In this SuperfastCPA podcast episode, you’ll hear how Dalton is balancing his CPA study on top of his job, his family, and running a busy Youtube channel… all while still passing his CPA exams.
IMPORTANT LINKS:
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https://www.superfastcpa.com/study-secrets/
Episode Timestamp
- 0:00 Intro
- 01:36 Dalton Found SuperfastCPA Through The Podcast Before He Started Studying
- 02:55 The Benefits Dalton Got from SuperfastCPA
- 03:45 Sticking to the SuperfastCPA Method with the Mini Sessions
- 04:38 Why Dalton Decided to Get His CPA License
- 07:56 Dalton’s CPA Journey
- 10:10 Coming Across SuperfastCPA
- 11:24 Choosing His Main Review Course
- 13:59 The Time It Took For Dalton to Adjust His Study Routines
- 15:36 “There Will Always Be Distractions, You Need to be Able to Study Around Those”
- 18:10 Dalton’s Daily Study Routine
- 22:10 The SuperfastCPA Study Material that Dalton Used the Most
- 23:09 Taking His Time to Study for His Final Exam
- 27:04 Hobbies and Adjustments to Study for the CPA Exams
- 29:46 Accepting That Studying Is a Part of Your Life
- 33:11 Feeling You Can Accomplish Anything After the CPA Exams
- 36:18 Dalton’s Process for Learning Through the Questions First Approach
- 38:01 Using Flashcards for AUD
- 40:51 When Dalton Started to Use Flashcards
- 42:55 Dalton Was Prepared and Didn’t Run Into Any Surprises
- 45:53 Dalton’s Motivation for Finishing the CPA Exams
- 50:35 Top Tips for People Still Struggling with their CPA Study Process
Interview Transcript
Dalton: [00:00:00] Like I’m saying, it’s tough and it stinks, like I hate that I have to wake up tomorrow morning and study, but it’s my lifestyle, I don’t think twice about it. I say, this is what I’m doing, I’m not contemplating whether or not I should do it, I’m not contemplating how I can get out of it, it’s a part of my life right now. And it’s a temporary pain to attain your goals that you have over the course of your entire life.
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 Nate and I talk to Dalton.
In this interview, you’ll hear Dalton talk about how studying became a lifestyle, and how he maintained a work-life balance. He has his own YouTube channel and he’ll talk about that in the interview, but he was able to maintain his YouTube channel while also passing three exams.
He’s going to be taking his last one soon and we’re definitely expecting to receive an email from him later this year telling us, he passed.
I think you’re really going to enjoy this [00:01:00] interview. It’s a fantastic interview. I’m excited for you to hear it.
Before we jump into the interview I just want to give a brief reminder about our free training webinar on superfastcpa.com. In this webinar, Nate talks about the six key ingredients to passing the CPA exam. It’s a fantastic webinar. It’s free. It’s only an hour long and it will be well worth your time.
The link to the webinar will be down in the description of this YouTube video or linked in the description of the podcast, wherever you listen to the podcast.
With all that said, let’s jump straight into the interview with Dalton.
Nate: If I could just ask you kind of three things about SuperfastCPA specifically.
Dalton Found SuperfastCPA Through The Podcast Before He Started Studying
Nate: So first, what were your biggest frustrations with the CPA study process before you found SuperfastCPA?
Dalton: Well, I’ll be honest with you, I actually knew about SuperfastCPA before I began my program. Um, just because I was doing a lot of research because I, I understood and I respected the exam and how hard it was. So I kind of listened to a lot of personal [00:02:00] testimonies about it and um, you know, a lot of people were kind of crazy with like all the notes that they wrote and everything.
But then, you know, I came across the podcast and I was like, okay, these people sound like normal people with normal routines working full time. Something that kind of fit myself a little bit more. So I kind of came, you know, all in, I joined the webinar before I ever even started studying, so I knew about it before my study process.
Nate: Okay, cool.
Logan: So were you introduced to it through the podcast? Is that how you found SuperfastCPA or?
Dalton: Yeah, I, I found it through the podcast. So I listened to different people talk and they were talking about, oh yeah, the SuperfastCPA method. I didn’t really, a lot of times it was background noise for me, so I didn’t really understand what the process was. But you know, I heard about the webinar and that’s when I really, you know, got in there and I was like, yeah, that makes sense, that makes sense.
And that’s when I kind of committed that, okay, this is how I’m gonna go about getting it.
Nate: Okay, cool.
The Benefits Dalton Got from SuperfastCPA
Nate: All right, and so once you were studying and using [00:03:00] SuperfastCPA with your main review course, what were the top two or three benefits or advantages that you felt like it gave you?
Dalton: Well, I really think that I was never a big lecture person, so I do think that just getting the, the word out there that, yeah, you can pass these things by just doing multiple choice questions. I thought that really helped me out. I think I probably would’ve eventually come around to like, okay, maybe I don’t need lectures.
