In this episode of the CPA Exam Experience Podcast, you’ll hear how Annette was able to pass the CPA exams first try while taking care of her two toddlers, doing school at night, and working part time. She is an avid podcast listener, so she found the SuperfastCPA podcast and quickly started implementing the strategies, right from the start.
You’ll hear how Annette was able to become a morning person just while taking the CPA exams. Studying in the morning was the only way to get studying done with her busy life. She also mentions that she never studied for more than 8 weeks per exam, usually only about 6 weeks. She was even able to take a break on Sundays! This is an awesome interview with great advice, so make sure you listen all the way through.
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 Annette Interview
- 03:17 Deciding to Pursue the CPA
- 04:14 Juggling Work, Studying, and Taking Care of the Kids
- 05:25 Started Studying for the CPA Exams While Taking Classes
- 06:22 An Avid Podcast Listener Looking for CPA Tips
- 07:39 Thought That Buying SuperfastCPA is the Best Option
- 08:21 Studying with SuperfastCPA from the Start
- 10:03 Using Every Free Time to Study Using Mini Sessions
- 10:48 Adjustment to Have Time to Study in the Mornings
- 13:19 Also Did Review in the Evenings
- 14:08 Slept When Her Kids Would Sleep to Wake Up at 4
- 15:07 Flashcards Process
- 17:14 Using the SuperfastCPA Audio Notes All the Time in the Car
- 17:58 Finished the CPA Exams in 9 Months
- 18:46 Using the Printed SuperfastCPA Review Notes Near Test Day
- 20:43 Never Study for More Than Eight Weeks
- 22:48 Final Review Study Process
- 23:47 Passed Four for Four First Try
- 24:33 Found AUD to be the Most Difficult
- 25:50 Test Day Process and Experience
- 27:44 Have a Motivation to Help You Push Through Hard Times
- 28:47 Did MCQs Quickly to Have Time for the Sims
- 29:33 Kept Studying for the Same Section Until She Knew She Passed
- 30:10 Gave Herself a Mental Break Every Sunday
- 32:02 Studying for the Sims
- 32:45 Note Taking Process for Learning
- 33:53 Biggest Benefit from SuperfastCPA
- 36:07 Back to Becoming a Night Person
- 36:58 Things Annette Made Sure on Test Day
- 37:46 Reward for Passing the CPA Exams
- 39:26 Suggest to Utilize the Podcast to Learn from Other People
- 42:03 Top Tips for People Still Struggling with the CPA Exams
Interview Transcript
Annette: [00:00:00] I thankfully did pass them all the first try. Yeah, and
Logan: All that, podcast listening was worth it.
Annette: Yeah I would say I totally credit to SuperfastCPA I would’ve never been able to do that had I not started implementing the strategies right from the very beginning. But yeah, I was in the eighties on all of my exams, so it wasn’t like I was scoring the nineties, but it got me through and that’s all that mattered.
Logan: Welcome to another episode of the CPA Exam Experience podcast from SuperfastCPA. I’m Logan, and in today’s episode, you’re going to hear me talking with Annette.
Annette has an awesome story. She’s someone who was a non-traditional student. She was taking care of kids while going to school at night, and she was able to start taking the CPA exams while she was going to school. Taking care of her kids, studying at night, and she did awesome with the exams.
She was lucky and was able to find SuperfastCPA pretty much right from the start because [00:01:00] she is a big podcast listener and she ended up finding the SuperfastCPA podcast and started listening to it, started implementing some of the tips and bought SuperfastCPA really early on in her process, maybe even before she really started studying.
And as you’ll hear throughout this interview, she did awesome on the exams even though she was busy with work, busy with kids, and busy with the CPA exams. She passed all of her exams first try, and she has some awesome tips throughout this interview.
One of them was never study for more than eight weeks for an exam. I think that’s something that a lot of people could benefit from. And again, I think that you’ll love this interview with Annette because she has awesome tips and advice, so make sure you listen through the whole interview because it will be totally worth your time.
Now, before we jump into the interview, make sure you check out our SuperfastCPA training webinar on superfastcpa.com. That is one hour that is free 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 after you watch that, you’re going to want to learn more. So make sure you also check out becoming a [00:02:00] SuperfastCPA PRO member.
PRO members get access to a lot of great stuff, including the PRO course where we teach in-depth exactly how to study to pass the CPA exams, and it’s basically a much more in-depth version of the webinar, multiple hours, multiple videos to walk you through each step of the process.
And PRO members also get access to something that we have in our SuperfastCPA forum called our multiple choice question walkthrough videos. I’ve been working on those for a long time and I’m taking a little bit of a break to update some of our material right now, but I will continue after that.
And I’ve made videos for almost everything in FAR, almost everything in audit, a lot of REG, a lot of TCP, a lot of BAR and those videos are there to help you by walking through multiple choice questions to help you learn the material a little bit better and a little bit more whenever you need that help.
So if you’re interested in that, again, make sure you check out becoming a SuperfastCPA PRO member. Now with all that said, let’s dive into this awesome interview with Annette.
Logan: Good morning, Annette. Uh, it’s pretty early for, for you there, is that right? 6:30?
Annette: [00:03:00] Yeah, it’s very early for me.
Logan: Where, where are you calling in from?
Annette: California.
Logan: California, okay. Uh, so yeah, just a, just an hour, hour behind where I am right now, but, uh, yeah. I’m excited to talk to you today. Thanks for hopping on the call. Uh, you know, let’s just dive straight into everything.
