HOW TO PASS YOUR CPA PAPERS WITH 70 PLUS AT YOUR FIRST ATTEMPT.-PROVED STEPS.

The CPA course continues to be been labeled a hard course given the fact that the percentage of those that fail the course is higher than those that actually pass the course. It is very disturbing to every student to prepare for over 4 months and just earn say 42% or even 38% in a paper that you desired a 70% plus.

It is however also very true that some students go through the CPA course without failing any of the papers and I believe that everyone has capacity to pass the CPA papers at first attempt.

Anyway, over the weekend, I was one of the speakers at the Achievers Professional Trainers CPA Career Guidance day where we were supporting new students joining the CPA Journey and those that are on other levels but had challenges at passing some papers.

I love sharing such tips and these have helped several students pass their CPA papers.  Here is the step by step process I used to pass my papers that you can add to your current strategies.

I share these based on my experience as a CPA tutor and a professional who went through the same exam.

Before my steps, the first step to passing the CPA Paper is to believe in yourself that you will pass your exams even when every one says “It is hard”, “It is impossible”, “You can’t do it” etc.

Whatever it is yours should be I CAN, IT IS POSSIBLE, I WILL PASS. You need to feed you mind with positivity each day that you will pass the exam against all odds.  See below my journey;

1.I made sure I chose an institution with qualified Tutors as well taking into consideration other several factors.

Don’t just follow bandwagon because one of your friends is going to study from somewhere and so also you want to just follow.  

Look out for an institution with tutors that are both qualified, knowledgeable, supportive and if possible those that are practicing what they teach. for example, at Achievers, we make sure whoever handles a paper is qualified and practicing that specific paper.

You will find our Public Sector Tutor working with Public Sector, our Auditing tutor is a qualified auditor working with the BIG 4 Audit firms, our tutor for Taxation papers is working with URA etc. Such professionals understand not only the theory aspects of the paper but can support you understand the practical aspects as well.

2.Ounce I had gotten an institution, I registered in time and made sure I attend nearly all classes even for papers I knew I would just read and go do the exam.

It is not good to assume that you know because CPA is far different from a Bachelor’s in Accounting given the practical aspect in CPA. Don’t wait for March 2020 to start your classes. Start as early as January so you can have enough time to prepare.

At Achievers we are start our classes this January and our goal is to have 3 months of syllabus coverage and use the last month for revision so as to prepare our students effectively.

3.I made sure I utilized all my time in the lecture room and wouldn’t be ashamed to ask anything I didn’t understand while still class so as to maximize the value for money and time.

Make sure you reach out to your tutors with questions on what you don’t understand even outside class.

One of the top reasons why our students at Achievers pass is because we have developed a culture among our tutors to ensure we are very supportive to our students throughout the week. Students are comfortable to call us at any time of the day to seek our support.  After all  we all celebrate when they pass.

4.I made sure I have a syllabus with me for each paper I was doing and this was for me to track and tick off whatever I would cover in class as well as research on anything that the tutor would leave out.

In addition to the notes from class, I used to research online for notes, request notes from friends studying from other institutions with the syllabus as the guiding tool so as not to go off topic. The syllabus is a key tool to any student studying for their exam as the examiner will likely set all questions using the same syllabus.

If you have the resources, getting yourself an ICPAU Study pack would be a great idea.

5.For every topic covered, I always looked out for past papers to understand how a given topic is examined and I made sure I tried out several numbers individually as well as with my discussion group.

6.After classes, I would reflect on the concepts I had studied and related them with what we were doing at work or how other organizations were applying them. This would help me remember the concepts easily from a practical point of view and I would write several of these practical examples while answering in the exam.

7.I made sure I have a serious discussion group and we were consistently meeting throughout the 3 months to the exam so as to avoid last minute pressure.

8.During preparations for exams, I used to avoid spotting topics and made sure I read as per the syllabus. I was able to do this because I started preparing for exams of a given paper on my first day in class and would be confident to sit for a paper by the last month to the exam.

9.Still as I prepared for the exams, I would make sure I understand how the paper am preparing for is examined in terms of how many questions am supposed to attempt, what time duration is allocated, Marks allocation, etc.

This would help me get familiar with the examination format so as to plan my time even before I enter the examination room. Several students fail because they do less questions than the ones required or fail to manage time.

10.During the exam, I would utilize the allocated 15 minutes to read through and understand the questions, I critically chose questions where I could maximize marks and made sure I start with easier questions as well as giving many practical examples as possible for essay questions, among others.

CPA should be a course that every one PASSES because the world needs more Accountants.

Incase you need more guidance beyond this article, feel free to reach out to me on the contacts below.

WhatsApp/ Call us on +256703803255or email [email protected]

Samuel Ibanda- CPA Tutors, Career & Business Coach.