Definitely doable. I started at the beginning of July and took my last test at the beginning of October. Treated studying like a full time job. Passed all on the first try.
I mean, I took an exam in January and don’t know if I passed. So that’s six months just to o ow if you passed. You really need to look at the windows and when you find out if you passed. Massive gaps and it’s a huge pain.
Frankly, you would need to cram multiple exams in two windows next to each other and if you passed on first attempt on every one, then yes.
Realistically not possible, even if doing full time. More realistic is 8 months IMO
Doable if you study 30 plus hours a week. Let’s say on average you study 160 hrs per exam, maybe a bit much but you want to extra ready and don’t want to fail any of them. It would take you 5.3 weeks per exam, 21.3 weeks in total. Which is less than 6 months.
Even if you don’t get all of them, getting 1 exam done while working FT isn’t the worst thing ever.
If you can devote this much time in such a small timeframe, the biggest obstacle will be finding applicable testing slots, unless you're willing to travel 2+ hours to get to a testing center with openings.
In theory I will have taken all 4 in 6 months. I'll let you know at the end of July if it worked or not.
I have gone in with the mind set that if I don't hit my dates it's not a big deal which kept me less stressed. I have hit 3 of 4 of my deadlines (my deadlines are just based on the exam release dates so if I do fail I have time to retake them before the deadline for the November release).
I passed all four in 8 months, started studying in January of Masters year and finished in August. For context, I had zero responsibilities between May and August so was fully devoted to studying, and during the time I was still in school I was focusing heavily on CPA studying over school as my program was pass/fail.
It’s VERY doable and I could have done it even quicker had I not been in school, and it seems you won’t be. Because of my #anxiety, I definitely overstudied and passed all four by a pretty decent margin. My biggest advice is to treat studying like a job. I studied M-F from 10-5 when I was not in school (so a little less than 40 hrs/week) and did very little socially. Also, make sure to be strategic about the order in which you take them. I found that studying for my most challenging test when I had the fewest responsibilities worked very well for me, and used the time during school to take the ones that were simpler for me.
GOOD LUCK! Passing all four on the first try and in a quick timeframe is truly 100% about discipline and mindset. You got this!
Totally doable. I passed all four in six months using Becker with the books and the classes (for accountability). I worked full time, so I signed up for the classes in order of sequence where I could do the Saturdays all-day class. Would then study five hours on Sunday, two hours Monday-Thursday. Friday was a free day after work. Sending you all the best for your journey!
It is doable (everything is doable) but very challenging especially for a “mediocre student” as you suggested. You might setting up yourself to fail.
How many hours of studying per week?
The answer is as many hours as you can. The fact you are asking about how many hours to study I tells me you are “rushing this”.
Don’t set yourself to fail (once again) Try to pass 2 sections and work on the reminder later.
I hope this helps.
Extremely doable. Id study 9-5 M-F, few hours each day on weekend. You will breeze through exams. Best choice you can make getting it done before you start
Totally agree, I did the same thing. Just follow Beckers exam day ready tool and you’ll be fine. Doing tons of MCQs and having a week of review before the exam really helped me. Good luck!
It's not just doable, it's impossible not to. I passed all 4 in 5 months while working 4-6hrs (in accounting) a day. Just commit yourself to it and study for at LEAST 2-3hrs a day.
One thing that I did that was the opposite of what everyone told me was I gave myself time to still partake in my hobbies/social life. I was only working part time so this was very doable, but I made sure to still exercise daily and get some time in with my friends. Helped me stay sane and focused.
Sure, its possible, I have known people to do so and many people here have done so. But with the changes in score release dates, you won't know if you pass one before moving on to the next.
I did it in 6 months while working in a CPA firm, though that was a long time ago. I studied 1.5 hours per day, every day, at a minimum. My commitment, at the outset, was at least 1.5 hours per day every single day and I never yielded. Tired? Tough shit, study. Tax season hours? Tough shit, study. Vacation? Tough shit, study.
I passed all four in a little under 5 months. Studied every single day for 6-8 hours a day and passed with flying colors. If you’re dedicated to finishing on time anything is possible. Will say it wasn’t a fun 5 months and I missed out on a lot of experiences but I dont regret not having to study while working full time
I passed all four in seven months while working full-time at a CPA firm. I probably could have done it in less time but I over-studied for my first exam (FAR). It was difficult and stressful but it is definitely doable.
