Passing Part #2 – BEC

I remember walking out of the BEC test with 40 minutes left in the test. This might not be such a good idea – you should take your time with each part and make sure you feel confident about the answers you have provided. I did listen to my own advice for the test, and this was an improvement from the Final Review tests and practice questions. Often with multiple choice tests, I hurry through it all and tend to do pretty well but often miss simple questions because of a word I just overlooked.

With that in mind, it is no surprise that with a test comprised of only Multiple Choice, I passed, but with a lower score than REG. Memorization, I always thought, was my forte, so BECshould have been a piece of cake. Maybe it’s good not to be overly confident either. For the past two weeks I have been obsessively checking the score to see if it had been posted, and finally today the good news had arrived.

This is a nice motivation as FAR is coming up mid-July, followed with AUD in mid-August. With nine lectures in FAR and one of the biggest books I have read, over the next four weeks I need to consider this as another job and dedicate even more time than 40 hours. It seems silly but I really don’t want to be locked up in a New York City café or at my apartment after work studying. That seems more like a waste of time than spending my summer studying. At least I can take my book outside and read it while enjoying the sun.

Offers pushed back – maybe a good thing

I always thought of the accounting profession along the lines of Healthcare when it came to handling the recession – my job would be safe. I accepted my job offer back in October and felt very safe with this. But in many of my graduate level accounting classes, the speakers that were brought in from public accounting firms kept mentioning some of the difficulties they were experiencing.

Lately, there have been several of my friends whose start dates have been moved back to November and December. While this idea just seems ridiculous (as student loan repayments usually start during that time), one of my friends brought up a great idea that this could be just what is needed for the exam. The bonus incentives are still in place for sitting for the CPA. Most firms cover the following:

• Costs for CPA review classes and materials (like the Becker) – ~$2,500
• Big bonus for passing within the first year – anywhere from $3,000 – $5,000
• Costs for applying for the license and sitting for the exam – ~$1,500

All of these add up to around $7,000 – $9,000. That’s not bad for ensuring you pass the test within the 6 months you become eligible for it. That’s getting paid to study and isn’t that what many others look for (medical school, more masters or PhD programs)? Once work begins, the time to study for the exam gets very limited. Who wants to come home to study after working 50+ hours a week? I know I wouldn’t.

Since the availability of when you can take the exam now has spread out more, it has become harder for managers to keep track of when their first year staff is studying for the exam, and plan to help them out by not overworking them. Often everyone has to work long hours and new employees don’t receive that extra time for studying while at work. So for those whose start dates have been pushed back, consider this a great opportunity to get your bonus and CPA before you start work. Then you can also be an added asset to the team and even help out co-workers who are still studying for their CPA.

Time to tackle the monster

While most of my class preparation seems to be perfect for the Financial test of the CPA, to me it is still the scariest part of the CPA exam. Nine lectures are in the Becker review, longer than any of the other parts. I have finally made my lesson plan here, but have a lot to catch up to since I was unable to keep up with the online class for the first three lectures due to graduation and wrap-up studying for Business.

I just finished BEC right before the month ended and with it the test-taking period. I felt a lot more confident with this part than I felt with Regulation (I passed that one by they way ) so I’m hoping the first two parts have served as a way to ease me in for the last two.

The testing center is nicely located right on Case’s campus, so the familiarity of the setting makes it even easier. I have already gotten to know the ladies administering the test and have made plans to see them again in the future. I also remembered and forced myself to take several breaks (between the different testlets) to get my mind fresh once again.

I read a recent article about passing the CPA and the experiences of a couple of people, who due to work restraints, were unable to pass the CPA within the first two years of starting with their firms, so I am thankful that I have the time over the summer. It was great to see the new change allowing students to apply during their last semester so they can receive their NTS as soon as possible after they graduate and sit even earlier for the different parts.

2 Weeks to go – REG and BEC

Receiving my NTS from New York was one of the hardest processes I have ever had to go through. I was amazed at the lack of communication between the Education Department and NASBA. My education was approved, but NASBA was unaware of this. I had to be the one to try and connect the two departments together and keep waiting and calling both sides to ensure they were communicating well with each other on my application. The process took 3.5 months. That shouldn’t happen.

Because of this, my study schedule is a little off. I am behind on Becker so am spending this week studying both for REG (exam May 5th) and doing all the BEC lectures according to the Becker schedule (exam May 28th).

My original study plan was pretty nice, but the delay in receiving my NTS has pushed all my deadlines together. I have Relay 4 Life coming up, finals and final projects on top of the CPA. I guess you live and your learn.

I have been learning about Becker’s Fast Pass option, where you take the summer off to just study and the classes are structured in such a way that all four parts are taken (and hopefully passed)  in the summer before work begins.

Beginning the daunting task

The CPA exam shouldn’t be as daunting as it seems because as soon as I ordered my CPA review I felt stressed, and the material wasn’t even in my hands yet.

I’m finishing up my Masters of Accounting at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, which I decided to pursue in order to receive the 150 credit hours I needed for Ohio. Then, this past summer, I decided that I really did want to move and NYC was where I wanted to be. Luckily (at least in a way) New York was still accepting applications for the CPA license with 120 credit hours if graduated before August 2009.

I definitely fit in this category, and just had to take one extra Business Law class to satisfy all of the requirements. The University of Phoenix was great for this and in just 5 weeks, I was done. I even had to miss the last week as I was traveling to South Africa for vacation, and the class was at the end of the semester when the rest of the projects for my other classes were due, but ultimately Fall 08 was my best semester yet at Case.

Maybe I am ready for this CPA exam after all. I’m doing the online version of the Becker Review and my Regulation classes started Feb 9th, 2009. If all goes as planned, I should be done with it by the time I start work at PWC in NYC. This fact alone should be my biggest motivator. I just need to keep reminding myself that.