Accountant's Musings: CPA Exam & Life Beyond

I wrote a post a couple of weeks ago, and it was titled, 3 things. The questions were not the toughest in the world, but they were not easy either. They required some soul-searching and a discovery of the value you attach to certain things (including people).

I believe that taking time to answer tough questions benefits a person in so many ways. For example, previously unanswered questions now get answers; some people get a sense of direction; others change their ways for the better; other people may come up with mission statements; fear may be dispersed; courage may be developed; etc.

It is hard to answer tough questions when you have not mastered the basics.

What would be your response to the following question?

What are the three things you cannot do without?

My response, which is not necessarily the best one or correct one, would be something like this: Air/Oxygen, water, and good health.

What would your response be?

Thanks for reading, and I hope you found that helpful.

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This is a series in which I am thanking those who helped me pass the CPA exam.

First and foremost, God!

Where do I begin? I do not know. Even if I try to stick to just the CPA exam, I still see that I could not have gotten to the point of thinking or wanting to take the exam without being born, having the parents that I have, the people I have come across, the good health, the drive, the work experience, the faith, and so on and so forth.

I believe that I am here for a reason even though “the how” and “the what” are not always clear to me. I believe that all I have been, all that I am, and all that I will be is in God’s plans. I am not sure if that means it is predetermined, but I don’t think it is all coincidence or luck or fate or under my control. I can control my thoughts, how I spend my time, how much I study, how much I prepare for things,… but then I cannot control how other people drive on the road, or whether I get up the next day or not, and sometimes, I cannot even control whether I am able to sleep.  Things like that make me feel that somebody else is looking out for me, and that, for me, is God.

I would like to mention that I say lots of prayers for various things. The CPA exam was a huge undertaking, so obviously, I prayed a lot. I prayed quite a few Novenas. I made a few promises to the Saints.  I made a few “sacrifices” as I prayed. Obviously, I think, believe, and know that prayers work. So, even though I am not righteous by any means, I run to God when I need Him, [which is not the best way to maintain a relationship.] For example, I prayed to overcome procrastination; I prayed for determination; I prayed for speed, accuracy, neatness, and clarity of thought, and decision-making; I prayed for restful sleep when I was tired; I prayed for confidence; I prayed for guidance; I prayed for excellent memory; I prayed for peace of mind; I prayed for calm; I prayed for job security. I prayed for many other things that had to do with the exam, and many others that did not have anything to do with the exam. Some days I prayed “hard”, and on other days I did not pray or think about God at all.

Now, let’s fast-forward a little bit, and focus on just the CPA exams to see where I think God intervened. I must confess that whatever I put down is not exhaustive at all.

- Life, health, friends, family, peace, safety, security, money, job, great country (USA), the exam system, girlfriend, support system, another71, cpanet, twitter,  facebook, blogs, [technology], etc

- some stories:

I did not have the motivation to take the exam until 2008/2009. I had tried before, in 2006/2007 and I could not go through it for various reasons even though I had purchased the material. Part of it was because I had not registered or gotten approved, another part was because I didn’t need it at the place I was working at, and nobody in the accounting dept was a CPA, and yet another reason, things were not just right for me to take the exam. There is no perfect time, but sometimes you need a few things to be in place for things to happen. If you are not approved, regardless of how hard you work or how much you want it, you cannot take the exam unless that part is done. In 2008/2009 a few things happened.

First, I changed jobs and happened to work at company where we had a bunch of CPAs and I was encouraged to go for it if I wanted to. The job I got was higher paying than the old one, so I didn’t have to worry too much about footing the bill for books, and examination fees, etc. This job was given to me by God. One would have to know more about my life story to see how unlikely it was for things to work out the way they did.

Second, my girlfriend also moved from St. Louis, MO to Dallas, TX and she was a big help during the time she was around. She provided moral support, she was willing to let me study when I needed/wanted to, she cooked delicious meals and it was nice to come home, after 10, 12 or more hours at work, to eat, talk, and hit the books. She provided excellent relaxation, which on my own, I would not have thought about or considered seriously: we went shopping together, went to the movies a few times, went for walks, prayed together, and we ranted when we needed to. Those are just some of the things. When we look back, and she tells me some of the things I did when I was studying for Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR), we crack up at how obsessed I was with studying – and no wonder I burned out! I believe God gave me this girl. I hope we will have a million more days together! Again, one would have to look at my life to see the likelihood that Mwayi and I would have met, where we met, the time we met, and prevailed through thick and thin. God did it and I am thankful for that.

Third, the power of positive thinking, faith, belief,… Where does that come from? What makes you believe that things will work out regardless of how bad it seems? What makes you believe that you are worth it? What makes you believe that you are smart enough? What makes you believe that next time around, you will pass this exam you just failed? What makes you believe that even though your exam is in 3 days, and you need to study tonight, and your work requires you to stay at work until midnight or past midnight or do some work while you are home, you can still make up for the time, or study/review the right stuff? What makes you believe that if you ask God, He will answer your prayer? What gets you to believe in God in the first place? What makes you overcome procrastination? What makes you believe you can sleep 3 hours or not at all and still operate “okay”? What makes you spend a whole day without studying and have faith that what you have done all along, or what you will do after this, will be enough? In my case, I would like to think that God is there somewhere. I needed a lot of belief, positive thinking, faith, inner strength to get through the 10 months or so that it took to pass the CPA exam.

