University of La Salette, Incorporated

Santiago City, Philippines

A Quantitative Study Bachelor of Science in Accountancy

Summer, A.Y. 2022 – 2023

Impact of Time Management Behaviors on the 4 th Year

BSA Student’s confidence in taking the Certified
Public Accountant Licensure Examination (CPALE).
Jed Angel Domingo, Reuven Seth F. Donato, Jane Liwen Khoo, Ram Shane Rock
Macaraeg
University of La Salette, Incorporated
College of Accountancy

Keywords: Academic Preparation, CPALE, Licensure Examination, 4 th Year Students,

Certified Public Accountant

ABSTRACT
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INTRODUCTION
One of the most rigorous board examinations in the country is the Certified Public

Accountant Licensure Examination (CPALE), reflected through the comparatively low

passing rates of both the local and national levels. This study aims to find the impact of

time management that may boost the confidence of fourth-year accounting students'

academic preparation for the CPALE. The two variables were measured using the

CPALE Factor Scale (CFS) presented in the online questionnaire.

Background of the Study

The Certified Public Accountant Licensure Examination (CPALE) is considered

one of the country's most difficult board examinations. The difficulty of passing the

board examination is reflected in the relatively low passing rates at local and national

levels.

The accounting profession in the Philippines is one of the highly professionalized

industries that produce highly competent individuals after completing a thorough test

administered by the governing body, the Board of Accountancy (BOA). Those

accounting graduates who have passed the examination and are entitled to get a

license to practice the profession are referred to as Certified Public Accountants

(CPAs).

Thousands of candidates take the CPALE each year. The comparatively low

passing rates at the local and national levels reflect the difficulties of passing the board
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University of La Salette for Certified Public Accountant Licensure Examination| 3

examination. Graduates who pass licensure/board tests are more likely to succeed in

their chosen field.

Given this situation, addressing the factors affecting the students' academic

preparation is essential.

One factor is time management. Students who performed with less free time

have better academic performance than those with freer time (Ackerman and Gross,

2003). Since time is a limited resource that needs to be managed effectively just like all

other limited resources, it has been deemed necessary to evaluate its effects on

students’ achievement. A general assumption underlines that students with good time

management skills are able to manage time effectively even after they graduate and

enter professional life. In literature studies, it has been detected that positive time

management behaviors accelerate students’ GPA, whereas negative time management

behaviors decrease academic performance ( Indreica et al.,2011; Saketi and Taheri,

2010; Sevari and Kandy, 2011; Tanriogen and Iscan, 2009).

Understanding time management has implications for accounting students. First,

having good time management skills is important in taking accounting majors because

they face academic demands that other business majors do not. According to

Bierstaker, Howe, and Seol (2004), the majority of accounting majors indicate that they

plan to sit for a certification examination. If the student plans to sit for the CPA

examination, he or she must complete 150 hours of studying. Second, accounting is a

very time-sensitive and demanding profession. That is why learning sufficient time
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management skills is important before entering this profession. These studies suggest

that developing time management skills during the education process is essential and

perhaps a predictor of success in board performance and the profession. Success

depends on having the capacity to operate under time constraints and manage one's

time.

This study addresses the alarmingly low passing rates experienced in the past

three years in the CPALE. Student's academic performance is an essential matter in

education. It is one way of perceiving one's total potentialities and capacities (Nuthana

& Yenagi, 2009), often measured through examination results. The Professional

Regulation Commission's (PRC) report on graduate performance in various licensure

and board examinations shows that graduate performance has been dropping for the

past ten years. CPALE faces the same dilemma of low passing rates before 2010 in

other fields of knowledge. In May 2018, the passing rate of CPALE was 28.92%; only

2,843 out of 9,830 examinees passed the examination. In October 2018, out of 14,358

examinees, only 3,616 passed, with a total passing rate of 25.18%. In addition, the

result of May 2019 CPALE had 1,699 passers out of 10,319 examinees with a passing

rate of 16.46%. For October 2019, it decreased to 14.32%, with 2,075 passers out of

14,492. In October 2021, only 361 passed out of 2,367 board takers, with a passing

rate of 15.25%. For December 2021, the passing rate was 21.87%; only 318 passers

out of 1,454 examinees. With the recently conducted CPA Licensure Examination last

May 22-24, 2022, with a total of 4,442 examinees, only 990 lucky examinees passed

the examination. That resulted in a 22.29% passing rate.

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The study is required as it helps enhance the level of competence of

accountancy students, increasing the possibility of passing the said board examination.

The researchers also believe that studying the impact of time management affect

students' academic preparation for the said board examination enables them to create

a better and more effective study plan. Furthermore, the researchers expect to

contribute to the student's performance in their board examinations performance.

Moreover, this study is conducted to only know the confidence of students in taking the

board exam, not their chances to pass the CPA Licensure examination.

