Accountant's Musings: CPA Exam & Life Beyond

When you go to take the CPA exam at Prometric, they will give you several pencils, (I think they are HB #2 pencils), and some “course” paper on which you write your passcode/password. You are allowed to use the paper for calculations etc. If you run out of paper(!) you can request for me. [They tell you all that before you go into the examination room.]

Personally, I have never liked HB #2 pencils, I prefer mechanical pencils or pens. I do not have a preference on the paper, just on the pencils. I wish they gave you an option to get a pen or pencil. May be it is cheaper to offer pencils, and they are assured that the pencil will not run out!

CPA exam pencils - HB #2

Anyway, here is a tip. I think it is a good idea to practice or study, under conditions similar to those you will have in the exam. Thus, if you don’t like using HB #2 pencil, it is best to get one, practice using it, that way during the exam, you are not unhappy or uncomfortable using the HB#2 pencil. Actually, you could go as far as using a “blunt” pencil… because if you write as much as I do, believe me, the pencils will get blunt.

One may say that during the exam, you have no time to care about small or minor things like blunt pencils or what type of pencils you are using. Well, some people may, others may not. I happen to be the one who does. I suspect that there are a few more people. [As a side note, during the exam... there is time to think about... various things!]

If you don’t like pencil for note-taking, you can use a pen until a few days before the exam, and then use pencil for your last review just to practice a little.

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

image credit: http://responsiblygifted.ca/images/products/pencils.jpg

Popularity: 8% [?]

You Have a What?

Sometimes people complain that the CPA exam is hard. Others ask about the minimum amount of time needed to pass the exam. Others say that getting more than the required 75 is a waste of time, effort, grades. Others just want to be familiar with the material to pass. I have been guilty of some of these things, explicitly or implicitly. For example, if I don’t study until two weeks before the exam while working full time, it is fair to say that even if I pass, my mastery of the material will not be as good as it would be if I had paced myself for 2 months, for example. The chances that I will retain the material for more than a few weeks or months are small. In a way, if I become a CPA, even if I don’t work in public accounting, I will be a weak CPA. Well, that’s what I think.

While I was thinking about the above, I considered Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers, and other professionals… and I was wondering, if I were to hire a Doctor or Lawyer, or Engineer or Mechanic… how competent would I want them to be? I would probably want someone who did very well in school, scored high in his or her certification exams, and has decent experience in his field. One may argue that if somebody intends to practice in public, then he or she should excel. I would, however, argue that we all do public accounting of some sort. Even if we are in private practice or private sector, what we do finally finds its way to the public. Another argument is that once people know that you are certified, they think they can come to you for advice or opinions. These people can be friends, acquiantances, or family. They think that just because you are certified, you are an expert and you know your field inside out. In my world, that brings some ethical responsibility to know the subject matter really well, whether or not I am going to do public accounting. That’s a motivational tool for me. Of course, one has to strike a balance between spending time to master the material, and doing what needs to be done to pass the exam. As some CPA instructors say, “I am not teaching you to be an expert, I am teaching you to get you to pass the exam!” They are right, you can master the material after you pass, I guess!

Your thoughts and comments are welcome.

Thanks for reading and I hope you found that helpful.

image source: http://toobizarre.blogspot.com/2009/04/you-have-what.html

Popularity: 8% [?]

[A little background: My undergrad degree is in Mathematics and Education. When you study education, you learn about Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy, and of course, Theories of Education and Learning. As you may expect, most of the Psychology, Sociology and Philosophy lean towards education. One of the few things I still remember liking from my time in college is the Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning.]

According to Bloom, all of learning is divided into three main domains or categories, namely, Cognitive, Affective, and Psycho-Motor. If I were to explain it to a kid, I would say, “all your learning is either mental, heart/emotion, or bodily” – which seems obvious, until you start getting into the details on how to formulate questions which can be used to assess an academic paper or a dissertation, or the technical competence of a CPA candidate! This article’s focus is the Cognitive Domain of learning and how its understanding can be a handy tool in preparing for the CPA exam.

The Cognitive Domain (or mental) aspect looks at levels of “thinking” from Knowledge (which is simple or (rote recall) to Evaluation and/or Creativity (which is complex and involves creation of something new). Like most skills in life, you build your way up, so there is a hierarchy of learning. The Taxonomy has since been revised; below are the two hierarchies (new and old) side by side.

Bloom's Taxonomy Cognitive Domain Hierarchy

Armed with knowledge of the details of Bloom Taxonomy’s Cognitive Domain, you can easily see through what a CPA examination question is asking. From my experience, most of the CPA exam questions focus on the high-level cognitive skills, (analysis, evaluation, and creativity) which partly explains why the exam is so difficult or demanding. You are expected to exercise those thinking skills from question to question, and the “keywords” for the particular thinking level are implied or hidden within the question. You may have noticed as you were going over practice questions that questions rarely directly ask you to evaluate or critique something. Usually, a scenario will be presented, and from the requirement/question, you will see that you need to evaluate a statement or position.

