Belicia Cespedes, the youngest CPA ever, joined us for this week’s episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast.
Doors and Windows
Belicia was home-schooled her whole life. The goal of the education program was learning how to learn. Learning how to self-govern her education helped to prepare her for the CPA exam. After she graduated high school (at the age of 13!), Belicia began taking extra classes. She took a business class, which included some accounting – and she loved it!
After taking a year off for fun (taking business classes, playing sports, and so on), Belicia attended Community College, participated in CLEP Testing, and took online classes to prepare for the CPA exam. She graduated from college at 16, and immediately began getting ready to sit. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to specialize in, but she knew the license would open plenty of doors – “and windows”.
Tips for Passing the Exam
Know your learning style. Belicia took tons of notes and used Wiley CPA Excel. It’s a very complete course.
She also took three to four weeks to prepare for each exam section. The first two weeks she spent eight hours per day studying and spent longer time as the exam date drew closer. When she felt discouraged her mom encouraged her by reminding her that she was going to be studying this field for a while so she should do her best, and that brought Belicia encouragement.
Discovering Accounting Options
Ever since Belicia started testing for the CPA exam, she knew that she wanted to find a special accounting niche that wasn’t focused on general assurance or tax. She researched, attended several AICPA conferences, and talked to tons of people about what they were doing. Forensics, auditing, and not-for-profit were some of the specialties that stood out to her.
While she was interning with PWC, she asked to try several projects and she fell in love with Forensics.
Belicia currently works for PWC in the Forensics department. She loves this role because she promotes justice and directly helps her clients through crisis situations.
Sharing Joy
No matter how long you have been in this profession, you can bring joy to work every day. Don’t look at things like an inconvenience, rather look at them as an adventure.
Note: To learn more about Forensics, be sure to revisit these two Life in Accounting podcasts:
- Billy Petty – From Law Enforcement to Accounting
- Michele Heyman, CPA – Building a Forensics Accounting Practice
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