In this episode of the CPA Exam Experience Podcast, you’ll hear how Drew was able to pass the CPA exam even while living a very busy life. Drew found SuperfastCPA very early in his process, and it allowed him to be super efficient.
You’ll hear how Drew, a super multitasker, was able to pass the CPA exams while still taking care of his son, golfing, working, and playing video games. His process was so efficient that he was able to study in 30 minute chunks throughout the day and still crush his exams. Drew has a lot of great tips and advice, you won’t want to miss this episode!
IMPORTANT LINKS:
Master your study process by attending one of our free study training workshops:
https://www.superfastcpa.com/study-secrets/
Episode Timestamps
- 00:00 Intro
- 03:26 Sold Cars Before Pursuing His Finance Degree
- 04:37 Found an Accounting Role
- 06:29 Worked Up the Ladder
- 07:53 Why Drew Decided to Get His CPA
- 09:10 Going Back to School
- 09:37 Drew Wanted the CPA for Progression
- 11:17 Started with the Traditional Method
- 12:26 Scored a 69 on His First Exam
- 13:18 Found SuperfastCPA Through An Ad
- 14:08 Loved the Audio Notes
- 16:03 Used the Mini Quizzes Any Chance He Could
- 17:40 Deleted the Social Media Apps on His Phone
- 19:01 The Study Tools Made Juggling Multiple Things Possible
- 20:02 Learning the Concept of Behind Each Question
- 22:43 Drew’s Daily Study Routine
- 24:15 Used SuperfastCPA Study Materials and Passed His FAR Retake
- 24:52 Used the Free SuperfastCPA Walkthrough Videos
- 26:31 Studying in Chunks During the Day
- 28:12 How Drew Used with the Walkthrough Videos
- 29:23 Jumped Back into Studying After Each Exam
- 30:14 Playing Video Games While Studying
- 32:36 Drew Didn’t Compromise His Life to Take the CPA Exams
- 34:39 The Benefits That Drew Got from SuperfastCPA
- 38:05 Drew Loved the SuperfastCPA Study Tools
- 38:44 Drew Took the CPA Exams to Learn, Not Just to Pass
- 41:16 Felt That He Should’ve Bought the Bundle
- 43:19 Drew’s Thoughts for the TCP Exam
- 45:31 Thoughts About Practice the Sims
- 46:35 Always Finished Every Exam with An Hour And a Half Left
- 49:18 Still Getting the Other Requirements for His CPA License
- 51:59 Top Tips for People Still Going Through the CPA Exams
- 54:01 Made a Spreadsheet to Track His Knowledge on Topics
- 55:20 CPA Exam Pass Window
Interview Transcript
Drew: [00:00:00] You can button down and get them done in four months, but it’s like I, I just couldn’t, I couldn’t give it my personal life.
You know, I got friends and, you know, people who want to hang out and do stuff, and I’m the same way. It’s like, you know, I definitely wasn’t missing a, a Sunday golf outing to study. That wasn’t happening. It’s like, I’m gonna prioritize that. I’ll study later, you know?
Um, but I never felt bad. I never like felt bad about making those choices because I always knew like, look, I could go home and do 20 to 30 questions and get a lot out of that because I’m not just speeding through the questions like, “Oh, I missed one. Cool. Why did I miss that? Okay, let me read all the answers.”
Like, I will read right and wrong answers. I will read all, you know, four selections to see like, you know, what are the potential, you know, situations and like how they could phrase these questions. Um, so I thought that was crucial.
Logan: Welcome to another episode of the CPA Exam Experience podcast from SuperfastCPA. I’m Logan, and in today’s [00:01:00] interview, you’re going to hear me talking with Drew.
Now, Drew has one of the most unique experiences that I think I’ve ever heard on the podcast. He is someone who is extremely good at multitasking and is kind of always doing multiple things at once.
And you’ll hear how Drew was able to, with the help of SuperfastCPA, be so efficient that he was able to study during little breaks all throughout the day instead of doing it in two-hour sessions, all while doing childcare of his son and also working when he wasn’t studying.
All the things that he was doing while he was passing the exams. And one of the funniest things that he said was when he was studying for, I think it was his discipline exam, which was TCP if I’m not wrong, he would use the multiple choice question walkthrough videos that we have on YouTube, but you, we also have the full member versions on our forum. But again, he was using those slash listening to those while he was playing World of Warcraft.
And he was able to pass all of his exams. He [00:02:00] did exceptionally well, and this is a very interesting and unique interview, and I think you’re really gonna like it.
Now, before we dive into the interview with Drew, I just wanna give one more reminder about our SuperfastCPA training webinar on superfastcpa.com. That is a free one-hour webinar where we will teach you the key ingredients to passing the CPA exam so you don’t waste months or even years of your time failing exams.
And then after that, you’re going to want to learn more, so of course, make sure you go to superfastcpa.com and check out becoming a PRO member or check out the additional study materials that we have or get the total bundle that includes everything. Again, you’re gonna wanna learn more about that after you watch the webinar.
So make sure you check out the webinar. With all that out of the way, let’s go ahead and get into the interview with Drew.
Logan: All right. Well, thanks for getting on the call with me today, Drew. I’m excited to talk to you. How are you doing today?
Drew: Yeah, I’m, I’m doing good. You know, it’s, uh, it’s Friday, so end of the week. Got fun plans this weekend, so yeah.
Logan: And the best part of your plans is this podcast, right?
Drew: It’s been, it’s [00:03:00] been something I’ve been wanting to do for a while. Uh, and I’m not just, you know, shilling for Superfast. I’m, uh, this is an– this is unpaid, everyone, so, uh, don’t,
Logan: Oh, every…
Drew: Def-definitely not paid promotion here.
Logan: Yeah. So, uh, yeah, I’m, I mean, I’m excited to hear your story. You know, we were chatting just a little bit before this, and it sounds like you have some, you know, a great story and some great things to share. So I think without, you know, without beating around the bush, let’s just get into it.
Intially Did Gen Ed and Sold Cars Before Pursuing His Finance Degree
Logan: How, where were you in your life when you wanted to, when you decided to go for the CPA? Like, what were you doing?
Drew: Yeah. Um, so funny story is I, I actually sort of stumbled into accounting. Um, I, uh, got my bachelor’s degree in finance from Purdue, uh, back in 2022. I actually did my gen eds, like I, I graduated high school in 2014. I got my gen eds and then I sort of didn’t really know what I was like wanting to do with my life, you know.
Uh, around 2017, I actually went and sold cars at [00:04:00] a, a car lot in Ironton, Ohio, uh, till about 2020, and then the pandemic hit.
Logan: Oh, yep
Drew: My manager, he laid everyone off and, uh, it was sort of like a blessing in disguise for me. I was like, “Okay, good. I actually hated working there.” So I’m gonna move on. Uh, that’s when I decided to go back.
I was like, “You know, I really like economics and, and sort of like the flow of money and how all this works and, you know, just the, uh, the global financial system in a whole.”
So I went to Purdue, got my bachelor’s in finance and then, um, in 2021, be- uh, probably… Let’s see. I think I graduated in, in May, so it was in November of 2021.
Decided That Selling Insurance is Not for Him Until He an Accounting Role
Drew: I actually moved to Fort Myers, Florida and, uh, started working at Northwestern Mutual and, uh, I thought, I thought that was gonna be the gig, man. But, uh, selling life insurance was pretty brutal so, um, I lasted there probably like four months and, you know, after working and making like zero dollars in four months, I was like, “Okay, this, you know, this isn’t for me.”
So [00:05:00] I, you know, I was popping off resumes everywhere and, uh, I actually landed on a firm, um, that contacted me, um, about a financial analyst position. Uh, they were called Finvisor. Uh, it’s a startup accounting firm out of, uh, Silicon Valley, the, the Bay Area, uh, where I pretty much have been living. Uh, not physically, but like that’s been my whole occupation has been out of the Valley essentially for the last five years.
