NJSCPA Exam Cram Blog

My Final Thoughts and Well Wishes

Hello again friends,

This will be my last post in the blog. I have officially reached the end of my CPA license journey. I sat for the exam beginning in July 2010 and passed my final part in May 2011. Afterwards I took 15 months to complete the final requirements necessary to successfully complete my application for licensure and last week I officially submitted my completed application to the State Board!  

The journey to becoming a NJ CPA is long, but it can be done! I have spoken to many exam candidates over the past two years and I have learned that with a good plan, determination and a lot of hard work you can pass the CPA exam.  

Last year I wrote an article that summarizes my tips and tricks to successfully passing the exam (“Just stick to the F.A.C.T.S. - 5 Tips to Pass the CPA Exam”: http://bit.ly/mUZriD). Take a look at the article and try to incorporate those suggestions into your study plan. With the right balance and plan of action, you will be a CPA!

I’d like to thank all of those who followed my journey. To you all, I wish you the best of luck on your exam preparations and bid you all a fond farewell.

Warmly,

Jerry

BEC Blues: Update

As an update to my last post, I must say that taking a night off from studying really helped -- my friends were right! I feel back to myself and am able to focus more on the task at hand. Lesson learned here: if your study schedule allows, take a night off for yourself. You'll feel recharged and ready to get back in the game the next day. With only a week (eek!) until my exam and my final review almost complete, I'm going to be focusing on flipping through my note cards and memorizing those pesky BEC equations (which, I believe, is what did me in the last time around -- I got a 67).

I had heard that, because BEC is the newest of the exams, a lot of review programs don't do it justice and the exam ends up being different than the study materials. Do you all have any experience with this? Any tips on how to kick this exam to the curb would be appreciated!

-Lauryn

The Glass is Half Full

As I sit and write my first entry to the NJSCPA Exam Cram Blog, I’m finding it difficult to know exactly where to begin. My name is Michael Lamela and I’m a staff accountant at FMRTL in Cranford, NJ. After graduating from Bayonne High School, I stayed local and attended Saint Peter’s College for the next four years where I graduated in 2007 with a concentration in Business Management.

When I entered college, I wasn’t yet sure what I wanted to do for a living. I only knew that I wanted to work in business and be successful. As I entered my final year at SPC, it came as a blessing in disguise when I took a part-time job at a small accounting firm in Jersey City. While I never imagined a career in accounting for myself, I found that I actually enjoyed the work. Once my first tax season came around, I even got to prepare my own tax return and I became very interested in the area of individual taxation.

I was offered a full-time job following my graduation from SPC and made the decision stay and become a full-time accounting nerd. This meant that I would now have to go back to school and obtain additional credits as well as a concentration in Accounting (I never considered remaining in the profession without the intentions of becoming a CPA). While going back to school right after graduating was not part of my initial plan, I accepted the opportunity and worked towards a Masters in Taxation.

So here I am, five years into my career as an accounting professional. I’ve completed the credit requirements to become a licensed CPA in the state of NJ, and I began the process of studying for the CPA exam about a year ago upon graduating from SPC with my Masters. I chose to do Becker’s self-study, as I could not imagine coming out of tax season and into a summer full of Saturday CPA review classes.

I started by taking the REG and BEC portions of the exam last summer, however I did not pass either on the initial attempt. Fortunately, I was able to focus and bounced back by passing both sections within the same testing window in November of 2011. Since then, I allowed myself to become a little too comfortable in my studying habits and after now failing the AUD portion twice this summer, I’m in need of some motivation. The pressure is on to finish this year, prior to the start of another tax season. And while the task may seem daunting, it’ll be well worth the time and effort I put in.

Throughout the remainder of my testing, I look forward to sharing my own personal experiences with those who have entered this struggle with me and those who are just beginning the process. Soon enough I hope to be spending less time with Tim Gearty and Peter Olinto (Becker’s Instructors for those are unfamiliar) and more time with my fiancé, family and friends. Happy Studying!

Mike

Determination!

Yesterday was a sad day for my pride! But only for a little bit.

I AM STILL DETERMINED TO PASS IT !!!!

Yes, I missed FAR for a couple of points. AGAIN.

It burns so badly: only for a couple of stinking points.

 

I was so confident of my preparation… Until I saw the result on the NASBA website.

I might come up with some excuses: full-time job, family issues (3 years old daughter…) but I want to be positive and to look forward for a better and deeper preparation.

 

Good study to everyone.

 

Claudio B.

Some Post-CPA exam / Licensure insights

Hi everyone,

It seems like forever since my last post but I did want to jump in with some information surrounding the post-exam process which has kept me pretty busy for the past year.

As all of you know the exam is only one of the 3 E’s (Education, Exam, and Experience) necessary to attain your NJ CPA license. I was partially completed with both my education and experience requirements at the time I completed my CPA exam so after passing I needed to concentrate on completing both of those eligibility requirements ASAP.

To complete my education component I enrolled in the Masters of Science in Taxation (MST) program at Fairleigh Dickinson University in September 2011 and pushed myself for 9 months to attain the 12 credits I needed to get to my 150 total. For anyone in the tax field, I strongly recommend enrolling in a MST program. It’s incredible how much you will learn and the skills you will develop being back in the classroom setting.