Deciding to Pursue the CPA
Logan: Where were you when you wanted to start the CPA exams? Like what were you doing when you decided to do that?
Annette: Well, I was, uh, I had gone back to school. I’m a non-traditional student, so I had gone back to school and I was in the middle of parenting. I have two little people, so two beautiful little people and, uh, running our family and going to back to school to finish my degree and get all of the units that I needed to be able to, to sit for the exam.
But I, I had been working in book, bookkeeping, um, in many nonprofits. Um, and I knew that that was something that I wanted to, to take further. Um, my background is more nonprofit oriented, so I wanted to go back to school [00:04:00] and just go into accounting for nonprofits so, um, and eventually get, get licensed.
And it was more of somebody had told me, um, don’t bother sitting for the CPA. It’s too hard. And I didn’t like the idea that they thought it was going to be too hard.
Juggling Work, Studying, and Taking Care of the Kids
Logan: How dare you that that, so, okay, so you were, so had you gone like done your undergrad previously?
Is that, I’m trying to, okay, okay. So you had to, go back for, okay.
Annette: I, so I was able to cram, uh, 150 units cause that’s a requirement here in California into four years. Um, and, you know, all while still, uh, taking care of my, my two, two children, yeah, full-time so, yeah.
Logan: Oh man. Yeah, I mean, I can’t, I mean, so I had two kids at the time when I was doing the CPA, um, and I was doing my master’s and I was working, but my wife was the one who was at home usually taking care of them. So like, I can’t imagine doing full-time school and taking care of, uh, [00:05:00] two kids.
How old were they?
Annette: Uh, they were toddlers. They were toddlers.
So my and my spouse was in a very demanding job, and as much as he wanted to help, like he tried his best at the time. Um, but it was, it was hard for him. So we, I did a lot of, a lot of my courses at night. Um, so thankfully I wasn’t working full-time though. I was working a part-time job. Yeah.
Logan: Okay. But that’s still a lot. So, but that’s impressive.
Started Studying for the CPA Exams While Taking Classes
Logan: So you, you know, crushed the 150 credit hours and then that was when you, I’m assuming you were like, okay, I’m ready to sit for the CPA.
Annette: So I was still in school when I started sitting for the CPA.
Logan: You were still, okay, okay.
Annette: Because I had received a job offer, offer from my current firm that I still work with, and they basically said, Hey, you know, we’ll give you Becker. And so I said, well, if you give me access, I’ll start studying now. Um, and that was a year before my start date.
So it was still, I had, um, a semester left of school. So I remember starting in November, during Thanksgiving break.[00:06:00]
Logan: Uh, and was this, what year was this?
Annette: This was in 2000 and oh, gosh, I can’t even remember the, the year that I graduated. It was a few years ago though. Um, so it was in
Logan: 2022 or
Annette: It was in 2022, so it was in November of 2022, um, and I remember starting over Thanksgiving break, um, for that studying for that first test.
Logan: Okay.
An Avid Podcast Listener Looking for CPA Tips
Logan: And so you got Becker from your firm for free, which I, I got the same thing when I was, so it makes a, it’s very nice when that happens. Uh, what, what did you do? Like, did you just dive in and kind of do the normal way of studying? Like what did that all look like?
Annette: No, I, I would say that I, um, I’m not like most of the, the people that you guys interview in the sense of, I got lucky by finding you guys right away in the beginning of my studying journey. So I had, I’m an avid podcast listener, uh, listen, I listened to a ton of podcasts and so my first go-to was I’m gonna try to find a CPA, uh, podcast that [00:07:00] can kind of give me some tips on how to study for the test.
And that’s how I stumbled upon your guys’, uh, for, um, forum. So just started listening to everything, every interview that you posted, I started listening to all of the tips. Anyone who had, uh, passed all their exams on the first try, like I really paid attention to anything they said. Um, and I just started from that point forward implementing the SuperfastCPA strategies.
Logan: Okay. So that, I mean, and I love that I’m a big podcast listener. I, and podcasts are awesome cause you can find pretty much any topic that you’re interested in, you can find a podcast on it. So, that’s really smart that you were looking for that.
Thought That Buying SuperfastCPA is the Best Option
Logan: So did you just use the podcast or did you also eventually purchase SuperfastCPA?
Annette: I eventually purchased SuperfastCPA and I think I actually purchased it prior to starting my, um, actual study. So I, I got Becker and then I had already been list ’cause I knew I was getting ready to, to start to study, so I [00:08:00] started listening to the podcast and so then I just purchased the, the bundle, um, for all four exams and was like, okay, I, I think this is gonna be effective for me because it just related to everything I was dealing with, you know, just juggling a family and juggling school. So it just seemed like it was gonna be the best option for me.
Logan: Right.
Studying with SuperfastCPA from the Start
Logan: And so you had SuperfastCPA pretty much, maybe even before you had Becker or around the same time, so you dove in with those strategies right from the start? And how did that go at the beginning? Like was it, did it click or was it difficult to get going? How did that go?
Annette: It was a little difficult to get going because I didn’t really know, um, my study habits yet, and I did try to do afternoon studying maybe the first week. And I realized this is not gonna work out at all. And I’m, I’m actually a night person by nature.
Um, but I became a morning person during that time and I just [00:09:00] decided that I needed to get up early.
