[Ne’O]

rb2017 wrote, “It might sound weird and I don't do it as much anymore, but it made me (and especially my dad) feel better if I would just talk to her out loud about whatever.”

I don't find it weird. I hesitated to say that too, to IwannabeaCPA2017.
The beauty of cellphones is you can go for a walk and pretend to talk to the person you lost. I've done it in NYC and Phili.
It has been 15 years, and every now and then I just go out to the dock and talk to him. Imagining his smartass replies sometimes is the cognitive step I need to get on with whatever is bothering.

IwannabeaCPA2017: it works for us. You might feel foolish as hell, but give it a try some time.

-Yes it's Ne'O.

AUD:  72, 89

FAR:  71, 80

BEC:  83

REG: 82

Newbie CPA Candidate

[Ne’O]

Usually _The_Dude_Jeff deletes them.
He must be busy. I do wish we were allowed to edit our posts.

I'd retract some things, given the chance-
or at least clean up my poor grammar half the time.

-Yes it's Ne'O.

AUD:  72, 89

FAR:  71, 80

BEC:  83

REG: 82

Newbie CPA Candidate

[Ne’O]

IwannabeaCPA2017,

You don't get it back. We buried my lifetime best friend, closer to me than any family, and let his wife of one year cry on my shoulder.
I spent the next year smoking cigars, going for long walks in the evening, and drinking to get to sleep.
Obviously- don't do that. Be on guard against yourself, or you'll make particularly poor decisions during that first ‘after' year.

For a long time, a piece of you feels missing. It gets better, but if you look in that personal place, you will fill empty.
You have to overgrow it with life-> forwards.

I've had the bad luck to bury too many friends and family before middle age, and we live a long time in my family. Last year while studying for AUD, it was my grandfather that passed.
I was almost as close to him as my friend. Dwell on whatever shred of positive you can. At times, it may seem there are none.
At its worst, any day that doesn't kill you is a good day. Go from there.

Joe Biden once spoke on the loss of his first wife and daughter in a car wreck in 1972, and it resonated deeply with me.
In your case, be thankful that you had the time that you did and it wasn't sudden. Go from there.

-Yes it's Ne'O.

AUD:  72, 89

FAR:  71, 80

BEC:  83

REG: 82

Newbie CPA Candidate

[Ne’O]

Clarification:
(1) “Thus they [document based simulations] chew up time.
(2) Even if you 100% nailed every ‘Difficult' level MCQ, that is still only 50pts of the 75 you need to pass.

Even after 400 hours of study time for FAR, I still would be happy to get 90% (or 45pts of equivalency) on the MCQs.
After taking FAR on Dec 9th, walking out to the car it hit me I'd bunged up Question 33 in Module 2 EVEN THOUGH I knew the answer they wanted.
The AICPA had released something very similar as a ‘Difficult', but it should have been an easy one for me. That 90% MCQ might be a dream.

-Yes it's Ne'O.

AUD:  72, 89

FAR:  71, 80

BEC:  83

REG: 82

Newbie CPA Candidate

[Ne’O]

At 50/50, I doubt it.

I actually enjoy the document based simulations as much more akin to my 20+ years of experience, but am mild dyslexic [how I love spellchecker].
For me it just means slower read speed even with speed reading training. Thus they chew up time.

My response has been to time and accuracy drill drill drill on MCQs and try to rack up points there.
Even if you bang up a solid 50% be getting all ‘Difficult' questions and knocking them out of the park, you still need to get >= 50% of the SIMS.
I was shooting for a 90 on MCQs and 65 on SIMs.

-Yes it's Ne'O.

AUD:  72, 89

FAR:  71, 80

BEC:  83

REG: 82

Newbie CPA Candidate

[Ne’O]

Yackemo17,

Thank you for your kind words, most sincerely.
Usually when I vent, it is on a punching n kicking bag far from people.
This time around it kinda had to be with people would understand.

I'm pretty tired though. It has been 8 years for me from when I started.
It is hard to swallow that one coin flip decision on how I interpret a something is going matter that significantly my family and to those that I employ.

I'm not much one for Hope, and will quietly start studying again tomorrow for at least a 3rd go.
If I actually pass, the dozen librarians where I study-camp each deserve a Christmas present. I'll have to figure out something they all will appreciate.
Again, thank you.

Ne'O

-Yes it's Ne'O.

AUD:  72, 89

FAR:  71, 80

BEC:  83

REG: 82

Newbie CPA Candidate

[Ne’O]

I was trying to resist checking the books on one of the Sims. I'd convinced myself that it had been a bit of a trick question.
Instead, it seems I mentally flipped who had responsibility for something. Thus I'm now quite sure I gutterballed that whole SIM.
It wasn't that bad of a question, and I could have worked through it had I not dyslexia flipped it.