But just hearing that was good. I, I also, don’t really read the book either. Like I just, the, the whole process of like, you know, active learning and going on there and actually like, you know, learning through multiple choice questions. I thought, uh, I thought that was the thing that resonated with me the most.
Nate: Okay.
Sticking to the SuperfastCPA Method with the Mini Sessions
Nate: And, uh, did you use the app a lot throughout the day, like the mini sessions idea, or not much?
Dalton: Yeah, I did. That’s what I mostly did. I did the
mini sessions. Um, And just like, you know, kind of when I go to bed, like, you know, last [00:04:00] 15 minutes in bed, I’m, I’m answering questions and, you know, I also like the notes. I didn’t read through the notes a lot, but a lot of times what I would do is like, if there’s a, if there’s something that I would have issues with, I’d have the PDF pulled up.
So I’d just control F and like, you know, see it kind of said in a different way. And sometimes that would just help click if like, the explanations on the multiple choice weren’t, it just wasn’t clicking through the, through the program, through the, through the review course very well. I would, that’s how I would kind of utilize it.
Nate: Okay. Yeah, just to add, kind of just get some extra info when you needed it type thing.
Dalton: Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
Nate: All right.
Why Dalton Decided to Get His CPA License
Nate: So yeah, we’ll just start from the beginning. I mean, you kind of mentioned this. Do you work in tax or audit? And then what brought you into wanting or needing to get your CPA?
Dalton: I actually work in industry and you know, it’s funny because in school I really didn’t have the best like accounting GPA, I think it was like a 2.5. It was like bare minimum with what I needed to [00:05:00] pass. So I kind of went through and I kind of said, okay, I’m not gonna get a CPA, I’m, I’m not smart at school.
I’m gonna go in and I was working industry for a while and I was in like a, a decent sized company. It was like a hundred million so it wasn’t crazy, but it wasn’t, you know, super small either. But, uh, we went through this thing where we went through like a four company merger, right? And then the company went up to about 500 million revenue. But the accounting department that we were at kind of absorbed all the different accounting functions. So the, the people in the holding company kind of knew, okay, we need to go in there and kind of change the processes. So they brought in a bunch of people that were kinda hard asses, you know, they were very tough on people.
And you know, this one guy In there, he was like the CFO of the company, you know, big, almost like mob boss man. He kind of looked at people and he said, um, he looked at people in two ways. You were either a CPA or you weren’t a CPA and if you weren’t a CPA, he didn’t even care about your opinion on anything, and I know for me, he would speak to me because I was, I think [00:06:00] 23, 24 years old at the time.
So he knew that like, okay, you know, go out there and get your CPA, then you can be making money like the rest of like, like everybody else. And you have, you know, your, your, your ceiling is like limitless. So at that point, you know, I went the kind of the Saul Goodman route when I, when I went to kind of a for-profit school, just to kind of get my credits kind of easily. And then I shifted focus now on like actually, you know, locking in on, on the the CPA stuff. So I was never really outside of that. I was never really told like, or motivated, like, you need to get your CPA kind of like these big four firms do, or like the, the audit or tax kind of firms do. But I kinda learned that way that, yeah, I’m gonna go over here, suck it up and, and do it.
And I’m really glad I did.
Nate: Yeah. Uh, so the, the big boss man you mentioned, I’m guessing from his point of view, it was the CPA was just what he, he just viewed it as proof that someone [00:07:00] was a high achiever, go-getter, and if someone was, then it was like, well, why wouldn’t you have your CPA? Is that kind of how he viewed it?
Dalton: Yeah, I think he was, just because I’m not with a company anymore and I haven’t been with a company in about, you know, three or four years, but I, I think just at the time, I think, because with a CPA, it’s not an IQ test, but what it does is if I ever come across anybody who’s passed a CPA, I know they’re a hard worker.
I know they care about, you know, their stuff because people don’t just willy nilly, oh, I’m gonna go get a CPA license and get one. You know, I think it proves that you’re a hard worker and that you can kind of take on different tasks. But it was, uh, I would, once I passed it, once I passed my final exam, which I’m three or four right now, you know, I’m gonna email and let ’em know and just kind of ask, you know, what? What is it about CPAs that, that, you know, you prefer over non CPAs? I’d really like to get his viewpoint on that, but it
definitely motivated me to go out and get one.
Nate: Yeah.
Dalton’s CPA Journey
Logan: So you decided to go get one, even, even though you, you changed [00:08:00] jobs. Um, and how long have you been going for the CPA so far?
Dalton: Well, I started in 2020. And then, you know, my company was actually reimbursing tuition at the time, but then I did wind up leaving to a different company that didn’t do tuition reimbursement was pretty, which was pretty dumb of me. I shouldn’t have done that. But then I switched to a, a better company, and now that company did a lot of tuition reimbursement, so I went out and got my credits.
