Jay is a weekly columnist as a Club 75 Blogger, where he documents his journey through the CPA Exam. He has been a member of Club 75 since April 2010.

Week 10:

Post Audit Exam Update:

Hello all. What a weight off your shoulders to just take an exam. Regardless of how you did, it just feels like such a relief to be done. I took my audit exam on Monday November 15th and have taken this week off to recharge.

My mother in law cooked a nice dinner on that Monday night and it was the first family dinner I had with everyone in quite some time (my in laws live very close, so they are a huge help). Every night this week, I did the unwind routine with my little girls. You know…wash up and get dressed for bed type of stuff. Then we play upstairs in one of their bedrooms for a little while and lastly we end with story time. It is so awesome.

We all went to my older daughter’s dancing class on Saturday morning and didn’t return to the house until the evening. We ran errands, went to the mall, did some Christmas shopping and I bought a new iPhone. All the things that most people think of as boring and routine, I’m just so happy to be able to do with my family after being stuck in the library for the better part of the last year. That said, I’ll be back to the library routine soon enough (bummer).

Let me give you a quick rundown of my exam experience. I felt pretty well prepared going into the exam, but I have said the same thing taking FAR and have failed, so not sure what that’s worth. I finished the first section in 30 minutes, went back and reviewed the questions that I thought could use a review.

I don’t think I changed many, maybe one, if I am recalling correctly. My second section was done in about 40 minutes and I went back and reviewed that testlet as well. I spent more time reviewing section two, as there were more questions which I had less conviction on and needed a second read. Section two was clearly harder than section one.

I took a quick stretch and break at the end of section two, which cost me a few minutes, but in my opinion helps you reset your mind and concentration. I have found that after the second section, my concentration starts to wane and I don’t read as thoroughly. Even my practice exams show my performance in section three consistently dropping off.

Section three seemed the hardest and I probably spent 50 minutes in my initial run through and another 40 reviewing. There were probably half that I reviewed a second time. The simulations weren’t too bad. The written portion was very easy and subjective in my opinion. All in all, I used the whole 4.5 hours. Everyone asks how it went and I always say it wasn’t terrible, but it certainly wasn’t a slam dunk. I think I may have passed, but by no means would I be shocked if I failed. Nothing surprises me with these exams. I’m crossing my fingers.

I just received my flashcards for the 3 remaining sections, which I had not had. I am going to begin carrying the flashcards with me to work and back for FAR. I may begin doing some light reading in the evenings this week, but don’t plan to start hardcore FAR until after Thanksgiving. I also saw on the blog that people recommended an accounting review website to get your debits/credits straight again, as I think that journal entry is one of my weakest areas for FAR. I will probably start skimming that this week, as work should be pretty slow all week. I am planning to take FAR in January or February of 2011, probably February.

I will be back after Thanksgiving with my first FAR study update. Have a happy holiday!!

Jay-O