So I started getting up at four, um, and studying from four to seven. And so I would go through the Becker’s main course and basically do what they would say what you guys would say on your podcast is just read through the questions.
Um, the first time it wasn’t intuitive to just click and get the answers, so that wasn’t something that I was accustomed to.
So I did kind of struggle along for the first week trying to figure out the answers to these questions and it wa it was very demoralizing. So then I realized, okay, I’m just gonna do what they tell me to do and I’m gonna click and read through why things were wrong and why thing, why the correct answer was right.
And, um, that became the primary way that I would study. And it was, uh, I would take 10 minute breaks after an hour, an hour and a half, and then I would just, you know, scroll online or just take a mental break. Um, and then I would, uh, so I mainly use SuperfastCPA, uh, [00:10:00] the, the main bundle I would use throughout the day.
Using Every Free Time to Studying Using Mini Sessions
Annette: So once I had finished my primary study time in the morning, um, which was that block of four to seven, I would throughout the day do the mini quizzes. So I probably did six or seven mini quizzes all, in whatever I was doing, you know, whether I was like sitting in, um, the line waiting for my kids to come outta school or if I was in the grocery store, if I was at, at the school, at my college helping my professor cause I, I, I worked for a professor, um, whatever it was, I was constantly taking any spare time I had to just do those questions and they, they just were constantly keeping the content on my mind so that I was pretty much in study mode 24/7.
Logan: Yeah, and that, and that’s the exact goal right there.
Adjustment to Have Time to Study in the Mornings
Logan: So, just curious for your morning session, so I mean, waking up at four, that’s, that’s pretty early, especially for somebody who is normally like, kind of likes to stay up late and stuff like that. So what [00:11:00] adjustments did you have to make to your life to be able to manage that, to be able to wake up early enough to do that?
Annette: Yeah, I mean, my husband really took the reins in the morning, for the morning, uh, uh, set up for our kids just because I, you know, I, it was by the time seven rolled around. I would help him as much as I could, but I also needed to get ready, um, for my day so, he really just like became the champion of the mornings.
So I could do, I could do those, um, that study time. And I would also like, make sure I had a big thing of coffee like that was like my incentive. I’m like, I’m gonna get up and I’m gonna have a nice big glass of coffee. And it was always like, okay, this is my, this has become a routine. Yeah, this is just a part of my, my day now.
Logan: Yeah. I think that there’s something to be said about, and we’ve talked about this in a whole bunch of different episodes, like there’s something to be said about having that routine, like wake up at the same time, drink the same drink, uh, you know, study in the same place. I think that it really can help you quickly get in the [00:12:00] zone to be able to study. So I like that you’re, you’re saying those things.
So would you study, so you were studying for three hours. Was that like, how much of that was planting the seeds and how much of that was your daily re-review?
Annette: It was planting the seeds and re-review. So I would, the way I would structure it was I would get through a module on, on Becker, um, or two modules, depending on what I had time, um, for within that timeframe. And then at the end of every session, I did the 30 question quiz. And it would, and what’s nice with Becker, uh, I don’t know if other, uh, study courses do this, but it allows you to, to choose the exact sections that you’ve covered so far.
So I would only have questions that were revolving around the content I had already studied. Um, and I just did that every single day and I would, sometimes I would review the questions in the morning, but usually I would take 30 minutes at night right after I had gotten my, my kids down to bed, and I would just review, um, my [00:13:00] answers to that and use flashcards for everything that I had, uh, marked wrong.
I have to write things down to memorialize it in my brain. So, um, yeah, I would just, anytime I got something wrong and it was a, a subject, I just kept getting wrong, I would just write a flashcard.
Logan: Okay. So you, uh, okay. We’ll definitely talk about your flashcards in a second here.
Also Did Review in the Evenings
Logan: So with your, just to make sure I’m understanding you there with your mornings, you did like two and a half hours of planting the seeds or, or, well, you said you took a little bit of a break in between, uh, but did you, are you saying that you did your re-review but then you would actually go over the questions later in the day?
Is that right?
Annette: Yeah. Yeah, so I would, I would do my, I would take the actual 30 minute quiz or 30 question quiz, not 30 minute my, my apologies, 30 question quiz at the end of my study session, every study session. And sometimes if there was, if time allot allotted, I would review the questions then.
If time did not allot, you know, if I had gone through too many modules or I just, my kids had woken up earlier than [00:14:00] expected. Um, I would just use that last like 30 minutes at night to be able to review those questions.
Logan: Okay, that makes sense.
Slept When Her Kids Would Sleep to Wake Up at 4
Logan: And what, just curious, what time did you put your kids to bed? What time did they kind of typically wake up? Just so I can kind of imagine that?
Annette: They went to bed between 7:30 or 8 o’clock, but it was always a struggle, as any parent knows. And so like, while they’re in their bed between 7:30 or 8 o’clock, it’s like a, they’re really not asleep until 8:30. Um, and so it, you know, I had to be, and so basically I would use that little bit of time maybe until nine.
So I wasn’t sleeping a ton, but, that’s just how it is when you’re a parent. Um, and so I, if they went to bed, I usually tried to go to bed when they went to bed, um, because otherwise I wasn’t going to get any sleep.
Logan: Yeah.
I mean, you were, were you, so were you waking up at four or were you waking up at like 3:45? Okay,
Annette: Yeah, I was waking up at four.
