Helicopter Pilot to CPA: How Chase Passed His CPA Exams

In this SuperfastCPA podcast interview, you’ll hear how Chase made a complete career change in just two years, from helicopter pilot to CPA.

Chase did this through a lot of hard work and studying strategically, and in this episode you’ll get all his tips and tricks for highly effective CPA study.

IMPORTANT LINKS:

Master your study process by attending one of our free study training workshops:
https://www.superfastcpa.com/study-secrets/

Episode Timestamps

• 0:00 How Chase Passed His CPA Exams with SuperfastCPA
• 02:16 Biggest Struggles Before SuperfastCPA
• 05:12 From Helicopter Pilot to Accountant
• 07:24 No Accounting Background
• 13:11 How Chase Felt Studying Before SuperfastCPA
• 14:35 Chase’s Lightbulb Moment
• 16:22 Realizing that He CAN Learn this Without an Accounting Background
• 17:56 Going Through the Lectures and Learning Nothing
• 19:09 Using the Questions to Learn it One Piece at a Time
• 23:27 How Chase Tackled the Hardest Topics in FAR
• 27:15 A Typical Day of Studying for Chase
• 30:27 Mini Sessions Every Two Hours
• 31:30 Utilizing the Different Study Tools
• 34:57 The Simplicity of the Mini Quizzes
• 37:26 Using the Mini Quizzes to Fill In the Gaps
• 40:24 It Gets Easier as Time Goes On
• 41:54 Exam Scores and His CPA Journey
• 44:58 The Decision for a Career Shift
• 47:28 How Chase Adapted SuperfastCPA in His Study
• 49:31 Being Busy and Still Managing to Study for the CPA Exams
• 53:23 Top Tips for People Still Struggling with the CPA Exams

Interview Transcript

Chase: [00:00:00] I feel like, first of all, I’m really glad I’m able to tell my story and I hope I can help some listeners out there because this exam is so hard and so tough for so many people, and I have no accounting background. I didn’t get my bachelor’s degree in accounting. I haven’t even worked in accounting for a year yet. You know, I just started last March, so, I took FAR, I studied for FAR and took FAR without ever working a day, or ha you know, I had bare minimum classes, so, my big thing is with SuperfastCPA mixed with Becker and everything, like, it’s obviously doable for someone who comes from that background. Like it’s, it is possible and extremely hard, extremely difficult, but with the right tools and with the right, process. It is, totally doable.

Logan: Welcome to another episode of the CPA Exam Experience podcast from SuperfastCPA. I’m Logan, and in today’s video, you’re going to hear Nate and I talk [00:01:00] to Chase.

Now Chase has a really interesting story. He went from being a helicopter pilot to studying for the CPA exam.

So he went from having no accounting background to studying for the CPA exam.

This interview with Chase was really interesting. He had a lot of awesome tips coming from that perspective. Somebody who hadn’t really dealt with this before suddenly having to study and figure out how to pass such a difficult exam.

One of my favorite things that he talked about was that he really struggled with the lectures when he started studying the normal way. And he even talks about how that was a struggle for him, even in college, he knew that he struggled in a lecture format. It only took him about one or two weeks of studying the traditional way before he knew I’ve got to change something.

And if you’ve listened to a lot of interviews, that’s a very common theme.

I’m excited for you to hear this interview. So just before we jump in, I want to remind everybody again of the one hour free webinar training that we have on superfastcpa.com. We go over the six key ingredients to passing the CPA exam. Again, it’s only one hour. It’s free. [00:02:00] Why not do it? It will save you months and months of struggling with just one hour.

With all that said, let’s jump straight into the interview with Chase.

Nate: I’ll just start with some kind of direct questions about SuperfastCPA and then that will kind of give us more to go into in your whole story.

Biggest Struggles Before SuperfastCPA

Nate: So the first question would just be, before you started using SuperfastCPA in your study process, what kind of issues were you running into, or what were some of your biggest struggles?

Chase: Um, learning from the lectures, honestly, it, like, I, I started, I started watching the lectures and it’s kind of funny how your, your ads like found me. Because I was looking for something exactly, exactly like SuperfastCPA. Um, I watched the lecture and just like you say, I, I wasn’t getting anything out of it.

And I, you know what’s funny is I’ve never learned in a lecture setting [00:03:00] ever, like all throughout high school and college and everything, like if it was le, if it was taught by a lecture, it, it, I may as well not even go. Like I, I remember in college we had this history class and. Um, I was sitting next to a friend of mine I went to high school with, and she was like, okay, cool, you ready for that quiz after this, like, you know, 45 minute lecture. And I was like, I didn’t get a thing out of that. And she went and aced the quiz and I went and failed it. And I was like, there’s something wrong with my learning and lecture. Like, I’ve never, so yeah, I just, I was just spinning wheels trying to watch the, the videos I have Becker so, um, it was just inefficient, super inefficient.

Nate: Okay. We’ll get really into all that. So once you found us, what were the main benefits you got from either, you know, like strategy wise about how to study differently and or using our study tools?

Chase: Uh, yeah, so I did the, I bought the PRO course and, [00:04:00] um, strategy wise, it was just, a no brainer for me to, to, you know, study in the mornings, wake up, get the morning stuff, uh, in the morning study going. I’ve always kind of done that, but to have someone else tell me that’s one of the best ways to do it, I was like, oh yeah, of course.

It makes perfect sense. You know? Um, and then just all the resources, uh, the mini sessions really helped. I feel like what was key for me was the re-review, especially through FAR, um. It, it, I studied for FAR, for like six months straight and it, it, you know, we can get into that later about why it took so long for me.

But, um, it, the re-review, if I, if I would’ve studied, you know, got through all the material and then a couple months of time passes by, you know, I, I would’ve forgotten everything. So, I think just the overall strategy that you teach in the PRO course was just key for me to re-review study in the morning, mini sessions throughout the day.

And [00:05:00] then, um, you know, even, even the final review the last couple of days before your tests, like I did pretty much everything you said, uh, with the little tweaks here and there.

Nate: Okay. All right. Awesome.

From Helicopter Pilot to Accountant

Nate: Well, yeah, so let’s go back just the first line in your, you know, what you wrote here. So you were a helicopter pilot and then had a sudden change of career into accounting. So let’s hear that story.

Chase: Yeah, so kind of interesting. I, I got outta high school and I knew I wanted to fly helicopters and so, um, when I was 18, I took my first flight and then took me a few years to kind of actually get into school. I think I started school right when I was about to turn 20 flight school. Went through flight school.