Um, I did the interview and I realized in the interview it’s like, “Hey, I have the technical skills,” but like talking about finance and how this works, it was a disaster. And I sort of was on the interview call with like the, the head of FP&A at Finvisor at the time, and I realized during the call, and it was kind of funny, I, I was like, “Man,” I was like, “I’m definitely not getting this job.”
He’s like, “Yeah.” He’s like, “This is…” He’s like, “You really…” And I was, I was like, “Man,” I was like, “I, I have studied this, but conceptually like talking about it is, is another thing.” So, um, they actually pivoted and was like, “Hey, like, you know, we don’t think you’re right for this role at the time, but we have like a, [00:06:00] an, a lower like AP/AR accountant role that we think you’d be really good for.
So I was like, “You know, I never thought about doing accounting, but funny enough, um, I have a family member who has been a CPA for like 50 years. He’s very successful.” And, uh, I kind of recalled that and I was like, “Well, maybe this might be something, uh, I, you know, I can get into.” And, uh, we always used to go to his house for like big Christmas parties and stuff, and my dad was always like, “Yeah, be an accountant. Be a CPA, you’ll, you’ll definitely make s–
Logan: You make money.
Drew: have one day.” Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Worked Up the Ladder and Is Now the Accounting Manager
Drew: Um, so sort of, you know, 15 years later, it’s all coming back to me. But I worked at Finvizor, um, for from 2022 to about 2024. Um, moved up the ranks there a little bit. I started to really get involved. Um, there’s, there’s like multiple CPAs there.
I actually became really good friends with one of them who, you know, bless, a shout out to George if he ever watches this video but he’s, uh, the one that’s, you know, kind of like, “Hey, I supervise this guy. I’m gonna sign off on, you know, he’s helping me with my hours and whatnot.”
So, um, but I moved up through the ranks there [00:07:00] and, um, funny enough, one of the clients that I worked with really closely, I did all their close, did pretty much prepare their financial statements.
So like how it worked at Finvizor was you had your title, you know, like, oh, I was in the AP/AR department. But, you know, as that work was done, they would be like, “Hey, anybody who wants to like get on and do staff level, like senior level work, like, you know, let us know.” So I was always volunteering because I just, you know, I liked working. I liked being productive.
Um, so fast-forward, uh, Full Harvest Technologies is where I work now. Um, it’s an AgTech startup. It’s pretty awesome. Um, but they were wanting to bring someone in-house, and I was just the obvious candidate, um, because I just knew the business so well already. So they ended up bringing me on, so as a staff accountant.
And then, uh, fast-forward to now, um, I’m actually the accounting manager, so I’m like sort of running the whole accounting department and a little bit of the finance department mainly.
Why Drew Decided to Get His CPA
Drew: So, but, uh, going back to like why I wanted to get my CPA… Oh, go ahead.
Logan: Oh, yeah. So is that kind of like [00:08:00] s- because you were kind of getting to that level, you were like, “I need to get the CPA”? Is that kind of what happened?
Drew: Yeah. I mean, to be honest with you, um, like I originally had no plans on doing it, but, you know, after seeing like the prestige and sort of how people were viewing other people at Finvizor that had the CPA, I was like, “This is all– This is something I would like to be at this level.” Because, you know, funny enough, I actually always wanted to go to law school, and I sort of, I sort of relate like being a CPA to like being a financial attorney in a sense, you know.
So, um, but not really, but, um, you know, it’s like that same level of, of pedigree to me and, uh… Yeah. Yeah. So, and, and to be honest with you, you know, this is a little off-topic, but well not really, but like with AI and everything, I think having a CPA is the moat right now. Like if you, if you’re an accountant and you don’t have your CPA, um, you know, it might be– it’s– the job market’s gonna probably not fare too well for you in a sense, unless you have like [00:09:00] incredible experience, right?
Um, so I definitely think like, you know, people that are on the lower end of the totem pole, like get, get your CPA like ASAP, right? Um, and that’s, that’s where I was.
Had to Go Back to School to Get His Master’s in Accounting
Drew: I, I actually, um… So I did my bachelor’s in finance from Purdue, figured out, I was like, “You know, I think I might want to get my CPA,” but I know I don’t have the accounting credits.
So I actually went back and did a master’s in accounting at Purdue,
Logan: Oh,
Drew: Got that done in 2024, and I told my boss at the time, uh, I was like, “Well, I’m gonna give myself a little bit of a break from studying and just kind of hang out and, um, and I think in February of 2025, I’m gonna start studying for the exams and try to get those done.”
Drew Didn’t Have Any Intentions To Be a CPA But Wanted Progression
Drew: So I actually, when I started, had no… I was like, “I don’t know if I can pass these,” you know? I was like, “This is, this is pretty tough.” Uh, I’ve heard– I’ve read, you know, this is like one of the hardest professional exams. I was like, “I don’t know if I can, you know, if I can do this.” Um, I’m gonna raise my desk, by the way, so give me a sec here.
It’s, it’s, it’s a lot better. I, I feel like sometimes I, um, sitting is, I don’t know. I’m like one of those guys who when I’m [00:10:00] on the phone, I’m like, you know, doing
Logan: Yeah, you’re moving around Yeah. Yeah.
Drew: Um, but, uh,
Logan: At that point, so at that point you, like, you decided to start in February or right around there, and how did you start? Like, did you know anything about the CPA exam? Did you, what did you do?
Drew: Yeah. So, um, it’s a great question. I actually, one of the CPAs, um, that was at Finvizor, I was telling him like, you know, I’d love to maybe see if I can get mine one day. He actually let me log in to his like Wiley and like look around, but I wasn’t like… this was probably back in like 2023, early ’24, so I had no intentions of actually studying.
But, uh, you know, I’ve always been one of those people that’s like, I love feeling some level of like progression in my life. Um, whether that’s something like I avidly work out. Um, I, I took up golf, uh, about three years ago, so, you know, that’s been,
Logan: You’ll fit right in with the CPAs.
Drew: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Um, so I, I just, yeah, I, I feel like I always want to be moving forward [00:11:00] to a sense.
You know, now that I’ve passed the exams, I’m like, “What’s next?” You know, I think, I think ideally here in the next five to 10 years, I would like to start maybe my own business. Um, you know, I’m hoping to get some, some different levels of experience between here and there to really give me that confidence to go do that.
Started with the Traditional Method
Drew: Um, but yeah, I, I sort of, you know, did a little bit of research and stumbled across Becker and, you know, Becker, what they advertise. I’m like, “Well, this has to be like the premier program to, you know, for the study material.” But, you know, I sort of just bought it, dived right into it and, uh, yeah, and I mean, it’s, you know, it was the, the Becker material was, was pretty brutal.
Um, but yeah, I don’t know if you… I’ll stop there.
Logan: So you got Becker and you, I’m assuming that you just kinda did what Becker said, you know, watch the lectures, read the textbook, do the questions. Like, is that kinda how it looked?
Drew: Yeah. So, um, I pretty much did exactly how you would, you know, [00:12:00] approach any, like, traditional level, uh, education, right? You, you know, you got your textbook, you’ll read the chapters, you’ll do the questions, you know, you’ll watch the videos. Um, I will say I love reading, so I read a ton. I mean, I probably read a couple books a month.
I try to at least 20 to 24 a year. Um, mostly nonfiction too. I, I don’t read a lot of fiction. So, um, I
Logan: So lots of learning and stuff?
Drew: Yeah, just I really like learning new stuff. I, I think the world’s very interesting.
Thoughts About Studying for His First FAR Exam and Scored a 69
Drew: So, um, I, you know, I– however, I will tell you, like, reading, I s- I started with FAR.
Reading that, I was like, “Ah.” I was like, “Honestly, the writers at Becker, they’re making this way too complicated.” Like, you know, the wording was just very, very verbose. I was like, “I, I don’t understand why they have to do this.” But, um, yeah, I mean, I followed the plan, prepared for my first exam. Uh, funny enough, um, I started studying in February, and I took my first exam in July, so that’s a pretty big gap.
Logan: Yeah
Drew: And I didn’t– uh, to be honest, the whole [00:13:00] process, you know, wasn’t fast for me. I, I sorta, uh, took my time with each section. Um, so I, um, made it through all the material in Becker for FAR. Took my first exam, uh, scored a 69. So it wasn’t bad. It wasn’t like, you know, it was a blowup, right? It was very close.
