Financialdiva and other certified Accountants

LoCarb

Motivate me!

I bought the Becker CPA review yrs ago (now expired material) began to study but lost motivation and energy when I started a family. I don't want to practice public acct'g so I'm not set on the CPA. Although, I know you don't have to practice public it's still nice to have the credentials and boosts the salary too.

I'm leaning towards CMA. Is it or other certifications achievable (studying/test taking) as a f/t employee and WM to young kids?

Is a certification worth it?  Sometimes I hate Acct'g and would love to switch fields. I think I just need to hear from other strong women who have accomplishments that may motivate me.

financialdiva

I took the CPA exam before kids, but after I was married. Thankfully, DH is also a CPA and understood the time commitment it needed from me and was very supportive. I was also working full time at a Big 4 firm so I felt some major pressure from my job to get it, but at least they understood.

I would study every night after work and would get up early on Saturdays and study until 2 or 3. I bought the CD's so I could listen in my car. It was a long year. But my take on it is the CPA exam does not measure how smart you are, rather how much hit you can remember, lol.

Has it done anything for my career? Not really. I don't need it right this moment, but if I ever want to move up, it's nice to have. Also, when you switch jobs, employers really like to know you have the designation. Silly, bc again, it's not like i am using it, I dont sign off on audits for public companies, but the competition may or may not have it and it gives me a leg up.

I think the first thing you need to figure out is where you want to take your career. Controllers, SEC reporting, CFO's are most likely CPAs. If you want to continue doing what you are doing in GL accounting, and be a manager or director eventually, you could probably get away without having it.

I am not very familiar with what the CMA exam entails, nor do I know what kind of opportunities it will bring. I see job descriptions all the time with "CPA preferred/required". I never see them asking for a CMA. I think it's because old school CPA's think they need to hire CPA's, kwim?

Anyway, you can do it, but it will take a lot of time. If its important to you, you can definitely do it!!! GL!!!!!

financialdiva

Also wanted to add that even attempting to persue your license could give your resume a boost in your job hunt. Applying to take the exam and being approved and then putting CPA exam eligible, currently being persued shows you are interested in becoming one. Well, that is, if you are.

Hopefully Duchess will come in and comment too. She is also a CPA and I think a director I believe?

LoCarb

Thanks for the input!

My resume says CPA candidate meaning I'm eligible to take the exam b/c of the add'l credits I took in grad school. It's probably silly to include. You're absolutely correct holding the accreditation does give you a leg up on the competition. It has come down to a CPA and me before on a position and the CPA was offered the job.

I need to figure out which direction I want to take my career and set aside time to study. 

Besides it looks great to have the initials on your signature.

LoCarb, CPA, CMA, CFE or whatever 

financialdiva

LoCarb:

Besides it looks great to have the initials on your signature.

Lol, I don't even have the initials in mine! Neither does DH!

wilabeth

I'm a CPA and work in a non-profit healthcare environment as Controller. My CPA certification was helpful in landing me this job. I spent 9 months of studying for the exams (spaced out over a full year). If I could go back and re-do it, I would have crammed in all 4 tests in a shorter time period. I was recently married and working full-time. It was a constant stuggle to keep studying a priority. My DH was great about motivating me.

A few sites I loved --

https://www.another71.com/  This site has a forum (link at the top of the website). I felt pretty isolated when I was studying. It was such a drain on my social and emotional life. It was nice knowing that other people were in the same boat.

https://cpareviewforfree.com/ This site has a bank of free multiple choice questions. All you have to do is create a username and password. I used Becker, but this was a great supplement for MC questions that I could flip through on my lunch break at work.

 I agree that you really have to decide what you want before you commit the time, money, and energy. Good luck with your decision!

kristinc01

You've probably looked into all of this and know how expensive the review materials are as well as each test and once you pass the first test you have 18 months to pass all 4 tests or they start to expire.  If you have the money and *think* you have the time I would go for it. 

My experience may not work for you, but I always like to hear how othe people approach things.  I currently have a 1yo and honestly don't think I could study at the moment.  Perhaps if she was 4 or 5 and a little more self sufficient I could hack it.  I took mine within 12 months basically right out of college.  I set aside about 6 weeks before every test and honestly studied DAILY for a couple of hours.  I worked at a Big4 in the tax department so I had to avoid tax season and I also got married so that kicked out a couple of months. 

If I had to do it now being a few years out of college and not accustomed to having to study anymore I would consider taking a class. I think there are a lot out there offered by Becker and other companies that do an intensive review timed right before testing.  I would think the cost is worth it pass the tests.

One thing that might help you is the fact that you have work experience in the accounting field.  If I took the test now I would understand terms and situations a lot better and could just use work knowedge to muddle through a lot of questions.  Right out of college a lot of the concepts were still pretty abstract for me.

Good Luck!