I think the most useful way to use the Bloom’s Taxonomy is to be aware of it as you are studying or learning or taking notes. For example, are your notes a regurgitation of what you found in the book (lower level), or did you create something that is “new” (higher level)? From your notes or newly acquired knowledge, can you answer questions that directly use the high level “keywords“? Can you debate an issue? Can you explain a concept to a person who is an accountant and have the person satisfactorily explain to another? (That is, can you teach what you know?) If you clicked the “keywords“ link, you may have observed that as you go up the hierarchy, “relationships” appear to be emphasized. This can be relationships between bodies of knowledge, parts of a body of knowledge, a body of knowledge and a particular scenario, etc.

You may get more information on Bloom’s Taxonomy and Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) from the following sources:

http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Bloom%27s_Taxonomy (Bloom’s Taxonomy – Mary Forehand, University of Georgia)

http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/researchskills/dalton.htm (Excerpt of sample question stems, useful verbs, etc – from “Extending Children’s Special Abilities”)

http://faculty.chass.ncsu.edu/slatta/hi216/learning/bloom.htm (Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy of Cognitive Levels)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom’s_Taxonomy (A Wikipedia article on Bloom’s Taxonomy)

http://www.mindedutainment.com/content.php?id=53 (Mind Edutainment – My Thinking Program)

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

Popularity: 52% [?]

The CPA exam has a lot of rules, standards, lists, exceptions, rates, specifics, conditions, etc. I think one effective tool is to summarize each section into summaries of most “important” “things”. You can substitute “important” and “things” with more specific/relevant words.

In my case, I substitute “important” with words like “trickiest”, “confusing”, “relevant”, “must-remember”, etc. I substitute “things” with “rates”, “standards”, “ages”, “amounts”, “lists”, “mnemonics”, etc.

Here are some examples:

1. 10 most important things from each chapter. If you were to turn in a 1 page paper on a chapter with the 10 most important concepts or rates or ages or standards, what would you put on it? If you did this, you would have a summary of a 20 chapter book on 20 pages. It is not easy. You can remember from school how hard it was to summarize essays or books sometimes. Same concept here.

2. 10 most important formulas (and quick summary interpretations/notes on one page.)

3. 10 most important tax rates, or a rate that is common to several areas.

4. 10 most important definitions in the whole book.

5. 10 best mnemonics (and their meaning or relevant topics).

6. 10 Things I have been having a hard time remembering, solving, etc

7. 10 Things I need to review a week before the exam.

You get the idea. If you want you can change it to 15 or 20 or 5 things. I like 10 because I find it to be not too many, not too few. It could also be because most lists come in tens (10s). I have never used “flashcards”, so this idea may be similar to what you get when you purchase flashcards. I don’t know how many flashcards come with the the CPA review packs (for those that have the option). This idea occured to me as I was thinking of a way to reduce the whole book within 20 or 25 pages. I thought that I could go over this list within a couple of hours and be able to review what I thought were anchors to the section or book.

Obviously, this cannot replace the notes or the books or the CDs/DVDs, but I think it can be used to do nice review in an easy to remember way. It is personal, in that you put what you think is important, forgettable, memorable, tricky, tough, etc to you. I intend to try it in my preparation for REG.

Please feel free to share you thoughts, experiences, and methods on summarizing the volume of work on the CPA exam.

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

Popularity: 7% [?]

Here are some information resources to frequently asked questions regarding the CPA exam

From the AICPA website:

Steps to becoming a CPA.

You can:

Learn About the CPA exam:

General Information – Info about the exam, why it is administered, for whom, component parts or sections, subject matter/content specification outline, requirements, costs, links to NASBA, Candidate Bulletin, etc.

Examination Content, Structure and Delivery – The sections on the exam, the content covered, how long each exam is, the type of questions (multiple choice and/or simulations), the percentage composition, whether the exam will change in the future, etc.

Examination Software – Computer skills needed to take the exam, plus info on the software used

tutorial and sample tests – here you can practice multiple choice questions and simulations in an “environment” similar to that on the exam.

Scoring the exam – here you may find some information on score ranges, pretest questions, scoring adjustments, Item Response Theory (IRT), automation of scoring/grading, etc

Further information on how the exam is scored. (This link was added to this article on 10/24/09)

More frequently asked questions, including those above: – In addition to information given above, you will find information about the application process, Eligibility Requirements, Diagnostic Reports, Score Review and Appeal processes, Test Centers, Transitioning and Credit, etc.

Information about the written part of the Simulation – Organization, Development, and Expression

Free online access to professional literature

International Applicants information – including IQEX and agreements with CICA, IMCP, ICAI, ICAA, and CPA Australia

How to prepare – among other things, study, study, study!

The AICPA administers the examinations, and are thus the premier authority on what you need to do, how you can get information (if they cannot directly give it to you), etc. So, that is the first stopping point. If you cannot find what you are looking for there, you can check with your state board of accountancy or NASBA. Below are a few more links.