Found SuperfastCPA Through An Ad and Got the Study Tools Bundle
Drew: Um, however, after that, I, you know, was like, “Well, okay, I’m close. I’ll just keep hitting it.” But I stumbled across one of Nate’s ads. And I was like, “Okay, this is…” I was like, “The name is a little gimmicky,” but I was like, “Okay,” like, “what is this about?” You know? So I listened because it’s like, there’s a lot of things that are advertised online.
I really just feel like you gotta sort of flesh all of them out, right? It’s like… But I was listening and to be honest, five or ten minutes into the video, it made a lot of sense to me. It’s like, okay, like I’m a logical guy. I’m going to take this exam that has multiple choice questions. Just put the simulations aside.
The simulations are just giant multiple choice questions. I don’t practice them at all. Didn’t. So I bought the… [00:14:00] I didn’t buy the like top plan. I bought like the mobile where it was like, I think it was like
Logan: The, the study, the study bundle?
Drew: It was perfect. It was perfect.
Found the Audio Notes to be Valuable
Drew: Um, so I literally, to my dismay, I listened to the audio notes.
I mean, I, I have two Huskies, um, so I walk 10,000 plus steps a day. So, you know, every walk with them, I’m listening to the
Logan: Tune in audio note? Yeah
Drew: On the drive to the gym, I list- I’m listening to the gym at, uh, the audio at the gym. Uh, I’m listening to it while I’m working. Uh, I’m listening to it, like, in the shower, you know, like, I have playing non-stop. Yeah, my fiancée was like, you know, after I got done studying for all the exams, she’s like, “It’s really weird not hearing you come in with the dogs and hearing that audio.” She’s like, “It’s like I’m, I’m so used to it after all this time.” So, you know, and I think, like, the key with the audio is I, I I never felt like, you know, I was getting everything all at once.
It was just, it was just the repetition. It’s like, look, like [00:15:00] I
Logan: Little bits here and there. Mm-hmm
Drew: But if I listen to it for 200 hours, I’m probably going to absorb most of it, right? Along with everything else. So the audio were so huge to me. I mean, I, I am not joking. I don’t think I listened to music or maybe a little bit of Sam Harris and some other things, but like it was nothing but the audios from February of 20– No, not February, um,
Logan: Like Ju- July or August?
Drew: It was, like beginning of August 2025 until, um, when did I take my
Logan: Until now, till recently?
Drew: Yeah, I took TCP on this pa- July 27th.
So for about a year, I mean, that was all that I was playing. Like, I would go to, I would go an hour away to Lexington to play golf because I’m in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Uh, I would go an hour away to Lexington to play golf, and I’d be listening to it. I’d be, I’d be hitting golf balls at the driving range with that audio on.
I mean, like I said, it was– cause I, I’ve never considered myself like a really strong accounting student, so I was like, it’s just about repetition for me.
It’s about me putting in the time and the work [00:16:00] to, you know, put myself in a position where, like, I’m remembering this material.
Utilizied the Mini Quizzes Any Chance He Can
Drew: Um, and then in tandem with the audio, the, the mini quizzes, the five-question quizzes, I spammed those. I mean, I actually deleted all my social media besides my LinkedIn. And I mean, I, I just, you know, I’d be sitting on the couch, you know, we’d be watching a show and she would get up to go do something, and I’d be like, I’d pull that thing out and I’d do five questions, you know?
So she’s like, “You are obsessed.” I’m like, “I’m just… for one, the exams are like $400 a pop. I’m not trying to sit here and pay exam fees over and over, right?” So, um, yeah, the app was just incredibly helpful. I, I, I read some of the notes, the follow-along notes, but honestly, it was really the audio and the, the mini quizzes that
Logan: But I thought you were a big reader. Why didn’t you read the review note?
Drew: I, I was trying to, but to be honest with you,
Logan: I get it.
Drew: After I discovered the Superfast approach, I was like, “That is the key.” Like, I’m going to spam multiple choice questions. Um, I actually counted and I did over 7,000 practice questions, [00:17:00] um, from FAR to TCP.
Logan: So between all the exams?
Drew: Between all of them, I did over 7,000 questions. Um, so, cause I actually did something I don’t know if anyone else is doing, but, like, I had a spreadsheet for each section, and every day I would go in Becker, um, and we could probably… Let me know if I’m, like, jumping ahead of, you know, like questions you have, because I’ve seen so many of these, I sort of know, like the style.
Logan: Here, let’s, let’s finish a little bit with the, the, like, the mini sessions, cause you were kinda talking about that, and then I wanna talk about how you were doing your, like, daily main sessions. We’ll come back to that in just a second.
Deleted the Social Media Apps on His Phone to Focus on Studying
Logan: So you were listening to the audios nonstop, doing mini quizzes nonstop, and when you say you deleted the, uh, social media, do you mean you just deleted the apps off your phone or you deleted your entire account?
Drew: Oh, I just, I just deleted the apps off my phone. My actually– my friend sent me so many Instagram reel. I was like, “Dude, I can’t, I can’t deal with these [00:18:00] reels coming through, know. Yeah.
Logan: Oh, okay. see
Drew: I, I actually haven’t reinstalled any of them. I’m like, “Actually, my life is a lot better without the social media,” you know,
Logan: Yep. Yeah. Yep. I mean, like, you know, people can take this with a grain of salt because, you know, it’s my opinion, but I, a few years ago, like 20… I think it was 2020 or 2021, I deleted all my social media besides LinkedIn. Like, I actually deleted the accounts because I was just getting so worked up and sad by all the things that I was seeing on, like, on social media and stuff like that.
Like, it just wasn’t… So I was like, “I need to get away from this.” And I agree, like getting away from it and not having it in my life just like majorly benefited me. Set aside, you know, for you doing it for the exams, like you said, I just think it’s a benefit. But again, people can take that with a grain of salt.
Drew: Yeah, no, I, I have, I have a, a big of a, a giant opinion around social media, but I’ll, uh, reserve it for [00:19:00] this podcast.
Logan: Yeah.
Juggling Multiple Things Made Possible with the Study Tools
Logan: So, so, you, you deleted them off your phone and then kind of read the review notes, but mainly did the audio notes and the mini quizzes. And would you say, I mean, you kind of already said this, but just like any chance you got, like you’re standing in the grocery line at, at the store or you’re walking around the store, you pull out your phone to do a mini quiz or you’re listening to the audio notes.
It was just all the time, right?
Drew: Oh, it was, it was all the time. I, I’m one of those guys that like I need constant stimulation. Like when I’m working all day, I’m listening to like, you know, so I’m listening to a podcast, I’m listening to… I listen, I watch a lot of like, um, Steven Bonnell, Destiny’s like political channel. So I listen to his stuff a– I, I actually, um, will throw in something that might blow your mind.
So, um, he’s actually not here because I told my dad, I was like, “Hey, I’m doing something important here in a few hours. You gotta come and pick up, uh, my son.” He’s three. I actually watch him all day while I work and while I was studying. So like from 9:00 to 5:00, I’m watching him and doing all of this, plus taking care of these two dogs.
So I have [00:20:00] a plate load of things going on at all times.
Learning the Concept of Behind Each Questions is Key
Drew: Um, so, uh, yeah, that also threw a wrench in ’cause, you know, waking up… cause I know like, you know, a big part of Superfast approach is like, let’s wake up a few hours before everyone else does to do, to get the main study in. And I sorta did that. Um, I sorta did that.
So like I would wake up with him and fiancé would go to work and, you know, we’d be chilling and like I could be banging out these questions, you know, in Becker, um, watching him. So, you know, it was very chaotic at times. It’s like sometimes, you know, I’m like, I, I, I definitely got that question right, this review question, because I just, I’ve seen it like
Logan: Because I just remembered it. Yeah. Yeah.
