[CPA in the making..]

I need/will study for my CPA at work to take advantage of every extra minute. But I’m worried some of my smug-CPA holders-colleagues will not stop asking of “how many parts did you take?.. when is your exam? .. did you pass?.. da da da” then u have to explain why I took a 74.. why I didn’t pass from the first time like most of them (I don’t know how! I know annoying) and feel unintelligent in comparison.

How do you guys do it? Avoid answering such questions?

They always say don’t tell anyone your preparing for the exam especially you manager.. (But for sure he’ll see me preparing!!)

I have enough pressure myself to handle the pressure of “Must pass from the 1st time like smug colleagues or else look stupid and less intelligent inform of management”

Hiding from family and friends is easy.. but work? Sorry no I won’t waste time there must study there.

FAR May/17/15 - 70, 78
AUD Aug/19/15 - 80
BEC Nov/17/15 - 78
REG Feb/24/16 - 78

Becker selfstudy + NINJA 10 point combo
Patience Practice Persistence.. & You'll get there!

I CANT BELIEVE I'M OFFICIALLY DONE. *Tears of joy*

[Anonymous]

After starting on the exam, I found out how many of my coworkers have tried taking the exam but gave up. Overall, my experience talking to coworkers was positive.

[Son]

LamBam, something tells me you might be working for a Big4 company. If that's the case, you probably have small team rooms or privacy rooms where you can study while you have some downtime. Just sit facing the glass door and keep studying – people will likely assume you're working on something and just don't want to be distracted.

As for telling your manager, depends on the kind of relationship you've got with him/her, but if it's good I would actually tell and ask for small favors like getting a permission to work from home the day before exam or taking some time off to revise the material. Good manager would be interested in helping you pass.

AUD - passed
REG - passed
BEC - passed
FAR - passed

[TNCPA16]

My first go-around with the exam (when I was right out of school), I told eeeeevvvveeerrrryyyyyone I was sitting. So, of course, everyone would ask me “how's it going? When is your next part?” It totally stressed me out. This time around, I limited the number of people I told. I didn't even tell my boss until I had one part under my belt (and even then, it was only because he was doing the budget and I wanted to make sure the 2015 budget included reimbursing me for the exam costs!) I have found it MUCH less stressful because I am now doing this for ME (and I put enough pressure on myself!) And actually I'm glad I told my boss because he's given me several free days off to go study or take exams.

I have one person who I told who occasionally asks me questions and my response to him is always: “I'll let you know as soon as I've passed all 4 parts.” If that doesn't work, you can always just say that you are studying but haven't scheduled your exam yet. If you don't give up information, then people will eventually stop asking you as much. I work with someone who is also taking the exams and he talks about it a LOT, so of course people are always asking him questions about how it's going.

[Anonymous]

since 90+% of the people who eventually pass the cpa exam fail at least one section, I'd say that there's nothing wrong with telling anyone what your doing or if you got a 74 or whatever. It's nothing to be embarrassed about at all. Most of your colleagues(even if they say otherwise) probably failed at least one section once. That's just statistics and no matter where you work, they aren't immune to math.

[s2sylvir]

Let's just say I started out with AUD and failed 4 times before being able to say I passed. You know, you kind of figure out who you tell and who you don't tell. Also, if you don't announce it, people stop asking eventually. When I had my 2nd fail no one was asking me anymore 😀 Now I have to force my passing score down people's throats.

Basically, it's not as big of a deal as you make it out to be, imo. Yeah, people ask, but just tell them, “you know, if you didn't want to tell me something, I'd totally respect that. So, I'd like to keep this to myself. One day I'll become an awesome CPA like you, for sure!”. Nothing wrong with telling them nicely, “none of your freaking business”.

BEC - PASS (79)
AUD - PASS (63, 71, 74, 74, 83)
REG - PASS (88)
FAR - PASS (58, 89)

Becker for all + FAR 10 Point Combo

[taxgeek83]

I always kind of worried about that, but then realized that most of my coworkers failed at least one part, if not more. And I didn't spend every waking minute preparing for this thing like they did either. Sooo…when I failed, I knew it was my fault, and I owned it. Didn't end up being too big of a deal.