Logan: The coffee and then start studying in a little bit.
Annette: Yeah. I mean, it took me five minutes. I’d get out, my coffee was already [00:15:00] made and I would just
Logan: Oh, okay.
Annette: Yeah.
Logan: Yeah. So you had like a, it was like a timer or something set up to do that. Nice.
Flashcards Process
Logan: So with your, uh, flashcards, ’cause you were mentioning flashcards. You mentioned that it was things that you missed multiple times and you said, did you do them, you wrote them physically? Is that right?
Annette: I physically wrote them down. I tried the digital flashcards and they just didn’t work for me at all. And so I was like, okay, this isn’t working. So I bought one of those, uh, a pack of.
Logan: the index
Annette: Yeah. And then a ring and I would just ha like, and I had hole punched them and I would just walk around with this ring of flashcards.
Um, and it just had all my weak spots in there, so I was constantly re-reviewing them. Um, so if I wasn’t taking a mini quiz, I would be looking at my flashcards throughout the day, yeah.
Logan: So about how many, ’cause I mean, a big reason that we recommend the digital is just for convenience, but, so with that, you know, how big was that thing that you were carrying around by the [00:16:00] end of your each exam?
Annette: It depended, obviously, on the exam. For like BEC it wasn’t very big. Um, but for FAR it probably grew a little bit more than I would’ve liked. Um, but for me, I just, I’m old school and so it was just worth it to have this little ring full of, uh, flashcards that helped me. And every time I felt like I knew the content or I knew the, the item well, I would just remove the flashcard.
Logan: Yeah, exactly. Okay. And that’s pretty much the, that you, you were applying the same idea that, uh, the digital flashcard platforms kind of naturally do. Um, just for the sake of the podcast, you know, if anybody hasn’t used BrainScape, uh, BrainScape is cool because you can select how well you knew it when you answer it. And so it naturally kind of does that exact thing where if you are consistently saying, I knew that one, then it won’t really show you that flashcard very often. Whereas if you say, I have no, I had no idea on how to do [00:17:00] that one, that it’ll show you that one frequently. So same idea. So yeah, you know, recommendation to everyone who’s listening do exactly what Annette was doing, whether that’s with the digital flashcards, or if you do the physical, uh, that’s a really good idea with the flashcards.
Using the SuperfastCPA Audio Notes All the Time in the Car
Logan: So with the flashcards, that was obviously a part of your mini sessions throughout the day.
So what did your mini sessions look like in total? Like you said you did mini quizzes, did you use the audio notes, the review notes?
Annette: So, um, yes, so I listened to the audio notes all the time in my car because I’m, I was driving everywhere. Um, like I said, I was the primary caretaker for our kids and so I was driving them to all of their activities and any chance I had in the car, uh, SuperfastCPA was on, and I was just constantly listening to the notes.
Logan: Did the kid, did your kids know the notes just as well as did.
Annette: They started to get very annoyed with me after a while.
Let’s say that.
Logan: Yeah. I can imagine.
Finished the CPA Exams in 9 Months
Logan: And so you started this in [00:18:00] 2022, so you were listening. If I’m not wrong, what? Well, when did you finish your exams?
Annette: It took me about nine months in total, to get everything done.
Logan: So 2022 to 2023, okay.
Annette: And part of that was because I made a point not to, um, study for a new exam. And the first time around I didn’t understand how the score releases were and everything. So I really didn’t plan my, the date of my exam very well. So I waited a long time to get that score back.
Yeah, and so that kind of like added a month and a half to my time. Um, but during that entire time, I just kept taking quizzes on Becker and doing the mini quizzes and, um, revisiting the material just in case.
Using the Printed SuperfastCPA Review Notes Near Test Day
Annette: But, um, usually before any exam, well, I guess this is kind of a another separate thing, but every time I was ramping up to take an exam, I would be not only listening to the audio, but I would, um, print them [00:19:00] out and I would read the, uh, the notes probably two or three times, completely through. Um, so every time I was taking one of the major exams on Becker’s, uh, webs or Becker’s, uh, form, I would, yes, the mock exams. When I would take the mock exams, I would just also be reading Superfast notes, um, in addition to whatever that preparation was for, for my exam day.
Um, and I didn’t pay attention like I remember you guys encouraging a ton to just really not worry about whether you’re getting greens on everything. It was just more of like, I’m just trying to gauge where I’m at and what I, what my weak spots are so I can start to hone in on them. Um, but yeah, I always use the notes.
I would listen to them throughout the day, but when it came, you know, three or four days before my exams, I always read through them at least two or three times and I would skim through Becker’s books. I never really actually listened to the lectures in Becker. They [00:20:00] just weren’t helpful to me. Um, I listened for the first week and then I just decided this is not gonna work for me, and so I would just skim through their, their textbooks and that was about the extent of it.
Logan: Yeah. So I’ll try to kind of like, I have a few questions, so I’ll try to remember them in order. So just going back to the audio notes, you, so you were listening at that point, it was just Nate, who you were listening to, and it was still BEC correct? That was the one that you took instead of the discipline exams.
Um, and then, are you saying that for the review notes you, did you read them throughout the day or was that mainly something that you saved for like your like a few days before the exam?
Annette: I saved that for a few days before my exam. Yeah.