Then I was an instructor for a couple years and then that’s what took us down to Vegas. I was doing Grand Canyon tours down there and um, I had a blast. I loved it. I had this, it’s about my fourth year down there, flying tours. I had this really weird [00:06:00] issue like health issue that was, that kind of freaked me out, you know, I was going on in the helicopter and I decided, you know, it was a really hard decision, but I decided to ground myself, essentially step away from flying, which really sucked because it was, it was very sudden. It was very, uh, it was hard to go through. I had an eight month old baby at the time, and, you know, that was my whole career. That was my life path.

And so to suddenly be done flying and no longer have that revenue, uh, source income, and it was really tough and so we started looking into other, other options and my father-in-law is a CPA and actually who I’m working with now. And after maybe six months to a year of trying to decide if I wanted to actually do it or not, I finally committed to to going for it and uh, and so yeah, helicopter pilot into accounting.

It’s every time I tell people that, they’re like, what? That’s such [00:07:00] a, that’s such an odd, like, change of career. Like, aren’t you gonna hate being at a desk? And truth be told, I actually love it. I needed something. It’s, it’s great to slow down a little bit and, you know, I scratch that itch of being, being a pilot and getting that done.

And I realized that it was just a job, you know,

Nate: Mm-Hmm.

Chase: And, uh, and what I do now, I, I do enjoy it. So, yeah.

Nate: That’s really cool.

No Accounting Background

Nate: Okay, well, what’d you have to do school-wise? Cause I mean. Did you

Chase: Yeah,

Nate: Start over?

Chase: Yeah, good question. I had my bachelor’s degree in, um, aviation administration, and uh, so I had to get like the, I can’t remember exactly what it is, the 30 credits or whatever, of 36 credits, I can’t remember, yeah, of the upper level accounting, accounting stuff. So I went to, I did some online stuff at a couple of California schools, and this was when we were still living in Vegas.

I had just stopped flying and I was like, well, I should maybe at least start to, uh, you know, pursue [00:08:00] this. And, so I, I decided to go and do online classes just to see how it was. And the first class I took was financial accounting. I was like, nope, I’m not doing this. Like, this is terrible. I hate you know? And uh, I got through it and then I just kind of kept pushing through it. And, uh, so I got all those classes done and, uh, I was able to, uh, sit. So it’s kind of, kind of a really, really weird story. And I feel like, I feel like, first of all, I’m really glad I’m able to tell my story and I hope I can help some, some listeners out there because this exam is so hard and so tough for so many people, and I have no accounting background. I didn’t go, I didn’t get my bachelor’s degree in accounting. I didn’t, you know, I didn’t, I haven’t worked. I’ve, I haven’t even worked in accounting for a year yet. You know, I just started last March, so, um, I took FAR, I studied for FAR and took FAR without ever working a day, or ha you know, I had bare minimum classes, so, [00:09:00] um, kind of, kind of my, my big thing was is with, with SuperfastCPA mixed with Becker and everything, like, it’s obviously doable for someone who comes from that background. Like it’s, it is possible and, um, extremely hard, extremely difficult, but with the right tools and with the right, you know, process. It is, It is, totally doable.

And not to mention, I think a lot of people would say this, but I’m, I’ve always been a horrible test taker te like terrible. So to mix that, I had someone tell me, I was like, who had taken the CPA? And I was like, hey, so I just want some advice. Uh, I don’t have any accounting background. You know, I haven’t taken any accounting classes and I want take the CPA. They were like, well, are you a good test taker? And I was like, no, I’m a terrible test taker. And they’re like, I’d made me think about doing something else. So I was like.

Nate: Yeah.

Chase: So I was like, so I was like, oh, great. You know? Okay. So that was discouraging, but I was like, you know what? I can do it. You know, I, you know, someone you gotta learn at some point, whether it’s in [00:10:00] college or, or now, you know, you gotta start at square one.

And so I just decided to go for it. And

Logan: Mm-Hmm.

Chase: So, yeah, it’s going well so far.

Nate: That’s awesome.

Logan: Yeah.

Nate: Especially with no, accounting background, there is a lot of, there’s a lot of, I mean, yeah, understanding the fundamentals. Fundamentals, that just comes from doing your undergrad accounting classes and then, you know, most people end up doing a master’s.

Chase: Yeah.

Nate: So there is a lot of background info and with your background or lack of accounting background, every phase of CPA study process would be really tough.

I mean, there’s learning the material. Then test day, like you said, if you traditionally have been a bad test taker, you know, a lot of people that are prepared enough to pass, they get nailed by just some like time management mistakes on test day. There’s just every phase it can be, a score killer, I guess.

Logan: Mm-Hmm.

Chase: Yeah. And [00:11:00] to, to give you an idea, you know, those, those online classes I took, they were, I mean, I don’t know if, if you guys have ever taken an online classes, some of ’em are borderline worthless, know?

Logan: Oh yeah.

Chase: Felt like I didn’t get a ton out of ’em. I remember sitting down, going, you know, just starting, uh, Becker and barely know, barely knowing what a debit and a credit is.

That was kind like where I was at my knowledge. So it It was pretty daunting going into it, and that’s the reason why it took me so long to get through it. And I’m still studying for it here we’re, you know, about a year and a half later. So, um, but yeah, it’s, it, I’ve come a long way and, and, uh, it’s been great and I feel like I’ve learned a ton and, and I don’t feel like. I don’t feel like my knowledge now is, is, you know, like in the workplace is suffering. I don’t feel like I am super far behind by any means. I feel like these tests as I’ve studied, I’ve, I’ve learned a lot. And then, as you know, on the job training stuff, I’ve learned a lot that way too. So, um, I feel [00:12:00] like I once, you know, maybe another year or two or however, I don’t know when you would say I’m a competent CPA, but, uh, you know, I, I feel like I’ll be a very, you know, competent CPA and I’ll, I’ll do just fine in the long runs.

Logan: Yeah. And I would argue that. I mean, honestly, I felt like I learned just as much or more from taking the CPA exam as I did from all my bachelor’s degree and a lot of my master’s degree. Honestly, like

Chase: Yeah.

Logan: if you’re effective and really learning from the material, you know, by doing the questions, which obviously you’re learning, and this is how I felt too, you just. It’s almost like the CPA is another degree and I felt like I learned a ton from, doing the CPA, and I’m sure that it seems like that’s what’s happening to you too.

Chase: That’s what 95% of my studying is, is just basically, you know, up until like the two weeks before you take the test, then you’re like, you know, in the evaluation phase or like, you know, reviewing or whatever. But I feel like most of it’s just been [00:13:00] all new material. Everything’s been new, you know, uh, especially like audit. Audit was terrible.

