[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

[Missy]

Had to stop reading it even at “discriminates against women”. Good luck though.

Old timer,  A71'er since 2010.

Finance manager/HR manager

 

 

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[Missy]

and lets say in some alternate universe there was no 18 month rule. What next? Petitions for less testlets? Petitions for easier questions? Petitions for anybody with a temp of 98.6 to just have a birthright to a CPA license.

A long time ago in a galaxy far away a CPA was as highly regarded and paid on the scale of an attorney. Now? Not so much. I already see so much misery here about how HAAAAAAAAAAAAAARD it is to find a job. So let's say the 350,000 CPAs become 352,000 CPA's. Demand for CPA's won't increase to correspond to the changes in the exam and it becomes a very tiny bit HAAAAAAAAAAAAARDER to find a job not to mention that job you negotiated a 65k salary for? One of those 2,000 additional CPA's will gladly take it for 61k.

And as an “old person” LOL and a woman at that, who's been here on this forum for a few years, I can assure you that the new male college graduate who has a job gap of 4 months struggles with this exam every bit as much as the 41 year old single mother of two school aged kids because the advantage of time the kid has is offset by their naievety that (a) this is like a college exam, (b) heard of someone who only studied for 2 hours and passed and (c) the rigorous demands of being up at noon and only having a few good beach hours don't allow for studying lol. I kid of course but the wisdom and experience of being in the workforce for a few decades is a huge asset to this process.

Old timer,  A71'er since 2010.

Finance manager/HR manager

 

 

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[Radez]

I think too many people are assuming too many things about the circumstances of everyone's respective lives. The reality is that everyone brings different baggage to the exam. The results are not exclusively dependent on effort. There are so many other factors that play into both how well suited a person is to the format of the test/test environment and how well a person is able to actually perform on the exam. I don't think it's fair or useful in this discussion to bring that baggage into it.

My two cents is that the the entire point of the certification is as a statement of public trust. The certification indicates that the public, through the instrument of the licensing board, has adjudged your knowledge and skills to be competent to serve the public's interest as an accountant. This requires a metric and a standard to measure against. Performance on this exam is the established metric and the passing score is the standard.

There's room to dispute whether exam performance is an appropriate metric or whether the standard is accurately set. I personally think there should be a time limit to the exam credits. Since we're not splintering the certification into sub-specialties, you should have to demonstrate competencies in every area where you might wind up providing services, and that competency should be current. However, I have no position on whether an 18 month window or 24 month window really makes a difference.

The analysis, I think, should be does this maintain the public's trust in the CPA license at the appropriate level? It is modified by an analysis of market demand, for sure, in the sense that if there's a dearth of CPAs, then the public's not being adequately served.

The AICPA appears to have committees dedicated to these goals, and I trust their expertise far above my own in this matter.

AUD - 98
BEC - 93
REG - 84
FAR - 91

[tygolfer]

Well this got out of hand quite quickly…

To respond to the orignal question, no I am not upset about the 18 month rule. The 18 months should be plenty of time to pass. If there was no limit, you could just keep taking the exam (say 10-15 times per section) and almost anyone with an IQ over 65 could pass after 15 attemps. I don't think that is how the AICPA wants people to become CPA's, so I don't ever see the 18th month window going away.

AUD - 92
BEC - 84
FAR - 77
REG - 89

MDS CPA Review and Ninja MCQ for final review 2 weeks prior to each exam

 

[Ryan – Just Another Dollar]

I agree with @mla11692.. When I went to read the petition and the first two reasons given were discrimination against women and minorities I was done considering it. I passed in 7 months working full time and in a relationship. It was hard, but I wanted it enough to make it happen regardless of the cost (time, money, etc.). If you wasted less time protesting the established rules and more time ACTUALLY STUDYING you'd be done in no time.

B - 88 (2/16)
A - 84 (4/16)
R - 73 (6/16), 82(7/16)
F - 67 (1/16), 84(4/16)

Ethics - 93

Roger course & Ninja MCQ - HiYa!

[Anonymous]

Without fail, the two most negative posters regarding the CPA exam process have posted in this thread.

The CPA exam is not hard, IF you know how to study. But it all starts with the test-taker as ground zero and understanding how you learn/process information, as all courses provide essentially the same information.

AICPA world, play by it or go work in another field. I am sure I don't hear of a petition to change the CFA exam schedule.Each part besides Level I is offered once a year. And plenty people fail that… The ridiculousness and bitching needs to stop.