I completed my master’s degree, and it was like June of 2023. So, um, and then a couple months before that was when, when I really started to, and, and March, 2022, no, 2023 was when I really started, you know, actually full-time. Not full-time studying, but actually start, okay, I’m gonna start studying now and I did the 5:00 AM wake up and, you know, all the different SuperfastCPA, um, study routines needed that, you know, you guys promote to be able to, you know, achieve this license.
Nate: Okay. Yeah, I [00:09:00] looked before we got on here and, and you, it looked like you had purchased last February. Uh, so did you, did you go in and watch the PRO course videos?
Dalton: Yeah, so it’s funny because I, um, I didn’t have the PRO course, but the way I purchased it and learned about SuperfastCPA was I, um, you know, going into the CPA, I understood how tough it was and I really, and I think the first step in passing the CPA exam is respecting the exam because, you know, you hear so many people think that, oh, I got good grades in school.
I’m just gonna go out and get this, it, it doesn’t really work that way. So I almost took the CPA approach, kind of like an actor before getting ready for like a film. They tried to do a
lot of research on the part they’re playing to go out there and execute it right. I was kind of doing the same thing,
um, with, with the CPA stuff and, you know, I was listening to YouTube testimonies, oh, how I pass the CPA, you know, I would click on it and I would go through it, but a lot of people [00:10:00] were like, okay, so, you know, here are my notes for FAR. I, I handwritten 180 pages of notes. Okay. This is what I have for, you know, BEC, and I’m like. Well, I’m not doing that.
Coming Across SuperfastCPA
Dalton: Then
I was kind of going through and I found the SuperfastCPA podcast and it was nice because, you know, people were like, I work full time and I have kids, so I, I wake up early.
You know, it just sounded way more bearable and
not as like daunting. So I was listening to it and I remember, you know, at the beginning of one of your podcasts, you’re saying, oh, like, you know, they figured out about us through our webinar, you know, the link’s down below. And I remember I was, it was like 9:45 at night and I was outside with my dog on like a Saturday, you know, right before going to bed.
And I, I checked it out to see what kind of times you were available, and he actually had a slot open at 10:00 PM that Saturday night. So I went up to my wife and my wife and I’m like, hey, I’m doing like a CPA thing. I’ll tell you about it later, but it starts two minutes. So hopped on and, and the webinar, I mean, everything you’re talking about was just like, yes, yes, yes.
So I, I purchased it that night [00:11:00] be, you know, actually I forgot about that. I purchased the app a couple weeks before I even bought my study material. So I was really going through the multiple choice questions a lot before because at that time I was just super like, kind of excited about starting the whole process and
you know, just kind of seeing what different multiple choice questions were like after, you know, going through so much research and listening and, and kind of getting my mind into that zone,
Choosing His Main Review Course
Nate: Okay. And what, uh, what review course did you go with your main review course?
Dalton: Which, this is an, this is another thing that I think’s very underrated that should definitely be hit on, is like, your review course could really like, make or break you. I know because I asked you guys a question like, hey, what do you guys recommend? And at the time, you know, I was thinking about buying Becker ’cause that’s what everybody uses, but you know, you guys suggested, I think it was like Roger or Gleim, so I said. Okay, lemme try out, you know, Roger, and then I’m so glad I did because this, the, the, the explanations for the multiple choices are [00:12:00] awesome on those. But the thing is, if you go on Reddit, some people hate Roger and some people love Becker. So I really do think, and I believe all these CPA programs have like these different trials, I definitely recommend people do these trials, figure out what works best for you, because I think if I had a different review course, my. I think my experience would’ve been a lot different and, and it probably wouldn’t be for the better, so I’m really, that’s one thing I really hit home, so I decided on Roger and I, I really like it. The, the multiple choice explanations are awesome. You know, I’m working on it at like 5:00 AM so I’m really glad that they had the dark mode because Becker didn’t have that.
So my eyes were were like piercing from it and. I like that, you know, they had the percentage of people who got the question right or wrong. So, you know, it kind of gives you an idea and it tells you if it’s an AICPA, you know, question that was provided by them, or one that they made in house. So I thought that, um, you know, that’s a good piece of advice and I wound up going with Roger.
Nate: [00:13:00] Yeah.
Logan: Yeah.
Nate: I mean it, right. I, I think that. At the end of the day, all the main review courses, they have the info that someone would need to pass. But yeah, take an individual trial. That’s what I always tell people. Do a free trial, actually do some questions in there and just, you know, just see which one kind of speaks to you, I guess.