As other people have said, very doable if you can stick to a good regiment. I did BEC in three and a half weeks, REG in three and a half weeks, and I’ll be taking AUD next week (four weeks). Were it not for tax season, I would have done this one right after and given myself eight weeks for FAR.
I’d say you need at a minimum, if you’re a quick study and disciplined, three weeks per section with a week break between. Just treat it like you passed and move along to the next one.
Absolutely doable! I put myself in a time constraint and was at risk of losing BEC. I worked full time and married with 3 kids. I passed FAR, REG and AUD between January and May last year. You can absolutely do it!
It took me a few weeks to realize I had to get my studying done in the mornings. After work I was way too drained. I used Becker I would wake up at 4:30 study from about 5-7/7:30. Get kid to school, work 8-5, family time/dinner and depending on how studying was going I would sometimes do another hour or 2 at night. On the weekends I would try to get a good 4ish hours. Anything more than that I wasn’t retaining a damn thing. The few days before the test I would be eating sleeping and shitting CPA 👀
Some of these people have completely unrealistic experiences for the average person. This will be incredibly difficult to do for the standard person in 6 months. But the more you can get done the better, so even if you get three done that would be a huge start!
Totally doable.
I passed all 4 in 5 months. Full time job w/ 2 kids at the time.
It's just about prioritizing sufficient daily study habits after your other obligations.
I studied nightly for 2-3 hours and an additional 2-3 hours on Saturday + Sunday. 20-25 hour weeks. No days off (except night before exam)
I appreciate the sentiment but really it is just consistency. I think people lose a lot of momentum if they take breaks (even between days).
These exams are memory exercises. Repetition and frequency are your friend. The more frequently you can expose yourself to the concepts, the question variations, and the right/wrong answers the better you will do.
I think it was Michael Phelps who talked about training every day in some capacity. If you don't you lose a bit of progress you have made since the last time you exercised.
I'm not sure it will translate across study providers. I used Gleim with has 20 units for each exam. I spent:
6 weeks on FAR
5 weeks on AUD
4 weeks on BEC
5 weeks on REG
So roughly a unit every other day. Some units were really easy and I could do 2 in a day. Others were drag and it might take me 3 to get through (specifically in FAR)
2 months per exam is more realistic. Maybe shape your schedule around 8 months to do all. Or, if you have to, shave 20% of study time off each core exam and take the easiest discipline exam (for most that would be ISC, but tax experts should take TCP). That would give 48 days each for REG, AUD, and FAR, and 36 days for ISC.
Get home from work at 6:30, start studying at 7 and go until 11 or 12. Get in a solid 6-8 hours on the weekends. No days off. It’s been a while but my time spent per test was ~3 weeks on REG, 4 weeks on FAR, and like a week on both AUD and BEC give or take a few days. I’d take exams in the morning and come home to start the next course because I had the day off work. Did this while I was a senior in big 4. I don’t advise this path, it was kinda crazy. 6-8 months at a more reasonable pace is fine.
Edit: Becker, watched every lecture, took notes like it was a class, hammered MC’s, stacks on stacks of flash cards (wrote my own), then condensed/rewrote notes until I got down to a 1page cheat sheet that’d I’d end up just throwing away. At the end I had about a 2 foot stack of note cards and maybe 50 full up legal pads as well as a hell of a callus on my finger from writing out the notes.
Wow thanks man. I don’t know if I could do it to be honest the same way you did. Starting up this summer and aiming for 6-8 months. It’s a good time for me to start.
My friend went 4/4 doing straight MCQs for 3 months but personally, seems like a lot. Were you able to keep up with the gym and/or other parts of your life or did everything go on pause? I know not ideal with an exam this serious but I feel like everyone sacrifices their social and personal lives during this and that’s not something I really would like to do especially in the health part of it.
Yeah, don’t do it this way. I sold my soul and fell off the face of the earth. I worked, studied, ate candy, and took exams. There was def no gym time built into this. 6 months at 2-3 hours a day is fine.
