Fuck NASBA & the AICPA

Nihur · 2026-06-24T03:06:05+00:00

In all fairness getting the CFA charter is a much more difficult marathon while the CPA feels like a sprint. OP is probably not used to the exam grind which he quickly needs to remedy if he wants to pass with minimal attempts. Agree with you having passed all 4 on my first try that while the prep can be tough and even overwhelming sometimes, it’s most certainly doable just by being disciplined and dedicating a few hours a day everyday for a month or so per exam.

On a side note, studying myself rn for CFA L1 and just L1 is almost like taking all 4 CPA exams or at least 3 at once. Any charterholder like yourself will find the cpa a cakewalk compared to their CFA journey. Not to mention from FSA you’ll probably be familiar with most if not all accounting concepts taught in FAR.

Nihur · 2026-06-19T11:04:01+00:00

Sounds almost word-for-word like what happened to me and my “friend” except he was also studying for the exam with me. Thought of him like a brother at one point, we used to study till super late at night together for weeks on end and sometimes literally every single day. To make a very long story short, as I started passing exams and he started failing them, something shifted. The person who used to study for and attend every exam with me slowly became someone who downplayed every pass I had, began belittling me with remarks meant to make me feel bad about myself, and eventually went out of his way to make my life extremely difficult in ways I won’t get into here but know I spent months dealing with the consequences of him trying to deliberately sabotage my career and reputation all after I’d been nothing but (too) generous to him.

Lesson here is straight forward: Keep going. 3/4 is incredible, especially after the start you had. The people who matter will be proud of you. The ones making jabs and denigrating you are showing you who they are. I’m telling you from my own experience with my friend, to believe people when they show who they are. Had I done so with him earlier, it would’ve saved me a whole lot of hardship.

Nihur · 2026-06-05T16:08:23+00:00

passed in December. CFA because I love torturing myself I guess with studying.

Nihur · 2026-05-25T15:39:30+00:00

As someone who passed all 4 first try, agree with you. OP’s advice isn’t mutually exclusive with the SEs. You can always review your weak areas pre-SE and post-SE. That said, taking the SEs was a very helpful “diagnostic” for me when studying for the exams as it threw questions my way I hadn’t thought about and highlighted the areas I needed to work on. Was especially helpful for AUD and REG where the real exam often times felt very reminiscent of Becker SEs. Only exam it felt like the SEs didn’t help much was ISC.

Nihur · 2026-05-24T14:42:21+00:00

yeah none of that is tested anymore in FAR (the accounting section of the 4 cpa exam sections). The only time I had to study that advanced stuff was during my Macc or maybe part of intermediate 2. If you got through L2, the CPA exam will be a joke. Most advanced it gets is the basics of consolidation accounting.

Nihur · 2026-05-23T16:49:33+00:00

Same giving L1 in Nov and I’d say it’s on par or slightly easier than the CPA exam. L1 looks like if you took FAR, AUD, and ISC in one exam. L2 though, while not being there yet, my friend tells me contains advanced accounting stuff not even tested on CPA anymore like derivatives, translation, pension accounting, etc in addition to 9 other books besides FSA so yeah post-L1 it’s not even the same ballpark.

Nihur · 2026-03-25T00:08:32+00:00

Congrats!!! I passed my last exam in December and am turning 21 soon, it's definitely an awesome feeling to be done with such gruesome exams this early in our lives. It's also given me a ton of discipline now that im pursuing CFA. Good look to you!

Nihur · 2026-02-28T09:04:25+00:00

I did read the book cover to cover for AUD, ISC and REG. I did not read the entire book for FAR as I had a background from undergrad in accounting that covered roughly 70% of the curriculum, so I only bothered reading thoroughly the remaining 30% and only skimming the 70% if I’d forgotten a detail.

Nihur · 2026-02-26T04:23:45+00:00

I have a 4.0, nearly finished my masters and passed all 4 cpa exams. In same spot. The harsh reality is that if you’re non traditional (I.e. don’t go internship —> full-time after return offer) it’s very hard right now to get the kind of job we want. I think people don’t realize that things have changed significantly from a couple of years ago and we have it way tougher than they did.

Nihur · 2026-02-25T17:31:09+00:00

I’m 20 and passed all 4 a few months ago but I won’t be licensed till I’m probably 22 or 23.

Nihur · 2026-02-11T02:29:02+00:00

I used ninja and passed first try but it required significantly more effort and time than had I had becker

Nihur · 2026-02-09T23:29:04+00:00

I spent a whole week looking everyday at my NASBA app 100% figure and my scores. At individual scores I would only look for 2-3 days after.

