[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) 🙂

[RMS1433]

Take the exam befoe you start working full time, or if you are already working full time as an accountant, do not delay and start taking it asap…the early you get the test done the better, you will be thankful that you got it out of the way early in your career. Study soon and study hard!

[obgg]

If you can take the exam right after you graduate before you start working. If this is not an option for you make sure to make the exam a priority and don't let it take a backseat to work.

[Anonymous]

Career Tip:Network, network, and network. Go to every event that your company holds. Get invovled! Make it known that you want to improve the company! Whether it be a wellness program meeting or drinks after work. You will meet new people outside of work that can further your career and get to know your coworkers outside of the work. It's good for your coworkers to see who you are outside of work.

Exam Tip: Take breaks. Still try to enjoy life, but achieve adequate study time. (Myabe I take too much time to enjoy life, but oh well!)

FAR: 71

REG: 76 (Expires 2/13) getting close!

BEC: 71

AUD 73

[CPApracticer]

EXAM: Take the test as soon as you get 150 credits. Start with FAR first. Practice as many MCQs as possible and learn from mistakes. PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE, Dont give up

CAREER: Be yourself and not be afraid to make mistakes. The most successful people are the ones that made the most mistakes.

F: 54 (4/13) 60 (4/14) 67 (9/14) 66 (10/14) 63 (11/15) 79 (2/16) PASSED
A: 60 (5/13) 80 (4/16) PASSED
R: 60 (7/13) 61 (2/15) 70 (4/15) 77 (7/15) PASSED
B: (6/16)

[whatnot999]

Use a professional resume writing service. They do make you look more professional.

[ihatethesetests]

Find a study method that works for you, every test could be a different method. I was able to pass 3 with just the Wiley books but needed to use the NINJA notes & flashcards, and a program for my last one.

Don't give up!

[Anonymous]

Exam Tips:

I recently just passed all 4 parts of the exam and as someone who struggled with certain sections in the past, I realized the key was to set a study schedule up and sticking to it.

1) Use the ninja calendar as a starting point to plan for your test. In my experience it took about 6 weeks of prep for FAR and REG and 5 or 4 weeks of prep for AUD and BEC. You want to complete all the review material at least 1.5 weeks before taking your exam so you review, take notes, and do as many MCQs leading up to your exam.

2) Set goals for each day based on how much time you allotted for studying (ex. finish lecture 1 videos, complete homework for section 1, review simulations, etc). I would try to spend 2-3 hours every week day studying and 6-8 hours on Saturdays and Sundays studying.

3) Start early before your career responsibilities and personal life responsibilities become more demanding. Try to knock it out right after college or right after you start working. You will be in a better place to study effectively and the information will be fresher in your head. The longer you wait the harder it becomes to find time to study and also you become further removed from studying.

4) Don't get discouraged when taking the exams. I thought as I was taking FAR and REG and were seeing questions I did not know the answers to, that I was failing. Turns out I did pretty well on both tests and passed. Don't ever give up or stop trying as you are taking an exam.

5) Plan fun things and breaks every now and then while studying. It is ok to take a day off to do something fun, but make sure you are able to hit all your goals on your review section. By no means can you take off as many days as you want, but it is important to treat yourself to a fun day off from studying every now and then to maintaining your sanity.

[Anonymous]

Create a plan based around your work schedule and stick to it. The easiest thing is to get distracted by work happy hours, fun times with your friends, and other social events. Its better to give up your social life for a set period of time (1 year) than to spend 50% of your effort on social life and CPA and not perform well in either aspect. Concentrate on the goal and the prize and the rest of your life will fall into place.

Facebook Liked today: Brett Sheppard

[Mike Diamond]

Career tip: Keep moving forward

Keeps making progress. Always be moving ahead or gaining something in your career. New job, new position, new promotion, whatever it might be. Look ahead and if progress doesn't look likely in one of those areas, make progress in some other way (like, for instance, passing the CPA exam if you havent already). Each year in my career I want to be able to look back and see some type of progress was made, however small it might have been. Then when you look at your career in total (for me, about 10 years), you'll notice that you actually made huge leaps from where you started.

BEC - 81
REG - 70, 84
AUD - 90
FAR - 50 (Punt!), 78. *DROP THE MIC, WALK OFF STAGE*

[VK19]

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you choose to look at it) I have plenty of experience with the CPA exams. I have tried on three separate occasions to settle in and complete all of the CPA exams.

On the first occasion, I completed 2 exams, and then became caught up in travel for my job.

Second occasion (first two credits expired), I completed 1 exam and then changed jobs and moved to another state.

Third occasion (currently) I have completed 3 of the exams and plan on sitting for FAR in another month or so.

Moral of the story…life gets in the way, but don't give up. If you TRULY want to achieve your CPA, you can do it. There are no shortage of stories like mine…in fact, over time I have realized that my path pales in comparison to the path some others have had to take. My thinking is that if they were able to overcome their obstacles, why can't I do the same???

I wish all of those currently pursuing their CPA the best!

Regards,

Vishal

ps – MCQ, MCQ, MCQ and MORE MCQ!!!!!!! (best advice I received when prepping for my exams)

BEC – 79

AUD – 90

REG – 78

FAR – Jul/Aug Window

[RedskinsCPA]

Always remember, the only people giving you a hard time or discouraging you from becoming a CPA, aren't CPAs!!!!

BEC - Pass
REG - Pass
AUD - Pass
FAR - Pass

[IU_cpa]

Exam: Be realistic about how much you're actually studying vs. checking Facebook, email, etc…Looking back, I see that I really wasn't studying as much as I thought I was!

FAR - 5/26/12
AUD - passed
REG - passed
BEC - passed, expires 7/31/12 (yikes!)

[faheyshm]

Learn the material, but the secret to success is in your test-taking ability. Therefore, practice the MC over and over. Do not just use one study material because you will become accustomed to how that material presents a question. Multiple MC question banks will help you practice different ways of approaching the same topic.

[Anonymous]

One thing that helped me get through the exam (besides Jeff and Team Yeager) was realizing that there is such a thing as good enough when studying each topic. My perfectionist nature cost me a lot of study time (FAR particularly) because I spent too much time trying to perfect my mastery of one module instead of moving onto the next topic after achieving enough familiarity and proficiency. There are too many topics to master each one! Seriously, I give you all permission to move onto the next topic and return later with a fresh mind! Best of luck!

[nrk947]

Keep a spreadsheet with your total hours studied each day, and at the end of the week, reflect on how much you studied, and how much other time you could have been studying. If you do it right you only have to take the exam once, and never have to worry about it again.

FAR 87

BEC 83

AUD 86

REG 86

[Author]

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