NJSCPA Exam Cram Blog

Final lap before exams

Hello Everyone,

I just want to keep you all posted on my progress. Its been questions, questions all the way. This week I clocked 500 questions in 5 days + a 3/31 busy season at work + family & kids (lol), and worked on simulations from Becker final review over the weekend. This week's advice is to keep a positive mind, and focus on the prize.

The letters CPA, command a lot of respect, and we all can get there.

I'll write more on my progress later this week.

Cheers !

Ed.

CPA Exam Wrap Up

Hi everyone,

 

As I indicated in my last post, I have officially passed all four parts of the exam!  Wooohooo!  Kunal did as well…a big congrats to him!  And, keep an eye out for the other bloggers…good news to come from them soon, too.

 

Below is a breakdown of each section of the exam, my approach, what worked and what didn’t, what I would do differently, and my suggestions to you.  First, though, here are some general points that I think relate to every part of the exam:

 

1.  Make a plan and stick to it!  The worst thing you can do is push something off until later…trust me: That does not work!  I have made that mistake.

 

2.  I did not watch the lectures.  For me, it was just a waste of time.  Personally, I think that everything you need to know is in the book and the review problems (but that does not mean you should not watch the lectures, if that makes you feel more comfortable).  Do not waste your time with flashcards if you haven’t mastered the other material yet.  Again, learn how to correctly answer multiple choice questions, not the flashcards.

 

3.  My strategy: Read a lecture and then do the multiple choice questions.  Then, when I finished all the lectures and practice questions, I would go back to skim the lectures and rework some of the multiple choice questions…focusing on the questions I answered incorrectly the first time.

 

4.  The multiple choice questions will provide you with the best review.  Remember, this is a multiple choice exam (for the most part), so focus most of your energy on these.  Rework the questions you got wrong. 

 

5.  I would go through the practice exams.  However, I never really did the simulations.  I just skimmed through them.  I do not believe they are effective for passing the exam.  Understanding the format is important, though.

 

6.  I strongly believe that if you use a CPA Review—whether it be Becker, Roger, CPAexcel, etc—and you do everything you are supposed to, you will have no problems passing.

 

7.  Lastly, I believe that “Appendix” should really read “If you have enough time, please read this section of the lecture.”  Don’t waste your time with this if you have more important things to do.  Anything is fair game, though, so don’t be surprised if one or two questions from the appendix makes its way onto your exam.

 

Financial Accounting and Reporting

 

This section is the longest (in terms of study material)—pace yourself accordingly!  Make sure to plan ahead.  In my opinion, it is also the most technical part (that is, you will have to perform the most calculations).  I strongly believe that understanding the steps in the calculations will serve you well; however, I also know that some people just memorized.  Keep working the calculations until you understand the steps inside and out. 

 

I felt that the Becker Review problems (and CPAexcel, too) were more difficult than the actual exam.  The exam questions, for me, were not as comprehensive.

 

Don’t forget!  I spent too much time doing calculations and not enough time with the simple stuff from lecture 1.  Anything is fair game, don’t take something for granted unless you really do know it!

 

The simulations were difficult; I finished the exam with 5 seconds.  Be mindful of the time!  I did not think that “studying” the simulations was useful—a few coworkers concurred.  I think the most important aspect of the simulations is the format and your approach to answering them.  If there are two things that I believe you NEED to do correctly, I would say make sure you nail the writing and research.

 

Government and Not-for-profit has not been tested on the simulations in the past.

 

Regulation

 

For me, this was the toughest.  I believe this section requires the most memorization.  Do not get overwhelmed with the tax problems, though.  I did not feel that the questions were extremely difficult or comprehensive. My downfall with this exam was not taking some of the material seriously because I thought it was so minute that the AICPA would never test on it—I was wrong!  Therefore, I recommend giving yourself plenty of time to study this section.  I would read the lectures twice and do the homework problems twice as well.  I would recommend concentrating more time on the conceptual stuff.  Becker, for example, may give you some really comprehensive tax calculation questions that I believe will not be useful for the exam.  Don’t waste too much time trying to figure those out, manage your time well.  I spent too much time learning the calculations and not enough time with the conceptual material.  I think that hurt me in the end.

 

The simulations were difficult and, similar to FAR, I finished with just a few seconds left.

