Passion - Secret behind Jody Padar's CPA Exam Success

Watch this inspirational speech by Jody Padar CPA. She talks about her CPA Exam journey and  about how she discovered her passion and linked it to her success. Find her on Twitter http://twitter.com/JodyPadarCPA  and http://newvisioncpagroup.com . After a series of upsets this year, sometimes I need a boost of inspiration to jump start again and conquer the beast. Thanks to Jody Padar for being there for me.

Tech CPA Exam Preparation

Technology adds ease in our preparation. As we are in the generation of online CPA Exam reviews, We should take advantage of  Audio reviews, Video reviews and all different software available today. This post is about the list of software I use in my exam preparation. I  may sound like a  'Techie', Don't worry , I'm not going to list every program  I tried. My laptop is loaded with Microsoft Windows XP Media center, But most of these software are Mac compatible and free.

PDF Readers : Foxit vs. Adobe PDF reader

Earlier in those old days, when we used to think that Adobe owns pdf files and ever since most of us are loyal to Adobe reader for using their PDF files. But you must try other PDF software to see what kind of advanced features are now available in those software. I prefer Fox it reader more than Adobe PDF reader for a variety of reasons.. Those features available in fox it are advanced and easy to use. To try this software click here .. I am sure you may don't want to go back to Adobe PDF reader again. In near future I will make a tutorial on how to use fox it in your preparation ..

Text to Speech Readers :

If you are using an online CPA Exam Review and you read online, use Text to speech readers and relax and let them read to you. I would suggest using ATT or other company's true voices which are more clear   and true human like reading. Well those free voices that are available online are good enough but if you prefer a more human like reading invest in a Natural voice and you won't regret.  You can download some free buddies and also convert your text files to MP3 files for easy listening.

Hear a demo of ATT True voices Click here
Some of my favorite TTS readers are

1. Deskbot
2. Free Read

Speech Recognition Software :

I am using Dragon Speech Recognition software.. Dragon speech recognition software makes it easier for anyone to use a computer. You talk, and it types. Use your voice to create and edit documents or emails, launch applications, open files, control your mouse, and more.

This software is useful in writing your notes and if you are a blogger or a writer..this software works like magic. You can train it to suit  your accent. Very accurate and easy to use. It's time to close that language tool bar in MS office.

Audio recording: 

I mentioned about this software when I wrote a post about Making your own Audio CPA Review.  My favorite is  Audacity . There are other paid software but because Audacity is free and serves our purpose,
I only mentioned Audacity.

Writing Tablets: 

If you like to write your notes in your own handwriting , Tablets are ease to use, be it be Bamboo or iPad or any economy tablets they all are good enough to use.

Print to PDF :

I use this software every day. This software prints any document or text file to pdf.  To  read more about this and to download this software..   Click here 

Other:

Some other miscellaneous software

•  Mobi Pocket creater :  For creating ebooks and kindle files 
• Smooth Draw : Image editor for easy scribbling of notes in image format
• Open office : leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more..
• Cue card  : Flash card preparation software 

Image credit : http://www.brainstuck.com/

Roger CPA Review offers 3 flexible study formats, comprehensive preparation materials, and the highest pass rate in the industry. Find out more!

Reg Exam update

When your preparation is not so Good.. You feel like everything is in the mind and nothing feels clear. Even straight forward questions you answered feel doubtful. And the end feels like you didn't performed well. I did my best but I am not satisfied with my performance. It just ends up to waiting for the result to see how I performed. My disturbed preparation showed up. I am not so proud to write this but this is what happened.

First test-let was the difficult one, Second was easy and third was medium. Simulations were pretty easy. I managed time well as advised by  Mr.Roger of Roger CPA Review. I had little inconvenience due to my pregnancy situation because I couldn't take a break in the 3hr exam but I managed some how. When the exam  ended the whole screen went blank before it concluded , I asked a staff member for assistance and she restarted the computer and made me enter my launch code and said ," It happens all the time, we have instructions from NASBA, If ever the screen goes blank after the exam ends, we just need to restart the computer and ask the candidate to enter their launch code". She confirmed me that my exam will be fine.

I was so surprised to find a girl at Prometric who doesn't even know what NTS is!!! She brought a print out of Prometric appointment confirmation. When a staff member was asking her for NTS, she was clueless. A staff member explained her what NTS is and told her to get a printout from her NASBA emails from a nearby Kinkos. I showed her my NTS and she came back with a print out of NTS and wrote her exam.

