The AICPA’s Latest Marketing Tactic is to Make Themselves as Indispensable as Basic Hygiene
What's this, now? Make must-have connections. Let's just get this out the way first, you're not making any connections unless you also bathe regularly. So no, no one is making you do either but one is a far better idea to keep up on than the other if you ever want to get anywhere […]
The CPA Exam is Broken Into Parts But These Sentences Not So Much
Get it together, This Way to CPA! I'm trying to think of a waythis may have beenintentional but… nah.
This Way to CPA Isn’t Too Confident You Can Get By Without Mommy’s Help
Remember that WSJ article we shared last week that talked about over-attached parents going to job interviews with their over-dependent "adult" children? As weird as that was, it appears This Way to CPA thinks you can't function without your mom's help, if their Facebook page is any indication. Basically, if these graphics are at all […]
Kids Don’t Say They Want to Grow Up to Be CPAs Because Kids are Dumb
This Way to CPA has stooped to a new low, insulting children. Sure the little snot-nosed brats aren't very smart but do we really need to say that out loud? We all know the youth of America is pretty doomed as is but I'm fairly sure little kids saying they want to be CPAs when […]
This Way to CPA’s Interview Basics Are a Little Too Basic
First kidney stones, now this? I gotta say, whoever comes up with these graphics deserves a medal. "This Way to CPA Today's wisdom: See how else not to screw up your interview. http://ar.gy/4vv3" Other helpful tips: don't fart refrain from whipping out your junk don't talk about your cat wear pants don't wear tear away […]
This Way to CPA Dares Future CPAs in Kansas To Aim Higher
So, this happened on the This Way to CPA Facebook page today: So while we're at it, I want to know: How many more pairs of socks there are in Arkansas than CPAs? How about bricks of cheese in Wisconsin? Or how many toothpicks processed by the state of Maine which, if you didn't know, […]
Calling All Armchair Politicians: This Year’s AICPA Accounting Competition Seeks a Presidential Advisor
Unfortunately certain armchair politicians who frequent this website are likely too old to enter the 2012 AICPA Accounting Competition but for student members of the AICPA currently enrolled in school, there's a $10,000 prize waiting for the team who can come up with winning strategy for a made up presidential candidate you'll be advising: You’ve […]
The Stuff Your College Professor “Forgot” To Tell You About Getting a Job
While you're busy blowing off Intermediate Accounting to sleep off last night's bender, your college professors are busy telling your fellow students all about how to prepare financial statements, test controls and, uh, whatever else it is you kids are learning in skool these days. Unfortunately, there are a lot of things that fancy accounting […]
Conquering the CPA Exam, One Step at a Time
One of our favorite sources of CPA exam info, This Way to CPA, has put together a very helpful list of suggestions for candidates trying to conquer the CPA exam. Just a few of the tips (many of which we have shared with you here previously):
Know your strengths. Confidence is good, but so is honesty. Know where you’re good – and where you need to improve. From there, you can design a study plan that works harder for you.
Write out a plan. What are you going to study, how are you going to study, and when? Maybe it’s all in your head, but it can’t hurt to write it all out to make sure you stick to the plan.
Use the free stuff. You can spend a lot of money getting ready for the exam. Which is perfectly fine. But don’t overlook the totally free tutorials, sample exams and other tools provided by the AICPA. After all, we make the test.
Our favorite was “get a lucky charm or something,” which shows us that the AICPA is not above superstition. That probably should be taken as an admission that the exam is part crapshoot, part dedication but we’ll save postulating on that for another day.
For where to find the “free stuff,” check out our previous comments on the topic and get to clicking.
Head to This Way to CPA for the rest of the tips but remember that all candidates are not created equal. Some can do better with a study buddy or the support of like-minded individuals while others prefer to isolate and be miserable (or make others miserable with their miserableness).
Some of these tips may or may not apply to your personal needs, which can only be determined by you and not any CPA Review Swamis out there or random folk on the Internet who have never stared into your bitter little 10-key-pounding heart. So my first suggestion would be to look long and hard at your own personal needs before you go looking for ways to improve your experience and succeed.