Joe is a NINJA CPA blogger. If you're working full time, it can be tough to find time to study the recommended three times a day. Have you ever thought about using your current job to prepare for the CPA exam? If you work as an auditor, in a GL department, preparing taxes for a small CPA firm or in another accounting role, you can use your job to turn everyday responsibilities into learning opportunities. As an accounting manager for a public company, I get many chances to work with outside auditors on both audit and SOX related issues directly related to AUD. I review journal entries, depreciation schedules, and financial statements relating directly to FAR. Think about how your daily work applies to the exam. How you can make your understanding of the materials stronger by doing your day-to-day tasks? As the CPA exam evolves, it's become more focused on real world scenarios than memorizing lists, terms or definitions.

Aida is a NINJA CPA blogger. I am on the fourth week of studying REG. So far it feels pretty good– I’ve already covered ethics and responsibilities, half of business law and individual taxation. This is what I’ve learned during the process: I split the computer screen so that I can see multiple resources at the same time in the simulation section (you can try it in the AICPA sample exam). I made notecards and stuck them under the keyboard at work. Every 15 minutes I grab one and test myself to see if I remember the content of the notecard. Unfortunately, I am now skipping lunches with my colleagues at work – instead I spend an hour or so to go through multiple choices. I believe (a colleague at work confirmed this) the exam covers conceptual legal concepts versus percentages and numbers that change every year. Try to identify

Joe is a NINJA CPA blogger. The REG NINJA Audio is a tool I use to give me an extra edge on exam day. I passed both BEC and REG on the first try and I am convinced the NINJA audio was instrumental in my success. Listening to the notes over and over again is very helpful, as Jeff makes the material as interesting as possible. I won't forget the parts of the unmodified audit report after hearing Jeff shout ““TIMAA!!!!” Since I am a family man I find it easy to remember all of the analogies about him and his 7 children. The material is excellent and to the point. One key to my success has been taking notes while listening to the Audio, I will sit down and listen to all of the material over a couple of days. The only difficult part is pausing and replaying, I've found

Kimberly is a NINJA CPA blogger. I’m a little bummed I didn’t sit for AUD this quarter as planned. I wasn’t as ready as I know I need to be. In the past, I've taken exams and passed them (and then lost them) several times. I don’t know anyone who is 100% confident going into an exam. However, there’s a feeling you get when you know you’ve done all you can to prepare. When you're prepared, even if something new shows up on the exam, you know enough to fight your way through. I've felt that way when I passed an exam, but haven’t had that feeling while studying for AUD. I planned to sit on May 31, but life events and celebrations took me away from my study routine. Ultimately, I didn’t think I could pull it off. Although I trend at 85% with NINJA MCQ on most AUD topics, I didn’t have

Rollie is a NINJA CPA blogger. NINJAs, Sorry for being a whiny and demotivated pain in the butt lately. With some self-realization, I have changed up my study plan: I am scheduled for REG on July 1st; no excuses. I hate paying the 35 dollar change fee, so motivation is there not to cancel. Around May 20th, I reset my NINJA MCQ stats and am now pounding through individual topics until they are stuck in my head. I've cut my time on Reddit, Pinterest and Facebook in half. It was too easy to get distracted. By cutting out social media, there's more time to study at work. The good new is —  it’s starting to sink in! Again, sorry for being a whiny and demotivated pain in the butt with all my negative and not fun blog posts. Moving forward, I am going to continue this strategy of individual topics until 2

Christina is a NINJA CPA blogger. My REG retake was yesterday and I have absolutely no idea how I did. MCQ felt good and I took my time on the SIMs and researched everything I could. I even took advantage of the 15 minute break when the clock stops to stretch my legs. Waiting until August will be painful, but until then I will keep pressing forward. June is a busy month for me; we’ve got 3 birthdays within 10 days of each other on top of school letting out and a weekend getaway we have planned. At work, I also have to take on extra work for someone who will be out for almost the whole month. So with all of that, I’m trying to be smart about my study time. I plan to move on to AUD while I wait for my REG results. My goal is to test