Finally… I started this journey quite some time ago. I got my undergraduate degree in kinesiology in 2011 with the intent of going to medical school. After 2 attempts with the MCAT, I gave up. It was the first time in my life that I gave up on something and it is a regret I still have to this day. Fast forward about 3 years. I worked in sales just trying to find something I was good at and something that would put a little change in my pocket. I was 25 at this point with a college degree that I didn't use, college debt for that same degree that I wasn't using, and not really finding any happiness in my job. The only real “good” thing in my life was my relationship with my girlfriend (now wife). She was a CPA working for a big 4 and so I got to see the things she was working on… analyzing accounts, seeing how a business truly works etc. I was intrigued. I looked into some certificate programs and decided to give it a shot. I received my certificate in accounting after about a year or so of extra classes and after being the “weird intern guy” who was 26 and older than some of the newly graduated staff accountants. Swallowing my pride was difficult, but I did it. At the conclusion of my internship, I received a full time offer with the firm where I'm currently employed (have been for 2 years now).
My firm offers new hires one of the “big boy” study guides for the CPA (I didn't want to include the name of it, but I'm sure you all could figure it out), so I began studying. I didn't really know what I was doing or how to study for the exam, but I figured “I got mostly A's in my accounting courses – I can do this”. Boy was I wrong. I took FAR in July 2016. I wanted to get a baseline of where I was, so I wasn't terribly discouraged when I got a 67 on my first attempt. I tried again in October of the same year. Studied harder and felt more prepared. 66. One point less and I studied more. I didn't understand. “Time to reset”, I thought to myself. Studied for BEC. Took it in January 2017. Passed with a 77. Time to create some momentum. REG after tax season? Yeah let's do it. 72. So close. I started studying for audit before I got my reg score back, so I was already locked in. Took it in July. 70. Brutal.
Time to change things up, which brings me to my journey with Ninja. I had some co-workers who suggested Ninja, as it helped them get thru the process. I figured at this point anything could help. Oh yeah, forgot to mention this… Big life change in October 2017. My wife and I had not only our first, but our first & second child in October. We had twin girls, which totally changed my perspective and outlook on life. No longer was I trying to pass for myself, but I had added motivation. I bought Ninja. I took FAR again at the end of October (while my girls were about 3 weeks old – we had serious family help). I took audit again at the end of November. With the help of Ninja on both FAR and audit, I found out in early/mid December that I got a 75 on FAR and a 78 on audit. 3/4 complete. I was a believer in the Ninja products at this point. I bought it for REG and took the exam in early January. Found out today that I got an 83 and am officially finished with the exams.
I apologize for the lengthy post, but I write this post only to encourage those who may find themselves in a similar situation that I was in. I had passed 1 exam when my wife and I found out that we were having twins. By the time the twins were born, I still had only passed 1 exam. In the 3 months since they've been alive, I'm now finished. I owe a TON of thanks to Jeff and the Ninja products. I went 3/3 on the exams that I used Ninja on – the record speaks for itself. I have suggested Ninja to now 4 people I work with (I should probably get some type of sales commission, Jeff) because the stuff works. Plain and simple.
Anyways, for those of you who think “I'll never get through this” or “this exam sucks – I'm tired of studying”.. Just know, you're not wrong – it does suck. It sucks big time. But you can do it. I did it… and you can do. Best of luck and thank you to Jeff for developing this product!!
FAR: 67, 66, 75
AUD: 70, 78
BEC: 77
REG: 72, 83
.