Nate: I bet. That’s, yeah.

Chase: Yeah.

Logan: Audit is like a

Chase: Yeah, it was tough.

Logan: even for accountants.

How Chase Felt Studying Before SuperfastCPA

Logan: I was gonna ask, how long did you study with the lecture? You know, you kind of mentioned before that you started out, watching the lectures, you knew it wasn’t effective.

Chase: Mm-hmm.

Logan: How did you find SuperfastCPA, how long did it take for you to decide what was that process?

Chase: Yeah, I probably studied for a week, maybe two weeks, and I was like, I’ve gotta change something because you know, a little background and context. When I went through flight school, um, I. I would go to the le, we’d have like lecture classes and I’d go to the lecture and I’d, and I just, you know, there’s a certain point to where I would just tune out because I knew I’d have to go home and teach it to myself and learn, you know, learn for myself. When I was in college, I didn’t go to my math classes, like my last math class in college. I didn’t go to a single class. I had my wife teach it to me because that’s kind of like the, the [00:14:00] learning, that’s how I learn. I have, I have to have like. I have to like, have it in front of me. And if someone’s talking, which feels like a million miles an hour in a lecture, I’m not getting a single thing out of it.

So, um, so I, I felt like, you know, I was seeing, I was seeing the ads and it was, you know, you guys were, Nate, you were saying, you know, there’s, what if you could do this, this, and this and still get your CPA and I was like, oh man, I’ve got a baby. I’ve got a wife, I’ve, you know, at the time I was involved in two business, I trying, you know, get going. And so I was like, I gotta, I gotta have a more efficient way of doing this.

Chase’s Lightbulb Moment

Chase: And then it’s funny, as I started watching the pro courses, I was like, oh my gosh, this is exactly how I learn and this is exactly how I’ve studied from day one.

Nate: Mm-Hmm.

Chase: So like, you know, actually doing multiple choice questions, that’s what you do on test day. That is like a no brainer. And funny that so many people don’t see that or haven’t, know. Like, people need to understand that because that’s, [00:15:00] it’s such a big difference than listen to someone talk about the material and then actually answer the question. And, and same thing that I did in flight school.

When I was in flight school, we would have a mo, we would have a, uh, a written test for each, you know, if you got your private certificate and your commercial certificate, you’d have a FA written test. With that written test, you got, you got a course just like Becker and, um, there was lectures and all this.

And I tried to do that. What I ended up doing was just going, clicking through the questions and getting ’em right or wrong and learning from the questions. And so when I started looking at, uh, SuperfastCPA, I’m like, this is how I’ve been doing it all along. It’s, there’s no difference here. So, it just made so much sense to me.

And, and once I, once I listened to the whole PRO course. And implemented your guys’, uh, you know, study methods. It was, there was no going back. And that, that I think is the only way for me. I know everyone learns differently and some people, you know, like you’ve heard multiple times in these, uh, [00:16:00] in these, uh, podcasts is, is I have to watch the lecture.

Well, I cannot watch lecture.

Nate: Yeah.

Chase: Me personally.

Logan: Yeah. Mm-Hmm. And that, that’s true to an extent. I think, and I think Nate said this before where. Yes, you might learn a little bit differently, but in the end you still need to be good at answering questions. So why not just cut straight to that, you know? And, um, I had kind of a follow up question.

Realizing that He CAN Learn this Without an Accounting Background

Logan: So could you tell immediately that it was way more effective or did it take a little bit to get used to, to doing the Superfast approach?

Chase: You know, um, so I started with FAR and I did, I did question whether it would work for me or not for a split second because. I was like, well, this probably works for, you know, my, my thought was, this probably works well for people who just got outta college or a master’s in this stuff, but I don’t know anything.

Nate: Mm-Hmm.

Chase: So how am I supposed to learn from, from this? And all it took was one, the first, like one or two, uh, modules in FAR, um, not even chapters, like actual, like, you [00:17:00] uh, F1, F two and far. And I realized, first of all, I realized, okay. I had a lot, I’ll be honest, I had a lot of self doubt whether I could learn this material because I know it’s tough stuff. So in those first two, um, modules, I learned, okay, I can learn this. I am capable. And two, it is possible to learn from just, from just, uh, you know, doing the multiple choice questions and no lecture.

It is possible to do it that way. And so I realized that very, very early on, and again, I never went back. And to this point, um, I have my last exam, which is REG scheduled in a couple of weeks. I’ve watched maybe one or two lectures total over the whole, over the whole, uh, process. I’ve opened the book maybe once or twice. My whole entire, you know, process has just been doing multiple choice question, so.

Nate: Yeah. You saved a lot of time.

Chase: Yeah.

Going Through the Lectures and Learning Nothing

Nate: So one question I have is going back to the very beginning. So if [00:18:00] you’ve kind of always learned from going into the questions and then when you started with Becker, going back to just starting to watch the lectures, were you just kind of going under the assumption that, you know, the CPA is difficult and you didn’t have a background on it, so you were just assuming that you just needed to watch everything and probably read the textbook and that’s kind of your, that was your initial plan?

Chase: Exactly. Yeah. When I first started, I, I was like, well, I, yeah, I, I don’t have much background on this, so I feel like, you know, with how complex some of this stuff can be, I’m not gonna be able to teach it to myself. So here we go. Let’s start with the lecture and, you know, 30 minutes into an hour long lecture and I had nothing, nothing retained from it.

Nate: Yeah.

Chase: Then, and then I watch the lecture and then I get to the multiple choice and every, I swear there’s not a single multiple choice that was covered in the lecture. So I’m like, what am I doing? I’m wasting time [00:19:00] watching these lectures. Like there were so many confirming things to me where I was like, I just, I just gotta stop watching these lectures.

You know? It’s just such a waste of time.

Nate: Okay.

Using the Questions to Learn it One Piece at a Time

Nate: So yeah, to follow up with that, so, you said, going into the questions first, it pretty much immediately, at least let you know that, okay, this can work. And so was that experience. As soon as you started, you looked at a question, revealed the solution, and you’re just able to think, okay, I know this is just one tiny piece in this whole like FAR puzzle, but I, I kind of understand just this explanation in front of me and as long as I do this one by one, was that kind of what confirmed that it would work.

Chase: Exactly. Yeah. It was like I, I went through each question in those first two modules, which I can’t remember what it is. It’s like the conceptual framework. It’s like super basic stuff.