I started my FAR preparation and planning to appear in the first week of October. Being pregnant and prepare for exam and do a job is not an easy affair. Still I want to do it because I want to become a CPA and it makes me happy.

Mobile wallpaper

Roger CPA Review offers 3 flexible study formats, comprehensive preparation materials, and the highest pass rate in the industry. Find out more!

BE THE MATERIAL!

My friend Anna sent me few words on how to prepare.. She is a brilliant young lady who never fails to surprise me and never fails to show her affection and care. Her few little words inspired me and I felt like, I should share her own words with you ..She sent me these words few days back, when I was little worried about my preparation and loss of time..

In her own words..

Best thing is to relax and tell yourself that you will do well, and not only tell yourself- believe it. KNOW it, know your material and know you are great and will do well. BE THE MATERIAL! It is a part of yooou!
You can put it in your brain and then it is a part of your memory, your brain, so it is like a part of you. Not strange or foreign. Just a part of you. So it comes down to how well you know that part of you.  

Hats off.. dear friend ♡.. 

Roger CPA Review offers 3 flexible study formats, comprehensive preparation materials, and the highest pass rate in the industry. Find out more!

Desire to breathe

From last 14 days.. All our family members are going through a very difficult time. My father is in ICU and he is still battling with death. God kept us in a very tricky situation ..My Dad's heart is partially damaged due to an earlier stroke. So from last few years he is maintaining it on medicines. There is nothing any doctor can do for his heart because it's not a treatable condition. The only solution is heart transplant and it is not a viable option for various reasons.
Doctors advised us to discontinue his life support because there is not even 1% hope. But we continued it for 12 days and finally two days back we brought him home but nothing happened as doctors said and he is still breathing and making us realize what it means to have a loved one alive for one more day. Though we are in financial troubles we are choosing to keep him in doctor's care. At this point of time we don't understand how long his heart will let him live .. Though there is no hope of recovery, I only want him to die peacefully and happily.

Inspirational wallpaper 5

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Roger CPA Review offers 3 flexible study formats, comprehensive preparation materials, and the highest pass rate in the industry. Find out more!

How to make your own CPA Audio review?

Is it possible to make your own audio review?
Yes!! Making your own audio review is one good way to squeeze in revisions in your preparation. After you complete studying a topic, you will record your understanding about the topic along with key points.

How can I record my own audio review?
All you need is a mic, your laptop and an audio recording software. Alternatively you can record your review on your mobile devices, tablets or any audio recorders.

Lets get into the process...

Focus Wallpaper-3

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Roger CPA Review offers 3 flexible study formats, comprehensive preparation materials, and the highest pass rate in the industry. Find out more!

Kindle CPA Reviews

Do you know we have Kindle editions of CPA Reviews available? And some of Kindle's CPA Reviews cost less than paper backs and they are convenient. We can carry them any where read, highlight and scribble some notes just beside the text.
If you don't have Kindle you can still purchase them and can use these books by installing Free Kindle applications on your PC(Windows), Mac and mobile phones .. . Click here for more details 
I am using  Roger CPA Review for Regulation. Combining Wiley's focus notes with my review helped me to save time while I am preparing flashcards for key points.

Inspirational Wallpaper - 4

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Roger CPA Review offers 3 flexible study formats, comprehensive preparation materials, and the highest pass rate in the industry. Find out more!

How to practice Research section in Regulation?

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Get your own

Is it important to practice Research question? 

Yes, Research question carries more or less 6 % of your score. It is easy to answer the question, provided you practice how to answer the question well. It will save your time for other simulations. In this exam where people fail getting 74%, What does an extra one mark means? Life.

What kind of questions can we get in Research? 

If you refer CSOs/SSOs effective January 1, 2011 and also CSOs/SSOs Effective July 1, 2011 they have a list of references which can give you a clear idea of what to expect. But in general you can expect 

• Internal Revenue Code
• Statements on Standards for Tax Services
• Relevant IRS circulars 

How to access AICPA Online Professional Library?

If your exam is REG, FAR or AUD.. Your preparation is not finished unless you familiarize yourself well with all our professional standards. You don't need to read every standard and memorize it but you should know how the standards are arranged and how to find the answer. After the task based simulations are introduced and they carry 40% of our score.. It is impossible to pass the exam with out successfully attempting the sims.

All CPA Exam candidates are given free access to professional literature.

