NJSCPA Exam Cram Blog

First 2 wks of Work

Hello everyone,

I have been very busy with new hire training at Deloitte, but I am back now. I heard that BEC came out last night....hmm I wish I took it as planned on the 29th, but thats ok. My fingers are crossed for AUDIT and REGULATION.

Let me fill you all in on my training, it went well, and I enjoyed it. I was able to network very well, and I meet my fellow new hires in the same boat with me. I also meet a very nice young lady who keeps up with the NJSCPA exam cram blog, her name is FAITH, and she is also waiting for the last 2 parts of her CPA exam. (She has passed the first two), She told me how she enjoys reading the blog, and how it has keeps her informed. So we wish FAITH a lot of luck next week as final parts of wave 1 comes out.

I am officially an employee of Deloitte, and I must say I am excited, I got a lot of advice from Seniors, Managers, Partners on how to shape my career in Accounting. I also signed up to be a mentor for high school students with the NJSCPA, I am waiting for the results of the selection in early December.

I am getting ready for BEC, November 17th, preparations are in top gear, but honestly I would like to see my AUDIT and REG grades; passing would be a good booster into BEC.

I am getting ready for my last orientation class today, and looking forward to going home to see my two little youngsters, and my wife; I have missed them.

So, I wish everyone luck this wave and next wave...

Cheers,

Ed. Adiele

Quick Update....(BEC- rescheduled, Deloitte start date)

Hello Everyone,

I rescheduled BEC at the last minute, I did not feel too comfortable from the practice questions I took. I really want to maximize this window, and do my best. I could have done it with the attitude of "well I can always retake the exam" but I looked at "cost and time" it would cost me $59+ to reschedule and more to re-take the exam. I would loose out on this window, and have to wait for next year, and all who are in public accounting know that the beginning of the year is hectic.

For those who have used Becker to take BEC, I need your advice my weak areas are chapters 3 and 5, I average 60-65% when I take them, it has a lot of cramming involved so I need your advice???

Yea....Work officially starts on Monday, I would be an official employee of Deloitte....some would say "what's wrong with this guy, he does not know what he is getting into???" well, for one I am excited to have a job in this tough times, and two, I am going in there with a great attitude that I would succeed. Nothing in life comes easy, you just have to work hard and sacrifice. The CPA exams is one great example. My philosophy is simple, "some people have worked in public accounting and are successful" how did they do it?????? and all I get is sacrifice and endurance and hard work which is fair game....

I took two exams this month (REG & AUDIT) and have scheduled BEC for November 17th at 7pm. FARE is my last part, and I would do it in early January before things start getting hot at work.

Okayyyyy, I wish everyone the best, and please practice questions as much as you can it pays off.

cheers!!!

Ed. Adiele (CPA-Unearned yet)

Audit 10/26.....BEC 10/29

Hello everyone,

I completed my  Audit exam today, and all I can say is "practice, practice, practice" I cannot stress this enough. Honestly it pays off, no matter how you study, you can never understand the style of questioning except you practice. I feel very comfortable with this test, and I am off to BEC on Thursday. All I would have left is FARE which I plan to take next month.

All three of my scores would be out on the same week (REG, AUDIT, BEC) gosh... I don't know how I would feel to report back to you all that I've passed all three..so...lets all keep our fingers crossed so I don't jinx my chances.

I repeat, practice questions, practice questions, practice questions...honestly, Becker is great, but the question bank on the  CD's and on-line are the same since I started taking the CPA in April, but Wiley E-prep online has some great questions, its tough, but worth the time.

I'll check in with you all by this weekend.

Cheers !!

Ed. Adiele

Audit & BEC.....its possible!!

Hello Everyone,

I hope we are all giving this window our best, lets try to end 2009 with some serious passing scores. I believe we can do it!!!! Yeah...

I have Audit on Monday, and I have BEC on Thursday; at the end of next week I would have taken 3 exams this month (ain't I crazy....noooo, Deloitte start date for me is on Monday the 2nd of November.) I have 2 weeks of training, so I am trying to make my life a little easier by crashing this month with exams.

I am on a marathon of questions for Audit from CPA-REVIEW-FOR FREE to Becker to Wiley E-prep on-line, I even got the becker Final review product, just to give me all the opportunity to hit a C+ (75) on the exams.

I have also studies 3 chapter for FARE, I am thinking of holding off till January to take the exams so I can maximize my chances by doing a lot of questions..

Honestly, really there are some days where I really don't feel like studying, I look at the book for 10-15 mins, and just hate the whole process, but someone told me "if you want the CPA title so bad, you would work the extra mile to get it."

I would let you all know how I feel by next weekend!!!

Ed. Adiele CPA (Un-earned title, just wanna see how cool it looks by my name)

Cheers!!!

Blogging from Africa....."preparing for my next exam"

Hello Everyone,

I did not end up writing my Audit exam on the 24th, there was too much pressure from home. I could not focus on my work due to the excitement of my trip to Nigeria (West Africa). I pushed it forward by one month.

