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It is very important to Big 4 firms, as we want people passing as early as they can. It only gets harder the longer you work, due to increased workload and other priorities. Also, people that are not seriously trying to pass are likely not the personality types we want. No one is going to say 'you have to have it done in 6 months or you're fired', but they do want you to be serious about passing. I think smaller public accounting firms think similarly, as do Fortune 500s.
Agree with Partner 1. I'm at a top 10 firm. The people who pass in the first couple years generally are more successful. Some people have no interest and many of them leave...public accounting is not for everybody, and that's not a bad thing, but if you're not really interested in it (interested enough to pursue your CPA), you'll probably also not be interested enough to deal with the grind....and while we understand that turnover is normal, we're ultimately trying to find those people who really have an interest in the work who will stay and be successful. Also, I've seen a number of really talented people who didn't put the time into their exams in the first couple years, and now are being held back by not having their license. We have multiple seniors in my office right now who are fantastic and are basically acting like managers, but don't have their CPA so can't be promoted. Every one of them is now regretting that they didn't do it sooner. So that's why timeline is asked....not to hold you to a fictitious date, but to gauge your interest and to help set you up for success.
It matters, and they are asking to see if you are serious. Give a realistic date, and if that changes, make sure you are communicating. Things happen, but as said, the further out you get, the less likely you are to get it done.
It matters. Can’t reiterate enough that the earlier you get it the better. The longer you wait the harder it is to get and the more it hinders your promotions. It is a trend that the people to get it early tend to be harder workers, get promoted early, etc. The staff I see who put it off more times than not end up quitting public accounting entirely, which is a bummer because once you get your CPA and get those promotions to M/SM is when you finally start to see some decent pay and see the hard work pay off.