[Greenman72]

I posted this on another thread, but I think it needs to go here.

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I am a CPA, and I am currently studying for Level 3 of the CFA exam. For those who say the CFA is harder than CPA, you have absolutely no idea.

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. I never took Advanced Accounting, Business Combinations, or Business Tax. (I did take Individual Tax.) Even without those classes, I passed the CPA after only studying about 200 hours, for all four parts of CPA combined.

I do have a Master of Science in Finance. I have taken about 60 hours of finance, statistics, and econ, compared to only 30 hours of accounting. Here’s how much I studied for the CFA exam:

Level 1 – 200 hours (the same amount of time as all 4 parts of CPA combined)
Level 2 – 250 hours. Failed, then studied another 400 hours.
Level 3 – about 300 hours so far. I hope to get in another 200 before test day.

If you add it all up, I will study about 1400 hours for CFA. That’s seven times as much as I studied for all four parts of the CFA exam combined. And I studied far more Finance in college than Accounting, so Finance comes natural to me.

I’m not trying to dissuade anybody from doing it, but I want you to know that the CPA exam is a cake walk compared to the CFA exam. The CPA exam is four little bite-size pieces. The CFA exam is a monster that will consume your life for several years.

 
CFA Review Test Bank

[Anonymous]

How much can you bench press?

[jeff]

^^ I have no idea why I laughed at that.

I have a former colleague who is a CFA and it sounds like pure misery to go through that exam process.

AUD - 79
BEC - 80
FAR - 76
REG - 92

Jeff Elliott, CPA (KS)
NINJA CPA | NINJA CMA | NINJA CPE | Another71

[Gerg, CPA]

**slow clap**

FAR - 1/26/2012 - PASSED (78, but Lost credit), re-do 11/27/2013 - PASSED (87)!
AUD - EPIC FAIL, 71, 69; 68; 5/25/2013 - PASSED (85)!
REG - 10/1/2012 - 72; 7/1/2013 - 73 UGH, 10/1/2013 - PASSED (85)!
BEC - 2/28/2013 - PASSED (82)!
Licensed CPA!

Used Becker self-study materials (just this for FAR original & REG #1), WileyTestBank, NINJA notes/audio, and Roger cram course for AUD #5, REG #3 & FAR reboot. CPA!

[FlipACoin]

While I agree that the CFA is harder,you really can't compare study time for the two exams. Where the CPA has four exams tested on different topics, the CFA is three exams on the same material, just spun VERY differently on each exam. This should lead to a very different study approach as it's just a different beast. The other thing I would say is that while there are two test windows for level 1, levels 2&3 have just one. You fail, you wait 12 months and that really sucks from a pressure perspective. Upside-they don't expire, there is no continuing education and if I remember correctly no membership requirements. Once you pass any level of the CFA you have it for life. Like I said….different beast….

[Goods]

@ OP

Cool story, bro.

FAR - 72, 69, 88 (Nov 2012)
AUD - 89 (Jan 2013)
REG - 85 (Feb 2013)
BEC - 83 (May 2013)
Ethics - Passed

Becker, Wiley TB, Ninja Audio

[jaredo155]

First let me just say I have immense respect for the accomplishment of the OP, it is quite an achievement to take on both of these beasts. With that said I don't necessarily agree with your logic for why you feel the CFA is so much more difficult. Don't get me wrong I have no point of reference, but length of study time doesn't necessarily equate to difficulty. I would relate study time to the breadth or depth of material covered, when I would link difficulty to the complexity of material covered. Also from my understanding of what is covered on both exams (like I said I haven't taken the CFA, but I do have my master's in finance and am pretty familiar with the subject matter), the style of learning that suites you would dictate how easy preparation was for each exam. I feel like the CPA requires much more rote memorization of certain topics, while the CFA seems to focus more on conceptual learning. So someone who does well with memorization would probably breeze through the CPA, while someone who does well with conceptual content would probably breeze through the CFA (comparitively speaking). It is the same reason some people would consider AUD one of the easier exams and FAR the most difficult, while others feel exactly the opposite. Also keep in mind that you don't have the opportunity to take the CFA as often, so if you don't pass you have to keep up studying and your knowledge level for a whole extra year (this doesn't add to the difficulty but I am sure it feels more frustrating). Again no disrespect and you are entitled to your opinion based on your experience, I just don't know if I buy into your reasoning. I would use the example of a marathon takes a very long time to complete, but most people would argue that competing in a sprint which only lasts a few seconds is more difficult and requires more athleticism. Everything is relative.

AUD - 2/2013 - Passed!
BEC - 5/2013 - Passed!
FAR - 8/2013 - Passed!
REG - 11/2013 - Passed!
"Do or do not, there is no try." - Yoda

[ParanoidAndroid]

I'm a CPA, CFA, CMA, EA, CIA, CFP, IIR, NPV, AND APR…

CPA for life...

[Young Shil]

jaredo155: You are absolutely right. The level of difficulty is determined by how an individual perceives the subject. It is not determined by the volume/s of the subject. My friend who works in Chicago for a financial trust corporation cleared CFA with ease but has Electrical Engineering background. Additionally, this individual also pursued risk management certification – FRM & chartered alternative investments analyst – CAIA at young age. Practically, I have seen what this guy gone through all these years. No matter how many hours you have studied, conceptual understanding with the ability to answer the question in the exam really counts. In these types of exams, there is no benchmark like if you study x number of hours you will certainly pass.