Drew: Which I, I, to be honest with you, I see a lot of people sort of, um, I feel like to their dismay will like, you know, be like, “Oh, that, that’s the one, like that’ll mess you up, right? If you keep remembering these questions.” And I think I’m, I don’t know about that because it’s like, look, I’ve seen the question four times.
It’s not about knowing the answer, it’s about why, why is the answer right? That’s the important part to [00:21:00] remember, because if you can remember why the answer is right, it’s like, so what I’ve seen it five or six times. It’s like it’s the concept that I’m trying to remember and yeah, I’ll get it right, you know, six times ’cause I’ve seen it, but it’s like I’m also reminding myself, you know, ’cause Becker, when you get something right, it’ll explain everything.
And I think like that was the big key is like you guys preach, learn through the questions.
Logan: Exactly. And, and what you’re saying there, like, that’s actually a distinction that I like to make as well. Like, I think that, you know, this is just my own opinion, but I think that there’s two types of memorization for the test.
There’s the memorization where you literally only know that that’s the right answer, not because it, that’s not because of why that’s the right answer, just you’ve seen it so many times, you know that that number is the right answer. You don’t really know why, but you just know that that’s the right number.
And that’s the kind of memorization that you’ve got to be careful of, because you’re not going to see that question. You’re not going to see that exact structure on exam day. Um, so I definitely like warn people like, “Don’t…” because, because [00:22:00] I definitely caught myself doing that with audit especially, because it’s so conceptual. So I would just see the sentence structure of a question. I would, and I wouldn’t even have to remember what the question was about, but I would see, “Okay, that’s that question, and I know that’s the right answer.” Not because I know why that’s the right answer. So, you know, you got to be careful with that because you’re doing questions so much.
But like you were saying, it’s like the whole point that we want people to be doing the MCQ so much is because, yes, we want you to know the concept, like memorize the concept of the question like, like the back of your hand, because then no matter how you see the question, you know how to do it. I think that’s what you’re trying to get at, right?
Drew: Yeah. No, 100%, 100%. I, I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Logan: Okay.
Drew’s Daily Study Routine
Logan: So you, and you know, you were kinda talking about, um, you know, your schedule and stuff like that. So I do kinda wanna switch over to that. So walk me through, you know, as much as you want to, the, like, the, your typical day, cause you’re not, you’re, [00:23:00] you’re busy, you’re watching your son while also studying and while also working.
Like, how did you do that and, like, what, yeah, when did you study?
Drew: Yeah. So I, I would always– it, it sort of evolved a little bit. So I picked up Superfast after my first FAR fail, and then I stuck to those same, like, study habits. So I’d wake up in the morning, I would do, typically, I actually, um, how I did the review questions, the re-review, and I did a lot, I would wake up in the morning and before I started the new section or s- well, actually for the retake, before, pretty much what I would do is I would do multiple choice in sets of 10.
I think, like, people who do multiple choice in sets of 20, 30, it’s like you get through the questions you don’t really remember, like, uh… And for me personally, I think, like, 10’s perfect because it’s short enough where I don’t feel so chained to my desk, right? Where I can sort of get up and, you know, um, but 10 was just a good number because it also felt doable, a- achievable, right?
And it was easy for me to be like, boom, 10, boom, 10. So I would [00:24:00] typically try to knock out like three, two or three sets of 10 in the morning, uh, for that FAR retake. And then I would do two to three sets in the evening. So I mean, it’s not like I was doing 200 questions a day. Uh, I was doing probably 50, 60 review questions a day across all sections.
Utilized the Study Materials for FAR Retake and Passed in 2-3 Weeks
Drew: And I did that for, I think I retook, um, I think I re- I found out, uh, let’s see. I think I retook it in se- maybe it was August. August or September, I think I retook, um, because I took my first one.
Logan: So a few weeks of restudy, kind of a thing?
Drew: Yeah. So I, I instantly saw it, like, soon as I got my, my score that was a fail, I was like, “Okay, well I’m close. I’m retaking it, like, immediately.” So it was probably two or three weeks after that I sat down to retake that exam.
Um, I ended up passing with a 79, and that was the only, the, my first one was the only one. Yeah, 10-point increase from just spamming multiple choice, listening to the audios, you know, doing the mini quizzes.
Found the SuperfastCPA Free Walkthrough Videos Very Helpful
Drew: Um, I will say too, a lot of people probably don’t realize this, the videos that you do, um, on your all’s channel, the free [00:25:00] ones,
Logan: Oh, uh-huh.
Drew: I think, I actually, I actually legitimately think the only reason I may have passed that retake was because of those videos. I actually went through all of them.
Um, I actually, I’ll try– I would, ’cause I have, like, three monitors here, so I work on two. I would throw that up on my third monitor and I would just be working all day and I, I went through that whole playlist. Uh, I would just let it play and I would just, like, sort of, you know, glance over and watch what you were doing.
But it was the con- I was familiar with the concepts, it was just the way you explained it. Like, I was like, “Damn, Logan could really explain this.” Like, I don’t know why this is just, it just the way he’s explaining this to me is making a lot of sense in conjunction with everything else I’ve been doing up until this point so.
Um, I made that a routine that once I went through all the material in Becker for all sections, I would go back, um, at the end, like two weeks out from my exam, and I would pl- I would watch all those videos, uh, in tandem with the, um, just, like, the constant re-review. I mean, you know, when I would start, like, when I started to study for audit, um, I pretty much, like, took the [00:26:00] Superfast approach.
I didn’t read the book. I, I will say I ordered all the books, though. They were free, so I was like, “I’m gonna order off Becker just to have them.”
Logan: Yeah.
Drew: Yeah, yeah, just, you know. Uh, but I, I watched the videos on one and a half speed. Um, love, love the instructors on Becker, but some of them are, are, you know, those videos are kind of brutal sometimes.
So I would watch all them on 1.5, and I would immediately get to the questions right. So, like, the first unit of audit, like, after I got that first section done, the first total, like, you know, there’s like six units. The first unit, I, that’s when I started my re-review.
Studying in Chunks Multiple Times a Day
Drew: So every day before, cause I, sometimes I would study multiple times a day.
Like, I wouldn’t do, like, a te- dedicated two hour. It’d be like maybe 30 minutes here and I gotta go do something, I might come back 30 minutes. So I would say cumulatively it was like one to two hours every day that I was actually sitting at my desk doing questions. Um, but every time I hopped on, I would always, always do 10 quest- 10, 10 re-review questions every time.
So, like, that was the first thing I did, and then I would dive into the material if I had, like, you know, all the MCQs that Becker offers, I would [00:27:00] go into that and whatnot. But would always do the 10 question re-review at the start of every session I would sit actually down at, at my desk to do questions.
Logan: Okay. So kind of just like taking apart some of the things that you said there. So you would, so, you know, we recommend, you know, two-hour morning session, and what you’re saying is that, usually, that didn’t quite happen like that. You’d do more like 20, 30 minutes here, do, you know, just more throughout the day. But, you know, the focus was w- the same thing, like, you know, focusing on the questions, focusing on learning from the questions. And then you were also mentioning, so for anybody who’s listening who doesn’t know about these, they, there’s these videos that I’ve been working on for like almost two and a half years now, uh, that are, we call them mu- multiple choice question walkthrough videos. Um, and I’m still working on them, so they’re still technically what we like to say in beta. But, um, they are just me going through blueprint [00:28:00] tasks one by one in a, you know, in FAR or audit or whatever, and just making multiple choice questions for them and teaching the multiple choice questions, like going through it with, with somebody.
How Drew Studied with the Walkthrough Videos
Logan: Um, and you were saying that, so did you ever really like, kind of do the questions with me, or was it more like just kind of watching and listening along?
Drew: It would be watching and listening along. I will say though, when you, when you like, you know, you pose the question, here’s the answers. I would always pause the video and give my like, walk through it on my own. Unless it was like a math pro- because sometimes, man, I’d be at, you know, it was like cold, uh, when I was during my, uh, studying for audit.
So it’s like I would be at the gym on the treadmill, headphones in, like watching these videos, you know, on like 1.5 speed and like I would stop them, you know. I’ll, I, I, I, um, I feel like my brain moves pretty fast. Everything I watch is like one, one and a half speed. Yeah, so I’m just so used to it at this point.
