[jeff]

I will be giving away an iPad 3 Thursday to someone in the forum. Here are the details:

Who: 1 Randomly-selected winner.

You don’t have to be a current candidate to enter – Alums are welcome too!

The selection will be recorded through a screencast.

Note – the winner will be double-checked to make sure they don’t have more than one forum account posting in the giveaway thread, so no shenanigans.

What: iPad 3 – $499 model (winner will have the option to pay for any upgrades/features they want added)

Why: iPads are awesome (I have an iPad 2 … hope I win!) 😉

How:

1. “Like” another71 on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/another71)

2. In this thread, post a CPA Exam or Accounting Career tip (or both) that you think would benefit a College Senior or recent graduate. If you work for a Big 4 or Regional Accounting Firm, interview tips or anything making the process easier would be great.

That’s it … Good Luck!

***

New Prizes Added!

– 5 Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University Memberships (Online)

– 5 Complete NINJA Audios

– 5 Complete NINJA Notes

– 1 30 Minute Muay Thai training session at Del Mar Beach (CA) in September (you have to get to Del Mar though) 🙂

Jeff Elliott, CPA (KS) | Another71 | NINJA CPA | NINJA CMA | NINJA CPE

[Hiles]

While looking for a job, don't forget corporate accounting. Look at your goals in life first. If you are genuinely interested in moving up the ladder at a public firm, then go for it! But if you are one of those that think you should work at a public firm for a few years and then move into the private/corporate world, then I think you should forget the public firm. From my experience you can make more money by starting out in a large corporation than if you started in public accounting and moved later. There really is no right way, but look at your goals and other options besides public.

FAR - 84
AUD - 90
BEC - 85
REG - 75 DONE!

[Anonymous]

Study tip: The lectures are usually a waste of time.

[Anonymous]

CPA Tips:

1. Stick to your plan: Do not skimp on your studying or your review period. You will need it all to solidify your understanding, and master those topics that you did not get the first time around.

2. Take Breaks: A lot of people really try and study too quickly. If you are still enjoying your life, you will be more likely to be okay with studying.

3. Have faith: as long as you go into the exam, thinking you did all you could to prepare, the rest is now out of your hands. The most difficult part, in my opinion, is waiting for your score. Try and forget about it till the day comes, and whether you pass or fail, know that there are many other people in the same boat with you.

4. Good luck! Just like almost everyone else I am doing this while working full time (government auditing, VA). I am a recent college grad, and this can be done. I am only a quarter of the way through, but if I can do it, anyone can.

[Reedi]

Exam Tips:

1) Schedule your exam, set your goal. Don't wait until you are ready for it, you may never get to that confidence level! Then map out your weekly progress milestones, so that you stay on track towards that goal. I portioned mine out in workweeks and weekends, so if I really hit it hard during the week and paid it forward, then I would be rewarded with guilt-free weekend down time. On the other hand, if I slacked during the workweek, then I would have the weekend to make up any lost ground.

2) I used Yaeger and have so far passed 3 of 3 on the 1st attempt, so yes, I would highly recommend it!! For me, 1 hour of Yaeger instruction is about 2-3 hours of total study time.

3) Plan on about 2 months to prepare for each section. Don't move on to the next exam until you passed the one before. Relax and recharge until the score comes in, then repeat or move on to the next.

4) After Yaeger, dedicate a week to working tons of MCQs. And incorporate notes on the ones you got wrong into the NINJA Notes. Review the notes before each MCQ session.

5) Review the NINJA Notes the morning of your exam, so that everything is fresh. Don't cram, just scan.

6) Don't underestimate yourself!!! You can do it!

BEC 11/11 82 PASSED!
REG 2/12 75 PASSED!
FAR 4/12 86 PASSED!
AUD 5/30 74, SERIOUSLY?!?! I guess this journey is not yet over.

[msrolo]

Always set a plan for studying and have a date for taking the exam or else you will keep pushing it off. Never sign up for more exams than you can take in the 6 month window.. Interview tip- stay confident even if inside you are shaking. If you don't know something say you don't know with confidence since honesty is key and better than trying to fake it. Smile a lot! Also, Internships are key!

[Tastiekake]

My biggest tip for taking the exam would have to be take the time to rewrite your notes after getting though a lecture. This helped me a lot with comprehending the underlying concepts.

Also, do some research on all the various review courses just because its the big name brand doesn't mean it will work for you. Find a review course that teaches the material in a way that helps you learn. I ended up using Becker for REG and BEC and Philadelphia CPA Review for Far and Audit.

[Anonymous]

Never give up!

[HopeCounter]

My Exam Tip: Do as many MC questions as possible. Also, if there is a topic that you feel you are not adequately understanding, go straight to the source via the AICPA or PCAOB website and take notes on the standard rather than a module. Sometimes it helps to approach tough topics from a different perspective to gain a more solid understanding of a topic.

AUD - 84 - 5/31/12 (lost credit), re-take 5/28/14
REG - 83 - 12/7/12
BEC - 80 - 2/27/13
FAR - 69 - 11/30/13, 80 - 2/28/14

[huskerlissa]

DEFINITELY going to bookmark this thread!

DON'T let your exam credits expire… stupid mistake on my part!!!

REG = 76
AUD = ??? waiting
FAR = 10/19
BEC = 11/30

[kbuck]

My tip is to study, study, and study some more. I feel like the more you do MCQ's and the more you concentrate on learning the theory behind why the right questions are right you will do much better come test day. Tip to myself is to spend more time studying next testing cycle and to buy the ninja notes!

[Anonymous]

BEC – 75

REG – 81

AUD – 5/30

Write key points from MCQs and Ninja notes on index cards, making your own flash cards that you can pull out and study a few at a time!

[ColoradoCPA]

You do not have to spend lots of money to pass the CPA exam. Buy inexpensive CPA review. Spend lots of hours to understand the concepts. You will win it!

FAR 81 ✓
AUD 97 ✓
BEC 75 ✓
REG 84 ✓

[MinSeokYi]

Exam Tip: Sleep is essential prior to the exam. Don't be like me and go into FAR with one hour of sleep after putting in hours and hours of work, only to burn out during the sims!!!

Career Tip: Make sure you know your resume inside and out. Companies are always trying to find links with your resume and the position, so make sure you can make those links as well.

Life Tip: Smile. Bring the positive aura to others. Life may not be great, but we are fortunate to be in a position of great opportunity, whether it is working in the big four or passing the cpa exam. Life is a beautiful thing.

BEC: Passed
REG: Passed
FAR: Almost Past (lol)
AUD: I thought I passed with flying colors, but I wasn't close!

[MinSeokYi]

Exam Tip: Sleep is essential prior to the exam. Don't be like me and go into FAR with one hour of sleep after putting in hours and hours of work, only to burn out during the Sims!!!

Career Tip: Make sure you know your resume inside and out. Companies are always trying to find links with your resume and the position, so make sure you can make those links as well.

Life Tip: Smile. Bring the positive aura to others. Life may not be great, but we are fortunate to be in a position of great opportunity, whether it is working in the big four or passing the CPA exam. So, smile!!!!

Goodluck to everyone!

BEC: Passed
REG: Passed
FAR: Almost Past (lol)
AUD: I thought I passed with flying colors, but I wasn't close!

[sasricks]

Good Studying tip: Get in a routine. If you study better at night, like me, do so the same time every night.

Good Career tip: Work at a small firm or company. It gives you the ability to do more than just accounting during the slow periods.

[Author]

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