Never Study for More Than Eight Weeks
Logan: So that kind of leads me to another question. What did your, like your final review look like? So I guess just to kind of flesh out the question, about how much time did you spend studying to get through the material for each exam, and then how much time did you leave yourself for the [00:21:00] final review and what did that look like as well?
Annette: Yeah, so um, obviously at my first one it was kind of a progression. Um, so my first exam, I probably spent way too much time on it. I think it was like about six weeks in total. I had, um, beyond your, your platform. I had had two professors at school tell me, do not study beyond eight weeks for any of your exams because you’re not gonna retain the information well, and it really is about, um, being able to be a good test taker.
And, uh, these are two accounting professors who I really respected. And so I took that advice to heart and made sure that nothing was beyond eight weeks. Um, and I actually never had to actually study more than six weeks for any of my exams.
So it was for BEC was my first one, and it was a full six weeks and it.
I actually, I take that back, I think it was like six and a half weeks or something like that. Um, and that one took me the longest because, or maybe it was that one was eight weeks. I’m sorry, it was so
Logan: No, [00:22:00] no
Annette: That particular one, I think it was eight weeks.
So I think with, with BEC it was eight weeks. Um, I think everyone else, every other exam I did, it was only six weeks or less. I think FAR I did in five. Um, so.
Logan: The, that’s, that’s the biggest one.
Annette: Yeah, but I kind of saved it towards the end so that by that time I had had my study habits really dialed in.
Logan: You had the process down.
Annette: Yes, so I was very much ready for it in that sense.
Um, but BEC took me the longest, it was eight weeks, and then by the time I moved on to, uh, REG, which was my second one, um, that took me about six weeks to get through. And I would say that last week for just. Um, re-review of everything and just taking exams over and over 30 question exams over and over again.
Final Review Study Process
Logan: So that, so you would leave about a week for your final review and for your final review was it mainly MCQs or did you include sims as well? Like how did that all look?
Annette: I did sims. I did [00:23:00] sims, but not as much. I probably did more multiple choice questions than I did sims. Uh, the sims were brutal on Becker and so, and they were very demoralizing. So I mainly only did the sims that were on the mock exams. Um, those were the ones I probably would do the most of.
Um, by the time I got to FAR though, I think I probably did more sims just because I had, um, also been going online and like looking at, uh, what other people were saying who had just taken the exam.
Um, Reddit has a forum for CPA, uh, takers and so they would say, yeah, the sims were brutal and this, you know, and if it was an exam that I was about to take, I’d say, okay, I better, you know, pay attention to that.
Logan: Do what they said.
Annette: Yeah. Yeah.
Logan: That makes sense.
Passed Four for Four First Try
Logan: So with, uh, and I’ll, I kind of want to ask about the sims in a second, but with your, I guess when it comes to like, when you were taking the exam, so, you know, eight weeks, six weeks, [00:24:00] did, how did they go? Like, which one was the most difficult for you and did you pass them all first try?
Annette: I thankfully did pass them all the first try. Yeah, and
Logan: All that, all that, podcast listening was worth it.
Annette: Yeah, I, I would say I totally credit to SuperfastCPA I would’ve never been able to do that had I not started implementing the strategies right from the very beginning. Um, but yeah, I, I was in the eighties on all of my exams, so it wasn’t like I was scoring the nineties, but it got me through and that’s all that mattered.
Um,
Logan: Yeah, it doesn’t matter.
Annette: Yeah. Yeah.
Found AUD to be the Most Difficult
Logan: Which one was the most difficult? Like, which one did you struggle the most with?
Annette: It was audit and I, which, which is funny, be funny because I’m an auditor. And so, but it was just so subjective and it was like there was always two right answers. And so that one, um, wasn’t as intuitive as I would’ve hoped. Um, and that was my lowest score. Um, and so for whatever reason, REG ended up, tax ended up being [00:25:00] my, my highest score.
Um, but not for me.
Logan: Yeah, it, it’s interesting audit. So like I recently have, uh, right now I’m working on some multiple choice question walkthrough videos for a BAR, but I worked on the audit, multiple choice question walkthrough videos before that, and it was such a slog to get through all that audit material. Like audit is just so different than the other exams. So conceptual, so nitty gritty, just it, I find very frequently that it doesn’t really matter who the person is, even if they’re an auditor or not. Audit can still be really difficult.
Uh, it, so yeah, I totally understand that. Uh, for me, BEC was BEC was the hardest one for some reason.
I just really struggled with that one. But, you know, I was still able to pass.
Test Day Process and Experience
Logan: But, uh, now I kind of want to ask, still going along with the exams, like taking the exams, what did your exam days look like? [00:26:00] Like how did you prep for those?
Annette: So, um, I would listen to the audio notes. I would usually try to read, um, the SuperfastCPA notes at least once, uh, before going
Logan: Like day of?
Annette: The day of. So I would basically like drive an hour beforehand to my exam, uh, center and then I would sit in the parking lot and read the SuperfastCPA notes and then just go over my flashcards, um, and just keep like reviewing those up until I had to leave them.
Logan: Until you had to get in, yeah, the exam. And how did the exams go? Was it, did you feel prepared or was there anything that kind of came outta the blue?
Annette: No, you know, my husband and my, uh, father-in-law, my father-in-law’s a CPA as well, and he can attest to this, I cried after every one of my exams cause I was convinced that there was no way I had passed that. And even with FAR, I went as far as like I bought an another NTS, [00:27:00] um, right after cause I was like, there’s just no way
Logan: I’m gonna have to take it again.