Um, but, uh, but yeah, I, I think those are a goldmine. Like I, you know, was actually worried, um, uh, maybe we [00:29:00] can get into this a little bit, but I got some funny stories about, uh, my REG and TCP experience.
Logan: Okay. Yeah, th- yeah, we can talk about those. So you p- I mean, you passed FAR, and then, yeah, how did REG and TCP go?
Because th- and by the w- because, and maybe you’re gonna mention this, those are the least complete of the multiple choice question walkthrough videos that I’ve made. Like, I haven’t done every topic, so maybe, I don’t know if that’s what you’re gonna talk about, but.
Drew: Oh, no, no, no.
Felt Like He Failed Every Exam But Studied Immediately for the Next Exam
Drew: Well, so, um, so I studied for Audit, and I think I did the most questions for Audit. I think I did like three thi– because you could just, you know, it’s easy to knock, knock out 100 re- you know, review questions a day for Audit because there’s no math involved for the most part. Um, took Audit and I will say every exam I took when I was walking out of Prometric, I was like, “Yeah, GG, I for sure failed that. You know, can’t wait to retake it. Absolutely hate this exam.”
Um, so I took Audit, got my score back, and it was– I got an 83 on it, so I was like, “Ooh, okay, cool. Well, kind of crushed it a little bit.” So that was in, I think I got my score back in February. Um, [00:30:00] yeah, it was February of ’26. And I didn’t take any time off. I mean, literally when I was leaving the testing center for Audit, like I bought the REG material and I was– I started listening to your all’s stuff. I was like, I’m instantly… like it was, there was no time gap, uh, whatsoever.
Drew Felt Lucky That He Could Play Games While Studying for the CPA Exams
Drew: Um, I will say though, after, after Audit, I got a little confident because I was like, “Okay, I think I got my, my strategies down.” You know, watch the videos one and a half speed in Becker, do the questions and then do more questions, listen to my audio from Superfast, do those que- like that’s, that’s the strategy.
Um, I actually have like on and off always played World of Warcraft. You’re gonna find this funny. So I, I would sit here for REG and TCP, I’d be leveling characters and I’d be doing questions on the side.
I’d– So that’s why for REG and TCP both, I was like, “I don’t know if I passed these. I don’t remember the material very well,” you
Logan: I was ga- I, I was gaming while was doing it.
Drew: Yeah, so I was gaming so like, um, you know, I think a lot of people– I feel bad because I feel like I’m sort of blessed in a way, like, you know, being able to pass these exams under my [00:31:00] circumstances, because I know there’s a lot of smart people out there who probably have a difficult time, and I’ve always sort of struggled with like imposter syndrome, you know?
Like just sort of always, y-you know, uh, what is the word I’m looking for? Sort of, um
Logan: People are gonna find you out. You’re not actually
Drew: Yeah, that, that I’ve always like underestimated myself, you know. So, uh, I will say passing all these exams has like given me a massive confidence boost that I think I needed. So, um, but yeah, I was, I mean, gaming out. Like I didn’t do that for audit or FAR, but like I was like, “Well, REG, I hear it’s a lot easier. TCP, I hear it’s pretty easy, like from what I’ve been reading, so maybe I can get away with it,” and I ended up getting away with it.
Logan: Apparently you did, yeah.
Drew: Yeah, I ended up getting away with it. So, uh, but yeah, same, same study habits. I mean, you know, just the questions are the biggest key takeaway for me. It’s like, you know, if you’re spamming the questions and you’re going through the explanations, like I truly, you know, I, I, I think it’s just like a winning strategy.
It just makes sense. Like you’re [00:32:00] taking an exam that covers these questions, like practice the que- It’s like, you know, I wouldn’t go golfing and like, you know, practice like running and down the fairway. Yeah, It’s like I’m gonna practice the swing, you know, like or whatever you, you do. So, um, but, but yeah.
Logan: So, uh, I can see the title now of your p- of your podcast episode, “How Drew Passed the CPA Exams While Gaming or While Playing World of Warcraft.” No, I’m just kidding.
Drew: Yeah, World of Warcraft, that, that would, that would get people’s attention. I will
Logan: Oh, I bet. Yeah. That’ll put, we’ll put that in the SEO and it’ll, it’ll, like, get, get a lot more clicks.
Drew Didn’t Compromise His Life and Took His Time with the CPA Exams
Drew: I will say, um, you know, it took me 17 months from start to finish to get all the exams done. I sort of took my time with it. I, I was really in no rush. Like, I have– I, I’ve been really blessed to just, you know, like, career-wise, be in a position where, you know, I, I, I’m, I make a good living. You know, I’ve been fortunate to, like, run into the connections I have and.. cause I see a lot of people [00:33:00] that are in accounting, it seems like they, you know, some of the salaries I see posted, like, you know, c- I’m like, “Man, it feels bad.”
Like, I know these people have, you know, eight years of experience and I’m making way more money than them. It’s just about, you know, the connections you make and along the way.
And, um, you know, I, I, I will say that I did not– I didn’t shortchange my personal life. You know, I would still go out and do things on the weekends.
Logan: About that. Mm-hmm.
Drew: I, I refused to give up my personal life, you know. I, I just felt that was a much needed, like, break away from studying, cause, like, I will say consistency was the biggest thing for me.
There was not a day that went by that I didn’t study for at least 30 minutes, you know? If, if, if I had 15 minutes, cool, I can probably get, like, 30 questions done depending on the section, right? So, you know, I went golfing every weekend, tried to go out with my friends as much as possible. You know, I spent time with my son and my fiancée as much as possible.
Um, so, you know, I definitely, you know, put, put the, the exams, you know, front and foremost, but also was like, it’s g- it’s gonna be worth [00:34:00] my time to also, like, take a step back and relax a bit, cause I think it just makes the whole process easier. So, um, it’s just something I definitely would recommend people, you know, don’t put your personal life on, on hold.
Logan: Exactly. Yeah, I mean, and that’s the, it’s not 100% possible all the time, but I, you know, the hope is that with SuperfastCPA, because it’s all about the strategies and how to be effective and efficient, that yeah, you still can have your evenings, you can still spend time with family and friends, have, maybe have a little bit of hobby, you know, like, cause the exams are still hard, but because you’re being smart about how you do it, then it makes a big difference.
The Benefits That Drew Got from SuperfastCPA
Logan: And, um, I was kind of gonna ask that, you know, what you were able to do while, because you were being effective and efficient, and that kind of brings me to a question that I always like to ask, and you can kind of repeat some things that you’ve already said if you want, but like, if you could list out the benefits or like say how [00:35:00] SuperfastCPA benefited you, what would you say were the benefits?
Drew: I think, um, really adopting the strategies, you know. I mean, look, like if, if someone told me like, “Hey, I don’t have the cash to like get the actual Superfast material,” I would say, ” Okay, that’s fine, but you should listen to the strategy. Apply that strategy to Becker.” You know? Like, okay, if you can’t get their program, go to their YouTube channel, subscribe, for one, there’s a plug for you.
Um, but listen to Logan’s videos like those– like I said, those were so crucial at the, the, the tail end of the race when I was gonna take those exams, is like, I, I, I can watch these videos, they’re free. Like, literally, I don’t know why, everyone should be watching those. They’re just the way you go about explaining it, telling you, it just, it really helped me, especially for that FAR retake it.
I, you know, that– I think the FAR retake was the one exam I left feeling like pretty confident about, cause I was like, I really feel like the information was so [00:36:00] readily available in my brain when I was taking this exam, and it was because like from the… I mean, I think I was actually sitting in my car like finishing the last video before I even went in to take it.
So, um, I think, I, I mean, having the app on your phone too, ’cause like, you know, if someone tried to tell me, “Yeah, I just pull up Becker on my phone.” Like, okay, you don’t. I don’t know what phone you have, but that’s the clunkiest, the worst. Like I cannot imagine trying to like play a video, you know. And then like, like I said, I listen to those audios at the gym.