That might have been the difference between pass/fail. I'd found the instructions confusing on the last sim and run out of time on it.
That would be 2 sims under the bus, and I can't imagine I 100% aced the others or did so well on MC to overcome that.
I'm old enough I've been through a lot of the trench warfare of life, but I have to say I am amazed at myself how demoralizing I've found FAR to on my family and me.

Good luck to the rest of you.
It is going to suck to get that Fail before Christmas, and the wife knows I get the info before then. No putting that one away until after the holidays.
Put on the game face and just get ready to hit the library again, but I'd rather eat broken glass than tell her I failed again.
Librarians are politely tired of seeing me, but really it is worst for the family.

Ne'O

-Yes it's Ne'O.

AUD:  72, 89

FAR:  71, 80

BEC:  83

REG: 82

Newbie CPA Candidate

[Ne’O]

EXAM:

Test center was fine. Staff was polite, and with it. No busted AC or heat issues. No jackhammers going at the construction site nearby.

Like Brandon, this was my second stab at the horrible beast that FAR has become for me. Including Wiley, Becker, and Ninja testing plus AICPA released questions, I have over 400 hours in on this one. When I left the library Thursday night around 7:30pm, the desk ladies all gave me a little salute. I think they are tired or seeing me 4 days a week for the last 6 months, paused only for 2 weeks by Irma and the loss of power in the area.

AND I left the test very tired and a little angry

.
I know about 70% of the material so stone cold by now that you could blindfold me and ask to recite it as you read the book.
Nerves get you as you hit the first few MC, but then ease up as you get into the stride of it. Many of the MC I faced had little hooks or tricks in them that dealt with knowing exceptions to rules.

(removed by request of AICPA)

I was much much better prepared for this exam, but not sure if I passed.
The way I feel about the SIMS, a little angry that I might have failed again after being 400 hours in.
I have a lot of respect for the design of these exams, but this is the first where I had serious issue with the exam itself.

-Yes it's Ne'O.

AUD:  72, 89

FAR:  71, 80

BEC:  83

REG: 82

Newbie CPA Candidate

[Ne’O]

Brandon wrote, “Took it on tuesday after getting a 74 first attempt and studying probably another 250+ hours..”

That is me too. I took it after 1.5 passes through all the material and a fair bit of the Wiley test bank.
Then fled Irma, came back, got power after 10 days, cleaned up, made wind damage house repairs, and got my “ooh, you just missed it”.
So another 10 weeks living in the library. About 15 hours there per week, and about 8 hours per weekend at home = about +225 hours for me.

Did I pass? Well, I'll discuss exam in the next post.

-Yes it's Ne'O.

AUD:  72, 89

FAR:  71, 80

BEC:  83

REG: 82

Newbie CPA Candidate

[Ne’O]

Ivy8313 and Brickell,

I've had and let expire more than a half dozen of what they now call Finra licenses: 3,4,7,24,55,63 and one I am forgetting.
From trading floor days to present, I've overseen and trained about two dozen professional traders.
If someone shows promise, I still like to do so from time to time.
You would need find me on Seeking Alpha or one of the other forums where I still have a presence.

Seeing Jeff's edit of Brickell's post and reading his rules as to why, I don't think he'll permit it here.
I can understand his published reasoning as protecting his bread n butter and can anticipate other claims, though think it forgoes a significant revenue stream.
But it is his forum and that is his choice.

For trade and finance related matters, feel free to reach out to me at Seeking Alpha.

Neobliviscar
(Ne'O)

-Yes it's Ne'O.

AUD:  72, 89

FAR:  71, 80

BEC:  83

REG: 82

Newbie CPA Candidate

[Ne’O]

Hi BrickellCPA-

That would be much appreciated. We are in Sarasota.

Another71 doesn't seem to have a direct PM function. How do I best reach out to you?
If necessary, I can post an email address. That isn't wise, but not sure how else to connect.

Ne'O

-Yes it's Ne'O.

AUD:  72, 89

FAR:  71, 80

BEC:  83

REG: 82

Newbie CPA Candidate

[Ne’O]

I know this thread is old, but to follow up on Bricknell and other questions:

We are a “hedge fund”, “family office”, or whatever you want to call us nowadays.
Basically the structure is that of a hedgefund- a partnership managed by a GP that is outsourced to an LLC for max legal protection.
We're managing the wealth and to some degree the affairs of a small set of wealthy individuals who have made their money in all sorts of legal ways from venture capital, construction, to govt contractors, greeting card industry execs, and a pair of former senior partners at one of the ‘Big 4'.

We've got all the frontend operations nice and fine. The backend is the nag–
Even though the prime brokers do most of it anyway, the auditors want the broken out trade reconciliations. They also want walked through rather simple financials.
The new CPA auditor last year required us to get one of the prime brokers online and explain to him what a ‘Put' option was, and a ‘Call' option was in our reconciliations {inventory}
because he had trouble grasping what a ‘put' and ‘call' are and how we might actively buy and sell blocks of them. I had doubts he was even a CPA, but confirmed it with his state.