 

Audit and Attestation

 

I don’t know why, but I felt that this part of the exam was very repetitive.  I felt that I was reading the same things over and over again.  Well, I kind of was.  That’s the difficulty…you have to keep all the different audit and attestation services, rules, and details straight in your head. I got a big piece of poster board and drew it out…I am a very visual person.  I really think this was the biggest help for me.  Otherwise, I did not think this part of the exam was extremely difficult.  Definitely spend a lot of time with the multiple choice…there are a lot of them!  I thought the simulations were very tricky for this part of the exam.

 

You have 4.5 hours; I spent 2.5 hours.  I do not believe you have to worry about time so much with this section of the exam, so take your time and thinks things through.  Don’t fall into the trap of going back and changing your answers, though.

 

Business Environment and Concepts

 

What can I say?  Well, don’t let this part of the exam get the best of you.  People consistently think this part is a no-brainer.  That’s not always the case.  In particular, if this is your last part, do not give up until it’s over!  I thought the questions and material was fairly straight forward, but you have to put the time in.  Remember also that this part of the exam does not have simulations…yet. Enjoy it while it lasts!  I had the most difficulty with the IT questions.

 

Conclusion

 

Remember that you need to do what works for you!  If mnemonics help you, then you should take advantage of that.  If visualizing examples helps you, then you should take advantage of that.  If you need to hear someone say it, then make sure to watch the lectures.  You should know by now what works for you and what doesn’t…don’t let other people tell you differently.  However, you should also remember that this is not like a college exam, so your study habits may have to change a little bit...consistency is the key here, though.

 

This exam is not as hard as you let yourself think.  Make a plan and stick to it.  Don’t give up and keep working hard! 

 

All the best to everyone!

 

Ryan

 

P.S. Ed must pass.  Give him support. :-)

My Journal Part 2

Hello Everyone,

I decided to change the name of the journal from "Ed must pass" to "My Journal". I am moving very quickly on my questions quest, I did 200 questions last weekend, and so far this week I have been able to do about 120 with my current work schedule. I have come to find out that there are some questions that I get wrong, not because I don't know them but three to four rules are tested on that one question.

 Make sure you work and work questions, this way you get to know the call of the question before you answer it.

Question of the day relates to Regulation: (please note that I put together this question)

  XYZ company received $10,000 dividend from a 20% owned company. XYZ had an income from  operations of $800,000 and $806,000 in expenses for 20x0, calculate its applicable dividend received deduction ?

Note: It is very easy to say that the DRD is $8000 since it is 80% of dividend received deduction from a 20% owned company but that is wrong. This question is testing two things, One (DRD) and two - the fact that the actual DRD is the lesser of 80% of dividend received or 80% of taxable Income  (including the dividend received)

Now this is the answer,

   Income - 800,000

   Dividend - 10,000

Total Income - 810,000

   Expenses -    (806,000)

 Taxable income = 4,000

Actual DRD would be the lesser of 80% of 4000 or 10000 = $3,200

The CPA (based on my experience) is not out to break your legs, but is based on simple tricks like the one explained above, and this has been my weakness, I focus on the big stuff and forget little stuff like this.

Watch out for my finding's in Part 3......

Good Luck everyone

Ed.

  

"Ed Must Pass" - Weekly Journal Part 1

Hello Everyone,

Its almost summer again, and this year it is going to be summer & CPA testing. This time I am taking advantage of every opportunity I have to re-work questions. I seem to  know the materials well, but my test taking skills are poor. I have been working on it, and I have greatly improved in the past two week. All I have been doing have been questions and simulations.

My timing is great, so that is not an issue, I just need to work questions over and over. www.cpareviewforfree has a lot of challenging questions, I have worked all Becker questions, and reworking some of them when you  know the answers already does not help.

I am going to have greater responsibilities this fall, as I move to a higher level at work, so passing is very important to me, and the first step I have done is to step back and re-evaluate my method, and I have found a significant weakness which I mentioned above.

This is the reason I have changed gears to working questions, this weekend I plan to work a minimum of 100 questions, and each week I plan to increase it by 25 questions, just to get super comfortable. My CPA scores have been in the 70's range now for some time, but 75 just does not want to come by me. (lol).

I plan to continue this weekly journal until I pass all parts, if you want to join this success train, feel free to respond to my weekly postings. We can all do this together, its all about helping each other, no one is an island.

Alright, I would feed you all back next weekend with my progress.

Ed.