But in FAR, but when I started going through it, you know, it was, it was, yeah, exactly one little piece at a time. [00:20:00] And I’m like, okay, I got that.

I got that. I got that. And then I went through the multiple choice. That set a multiple choice again, like a, you know, um, in my first couple re-review, and I was, and I was retaining it, and I was understanding it, and I was, you know, it was making sense. And so it just, it just confirmed to me that, okay, I have learned this little chunk so far, but just by doing the multiple choice questions. So let’s just take it one chunk at a time, and I know I can get through it. I remember like inventory, uh, took a while to figure out, you know, LIFO, FIFO and, and then bonds and leases. I, that was really tough because it was like, man, I’d spend like 30 minutes sometimes on one or two, multiple choice, just trying to soak it in and trying to understand it, you know, just teaching it to myself.

But, uh, it’s, it was totally, it was totally doable and it was, there was enough information there, you know, to learn what I needed to [00:21:00] learn to pass.

Nate: Yeah. That’s one thing I tell people a lot is to really go slow. Like go slow to go fast. If you’re confused by a question, that is where you want to push through the confusion until you get it. And like you were saying, even with one or two, multiple choice, if you will sit there and wrestle with it until it clicks, you’ve kind of unlocked the ability to answer most questions on bonds or whatever the topic is like that can come from one difficult MCQ, maybe not one, but it can give you a big piece. Whereas the mistake version is okay, this isn’t making sense. Let me just look at the next question. And if you’re just constantly never going through that confusion to understanding phase, then again you’re just back to kinda wasting your time.

Chase: Yeah. And I, and one thing I will mention, because I don’t wanna be too misleading where I said I like rarely watch the lectures and I don’t learn from the lectures. There were a couple of really hard [00:22:00] concepts that were hard for me that I did go and I would click into the lecture if from in Becker, you know, if you’re on a multiple choice, there’s a spot where you can like click on it and it says it’ll go the lecture.

I don’t think it does that now with the new, um, with the new program or maybe they’re working on it.

Logan: I think it’s called skill builder?

Chase: Yeah. They’ve got the skill builder videos, but they don’t have, they only have those on a couple of the choice questions. So you only get, you only get that for like, you know, if you have a, if you have a set of multiple choice, uh, questions of like 30 questions.

You may only have two or three in there that have the skill builder, which kind of sucks. But, you know, like, uh, if I was struggling on one thing and I just could not grasp it from the multiple choice. Then I would go and supplement with the, with the lecture. And it was usually brief. I would usually like skim through to find exactly the part on the problem I couldn’t understand.

And then I would watch them talk about it. And then, so, you know, sometimes it helps, sometimes it wouldn’t. But I, you know, that was kind of like my last resort. Like I gotta, I gotta have something to supplement [00:23:00] this. And then Becker also has that option to. You know, ask an instructor. And so some, sometimes that would help. Uh, but it was kind of the same thing as like reading a book. You know, you were just essentially reading a text from someone explaining how to do it. So it was, uh, I felt like that was valuable in some ways, but for the most part, like I’d say 95% maybe more, was learning just from reading the explanation of why I got it right or wrong on the, on the multiple choice.

Nate: Yeah.

How Chase Tackled the Hardest Topics in FAR

Nate: So I was wanting to ask where you came into FAR with basically no accounting experience, what were the topics that were the hardest for you to grasp?

Chase: Um, I’d say like, you know, trying to figure out cash and accrual basis, you know, accrue, accruals, uh, journal entries, especially like adjusting journal entries. I mean, think about doing that your first time at the FAR level. I know they’ve got some basic ones in there, but getting to some of those, getting to some of those sims where they have like, you know, five [00:24:00] exhibits and you have to pull and do these big journal entries.

I was so, I was so lost. So that was tough. And then, uh, you know, obviously a common one, bonds and leases. I felt like that was pretty tough. I actually got through bonds and didn’t understand it and I just kind of kept moving on, which probably isn’t great, but I was like, you know what? I do this re-review so much, you know, every single day I’m hitting 30, 30 questions, I’m gonna see more of it.

Which is kind of what you talk about, right?

Nate: Yeah.

Chase: That’s the whole point. Like when you first initially go through it, you’re not gonna know it a hundred percent and that’s the point you just get through it. Do your re-review, you’re gonna get more exposure to that. And bits and pieces, and that’s a hundred percent what helped me feel, figure out those harder topics is because all at once when it was just shoved down my throat, I was not grasping it. But then when I could remember little bits and pieces here and there, uh, with re-review, it totally just brought it, you know, full circle for me. I, I remember the day that I finally figured out bonds. I went back into the [00:25:00] multiple choice question and went, uh, like the multiple choice section and just did ’em all through. And I got like almost 90% or 95%. And I’m like, all right, I’m good.

You know, I do it. So, um, but there’s no way I could have accomplished that. Uh, just, just with it, without the re-review, I, I can’t even stress how important that is, and I know how important you guys say it, and it, it’s just so true.

Like the, the mini sessions and the re-review is, is what made it for me.

Nate: The mini sessions, especially because like I, I did exactly what is in the PRO videos. I used my phone a ton just ’cause I knew I wasn’t gonna study at night. So I would do two hours in the morning, use my phone a lot. And I think people discount that idea, like how effective can it really be to study for three minutes throughout the day.

But, it is actually, people that study that stuff, like learning modes or ways of learning, call it retrieval learning. So it is like an actual, I didn’t know that at the time. I would just use my phone ’cause it made [00:26:00] sense. I like read the entirety of ESPN, like twice a day I should really be taking quizzes or doing something.

Chase: Yeah, when, when I was a flight instructor, you have to take a flight instructor, uh, test to learn how to teach. And part of it is, is learning how people learn, you know, and understanding how people learn so that you can. You know, better teach people, you can kind of recognize how they learn. And that’s a big part of it was, you know, seeing, seeing how people learn and, and, and, using, using those tools and, and methods to get through to your students.

So when I saw, when I saw, you know, this way of doing it and the in the constant, you know, uh, re-repeat, you know, they say, what is it? Every, you have to see something three or four times before you actually get it in your head. Um. It just, it just was, you know, confirming to me, because I had learned that as a flight instructor and I had applied it as an instructor for, I was an instructor for [00:27:00] about three years. And so, you know, flipping back to being the student, I was like, okay, I know how to learn. Let’s use everything I know to try and get grasp, get a grasp on this stuff and, and pass these tests.

Nate: Mm-Hmm.

