subject: A Guide To Becoming A Cpa And Getting A Quickbooks Free Trial [print this page] A lot of younger people wish to become a CPA due to the status and high salaries. While the prospect of becoming a CPA may seem attractive, you should know that the path is not exactly easy, and you have to fulfill a lot of requirements. In the paragraphs that follow, I will go into detail about each step you need to fulfill on the path to getting a CPA license. In addition, I will encourage you to try out popular accounting programs through obtaining a Quickbooks free trial. Quickbooks may very well be the most common software you will encounter as a CPA, so it is important to be facile with it.
The steps to becoming a CPA are wide-ranging and can be complicated. In addition, every state has their own group of requirements, so make sure to find out what precisely they are. One requirement shared by most states is that you obtain a minimum of a bachelors degree, and take a minimum number of classes in the accounting field. US citizenship or residency is also a common requirement, so if you are an international student, you will need to be particularly aware about this requirement.
Possibly the step that'll be most stressful will be getting ready for the exams you will need to take. The two exams you must pass are the uniform CPA exam and an ethics exam. The Uniform CPA exam is the much longer and harder of the two, so your efforts should be concentrated on studying for this test. Given the difficulty of the CPA exams, you need to spend a lot of time studying, and it may be in your best interest to invest in a preparation course such a the Yaeger CPA review. Although not all courses are cheap, if you select a good course, you will certainly get your money's worth.
Last but not least, you need to actually take the exams. There are 4 separate parts to the Uniform CPA exam. Every part of the test is time-consuming, usually lasting 3 or 4 hours or more. The good thing is that you are permitted to take just one section at a time, which I would advise. Following the uniform CPA exam, you can proceed to take the shorter and easier ethics exam. Once you take the tests and pass them, you may also be required to fulfill a couple years of work at a public accounting firm to get your CPA license.
