders are in their own class.

It's a big HUGE investment of time, money, gray matter and (sometimes) alcohol…but it's also a distinction.

Again, it is a pain, the extra hours, but at the same time, like after finishing your last section of the exam, you get to look back and say, Yep, I don't have to do that again!!

[mena je twa]

We can bitch about his 24/7, but nothing will be done to change this. We don't know the reasons as to why they have implemented this 150 hr rule, but we all know that lots of research and time must have been invested in coming up with this rule. I am sure NASBA, state boards have a valid theory before implementing this rule. All we are doing right now is speculating and making our own theories. I understand we are all frustrated by this process, so my advice is to suck it up, and get on with your programe of finishing up this exam……

Licensed CPA, Texas - 2012

[Anonymous]

Apparently I'm the only one who found my fifth year of schooling to be SUPER helpful for all this CPA business. I'm pretty sure I would've had a much harder time passing the test if I had to take it with what I learned as an undergrad. In my last year, I had two more financial accounting classes, three tax classes, and two audit classes, plus some other stuff. Maybe my school is just one of the few that doesn't offer basket weaving. 🙂

[Anonymous]

In my opinion, it's just ANOTHER tactic to keep people from becoming CPAs.

The less CPAs floating around, the more valuable the license is to those who already have it…

[Anonymous]

The reason is that there are TOO MANY CPAs. They don't want to have happen to CPAs what happened to lawyers – a huge glut.

So they want to raise the standards, so fewer people qualify to sit for the CPA, they'll do it any which way they want.

Be thankful there is no minimum GPA requirement. Just watch, they'll do that next.

Why complain? When you get those 3 letters, they become more prestigious because they're harder to get.

Imagine if you get a CPA and the raise the standards again 🙂 You'll be grandfathered in, and your CPA becomes worth more.

And for the complainers, should they DROP the standards so every Tom Dick and Harry can get a CPA? Of course not.

[mla1169]

@bobkorz, I think you're missing the point. The point is people are taking totally irrelevant classes (such as basket weaving, cool movies of the 80's) to fill space in the 150 hour requirement. Those types of classes, in themselves are hardly a barrier of entry except for the financial barrier of paying for a few community college courses.

If its 150 credits just for the sake of 150 credits, then YES it should be dropped. If they want to increase the required accounting credit requirement instead that would be much more logical. But make those 150 credits mean something, or make a M.S. or MBA required.

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

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[ZRowe24]

Look on the bright side, if you pass, it makes your license more valuable than before the 150 hr requirement, because less people qualify. Anytime you have to work harder for something, it decreases the number of people willing to do the work, which decreases the number of CPA's and increases the value of a CPA. At least that is how I see it.

FAR- 83
AUD- 90
BEC- 85
REG- 87

[Anonymous]

@mla1169 So are you advocating that we water down the standards and let 120 hours be the norm again? Your argument about basket weaving and irrelevant classes will still be an issue. To eliminate your “basket weaving” issue, we'd have to just say “OK people, take 24 hours of accounting classes and sit…” which waters down even further.

[Sandra]

I'm sure its a (perhaps failed attempt) to keep the standards up. Many recent graduates lack the even the most basic ability to read, write and communicate in a business like fashion.

Certainly college grads are not what they used to be. I'm not super old but I remember when my chemistry professor at the UW handed back a chemistry lab report, giving me a zero because I had 3 spelling errors. He said he expected better. Now all the tests are MCQs and they all but give bonus points for spelling your name correctly.

Because there is no limit on how many times someone can take the test they have to do SOMETHING to keep the quality of the candidates up. I didn't qualify to sit for the CPA until just recently. I would have done it years ago if I had, but regardless I am glad that they are doing something to keep the designation meaningful. Perhaps, and I certainly hope so, it is the first step in implementing even stricter standards, ie 150 credit hours in something meaningful.

[Author]

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