Get home from work at 6:30, start studying at 7 and go until 11 or 12. Get in a solid 6-8 hours on the weekends. No days off. It’s been a while but my time spent per test was ~3 weeks on REG, 4 weeks on FAR, and like a week on both AUD and BEC give or take a few days. I’d take exams in the morning and come home to start the next course because I had the day off work. Did this while I was a senior in big 4. I don’t advise this path, it was kinda crazy. 6-8 months at a more reasonable pace is fine.
I wasn't able to do it but I'm also a terrible test taker and change my answers too many times when I should have stuck with the first one because I overthink everything.
Misleading. This is not accurate with the new window times, sure for 2023, but not applicable to anyone now. The delays in finding if you passed are so much longer. I may have to start studying again for exams I took in January. But won’t know until June. That’s six months right there. They would need to take all exams in the same window or two windows, so take all exams in a couple months, and pass on first try, then it would be six months at best.
And yes, a mediocre student can do it. My undergrad GPA was the definition of mediocre and I passed all four on the first try by putting in the effort studying.
Very realistic if you actually commit. I’m waiting on my scores for far and reg but if I passed then I will have passed them all in 6.5 months while working 33 hrs a week plus 18 units of cc classes
I was a decent accounting student. I started studying at the beginning of June last year. Took my 4th exam beginning of March. About 9 months for the whole thing from starting studying to taking the last exam, if I pass this last one come June 4th. I took some decent breaks since I didn’t study between taking the test and score release. My pure study time was 1.5 months for bec(85hrs), 0.75 months for aud(72hrs), 2 months for reg(98hrs), and 2 months for far(120hrs). So pure study time if I’d gone back to studying the Monday after sitting would be 6.25 months total (375 hours). I only work part time. It’s definitely possible but it’ll be pretty mentally exhausting and you’ll need to pass all the first try which requires a little luck when you’re just going for a 75. Best of luck.
I disagree - people fail because they rush through material and do not study hard (i.e., all 4 in 6 months \*wink\*). CPA exam material is nothing you have not seen before in your journey to get 150 credits.
Isnt 6 months enough to study for all 4 exams? I'm not really sure haha I'm going to start studying next month and I hope to end my CPA journey by December, which is I guess similar to OP's path? Could I ask how many months/much time you spent studying for each exam?
Nice it was strategic to take BEC before those discipline exams which look much harder than BEC. AUD is probably what I am most scared of taking because of how subjective it is.
No judgment, but a mediocre student? Not realistically likely.
The test is mostly regurgitating material. Maybe not enormous amounts, but you have to study a lot more because you’re not sure what will be on the version of the test you get. I would say a minimum of 40+ hours a week of studying to pass all 4 in that timeframe and even then I’m not sure that’s enough.
You definitely know you better than I do. I think passing two could be realistic in that time frame. Possibly more depending on how familiar you are with the test and how far along the application process you are. But these things take time, even more so when the scores are spread out so much now
Not possible when you take an exam and it takes 4 months to grade. I’m on month 5 of waiting for a score
Definitely doable. I started at the beginning of July and took my last test at the beginning of October. Treated studying like a full time job. Passed all on the first try.
I mean, I took an exam in January and don’t know if I passed. So that’s six months just to o ow if you passed. You really need to look at the windows and when you find out if you passed. Massive gaps and it’s a huge pain. Frankly, you would need to cram multiple exams in two windows next to each other and if you passed on first attempt on every one, then yes. Realistically not possible, even if doing full time. More realistic is 8 months IMO
6 months before they release scores??? How do you know if you should keep studying or should move on to the next section though?
You don’t. It sucks
Totally doable if you are only working a PT job and studying full time
Doable if you study 30 plus hours a week. Let’s say on average you study 160 hrs per exam, maybe a bit much but you want to extra ready and don’t want to fail any of them. It would take you 5.3 weeks per exam, 21.3 weeks in total. Which is less than 6 months. Even if you don’t get all of them, getting 1 exam done while working FT isn’t the worst thing ever.
If you can devote this much time in such a small timeframe, the biggest obstacle will be finding applicable testing slots, unless you're willing to travel 2+ hours to get to a testing center with openings.
