#BEANCOUNTER CPA EXAM ADVICE HOW TO#
#BEANCOUNTER CPA EXAM ADVICE FULL#

Weeks chose to take Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR) first because she saw it as the most time-intensive section. Once you pass the first section, the remaining sections must be passed within that 18-month window. McMullin said it's important to remember you have an 18-month window to take the exam. 'At that point, you're not absorbing it-you're going to get burned out and it's a waste of time to study when your mind can't focus.'

'If I was reading or listening, and zoning out, I'd give myself a break,' she said. While Weeks, a graduate of Texas A&M University now employed at EY, said a routine was helpful, she also acknowledged she found her eyes glazing over at times.

#BEANCOUNTER CPA EXAM ADVICE HOW TO#

'You don't want to get to the last question and know that you know how to answer the question, but unfortunately you don't have any more time left to finish it.' 'Make your best educated guess, and move on,' she said.

Map out how much time you'll spend on each question and try to stick to that plan. When exam time arrives, give yourself time to answer all questions, said McMullin, a graduate of Nanyang Technological University now employed at YRC Worldwide Inc. Sometimes seeing other subject areas would put the area of struggle into context and make it easier to understand, he said. Shubiak said when he struggled with a topic, he'd skip it and complete the rest of the chapter in the review book. 'You can feel overwhelmed if you're struggling with one topic, or maybe part of a topic, but it's good to keep the big picture in mind,' he said. Parsons noted that, when studying, remember each topic is just one part of the exam. In both studying for and taking the exam, it's important to plan your time well. But don't get hung up on one question or topic, either.'It would be disappointing to skip the review and then not do well on a topic you thought you knew.' 'Even if I knew one topic well, I didn't skip over it,' he said. Parsons said he made a checklist of all the topics he needed to study and didn't take any shortcuts. She said she spent one to two months studying for each section. She followed a similar pattern as Parsons, but because she was working, instead set aside one to two hours per day to study, as well as time on the weekends.

#BEANCOUNTER CPA EXAM ADVICE FULL#

Prataviera, a graduate of the Universidad Católica de Córdoba, now employed at Deloitte, was working full time when she took the CPA exam, and used a review course as well. 'I would start and end whenever I got through all that I wanted to get through for the day,' he said. Rather than map how many hours to study each day, he'd plan for the materials he wanted to cover. Parsons said he created a study plan for several days at a time. Various preparation courses provide this information, as does the AICPA's website, including the Exam Blueprints, which provide a comprehensive guide to the exam.

Parsons, a graduate of Lehigh University now employed at PwC, used a prep course, and said he'd begin studying for a section by looking at which topics would be covered, the exam format, and the topic weights. Each exam candidate will need to find his or her own best strategy for studying and preparing, the award winners agree. 'Then going into my exam prep, when I was taking a review course, it was more about filling in gaps of what I didn't know-there weren't many topics that I hadn't seen before,' he said. Shubiak, a graduate of The College of New Jersey now employed with PwC, LLP, decided during his sophomore year of college that he was going to take the exam, and then used each class to prepare for it, he said. As soon as you know you're going to take the exam, start preparing. Shubiak, a CPA candidate, and four other Sells Award winners-Sabrina McMullin, CPA, and Chris Parsons, Georgina Prataviera, and Rachel Weeks, all CPA candidates-share their advice for preparing for the CPA exam: While the exam can seem overwhelming at the start, a solid plan can help prepare candidates for success. Each year, roughly 100,000 people take the exam, and Shubiak was one of just 58 winners of the 2016 Elijah Watts Sells Award, given annually to candidates who obtain a cumulative average score above 95.50 across all four sections of the Uniform CPA Examination and pass all four sections of the exam on their first attempt. 'The key is to accept those challenges and overcome them, rather than avoiding them,' he observed.Ĭlearly, he had the right attitude. 'With so many different topics, there are bound to be some that can hinder the confidence of a candidate.'

'My biggest concern was the amount of information covered on the exams,' he recalled. Corey Shubiak remembers feeling a little overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge needed to pass the CPA Exam.

Beancounter cpa exam advice