Does Timing Impact Candidate Success on the CPA Exam?

Abstract

The CPA license is generally agreed to be a primary factor for a successful career in public accounting. Accounting educators are constantly looking for methods to increase their students’ success rates on the CPA Exam. The current study examined whether first-time candidates taking the CPA Exam within one year of graduation from college achieved comparable results as with first-time candidates taking the CPA Exam more than one year after graduation. Results show that first-time CPA Exam candidates who took the CPA Exam within one year of graduation achieved higher overall pass rates and higher average exam scores than first-time CPA Exam candidates who took the exam more than one year after graduation.