Class of 2012 - 13.

[MCLKT]

Hey ParanoidAndroid – why didn't you go for the CPA/PFS? Underachiever.

😉

A:[73]97 F:[74]85 R:86 B:[74]82
*NINJA 10 Pt. COMBO & Yaeger*

[Getting a CPA]

I think OP makes valid points. I won't dare try the CFA. He/she wasn't showing off, just giving facts. Good luck OP.

CPA/CFA will open doors – most likely to a C-level executive office…

[ParanoidAndroid]

You gotta have some balls to be willing to spend YEARS of your life to achieve the CFA designation…

CPA for life...

[mla1169]

Never looked into the CFA exam so I can't dispute the difficulty.

Will say the op was just too difficult to follow. Has neither a bachelors or masters? Meaning has both but not in accounting?

Studied 7x as much for the CFA as for the CFA? And there's an enormous disconnect in the presumption that more finance credits = a natural inclination toward finance, lol!

Again I can buy the CFA as more difficult, and kudos to anyone who attempts it. This just seems completely over the top.

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

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[Greenman72]

@Jaredo – Let me comment on your points, and in doing so, I hope it will indirectly comment on some of the others.

Yes, it's true that the two exams are different, and are somewhat more suited toward one type of learner than another. And yes, the raw number of hours is not necessarily indicative of the difficulty of the exam. But I tried to address both of these points in my original post, and let me elaborate further.

– I have a Master's in Finance, which means that CFA should be easier.
– I am genuinely interested in finance, not as interested in accounting, which means that CFA should be easier.
– I am the type of person who likes conceptual understanding instead of rote memorization, which means that CFA should be easier.
– I completed CPA first, which means CFA should be easier, because (1.) there is overlap on the exams, and (2.) because I learned all my best study methods during the CPA. (Do I do flash cards? Do I study at home, or at the office or library? Do I watch videos? Do I read the text off the computer or in the book? How helpful are practice exams? These are things that you eventually figure out what “works” for you. I had it all figured out by the time I started CFA.)
– I took the bare minimum number of hours that I had to for CPA eligibility. I did not take business/estate/gift/trust taxation., which is about 30% of REG. I didn't take business law, which is about another 30-40% of REG. I didn't take advanced accounting or business combinations, which is about 20% of FAR. This all means that CFA should have been easier.
– I was working as a bill collector when I took the CPA exam–I wasn't working as an accountant , or at a CPA firm. I didn't have people that could answer conceptual questions. I didn't have any experience that I could draw on. (EG – I didn't understand the difference between test of controls or a substantive test, which is very basic stuff for an auditor.) As such, the CPA exam should have been very hard for me.
– Also, I didn't have anybody else to pay for a review course for me for the CPA. I used old textbooks and used, three-year old materials. By the time I started CFA, I was able to pay for Kaplan's review course, which is supposedly the best in the business.

All this means that the CFA should have been relatively easier and the CPA relatively harder. And I failed FAR and AUD the first times I took them. That being said, I still passed all four parts of the CPA exam within nine months, and on about 200 hours of study (for all four parts combined). I will probably study about 500-600 hours for Level 3 of CFA alone.

[Greenman72]

I guess the TLDR version of my last post was this: Yes, one is more conceptual and one is more memorization-based. But the exam that plays to my strenghts (CFA) has taken 1300-1400 hours, while the one that I was weak at (CPA) only took about 200.

@Youngshil – Being an electrical engineer does not help you on the CFA exam. Yes, Electrical Engineers know stochastic calculus and partial differential equations, but that's not on the CFA exam. Simple algebra is enough for the CFA exam, just like on the CPA exam. But knowing differential equations does not help you learn bond amortizations and revenue recognition.

@MLA1169 – I have a Bachelor's in Spanish and a Master of Science in Finance. I do not have a degree in accounting. I began taking accounting as a prerequisite to finance, and my skill sets are more suited to finance. And yes, I have studied about 7x as much for CFA as CPA. And I consider myself to be a “weak” CPA candidate.

@Getting a CPA – You're right. I'm not trying to show off. Just don't want people to think that they can just study for a few weeks and walk into the CFA exams. They are not something to take lightly.

[Greenman72]

I guess the TLDR version of my last post was this: Yes, one is more conceptual and one is more memorization-based. But the exam that plays to my strenghts (CFA) has taken 1300-1400 hours, while the one that I was weak at (CPA) only took about 200.

@Youngshil – Being an electrical engineer does not help you on the CFA exam. Yes, Electrical Engineers know stochastic calculus and partial differential equations, but that's not on the CFA exam. Simple algebra is enough for the CFA exam, just like on the CPA exam. But knowing differential equations does not help you learn bond amortizations and revenue recognition.

@MLA1169 – I have a Bachelor's in Spanish and a Master of Science in Finance. I do not have a degree in accounting. I began taking accounting as a prerequisite to finance, and my skill sets are more suited to finance. And yes, I have studied about 7x as much for CFA as CPA. And I consider myself to be a “weak” CPA candidate.

@Getting a CPA – You're right. I'm not trying to show off. Just don't want people to think that they can just study for a few weeks and walk into the CFA exams. They are not something to take lightly.

[Author]

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