A Typical Day of Studying for Chase

Logan: So kind of still on the topic of mini sessions, but more applied to just like your general day. What were you doing at the time that you started doing these exams? You know, ’cause you. Stopped doing flights, made the decision to go do some classes, and then, you know, finally you were going through the CPA exams, how did you fit your studying into your day?

What was your, like, typical day and how did that evolve as time went on?

Chase: Yeah, when I first started, um, I was kind of just studying whenever, you know, I’d wake up and go to the gym and then, um, my wife worked at the time, three days a week, and I was just, just got done, um, you know, with a full-time job flying. And so I had started a couple of [00:28:00] businesses that I was doing full-time, and so I would kind of just, when I had time, it was like when I could find time, which then soon after that. I got the PRO course and, and I decided that, yeah, I’m gonna study in the morning and kind of get it over with. Um, and so that, that was kind of it. I I would just kind of study whenever I didn’t really have a really good, consistent schedule. And as far as time goes too, like, I’d be like, yeah, I think I’ll study for an hour right now, and I would just sit down and study, you know, try and study for an hour.

Whereas once I got onto the schedule of what the, you know, PRO course suggests, it was like two hours in the morning and, and then just re-review throughout the day. Mini sessions throughout the day. And my study process, you know, I started this whole process back in August of 2022. My study process has just evolved, kind of, and it’s always had the core foundation of, of the PRO course.

And what, what that teaches. Uh, you know, as far [00:29:00] as the, the main session followed by re-review and mini sessions, but with, uh, with my situation and everything, uh, that’s happened over the last, you know, year and a half, it’s just kind of evolved a little bit on what works at that time, you know? So, um, yeah.

Long answer to your question, but essentially, I didn’t have a ton of structure before, but now I feel like, you know, I’m very structured out and it, and it just. It, it’s just so much more effective when you have it planned out. And, and, and especially in the morning, you know,

Nate: Oh yeah.

Chase: it’s such a silly thing to like, you know, I’ve seen people, I’ll be honest, I’ve seen people on Reddit be like, oh yeah, the SuperfastCPA guy, he’s just selling you a schedule. And I’m like, well, that’s probably half your guys’ issue. You know, you sit down and you just, I know it’s pretty funny.

Nate: Don’t get me started on Reddit, man. Ugh. The CPA subreddit is just the blind leading the blind, but like at the same Reddit hates anything promotional. [00:30:00] So you know, I never go in there to try to like provide tips or anything just ’cause there would be a witch hunt.

Chase: Oh yeah. Well, hey, I, I’ll tell you what, I always support you guys ’cause every once a while your name will pop it up. Yeah. Every once in a while your name will pop up and they’ll say. What do you guys know about SuperfastCPA, blah, blah, blah. And, and I always pipe in and, and at least just say, it’s definitely worth it. Buy it. You know, like I just, I just give my 2 cents on it.

Nate: Yeah. that’s perfect.

Mini Sessions Every Two Hours

Logan: So throughout the day, how do your mini sessions look, are you setting a goal for how many quizzes you’re gonna do, or how many review notes or is it more just like time you pick up your phone? Yeah. What does that kind of look like?

Chase: I wish I could say every time I picked up my phone I was studying because that’s kind of what we’re taught, but, uh, and it would be so much more effective. But I just, uh, i, I can’t do that. So right now, what’s really worked for me on this last test, uh, as you guys know, like that last test, the burnout is just so [00:31:00] real. So I’ve set a timer, or I’ve set like a reminder in my phone every two hours, and that’s the minimum that I’ll do on mini sessions. And every two hours it’ll pop up on my phone and then I’ll go into the app or I’ll hit my, uh, I’ll go into Quizlet and look at my flashcards and, uh, so every two hours, that’s, that’s been my, been my schedule.

When I was doing FAR, it was, it was every hour, um, pretty consistently, but right now, every two hours is what’s working for me.

Nate: Awesome. I was still thinking about Reddit.

Utilizing the Different Study Tools

Nate: I’m not sure if this is what you asked, but, is there a study tool you use the most or do you try to cycle through the different ones each day?

Chase: Uh, as far as,

Nate: Like on our app.

Chase: Oh yeah. so definitely the multiple choice questions. I use the multiple choice more than anything. The review notes, for FAR, I, I actually printed those out and it just became another book and I, I don’t really learn from reading the book, and so I tried to read those a bunch and I was like. I like to see ’em physically [00:32:00] here ’cause it was kind of hard to kind of like scroll through on my computer. So it did help to like physically read through ’em that way. But I only probably read through ’em like once. Maybe it just, I wasn’t learning very well that way. And then the audio notes, at the time I, I had a little, uh, business cleaning windows in Vegas right before we moved back to Idaho and I would, you know, I’d be working eight hour days on the windows and I would just have a headphone in and I would listen to those audio notes.

Nate: That’s a

Chase: I’d probably go, yeah, I’d probably go like, you know, two hours and then I’d, I’d be like, I’m not learning anything. I got, I got a cycle, and so I would. I would, you know, uh, turn on some music or whatever, but I can’t even tell you how many times I listened to that FAR, uh, the audio notes.

It was unbelievable. And to the point to where like, I had listened to it so much, I’m, I was wondering why, why am I not getting anything out of this? And then I would go and study on Becker and like [00:33:00] I would read a question or, or a answer, and it would be word for word. Like just pounded in my head word for word from your notes.

And I was like, oh, okay. I really am getting something out of this.

Nate: Yeah.

Chase: Um, one time we were driving to dinner, my wife and I, and, uh, you know, when you hop in your car and you have Bluetooth, your phone just automatically connects to your car. Well, the note started, uh, the note started right up and I just started reciting it and, and basically like talking with you ’cause I had listened to it so much and she’s like, oh my gosh, how do you know this so well? And I’m like, I listened to like several hours every single day. So I used the audio notes very heavily in FAR. Um, with BEC and audit, I didn’t, because at that point I was in, I was doing, uh, my job now, which is in tax. So I, I felt like I was a little more focused on what I was doing in front of me and I tried to put, you know, a headphone in my ear and I just couldn’t focus on, both things ’cause I was, I was trying to learn how to do my job [00:34:00] here too, so I was like, I couldn’t learn two things at once.

Um. But overall, again, to answer your question in a very long way, I would say overall the multiple choice questions from the app is what I use the most.

So, and they’re, they’re awesome.

Nate: Yeah. And that, helps with the whole idea of just pounding questions relentlessly. It’s

Chase: Yeah.

Nate: Now we have a ton of questions in each section. I think a couple years ago we didn’t have that many, but we’ve just made a ton. So there’s like 2000 plus questions and I was, looking emails and you had, uh, cause once we got that many, our quizzes started getting really slow to, like, when you

Chase: Oh yeah. There was.