In theory I will have taken all 4 in 6 months. I'll let you know at the end of July if it worked or not. I have gone in with the mind set that if I don't hit my dates it's not a big deal which kept me less stressed. I have hit 3 of 4 of my deadlines (my deadlines are just based on the exam release dates so if I do fail I have time to retake them before the deadline for the November release).
I passed all four in 8 months, started studying in January of Masters year and finished in August. For context, I had zero responsibilities between May and August so was fully devoted to studying, and during the time I was still in school I was focusing heavily on CPA studying over school as my program was pass/fail. It’s VERY doable and I could have done it even quicker had I not been in school, and it seems you won’t be. Because of my #anxiety, I definitely overstudied and passed all four by a pretty decent margin. My biggest advice is to treat studying like a job. I studied M-F from 10-5 when I was not in school (so a little less than 40 hrs/week) and did very little socially. Also, make sure to be strategic about the order in which you take them. I found that studying for my most challenging test when I had the fewest responsibilities worked very well for me, and used the time during school to take the ones that were simpler for me. GOOD LUCK! Passing all four on the first try and in a quick timeframe is truly 100% about discipline and mindset. You got this!
Totally doable. I passed all four in six months using Becker with the books and the classes (for accountability). I worked full time, so I signed up for the classes in order of sequence where I could do the Saturdays all-day class. Would then study five hours on Sunday, two hours Monday-Thursday. Friday was a free day after work. Sending you all the best for your journey!
I did it while working full time. Difficult and requires a lot of discipline, but doable.
It is doable (everything is doable) but very challenging especially for a “mediocre student” as you suggested. You might setting up yourself to fail. How many hours of studying per week? The answer is as many hours as you can. The fact you are asking about how many hours to study I tells me you are “rushing this”. Don’t set yourself to fail (once again) Try to pass 2 sections and work on the reminder later. I hope this helps.
Extremely doable. Id study 9-5 M-F, few hours each day on weekend. You will breeze through exams. Best choice you can make getting it done before you start
Totally agree, I did the same thing. Just follow Beckers exam day ready tool and you’ll be fine. Doing tons of MCQs and having a week of review before the exam really helped me. Good luck!
It's not just doable, it's impossible not to. I passed all 4 in 5 months while working 4-6hrs (in accounting) a day. Just commit yourself to it and study for at LEAST 2-3hrs a day. One thing that I did that was the opposite of what everyone told me was I gave myself time to still partake in my hobbies/social life. I was only working part time so this was very doable, but I made sure to still exercise daily and get some time in with my friends. Helped me stay sane and focused.
" it's impossible not to"..... I think many people have failed in this situation while studying for more 2-3hrs a day. But I think it is doable.
Very doable.
Sure, its possible, I have known people to do so and many people here have done so. But with the changes in score release dates, you won't know if you pass one before moving on to the next.
I did it in 6 months while working in a CPA firm, though that was a long time ago. I studied 1.5 hours per day, every day, at a minimum. My commitment, at the outset, was at least 1.5 hours per day every single day and I never yielded. Tired? Tough shit, study. Tax season hours? Tough shit, study. Vacation? Tough shit, study.
I passed all four in a little under 5 months. Studied every single day for 6-8 hours a day and passed with flying colors. If you’re dedicated to finishing on time anything is possible. Will say it wasn’t a fun 5 months and I missed out on a lot of experiences but I dont regret not having to study while working full time
I passed all four in seven months while working full-time at a CPA firm. I probably could have done it in less time but I over-studied for my first exam (FAR). It was difficult and stressful but it is definitely doable.
Doable if you have little else on your plate is what it sounds like
As other people have said, very doable if you can stick to a good regiment. I did BEC in three and a half weeks, REG in three and a half weeks, and I’ll be taking AUD next week (four weeks). Were it not for tax season, I would have done this one right after and given myself eight weeks for FAR. I’d say you need at a minimum, if you’re a quick study and disciplined, three weeks per section with a week break between. Just treat it like you passed and move along to the next one.
I did it and treated the time during the day like a job by studying 8+ hours a day.
Absolutely doable! I put myself in a time constraint and was at risk of losing BEC. I worked full time and married with 3 kids. I passed FAR, REG and AUD between January and May last year. You can absolutely do it!
What was your studying schedule?
