The Road 2 CPA

Hello

My name is Cody B Holt and I one of the lucky few that get to blog about my CPA testing experience. First off I need to explain that I am not your typical accounting person. In 1999 I received my Bachelor degree in Business Administration (emphasis in economics). During this time I did not take many accounting courses other than business core classes. Two reasons for that: 1) I grew up in an entrepreneurial family and being the youngest in the family I had the privilege of doing inventory (ordering and stocking), invoices and writing checks 2) Some of you may relate- many accounting text books are booorrring. I continued my education and received my MBA in 2001. This coming May I will have been married 11 years and we have a 6 year old (soon to be 7) son Connor. Added to the household madness is Annie (our pug) and Captain Jack (our mixed breed dog).

My first real job after schooling was as a staff accountant at a local CPA firm here in Lawton. I was lucky in that I got an accounting job without much traditional accounting education. I believe the main reasons that I was able to get the job were having a graduate degree, prior experience and of course I was cheap labor. I worked at the CPA firm for 2 audit seasons and 3 tax seasons. So I had exposure to audit traveling within Oklahoma and to the 60 hour work week during tax season.  Personally I like getting to work with clients and not be stuck in a cubicle all day so I changed career paths.

Currently I work in the Career Tech system (Great Plains Technology Center-Lawton OK) helping start-up businesses and existing small businesses. Now I get to help individuals and businesses pay sales/use tax and the various employment taxes, also help on business plans and showing individuals how to track revenue and expenses. Shortly after starting at Great Plains Tech Center in Lawton, I decided to see about getting another degree. So 30 credit hours and 5 years later, I have completed my coursework for my Bachelor in Accounting degree this May. Yes it took me almost 5 years to complete the 30 hours. But, in my defense, I work full-time, teach as an adjunct professor, and have a family.

My goal is to take my first exam (Business Environment and Concepts) during the April/May window- currently looking at late May for the testing time. Then continue on and hopefully complete all exams by the end of 2010-best laid plans and all that.

One of my many faults is that I can be overly optimistic. The National Pass Rates for the CPA in 2009, were 48.34 % to 49.81% with BEC as the lowest and REG as the highest, with pass rates like that I am having difficulty reaching my normal optimistic levels. Statistically speaking, I have an uphill battle on my hands. Before finding out the pass rates, I was planning on just taking the exam to see what happens. I am now reconsidering that approach. I will be using Gleim’s CPA Review for my study guide for the test.  I look forward to sharing some insights about my CPA exam experience over the next several months.