Like I’m doing like heavy deadlifts to, you know, you and Nate talking about, you know, whatever. So, um, you know, I think it, it’s just the availability and like… Well, really it’s just the, the convenience of it, you know? It’s like everyone’s looking for convenience in the twenty-first century, and I think like the app is just wildly convenient.
It’s a perfect supplement. Like I think a lot of people talk about, uh, Ninja. I think they– Do they have an app? I, I, I never signed up for it, but I think like they, you know, I hear
Logan: Probably. I honestly don’t know. But most, most of the [00:37:00] CPA review courses do.
Drew: Yeah. Um, but you know, I’ve seen people talk about that and I just, you know, I was sort of like, “I’m not changing anything.”
After I passed FAR and then passed… I was like, “Nothing’s being changed about this process.” Like it’s simple, it’s not stressful. You know, I never stressed out about it. I think the only time I stressed was after I took each exam, like,
Logan: Mm-hmm. like, “Oh man, I failed.”
Drew: Yeah, it’s like, I’m so cooked, you know. But like, um, but yeah, I think it, it’s just really the convenience of it and it’s just like a, it’s a lifestyle change a little bit, you know.
Like I, I, I love listening to my podcast and my music and whatnot, but, you know, to study for the exams, if you really want to pass them, I truly think, you know, the audio notes was just extremely key. I mean, I remember at some point I listened to them so much that like I could almost, like I knew what was coming, you know.
It’s, “Oh, Logan’s about to talk about XYZ topic.” I, I know what’s coming. I know what’s next.
Logan: Oh, I’m sorry that you know that so much that cause you listen, like, h- hopefully you can, like, recover from, [00:38:00] from having to listen to those audios so much.
Drew: Yeah. Yeah, I’m still, I’m still recovering. Yeah, a little bit.
Eventhough He Only Got the Study Tools, Drew Felt That It Is Enough
Logan: Well, um, so I mean, I really like what you’re saying there, and just to clarify it, cause I think I c- caught this, but so you only bought the, um, the supplemental, like the study materials. You just had the stuff in the app. You never bought the PRO course, which is, uh, like in the other piece that we have, right?
Drew: Yeah, I was always sort of curious, but in all honesty, you know, I felt like I was getting a lot out of the app. And then also Becker, I mean, Becker is like 2,500. So I was like, “I just can’t,” you know? I was like, “I’ve, I’ve reached the, the limit of how much I’m gonna spend.” And plus, after I passed the first, you know, the fir- you know, after I passed FAR
Logan: You’re like, “This is enough.” Yeah,
Drew: Yeah, it’s like this is why I’m locked in.
Drew Took the CPA Exams to Learn and Not Just to Pass
Drew: Like, you know, plus, you know, I think why, funny enough, even though I failed my first FAR exam, all of my accounting experience is based in financial accounting. So, like, I actually know the stuff re- uh, very well. And, uh, funny enough, like, Full Harvest [00:39:00] actually, we had a big reduction of force happen in, uh, 2025, and that’s where I took over the accounting department.
And I always told my previous boss, like, he’s one of my best friends at this point, um, I talk to him very often still. I told him, I said, “Dude, if I would’ve never started studying for this exam, I genuinely don’t know if I could’ve, like, done this.” Like, it really… cause I think a lot of people, they’re taking the exam and they’re like, “I just want to pass the exam.”
But I approached it as like, “Hey, I actually want to learn this.” Like, you, you know, we’re taking this exam to learn this material to, you know, so we can actually be CPAs and do the job, right? So, I actually took the material pretty serious. That sounds contradictive because I was also playing WoW, but if not everyone knows how my brain works, like I could, you know, I’m a crazy multitasker.
Um, especially with like having tools like Claude now. I mean, I, I’m surprised I don’t have like something running in the background right now. I’ve been able to automate a bunch of stuff. But, um, so my [00:40:00] brain, I’m just all over the place and, uh, you know, I, I really focused on actually learning the material because I think it was like important for my educational journey to be the best accountant I can be.
You know, to actually, “Oh, I’m– I want to pass the exam, but also want to like know this stuff,” that was also very important and a, and a goal of mine as I was going through everything.
Logan: Yeah. Yeah, I felt similarly, um, at least to the point of like, that I thought it helped with some of the things I was doing at the time. I was taking, I was doing my master’s degree at the same time I was doing the CPA and also working in tax, and I definitely felt like I was learning better at school because of the things that I was already kind of familiarizing myself with, uh, you know, in the, in the exam.
And, uh, so, I mean, that’s just y- I mean, it’s really interesting the way that you were able to do it, and I don’t think e- everybody could do it exactly like that, but it just goes to show that, like, with the right tools and with the right [00:41:00] strategies, just about anybody can pass the exam no matter what they’re doing in their life.
You know, somebody else with a different schedule than you can still pass the exam even if they’re not doing it exactly like how you did it, you know, the 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there, but because they have the right tools, they’re able to do it.
Felt That He Should’ve Bought the Bundle Instead of Getting Them Per Section
Logan: Um, and with the… and actually, and another question that I wanted to ask before I forgot it. So did you buy each, uh, section one at a time, or did you buy like the total, like all of the study tools at the same time?
Drew: Yeah, I actually bought each of them like one at a time. I may have screwed myself and not bought the bundle like cash wise, like price-wise. But, um, I, I just, you know, I, I, I never, to be honest with you, after I failed my first one, I actually was talking with my dad and I was like, ” I’m– That’s the only one I’m failing. I can’t, I can’t do another fail.” Like, I was really pissed off that I failed that first one, you know? So I was like, “I can’t, I can’t do that again.” So, um, I always would wait until like I got my [00:42:00] passing score back, um, in a sense. Um, but not, not after, uh, I think it was audit. I immediately bought it because I, I felt good.
I was like, you know, “I have to do this next, next one anyway.” So I started to just go ahead and pull the trigger on it. Um, but I always felt like, you know, I’m, I’m gonna wait until like at least complete and take the exam, um, until… because I know I’m going to need it anyways, right? If, if I do have to go back and retake, so, um, but yeah, I didn’t buy them all at once. I probably should have. Looking back at it, it’s– I probably would have looking back at it, to be honest.
Logan: I mean, and I will say, like this is not a bash on you, but I will say for everybody who’s listening, definitely if you’re going to buy the study materials, buy them as one bundle, cause, uh, you know, just transparency, like buying just the FAR bundle is $250. Buying just the audit bundle two…
You know, all of it together if you buy it one at a time is 1,000, or if you buy all of the supplemental study materials at once, it’s 500. So you save [00:43:00] 50% by doing that. So everybody do that, if you’re gonna.
Drew: That would’ve been a, that would’ve been a no-brainer. Also didn’t know what discipline I was gonna take. Um, you know, I was
Logan: You get access to all the disciplines
Drew: Oh, nice.
Logan: With our… So you, it doesn’t matter which one.
Drew: That’s awesome. Yeah, well, that’s a no-brainer. I, I, I should have done that looking back at it. Yeah.
Logan: No wor- no worries.
Drew’s Thoughts for the TCP Exam
Logan: Well, that’s, uh– And so you did take TCP though as your discipline. And, um, I did wanna ask about kind of the discipline, uh, like what was your experience with TCP? Like it has the highest passing rate, you know
Drew: That’s why I took it. That’s why I took it.
Logan: Exactly– Is that how you, is that how you felt too?
Drew: Um, I’ll be honest with you, like, it was my last exam. I just came off passing REG, and I was pretty astonished I passed REG. Especially, like I was telling you earlier, I was like raiding playing WoW. I was like, “That’s crazy I passed that.” Um, so I was like, “I’m gonna do, I’m gonna do the same for TCP.” Yeah, I’m gonna do it again, why not.
Um, but I, I truly felt like when I was going through the Becker material for TCP, it was just a lot different, because I feel like REG [00:44:00] is more basic tax stuff. I’ve never worked in tax, so I don’t know. I, I’ve– At this point, I will say I’ve, uh, managed our tax returns for the past few fiscal years, so it’s like, you know, I, I sort of was able to apply, especially this tax season, like, “Oh, I actually, like, know this stuff a little bit now.”
