Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Getback on March 25, 2010, 12:40:11 AM
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I've laid off playing now for a good while. Since that time and way before I've been studying for the CPA exam. Sometimes 20 hours a day on a couple hours of sleep. However, I've slowed it down to about 4 hours per day and try to spend a couple of hours at the gym or hiking. Until this morning it has been for naught. Those exams are tough!
My first exam I didn't manage my time well and couldn't finish the last 2 parts. Still came semi close, in fact if they only based in on the first 3 parts I would have passed...lesson learned.
The next test was Auditing. I thought I nailed that one. Nope missed passing by a mere 8 points it takes a 75 to pass. That means about 5 or 6 more question right and I'm there. The feed back I got back from the AICPA (people who give the exam) indicated my writing skills were sub par. Also I discovered my 5 year old books didn't have all the relevant information.
The next exam was BEC (Business Environment). They don't have a writing section. This one was a heart breaker. You need a 75 and I earned a 73. I was livid, AICPA hates me. Well, I licked my wounds and said no matter I'm after it anyway.
The last exam was REG (Regulation) this includes tax and business law plus employment regulations. It's a very broad area and hard to prepare for. I supplemented my accounting books with recent forms from the IRS website. I needed to see how all the information fits into the returns. Also since my books were over 5 years old I needed to read the new tax law and various tax rates. Now it's not just the 1040, it's a ton of them and many many schedules. I then paid more attention to my writing style. As I told Mom, "I wrote them a story that they will be reading to their kids at night."
When I looked on the internet this morning I almost fainted, I passed REG with a score of 80. I was so stoked I couldn't talk. Eh, except for those 15 calls I made to my family and friends.
Still have a long ways to go since I need to pass the other 3 sections. I've ordered new books and have begun studying. Hopefully I can get those section passed in April or May.
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WTG man :aok.
So have you been teaching yourself everything, you haven't taken any classes?
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I'M WAITING FOR YOU TO Getback MY BROTHER!
WTG............ :aok
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WTG man :aok.
So have you been teaching yourself everything, you haven't taken any classes?
I've looked into classes but they are just too expensive. I'm unemployed. Unfortunately I tried to pass the exam with 5 year old free books. That was penny wise and pound foolish. The books were lacking key information like Sarbanes-Oxley. I have new books now and the difference is significant.
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Congrats on making some progress!
You'll get there.
:salute
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nice work dude, good luck in the other three
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As I said in the PM...audit is TOUGH unless you have actually been an auditor. It makes it soooo much easier when you can refer to real world examples you have been exposed to.
Absolute heartbreaker getting the 73...it happened to me on the old tax paper.
One down...three to go.
Get 'er done.
;)
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Congrats...atleast your going for a law degree. we got too many of them .talk to you soon <S>
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Congrats...atleast your going for a law degree. we got too many of them .talk to you soon <S>
CPA certification actually, (maybe you left off "not).
Hey bud, how ya doing. Sent you a PM a while back. Keeping your head low?
Tell em to put you on one them AUV's (or is it UAV?)
Stay safe!
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Wtg on passing one :aok
Doesnt matter how many times you fail the others as long as you never quit trying. Failiure is just a stepping stone to success.
You will nail them
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Congrats on the pass, get after the other 3 GB (you've had the practise run, now its time to do it for real)
Pulling for ya bud, you'll get there.
Wurzel
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Keep plugging at it. You are doing something I are not smart enough to do. Uhhh huhhh I is a truck dwiver. LOL
Cxongrats on passing 1, and its not how many times you fall off your horse, its how many times you get back on that counts. :salute
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How long do you have to wait until you can take the tests again, or are you allowed to take them again as soon as you want to?
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Get, I reply corrected :)
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How long do you have to wait until you can take the tests again, or are you allowed to take them again as soon as you want to?
First, thanks everyone for the encouragement! That is so much appreciated.
Trax, you can take a section of the exam only once during any testing window. A testing window is 2 months long with a month break in between. I took all the exams in the last window, Jan. and Feb. The next window is April and May. Once you pass one section you have 18 months to pass the remaining sections.
I plan to sit for Auditing in about 2 weeks or less. Then Financial Accounting and Reporting in early May. If things go well and I get the studying done, I hope to sit for Business Environment & Concepts towards the end of May.
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:salute GetBack
I wondered what happened to you. I missed ya on the boards. Hurry up and pass the other 3 tests :rock. Then you can get a cushy high paying job, buy a monster gaming rig and play AH all night long.
Cheers,
gus
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Out of my two students that wrote, the guy who was writing audit passed with an 82....the girl failed the Reporting exam with a 65.
The guy in question got married about 4 months ago. His wife is a CA and he is seriously motivated to get through. I am confident he will do so now. The girl worries me. I think we have been far too nice with her, paying for courses, giving her time off to study. She's smart but I think she is just coasting and expects the gravy train of support to continue. After a discussion with my ppartner last night she is going to get an ultimatum. We pay for the next Becker course and if she writes the exam and passes she doesn't have to pay it back and then we move on. If she fails, she owes us the grand for the course and we re-evaluate her. We'll probably forgive the money if she fails, but she needs to either get serious or get going. Time to get tough.