I have the greatest respect for modern era CPAs. I'd throw $100,000 easy per year at someone who would take this over for us, since the reconciliation is such a low brain power time sink.
Having done most of it for years, it is only about an avg of 20 hrs of work per week, for about 6 months of the year. Our ‘CPA' wouldn't quite be a CFO for various reasons, but needs be a CPA to get the stamp of approval from the CPAs to whom we outsource K-1s and various other things that we shouldn't prepare in house. Frankly an in house CPA probably would also provide us a cost saving of $10,000 to $25,000 in certain things we outsource.

And I couldn't find a competent one here in retiree wealthy town FL. The huge crop of them here are all older CPAs who want to do taxes, or introduce you to their wealth retirement wing… only to find out that is what we do and do much better.
I got so fed up, that I began the CPA track myself.

After I get this wrapped up [if ever, but hopefully soon]… any of you young CPAs in Cali, Texas, or elsewhere unable to find a job- I'll have you send me your resume / CV and feed it to the regional accounting firms here. Heaven knows there is a gross need for them here.
…and experience is also that the number of Auditors available to smaller firms like ours is drying up drastically. The guy from last year rubbed us the wrong way so much that I'm tempted to shout out on Another71 to find a decent auditor for this year….

There- rant over. I hope it helped some of you.
We're each double alumni from some of the top Ivy Leagues. We can field MBA resumes all day, as alumni plugged into our Career Services departments. We have no need for them… none. But find me a decent CPA and I would have thrown money at them for the last 5 years. Now it is getting a bit too late as I may finally finish the CPA myself and just handle it.

Ne'O

-Yes it's Ne'O.

AUD:  72, 89

FAR:  71, 80

BEC:  83

REG: 82

Newbie CPA Candidate

[Ne’O]

Ivy8313 said,

Thought about the pros and cons half way through. But fraction of the pay, after what most of us went through? That is depressing!

I think you are grabbing the wrong end of the stick, though not 100% certain. Only time will tell.
13 years ago an MBA with a CFA was worth a lot more than an MBA with a CPA. Now, it is most certainly not that way. I can throw a rock and hit an MBA with a CFA looking for a job that I don't want to give them. Meanwhile, I can't find a competent enough CPA to handle our CFO work. 8 years ago we had various CPA firms trying to get our small company's annual Audit. Now, so many of them are backlogged that they turn away. Even the offshore ones. The annual rise in the price of an audit is certainly outstripping inflation, and only seems to me that it will escalate.

A counterpoint is that technology including AI will make a fair number of accounting roles increasingly obsolete. Yet the human review and signature of a CPA will be required for a very long time.

My current viewpoint is that CPAs will increasingly become managerial overseeing non CPA staff, much as has happened with many doctors.
I've already seen a huge shift in the past 10 years. Right now, I'd be willing to pay a lot more for a competent CPA than a top 10 MBA.
Ultimately I am trying to partially solve this problem by becoming a CPA.

-Yes it's Ne'O.

AUD:  72, 89

FAR:  71, 80

BEC:  83

REG: 82

Newbie CPA Candidate

[Ne’O]

Coming from a Finance background, I would say it is harder post Sarbanes Oxley to get a CPA than it is an MBA from a top MBA school.
I say this having been at one of the top MBA schools.

I'm stunned CPAs get started at so little, and wonder how much it will change as supply vs demand of the pre vs post Sarbanes Oxley CPAs shifts.
We have a devil of a time finding competent auditors in recent years. The pool has evaporated rather fast.

I say all this as someone trying to become a CPA. If I were to go out and be employed by someone else, the new CPA pay would be a fraction of what I currently earn.
I'd be willing to pay near 200% of those starting salaries if I could find someone competent to do what I and another partner (also not a CPA) currently handle.

Ne'O

-Yes it's Ne'O.

AUD:  72, 89

FAR:  71, 80

BEC:  83

REG: 82

Newbie CPA Candidate

[Ne’O]

Congrats Mtaylo.

Most sincere congrats. You are an inspiration to many of us.
I took FAR and then had to evac my family and our 3 bags of possessions as Irma came straight at us.
We were spared, and I had convinced myself I had probably gotten a 75 just enough to get by and be done.

Instead, the score popped up today and was a 71.
Yeah, I'm down and tired and looking at having to repair damage to our house…. but you are my T2. You kept at it and did it.
You are my inspiration on this long path I have been walking for many years. Maybe I can get it done next qtr.

I never met you, but I'm genuinely happy for you.

Ne'O

-Yes it's Ne'O.

AUD:  72, 89

FAR:  71, 80

BEC:  83

REG: 82

Newbie CPA Candidate

[Author]

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