Annette: Yeah. Yeah, so it wasn’t like I went in there and was like, I have this, I did not, I felt like I did everything I could to prepare, but they’re just, they’re very difficult exams, so yeah.
Logan: There, I, I honest, I can say the same thing that, except for my last exam. For me personally, I don’t know why I just was like, yeah, I think I passed that one. But the other three, the other ones, I was like, nope, I have no idea. And I, even similar idea with you, uh, with FAR, I was a hundred percent convinced that I had failed it, that I started restudying for it, uh, the day before I got my score cause I’m like, Nope, I’m just gonna, I’m just gonna go back and I know I’m gonna have to retake it, but thankfully I didn’t, so I, I can understand that feeling.
Have a Motivation to Help You Push Through Hard Times
Logan: Uh, what made you feel like that from the exams? Cause you know, you went in really prepared, was it just like kind of doubting yourself or was it the exams were like really hard and you’re like, oh man, I don’t know if I, how well I did on that?
Annette: I think it [00:28:00] was a mixture of all of those factors. Um, there was a lot of like, um, unfortunately self doubt starts to creep in. Um, and so I would encourage people to say, find those mechanisms that help you to kind of be like, no, you do have this. You are gonna make it. You have prepared yourself.
Um, and then there was just that, the timing. Whenever I would look at the time and I’d say, oh man, I don’t, I didn’t use all of the time that I was supposed to, or like, I’m right at the minute. That can’t be a good sign. Or there would be questions that would come outta left field and I would be like, I, I’ve never even seen this in the material.
And so, and the sims were always very brutal so.
Logan: The the sims, I, I, yeah, the sims were always like, just like you hope that they’re, and you can, you know enough to get through them.
Did MCQs Quickly to Have Time for the Sims
Logan: Uh, what was your strategy within sims on exam date? Because, you know, you’re probably killing the MCQs. Like how quickly did you get to the MCQs and then how much time did you have for the sims?
Annette: I got through the the MCQs [00:29:00] fast. It was, it was quick. And so it was just because I was so used to being able to dissect it and say, okay, well that concept doesn’t even apply to this question. So just being able to eliminate like potential answers right away, it just made, it, made it so easy to just blaze through the questions, um, so that I could have as much time banked on the sims.
Logan: Right. So would you say you had like two and a half, three hours for the sims?
Annette: Yeah. Yeah, it was usually about that. Roughly about between two and a half to three hours I would, I would end up having, for the sim simulations.
Kept Studying for the Same Section Until She Knows She Passed
Logan: And you were mentioning this a little bit before, but if I remember right, you said that you didn’t usually go straight to the next exam. You just kind of stayed fresh on the exam. You just took just in case. Is that what you did?
Annette: Yeah, because I walked out not
Logan: And cried and you’re, yeah.
Annette: and calling my husband and saying I failed. Like I, I would just say, okay, I’m, I’m not gonna move on to the next exam unless I know I passed it. [00:30:00] And so I would just keep studying. I would keep taking 30 question quizzes, um, basically the sets of those like three or four times, four or five times throughout the day.
Gave Herself a Mental Break Every Sunday
Annette: I will, I don’t think I mentioned this, um, early on, but I will, throughout the caveat, I did take breaks on the weekends, so I did have this very rigorous study schedule in the morning, Monday through Friday, but I only really studied for two hours on Saturday, two or three hours on Saturday, and my husband would take care of the kids while I did that.
And then Sunday, I just did not study at all.
Um, so it gave me a, a, a good enough mental break to be able to kind of refresh. Um, and I just kind of kept that going when I would be waiting for scores as well.
Logan: And you know, we have this whole, this whole strategy laid out and everything. And the reason we have it laid out the way we have it is just cause we’re trying to make sure that people stay consistent and frequently they won’t stay consistent. But what, [00:31:00] whatever you’re doing that works, it doesn’t matter in the end as long as your passing exams.
And I actually like. It’s funny ’cause you know, I work for SuperfastCPA now so I like am like, you gotta do it all the the way that we say. But when I was doing the exams, I kind of similar, I only studied two hours on the weekends cause I just couldn’t sit there for four or six hours, like mentally and physically.
I just was like too antsy to sit there for me personally and, and also I didn’t wanna like miss the weekends with my kids.
Annette: Exactly. Exactly, cause your kids are there and it’s like, I don’t, I don’t want that time away from them.
Logan: I had a, I had a, how old was my, my son was three months old and my daughter was 20 months old when I
Annette: Oh yeah, you were in the thick of it.
Logan: Yeah. So we, I was like, I gotta get home cause I, ’cause I studied at work every day because I, I was like, there’s no way I’m getting anything done if I’m studying at home.
Uh, but anyway, yeah, I just like what you’re saying there. ’cause in the end, you, you did what [00:32:00] worked for you and you passed and that’s the important thing.
Studying for the Sims
Logan: Uh, and I’m curious, since you only studied, you know, Monday through Saturday. Uh, when did you study the sims? Cause I know you studied those during your final review. Did you also fit them in during your study process as well?
Annette: Yeah, so I would do, I would basically do, um, all of the questions in the module. So for every module I covered, I did every single question that was available for that particular module, and then I would do one or two sims within that module. Um, some modules didn’t have sims, but, um, yeah, that I, I made a point to make sure that I got through every single question in the question bank, um, that was available to me.
