NJSCPA Exam Cram Blog

School's Out for Summer

For students, that is.  Lucky for me, the ever-hopeful CPA candidate, I will be spending the summer taking online classes.  Four months after passing my last exam, I am finally starting the last leg of the CPA triathalon.

In my last post I spoke about finding affordable online classes.  I decided to enroll at LSU because of their flexible course schedule.  The program allows students 6 or 9 months to complete an independent study course online.  In addition, enrollment is rolling, so there is no need to wait for the next semester as with traditional courses.  On the other hand, the course work will be challenging since I will have limited access to the help of a professor.  That is defintely something to keep in mind when considering the pro's and con's of taking classes in-person, online, or through independent study.  Also research whether or not your employer will offer tuition assistance.  I recently made the switch from external to internal audit, and because of this I had to reach out to my HR rep at my new employer to discuss their policy.  Take that extra step, though, because many employers will provide a partial or full reimbursement upon passing a course.

As I look back on my experiences so far, I realize that the most important element of pursuing the CPA designation is perserverance.  I began contributing to the Exam Cram Blog over a year and a half ago, and I had begun studying several months prior.  Back then I was certain I would pass all parts of the exam within 6 months and take some classes the following summer and *BOOM* I would be certified.  Yeah, right.  I failed two exams on my first attempt, but 14 months later I had passed all 4 parts without letting any expire.  It's all about setting goals.  Maybe you will meet all of them the first time around, maybe you won't.  The key is to just keep working.  Professional and personal challenges will present themselves, and most likely you'll get set back at least once.  All that matters is you just keep working.  Whether you get perfect 99s or thank-goodness 75s, whether you pass the exams in one month or 18, you'll get there (as long as you really want it).

Cheers,
Alyssa

Good to be Back

Hello Everyone,

Congrats to those that have passed all the 4 part of the exam. I know the feeling must be awesome. I have had to take a break due to "busy season" I have a December and March 31st year end audits, so I am busy till May.

I plan to re-engage in July to get this goliath (Exams) out of my life. It's kept me hostage for some time. It NEEDS TO GO.

I plan to take FARE in July, and would be sharing my latest study tips with you all next month. For those just graduating this month. I beg you - Forget the summer fun, and face the exams, it would pay dividends later. You are only going to get busy as you advance in your careers.

Until next time,

Cheers

EEA

Changing Directions

Hey everyone!

 

After the debacle that was my last attempt at sitting for an exam last week, I've had to make a decision on what to tackle next.  Should I go for REG again since it's what I've been studying for or should I go on to AUD, which I was already planning to study for and sit for?  After considering the fact that the AUD section will be changing after this month to include new clarity standards, I decided to push ahead and start reviewing for AUD.  My last week has included lots of reading, answering questions, and listening to lectures.  And the next week will be more of the same, but that's what it takes to make it and like all you readers out there, that's exactly what I'm going to do. 

Just in case some of you haven't already heard, here are a few links regarding that change to the AUD section including a deal from Becker for study materials:

http://www.becker.com/accounting/cpaexamreview/AboutExam/audit-changes-2013.cfm

https://www.aicpa.org/interestareas/frc/auditattest/pages/improvingclarityasbstandards.aspx

 

I'll be checking in soon but am confident that come this time next week, I'll be walking out of the testing center certain that I'll be that much closer to being a really cool person.

 

Best of luck to anyone sitting in the next week as well and hope to hear some good news!

 

Happy studying!

 

Taka

The Small Things

Hello all!

 

I'd like to share a quick story to hopefully prevent any bad situations from coming up when you take a section of the exam.  I was scheduled to take the REG section of the exam this morning.  However, I had foolishly registered for a race that took place on Sunday.  So rather than being able to do a final review for the exam the day before, I spent most of it recovering from the tough physical workout.  Looking back on it, I wouldn't have suggested it to myself (even though I did it anyway) and I certainly wouldn't suggest it to anyone else. 

For the same reason that studying during tax season is not a smart idea, having a distractor such as a race so close to the exam date provides plenty of room for error.  Unfortunately, in preparing for taking the exam today, I forgot to make sure that I had everything that I needed to sit for the exam, which includes my driver's license.  Once arriving at the test site I realized that I had lost it and was unable to take the exam.

I hate to put up such a downer/horror story so quickly on this blog, but on the lighter side of things where glasses are always half full, the grass is uncomfortably green, and people are incessantly smiling, I'll have more time to study for this section so I can comfortably walk into the test center with license in hand.

Here's the takeaway: focus on the exam and only the exam in the days/week leading up to the exam so that your mind is fully focused towards it.  Your future self will be very thankful for it, I'm sure you'll agree!  And of course remember to bring your driver's license!

 

Happy studying!

 

Taka

Cost Measurement

Two weeks of studying down and four to go until the big day. I don’t know how I feel about that. Before yesterday, I felt pretty good about the discovery of my new study method (see my last post), but yesterday I felt discouraged. I could not focus on anything. I got home from work, ate dinner and cracked open the review questions (per my normal routine) to discover that they were going in one ear and out the other. Today will be a lost cause as I have dinner plans directly after work (hey, a girl’s got to eat, right?). However, I have high hopes for Saturday morning. Saturday morning is probably my favorite time of the week. I am an early riser, you see. I tend to get a lot done while the rest of the world is still sleeping or brewing their morning cup of coffee. This includes studying for BEC. Here’s hoping.

The good news of the week is that I think I’ve found my problem area with this part of the exam. According to Wiley, it’s called “cost measurement”. After taking each 30 question quiz, Wiley gives me a report on my overall score and then my score by section. There are about 5 or 6 sections in each quiz (thanks to my method of mixing all of the chapters up), all of which I score decent on except for cost measurement. Must find a way to defeat this…will get back to you on that one.

I really think my new study method is going to work. Before this method, I would take a quiz on one chapter at a time. I think this is kind of a skewed method because you can cleverly get one answer correct because your last question was on the exact same topic. By mixing up the questions, this doesn’t happen. Also, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I keep scoring in the 70% range on my mixed chapter quizzes, which is exactly what I’ve been scoring on my exams. It’s that pesky cost measurement section that’s costing me the extra 5%!!

My game plan from here is to keep doing what I’m doing. I will probably devote a whole week solely to cost measurement. I may even take a few quizzes without including the cost measurement topic to gauge if that's really the hang up. If I score high on the quizzes with cost measurement removed, I can be sure it’s the problem. I will let you know how this goes once I get around to doing it.

In the meantime, if anyone has comments or tips on cost measurement equations, please share!

 

Lauryn