Nate: And, and you had emailed about that. I mean, multiple people did, but I always look what emails have I sent, if any with this person we’re about to interview. So I was looking at that and yeah, that took forever developer to figure that out, but now it’s back to being like instant for the most part.

The Simplicity of the Mini Quizzes

Chase: Yeah, works, works great now. Yeah. I’ve [00:35:00] noticed that, um, there was something I was gonna mention with the, uh, oh, not, not to get you fired up, Nate, but, uh, another Reddit topic we had. I, I was, I saw someone mention something with SuperfastCPA. Uh, you know, someone, someone was actually for it, but they were kind of like dogging on the multiple choice questions.

They were like, yeah, it’s good. There’s good material in there, but the multiple choice are just a little too simple. And honestly, some of the, like, the simplicity of some of ’em. Just the con, the concept of everything and those small little details is what I’m totally convinced. What helped me pass FAR because I would, I would go into my main, um, you know, I do 30 questions or 60 questions a day, whatever it was during my main session. And, um. I can’t remember how many multiple choice questions there were in that whole test bank. It’s like over 2000, right? So even if you sh, even if you shuffle, even if you do like a, a, a, review of all the topics, you’re only seeing, you know, like [00:36:00] a very small percentage of those multiple choice questions.

And so with, with your questions, they were like, they were perfect on hitting those little topics here and there that were a nuisance or, or like things that you just kind of forget about. And I’m thoroughly convinced that, uh, your multiple choice questions are definitely what helped me pass FAR. I, I wouldn’t have passed FAR without those multiple choice questions 100% because it was just those little details and you can hit ’em so quick.

You know, I could do five questions in like 90 seconds, but it was all stuff that like, like, uh, you’d see the question and you’re like, oh, wow, I haven’t thought about that for so long. I’m really glad I just saw that because on test day I may not have, you know, remembered that, so.

Nate: Yeah.

Chase: it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s crazy. The concept is, is just too real. So,

Logan: And, we try to keep them mostly quite simple. I found this when I was doing it that the fact that it is simple was actually more helpful when it came to mini quizzes because [00:37:00] sometimes all I needed was just a reminder, like this concept is this I just needed that small reminder like, oh yeah, that’s this equation.

And it wasn’t even like a complex equation, but I just, was reminded of that it even existed, because I, maybe hadn’t seen it for a few days or a week or something like that, like it just hadn’t been seen in the other re-review. But then on the mini quiz, boom, it comes up and I’m like, oh yeah, like it was an easy thing.

But now I remember it.

Using the Mini Quizzes to Fill In the Gaps

Chase: Exactly. Well, that’s the whole thing, right? Is there’s just so much material that’s, that’s one of the reasons why people struggle with this so much. There’s just so much material to cover. So to be able to, you know, hit those little details here and there, here and there, that’s, that’s what you need.

You know, you could be a master at the hard concepts, but it’s those, it’s those little, little, small details that are actually super easy if you know ’em, but it’s hard to remember ’em if you’re only seeing them here and so.

Nate: Yeah, that, that was my exact, so when I failed FAR [00:38:00] the first time. In my final review, all I did was focus on like the four or five hardest topics that I got in the real exam. And it was like 60 or 70% just relatively simple things that I just hadn’t seen in, you know, weeks. And, that’s where the idea of re-review kind of hit me was, okay, you’ve gotta be just consistently hitting everything because this is, on test day. It’s not just the hardest stuff. It really is pulling from these 100 plus topics. That, yeah, the re-review is, it’s, it’s one of those ideas that once you say it out loud, it just seems like common sense. But it’s not, that’s not how the traditional study process is laid out and done.

Chase: Yeah. Right, right. Yeah, there’s, there was times when I, I remember there was times when I was studying for FAR where I could think of specific topics I had struggled with, and it had been like two weeks since I had seen any of those on my practice test from Becker. And I’m like, I’m gonna have to go dig and [00:39:00] find out, you know, I can’t remember exactly where it is or what it is, but I’m gonna have to go dig and find those questions. And so, um, and there’s just too many questions to cycle through. So that’s where your app kind of supplemented that and that’s what it is, right? It’s a supplement. It’s supposed to help those gaps. Um, and that’s really where it just came in, through and through. Truly.

Nate: Yeah,

Chase: So super grateful to yet you made those multiple questions.

Nate: I could start a whole new rant, but yeah, when someone first signs up and they’re new to the process and they’ll email us and like they have all these ideas of what they think our study tools should be, or you should have this feature. It’s like, okay, listen, could you just, just try it, like try it for a few weeks and I promise start to click and you’ll like, you’ll get it.

It make sense, but yeah.

Chase: Yeah. One, one of the, one of my favorite things you said one time, I can’t remember if it was in like the course or, uh, one of your podcasts is like, you were essentially like, I know [00:40:00] better than you. Like, I’m, trying to be nice about it, but I, I kind of do like, I’ve been through this, so just trust me. I heard that and I’m like, he does, yeah.

Nate: Yeah, I, and that’s, yeah, that’s not something I can just email back to somebody, but that’s like, that’s what I’m thinking.

Chase: That’s you wanna say? Yeah.

Nate: Like I could save you a lot of time if you’ll just, just listen to me. That’s funny.

It Gets Easier as Time Goes On

Nate: So one question I was thinking while you’ve been talking is. Are you feeling like the REG material is coming easier now than the FAR material was in the beginning?

Because like now you’ve kind of built up a accounting base. You’ve passed FAR and, BEC and audit apparently, and so does the study process feel like less of a struggle now?

Chase: Yeah, it’s so much easier. Um, I, I feel like a little bit, I, there, there is a little bit there where, um, you know, they just changed the exam, so there’s less material in there. So I [00:41:00] got through all the material really quick with REG. But, um, I do definitely think that now that I have this accounting base, I’ve been working in tax for almost, for almost a year.

You know, it’s, it’s been the easiest test so far. Now let’s see what happens when I show up on test day, I still gotta get the job done right.

But, um, definitely the easiest process so far. Everything’s come a lot easier. And you know how these tests are, they’re all in some way or another kind of intermingled.

They’re all related a little bit here and there. Um, so yeah, it’s definitely the, the, the background of the other three tests and, and the work experiences helping a ton with this last one, which is good because like I said, the burnout on that fourth test is real. So if I was doing FAR right now, I would be struggling big time, big time. So, um, yeah, I would not recommend doing doing that big one last.