Logan: Yeah, I did the same thing.
Note Taking Process for Learning
Logan: Uh, so I feel like we’ve hit a lot of the different pieces of the process. What did you do for, uh, note taking? Because you, you had your flashcards, did you also take notes at all, or was it mainly just flashcards?
Annette: No, I had a, I had a spiral [00:33:00] notebook and I would just write things down. To be honest, I didn’t check. I didn’t look back on my spiral notebook
Logan: It was more for in the moment.
Annette: It was more for in the moment, um, just because when I write things down, it tends to help me memorialize them a little bit more. And that’s just personal to me.
So, um, I did have these spine spiral binders for each section that I had kind of filled up with notes.
Logan: Yeah. Yeah. I, I, I find that, just the act of taking notes and kind of working it out in your own words in the moment, even if you don’t go back and review it that frequently, just having a way to work it out in that moment is really helpful, and I did the same thing. Uh, I printed out the SuperfastCPA review notes and took my notes on those, and that made it so that I kind of had all my notes in one spot.
Um, and yeah, I found, I found that really effective. So I think a lot of people could benefit from doing that as well.
Biggest Benefit from SuperfastCPA
Logan: Uh, so, you know, we’ve talked about a lot of different things, and we might talk a lot about a few [00:34:00] more things, but what would you say overall were like the biggest benefits that you got from SuperfastCPA?
Annette: Um, I loved the overview, um, notes because it wasn’t getting into the nitty gritty, so it made it, it helped me understand the foundations in a very broad way. Um, because Becker as, as much as I, I think Becker’s a wonderful tool, and I do, I do highly encourage it. I also always tell people, you need to also have SuperfastCPA as a supplement because I become a champion at work for it.
But because, um, I believe firmly that it really gives you a nice high level understanding of it so that you can kind of take a step back from what the nitty gritty is, all of those very fine minute details that Becker gives you and be able to understand it broadly. Um, and I really appreciated that.
And then the mini quizzes were just, um, they’re just, they [00:35:00] were incredibly helpful. It’s just hard to describe, just being able to have these summarized questions that I didn’t have to sit there and pull out a calculator and try to like, figure it out. Um, but being able to just say, okay, oh, I know the answer to that.
Um, the mini quizzes were incredibly helpful, but I, I found the notes to probably be the biggest help to me because of, um, they covered everything but it, it was in a very digestible and Broadway that it was like, okay, this is a wonderful high level understanding of the entire section.
Logan: Yeah, and, and that’s the thing is with the exams, you know, you take all these specific questions when you’re doing your review course, but then in the exam. They’re really testing you on the concept, like they could test you on a completely different question than you’ve ever seen before, and you have to understand how to apply some other thing that you learned to that question.
And so, uh, that’s how we try to make the review notes and the quizzes and the audio notes that they’re like hitting that topic [00:36:00] overall instead of like getting too deep into things. Um, so I, I like, I, I’m glad that you found that really helpful.
Back to Becoming a Night Person
Logan: And at all, are you, I I, this, this is a question that just came up for me, what, are you still a morning person? I mean, you’re up, you’re up early right now, or did you go back to kind of being a night person after that?
Annette: I’m back to night person.
Logan: You feel back to normal?
Annette: This right now just worked best with my schedule. I still, because I have kids still, you know, when you have kids, you kind of have to, you still do kind of have to be a morning person because you try to get things done prior to them waking up.
Logan: And then they have school and school’s always early, so yeah. Yeah, I get that.
Annette: So, um, yeah, that, that’s why, um, I still am in a little bit of both, but I probably more counted towards the night.
Logan: Still lean more towards, yeah. Yeah, uh, so I feel like we’ve covered a lot of really great stuff and I don’t think I have too many other questions. I do have two more though.
Things Annette Made Sure on Test Day
Logan: Did you [00:37:00] have any like test day traditions, like any like little things that you did to kind of, and what I mean by that is like, did you go to the same place to eat?
Did you wear the same shirt? Do you have anything like that that you did?
Annette: I went to the same test center. I made sure it was the same test center because I was familiar with it and it was just like an environment I was familiar with. So I didn’t wanna, I made sure that I never booked appointments outside of any other test center except for that one. And then I always, I’m a huge coffee drinker, that’s just who I am by nature. So I’d get it like a very, a venti, uh, sugar-free vanilla latte. And that would
Logan: Right before.
Annette: Yes, and so that was like, my latte was there and I was in the test center I was familiar with, so it just, that was, I guess was the most of my, my tradition.
Reward for Passing the CPA Exams
Logan: And, uh, did you do anything after you. So this was a little bit ago, like almost two years ago. Uh, well, what I meant is did you do anything after you passed? Like was there any big event that you did to celebrate?
Annette: No, [00:38:00] unfortunately I’m still waiting for my trip to Barcelona for my husband, so I’m hoping that was like kind of the, the trip that we, um, that I had said, I, I really wanna go to Spain. Like that will be my, uh, my treat to myself, but you know, now that I’m working full-time and I’m in my firm, uh, we’re still in there.
It’s in the horizon. I still plan to fully treat myself to to Spain at some point, but I wanna make sure my kids can remember it as well.
Logan: I think the same thing, like, man, it’s hard to go on to do trips with kids cause, so I have three kids now and I have a almost 5-year-old, a three and a half year old and a 10 month old. And my wife’s like, we should go to like Thailand or Japan. And I’m like, but they won’t remember it and I don’t want to pay for them and,
Annette: Valid.
