Hello everyone,

About three years ago, when I started considering a career change to accounting in my 50s, I searched online for stories from people in similar situations. I was looking for motivation and hope.

Most of what I found was positive and encouraging. People told me that age was just a number and shared success stories about changing careers later in life. Even ChatGPT repeatedly told me that I would be a strong candidate if I passed the CPA exams and that my age and previous professional experience could actually work in my favor.

Well, here's my experience so far.

I have a master's degree in statistics and worked in that field for 15 years. However, I had no formal accounting education, so I had to complete an accounting program (not a bachelor's degree) to become eligible to sit for the CPA exams.…