For all those with credits remaining, before you enroll in your local community college and take nonsensical classes to get to the 150 credit total – take a moment to consider a Masters degree. Whether it be a MST, Masters of Public Accounting (MSPA), Masters of Accounting (MSA), or Masters of Business Administration (MBA) all are very worthwhile degrees and would look great on your professional resume.

I should mention that if you do not have 150 credits at the time you applied for your initial NTS, you must submit to NASBA Licensing Services a transcript of the remaining credits you earned before you can begin the licensure application process. Only after the exam and education components are complete will the NJ State Board of Accountancy send you a letter informing you how to apply for your license.

Finally, after working for nearly two years at Deloitte I knew that I had the necessary experience required for my license application, however it is important to keep one thing in mind for those of you who work in the tax area. Be sure that when you complete you application at least 25% of your public accounting experience is in the scope of auditing services. This can trip a lot of people up and hold many tax professionals from attaining licensure.  A former blogger and friend of mine, Kunal Mistry, wrote about his experience applying for the license as a tax professional: http://bit.ly/gxI5TG. For more on this you should also review the NJSCPA license page at: http://www.njscpa.org/index/students/cpa-exam/requirements.

-Jerry

BEC Blues

I have been studying for BEC for the past month-and-a-half and am now in my "final review" phase, as my exam is on August 31st (a mere 9 days away). I've gotten into a routine -- work, get home from work, eat, study, have 30 minutes of personal time and go to bed. Repeat. Although I can see a significant improvement in my homework and quiz grades, I can also recognize a decline in my mental (and maybe physical) well-being. I am so tired of reading and questions and trying to retain information. I feel like I have a constant headache. A few of my co-workers have even noticed and actually told me I look like crap (don't worry, they're my friends, too, so it's not as harsh as it sounds). I know they're right.

Although this test means the world to me, it's not worth beating myself up over. Therefore, after talking to a friend (co-worker, and fellow CPA-candidate), I have decided to take tonight off from studying and have a little "me time." I am more than on track with my study schedule, after all. This weekend, I will try to simultaneously study and relax (gasp!) while doing flashcards by the pool.  I always do flashcards and re-read my study materials the week before my test anyway. I'll just do a little relocating...from my dining room table to the lounge chair.

I think it's important to get myself back to "normal" in time for my exam so I can go into it feeling my best.

Is anyone else experiencing the CPA Exam Blues? If so, please share! I would really love to know how you all deal with the stress of this test.

Best Practice......Part 1

Hello Everyone,

I am back..............., sorry for the time off, I had some personal issues to deal with which has been weighing me down. I had 2 deaths in my family in a span of 6 -7 months. I promise to keep you all hooked up to some tips on how to tackle the CPA exam.

I want to congratulate my fellow bloggers for all their efforts on the exam, and also to all of you out there who have been faithful to writing the exam. Let's all make this our year and break away from the torment of writing this exam.

I was chatting with a friend yesterday, she told me how she was studying for the exam and how it has made her life very miserable. My response was "no pain - no gain" but in reality, I feel her pain. I have been battling this exams since my daughter was born and guess what....She just turned "4" on tuesday.

I have made a commitment, that this would be my year, and I am asking that you all make that commitment with me..."Never say - I can't" - because you would "never be able to". My plan is to study in the "AM", because that is my best time based on my biological clock. You need to study when you brain can take in the most amount of information, not just anytime, because as most people do- we use our free time to surf facebook.... I have more, and promise to share it with you during my next post.

I want to hear from you- I promise I would respond back to you on time. What's you strategy?, and has it been working for you?. I have one that I am going to share with you, and I used it in passing 2 parts of the exam.....I'll share it with you next time.

Take Care,

EEA

...STILL WAITING !!!

Hi brigade,

I am still waiting for my score and studying for the next text.

Enjoy the summer.

Claudio B.

One down, three to go.

I was flipping through my Twitter feed on Friday night when I noticed some people tweeting about getting their AUD score back. I was a little surprised, because I wasn't expecting my score until today, but figured I would cross my fingers and check anyway. I am deffinitely one of those people that pushes the refresh button on the NASBA site a hundred times, rather than the person who waits for her emailed score. I am just not that patient.

So there I was, practically having a heart attack and peeking at my computer screen through my hands, in a position akin to watching a horror movie (yes -- I am that girl. The one who goes to see a scary movie just to cover my face and stare at the palm of my hand for 90% of it). I was planning on peeking through at the top part of the score release page and slowly lowering my eyes to the actual score. However, it just so happened that the score became visible in the very spot my eyes were focused on -- 77 it read.

Wait.

Does that mean I passed?? For over a year now I've known that I need a 75 in order to pass each part of the CPA exam but in that second I couldn't remember if a 77 was good enough. I actually took a picture of the screen with my phone and sent it to a friend so she could confirm my suspicions that I did, indeed, pass AUD.

After it sunk in (and I called/texted/tweeted/facebooked everyone I know) I was surprised that I didn't feel happier. I just kind of felt anxious that I had actually done it and that I now had 18 months to pass the other 3 parts. I still feel that way. The good part about it though (besides passing, obviously) is that I now know that I am capable of defeating this test. The whole thing. It gave me a boost in studying for BEC (which I sit for on the 31st of this month) and I actually believe that I can pass that one, too.

I don't want to think about it too much. I just want to bury myself in studying. Let's see how that works out.

Happy studying,

Lauryn