It gets old.

[AICPAy2Play]

Well cessna, pretty sure you could just elect not to click on the topic if its too old for you. Do you consider yourself one of those two negative posters? Anyhow, on the original topic, yes its frustrating. Yes it kind of seems like a money grab. Most of the grading of these exams are completely objective, so lower the retake fees. Surely ProMetric doesnt charge that much to sit for an exam. On the other hand, whats the acceptable amount of time? If there is no window, everyone will eventually pass and it wouldnt be “fair” to those that passed in 18 months (lessens the credential). If you allow people to take the same exam multiple times per window, it gives an advantage to those that are wealthy enough to do so. Maybe for those that have an exam fall off, a refresher course could be done with less significant exam at the end of it. I get Ryan's points in his petition and there is some validity to it. Just not sure that there is enough to warrant a sweeping change.

BEC - 81

REG - 80

AUD - 74, 94

FAR - 95

[Missy]

remember a compelling discrimination arguement has to give some statistics (show me where moms take more attempts to pass than Dads, or even people without children……I bet the pass rate is fairly consistant among demographics but if not will need more information than 4 women considering quitting, because I can link to 40 men on this forum who did or are considering quitting) and to use the gap between school and full time employment as a basis of discrimination I'd need to see the actual impact of that on whether people quit or not.

Kind of cheapens all legit discrimination arguments to just say its hard for a mom to work and pass the exams. It is hard. Will still be hard if she has 24 months or 24 years, being a mom doesn't ever go away.

Old timer,  A71'er since 2010.

Finance manager/HR manager

 

 

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
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[AICPAy2Play]

I doubt the OP has the ability to fund or conduct an extensive survey to provide such statistics. Its kind of silly to ask for that. Some of his reasoning is obvious. If you have the ability to take several months off of work after graduating, you obviously have more time to study when the material is still fresh. If this doesnt correspond to an advantage, I dont know what does. It will still be hard if a mother has 24 months or 24 years, but its considerably easier than 18 months and I dont think I need to explain why. I dont think the rules are intentionally discriminatory, but they are certainly advantageous to certain demographics. That being said, I still didnt sign the petition.

BEC - 81

REG - 80

AUD - 74, 94

FAR - 95

[shawn in VA]

Honestly I do NOT see how the CPA certificate would be “diluted” in value with the following changes:

1) change the 18 month rule to 24 month rule
2) Allow a candidate to take the SAME part if they fail in the SAME window. However, scores would have to be released more frequently within a window for this to occur.

How is the 2 above points even an issue? You still passed the exams, the exams remain as difficult as they are. I have not brought anything up about changing the content.

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

AUD - 84

BEC-  81

REG-75

FAR- TBD

[shawn in VA]

there really is NO excuse to get your results back within 1-2 weeks. I mean in college we got or exam scores back no later than 7 days and the professor usually had to hand grade. CPA is all computerized

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

AUD - 84

BEC-  81

REG-75

FAR- TBD

[Missy]

No need to conduct surveys, the information is all out there 100% free on the worldwide web 🙂

Old timer,  A71'er since 2010.

Finance manager/HR manager

 

 

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[Anonymous]

I have no issue with the 18-month rule, in fact, I think i'm more motivated because of the pressure. The only time this cause issue is this year when NASBA decided it's cool to hold off the score releases for 4 months. 4 MONTHS !!! COME ON. that causes a lot of trouble for me.

[HoosierCPA]

I take pride in passing within the 18 month window so I will not be signing :).

For me, the 18 month window was just the right amount of time to be rushed, fail plenty!, and still barely get all 4 in.

My background: Employed full time and had 2 children in the time I was studying (studied for my first exam and last exam while my life was in labor!)

AUD - 80
BEC - 82
FAR - 78
REG - 89

...

FAR - 78
REG - 72,74,71...please just go away REG nobody likes you!
BEC - 82
AUD - Aug 16

[TommyTheCat]

definitely not signing this petition, figure it out dude. If I can't pass all 4 sections in 18 months than I'm not qualified to be a CPA. I have plenty of reasons to complain that my life is busier than the average candidates and that I need more time. But I won't and don't, because those are just excuses. If you can't or won't make time for the exams in an 18 month window than that's fine, it's a personal choice. Not all folks are cut out to be a CPA. That's why there is prestige and value in it.

AUD - 85
BEC - 89
FAR - 91
REG - 97

[Author]

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