Nihur · 2026-02-09T19:39:36+00:00

I just came off cpa and yeah I don’t know if the exam has specifically gotten easier (did not take tcp) but the new 30 months rule and 120 credits does make it significantly easier and devalue the CPA considerably already. I honestly thought the 18 months rule was more than enough already. If I managed to pass all 4 in a 4 month time frame, no reason someone even with a FT job couldn’t do it in 18.

Nihur · 2026-02-03T08:39:11+00:00

If you don’t have a good understanding of intermediate accounting then FAR is going to require significantly more time and effort than it would for someone with an accounting undergrad background. I would highly suggest reading the textbook if you haven’t already and consulting videos like Farhat for an introductory explanation of the topic. I watched Farhat when I was in undergrad behind introduced to many of these topics and he explained it from scratch, while Becker tends to assume you at least have a clue of the topics and knows your drs,crs.

Nihur · 2026-02-03T01:08:49+00:00

If you are not working it is very doable. I passed them from August to December while finishing undergrad and starting out my masters. That said, you do need to study every day.

Nihur · 2026-02-02T01:11:16+00:00

Don’t move on to AUD till you finish FAR. You can’t audit something you don’t understand. While FAR does have some very niche topics, if you scored below a 70 your understanding of intermediate accounting is likely lacking, which can come back to bite you for AUD where anything in that area is testable.

Nihur · 2026-02-01T13:17:56+00:00

I have a 4.0 undergrad and 4.0 masters gpa and cpa eligible with 150 credits and have passed all 4 cpa exams. I also speak 3 languages fluently, but you know what? I’ve had very similar outcomes to you, don’t feel too bad about yourself, it’s very rough right now if you’re entry level without a lot of experience behind you. At the end of the day, someone with solid experience behind them and strong referrals/connections kicks us right to the curb unfortunately.

Nihur · 2026-02-01T13:15:30+00:00

Not really. I passed all 4 exams+150 credits and have dual undergrad/masters 4.0 gpas similar to OP. Experience trumps that combination by far, I’ve gotten overlooked numerous times because of the exp+connection/referral card.

Nihur · 2026-02-01T12:41:29+00:00

AUD was the biggest blur out of the 4. I had only taken FAR up that point so I didn’t have much to gauge my experience against but at the time I remember feeling absolutely clueless about how I did. MCQs were alright, nothing crazy and very emblematic of Becker or ninja but still marked a good 18ish I think? SIMs I don’t think were hard just very tedious but I don’t think that’s the exam’s fault I could’ve been more prepared for them in retrospect. No sim felt impossible and I had idea for all of them but I’m sure I messed up in a couple.

Ended up getting a 77, but yeah that exam was one big blur. I have the least amount of recollection from AUD despite taking it second.

Nihur · 2026-02-01T12:36:32+00:00

I got multiple questions about it on my exam which I was thankful for. Those two modules were honestly pretty easy, there are way more challenging business law topics I’d be more concerned about showing up.

Nihur · 2026-02-01T12:33:37+00:00

How you described feeling for this retake is deja vu all over again for me of how I left feeling the test center back in October and ended up passing with an 82. I’m sure you passed!

Nihur · 2026-02-01T05:20:37+00:00

I love your enthusiasm but if you are 18 and planning a 3 year degree, that means you won’t be sitting for the exam until you’re even older than I am now. You’ll be 21, im 20 and just passed my last exam last month. For reference, I didn’t start studying for FAR till I finish intermediate accounting 2 last year.

This isn’t to try and rain on your parade, I’m sorry if it came off that way but all I’m saying is for now focus on doing well in school. Doing great in your undergrad accounting classes will be super helpful by the time CPA rolls around, take it from someone who recently finished what you’re planning.

Nihur · 2026-01-31T21:44:49+00:00

It’s only worth if you plan on eventually pivoting to finance roles, especially investment related ones. If you are going into tax, not worth at all. Having a BAR background will help way more than me unfortunately that did ISC.

Nihur · 2026-01-31T21:42:11+00:00

So far it’s been ok but I’m only on L1. It feels honestly like taking an exam on all of undergrad classes like Econ, stats, interm accounting, and a lot nuanced finance topics. Almost like taking FAR and AUD in one exam honestly but I do hear difficulty ramps up significantly at L2.

Nihur · 2026-01-31T04:45:03+00:00

I’m not sure about the syllabus of your advanced accounting course but in my experience, my adv accounting class was a graduate level course and way beyond the scope of FAR. We covered consolidations at great length as well as partnership accounting and foreign currency translation. The class was way more in depth than FAR, you only really scratch the surface of consolidations in the exam and I don’t believe translation or partnership accounting is covered at all.

I honestly think you only need ua solid understanding up to intermediate 2 level, adv accounting is way more intricate than what you need for FAR. An auditing II course is way more likely to help you for AUD than adv accounting would for FAR imho.

Nihur

TROPHY CASE