[Anonymous]

Hi all!

Does anyone have suggestions for studying during busy season…I am a first year audit associate for a Big 4. Wondering if anyone has tips or pointers for success for getting some studying some during busy season. I only have REG left and I’m trying to not let busy season crush my spirits for studying. As busy season ends in march I want to take the exam the earliest I can when the Q2 window opens; but, I want to have gone through my Becker material once before I take a whole week off to study.

How do you stay motivated?

Tips for chipping away at all the material?

Tips for staying abreast on everything I learned so it is for not?

[Anonymous]

Last year I was working in tax (so busy season ends mid- to late-April [payroll taxes right after income taxes]) and took my first section of the exam in late May.

Through busy season, I'd study if I felt like I had time, but I didn't push it too much if I already felt overwhelmed. I'm an overachiever who burns out easily, so I've had to learn how to manage my burn-out, and that means not pushing myself to do more than I'm really able to. So, from February through mid-April, I worked 6 full days per week and most evenings – during that whole time, I maybe studied twice, when I felt particularly energetic on some weekend. But once busy season was over and I went back to 40 hours, I hit the books like there was no tomorrow, and took the exam about a month later.

I think the key to studying and busy season is to figure out what you can handle and not push yourself past there. This is your first year in audit – busy season will be a time of a LOT of learning for you. Don't focus so hard on studying that you allow your job performance to slip! But then once busy season is over, push yourself to get this last test. It looks based on your scores and their timing like you've passed your other 3 exams on the first try. Starting with 2Q2014, you have 4 windows in which to try to pass this last test before FAR expires, so if you aren't able to test till later on in 2Q (say, mid-May test date), you've still got plenty of time before you really have to worry. I'm assuming that you won't have your year of experience till a bit later on either, so if it was me, I'd probably push REG into May instead of aiming for early April, just to be able to do most of the studying after busy season is over.

However, at the same time, remember that's “if it was me”. If you can be either studying or working every waking moment and be able to keep it up from the start of busy season till after the test, then you may be able to study around work and be in a good shape. It takes some time after you get home from work every night (for example) to unwind before going straight to bed, so if you have 30-45 minutes that you're awake then, you could study during that. When you're driving in to work (or if you're driving to a client site without coworkers), you can listen to audio recordings (or if you don't have audio, play the lectures through a laptop without the screen pointing towards you so that you can listen to it but not be tempted to watch). I would caution against studying over lunch if everyone else is having lunch together, since as a first-year, it's important to be part of the team…but any time you're not around coworkers and not at work, feel free to study! If I was trying to do this, I would probably try to get to work early and study in the car for a bit before work, maybe reviewing notes or doing practice problems or something like that. Perhaps 15-20 minutes. But if you're able to start work as soon as you arrive (like at my tax job, I had a key to the place and there was always something to be working on), then this might not work as well!

[Anonymous]

Last year I was working in tax (so busy season ends mid- to late-April [payroll taxes right after income taxes]) and took my first section of the exam in late May.

Through busy season, I'd study if I felt like I had time, but I didn't push it too much if I already felt overwhelmed. I'm an overachiever who burns out easily, so I've had to learn how to manage my burn-out, and that means not pushing myself to do more than I'm really able to. So, from February through mid-April, I worked 6 full days per week and most evenings – during that whole time, I maybe studied twice, when I felt particularly energetic on some weekend. But once busy season was over and I went back to 40 hours, I hit the books like there was no tomorrow, and took the exam about a month later.

I think the key to studying and busy season is to figure out what you can handle and not push yourself past there. This is your first year in audit – busy season will be a time of a LOT of learning for you. Don't focus so hard on studying that you allow your job performance to slip! But then once busy season is over, push yourself to get this last test. It looks based on your scores and their timing like you've passed your other 3 exams on the first try. Starting with 2Q2014, you have 4 windows in which to try to pass this last test before FAR expires, so if you aren't able to test till later on in 2Q (say, mid-May test date), you've still got plenty of time before you really have to worry. I'm assuming that you won't have your year of experience till a bit later on either, so if it was me, I'd probably push REG into May instead of aiming for early April, just to be able to do most of the studying after busy season is over.

However, at the same time, remember that's “if it was me”. If you can be either studying or working every waking moment and be able to keep it up from the start of busy season till after the test, then you may be able to study around work and be in a good shape. It takes some time after you get home from work every night (for example) to unwind before going straight to bed, so if you have 30-45 minutes that you're awake then, you could study during that. When you're driving in to work (or if you're driving to a client site without coworkers), you can listen to audio recordings (or if you don't have audio, play the lectures through a laptop without the screen pointing towards you so that you can listen to it but not be tempted to watch). I would caution against studying over lunch if everyone else is having lunch together, since as a first-year, it's important to be part of the team…but any time you're not around coworkers and not at work, feel free to study! If I was trying to do this, I would probably try to get to work early and study in the car for a bit before work, maybe reviewing notes or doing practice problems or something like that. Perhaps 15-20 minutes. But if you're able to start work as soon as you arrive (like at my tax job, I had a key to the place and there was always something to be working on), then this might not work as well!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice. I'll explain my work situation a bit more, I have a bit more flexibility than most first years. I interned twice with the Big 4 firm I work for, once through busy season and another extended internship where I saw all other 3 quarters. And I am at the same client as I was then. The team camaraderie is important but the emphasis is on passing the test first, and I have been able to form my relationships with my team since May 2013. With that being said, busy season will be a bigger learning opportunity as my managers are pushing for a double promotion since I have been around so long. As an intern I did the non-judgmental items but also was given a large load of very judgmental audit areas and have so far shown the ability to handle the areas thrown at me. With my 8 month full time Internship and the last 4 months of associate work I have my year and am just ready to get this over with.

I'm having a hard time just planning my method of attack to chip away at REG so when I do take time off to study and sit it is more of a review than learning all of the material for the first time. My method is time consuming but, as evidenced by my scores, effective.

Lecture

Notes

Homework

Review

Every couple chapters review precious chapters and weak spots. FAR took me about 12 days while audit and BEC took a week or so — studying 12-14 hours a day. I had chipped away at 6 chapters of FAR before I really started my method and

I had chipped away at half of BEC before I implemented my method. Audit was a true 6 day study time frame seeing the material for the first time and going through my method. Granted I had worked in audit for 8 months before and that helped tremendously.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice. I'll explain my work situation a bit more, I have a bit more flexibility than most first years. I interned twice with the Big 4 firm I work for, once through busy season and another extended internship where I saw all other 3 quarters. And I am at the same client as I was then. The team camaraderie is important but the emphasis is on passing the test first, and I have been able to form my relationships with my team since May 2013. With that being said, busy season will be a bigger learning opportunity as my managers are pushing for a double promotion since I have been around so long. As an intern I did the non-judgmental items but also was given a large load of very judgmental audit areas and have so far shown the ability to handle the areas thrown at me. With my 8 month full time Internship and the last 4 months of associate work I have my year and am just ready to get this over with.

I'm having a hard time just planning my method of attack to chip away at REG so when I do take time off to study and sit it is more of a review than learning all of the material for the first time. My method is time consuming but, as evidenced by my scores, effective.

Lecture

Notes

Homework

Review

Every couple chapters review precious chapters and weak spots. FAR took me about 12 days while audit and BEC took a week or so — studying 12-14 hours a day. I had chipped away at 6 chapters of FAR before I really started my method and

I had chipped away at half of BEC before I implemented my method. Audit was a true 6 day study time frame seeing the material for the first time and going through my method. Granted I had worked in audit for 8 months before and that helped tremendously.

[Author]

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