Uh-oh. CPA Mishap.

Many of you fine, distinguished readers of this blog (wait, wrong readers, sorry) are somewhat familiar with the CPA examination process.  Due to my lack of sleep over the past few days, I won't get into all my gripes with NASBA and the process, but you only need to understand 2 things for this blog post.  #1:  For each of the 4 sections of the exam, you have to schedule yourself at a Prometric testing site.  There are sites all over the place (2 in Pittsburgh, 1 in Philly, 1 in Conshohocken, and 1 in South Jersey).  #2:  Each section can be taken once per quarter, but you can't test in the last month of each quarter (March, June, September, and December).  This means that I need to take my last section by November 30.  I had planned on taking this section on November 29, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which would give me 2 solid off days before the exam to review and feel comfortable with the material.

BUT...I came home from the bar Saturday night (Sunday morning) at 3:00 AM and decided now would be a good time to schedule my exam.  I went to sign up for the site in Philly because it's not too far from work, and I wouldn't need to take any off time.  They have no availability the rest of the month.  I think, no big deal, I'll take it in South Jersey.  No actually I won't, because they don't have any availability after the 13th, which is way too early for me.  Then I realize, that because it's the end of the testing period, everyone must have been scheduling for those last few days.  I begin checking test sites like a crack fiend.  All 5 in New Jersey, nothing.  7 sites from Philly to Allentown to Harrisburg in PA, nothing.  1 site in Delaware, nothing.  3 sites in DC, nothing.  3 sites in New York including 1 in Brooklyn, nothing.  At this point, I am ready to go off the deep end, and I think I'm going to have to cram for a week straight and study or take the test in Guam.  How the hell did I let this happen?  I take one last ditch attempt at Maryland, and check out the Towson, Maryland site.  One opening 11:30 AM on Tuesday, November 25.  Give it to me.  After 20 minutes, I finally calm down and go to sleep at 4:10 AM.

So I'll be taking the final portion of the CPA Exam in Towson, Maryland, which is about 2 hours from my house.  I guess it could be worse, because I have almost all of the time I thought I'd have to study, and this will force me to get it done before Thanksgiving, so I can enjoy the holiday.  I'll let you all know how it went after I take it.

Moral of the story:  Don't drink and select your CPA exam time concurrently, and schedule your tests well in advance.

Song of the Day:  The Beatles - Glass Onion