[Ryan]

If you are upset about the 18-month exam expiration rule and would like to help get rid of it, sign this petition!

https://www.change.org/p/national-association-of-state-boards-of-accountancy-eliminate-the-18-month-exam-expiration-rule-for-the-cpa-exam?recruiter=774519130&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition

AUD - 87
BEC - 80
FAR - NINJA in Training
REG - 86

Ryan

[Anthony]

I agree the 18month rule is stupid..but at the same time not gonna happen. 18 month rule is nothing more than a barrier to entry. I bet once you pass all 4 parts and become a CPA, you'll be glad there is a 18th month rule and want more barrier to entry so that your CPA won't become the next high school diploma.

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FAR - 74 first attempt

[CPAcandidate3]

While it does give me a little anxiety I think it's plenty of time to pass all 4. At a pretty slow pace of 1 test per quarter you can fail each exam once and still pass within the 18 month window. To me if you're failing test after test it says more about your studying affectiveness then it does about the exam difficulty.

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Rogers + NINJA MCQ

[ThomasHallberg]

18 month rule is a gold mine for them

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How does Santa's accountant value his sleigh? Net Present Value

Good luck favors the prepared

KPMG Audit

[Wen]

My wife and I had the exact situation. She got pregnant after the 1st exam and We had our first child born while preparing for the 3rd. It was awfully exhausting preparing for the 4th exam (we both took FAR recently) but doable, if you have support from the family. My parents and the inlaws are nice enough to take shift every 6 months for our son.
But I doubt if they are going to remove the rule completely. An extension would be more reasonable.

May god help us all and let us see the light!

BEC-Q1 2016 91

REG-Q3 2016 93

AUD-Q1 2017 97

FAR-Q3 2017 Pending Score Release (Pray!Pray!!Pray!!!)

[Anthony]

Depending on your state, it is possible to get extensions under certain circumstances.

Not to sound like an ass OP, but life isn't fair. Yes certain people are gonna have a harder time with getting all 4 passes within 18 months, but it's not impossible. Some people are just gonna have to work harder to make up for it. I much rather have 18month rule than some rule where it will increase the years of experience to 4 like the CFA or limit the exam 1 time a year sort of or deal. That would be way worse than 18 months.

@ThomasHallberg Is right. You bet the AICPA is licking their chops when they see the green paper rolling in every time somebody scores expire or failed an exam.

AUD - 82
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FAR - 74 first attempt

[Anonymous]

AICPA and Review Courses love the 18 month rule. Just keep churning candidates over and over like sheep. Baaaah baaaah!! Jk. This entire process sucks – no lie.

Goodluck.

[Anonymous]

I signed the petition. I don't think they will overturn the 18 month rule but I appreciate your effort. Sometimes, rarely, stuff like this can turn around. I've seen it happen once or twice over the years, they finally will cave in if enough people object. But, as someone else said, the 18 months is all part of their plan. They make more money that way. “Can't pass in 18 months? Great, we'll take more of your money and we don't have to graduate as many new CPAs because the marketplace has too many already.”

[shawn in VA]

the AICPA is a business, and one of the goals of a business it to earn PROFITS. By having parts expire for candidates, the candidate has to pay $250 to retake the expired parts.

I am all for a 24 month rule (i.e. 6 month extension to current rule).

I am sorry you younger folks ( I am in my mid 30s so I feel old compared to those right out of school) cannot understand this or against this but LIFE HAPPENS with spouse and kids!!! It is not going to “dilute” the value of the certificate if we all get an extra 6 months…calm down really. There are like 600,000 CPA's and like 350,000,000 ppl in the USA. Do the math…but that is not much CPAs. Sick of ppl on this forum talk about this so called “prestige” of a certificate and making things difficult and created barriers to entry. The CPA process should be like college (but it is far from it). A person with average intelligence (3.0 + GPA) put the time in, kind of know the material, and you get by somehow.

Sadly, this will never happen…the AICPA does not care except for their bottom line.

AUD - 84
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AUD - 84

BEC-  81

REG-75

FAR- TBD

[shawn in VA]

BTW we all got ripped off BIG TIME with that delayed score release unless you are in a state that granted you an extension. Most people are unable to test in Q3 if they were waiting on Q2 scores. This is a fine example of the AICPA not caring one bit….you think there going to give us an extension beyond 18 months?

Ryan- I appreciate your efforts, I will sign, but nothing will come out of this ….