NASBA – National Association of State Boards of Accountancy

Jurisdiction map – you can select your State and you will get the info you need from there.

CPA Examination Service – phone number

Links – to AICPA, Prometric, etc

http://www.icpas.org/uploadedFiles/Students/CPAExamFAQ.pdf This document from the IL Society of CPAs answers 35 frequently asked questions. For example, the cost to apply and take the CPA exam; requirements to take the CPA exam; how long a credit lasts; how many times you can take a section you have failed; the range of scores; rules at the Prometric center; Areas to study in order to pass the CPA exam; etc. (As you may see, most of the information is available at the AICPA website (even though you may have had to dig around to locate it.)

Here is a similar resource geared towards MO candidates. Most of the questions and answers are similar/applicable to other States. http://www.leap-forward.com/exam.html

Links to Various/Individual State Boards of Accountancy:

(1) AICPA website links/directory of individual State Boards of Accountancy

(2) I have a similar list in this blog in the exam results page. (Just in case).

(3) myACCOUNTINGSCHOOL.com has a listing of the State Boards of Accountancy contact info – each one’s address, phone number, website, etc – in case that is quicker for what you are looking for, or the links in (1) and (2) above are “broken”.

Do you feel like discussing things with other CPA candidates, learn about their experiences, thoughts, insights, questions, frustrations, etc? You may want to visit some forums. The ones that I have frequented are:

CPAnet.com forum and

Another71 forum

Are you looking for motivational stories, study tips, positive thoughts, and food-for-thought? You may want to visit:

CPAstories.com!

Disclaimer. Like everything else on this blog, absolutely no warranties or guarantees whatsoever. I found the information useful (to me), and I thought that if somebody else had the information and I did not, I would have appreciated it if they shared it with me. It would probably have saved me some research time.

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

Popularity: 16% [?]

One Step At A Time, You Shall Overcome!

If somebody came to you and said, “the food that you have eaten is bigger than that mountain”, “you have walked from the Dallas, (TX, USA) to London (UK)”, “you have spoken more words than those all the USA Presidential speeches”, and finally, “your thoughts would require the memory of x computers to keep ‘em”. You may feel good about some of those things, and loathe the others, but it may take you a second to process that information and believe that you are capable of such feats.

The following questions may help the thinking process:  How much food do you eat in a day, a week, a month, or a year? Probably a mountain of it! How many miles do you walk or drive in a day, week, month, or year? Probably a thousands! How many words to you speak in a day, week, month, or year? A lot! How many thoughts do you have in a day, week, month, or year? How many words to write or type in a day, week, or year? You get the idea? When you look at the volume of output that YOU already have in different aspects of your life, you will see that at the beginning, it does not look like much. A bite, a step, a yard or mile, a word, a thought… but when you repeat it over time (say, one year), you have a meal x3 x 365 (assuming you eat 3 meals a day), a yard x 50 x2 x 5 x 52 (assuming you walk to work only 50 yards to and from work, etc. Small deeds, done repeatedly over time produce results that seem to be impossible at first.

The CPA exam requires one to know a lot of material on Accounting and things that affect Accounting (business law, IT, Taxation, etc). If you went to a good school or schools, then you probably came across pretty much everything that gets tested on the CPA exam in one form or another. If you think back, you will remember that it took a while to cover that material when you were in school. (It was not done overnight.) When the CPA review material arrives, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the size of material that you need to “master. However, when you consider how you often do things (eating, talking, walking, thinking, etc), you will notice that if you approach the CPA exam the way you approach life, you will do just fine.

An example: You decide to study for 5 minutes before each meal, and you eat 3 times a day, [you will read 3 times a day at 5 minutes per session]. Assuming that you read an average 250 words per minute, you may end up reading at least 2 pages during a 5 minute-session, and 6 pages for the day. If your CPA review book has 800 pages, of which 600 is reading material, then in 100 days or a little over 3 months, you will have read every page in the book! If you decide to double your reading time, and read the book for 10 minutes before your meal, you can finish the book in  1  1/2 months [6 weeks]! This is not addressing comprehension, note-taking, or anything else. It is just showing you that small actions, repeated over time, will yield seemingly impossible yet attainable and impressive results. This can be applied to anything, 10 multiple choice questions before each meal, 1 simulation before going to bed, etc.

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

Image credit: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:One_Step_at_a_Time.jpg

Popularity: 8% [?]

I just found out I have failed Regulation. I got 74. How does it feel to miss passing by 1 point on your very last exam? Well, now I know.

My goal is to get 100% when I retake it. I will register to retake, and then head out to the library.

Regulation - Fail 74 - Only 1 point short from being a CPA!

Update: I retook REG on 11/29/09 and passed with a score of 89. I took the Ethics exam on 12/20/09 and passed with a score of 95. So, I am done with the CPA exams

Popularity: 27% [?]