The Carpenter's Rule: Is checking you answers possible?

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  • #197517
    Anonymous
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    Just philosophizing for a moment.

    Carpenters have a rule they follow: “Measure twice, cut once.”

    The idea is, if you go to the store and buy a board, and you bring it home to cut it, then you should measure the board twice before doing so. If you don’t confirm and verify the cutting line, then you run a greater risk of spending twice the time going back to the store to buy another board and spending twice the money. It recalls the question: if you cant afford the time to do something right the first time, can you afford to do it again?

    I was discussing this with my boss, who is a CPA, and he recommended the carpenter’s rule as a way of confirming answers. But, he’s got 30 years of experience as a CPA, so it is easy for him to flip numbers around and dream up ways of checking his work that I have yet to identify.

    My question is broadly stated here, but are there any “tricks” for checking and confirming answers?

    I guess it depends on the problem. If there is more than one way to do a problem, say like by writing a cash flow statement, which can be done using the indirect or direct method to get the same answer, then that is one possibility. For example, if it asks for the direct method, I guess you could “check twice” by doing the it under the indirect method, too.

    Another way to check your answer might be to simply do the problem twice. This is kind of like what happens when you create a new password for an email account. The portal will usually ask you to retype your password to confirm it. The idea is not so much to affirm the right answer as make sure there is not a mismatch – because, if there was a mismatch, the account would become fast obsolete, and you’d never get in.

    As per the CPA Exams, by confirming answers before selecting your response – you could tell of a problem somewhere along the way if your answers didn’t match. It’s a bit more work, but it could help stave off missed points because then at least one would know a greater need for certainty.

    I was just wondering if anyone here could recommend any other ways of checking one’s work? Again, I suppose it depends on the type of question, but it seems a worthy consideration to inquire about.

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