Nate: Mm-Hmm.

Exam Scores and His CPA Journey

Logan: So you know, your timeline, took six months for FAR, then you also did audit and [00:42:00] BEC. Have you passed all of them first try, or you failed any of them?

Chase: Yeah. So, uh, I failed FAR the first time and like everyone says, you go in there and I came out and I’m like, if I got over 50% great. You know, like, that’s awesome. So I ended up getting like a 64 or 65. And so I was like, oh, you know, I wasn’t that, I wasn’t that far off. Okay. So I studied for like another six weeks and then I passed it my second time, which, which I still think is a miracle.

I thought that second test when I was in there, I thought for sure I did worse than my first one, but I somehow passed it. Um, and then BEC I passed the first try and, uh, audit I failed twice. So despite, I think that’s, that’s something that some people don’t realize is like, despite how perfect your, um, your study setup can be and, and everything, like, at the end of the day, like these tests are still really hard and it’s just [00:43:00] pushing through to get the results that you want.

Um, the first time I failed, I wasn’t that surprised to be honest with you. I kind of like set my test date. Just to, just to push myself to study that extra bit and I kind of wanted to go in there, like I was telling you guys, like audit was so foreign to me, so I kind of wanted to go in there and just kind of see how I did. I ended up getting like a 68, like I was pretty close. And then the second time around, this is what was so frustrating, is that I studied for another, like six weeks I think it was. And um, I felt like I knew that material so well. Like, I felt like I, and I felt like I got in there and I was like, okay, I think I could pass that.

Like I don’t feel like I crushed it, but definitely feel like I could pass it. And I got another 68, so two 60 eights in a row. So it was pretty, I was super bummed out when I found out that score ’cause I was like, man. Now we’re getting close to the end of the year, and then score releases are gonna be like six months.

Like, I gotta get this done. And so I, you know, kind of the same thing. I, I think the last time I studied, [00:44:00] and this goes to tell you, I knew the material was just a harder test. I think I only studied for like another two weeks, and I actually studied less, um, than I normally would. I actually focused more on like, um, you know, some religious studies and, and just kind of helped, you know, tried to be mentally. Just take care of my mental health a little bit more rather than just like every waking second, you know, I had to study and uh, and then I passed. So sometimes I feel like, you know, that you have the knowledge, but with how difficult these tests are, you may get thrown, you know, a couple hard sims or multiple choice that make all the difference, so.

Nate: Yeah. Yeah. The mix

Chase: And then my, yeah. Then my first attempt at REG is, uh.

Logan: In a couple weeks you said? Yeah.

Chase: Yeah, a couple so.

Nate: Awesome. Yeah. If you’ve been working in tax and they did cut off a decent amount of material. I think you’re gonna think you’re gonna nail it.

Chase: I hope so.

Nate: Yeah.

The Decision for a Career Shift

Nate: Okay, so kind of big [00:45:00] picture. You make this big career shift. You go to extra school to, qualify to even take these exams.

Did you have some level of apprehension about the career switch clear until a certain thing happened, like maybe passing FAR or were you feeling nervous about the career switch? How did that all happen on a timeline?

Chase: Yeah, good question. So I, when I, before I had started studying for it, you know, I was gonna buy Becker, which was what, 2,500 bucks or three grand at the time. So I wanted to make sure I was fully committed in it before I made that big investment. And so mentally I was, I was committed to it. Right? Which would’ve been August of 22. Kind of right from the get go, I said, you know, I kind of like switched gears mentally and said, okay, I’m, I’m gonna buy this course and I’m, I’m gonna go all in, full in, you know. But it wasn’t until I passed FAR until I really felt like, you know, [00:46:00] FAR was kind of like, I, I had just had self doubt, you know?

I just had doubts, like, if I couldn’t pass FAR, then, you know, that’s like, that’s my biggest, that’s my biggest hurdle right now is I have to pass this test otherwise. This career to me is gonna be nothing. It’s gonna be worthless and my career changes, it’s not gonna happen. So even though I was mentally committed when I bought the course, it was like once I passed FAR and I knew I had gotten the hardest one done, um, then for me that was confirming that, okay, I really can do this.

That was really my turning point to where I knew I was a hundred percent in and I knew that I could make it. I knew that it was doable. Um, which was perfect timing too, because I had already committed to come and work at this job. We had our house for sale in Vegas, and like it, it was already in motion, like the, the career change and the big move was already in motion. And so I, when I passed, I passed that, we moved, [00:47:00] you know, like a month later, two months later, like our house sold, we moved right away and it just, the, the timing was just so perfect. Like, it couldn’t have been, it couldn’t have been any better. But yeah, I think, I think the big one was, was, actually passing FAR.

That’s when I was, that’s when I was, you know, okay, I, I’ve got this and this is, this is what I’m gonna do.

Nate: Yeah. So probably just a big sense of relief that, this is all lining up. Yeah.

Chase: Yup, so.

How Chase Adapted SuperfastCPA in His Study

Logan: So you mentioned like way back at the beginning of the interview, like, you know, you applied pretty much everything in the Superfast, method. And you were saying that you did like some small tweaks on your own, I think you might’ve mentioned it for the final review or something like that. Was there anything that you kind of changed to mold to fit yourself, like that works better for you that you kind of learned over time?

Chase: Yeah, it’s just mostly, mostly the schedule. Like I was saying earlier, the, I kept the core of like the, [00:48:00] um, you know, you do your main session and then re-review. I kind of kept that, but, um, like as of, for example, as of right now, like my study schedule, uh, right now is I wake up in the morning at like 5:30, 5:45 and then I exercise. I always try and exercise first because that wakes me up. It gets my mind clear and then, you know, just obviously trying to stay healthy. Um, and then I go and study right there until I get go to work. But sometimes I only get, if I have to be here at eight, you know, sometimes after my exercising, I only get, you know, le I get less than two hours. So then, um, you know, there’s times where I can study at work. Uh, like my bosses let me, uh, take an hour unpaid, you know, if I want to, to study, um, towards test day, you know, and it’s getting closed. And, uh, and then sometimes I’m usually not liking to do this, but then, you know, I’ll go home and I’ll study after work, but I usually always have an hour or two at night [00:49:00] to just hang out with my kids or, uh, my wife or do whatever else I need to do because I get the bulk of it done in the morning or during the day. So I’d say, I’d say just the little tweaks are just kind of like playing with the schedule that’s available for me.

Logan: It sounds like you’ve been, it kind of has made it so that you can manage your busy life. You’re to do all those things that you want and need to do because, you’re able to get that efficient study in and then, a little bit of studying throughout the day.