Fourth, my mom. She is a beautiful story. She brought me here, she got me here, she led me to God,… When I consider how hard it is to bear a child, raise him, support him, discipline him, love him, etc – I cannot but believe that one needs God’s intervention. When the child is me, you need God to make the decision that the child should live, that the child should not end up locked up, that a determined mom should work her magic to make sure that dust turns into diamond. I love you mom! Again, I think that the only way I could turn out the way I did, was to have the mom that I had/have. I am broken, but not as bad as I would otherwise be.

One can see that in thanking God for what I have become, I have to look at the people and circumstances that got me here. It appears to me impossible to share about God’s presence, influence, control, intervention, etc without bringing in His creation to illustrate or drive some points home.

Thus, as I write about the other people and things in the comings days, I hope you will be able to see God in them.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you found that helpful.

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Praise be to God in highest! What can I say? This is one of the many blessings I have received in my life, and especially in the past couple of weeks. I hope I will share them all some day. For the time being, let me share one: I have passed the remaining section of the CPA exams, Regulation (REG), with a score of 89. It feels good to be done with the endless studying. Now I can spend a day to study Ethics and get that out of the way. To all who encouraged me, supported me, and prayed for me, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. To those who are still studying, or are still waiting or did not pass, I wish you good luck! [To those who are wondering what State I took the exams in, so that you can check your results as well, it is Illinois - you may see that in the clipped screenshot below.]

REG results for cpastories

Thanks for reading, and I hope you found that helpful.

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Today, I did not go to church. No reason. I didn’t go the past couple of weeks either. No reason. This is not normal or correct for me. With some practice, it has become normal, and I don’t like it. Going to church and praying frequently was the normal thing for me to do. Somehow along the way, I have let that slide. Now, how is that related to the CPA exam? Well, there are several important ways.

1. Usually, I read my positive thinking note, and I also pray for motivation, discipline, and grace to study hard and smart, to remember what I study, and to do well in the exam. It is a core part of my preparation. If I don’t go to church, and I don’t pray [which is almost always the case for me], I am missing a major part of my study or preparation.

2. Even though we are not saved by our works, there are pointers in the Bible that show that God does not ignore our works or our commitment to Him. This makes me think that my ignoring Him could have a negative impact, not just on the CPA exam, but in life in general.

3. Related to 2. above, when I live well, I usually have confidence when I want to ask for something. It is similar to the confidence level of a bad kid or good kid when it has to approach a parent for help. Another example would be if I want to ask for a raise at work, it is a lot easier when I know I have been doing a great job, as opposed to when I suck. Thus, when I suck spiritually, even if God is all-loving, it is a little difficult to muster the confidence to approach Him for grace or help.

4. I am a whole human being. Mind, body, heart, and spirit. I function best when all those are in sync. That is, when I study, do well at work, go to church, pray daily, blog, check email, talk to my family and friends, meditate, laugh, etc. and those are things that are important to me, when one of them is out whack, the misalignment gets passed on to other aspects of my life.

As you can see, sometimes we think that things are not working out because God is upset with us because we have not been good. Actually, it appears that life just does it, of its own accord, if an important aspect of one aspect of life is not in sync with everything else. I am not saying God has no role.  He does, but we can’t blame Him. Sometimes the blame lies with the individual.

So, this spiritual part will have to be fixed. If not for the spirit, at least for the CPA exam!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you found that helpful. Your comments are welcome.

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How to Pray - Method & Technique of Effective Prayer

I pray for a lot of things. The CPA exam is not an exception. How do I pray? I fall short on how I should pray. It is easy to think that there is no method or technique to prayer. Why should there be a method or technique to prayer? Well, I think it is because prayer is a very important undertaking. Most, if not all, important undertakings have method or technique that needs to be followed for successful completion. Let’s take the CPA exam, for example. There are between 25 and 40 pages on the method or technique to successfully prepare for the exam in any of my Wiley CPA books; Gleim has a whole book called a System for Success. This covers the content on the CPA exam, the approximate percentages of coverage on the exam, suggested time table for studying, approximate hours per study unit or topic, how much sleep you need, where to sleep the day before the exam, how to guess during the exam, how to eliminate distractions, whether to appeal a score or not, what to eat on the day of the exam, what to wear, how to call for help if your computer acts up,… and so on and so forth. This is only guidance on how you should prepare when you come before the AICPA to take their exam!

How much more do you need to prepare as you come before God! How much more should you know on how best to present yourself to Him! How much more should you know the content specification outline for addressing God! How much more should we know what areas to focus! Dr. Gary Reimers of Bob Jones University addresses the question of how one should pray. What should be your demeanor when you pray? What should you focus on? What are the things that should be in your prayer? How elaborate should you be? Here has some interesting illustrative stories. I enjoy listening to the sermons even though I don’t belong to that church. I learn a lot, and I get inspired. You may learn something. You may be inspired.

Here is the sermon for those who are interested. (This is only 30 minutes long.)

Here is a listing of (all) his sermons to those who would like some more.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you found that helpful.

Image credit: http://media.photobucket.com/image/prayer/TariLuinweME/Christianity/prayer.jpg

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