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Out of my two students that wrote, the guy who was writing audit passed with an 82....the girl failed the Reporting exam with a 65.
The guy in question got married about 4 months ago. His wife is a CA and he is seriously motivated to get through. I am confident he will do so now. The girl worries me. I think we have been far too nice with her, paying for courses, giving her time off to study. She's smart but I think she is just coasting and expects the gravy train of support to continue. After a discussion with my ppartner last night she is going to get an ultimatum. We pay for the next Becker course and if she writes the exam and passes she doesn't have to pay it back and then we move on. If she fails, she owes us the grand for the course and we re-evaluate her. We'll probably forgive the money if she fails, but she needs to either get serious or get going. Time to get tough.
Congrats to the gentleman that passed.
Wow, you've been generous. Personally I want the pain of feeling that money leave my hands. No one owes me and I then owe no one. Right now my back is against the wall. Funny thing is I wouldn't have it any other way. When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
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:salute GetBack
I wondered what happened to you. I missed ya on the boards. Hurry up and pass the other 3 tests :rock. Then you can get a cushy high paying job, buy a monster gaming rig and play AH all night long.
Cheers,
gus
Gusmannnnnnnnnnnnnn! :salute Yeah, when I pass I'm going to contact TD and have him build me one that's bigger, better, faster, more!
BTW, if I pass anyone want to meet me at the SandShaker on Pensacola Beech for a beer or two? I have fond memories of the place. Last place I got kissed. Well it was by a lesbian but what the heck!
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First, thanks everyone for the encouragement! That is so much appreciated.
Trax, you can take a section of the exam only once during any testing window. A testing window is 2 months long with a month break in between. I took all the exams in the last window, Jan. and Feb. The next window is April and May. Once you pass one section you have 18 months to pass the remaining sections.
I plan to sit for Auditing in about 2 weeks or less. Then Financial Accounting and Reporting in early May. If things go well and I get the studying done, I hope to sit for Business Environment & Concepts towards the end of May.
Woke up this morning, checked the score from my last test and and and Passed! I was stoked and choked. That's two down and two to go.
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Way to go man.
Very tough to do the audit exam well without practical experience...wll done.
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WTG Getback
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Gusmannnnnnnnnnnnnn! :salute Yeah, when I pass I'm going to contact TD and have him build me one that's bigger, better, faster, more!
BTW, if I pass anyone want to meet me at the SandShaker on Pensacola Beech for a beer or two? I have fond memories of the place. Last place I got kissed. Well it was by a lesbian but what the heck!
Getback are you down in Pensacola? I was just down there last week on business and was looking for a good bar on P'cola Beach. I was staying at the Hampton Inn there. I am headed back down with the wife and kids next Tuesday night to go over to watch the Blue Angels practice then take our middle son to get some autographs and photos with the team in the museum.
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Hey Getback :rock
Keep it up man! you'll be done in no time :cheers:
Cheers,
gus
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Hey Getback :rock
Keep it up man! you'll be done in no time :cheers:
Cheers,
gus
Thanks Gus! I have 6 manuals as big as phone books. I've been through 4 of them 3 times and so far 1 time on the remaining 2 with 1 more to purchase. It's been a tough road. I believe with continuing discipline I will get there.
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Getback are you down in Pensacola? I was just down there last week on business and was looking for a good bar on P'cola Beach. I was staying at the Hampton Inn there. I am headed back down with the wife and kids next Tuesday night to go over to watch the Blue Angels practice then take our middle son to get some autographs and photos with the team in the museum.
My brother was there just last week. He stayed at one of the hotels, not sure which. He wanted me to come down but I just keep plugging away at my studies. My brother and I usually go to the SandShaker to play loud music and drink beer. I tell you when I pass the last exam that is where I will be headed.
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Way to go, Getback.
I also self-teach.
Have you ever looked at www.instacert.com? It's a website designed to help prepare for CLEP and DANTES tests, so not your CPA, but I'll bet it would help you with that "Business Environment & Concepts" section.
I think it's around $20 a month to prepare for as many tests as you like. It works as an online flashcard system where you fill in the blanks. I was very skeptical of it, but I was spending so much time studying my own way that I figured I'd give it a shot. The good news is I can spend as few as three days or so studying for an exam. The bad news is I'm working flashcards, and I need to do some of my own self-study to retain it longer than for just an exam.
In other words, I don't think it gives that great of a long-term education, but if you've already been studying like mad on your own, it could give you that little push you need to pass the test. It might be worth checking out.
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Way to go, Getback.
I also self-teach.
Have you ever looked at www.instacert.com? It's a website designed to help prepare for CLEP and DANTES tests, so not your CPA, but I'll bet it would help you with that "Business Environment & Concepts" section.
I think it's around $20 a month to prepare for as many tests as you like. It works as an online flashcard system where you fill in the blanks. I was very skeptical of it, but I was spending so much time studying my own way that I figured I'd give it a shot. The good news is I can spend as few as three days or so studying for an exam. The bad news is I'm working flashcards, and I need to do some of my own self-study to retain it longer than for just an exam.