And we have a pretty simple, like, business model, so it wasn’t too terribly complicated, uh, working with our tax partners to get those done. But, um, when I was studying for TCP, I was like, “Damn, this section like…” cause I’ve seen people on Reddit saying, “Don’t sleep on it. It’s kinda tough.” And I was going through the material on Becker and I was like, “Ah, man, this, this is like kinda tough.”
And then, um, I watched your videos, of course, and I went and took the exam, and it’s nothing but basis. Uh, so if you know basis you can do TCP. Like I, I… yeah, I was sort of astonished that I was like– cause it wasn’t hard, to be honest with you. Like, even though I always, always think I’m failing, I’m coming out, but, like, I truly think for… at first when I seen the pass rate, I was like, “This is probably because tax pros come in here and they just dominate this exam, you know. That’s, that’s probably [00:45:00] why the passing rate…”
So I actually was leaning towards taking, uh, uh, ISC simply because I actually like computers and like IT, um, and I was thinking this might be a little bit more tolerable, uh, study-wise to study for it.
But, um, I was like, you know, I just came off REG, and I know, like, there’s sort of a joke that people say like, you know, FART your way to the CPA, like do FAR, Audit, REG, tax or TCP. So I was like, “I’m just gonna do that strategy, right?” And, uh, yeah, I mean, it was, wasn’t bad at all.
Thoughts About Practice the Sims
Drew: I see a lot of people say, like on Reddit, like: “Hey, like do– You should be practicing the sims.
Logan: Oh yeah, that’s something I haven’t asked about.
Drew: I think that’s bullshit, to be quite honest with you. I think like no reason to practice the sims. If you are spamming multiple choice questions, you’re gonna be solid. And that’s what I did and like, cause the sim, the sims are just giant multiple choice questions. You’re never gonna see a sim in Becker that’s like similar to the one on the exam. They’re just gonna be [00:46:00] completely different.
It’s gonna, the nuance is gonna be different. Um, so after my first, after my first FAR fail, I never st- I never… I mean, I went through them like originally, right? Like in Becker when I was going through the units, what I would do was I, I wouldn’t even do the problems. I would literally just click on the sim, I would submit it and, you know, get nothing on it, and I’d watch the video of like Mike Brown or Pete Olinto going through the sim, right?
I would just watch them cause it’s like they’re explaining on how to do these problems, you know. So I would never actually try to do them myself. I was just like wanting to learn how the pros went through these problems.
Logan: Right.
Drew: So I think that was like my strategy around the sims.
Always Finished Every Exam with An Hour And a Half Left
Drew: But I will say each exam, this might blow your mind. I don’t, I don’t know if this is, this is like normal, but I finished every exam with an hour and a half left. I got through the multiple choice on every exam in like 30 to 45 minutes. That’s how quickly I went through those. And it was just because it was sp- I was so used to it. I mean, there, I, I think, I think like sometimes I would spend like… I wouldn’t even, this is, I definitely don’t recommend doing this [00:47:00] and I probably could, probably missed some points on this, but like I was so concerned that I was gonna get bogged up on the sims and not be able to finish any of the exams that like sometimes like I knew, felt like I knew the answers halfway through the context of the question.
You know, cause I would, I would do your whole strategy. I’d go to the end, read what, what’s the call of the question, and I would start reading the actual, and I’d be like, “I know what the, I, I already know what to do here.” So I’d go through and, you know. So I think like the most I spent on the multiple choice was the second FAR retake.
I think I spent like maybe 50 minutes, an hour on it, but like audit, I was, I, I finished that one I think in like two hours and I was like,
Logan: The whole exam?
Drew: Yeah, I was like, I smoked that exam, you know? Like that was cra… It’s funny cause like after I failed my first FAR exam, I actually told myself like, “I need to slow down. I’m gonna try to slow down intentionally.”
So I think I made it to like the last packet of sims and I had like an hour and a half left, so I like sat there and I was like, “Should I just [00:48:00] like take my time with all this?” And you know, but I just, I couldn’t. So I was, I, you know, I was like the less time the better.
Like I cause I’m like, if I know– if I don’t know the answer, why am I just, you know… You don’t have to get all of them right. It’s like, but you gotta get a 75 to pass, so.
Logan: Just gotta get that 75.
Drew: Yeah, and it’s like I’m not gonna sit here and like stare at a question for five minutes and just come to the same wrong conclusion.
You know? It’s like, I’m gonna read the question and like I’ll think about it for a second, but if it’s like I don’t know it, I’m moving on. You know? It’s like, I’m just gonna take my best shot at it and let’s, let’s go.
Logan: Yeah, and I mean, that’s, the reality is that most of the time you know it or you don’t know it. Like, you– and that’s why you practice so much so that you do know it, like right off the, right off the top of your head. Like, that’s why your, your recall is so strong. Uh, but yeah. I mean, there’s still gonna be some things where you’re like, ” Uh, I don’t remember this exactly,” so you’ll just, like, do the best guess you can. But overall, you’ll d- you did well enough to get the 75, and that doesn’t matter anymore after that.
Um, I [00:49:00] mean, honestly, you’ve ha- you have a very cool and interesting, uh, process and story, like just pretty unique, but obviously it worked. You passed all four exams in a row after you failed that first one. Uh, so I mean, I mean, that’s just kind, that’s, that’s all there is really to it.
Still Have to Get All the Requirements for His CPA License
Logan: Uh, just a couple more questions for you as we’re wrapping up here. First off, are you, is there anything else you still have to do for the, to get the CPA? Like, do you still have to get hours, or is this pretty much it?
Drew: Yeah. So I got the hours. Uh, uh, George, as I, I mentioned
Logan: All right.
Drew: I, actually have like, I think I had like 4,000 hours or so worked under him, so it’s like I blew that, you know, requirement out of the water. Um, cause it was only– so funny enough, like when I started studying in 2025 in February, we, we were living in Colorado Springs and then, uh, we moved back to Cincinnati, um, in August of 2025.
So all of my stuff is out of Colorado. I was like, “Well, I’ve already been testing out of Colorado, so I’m just gonna go ahead and get licensed out of Colorado.” Looking, [00:50:00] looking back, I, I– There’s like six requirements. You know, the, the licensing process is sort of a headache. There’s like six requirements.
I’ve done– I’ve gotten three of them through. Uh, the last, the last three, there’s two that are, uh, pending with George to get signed off on and then, um, I have to do that eight-hour ethics exam. It’s like $320, you know, to… I mean, I was reading online cause I was like, “How hard is this one?” You know? But apparently it’s like open book.
It’s, uh, if like, if you pass the exams, you can’t pass this, there’s a problem, you know? So, um, so I gotta get that done. I’m gonna try to knock that out hopefully this weekend. But yeah, I’m hoping to be, you know, licensed here at least by the end of the year. I don’t know how long it takes after everything’s submitted, but I think like Colorado’s board has to like meet and approve and… so I think
Logan: Yeah, it depends on the state. Yeah.
Drew: Yeah. Looking back at it, I was actually– It’s actually seems like the requirements are a little bit more relaxed in Kentucky. Um, I, I’m in s- I’m in Ohio to be clear, like I say Ohio is cause no one knows like where I’m gonna set. I’m actually on the [00:51:00] Kentucky side of the river though.
So like getting licensed in Kentucky is like a little bit easier of a process, but I have to call and get everything transferred and do… I’m just like, “Okay.” That, that
Logan: I’ll just l- I’ll do that later.
Drew: Yeah. Yeah. It’s like I’m not worried about it. It’s like you just gotta get the license. It doesn’t really matter what state, you know, for the most part.
So, um, but yeah, that’s where I’m at right now. I’m working on it. I’m, like I said, hoping to, you know, depending on… I should have everything in officially to get licensed here in the next two or three weeks, but hopefully by the end of the year, like, you know, it’s, it’s hanging behind me somewhere,
Logan: mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Drew: Something like that, so.
Logan: I hope, I hope so too. I mean, for me, it was pretty quick, like once I submitted it, cause I had everything done, uh, kind of around, like it didn’t take too much longer for me to be done after I did the exams, and I submitted everything, and I think it was like two or three days later I got my license.
