CPA Exam Tips

You fared well through your graduation and have landed a fancy job at an audit and consulting firm. In order to scale up in your career, you choose to pursue CPA. However, you are also scared of the fact as to how would you manage your studies alongwith the job. I have been through the same emotions 7 years back when I joined EY and enrolled myself for the CPA course. Big4 is notoriously famous for its work-life imbalance and keeping that perception in mind, pursuing CPA alongwith the job can only give you a chill down your spine. However, let me pause and say that it might be difficult but definitely not impossible.

I started my CPA course in August 2015, an year after my last Bachelor Degree exams and I made this critical decision because I wanted to clear all the 4 exams as soon as possible, because I knew that the older I get in my organization, the more responsibilities would I be shouldered upon and that would leave me with less time to study. I finished my course in November 2016 and the rest is history.

Like any other professional course, it is not easy one but it is possible to get it done if you understand the concepts and their application in the real world. You need to do the right thing at the right time. They may be little things, but usually these little things makes the difference between winning and losing. Below I share how can you clear all the 4 exams in your first attempt:-

1.??A lot of people say that when you start studying for CPA, you should have a clear mindset as to when would you want to take the exam. However, I beg to disagree on that. I would rather advocate that you should decide the timing of the exam based on how are your preparations being done. Generally, you would get a fare idea of this within 1-2 months of studying. I had decided in October that I would take 2 exams – FAR and AUD in December. However, later I realized that I wasn’t fully prepared for FAR and hence, I chose to defer the exams for May. But, then, I also chose to take another exam alongwith FAR and AUD, i.e. BEC. So, though I missed my first target, but then, I studied harder and was able to achieve my second target.

2.?????A lot of people want to earn the CPA qualification but are not ready to put in what is required. Its like saying, everyone wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die. You need to understand your weak and strong areas. You need to practice the questions again and again, till the time the concept goes into your head. And when I say practicing, it means actually solving the questions and not just reading the questions and then, looking at their answers.

3.?????You need to keep yourself updated with the changes in the syllabus and at the same time, not be scared of it. For instance: When Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was enacted, everybody wanted to take the REG exam before the AICPA starts testing on that Act. The reason for that was that everybody had this notion that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would change the REG syllabus to a large extent. You should keep yourself aloof from such anxiety. I understand that the course has changed but it has changed for everybody and you will be graded in the CPA exam on a comparative basis .

4.?????You need to understand the examiners requirements. The examiner does not want you to cram the tax slabs or the phase out limits. Secondly, at times, you could also refer to the authoritative literature, essentially in Simulations, for any confusion that you have around a principle. You can also practice the AICPA sample papers and get to understand on how what you have studied is actually examined. Lastly, you could also try out the mock test given in the course provider’s study material. However, I would suggest that you take that exam atleast a week before the actual exam since the scores in the mock tests are generally lower that what you get in an actual exam and at times, these scores can lower down your morale.

PS. The views shared in this article are personal. Thanks for reading.