1. You need an unexpired NTS i.e., the exam section code which you yet to appear for the exam.
2. Visit this page and enter the details 
3. Nasba will send a link to get registered for a 6 month access to the library. 
4. You can access the professional literature here 

Pirates of Hard work

A week back I had a dream, I was watching the movie, The pirates of of the Caribbean in a movie theater(come on!! It's Captain Jack sparrow). It was dark and the whole setting in the movie theater was very much like what I saw at Disney. It's like sitting in a jungle and watching the movie at the same time.( My dreams are getting pretty creative now a days ). Every one was given a token and that token will turn into a special coin at the end of the film.

Preparation so far

I was preparing for REG since starting of this month but I paid fees two days back. Not that I am recommending this. But It was little painful to pay. Call it anger or disappointment. But once you receive your NTS that feeling is different. It becomes exam time. Never postpone paying fees once you are decided. Paying hard earned money is commitment.

I have reached the half way mile stone in my pregnancy journey and nausea is settling. Right now I am concentrating on eating healthy foods and gaining some weight. I lost almost 4 pounds during the last 4 months and was little worried. Every body is telling me that this time is the best in pregnancy. So I want to take advantage of this time and prepare well for the exam.

Positive Affirmations for CPA Exam preparation

• I let go of all fear and doubt and CPA exam becomes simple and easy for me
• I create a stress free world for my CPA exam preparation
• I relax all my neck muscles and I let go off any tension in my shoulders
• I slowly breathe in and out and I find myself relaxing more and more with each breathe
• I am a capable person and I can answer every question that comes my way
• I am centered and focused
• I feel more secure each day

A word on CPA Exam Quitter...

I read this Article on Going Concern CPA Exam Quitter Sends Epic Hate Mail to AICPA, NASBA and it brought back some unforgettable memories with NASBA..

In that letter the person's primary concern seems to be circulating around the glitches and bugs of CPA Exam software. I can completely understand what he went through because I faced the same situation for my exam. The old calculator program didn't work at all. I informed the same to Prometric staff member who reported the bug to NASBA right before me.

After coming home, I immediately emailed NASBA with details and also called them the following day. My exam was scheduled in the evening, the time when we are only received by answering machines. It took me two hours on phone to effectively communicate with the right person. My call was forwarded from one person to other and I waited online for hours..

BEC Exam experience

BEC was my first exam and I passed it in my first attempt. But because of my Epic fail last year with a 74 in REG and 70 in FAR, I had to appear for BEC again. Preparing and appearing for a passed exam is not a pleasant experience and please never get into a rut like this. If I had passed those two subjects, I might be very relaxed now. Okay I won't go into ifs and buts of what if situations. Let me walk through my BEC exam today.

I was relaxed, more than that I prepared myself not to get tense and stress myself. So last night I told myself, This is what I can do and I did that so I will leave the rest to my performance and then to God. So I was not really stressed. I had enough sleep but I was little tired because of revisions and continuous sitting for hours. I woke up around 8.30 and revised everything quickly. I wanted to go back to sleep but I keep telling my self to concentrate on revision. I just ate yogurt and a small sandwich but before 11.30 I threw up twice. I left house by 11.30 and I threw up again in car. My husband drove me to Prometric. He didn't said any thing. I sent him for ginger candy while I waited and show off my Kindle. I went inside before he came back. 

As it was not month end I was the only one who was sitting for CPA Exam. I watched another exam guy who was debating rules with the staff over his exam code not working and there was no one who could help him with that. After answering all his questions a staff member came to me and collected my ID and NTS. I removed my items and locked them and went in. Then I was told to remove scarf. She checked my Id and asked me to sign in and then she asked me to go back and lock my NTS after I entered my launch code on the paper booklet. Then I told her about my nausea and asked her how should I proceed in case I want to throw up. She looked at me as if I was asking some thing illegal. She said, as you are not a candidate with special needs I cannot allow you to sit in a special needs room. I asked," Can I leave the room If I have some emergency? She said you can throw up beside you , we will clean later. 

I really had no reaction on my face when she said that. I asked, Do we have any waste basket inside? She said, No we don't keep waste baskets inside. There is nothing we can do about it. She discussed with another lady and said, We cannot provide you the room with special needs, you should sit in the same room and there is nothing we can do. You can only take breaks in between your test-lets. After appearing in this exam more times than I passed.. Excuse me I know Prometic rules.. 

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New FAR Materials

My new FAR materials arrived. I am using  Roger FAR online CPA Review this time, Roger CPA Review contains their own text book with theory and class questions which are essential for following their videos along with Wiley CPA Review text book, which we use it like a workbook. They also send us Wiley Test bank CD which connects to their online test bank.