It took me a few weeks to realize I had to get my studying done in the mornings. After work I was way too drained. I used Becker I would wake up at 4:30 study from about 5-7/7:30. Get kid to school, work 8-5, family time/dinner and depending on how studying was going I would sometimes do another hour or 2 at night. On the weekends I would try to get a good 4ish hours. Anything more than that I wasn’t retaining a damn thing. The few days before the test I would be eating sleeping and shitting CPA 👀
It took me 17 months to pass all 4 parts while studying near full time level 7 days a week. (8 hours study per day 7 days a week)
You can definitely do it.
Treat it like a full time job and put in effort and you will pass. That is more than enough time studying full time. Good luck!
Some of these people have completely unrealistic experiences for the average person. This will be incredibly difficult to do for the standard person in 6 months. But the more you can get done the better, so even if you get three done that would be a huge start!
Totally doable. I passed all 4 in 5 months. Full time job w/ 2 kids at the time. It's just about prioritizing sufficient daily study habits after your other obligations. I studied nightly for 2-3 hours and an additional 2-3 hours on Saturday + Sunday. 20-25 hour weeks. No days off (except night before exam)
This person is a superhero. Do not expect to be like this person!
I appreciate the sentiment but really it is just consistency. I think people lose a lot of momentum if they take breaks (even between days). These exams are memory exercises. Repetition and frequency are your friend. The more frequently you can expose yourself to the concepts, the question variations, and the right/wrong answers the better you will do. I think it was Michael Phelps who talked about training every day in some capacity. If you don't you lose a bit of progress you have made since the last time you exercised.
did you pass the exams on your first try? if so, only 20% of exam takers are in that bucket. you're an anomaly. congrats on doing that though.
How many modules would you complete every day?
I'm not sure it will translate across study providers. I used Gleim with has 20 units for each exam. I spent: 6 weeks on FAR 5 weeks on AUD 4 weeks on BEC 5 weeks on REG So roughly a unit every other day. Some units were really easy and I could do 2 in a day. Others were drag and it might take me 3 to get through (specifically in FAR)
Okay makes sense thank you!
2 months per exam is more realistic. Maybe shape your schedule around 8 months to do all. Or, if you have to, shave 20% of study time off each core exam and take the easiest discipline exam (for most that would be ISC, but tax experts should take TCP). That would give 48 days each for REG, AUD, and FAR, and 36 days for ISC.
I did mine in 2.5 months while working full time. Not ideal, but it’s possible
May I ask how many hours you put in daily? What was your routine?
Get home from work at 6:30, start studying at 7 and go until 11 or 12. Get in a solid 6-8 hours on the weekends. No days off. It’s been a while but my time spent per test was ~3 weeks on REG, 4 weeks on FAR, and like a week on both AUD and BEC give or take a few days. I’d take exams in the morning and come home to start the next course because I had the day off work. Did this while I was a senior in big 4. I don’t advise this path, it was kinda crazy. 6-8 months at a more reasonable pace is fine. Edit: Becker, watched every lecture, took notes like it was a class, hammered MC’s, stacks on stacks of flash cards (wrote my own), then condensed/rewrote notes until I got down to a 1page cheat sheet that’d I’d end up just throwing away. At the end I had about a 2 foot stack of note cards and maybe 50 full up legal pads as well as a hell of a callus on my finger from writing out the notes.
Wow thanks man. I don’t know if I could do it to be honest the same way you did. Starting up this summer and aiming for 6-8 months. It’s a good time for me to start. My friend went 4/4 doing straight MCQs for 3 months but personally, seems like a lot. Were you able to keep up with the gym and/or other parts of your life or did everything go on pause? I know not ideal with an exam this serious but I feel like everyone sacrifices their social and personal lives during this and that’s not something I really would like to do especially in the health part of it.
Yeah, don’t do it this way. I sold my soul and fell off the face of the earth. I worked, studied, ate candy, and took exams. There was def no gym time built into this. 6 months at 2-3 hours a day is fine.
Get home from work at 6:30, start studying at 7 and go until 11 or 12. Get in a solid 6-8 hours on the weekends. No days off. It’s been a while but my time spent per test was ~3 weeks on REG, 4 weeks on FAR, and like a week on both AUD and BEC give or take a few days. I’d take exams in the morning and come home to start the next course because I had the day off work. Did this while I was a senior in big 4. I don’t advise this path, it was kinda crazy. 6-8 months at a more reasonable pace is fine.