In other words, I don't think it gives that great of a long-term education, but if you've already been studying like mad on your own, it could give you that little push you need to pass the test. It might be worth checking out.
Nothing wrong with Flash Cards. Curval, a CPA, said he just practiced the questions. I somewhat ignored that advice. I first started by reading and taking notes along with preparing flash cards. I then said the heck with that. It was taking me 2 weeks to get through a chapter and I had about 48 chapters. So I quit taking the flash cards and took briefer notes. But that took me about a week and a half to get through a chapter. Finally I said Curval is right! So now I just do the questions and along side the questions I make notes and the title of the section, like nonmonetary exchanges or depreciation methods. So far I have done right around 8,000 thousand questions. Yep that scares me too. Using Curvals method and doing a weekly review I sometimes get a chapter done a day. Mostly its about a chapter every 3 - 5 days depending on material and the number of questions.
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grats on 2nd exam getback :banana:
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This is going to help you once you've finished the exams too man. Once you are a CPA you are going to need CPE or CPD (Continuing Professional Education, or Decelopment...whichever they call it in your state). One of the easist ways to do this is to actually continue to get additional qualifications. My senior manager poked his head into my office last year and asked if the firm would pay for a course and exam on anti-money laundering. Being as I act as MLRO for a number of funds I figured I bettr do the thing too. We had two weeks before the exam was going to be written when we put in our applications. Just to sit the exam you had to fill out a form that scored your qualifications and experience in the industry. If your score was high enough you qualified...which meant university degree, professional designation and experience was required.
Almost a week later I suddenly "woke up" to the fact that I was writing an exam in a week and that I hadn't even rec'd the materials. I wrote the people who put on the exam and was told that I should have been sent a link, but I hadn't received it. She resent and when I downloaded the first file (of two) and printed it, the material was 450 pages long! The second link was appendicees to the 450 pages. I discussed it with my manager and we agreed that we should just stay very quiet and not tell any of our clients that we were doing the exam because we figured there was a good chance we might not pass.
The day before the exam was a whole day of classes to help the writers prepare for the exam. There were police officers from the financial crime division, Financial Investigations Unit (a branch of our monetary authority), bank compliance officers and other professionals from financial service companies. Only two other accountants were there.
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Most of these people had briefcases and bags FULL of their study materials. They had been studying for weeks, and in some cases months. Flash cards, binders full of notes, mostly highlighted notes too, computers with stuff on them etc etc etc. My manager and I showed up with a pencil each.
Anyhoo...as the day goes on we were both freaked out to say the least. By the end of it we were both facing an all night panic study session on the stuff we hadn't had time to look at...and I actually had to go to a wedding that night! I got home at about midnight.
For the week leading up to the exam, on lunch hours and at night, I did the practise questions, just like when I studied the CPA. If I got an answer wrong THEN I'd look at the material and figure out what I had done wrong. All the same tricks were employed...never choose an answer with the words "never" or "always" etc.
It took a month to get our results back. You needed 75% to pass. I got an 85, my manager 82.
We were then convinced that the exam must have been bell curved significantly and that most, if not all, the writers would have passed. ABout a week later my manager bumped into one of the police officers at a pub and asked him how he did. The guy had passed with a 78. So he saiid that he thought everyone must have passed and at the suggestion the cop burst out laughing. 15 cops in his group failed. I understand that one of the heads of compliance of a major bank had written the exam for the 4th time when we did but he didn't know if she passed or failed.
Just goes to show, technique is everything on studying and writing these exams.
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This is going to help you once you've finished the exams too man. Once you are a CPA you are going to need CPE or CPD (Continuing Professional Education, or Decelopment...whichever they call it in your state). One of the easist ways to do this is to actually continue to get additional qualifications. My senior manager poked his head into my office last year and asked if the firm would pay for a course and exam on anti-money laundering. Being as I act as MLRO for a number of funds I figured I bettr do the thing too. We had two weeks before the exam was going to be written when we put in our applications. Just to sit the exam you had to fill out a form that scored your qualifications and experience in the industry. If your score was high enough you qualified...which meant university degree, professional designation and experience was required.
Almost a week later I suddenly "woke up" to the fact that I was writing an exam in a week and that I hadn't even rec'd the materials. I wrote the people who put on the exam and was told that I should have been sent a link, but I hadn't received it. She resent and when I downloaded the first file (of two) and printed it, the material was 450 pages long! The second link was appendicees to the 450 pages. I discussed it with my manager and we agreed that we should just stay very quiet and not tell any of our clients that we were doing the exam because we figured there was a good chance we might not pass.
The day before the exam was a whole day of classes to help the writers prepare for the exam. There were police officers from the financial crime division, Financial Investigations Unit (a branch of our monetary authority), bank compliance officers and other professionals from financial service companies. Only two other accountants were there.
That is really good to know.
I plan on sitting for the CMA after I pass the CPA. I didn't realize those counted towards as CPE so that's a nice bonus.
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HUGE congratulations!!!!! :O :aok
ROX