Strategies for CPA Exam Success

Since 1985
Contents
FEATURES
CAREER OUTLOOK
Drexel University
COVER STORY
What Are You Waiting For?
ACCOUNTING OUTLOOK
By Dr. Linda Lee Larson, CPA, CIA, CISA, CFE, Associate Professor
of Accounting, Central Washington University, Lynnwood Center
SOCIAL OUTLOOK PEER REVIEWED
What You Need To Know
By William J. Crampton, PhD, Associate Professor, Department
of Accounting, Illinois State University and Roslin V. Hauck, PhD.
Associate Professor, Department of Accounting, Illinois State University
HISTORICAL OUTLOOK
REGULATIONS OUTLOOK
4 Why I Became An Accountant
By Kevin Jones, JD, PhD, Professor, Department of Accounting,
Page 6
6 Strategies for CPA Exam Success:
By Thomson Reuters
10 Employer Expectations
14 The Use of Social Media By Accountants:
Page 14
15 A Letter to Our Grandchildren
Edited by Bill Powell, Lt. Colonel US Army, USAR (retired)
20 A History of the IMA and
Ethical Considerations
By Roland L. Madison, CPA, PhD, Former Professor of Accountancy.
John Carroll University and William N. Bockanic, JD, Professor of
Business Law, Boler School of Business, John Carroll University
SCHOLASTIC OUTLOOK
By Michigan Technological University’s School of Business
and Economics
22 Business Education with a Technological Edge
Page 22
Cover Story
Strategies for CPA Exam Success
What Are You Waiting For?
We all have heard the saying, “Never put off until tomorrow what can be done today.” Never before is this
statement truer when it comes to taking the CPA Exam than it is today.
A
re you waiting to sit for the
CPA Exam until you feel more
prepared? Perhaps you want
to get a little work experience
under your belt. Maybe you are just
waiting for life to slow down a bit. The
truth is that you will never feel 100%
ready to take the CPA exam, you will
never feel like you have enough work experience, and life will never slow down.
Since the CPA Exam went computer
based in 2004, the exam itself undergoes change at a much faster pace than
it did in the old-fashioned paper and
pencil format. With computer technology comes the ability to enact change,
whether it be content-related or functionality, at a much faster rate.
Additionally, the CPA Exam undergoes what is called a “practice analysis”
every few years to be sure the exam is
continuing to test entry-level requirements of a CPA. The last practice analysis was done in 2008/2009, which led to
the most recent sweeping changes to the
exam that took effect in January 2011.
Those changes not only changed the
content specification outline (the body
of knowledge that is tested on the CPA
Exam), they also changed the format of
the exam questions themselves. Those
changes caused a flurry of testing activity in the final quarter of 2010, primarily due to uncertainty regarding how
the changes were going to impact the
exam. The exam is currently undergoing
another practice analysis in order to determine changes to the exam that would
6 NEW ACCOUNTANT
potentially take effect in 2016/2017. The
anticipated changes to the exam could
be the most significant ever. In light of
this, now is definitely not the time to
postpone your testing.
So, what can you do to prepare for
the CPA Exam now? Below are some
helpful tips that will prepare you to test
now rather than later.
The CPA Exam is known for both
its difficulty and comprehensiveness.
However, success on the CPA exam is a
reasonable, attainable goal. You should
keep this point in mind as you develop
your study plan. A positive attitude toward the examination, combined with
determination and discipline, will enhance your opportunity to pass.
Purpose of the CPA Exam
The exam is designed as a licensing requirement to measure the technical competence of CPA candidates.
Although licensing occurs at the state or
territory level, the exam is uniform at all
sites and has national acceptance. Passing
the CPA exam in one jurisdiction generally allows candidates to obtain a reciprocal certificate or license in another
jurisdiction provided they meet that jurisdiction’s other requirements.
Boards of accountancy also rely
upon other means to ensure that candidates possess the necessary technical
and character attributes, including interviews, letters of reference, affidavits
of employment, ethics exams, and educational requirements. Each board’s contact information is listed on the National
Association of the State Boards of
Accountancy’s (NASBA) website (www.
nasba.org).
When to Take the Exam
It is advantageous to take the exam
as soon as possible after completing
the formal education requirements. The
CPA exam is essentially an academic
exam that tests the breadth of material
covered by good accounting curricula. It
emphasizes the body of knowledge and
skill set required for the practice of public accounting.
Bisk CPA Review recommends that
most candidates sit for no more than two
exam sections during one exam window.
By taking one exam section at the beginning of a two-month exam window and
another exam section at the end, candidates effectively can study for one exam
at a time and yet pass two exam sections
during an exam window. Candidates
with full-time jobs and other extensive
time commitments may find that studying for just one exam section in an exam
window is best for them.
The CPA exam is more than a test
of your knowledge and technical competence. It is also a test of your ability
to function under psychological pressure.
