Less than 0.05 percent of the people who take the certified public accountant (CPA) exam qualify for the Elijah Watt Sells Award, an honor given to test takers who score an average of more than 95.5 percent on the CPA exam’s four sections. Last year’s results were recently published—and School of Accountancy (SOA) graduates Elise Chase and Parker Jackson were on the list of award winners, continuing the SOA’s 16-year streak of alums who earned the award.
After the two graduated from the BYU Marriott School of Business in 2022 with master of accountancy degrees, Chase started her career at Deloitte while Jackson began working for KPMG. Chase and Jackson balanced work and test preparation as they spent months studying for each of the exam’s four sections.
Working while studying could sometimes be a challenge—especially during tax season—explains Chase, who is from Lindon, Utah. “Staying consistent and trying to do a little bit each day, even if it was just a few practice problems or something small, was really helpful when I was busy with work,” she says.
Lehi, Utah, native Jackson estimates he studied 450 hours total for the CPA exam. “I’m not somebody who’s naturally gifted. I just decided I was going to work really hard,” he reveals. “I studied quite a bit to perform well in college, and it was the same thing with the CPA exam.”
Quantity of study time wasn’t the only factor in their success: Chase and Jackson both say they applied the tools they gained from BYU Marriott to help them increase the quality of their study time. “Learning how to study for difficult exams, retain information, and apply my accounting knowledge was really helpful for the CPA exam,” Chase says.
Jackson agrees: “Honestly, I could have studied two million hours, but without the SOA, I wouldn’t have been able to achieve this.” He credits much of his success to the base knowledge he gained in the SOA, which simplified his study to a comprehensive review, with a few additional niche topics to learn about. “It’s a lot easier to go back and review certain content than to learn everything all at once for the first time.”
Working hard to complete the CPA exam and earning a distinguished award for their scores renewed the BYU Marriott grads’ confidence in their abilities. “The exam process and the results of my effort taught me that I’m quite good at studying and learning how things work,” Jackson says. He feels he has what it takes to stay on top of the new policies and updates that come with working in tax.
Similarly, Chase enjoys her work crunching numbers and helping people solve problems, and she is excited to see where she can take her skills in the coming years. “I feel very needed because taxes are something that everybody has to do,” Chase says. “Individuals have to do taxes; businesses have to do taxes—it’s a very necessary profession.”
As they move forward into their accounting careers, Jackson and Chase say they look back fondly at their time at BYU Marriott. “SOA has really given me a great kick start into my career,” Jackson explains. “It’s been a springboard for me to be successful on the CPA exam and in my career, and I’m so grateful.”
_____
Written by Melissa Een