Um, so hopefully it’s that fast for you, but we’ll see.
Top Tips for People Still Going Through the CPA Exams
Logan: [00:52:00] Um, and, you know, kinda wrapping up at this point, cause I think we’ve covered pretty much most of the important stuff and you had some great experience. Uh, same question that I always ask everybody, and e- even if it’s something you’ve already said or we’ve already talked about, what would be your top two or three tips to people who are still going through the CPA exam?
Drew: Um, I actually made a post on Reddit. Uh, so if this makes it to the Reddit page, uh, hello everyone. Um, I’ve been an avid commenter on there for a while now. But, um I think first off, constant re-review is like the biggest takeaway that I got from Superfast.
I think it just makes a lot of sense, you know, if, if there’s six units in Becker or Wiley, whatever, whatever you’re using to study, like every day you log on, if you’ve made it through five and you’re starting unit one, lesson one, like you should be doing re-reviews of all, all the sections.
And randomize it. Don’t do the personalized in Becker. Like, you know, you want to randomize it. Even if you’re seeing the same stuff, maybe the same questions, [00:53:00] don’t worry about it, just like hammer those re-review questions every day. And I will say another, probably number two is like consistency. Like, I genuinely, there was never a day that I at least didn’t do 10 questions.
Like it, it was before I went to bed, I would eat at my desk, I would knock out some, like, you know, I didn’t– at first I, like my first FAR take, I would, I had big sessions and then as like I got more comfortable with my study routine, I would sort of gravitate away from that and I would have like smaller sessions, like 15, 20 minutes here, you know.
Like, I would just constantly be hopping in there and like the goal for me was if I, especially after I got through all the material, like if I can get through 50 to 60 questions a day and like, you know, if I’m 50% way, uh, through the material in Becker, I would do, you know, like usually 20 to 30 a day review questions. Cause you got- you also have to do all the other stuff in Becker, right? I would do those 20 to 30. But as like time went on and I got closer and closer to the exam, I would ramp up that [00:54:00] volume of questions.
Made a Spreadsheet to Track His Knowledge on Topics
Drew: Um, and I think something I mentioned earlier, maybe I didn’t elaborate on, but I had a, I had a spreadsheet, a Google Sheet, um, for each section and like I went through and like I would do the questions and I would have that spreadsheet would have all the data of like what I missed, what sections I missed.
And like, I would go through and like intentionally do randomized questions on those sections. That’s like, oh, yeah, so it’s like, I think by audit I had like 3,000 or so questions on that spreadsheet by then, like every single one of them, and I think I was averaging like 79% or something like that, like accuracy per the set of 10.
Um, so everything was always in sets of 10. Like I, like I said earlier, I felt like that was just from a, from a– like
Logan: Good bite-sized amount. Mm-hmm.
Drew: Felt very manageable versus like, you know, getting a Becker and populating 50 questions. I’m like, “Holy, this is like, it feels like a lot of work.” So like during the exams, you know, there’s, you know, what, 50 questions on FAR, like 72 or maybe 76 for [00:55:00] AUD and 72, 72 for REG and TCP.
So it’s like, you know, I, I just felt like I w- when I was doing that exam, I wouldn’t even pay attention to the question count. I would just be going through each of them, just treating them as each, you know, this is one question, one question, one question. So, um, but yeah, I think constant re-review, consistency, and then don’t give up your personal life.
Felt Lucky That The Test Expiry is Set to 30 Months Instead of the Previous 18 Months
Drew: Like, these are just exams, you know, and like luckily, you know, we don’t, we don’t have to get these done in 18 months like everyone used to. I don’t know if I– that would’ve been
Logan: That was how, that was what, that was how it was for me. Yeah.
Drew: Yeah, so like, I don’t know if I could’ve done it. Um, genuinely don’t know if I could’ve done it.
So like, you know, we got 30 months to pass this. I think it’s like, is it even further out for a few states? I don’t know.
Logan: Maybe but definitely 30, yeah
Drew: Yeah, so it’s like there’s plenty of time. I wouldn’t, you know, you can pa- you can, you can button down and get them done in four months, but it’s like I, I just couldn’t, I couldn’t give it my personal life.
You know, I got friends and, you know, people who want to hang out and do stuff, and I’m the [00:56:00] same way. It’s like, you know, I definitely wasn’t missing a, a Sunday golf outing to study. That wasn’t happening. It’s like, I’m gonna prioritize that. I’ll study later, you know?
Um, but I never felt bad. I never like felt bad about making those choices because I always knew like, look, I could go home and do 20 to 30 questions and get a lot out of that because I’m not just speeding through the questions like, “Oh, I missed one. Cool. Why did I miss that? Okay, let me read all the answers.”
Like, I will read right and wrong answers. I will read all, you know, four selections to see like, you know, what are the potential, you know, situations and like how they could phrase these questions. Um, so I thought that was crucial.
Logan: Right. Well, uh, I mean, I think those are fantastic tips, and they’re really simple tips to remember, you know, be consistent. That– honestly, that’s kind of the base of what I usually tell people, like we have a coaching program. Consistency is the base of everything. If you’re not doing it every day, it’s gonna be a lot– it can be really hard to improve, [00:57:00] like let alone, you know, get through the material, but also like improve.
So, uh, you know, I think that’s a really important tip that you said there. And I, I mean, you had an awesome story. Uh, it was awesome talking to you today, Drew. Thanks for coming on the call, and, uh, I think this will be really helpful for a lot of people just to kinda see that no matter what your schedule is, no matter what your situation is, like you can do it and you can make it work.
So I’m glad you’re out on the call today.
Drew: Yeah. Uh, thanks for having me, Logan.
Uh, like I said at the beginning of the call, I was always sort of wanting, like hoping I, I, you know, that I could be one of these people. Like, cause I watched these videos of you giving these interviews and I was like, “You know, I feel like I have an interesting story in how I approach everything and just, you know, my life circumstances and like why I even decided to take these exams to begin with and, and pursue this, this career route.” So, um, yeah, appreciate you having me.
And, you know, if you’re watching this, I highly recommend, like I’ve said many times during this call, check out SuperfastCPA. It’s not a gimmick. It’s the [00:58:00] real deal. Like the strategies work, the material works. Um, you know, I really, uh, sort of almost, it’s funny. I think like my last exam, TCP when I took it, the day or two after I forgot I took it and I was– I turned on the audio.
And then my fiance is like, “What are you doing?” I was like, “You’re right, I’m done. I don’t need to, hopefully,” you know?
Logan: Throw this phone on the ground.
Drew: Yeah. So I still, I still funny enough have, uh, the Superfast app as my, on my front page of my phone. I just look at it now. I, you know, don’t need to pull it up anymore. But you never know, maybe I’ll get really bored and just decide to listen to Logan’s voice for an hour or
Logan: hope, I hope that you’re not that bored ever.
Uh, yeah, I mean, that’s awesome. I mean, I’m glad that you’re done, and I hope that everything goes smoothly with getting your license. And, uh, yeah, thanks for being on the call today, Drew, and, uh, I’ll talk to you later.
Drew: Okay. Thank you.
Logan: All right. That was the interview with Drew. Again, I think that was one of the most unique and cool podcast episodes that I’ve [00:59:00] had. Somebody who, again, Drew is somebody who, again, is so good at multitasking that he was, you know, listening to the multiple choice question walkthrough videos while he was playing World of Warcraft, and, you know, he did all kinds of things like that.
But it just goes to show that if you are effective and efficient with how you study, you can pass these exams in just about any circumstance in life. And Drew is somebody who is just constantly doing lots of different things, and he was able to still pass the exams even though he was doing so many things.
I’m sure it was helpful and, of course, very interesting. Thank you for watching or listening to this episode. Now, before you go, make sure you check out our free one-hour webinar training, again, that’s one quick reminder, something you want to check out. It’s free. You don’t want to miss it, so make sure you check out that webinar.
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That’s it for this episode, and I will see you in the next one.[01:00:00]