This study aims to assess the impact of time management behaviors that affect

the academic preparation of fourth-year accountancy students for the CPALE. Time

management is a process of organizing and planning how to divide your time between

specific activities. The score will be obtained by answering the CPALE Factors Scale.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to evaluate the relationship between the time management of

fourth-year students for their preparation in CPALE.

Specifically, this study shall seek answers to the following questions:

1. What is the profile of the respondent as to:

a) Sex?

b) Confidence level?

c) Number of hours in studying?

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2. What are the prevailing time management behavior of 4th year student?

3. Is there significant correlation between the time management and level of confidence

of students in taking the CPALE?

Hypothesis

The following are the hypothesis formulated for this study about the relationship

between time management and level of confidence in taking the bored examination.

1. There is no significant correlation between time management and the level of

confidence of fourth-year students in taking the CPALE.

2. There is no significant correlation between time management and the level of

confidence of fourth-year students in taking the CPALE.

Significance of the Study

This study provides relevant and valuable contributions to the field of

accounting based on the following reasons:

First, aspiring CPAs can gain accurate and factual information that could help

prepare them for the CPALE. It can also help increase the student's morale and

confidence upon taking the board examination.

Second, graduates of Bachelor of Science in Accountancy (BSA) and other

courses requiring licensure examination will use the results of this study as the basis for
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their self-assessment and self-evaluation of their probabilities of passing the board

examination.

Third, school heads and teachers will be given ideas on how important the

impact of time management affecting the preparation of the students for CPALE as their

basis for implementing school programs, activities, and curricula to help the students to

achieve their goals. Since there are only limited studies about the factors affecting the

preparation of the students for CPALE, this study will contribute to the existing literature

and be helpful for the board performance of the CPALE takers.

Lastly, this study will also be useful to future researchers who will carry out

further research and will use it as a guide for studies they will conduct shortly.

METHODOLOGY

Research Design

The quantitative research design that will be utilized in this research study is

descriptive research. Descriptive research is a quantitative research design which aims

to accurately and systematically describe a population, situation or phenomenon. It can

answer what, where, when and how questions. It can use a wide variety of research

methods to investigate one or more variables. As for this research study, descriptive
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design will be used to clearly deliver the time management behavior of 4 th year BSA

students.

In addition, the said design serves as a tool to obtain information concerning the

current status of the phenomena and to describe "what exists" with respect to variables

or conditions in a situation. Thus, research conclusions are expected to contain

accurate predictions briefly explaining the time management strategies of 4 th year BSA

students.

Sampling

This research study was conducted at the University of La Salette Inc. The

participants of this study are fourth-year students of Bachelor of Science in

Accountancy. They are selected as study participants since CPALE is part and the final

step in their success to become a Certified Public Accountant.

The researcher used simple random sampling for this study. The researchers

randomly selected a mixture of male and female respondents to take part in the survey.

Moreover, the respondents' sample population resulted in 74 out of 91 fourth-year

students using the Sample Size Calculator, also known as Raosoft Calculator, with a

5% margin error and 95% confidence level.

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Data Gathering Procedure

An online survey questionnaire form is the primary instrument to gather the

needed data. The said participants are fourth-year accountancy students. The

researcher distributes the survey questionnaire to assess the impact of time

management in their academic preparation for the CPALE. It included a briefing to the

participants explaining the purpose and aim of the study. The items in the scale were

adapted from the Effective Time Management Skills & Practices Self-Assessment

Questionnaire by John W. Olmstead (2010), Study Skills and Habits Questionnaire by

Queen’s University, and College Student’s Belief about Exam Preparation by Shawn

Van Etten, Geoffrey Freebern, and Michael Pressy. The Likert scale is a rating method

used in questionnaires to assess individuals' beliefs, views, or expectations (Jameson,

S., 2017). The legend of the rating scale being used is shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Likert Rating Scale

Ratings Interpretation

5 Strongly Agree

4 Agree

3 Neutral
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2 Disagree

1 Strongly Disagree

The researchers will ensure that the identity and confidentiality of the answers

remain anonymous. The answer will be correctly gathered, tabulated, and evaluated.

Data Analysis

The researchers will analyze the data using a statistical tool called SPSS to

determine various variables' correlations. The descriptive-analysis is a measure that

gives figures summarizing a given collection of data. Using the SPSS, the data will be

obtained and analyzed statistically. In this analysis, SPSS will help respond to the

particular goals and hypotheses formulated. To find answers to the problems of this

study, such techniques as standard deviation, mean, Independent T-test, ANOVA, and

the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, were used. Significance levels

of .05 and .10 were used during the statistical analysis.