The next exam I have is BEC, which I have scheduled for October 1st, (1st day of the last window for 2009). Forget all the stuff you see on T.V, its really fun out here, the food is 100% organic. Its hard to find any food that is not organic. I wake up very early each day to get my work done for the day, this way I don't waste all my time. BEC has no sims, so I am just taking it one step at a time.

It took some time to get used to the time due to jet-lag, for example its 7am (Tuesday 9/1/09) while its 2am (9/1/09) U.S time right now. I have not seen any animals yet, like you see on T.V. The malls, beaches look very nice, and Tourism is really big.

I get back on the 18th (long time), but I hope everyone is hanging tight, and working their reviews books, getting ready for the parts you all are taking.

Cheers future CPA's,

Ed. Adiele

Scheduled my exams….

Hi everyone,

 

How is everything going?!?  This testing period is coming to a close quickly, so I imagine there are quite a few people preparing to take one part of the exam soon, if you haven’t already done so.  I wish you all the best of luck if you are! J

 

Ed, thanks for the warm welcome.  Good luck with Audit and keep your head up; REG should be a breeze the next time through.

 

A couple days ago, I scheduled all four parts of my exam.  My NTS’s expire on February 15^th, which is holiday; therefore, I’m taking my last part of the exam on the expiration date of my NTS’s. 

 

Here’s my schedule:

 

Friday, October 9th—FAR

Monday, November 30th—REG

Monday, January 11th—AUD

Saturday, February 13th—BEC

 

Let’s hope I can stay on track the next 6 months! 

I hope everyone enjoys the weekend (we’re expecting a bad storm up here in CT L) and keeps studying hard!

Cheers!

Ryan

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail

Hi everyone,

I hope you had a nice weekend...Saturday sure was beautiful.  My schedule has been fairly hectic as of late--I just started work, had to go to a wedding on Saturday, and then to NYC on Sunday.  On top of that, my new co-workers are always planning things.  So, I sat down today and came up with a study and test-taking schedule.  I think it's important to keep yourself on track, to monitor your progress, and make sure you don't run into any problems down the road.  For instance, I had to make sure I didn't plan anything during the GASB's meetings which take place every 6 weeks.  I'm going to try to stick to the following schedule:

FAR -- October 3rd
REG -- November 24th
AUD -- January 15th
BEC -- February 26th

I'll study a little bit after work everyday, except Friday, and then for a substantial amount of time on the weekends.  I'm confident I can handle that.  This fall will be a challenge, though; I'll have work full-time, one on-line Master's course, and then Becker CPA Review self-study. Yikes! 

I hope everyone's studying is progressing very well! 

Best wishes,

Ryan

Motivation. Determination. Perseverance. Success!

 

Fear of the Unknown

Two unknowns - one, my CPA test scores for the Auditing and Business sections; two, a pending job offer. Situation two? Got it covered. Situation one? Still hanging in the balance. Let me explain...

Recently, I interviewed for a new job within ML. It was in the "Business Intelligence" group - a newly formed group that focuses on strategic initiatives and new implementations by the firm. They do data analytics and almost provide what seems like a consulting type role to other internal groups. Overall it sounded REALLY cool. Several people told me it seemed like a really sexy job. Up and coming. Innovative. They were building the department - I could get in on the ground floor. And I got the job offer. Perfect right?

Wrong - I couldn't pull the trigger. I debated it for the last week or so, and finally today I let the HR representative and both departments know - thanks for the offer, but I'd be staying with my current group. You ask why? I was scared - scared of what I didn't know about the job. Scared about the looming economic situation. Scared that such a sexy department could get cut in the next big downturn. Who could cut an (entire) internal audit department? Just about no one (this is what I said during the last cuts, but let them prove me wrong).

As for the CPA exam scores - I'm persistently checking the NASBA website everyday. In fact, sometimes 3 -4 times a day. Patiently waiting - my entire winter could be overturned if it is bad news. I've gotten used to this "not studying" thing too since all four of the exams have been out of the way. I even went to Borders and bought (gasp) fun non-study-related books. So let's just keep our fingers crossed. I sure will.

BTW - the Business section seemed predictable. Quick and predictable. I'm not about to offer any predictions though on how I did on it being that I still haven't found out if my last section's predictions were correct or not. I will just say though - I do feel like I appropriately left the best (easiest) for last, as I had originally planned. Not having those simulations at the end was a WONDERFUL closure feeling.

Last but not least, call me crazy, and FYI this is just supplementary :-) but my horoscope says for this month (and I quote):

Your month: Your career luck has never been better. Great project up for grabs? You're the only one free. Late to a big meeting? No worries--it's canceled!

Your mission: Savor where you're at--no need to plot a big change now.

I saw this AFTER I made my big job decision today. Maybe it wasn't so unknown afterall...