CPA Exam Shouldn’t Be Too Easy.

Exam Shouldn’t Be Too Easy
The number of JofA articles lately concerning the new format for the CPA exam has been overwhelming. Who are you trying to convert? The remaining big four CPA firms may need cheap labor for the daily tasks of auditing, but what about us, the self-employed CPAs, trusted by our clients, good business advisers and the backbone of our profession—what is our opinion?

Here is mine—becoming a CPA is not easy and never should be easy. I sat for the exam on a hard chair in a cattle barn on the Indiana State Fair Grounds in 1984 for 2 1/2 days without a calculator. I wanted very much to be a CPA. I knew there would be long hours in public accounting and that I would be required to spend my own time continuing to educate myself on various issues.

I do not agree with the easy way out for the exam. Our profession needs to get harder on our members to uphold our standards, not make the exam “a piece of cake” (in pieces, by the way) to pass.

Debra J. Duncan, CPA
Carmel, Indiana