Ethical Considerations

The researchers secured the permission of the Dean of the College of

Accountancy to collect data from the study site. This was accomplished through a letter

explaining the purpose of the study and asking permission to conduct an online survey
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University of La Salette for Certified Public Accountant Licensure Examination| 11

of the fourth-year students. The researcher protects the participant's right to self-

determination and confidentiality as well as the anonymity of the school. Informed

consent was distributed with the questionnaire. The data was kept confidential, and the

participants were assured of their right to withdraw at any time. The names of the

participants are not recorded, so all the data is rendered. Since the tool utilized was

adopted, an email was sent to secure permission from the original authors.
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APPENDICES

APPENDIX A: COMPUTATION IN FINDING THE TOTAL RESPONDENTS

APPENDIX B: COMPUTATION IN THE DATA PRESENTATION

● Percentage

part x
X= =
w h ole 100

Part= how many respondents answer according to the

research questions that are presented
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Whole= the total number of the respondents

X= answer of the part divided by the whole

100= constant number that are used to convert the decimal into a percent

APPENDIX C: REQUEST LETTER

Mr. Ruperto Jose H. Mateo, MAIT, CPA
College of Accountancy Dean
University of La Salette College Inc.,
Dubinan East, Santiago City.

Dear Mr. Mateo,

Greetings in the name of peace and reconciliation.

We, the 2nd year students from the College of Accountancy, are currently enrolled
in PCOA 022 Statistical Analysis with Software Application class. In this subject, one of
our performance tasks is to create a research about the Factors Affecting the Academic
Preparation of Fourth-Year Accountancy Students at the University of La Salette for
Certified Public Accountant Licensure Examination (CPALE). In line with this, we are
humbly asking for the copy of the data on the number of 4th year students in the
department.

If you would be able to give us the opportunity to get the said requirements rest
assured that we will keep it with utmost confidentiality.

Should our request be granted, please message us through this contact number
+639062030675.

Sincerely yours,

REUVEN SETH F. DONATO JED ANGEL DOMINGO

Student Student

JANE LIWEL KHOO RAM SHANE ROCK MACARAEG

Student Student

Noted by:
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Mrs. Cherry Amor Viray-Ariola Ms. Mary Jane Andres Bugarin

PCOA 022 Instructor LAB PCOA 022 Instructor LEC

APPENDIX C: COMMUNICATION LETTER

August x, 2023

Dear Respondents,
Greetings in the name of peace and reconciliation.
We are the BS Accountancy 2B students currently enrolled in a research class at
the University of La Salette, Incorporated. For our research, we are investigating the
factors affecting the Academic Preparation of fourth-year students for Certified Public
Accountant Licensure Examination. In this regard, we hope to invite you to be a
research respondent of this study.
Our survey is linked with Google Form. You may click the sent link so that you’ll
be directed to the form.
Per section, we'll be doing a random survey. Thus, we are needing 74
respondents in your batch.
Thank you so much for your cooperation and may God Bless you always! Poll
was created for you to know if the needed respondents are achieved so don't forget to
update the poll if you're already done.

Respectfully yours,

REUVEN SETH F. DONATO JED ANGEL DOMINGO

Student Student

JANE LIWEL KHOO RAM SHANE ROCK MACARAEG

Student Student
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APPENDIX E: QUESTIONNAIRE
PART I
Instructions: Complete the following demographic information. Kindly put a
check (√) if needed to mark your answer.

I. Profile of the Respondents

Name (Optional):

Sex:
• Male

• Female

No. of hours spent in studying

 1-3 hrs.
• 4-7 hrs.

• 8-12 hrs.

• More than 12 hrs.

How confident are you to take the CPA Licensure Examination?

● Not Confident at All
● Somewhat Confident
● Confident
● Very Confident

II. Factors Affecting Academic Preparation for CPALE

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DIRECTIONS: Using the Likert scale below, please put a (√) checkmark
on the box that
corresponds to your answer.
Legend:

(5) = Strongly Agree

(4) = Agree

(3) = Neutral

(2) = Disagree

(1) = Strongly Disagree

TIME MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

Indicators 5 4 3 2 1
1. I do things in order of priority.

2. I accomplish what needs to be done during the day.

3. I can meet deadlines without rushing at the last minute.

4. I know what I want to accomplish during the coming

semester.
5. I spend enough time on academic matters.
6. I prepare a daily or weekly “to do” list.

7. I keep up to date on my reading and assignments.

8. I avoid spending too much time on trivial matters.

9. I tackle difficult or unpleasant tasks without procrastinating.

10. I am satisfied with the way I use my time.

11. I try to do the most important tasks during my most energetic

period of the day.
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12. I use schedules to organize my time and set aside time each day
for studying.
13. At the beginning of a study period, I plan my work so that I will
make the best use of my time.
14. I keep all my work for each subject together and carefully arrange
in some planned order.
15. I waste too much time talking, watching TV, listening to the
radio, going to the movies, etc., for the good of my studies.

APPENDIX F: RESEARCHER’S PERSONAL DATA