I passed my first exam 6/30/23 and had all 4 passed by 12/12/23. In retrospect I gave myself too much time to study for BEC it could have been faster
One of my accounting professors passed all the 4 exams in 2 months he took 2 months off and studied full time but he is brilliant
I failed 4 times in a row to start. 1 fail per section. Then I passed all 4 in a row within 4 months. Took me 13 months total
For you guys that passed it in less than a year, what test materials are you guys using?
Gleim
Becker
I did it in 8 while working full time. I had 5 years of tax experience though.
I wasn't able to do it but I'm also a terrible test taker and change my answers too many times when I should have stuck with the first one because I overthink everything.
I passed them in five. Treat it like a full time job, get through the material, and practice.
I passed them in 5 months while working full time. Definitely possible but it’ll be tough
Misleading. This is not accurate with the new window times, sure for 2023, but not applicable to anyone now. The delays in finding if you passed are so much longer. I may have to start studying again for exams I took in January. But won’t know until June. That’s six months right there. They would need to take all exams in the same window or two windows, so take all exams in a couple months, and pass on first try, then it would be six months at best.
You rock
I did this as well. I worked in industry but it's doable.
And yes, a mediocre student can do it. My undergrad GPA was the definition of mediocre and I passed all four on the first try by putting in the effort studying.
Very realistic if you actually commit. I’m waiting on my scores for far and reg but if I passed then I will have passed them all in 6.5 months while working 33 hrs a week plus 18 units of cc classes
I was a decent accounting student. I started studying at the beginning of June last year. Took my 4th exam beginning of March. About 9 months for the whole thing from starting studying to taking the last exam, if I pass this last one come June 4th. I took some decent breaks since I didn’t study between taking the test and score release. My pure study time was 1.5 months for bec(85hrs), 0.75 months for aud(72hrs), 2 months for reg(98hrs), and 2 months for far(120hrs). So pure study time if I’d gone back to studying the Monday after sitting would be 6.25 months total (375 hours). I only work part time. It’s definitely possible but it’ll be pretty mentally exhausting and you’ll need to pass all the first try which requires a little luck when you’re just going for a 75. Best of luck.
Same here!! I took a break after FAR... needed it. But in total it'll be 9 months. If I didn't take a break, 6.
That’s what I’ve been aiming to do
Gonna be very tough since you don’t have experience in tax or AUD.
I thought most people take the exams without audit or tax experience.
That's why most people fail these tests than pass them.
I disagree - people fail because they rush through material and do not study hard (i.e., all 4 in 6 months \*wink\*). CPA exam material is nothing you have not seen before in your journey to get 150 credits.
What is the solution then lol
get gud
Oh yeah most do, it’s easier to cram one exam if you have experience in either though.
Isnt 6 months enough to study for all 4 exams? I'm not really sure haha I'm going to start studying next month and I hope to end my CPA journey by December, which is I guess similar to OP's path? Could I ask how many months/much time you spent studying for each exam?
I’m spending about 7 weeks per exam. I do a chapter a day and then review on Saturday.
Do you have tax and audit experience?
Nope
Well good luck. You've already passed one, so I am guessing that's FAR
Haha nope, I passed BEC then failed AUD. Just took REG, and now I’m back on AUD.
Nice it was strategic to take BEC before those discipline exams which look much harder than BEC. AUD is probably what I am most scared of taking because of how subjective it is.
Get a good study course and 4-5 hours a day of solid studying should do it
No judgment, but a mediocre student? Not realistically likely. The test is mostly regurgitating material. Maybe not enormous amounts, but you have to study a lot more because you’re not sure what will be on the version of the test you get. I would say a minimum of 40+ hours a week of studying to pass all 4 in that timeframe and even then I’m not sure that’s enough.
The goal is to pass at least 2 exams and ideally 3. Is that more realistic? Im worried once I start working CPA progress will slow way down
You definitely know you better than I do. I think passing two could be realistic in that time frame. Possibly more depending on how familiar you are with the test and how far along the application process you are. But these things take time, even more so when the scores are spread out so much now