(Posted July 2025 – Written by: Marshall Filiault, CPA, May 2024 CFE Honour Roll Candidate)
Mental health issues are a major concern leading up to the CPA Common Final Examination (CFE). The stress of whether you are performing to expectations, along with the full-time job of studying, can aggravate any underlying anxiety or stress issues already present. Now is the time to bolster your mental health. Develop good sleep habits and maintain a routine of healthy eating and exercise so that you are better prepared to deal with the stresses that may come with studying for the CFE.
Reflecting on my personal experience leading up to the CFE, my stress levels were the highest they have ever been. My second daughter’s due date was the day before the CFE, and so I struggled with the uncertainty of my wife going into labour mid-exam. Almost every thought or worry felt multiplied during this time. Nevertheless, the foundations of organization, a healthy routine, and leaning on my support system led to CFE success that I could have never dreamt of. Now, I want to help you along your CPA journey by sharing the tips that I found most helpful leading up to the CFE.
Build a Schedule
The first tip that helped me immensely was building a detailed schedule early in the study process. By creating a detailed schedule, you are helping to lighten your mental load by having your tasks in your calendar, rather than on your mind. A schedule sets intentionality to your day, reducing the stress that may come with not knowing where to start in your study plan. A schedule will help you prioritize your tasks and remain in control. Blocking time with details for your studying will help prevent procrastination and cramming before the exams.
One of the many great things from Densmore’s CFE Prep program is that they provide you with a study plan that you can fully adopt as your own. I personally used Google calendar as I had it synced between my phone and computer to get notifications ahead of a task. If you are wondering where to start, take Densmore’s provided schedule and block the time in your preferred calendar app. Then, adjust your start and end times for tasks around your other life responsibilities.
Establish a Healthy Routine
The second tip is to establish a healthy routine. But what does a healthy routine look like? A healthy routine consists of balancing progress on your learning while taking care of your mental and physical well-being. A healthy routine is predictable, perhaps you begin your day with a coffee and a morning walk before using your rested mind to write a practice case, then stopping for a fulfilling lunch. Whatever the healthy routine is for you, ensure you block time in your schedule for breaks. Be sure to disconnect from your devices before you go to bed to have a good night’s sleep.
Establishing a healthy routine will help you balance work, studying, leisure, and rest and avoid burnout ahead of the CFE. You may have heard that the CFE is a marathon, not a sprint. To have CFE success, think more tortoise and less hare. Being slow, steady, and deliberate in your weeks of studying will prove to be better for your stress levels than a sprint to cram as much as you can in.
Though you may consider yourself in a grind phase in your professional journey, it is so important to set some time aside to engage in your hobbies or be with friends and family. Speaking from personal experience, nothing hurts your receptiveness and motivation for learning more than building resentment for the program because you feel like you are sacrificing too much of yourself. Settle in with a balance between your own personal enjoyments and your professional journey while keeping in mind that some sacrifices in the short-term will lead to success in the longer-term.
Do Not Compare Yourself to Others
You may have heard this before, but the statement holds true in your CFE preparation. “Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today.”1 This tip is incredibly useful for avoiding unnecessary stressors. I personally did not look at the benchmarks on case results to other writers. Particularly with the Capstone 2 case results, there is no way to guarantee that other writers completed their case in the allotted time frame or wrote their response without looking at the marking guide or suggested solution. It may also be entirely possible that some people looked ahead at the requireds the day before to be fresh on the technical before writing. I know this because I did that once.
No matter what the case may be, it is possible that the results are skewed to show that the scores were better than they may actually be in the real exam setting. Therefore, comparing yourself to these results may increase your stress levels unnecessarily. My recommended approach would be to utilize the Densmore tracker and compare your own progress, aiming for weekly improvement.
Use Your Support System
The last thing that I found extremely helpful in managing stress during CFE preparation is to use your support system – family, friends, colleagues, and anyone who can offer words of encouragement and support. Your support system will help you see the light at the end of the tunnel when the tunnel gets too dark. They can help you fill the tank when you are running low on motivation.
Personally, I would have stopped my CPA journey after Core 2 if it were not for my family and friends who supported me. One of the best pieces of advice I can give to you is to talk to the people who care about you and your well-being. You are not alone in this process. You have friends, family, colleagues, past writers, and the team at Densmore cheering you on.
Remember that you can do it!
It is never too late to start implementing any of these tips on managing stress. The stress that you feel leading up to the CFE is real, but it will pass. You are investing your time and effort now but trust me when I say that this investment will pay dividends to you in the near future.
Words from the Densmore team that truly stuck with me: Know you can and will succeed!
1 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, Dr. Jordan B. Peterson