AUD - 84
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REG-75

FAR- TBD

[Anonymous]

@Shawn – agree completely. The 20-something crowd of CPA candidates have no way of understanding that once you get older, the responsibilities increase. Not just at home, but at work.
The AICPA has designed the CPA for those just out of school with no real encumbrances – at least that's how it was in the past. These days, the whole process is just wacky and it takes every ounce of effort for most to get through it (and practically ALL of us who are over 35.) 24 months seems fair, especially in light of the fact that usage of CPA review materials more than 2 years old is not recommended. Even 2 1/2 or 3 years wouldn't seem bad to me, but I think that might be stretching it a bit, there should be at least some incentive to finish as soon as one can.

[shawn in VA]

Crazy Leon-

If you try explaining this to a 20 something year old person out of school majority will say something like “tough it up this process is not meant to be easy”. Most of them don't even have jobs, or are the summer between jobs and starting FT work, so they have all the time in the world to study. At that age they are NOT married or have kids which relieves them of time and responsibilities.

Not trying to make excuses but with FT work, kids and spouse It can be challenging to find the time to study. I have cut out any social life with friends, but I cant tell my wife and boys “hey I am going to ignore you for 18 months completely”

Then these younger kids pass the exam all the first time which is great and congrats….but if I had NO JOB and NO spouse and kids and all I did was have 40 hours a week to study, I can guarantee you I would also pass all 4 parts less than 1 year.

AUD - 84
BEC - 81
FAR - NINJA in Training
REG - 75

AUD - 84

BEC-  81

REG-75

FAR- TBD

[jbergmann1]

The funny thing is the only people making it about old people vs young people is the old people. No one MADE you get married. No one MADE you have kids. All of your encumbrances are your own fault. I studied while working full time. It's not that hard. Anyone can do it.

TX CPA

Passed all 4 parts of the CPA exam!
License application in progress

[Anonymous]

@jbergmann1 I totally agree. Not to offend anyone but when I was fresh out of college I HAD NO TIME TO STUDY. I was enjoying my days at the bar and the beach so eventhough I wasn't working I still had things to do (enjoying my youth with my friends). I'm older now and I worked full time and studied for the test. It's called sacrifice – everyone is in a different boat so you can't say young people have it easier. There are plenty of young people with tons of stuff to do. You choose to have a spouse and kids so don't use that as an excuse.

The CPA process sucks, no doubt but every1 has their own challenges young or old

[NA474]

I do agree it does get harder with a husband/wife and/or kids. I feel for those with children going through the process. As a young CPA candidate I did study and pass this exam within 9 months while having a full time job and there was no summer break for me. My life was just study, work, eat repeat for almost a year. If it makes you feel better, I know of firms actually giving people (my age lol) months if not a year off to study for this exam only to have the candidate fail and I hear of people who work full time, have families, etc passing. It is truly about willpower at the end of the day. Jeff Elliot went through this same process with 6-7 kids and a wife and he has a fantastic video called the ELL plan. I highly recommend you checking it out as it helped me despite being single and childless. Each person has to sit down with themselves and/or their loved ones and see what they have to do individually to study and pass this exam.

In my opinion, having a chance to pass consists of 3 hours during each week day and 6 hours per weekend day.

For me, I passed this exam by waking up early and studying 2 hours before work and one hour during my lunch break. If I had time after that or if I didn't wake up early that day, I did an hour or two after work (this probably won't work for most working parents and that is ok). I then headed to the library on weekends and studied for 6 hours.

Yes the 18 mo rule is a pain in the ass but we have no control over it and want to increase our chances of passing. Perhaps you can wake up early and study for two hours before work and an hour during lunch. Set a schedule that will blend studying in with family time. An example could be after your study sessions on the weekend you can take the kids away from your probably (tired) spouse, etc. Or you can do family time after.

For me, my parents and siblings were not fully understanding and I had friends who I had to say no to a lot. However, i made compromises with them like I need to study for 6 hours on the weekend but perhaps lets grab dinner after or go out after. See what works for you.

AUD - 90
BEC - 83
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FAR-5/31 -PASS
REG-7/29 (TBD)
AUD TBD
BEC TBD

[Anonymous]

“Anyone can do it.” “If I can do it, you can too.” “I worked 60 hours a week and passed them all in one window. What's wrong with you people? You aren't passing because you don't put anything into it.” I laugh when I read those kinds of things. Not everyone has what it takes to complete the CPA process. If everyone could, everyone would! But that isn't happening! 🙂
I have what it takes, but I'm a long ways from passing right now. My IQ is well above average, and “plenty of people with average IQ's pass the CPA exam.” So does that mean that I can walk into Prometric and walk out with a pass? Anyway guys, I kinda don't think the 18 month thing is gonna change unless they have a good reason to do it. Maybe if lots of people start flunking, they'll do it. 18 months is part of their algorithm, which works very well for them. I'd love to see a breakdown of where our testing fees go….probably to top management. And those six figure holiday parties they do at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel that I've mentioned on other threads haha.

[Author]

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