You easily could be thrown off balance
by an unexpected turn of events during
the days of the exam. Your objective is
to avoid surprises and eliminate hassles
and distractions that might shake your
confidence. You want to be in complete
control so that you can concentrate on
the exam material, rather than the exam
situation. By taking charge of the exam,
you will be able to handle pressure in a
constructive manner. The keys to control
are adequate preparation and an effective
examination strategy.
Overall Preparation
Advance preparation will arm you
with the confidence you need to overcome the psychological pressure of the
exam. As you complete your comprehensive review, you will cover most of
the material that will be tested on the
exam. It is unlikely that any question will
deal with a topic you have not studied.
Similarly, you will not feel pressured to
write “perfect” written communication
answers, because you understand the
grading process. You recognize that there
is a limit to the points you can earn for
each answer, no matter how much or
how well you write.
The components of your advance
preparation program include the following.
1. Comprehensive review materials
such as the Bisk CPA Review Online
program.
2. A method for pre-review and
NewAccountantUSA.com 7
Cover Story
ongoing self-evaluation of your level
of proficiency.
3. A study plan that enables you to
review each subject area methodi cally and thoroughly.
4. An understanding of the grading
process and grader orientation skills.
CPA Exam Strategies
The second key to controlling the
exam is to develop effective strategies for
the days you take the exam. Your objective is to avoid surprises and frustrations
so that you can focus your full concentration on the questions and your answers.
You should be familiar with the
format of the CPA exam and know exactly what you will do when you enter
the testing room. Remember to read
all instructions carefully, whether general or specific to a particular question.
Disregarding the instructions may mean
loss of points.
As stated previously, the CPA exam
is in itself a physical and mental strain.
You can minimize this strain by avoiding all unnecessary distractions and inconveniences during your exam week.
Consider the following:
• Use the AICPA’s free tutorial and
sample examination found online at least
a week before your examination. Because
the exam interface is subject to change,
re-visit the site to be sure that you are
familiar with the current interface, even
if you took an exam in a previous window. The site also has the most current
Uniform CPA Examination Candidate
Bulletin, a publication with useful information for candidates. These are not
available at the test center.
• Carefully register for the examination. You must bring two forms of identification and your notice to schedule to
the test center on the day of your exam.
The name you use to make the appointment must match both your name on
8 NEW ACCOUNTANT
“
As stated previously, the CPA exam is in itself
a physical and mental strain. You can minimize this
strain by avoiding all unnecessary distractions and
inconveniences during your exam week.
your identification and your notice to
schedule exactly.. Also note that the last
two weeks of an exam window tend to
be the busiest.
• Stick to your normal eating, sleeping,
and exercise habits. Eat lightly before the
exam. Watch your caffeine and alcohol
intake. If you are accustomed to regular
exercise, continue a regular routine leading up to your exam day.
• Locate the examination facilities before your examination day and familiarize yourself with the surroundings and
alternate routes.
• Arrive early for the exam. Pre-exam
procedures take significant time and
are not factored into your scheduled
appointment. Allow plenty of time for
unexpected delays. Nothing is more demoralizing than getting caught in a traffic jam ten minutes before your exam is
scheduled to begin. Your appointment
time is the time that the actual examination process is scheduled to start, not the
start of the test center pre-exam procedures: identification verification, digital
photography, storage locker assignment,
etc. The examiners recommend that you
arrive at least 30 minutes before your
scheduled appointment. If your examination doesn’t begin within 30 minutes
of your scheduled start time, you may
have to reschedule.
• Avoid possible distractions, such as
friends and pre-exam conversation, immediately before the exam.
• In general, you should not attempt serious study on the nights before exam sessions. It’s better to relax—watch a movie,
”
exercise, or read a novel. If you feel you
must study, spend half an hour or so going over the chapter outlines in the text.
Some candidates develop a single page
of notes for each chapter (or each exam
section) throughout their review process
to review for a few minutes during the
evening before the exam. This single page
includes only those things that are particularly troublesome for that candidate,
such as the definition of a capital asset or
the economic order quantity formula.
• Don’t discuss exam answers with other candidates. Not only have you signed
a statement of confidentiality, but someone is sure to disagree with your answer,
and if you are easily influenced by his or
her reasoning, you can become doubtful of your own ability. If you are writing more than one exam section within
a two-month exam window, you might
not have the reliable feedback that only
your score can provide from your first
section before you sit for the second section. Wait and analyze your performance
by yourself when you are in a relaxed and
objective frame of mind.
• Avoid self-evaluation of your exam
performance until after you receive your
official score. Self-evaluation without an
official score is unreliable. Not all questions are the same point value. Further,
candidates have no reliable way to know
which questions are not scored. Instead
of speculating, focus on preparing for
your next exam section.
Learn more by visiting
www.cpaexam.com/ILNAM, now part of
Thomson Reuters, today.
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