[jeff]

Hey! The NINJAs are giving away 3 pair of Powerbeats 2 Wireless earbuds – your choice of color.

In the video, I said that they were $200-$300, but they’re actually $150-ish (the mall walker distracted me, I think and I was thinking of the over-the-ear headphones). SO … I’ll give away 3 pair instead of 1.

To Enter: Post your best advice or “tip” for anything CPA Exam or accounting related…it can be CPA Exam, Busy Season, Resume, Big 4, Interview, Getting Hired/Fired, etc. Please label your tip.

Example:

[CPA Exam Tip]: Always take the 1pm exam – never the 8am. You’ll have more time to study and there’s no risk of oversleeping

or

[Big 4 Tip]: During networking events – don’t be the dude throwing back the beers. Nurse it. You can pound beers later when it won’t matter if you make a fool out of yourself.

etc.

**Please do NOT post something like “buy company ____ and you’ll pass” … that’s spam, not a tip***

(Unless it’s NINJA – then NINJA spam is always welcome, encouraged, and appreciated.)

Who Wins? On Friday (1/29 – deadline to enter is 12pm Eastern), I will randomly pick three posters from this thread. I’ll use the RANDBETWEEN function in excel to pick the post(s).

No purchase required to enter…void where prohibited…must be 18 to win, etc.

I will also toss in a NINJA Audio of the winners’ choice – since it goes so well with the earbuds 🙂

One entry per person, please 🙂

[536FrenchmenStreet]

[Interview Tip:] This may not even be applicable to this crowd, because the CPA exam is such a humbling experience, but it never hurts to pass along some of my time-tested, sage, partially-unsolicited advice.

BUT.

Even IF you are the smartest one in the room, don't act as though you are. I can't tell you how many times a candidate, with all other things being equal, screwed him/herself out of an offer by being arrogant. This is especially important if you plan to stay in one geographical location for your career; people have long memories.

We interviewed this one guy for an engineer position – mind you, there were two P.E.s on the panel, plus me – who had a fantastic resume and was clearly brilliant, but so arrogant that it was all we could do to finish the interview. Obviously he didn't get the position.

Fast forward about ten years. We were bidding out a contract for engineering services; narrowed the field to the top two firms; and guess who came strolling through the door as part of the first presentation team?

Yeah, they didn't get the contract.

BEC: Fall 2016
AUD: Spring 2016
REG: Summer 2016
FAR: RETAKE

[TheTaxGoddess]

[CPA Exam Study Tip]: Use multiple MCQ banks! While one software might have great questions, you would be surprised just how quickly you start to memorize them, even when you don't notice that you're doing it. We're accountants! We're too detail oriented to learn anything new from constantly answering the same question.

FAR: 78 (8/2015)
AUD: 85 (8/2015)
REG: 82 (10/2015)
BEC: 74 (11/2015) NOOOOO! Retake 1/10/2016

Roger CPA Review & Ninja MCQ

"It will all be worth it in the end!"

[REG-FTW86]

[CPA Exam Tip]: Do not block out family or your hobbies (me time). You need to manage your time effectively. Go to the gym, meditate, enjoy life, and block out times for studying. Stick to your schedule. It will help you not hate the testing process so much.

Regulation For The Win!

FAR 57, 62, 77
BEC 70,77
AUD 54,78
REG 66, 62, 7/29

FAR.BEC.AUD.AUD.BEC.FAR.FAR.REG.REG

Roger CPA Review / Ninja MCQ Supplement

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time - Thomas Edison

[ikecarus]

[Busy Season Tip]: If it's your first busy season, there's one thing that will always guarantee your happiness and what I tell all the incoming staff 1s – keep your expectations low… rock bottom low, especially when it comes to how late you're staying to work. If you don't expect to leave until 11PM every day and you end up leaving at 9:30PM on certain days, you'll feel so much happier than if you set your expectation to leave at 9PM every day and you end up having to stay late. It might be pessimistic, but it really helps! Busy season is going to be a lot of suffering regardless of what client you're on/who you're working with (but definitely not as much as actually studying for the CPA tests) so if you keep your expectations low on all fronts, you'll feel less disappointment and much more satisfaction in the long run.

[xkc5]

[CPA Exam Study Tip]: 1. Take advantage of all types of study tools around you. You won't figure out what kind of learner you are without some trial and error, but make sure you can translate your knowledge into answering MCQ as frequently as possible.