I used Roger CPA Review for BEC and after completing the lecture and a single reading, you can answer almost all questions in Wiley confidently. Due to my first trimester nausea, I had difficulty adjusting to it so my BEC Exam is scheduled in May. After the exam I will start preparing for FAR. People are saying Second trimester is the best part of the Pregnancy. I am hoping that this best part spins a charm and I may prepare well and complete this Exam journey. For some reason I feel extremely happy being hopeful.

 Earlier in my last FAR exam I got 70 and couldn't clear the exam, I was using a different CPA Review at that time. I don't blame any CPA Reviews for my poor performance. Honestly I failed that exam because I forgot  what the acronyms stand for. All the questions from Governmental and Non profit accounting were pretty basic. In the exam I memorized all the acronyms but failed to remember what they stand for.

 It is very important to remember acronyms and also to memorize what they stand for. Though it is entirely impossible to ignore acronyms in my preparation, but this time I am using some visual memory techniques which are more effective than acronyms. I will clearly discuss this technique in my next post.

Prepare well and Write your exams confidently..
My best wishes
Rose

Focus

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BEC preparation so far

If you are following my twitter account you probably already knew the news. But if you are not aware of it, I am happy to share with you 'the news' that I am pregnant with my first child. I never mentioned about my married life before but because I will be stuyding for the exam in my pregnancy too, I thought I should share this with you. I am happy but at the same time confused and have all the fears of a newbie.

Inspirational wallpaper

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CPA - it can be done!

How can we become a CPA Exam topper?

This was the first question I asked Mary.K., when she sent me her CPA Exam pass notice. I met Mary on twitter, when I requested CPA Exam veterans to send me their pass notice (as my every day feel good factor), She responded and emailed me her pass notice and said," It is really hard, and most of us do take more than one time to get through it. I got way better scores the last times than the first ;) " and the subject of her email was;  CPA - it can be done! Let me share her pass notice with you so that you will understand why I choked when I saw it.

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BEC Time table

I started my BEC Preparation, This is my BEC time table for March . I will be updating this timetable and it will be automatically updated from google docs.  I am watching  Roger CPA Review online videos and doing MCQ's from Wiley CPA Review. Revisions are also scheduled along with working for TBS.  My time table is based on Roger CPA Review. This is a sample version of my timetable to give you an idea.


To see the updated time table document  Click here 

BEC TIMETABLE

CPA- Career choice of the smartest

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Wallpaper self made

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New materials

Yay!!! My new materials arrived. It always feels good to read from a new book. Studying from an old book with highlights and pencil  remarks may decrease your burden but if it is for reading again, I don't think it will lift your spirits. My friend always advices to buy a new book if it is necessary to read again -applies for exam study courses in specific.

Roger BEC online CPA Review  contains their own text book with theory and class questions which is essential for following their videos along with Wiley CPA Review text book which they advice us to use it like a workbook. They also send us Wiley Test bank CD which connects to their online test bank. Mr.Roger Philip is a very energetic person, His enthusiasm and jokes will make the lecture move really smooth. Its feels like he got the same energy from start to finish. I must ask Mr.Roger to share us his energy secret .

For now my preparation is like, Watching the lectures and scribble running notes and then do MCQ's . Will share my time table in the next post.

CPA Exam Study and Dark circles

It's almost certain that each one of us use a concealer to hide those dark truths. Guys, this article is not about beauty tips for girls. Until recently I thought being in a life where we worry,  get anxious and stress out and spend our valuable time staring Laptops, it is impossible to avoid straining eyes.
I swear I'm not going to reveal an excellent product in the market that can erase them or cover up flawlessly. But the truth is using a salmon colored concealer or some excellent discovery that makeup artists will swear by is not going to decrease the amount of strain your eyes face every day.
As we cannot avoid our laptops or stop studying or quit our professions. We must understand that this is our daily life and we should incorporate some habits that can restore our eyes and body to function well and regain their balance.
 
I started doing yoga which I ignored for almost 2 years now. I understood that keeping my body in exam mode and stressing out all the time will ruin its natural state. Our natural state being peaceful, calm, in present and happy.

When you are in your bed and about to sleep. I want you to relax, take deep breaths and use your two ring fingers to gently massage your eyes in circular motion in the direction of blood flow. You can simply rub your eyes gently in circular motion  too. I read in a book that our ring finger got that right amount of pressure which we need for our eyes.  But every other book got a theory about it. But after trying all  fingers for massage, I feel ring finger gives right pressure compared with other fingers.

