[Anonymous]

I’m thinking of doing it. Who’s with me?????

Level 1 will be slayed in December 2013.

Per my research, Level 1 = 75% of total CPA exam. If that’s true, then it will be a breeze. (maybe a strong gust…but nowhere near a hurricane)

Level 2 is the beast I’m worried about.

We must escape public accounting!!!!!!!!!!

[jeffc82sm]

i just completed my CPA exams and I am going after the CFA. Accounting pays way too little for the amount of hours involved.

How much of rush would I be to sit for CFA (level 1) on 1st week of this December. I can devote 24 hours a week studying.

[tough_kitty]

I was considering CMA, CFA, CIA myself, but I am just not sure if the cost/benefit advantage is there. In my opinion, it only makes sense to get any of those designations if you are planning or you already work in the mgmt acct/finance/internal audit field, respectively.

While the CPA license is mostly required for public accounting/taxation field….and you can't really work in both… so why waste money (and time) on more exams? Maybe it's better to concentrate on your career as it relates to your CPA license?

I also have an MS in ACCY and an MBA degree, so I think I am done for awhile, after I pass my last part of the CPA exam. But, even though having an MBA degree adds some value to my resume, I think I lack in experience (3 years as an auditor for the State of California), so getting another certificate doesn't seem to make much sense at this point….

Also, if any of you plan on getting an MBA degree, you should consider MBA in Finance. And don't do it online. MBA classes do require a lot of team projects, so in my opinion it makes sense to do this program in an old fashion setting (which I did).

FAR: 81 (May 2013)
BEC: 81 (July 2013)
REG: 83 (August 2013)
AUD: 82 (November 2013)
California CPA since 1/30/14

[jasonrobbins]

I'm a CFA Level II.

Let's just say that the CPA is a cakewalk compared to the CFA.

To give you perspective, I took time off from the CFA to take the CPA to *PREPARE* for my next CFA exam.

The CFA is the hardest test I've ever took: only 1/3 of the people who take the CFA level 1 pass. Of those people who pass, only 1/3 pass the next exam. The final exam has a pass rate of around 67%. That means that only around 5% of the people who take the exam pass it all in one try. Let me add that these are not dumb people taking the CFA exam, very smart people take the CFA and so you're competing against the best.

Good luck and get ready to grab your ankles….

AUD- 97 1x
REG- 81 1x
BEC- 79 1x
FAR- 88 1x

DONE!

10/1/12 to 2/28/14

[SeattleAccountant]

@jasonrobbins

Which CFA review are you using?

Becker Class of Jan - Aug 2013: FARB DONE!!!!
CPA license pending 🙂

[tough_kitty]

@jason – Congrats! It's quite an achievement!

Maybe some people don't realize that CFA is a pencil and paper exam…it's REALLY hard. Each MCQ has only 3 choices which are very similar to each other so it's really hard to pass this exam….I won't even try. I am not into finance anyway 🙂

FAR: 81 (May 2013)
BEC: 81 (July 2013)
REG: 83 (August 2013)
AUD: 82 (November 2013)
California CPA since 1/30/14

[jasonrobbins]

Kaplan Schweser is the “Becker” and Stalla is the “Wiley” for the CFA.

I used Schweser and supplemented with Stalla. There are some other ones out there but those are the main two.

AUD- 97 1x
REG- 81 1x
BEC- 79 1x
FAR- 88 1x

DONE!

10/1/12 to 2/28/14

[Greenman72]

@OP – I have passed both CPA and CFA exams.

Imagine taking the entire CPA exam at once. This is about how difficult Level 1 is. Level 2 is about 25% more difficult, and Level 3 is even harder. And if you fail, you have to wait a full year to take it again. There is no “I'll just sign up and pass it next month”.

Less than 10% of all who begin the CFA exam ever finish.

I studied about 250 hours for my CPA exam. I studied about 200 for Level 1 of CFA, 500 for Level 2, and 600 for Level 3. And I have a Master's in Finance–not accounting.

In short, if you think the CPA exam was hard, you should not do the CFA.

[JTS254]

Greenman- You have an interesting contribution history to this site. You have spent 22 minutes online and every comment you have made has been on a CFA thread preaching its difficulty. You also have some conflicting statements in your posts. Below are some excerpts I was able to pull.

About me–I have a BBA in Accounting and a MBA with a Finance Concentration. I took the CPA exam as soon as I graduated from my MBA program, then went straight into the CFA program. (Being a CFA was the goal all along–being a CPA was just icing on the cake.)

How hard is the CPA compared with the CFA exam?

And then later….
“Just so you know, I did not major in accounting. I have neither a Bachelor's nor a Master's. I took the minimum number of hours that I could in order to be eligible for the CPA exam.”

And in the same thread….


@MLA1169 – I have a Bachelor's in Spanish and a Master of Science in Finance. I do not have a degree in accounting.

Difficulty of CFA exam

Did you even pass the CPA exam or is it one of those things your still confused on?
or.. se puede incluso pasar el examen de CPA?

FAR - 84
BEC - 89
AUD - 93
REG - 87

[jasonrobbins]

@ JTS254

https://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/427/559/0ef.jpg

I've never heard anyone say L3 was the hardest…L2 is by far the hardest. Any CFA will tell you that.

AUD- 97 1x
REG- 81 1x
BEC- 79 1x
FAR- 88 1x

DONE!

10/1/12 to 2/28/14

[jasonrobbins]

@ JTS254

https://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/427/559/0ef.jpg

I've never heard anyone say L3 was the hardest…L2 is by far the hardest. Any CFA will tell you that.

AUD- 97 1x
REG- 81 1x
BEC- 79 1x
FAR- 88 1x

DONE!

10/1/12 to 2/28/14

[Mayo]

I've heard some people say L3 was harder than L2, but the consensus is that L2 is the hardest. It definitely kicked my butt.

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[Mayo]

I've heard some people say L3 was harder than L2, but the consensus is that L2 is the hardest. It definitely kicked my butt.

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[Anonymous]

I opened up a CFA practice book at my friends house and scored 9/10 on randomly selected pages 10 times out of 10. The questions seemed very easy as if you could answer them simply by using common sense. I also know several people studying for the CFA…they are both frat boys who cheated their way through calculus. There goes the notion that CFA candidates are a higher caliber. That could explain why so many fail.

 
CFA Review Test Bank

[Mayo]

Lmao, troll harder man.

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[Mayo]

Lmao, troll harder man.

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[Author]

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