Understanding The Making Of A CPA By Edwin Valencia
I found this tutorial series a while back when I was trying to get a handle on the accounting credential path. It is not a substitute for actual study, but it does walk through the general process in a way that feels less like reading a state board's published handbook. The guy behind it, Edwin Valencia, puts together step-by-step content covering education requirements, exam scheduling, and the application flow. Most of the materials are free online if you search for them directly. The core idea is straightforward. You do your coursework, you sit for the Uniform CPA Exam sections in order, and then you apply for licensure through your state board. What makes the tutorial useful is the sequencing advice — knowing which section to take first can save you months depending on your situation. I would start with Financial Accounting and Reporting if you are fresh out of school, or Auditing and Attestation Services if you are already working in an audit role. It seems obvious, but people mix this up constantly.
The Making Of A Cpa By Edwin Valencia
What I learned from watching his walkthrough is that the hardest part is never the exam itself. It is the credential verification piece. Every state requires transcript evaluation, and some require primary source verification through NBS (National Board of Accountants and Examiners). I ran into a problem where my university did not appear in NBS's direct transcript submission system. The registrar sent it manually and it took six weeks to arrive, during which my application sat in pending status with no movement. The workaround was simple: I wrote to the state board, explained the delay, and provided a tracking number. They paused the clock on processing and my application moved forward within three days. You need to keep that kind of paper trail for everything. Another thing nobody tells you early on is that your 150-credit requirement usually needs to be completed before you can be issued a license, even though you can sit for the exam with fewer credits in most states. I knew that part intellectually but I treated it as optional until I nearly hit a wall. Some states will let you take all four sections with 120 credits, then you go back and finish the remaining 30 after passing. Others require the full 150 before you are even eligible to apply. Check your specific state board. The rule changes more often than people expect, and the NASBA website sometimes shows outdated information. The exam sections themselves follow a pattern. BEC, now called TRS (Task-Based Simulation) format, covers business concepts. FAR covers the heavy financial reporting material. AUD covers audit procedures and standards. REG covers tax and business law. Each section is four hours. You get about 90 minutes for MCQs and the rest for simulations. The sims are where most people lose points because they read the question wrong or miss a tab in the interface. I spent two weeks just drilling simulation navigation before I took any section. It felt unnecessary until I saw the screen during the actual exam and realized I had no idea where to click next. That time investment alone was worth it.
Here is the counter-intuitive part about studying. Most people buy the big review course packages and immediately start watching video lectures. That is the slowest possible approach if you already have a business or accounting background. What works better is starting with MCQ banks — Roger, Beck, or Gleim — and only watching lectures for the topics you miss. You can cut your study time roughly in half this way. I went from a projected twelve-week plan down to about seven weeks per section by doing it this way. One more thing that trips people up: the ethics exam. Twenty-six states require a separate ethics exam after you pass the CPA exam but before you can get licensed. The AICPA offers one that most states accept. It is a self-study course with a final test, costs around $150, and takes maybe six to eight hours total if you are prepared. Do not let this slip through the cracks. I know people who passed all four sections and sat idle for a year waiting to get licensed because they forgot about this requirement. Application fees vary by state but they are not trivial. North Carolina charges over $200 for initial application plus $200 per exam section. Texas is cheaper but still significant. Budget for this early. The total cost of getting licensed — review courses, exam fees, application fees, ethics exam, transcript evaluation — usually lands between $2,000 and $4,000 depending on your state and whether you need to retake any sections.
Edwin Valencia's tutorial does not cover every edge case, and some of the content may be a few years old now since the CPA exam changed to continuous testing in 2024. That means you can schedule and take sections any time of year instead of waiting for the traditional testing windows. It also means some of the scheduling advice in older videos is outdated. Check the AICPA and NASBA sites for current testing policies before you follow any timeline he lays out. If you are just starting, I would watch the full series once to understand the overall path, then build your own timeline based on your state's actual requirements. The general roadmap is solid. The details change enough that you should verify everything against official sources before committing money or time.