Logan: It, uh, so I, anyway, like I totally understand that. How old are your kids now? Are they like.
Annette: They’re seven and eight now.
Logan: Bit older than, okay. Okay.
Annette: So they were toddlers when I was taking it. I mean, I, uh, they were in school. They were [00:39:00] in preschool. Yeah.
Logan: So, uh, but yeah. And why, why, why Spain? Why Barcelona with the, with Theta?
Annette: My dad had gone when I was a kid and he was enchanted by it, and it was, he had left me with such an impression that I thought, okay, one day I’m gonna have to make that trek like he did, so, yeah.
Logan: That’s awesome. Well, I do hope that you get to go soon. You gotta make it happen soon.
Annette: I do. I do.
Logan: Yeah.
Suggest to Utilize the Podcast to Learn from Other People
Logan: Um, and yeah, I think that’s just about, is there any other part of your process, you know, even though it was a little while ago, is there any other part of your process that you were like, I would like to share this, I would like to make sure people know this.
Annette: Yes, I would say to people to pay attention to the podcast, um, because I think I could have gotten through the exams, maybe stumbled a little bit through, um, with just the podcast. All of the study strategies are implemented in the podcast and pay attention to the pitfalls that people walked through and learned from them, [00:40:00] um, you know, they’re sharing that information for a reason to help you.
And so I, I found it so incredibly helpful to listen to those interviews and have people say, this really didn’t work for me, or, I started to do this, and it just really like detoured me off of the right path study wise. And so I, it was invaluable. It was just so invaluable to have that. So I would really highly encourage people, beyond just the, having the mini quizzes and the, the notes.
Also utilize the podcast, listen to every interview religiously if possible, and, and, and take, you know, take mental notes of, of what other candidates have gone through because it is so incredibly helpful.
Logan: Yeah, I, I found the same. I think that we were actually going through the exams at a similar time ’cause I started 20 August of 2022 and I finished March of 2023. When did you finish? In 2023.
Annette: In May of, or my final exam was in 2023, uh, July, 2023.
Logan: July. Okay. So yeah, like we were pretty close. We were taking them [00:41:00] roughly around the same time. Uh, and so overall, I think yours was, like you said, nine months, but there was some breaks and stuff in between. So maybe more like seven or eight months total, would you say? Um,
Annette: Yeah. I could have gotten through it faster had I not taken those breaks, but I needed them, so.
Logan: But you, but you, but, and you know, it, you still did it in a really good time. I mean, if you tell people, yeah, I did the exams in like eight months, pe most people would be like, man, that, that just sounds like a dream, you know? Uh, so I think that you really were a rock star and took all the things the right way. And I’m glad that you mentioned the podcast cause I found the same thing like I listened to all the episodes myself. Uh, I dreamed of being on the podcast and now I run the podcast, which weird.
Annette: Yeah, that was, uh, when I got the, I was like, this is so cool cause I remember listening to this all the time.
Logan: Yeah. Yeah, and uh, I wish that we could have had you on sooner, but it was one of those things where we were like, oh yeah, we need to go back through our messages and make sure we’re not missing people so I’m glad that you, uh, you [00:42:00] accepted and everything.
Annette: Thanks for having me. been great.
Top Tips for People Still Struggling with the CPA Exams
Logan: I, I’ll ask the final question that we always ask, so even if it’s something that we’ve talked about, what would be your top two or three tips to people who are still going through the exams?
Annette: Um, get up in the morning and do it before your day begins cause that I, your brain really is operating at its best I think in the morning.
Um,
Logan: And that way you don’t have to worry about kids and work and everything, anyway, I just wanna throw that in there.
Annette: Yeah. No, it’s true. If you have kids, especially that. You, it, it’s distraction free time. Um, I would say utilize the, the, the study notes and mini quizzes as much as possible.
And, um, don’t be afraid to give yourself a break. Um, it, these exams are hard and they’re hard for a reason. And so if you need to have that extra, like mine was Sunday, you know, a day to just recuperate mentally from just the onslaught of studying, uh, don’t be afraid to do that. And find what, [00:43:00] what, what works best for you and for your family and for your situation.
Logan: Yeah. Well, thank you so much. Those are fantastic tips, Annette, and it was awesome having you on the call today. Congrats on being done, and, uh, yeah, enjoy. Yeah, enjoy being done, and I hope you make it to Spain soon.
Annette: Thank you. I hope so too.
Logan: All right, that was the interview with Annette. And again, I think that it was an awesome interview. She’s somebody who really figured out the process and just excelled. She passed all of her exams, first try, even though she was busy raising two kids who were toddlers at the time doing school and doing the CPA.
She did really well, and I think she had a lot of awesome tips on how to manage a busy life, a busy schedule, but still study effectively and well to the point that you can still pass the exams.
And I think her episode could be really inspiring to a lot of people, especially mothers who are going through this, raising children and not finding time to study. Annette has a lot of great tips for figuring that out, so [00:44:00] hopefully this interview was helpful.
Now as we wrap up before you go, don’t forget to check out our free one hour webinar training on superfastcpa.com and check out becoming a SuperfastCPA PRO member.
If you liked this episode, make sure to like it and leave a comment in the YouTube video or leave a rating in your favorite podcast app.
Thanks for watching or listening, and we will see you in the next episode.