2. Don't focus on studying SIMs for FAR besides learning the possible formats of answers you may have to give. Ex., trying to practice an entire cash flow statement over and over to get yourself to 10 min. or less has a very low statistical probability of helping you on your exam day. Efficiency in studying is way more important than saying you “trained” some super specific area, and trust me SIMs are nothing you can practice to any efficiency. I wish I knew this before taking FAR.

[Interview Tip]: Quit the cookie cutter nonsense. This applies to Big Four and industry. Not a single manager worth their salt is looking for those canned answers. They're looking for confidence and understanding the reality of what being a member of the workforce is, rather than your GPA and how you “enjoyed” intermediate accounting or auditing so much that you are dripping with anticipation to put it to work.

FAR - 84! (1/09)
AUD - 82! (4/09)
BEC - 91! (5/23)
REG - TBD (9/03)

Controller at Volkswagen
2:52 marathoner at Boston in 2016!

[Soon2beCPA]

[CPA Exam Tip]: Go ahead and pound the MCQs in your test bank but make sure you don't memorize the answers – actually make it a point to understand why an answer is right or wrong! Believe me, I tried the memorizing route and failed BEC 4 times…
Also, definitely make time for exercise, even if it's just a few hours a week – it does wonders for concentration and determination!
Lastly – take one night off a week to do what you want! I always take Friday nights off to relax/go out with friends/binge watch Netflix shows…it makes this journey seem not as stressful!

BEC - 11/2015 - 82
FAR - 10/1/2016
AUD - 6/4/2016 - 80
REG - 12/10/2016

[djhagerm]

Take the CPA exam as soon as you are done with school. Pushing it off until you're up for manager doesn't help… plus you're way to busy to take the time to study.

R - 86
B - 79
A - retake 7/7/16
F - 76

[Tripin93]

[CPA Exam Tip]: The CPA exam is like a marriage. It requires commitment. It's a long road and you won't succeed if you aren't fully committed throughout the entire journey.

Motivated by JC. I do it to make God proud.

FAR: 91 July 2015
AUD: 83 October 2015
REG: 81 January 2016
BEC: 83 February 2016

[goodkidmAAddog]

Put in the time and you will see results. I believe this to be true for both CPA studying as well as in your career. . Going through all of the CPA material can be tedious, grueling, and demoralizing. Take a step back, look at the big picture, and remind yourself why you are doing this. It will be worth it in the long run.

F - 1/7/16 - awaiting result - 2/4/16
B - 2/26/16
A - May
R - July

[EDM1204]

[CPA Exam Tip] You will get overwhelmed at times and think why are you doing this, but NEVER get discouraged, NEVER give up, and DON”T let the fails keep you from achieving perhaps one of the greatest achievements in your life because at the end of the day you will have “Cant Pass Again” at the end of your name.

F- 78
A- 70, 69, 74, 70
R- 68, 70
B- 76

[Perezident]

[CPA Exam Tip]: Print 2 copies of your NTS and put 1 in your car the day before. This way if you are flustered on exam day and forget your NTS, you will already have 1 copy in your car without having to worry about it.

NJ Candidate

BEC - PASS - Becker
FAR - 70, Retake 7/15/16 - Becker (+NINJA MCQ for retake)
AUD - 10/1/16
REG - 11/16

[monikernc]

[Life Tip] If you get the hiccups, close your eyes and think of a dapple gray horse.

FAR 7/25/15 76!
AUD 10/30/15 93
BEC 2/27/16 82
REG 5/23/16 88!
Ninja Book and MCQ and the forum - all the way!!!
and a little thing i like to call, time and effort!
if you want things to change, you have to do something different

[mkotten]

Non-stop MCQs is the best tip, if you get one wrong review the topic and gain an understanding of why you got it wrong.

AUD - 81
FAR - 76
BEC - 5/28/16
REG - 7/25/16

[CM]

[CPA Exam Tip]: Try your best to always follow your schedule and don't get out of track.

FAR: 78 (5x)
AUD: 80 (3x)
BEC: 9/07/2016
REG: 12/06/2016

Failure is never an option.

"Faith in your own powers and confidence in your individual methods are essential to success." Roderick Stevens

[thekoreanaccountant]

[Interview tip]: Do not be afraid to (politely) ask for the job.

I did great at the interview, only to be (graciously) told I am too far out of their salary range. I directly asked what they would be willing to offer. Needless to say, I start my new job as a staff accountant at a local CPA firm this Monday.

AUD 2/2011 76 (lost credit), 2/2013 71, 7/2013 78
REG 2/2012 82
BEC 2/2013 75
FAR 4/2013 75

5 years in private accounting, < 1 year in public accounting. Runner, mommy, dog and cat lover. SO glad I took the exam before I went to public accounting.

[Author]

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