Three Weeks To Audit

It’s been a while since my last post. I have been busy with studying and of course some holiday travel. Traveled to good ole Ohio to visit the bf's family. I studied for the first 3 days but after that it all fell to the wayside. I pushed my exam by another week from January 4 to 14. I need to pass audit come rain or thunder, so I must put in the work.

 I finished watching the Yaeger Audit Cram and I must give Gary some credit. That man as boring as he could be helped drill in the material. It all made sense and I was able to answer questions. I also have been applying the tips he gave on answering questions. The next few weeks I plan on working questions till I am blue in the face, rewriting the Ninja notes, and also listening to the Ninja Audios. I have a nice noted in my car by my radio that says "Listen to A71 audios you idiot." I look at that note each time I reach to turn on the radio, which deters me from having any car concerts for the next few months.

In other news, my new job as an auditor for a Big 4 firm has definitely helped me understand the material. I have worked on three engagements so far and I have been able to apply what I have learned at work to my studies. Hopefully that is enough to get me a 75.

I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.

Happy Studying!

Week 4: Audit Study Update #1

I am four weeks away from my audit retake and keep telling myself I am going to get that 75. I have already decided that I will be falling off the face of the earth after the new year celebrations. I need to focus on passing and eliminate distractions. I know where my faults lie and am slowly learning to say no (if you are reading this and you know me, please dont invite me to anything till Summer of 2013 when I am a CPA).

I reviewed the video lectures for the Yaeger Audit Cram over the last three days. Work is starting to get a little crazy. I was hoping with Christmas looming and a lot of people taking time off I would have time to study more at work but I was wrong. I am working on my third engagement and taking on the senior role. This means, I will be doing everything, from creating the audit file, the audit program and putting together the final report. It will be interesting. I have already had some dumb moments, I could not for the life of me remember how to accept all changes in a word document I was working in. Yep. I felt like an idiot.

I am making progress and am really surprised at how much more I remember from write down the explanations for the questions I got wrong the first time I reviewed the questions. Now I know why when I reached out to Rosie (#twudygroup alumni) and asked her what I needed to do to pass her main reponse that is engraved in my brain was "WRITE IT DOWN." I worked through questions on audit reports during lunch and got all of them correct (insert happy dance). I feel like I am on a streak and just want to do questions the rest of the day. I also had an AHA moment on research questions. I could not get any research questions correct in the past. I was always off and could not figure out why. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I finally figured out why I was getting research questions incorrect. I have not been reading the question and looking for what the question is asking for (this is probably where I lost those 2 points).  It’s a #twudygroup mantra to “Read the F#&@ing question” and I clearly have not been doing that. I am going to try and get through all the questions in CPAexcel on audit reports before I leave for the day.

In other news, I spent two hours yesterday preparing my meals for the week. My poor bf has to clean up the mess I left in the kitchen.  I will try and keep doing this each Sunday because it does save me time and I get to eat healthy meals throughout the week.

Happy studying to everyone and congratulations to all those who received passing scores this window.

73 on Audit, punch me in my ovaries...

So, my score was released earlier than I thought it would be. I got a whopping 73. I mean seriously, they could not give me the extra 2 points. I felt like someone had punched me in my ovaries. I had already started studying for BEC so I went ahead and put those books away and am back to studying Audit. I have solicited advice from my trusted advisor's who have been down this road before and are now CPAs and each person told me to treat that 73 like it was a 53. I have to study like I have never studied Audit before. I have Jeff from Another71.com audios and listen to him religiously each day. I love when he says "similarly." I must admit he really helps the material stick. I have him playing in the background all day at work and when I am driving to and from work. He did help me master audit reports.

I have the exam scheduled for January 4, 2013. I plan on reviewing the Yaeger Audit Cram by this Saturday (12/8/12), rewriting the Ninja Notes, and working questions. I am determined to pass this exam by next May. I am done messing around (I need out of the trenches!). Its like Miss Gina (http://missginacpa.blogspot.com/) said, 'You have to want it really bad." She has been my motivation during this whole process. Its nice to have the support system I have on twitter (hashtag #twudygroup). Its an underground community of CPA exam candidates that are working hard to get the three letters after their name. The #twudygroup alumni are also available to keep the rest of us motivated.

I am taking tomorrow off and plan on getting some studying done. To make sure I don't waste time watching television, I will be putting the remote control in the bf's car so he takes it to work with him tomorrow. I know my weaknesses, and trust me, if that remote control is there I will everything under the sun and not get an hour of studying done.

I will report back tomorrow evening with a status update. I have four weeks before my next Audit retake and plan on blogging at least twice a week to hold myself accountable.