Becoming a CPA

December 8, 2009 by Lukas Reynolds
Filed under Finance

I have lived next to a CPA for a long time now, and there were many times while I was growing up that our conversations would turn to the subject of money. He always had an opinion on things and always seemed so smart. My brothers and I could always count on him to give us sound financial advice when we needed it.

My older brother was so inspired by my CPA neighbor that he decided to follow in his footsteps. My brother has never been a good student so I was surprised when he actually stuck to his plan and was working towards becoming an accountant.

There is a lot of schooling that goes into being a CPA and one of the requirements is CPE, or Continuing Professional Education. CPE is offered in many different ways, in a classroom, online, or on your own time. My brother decided to take classes online.

It was easy for him to find some step-by-step instructions that took him through the whole sign up process for the online CPE courses. I’ve never seen him so interested in anything before, so I believe he can actually do well in this field.

There are a lot of steps to go through if you’re interesting in becoming a CPA. There are a lot of courses and classes you have to take, and then there is a serious test at the end of it. If this is something you are good at, you will be able to have a career that you really consider fun. I, however, was never one of those people who were cut out for this work.

There is so much that goes into becoming a CPA, and a lot of trust goes into that position. People trust you with one of the things that matters most, money. If you want to be successful as a CPA you really need to know your stuff.

There are a lot of horror stories around that involve unskilled accountants making a mess of a person’s finances and costing them a lot of money. If you want to avoid being lumped in with that group, you have to build a good reputation from the start.

I have taken accounting courses in school and I did well, but it is not something I am really interested in. I guess my wanders too much to just sit and focus on just one thing all day. I do know how to do my own taxes, but that is about it.

Lukas Reynolds is a professional author who specializes in CPE CPA and CPE for enrolled agents.