For your right eye, it is anti- clockwise and for your left eye, it is clockwise (while giving massage for your self). Please refer the diagram if my explanation is confusing or you try to watch yourself as a spectator. Continue massaging your eyes for at least 5 minutes. This will increase the blood flow in your eyes and will help them to heal and restore. I massage my eyes when ever I feel my eyes are tired.Though learning about how to massage will help more but please know that doing 'something' is more important than doing nothing. I will include some good links which can help you if you want to learn more.

These are some techniques which will help to reduce the amount of strain on eyes..

1. Try to blink your eyes as many times as you can to avoid drying .
2. Every five or ten minutes avoid watching your laptops for few seconds and look at some distant object.
3. Gently rub your eyes in circular motion (in the direction of blood flow) in intervals while studying.
4. Avoid spending long hours on laptops when it is not necessary.
5. Don't stare your monitor continuously.
6. Close your eyes and relax.
7. Drink lots of water.
8. Eat nutritious food.
9. Know that being healthy is way too glamorous than using makeup.

Links :

1. http://www.ehow.com/videos-on_3758_soothe-tired-eyes.html

On to next exam

My Next exam is BEC followed by FAR and I am Planning to appear for these exams in April. So I will be preparing for BEC this whole March along with FAR. BEC was my first exam and I passed it in my first attempt. But I lost credit so I am retaking the exam. Giving an exam that you already passed is definitely a painful thing. But I decided to block out those thoughts because it's quite unnecessary to think about that kind of thoughts. I am choosing my best thoughts that can help me pass the CPA Exam.
I used Kaplan Online CPA Review and Wiley CPA Review Book  for my earlier preparation. But my Kaplan CPA Review expired, So I decided to put my trust in Mr.Roger Philipp this time. I will use Roger's BEC Online CPA Review and Roger's FAR Online CPA Review . All my earlier preparations were done using a combination of different reviews. But I am quitting that approach this time for BEC and FAR.After keeping my feet on different boats for long, It's clear to me now that going with only one Review will help me focus better.
Once I receive my review materials, I will share with you my time table for BEC and FAR preparation.

Let me check my email...

What's New (2010)

For those who don't have time to look into Publication 17 to see what's New.. I made this small video ..I recorded this when I referred it. Hope this helps.




Roger CPA Review offers 3 flexible study formats, comprehensive preparation materials, and the highest pass rate in the industry. Find out more!

Managing Stress - Techniques

I am presenting you some amazing videos that can make you understand what stress is and then some videos on how to manage it..

Learn about Stress and how to manage it



Learn to Meditate



Learn Pranayama



More info about Pranayama is here

The Hour log

As I told you earlier, I will be devoting some part of my time for self development. Improving my habits to learning useful things and working on  learning strategies are part of my Life management goals.
I observed that When I start doing things I like, I forget my surroundings and forget time too. Though my performance in that work is outstanding they can consume a major part of my time reducing the time for my preparation.
So in order to keep track of the hours I spend on CPA Exam preparation and on other things including chores and other activities. I opened a word file and named  it 'Hour log'. I will include a draft of the file for your use.
There is no need to spend your hours on this... Just note a word or a line to have an idea.. This is not a diary.. don't keep it lengthy..If you want a diary , keep it separate..Well we have many calender and time tracking software.. But for some reason I found this useful. Alternatively you can also track your time on your PDA devices and also in a simple diary. These statistics will help us to know how much time we are investing in fruitful things and how much time we are procrastinating.

Happy New Year

I tried my best to stop this year from coming, but no use it refused to stop. I realized, I cannot do that. There is a limitation on what I can do and what I cannot.
This may be a little exaggeration of how I feel but I decided to hold on to my optimism and may not be in a distorted sense but seeking the truth as it is. May be its true, 'pain is the best teacher'. And every wound makes you strong. I  felt like , It cant get any worse, I am done with the worse.
I remembered a childhood incident, when I was scheduled for a shot, I spent a whole day worrying about the coming doctor appointment. It was even worse when I reached there. I was shaking inside trying to imagine it with my extraordinary capacity of creativity. And when the whole thing is over which lasted a couple of seconds, It really didn't pained at all than my own fear which lasted two days and tortured me.
Well at that point of time I didn't have the maturity to understand the pain, I gave myself. When I remember them now, they look so clear. When the worst thing that you fear happens there is no situation left that can scare you any more. Unless you are addicted to pain and look for something else. Pain and Happines are two extreme emotions you can get addicted to. It's a choice.
I wrote some more resolutions in addition to the above ones.. I am positive that I can reach my goals this year. And I will discuss with you all my efforts in this process.
Friends I wish you a wonderful year ahead. And I am glad that you are sharing it with me.