That’s what it sounds like.

Being Busy and Still Managing to Study for the CPA Exams

Chase: Yeah. When, when, uh, you guys sent me the invitation for this. I put in a couple of just thoughts that I had, and really I’ve had a really busy life through this whole process. You know, like I, I had the career change, obviously I had two businesses that we, I was running and operating, and then I sold both of those. We went on a couple vacations. We, you know, sold our house, bought a new house, we had another baby. So we’ve got two kids now and. If you, [00:50:00] if you, I know you guys, Logan, do you have any kids?

Logan: Yeah, two

Chase: I don’t. I know Nate does.

Logan: Little kids. Yeah.

Chase: So you know what it’s like in the newborn stage? Like it’s just so, so busy and then transitioning from one kid to two, you know, like, uh, we’ve just been so busy.

So I feel like, uh. You know, that that is a little bit of a factor of why I’ve, I’ve kind of taken so long to get through this, between learning it pretty much first time and then just having a busy life mixed with those two is, is kind of why my story is what it is. But, um, but yeah, I think overall it, it, you know, I probably, I probably wouldn’t change anything if I had to go and do this again.

I wouldn’t change any study. I probably wouldn’t, obviously you make mistakes along the way. You was some time here and there, but I think this is the best way to do the CPA and any exam for that and any, anything that you do, you know, just get, get to do, do exactly what you need to do and, and get out.

Logan: Yeah. I, I mean it’s truly amazing what the human body is capable of. You list all [00:51:00] these things that you’ve done, but you’ve done it like it’s just really incredible. Like you can just get in that zone of being so effective with everything that you’re doing. Like, when I started, I honestly forget this a lot of the time. When I started my studying, I actually started August, 2022 as well.

Like the same time as you. I had a three month old and so not only was I doing my masters, working, I then also had an infant, so I wasn’t sleeping. Anyway, what you were saying, you just adapt. It’s amazing what people are capable of if they just put themselves to it.

Chase: Yeah. And that’s, that’s what I really hope people get out of this episode with me in it. You know, as I’ve listened to these episodes, first of all, I encourage people, as you guys do, to listen to these, these podcasts ’cause they’ve helped me so much. It’s like, you know, sitting with a friend or sitting with a prisoner, you know, they’re going through the same horrible process. Whether you wanna say it’s horrible or not, you know, some people don’t mind it, but it’s really hard for other people. And just to hear [00:52:00] other people’s, you know, uh, experiences and what helped them. And, you know, it sounds, it sounds kind of bad, but to hear other people’s pain, makes you feel better.

Logan: Yeah.

Chase: You know what I mean? It’s just, they’ve gone through it, they know what it’s like. It’s almost like they’re, they’re feeling that pain and sharing that pain with you. And so it, um, if there’s one thing that I really hope people can get out of that is, get out of this episode with, with, with me is, first of all, you know, you can, you really can do it.

Um, I, I obviously have come with no background and I’ve may been able to get through it and, and, uh, and second of all, you know, use your resources like, like you guys and, and anything that works good for you, because it’s totally doable. It’s possible. It’s, it’s just a matter of how bad you want it. And if you, if you want it bad enough, you will get it done.

Logan: Yeah.

Nate: Yeah, I’ll be pointing a lot of people to this episode. I get emailed that a decent amount. Like someone will say, I’m thinking about a total career switch. And when they say that, honestly, I’m thinking [00:53:00] like, man, I don’t know. Starting from zero, you’re just going to go back to college and then do these exams.

But

Chase: Right.

Nate: At the same time, if you just start working on something day to day, a year or two goes by and you can make a lot of progress in a new direction in a year or two. So yeah, it’s, awesome.

Chase: Absolutely.

Top Tips for People Still Struggling with the CPA Exams

Nate: Kind of the last thing we always ask is, what would be your top two or three tips for people that are trying to figure out their own study process?

Chase: Yeah. Um. I’d say you’ve gotta listen to what works for you at this point. When you get, you know, to this point in the game, you already know how you learn. So try and cater your studying to the way you learn. Everyone learns differently. And, um, and for me, that was going right to the multiple choice questions and kind of teaching myself and, and, and learning from the mistakes when I, when I [00:54:00] make ’em in those questions. Um. I, I think a big one that I already mentioned is, you know, believe that you can do it. Once you commit to this, you know, I see so many people all over, uh, you know, Reddit and these other places where they’re like, I just can’t do it. I failed twice. I just can’t do it. And it’s, it’s like, come on. Yes, you can like. Everyone’s got, everyone’s got crap on their plate. Everyone’s got things that they’ve gotta get through and you’re gonna look back and and be like, you know, like I look back at FAR, I remember during the time and and audit especially, that was more recent. I just passed back in December and I remember thinking like, God, that was some of the hardest, couple of weeks or whatever that I went through a couple of months and then like, thinking back now, it’s passed and I’ve moved on. I’m like, oh, that was easy. It’s done. And it wasn’t easy, but like, you know, we got, I got through it and I’m better for it. And it’s, it’s just. You absolutely can do it. Like I said, that’s a big thing I want people to [00:55:00] know is, you know, I, I kind of had, I think I’ve mentioned this a couple times, I’ve had some self-doubt with my learning abilities over the years, and, and this is just a testament that, uh, if I can do it, you can.

I’ve heard a lot of people say that on this podcast, but it’s true. Like I, I had everything going against me, you know, some random helicopter pilot kid who wants to go into accounting. I’ve never been amazing with numbers. I’ve never been good at learning. I’ve never been a good test taker, but I, you know, I’m able to get through it.

So if you want it bad enough, and it means that much to you, you can get it done. It just, you have to sacrifice certain things to get to where you need to be. So, and that’s what it’s gonna take. And if you can commit to it and, and make those, you know, make that decision, then absolutely you’ll get it done.

Nate: Yeah. Yeah. That’s huge. All right, it was awesome to hear your story Chase and I am pretty confident you’re gonna pass REG. I’m glad you found us. I’m glad it’s, you know, made a difference and, I’ll congratulate you in advance on being done.

Chase: Thanks, man. Yeah, appreciate it. [00:56:00] Can’t wait.

Nate: Yeah.

Logan: All right, that was the interview with Chase. I thought it was an awesome interview. Again, it’s awesome that he went from being a helicopter pilot to studying for the CPA exam and seeing that contrast and him having to figure out how to study for such a difficult exam without an accounting background.

And it just goes to show that anybody can pass this exam, even though it’s so difficult, if they have effective studying and they work hard.

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