Biggest problem was answering the “Are you done yet?” question with “Nope, too busy playing to study, so I pushed my exam…again….” 🙂

[win2bet]

My firm actually gives 2-3 paid days off before an employee's CPA exam

,

REG 68,87
BEC 85
FAR 75
AUD 64,64, 86!

[CPA in the making..]

You guys thank you so much for the words of encouragements and advice. You have no idea how much this eases everything.

@Son  I used to work in Big4 but not anymore. I moved to one of the top industry companies here, that explains why I have time to study. I wouldn’t be able to even scratch my head if I still was in public accounting. But I know it this will give me a hard time when meeting the working requirement to get my CPA license. Thanks for the advice we have meeting rooms here as well.

@Jelly beans hahah. That is so true! “I'll let you know as soon as I've passed all 4 parts.” Will be my go to answer! Love this

@BD MATT that makes me feel so much better. Your absolutely right.

Your amazing thank you for taking the time:)!

FAR May/17/15 - 70, 78
AUD Aug/19/15 - 80
BEC Nov/17/15 - 78
REG Feb/24/16 - 78

Becker selfstudy + NINJA 10 point combo
Patience Practice Persistence.. & You'll get there!

I CANT BELIEVE I'M OFFICIALLY DONE. *Tears of joy*

[kappa1032]

@ LamBam — I know I'm late to the party but thought I'd add my 2 cents…I think it's awesome that you're allowed to study during your off-times.

I agree with the others in that it always depends on the situation and how you get motivated. Some people get off on proving other people wrong while others like to quietly go about their business and then celebrate/tell everyone when they're done. For me, I was the latter…I didn't really want too many people to know I was taking the test because I knew I'd get the questions that we all get like “did you pass??” or “i know you'll pass!!” even though they're in good nature (most of the time), I just didn't want that kind of pressure haha.

FAR - 81
REG - 74, 87
AUD - 88
BEC - 88

Finally.

“The only guarantee for failure is to stop trying”
― John C. Maxwell

[Anonymous]

If you have access to materials online (test bank, e-books, etc.) you could probably “hide” your studying by using those, so that to anyone walking by, you're focusing on your computer and that's all the see. Not hide it if you're not supposed to be studying at work, but if you're allowed to and don't want all the questions, this would limit the number of people who knew what you were doing.

Also, someone said 90+% of people who pass all 4 sections fail at least one; just for the sake of honesty, I haven't seen any figures that high before. They don't release an exact figures, but most estimates I've seen have been around 20-25% of exam-takers passing all on the first try, so that'd be more like 75-80% of people who start the exams failing at least once. Given that some people start and never finish, I'd say it'd be a bit lower than that for number who pass all and fail at least one.

[Anonymous]

I made the mistake of telling coworkers I was taking the test when I first started because I thought I wouldn't have such a problem passing the test. Fast forward a few years later, and I'm still taking the test (I ended up going to grad school and getting my Masters in Tax while working full-time and studying for the test….which was a terrible idea), and I've stopped talking about it. It stresses me out even more when I talk about the test with people at work since everyone asks what part did you take, when do you get your grade, what grade do you think you got, etc. The only people who know about me taking the test are a few close friends who feel the same way about discussing the test and my boss. Otherwise, I just tell other people that I don't want to talk about it. Some people are better at respecting that than others, but for the most part people back off if you tell them to. I told people that when I pass the test I will let them know; until then its not a topic for discussion.

[Anonymous]

@LamBam: I find some people like to ask about the test so they can brag about their own experience of passing all on the first try. Those people are jerks. Don't worry about it. Instead, focus on passing the next one.

After I failed AUD, and even now, it seems people say “How did you fail AUD? It's the easiest one”. It takes everything I have not to tell the to go f&$@ themselves. My motivation has been to pass so taking the exam is no longer a point of discussion.

[Author]

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