Joan Carilimdiliman: Becoming a CPA topnotcher by returning to basics
While most review-takers scramble in the final stretch, Joan Alliah Carilimdiliman had already been preparing for six years from the ground up.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Long before she was staring down the balance sheets of the country’s most grueling licensure exam, Joan Alliah Carilimdiliman was mastering a different kind of patience in the fog-laden hills of Barangay Mantalongon in Dalaguete, Cebu.
In a culture that glorifies the frantic, caffeine-fueled midnight cram, the University of San Jose-Recoletos graduate built her success the way crops are grown in her hometown — slowly and patiently, from the roots up.
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Path to becoming a CPA topnotcher
Her journey to the CPA Top 10 didn’t begin in a high-pressure city review center; rather, it started six years ago, in a senior high school classroom, equipped with nothing more than the absolute basics.
Carilimdiliman knew she was ready for the May 2025 CPA Licensure Examination; she just didn’t expect to see her name in the Top 10. When the results dropped, and her 89.33 percent rating was cemented in the archives, the astonishment that washed over the USJ-R graduate wasn’t born from self-doubt.
Instead, it came somewhere along the exhausting six-year grind from the mountain breeze of Dalaguete to the city, where she had deliberately let go of the dream of being a CPA topnotcher, if only to survive the sheer weight of the expectation.
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“I had the goal to be a topnotcher, but along the way, that dream faded,” she admitted during a press conference following the release of CPA licensure exam results.
“During the actual board exam, after the three-day examination, I was relieved that it was done. I was confident that I would pass, but not confident that I would make it to the Top 10. Fortunately, I was able to achieve a top spot.”
Going back to basics
What sets Carilimdiliman’s story apart from the conventional board exam narrative is her unshakeable belief in the fundamentals right from the moment she started building them. Most candidates treat the months-long review period as the beginning of serious preparation.
For her, it was the final chapter.
“My preparation didn’t just start during the review. It started way back in senior high school. That’s when my board exam preparation truly began,” she said.
The insight is deceptively simple, yet it carries the weight of six years of discipline: success on the CPA board is not a feat of last-minute memorization, but the cumulative result of understanding accounting at its core.
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“It’s important to know the basics,” she said. “When you face the exam, you go back to the basics — the the essentials of accounting.”
That shaped the structure of her review period as well. From day one, she built a routine anchored in deliberate practice, waking up independently, following a morning regimen, watching pre-recorded lectures, and drilling herself with practice questions.
“I retain information better when I answer practice questions,” she said. “My goal every day was to learn something new or understand something better that I had previously learned.”
Sleep was non-negotiable: it must be eight hours, every night. “It’s important to prepare your body and mind […] and take care of yourself.”
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Balance between sacrifice and leisure
Success at this level, Carilimdiliman acknowledged, does not come without cost. There were missed gatherings, quieter friendships, and weekends given over to books and drills.
“You really have to sacrifice some things — time with family, friends, and other extracurricular activities,” she said. “And you are willing to do that because you are pursuing great things.”
However, she is careful to complicate the familiar narrative of total self-denial. Balance, she insists, is a strategy.
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“I also made time for family and friends because not everything is about academics. Being able to balance it was key for me,” she said.
That balance was made easier by her decision to review from home, where she was surrounded by her parents. During the review period, which she described candidly as “a very vulnerable season,” the presence of her family served as both anchor and motivation.
“Your self-belief is tested, and you question your capacity,” she said. “It helped that I reviewed at home, where my parents and family were. They helped me focus on my review, and I overcame the challenges because of them.”
Faith and support
Beyond academics and structure, Carilimdiliman drew deeply from her faith. Together with friends, she undertook a Visita Iglesia, a devotional practice of visiting multiple churches to pray, during her preparation period.
“It was very helpful and shaped our faith,” she said. “It was a huge help for us during a vulnerable season. Aside from mental preparation, it helps to have faith that we will overcome this journey.”
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The support of her wider community also proved transformative, even in its most ordinary form. When doubt crept in, the voices of people who believed in her — classmates, mentors, loved ones — became the floor she stood on.
“Even when I didn’t trust myself, there were people who had immense faith in me,” she recalled. “It made me want to aim for my dreams even more, because so many people poured their love out for me.”
Carilimdiliman’s academic journey was also made possible by sustained institutional support. For her first two years at USJ-R, she held an academic scholarship tied to her grades, earning discounts ranging from 50 to 100 percent of tuition.
By her third year, she had secured another scholarship that carried her through the review period.
“My parents were also very supportive, especially with financial needs not covered by the scholarship,” she said. “I didn’t experience much of a financial struggle.”
That support now comes with a reciprocal commitment: as a condition of her scholarship, she will render service, a return-of-service obligation she embraces without hesitation.
“For my scholarship, I have to render service, so I will be rendering service in the future,” she said simply.
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Trust your foundations
Perhaps the most enduring takeaway from Carilimdiliman’s story is its accessibility. Her path to the Top 10 did not require extraordinary genius, a premium review package, or an elite pedigree. It required something far more democratic: the willingness to begin early, stay consistent, and trust the foundations laid long before the pressure mounted.
She had read it somewhere, a line that lodged itself in her mind and became her compass:
“You have to trust your preparation.”
On the morning after three grueling days of examinations, with the weight of years behind her, she did exactly that.
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