Logan: Yeah, it’s interesting that you say that because you know, Superfast can definitely be used with any review course. Um, but we’ve talked to multiple people, you know, in the coaching program or different things like that that, you know, I’ve heard people who like you, just like you said in Reddit, they, they hate Roger and they really like Gleim or like, some people swear by Becker, like in the end, if you do that, like what you mentioned, do the trial, you’re doing yourself a huge service ’cause then you find the one that really suits you and then using the Superfast with that, it’ll, you’ll just have awesome results. So that’s awesome. That’s a great tip.
Dalton: Yeah, definitely.
The Time It Took For Dalton to Adjust His Study Routines
Nate: Um, okay, [00:14:00] so, so you get our program and then Roger eventually. And then how did it go? Did you have a several week period where you just getting used to the study process and it was a struggle? Or just how did the first few weeks or months go when you started studying?
Dalton: Well, it was actually extremely easy for me to start because I had been kind of getting myself prepped for this for so long, and I know for myself, like I really started studying in like March and you know, with, with my life right now, I have my full-time accounting job, but I also, you know, do YouTube as you can tell all around me.
Like I do Jacksonville Jaguars videos on YouTube and I have, you know, I have sponsorships from my channel and I have, it’s basically a part-time job, like I’m doing this YouTube stuff. 20 to 30 hours per week. So like I really, you know, needed, I, I can’t just, you know, I couldn’t just stop it. I had to keep going and kind of work with a CPA around it.
So, you know, I was, and it was nice starting in March because football season is over and I don’t have [00:15:00] my weekends filled with football. So I was really able to, kind of start off and, and, you know, wake up early and I had some like time on the weekends and, and really get my gears turning, um, when it comes to just limiting distractions, you know, from all that.
And, you know, I didn’t have like a lot of pressing, breaking news on football. I needed to drop everything and like make a YouTube video about. But um, yeah, at first it was really nice and I know for myself, I gave, I gave myself about two and a half months for FAR and I was able to pass that on my first try.
And then, you know, BEC I gave myself, I think like a month and a half and I passed that on my first try.
“There Will Always Be Distractions, You Need to be Able to Study Around Those”
Dalton: But, you know, when things started getting difficult was when football season started, you know, it took me three attempts to pass audit because there was just, there was distractions in the way, like.
You know, and that’s one big thing about this CPA process is there’s gonna be distractions, but it’s all about like, try to limit them as much as you can. Like I know, you know, I didn’t really take any [00:16:00] vacations from, you know, before I took FAR and before I took like BEC, but you know, I took BEC in like July, and then I scheduled myself for You know, the, the audit for my first time in like the middle of September. And in between that time, you know, I went to like Toronto on vacation. I went on like a cruise ship. And then I also, like, I took mine, my test like the Friday after the opening week of NFL football and, and that for me, opening Sunday is like Christmas for me, and I couldn’t do the, you know, for, for for FAR and like BEC I took, I took them on Tuesday and I took the, you know, Monday and Tuesday off of work and I really studied over the weekend. But then, you know, once football season comes, not only am I doing my, you know, my YouTube stuff, but I also get, I, I’m also just a football fan, you know, I wanna watch all the different games.
I’m a college football fan too, so my weekends were just shot, you know what I mean? It was very hard for me to get stuff done. But.
Nate: [00:17:00] Yeah,
Dalton: Yeah, it’s all about, I mean, you know, try to find a time where your life slows down to kind of start it. And I mean, that’s kind of what I did. And I was also came right after I got married too, because I got married in December, 2022. You know, started about three months later and I couldn’t really imagine going through this if I was like single and trying to date ’cause we all know like, you know, when you first start dating, you’re kind of doing a lot more spontaneous stuff. It’s harder to kind of stick to a schedule and you know, it’s right before I had kids.
So it was really like, now or never, if I didn’t do it now, like my life isn’t going to get any less busy when I get kids one day.
So yeah.
Nate: Right. Yeah, that’s for sure. Um,
so
yeah. Well, and I mean, the biggest thing with kids is all these things happen that are outside of your control.
before you have kids, it’s kind of just up to you, you know, how, how well can you stick to your, uh, routine that you’ve [00:18:00] set up or that you’re planning on. It’s really just, you know, up to you.
But if you’re up at five in the morning and your kid pukes, I
mean.
just a million things.
Dalton’s Daily Study Routine
Nate: Uh, so, so you kind of mentioned it, but I was gonna ask, what was your daily routine? Ideally, what was your daily routine from start to finish? I think you mentioned you would get up at five to study, and so how would you do the whole, the whole day usually?
Dalton: Yeah, I would get up at 5:00 AM and study, you know, I’d have, you know, two hours of uninterrupted time in the morning, and I just, you know, stayed focused. There’s limited distractions. You know, I go to my full-time job, you know, I’m doing 40 to 50 hours a week, just like every other, you know, kind of full-time person. And then in the evenings, I, I’m the one that cooks dinner, so I come home and I cook dinner. Um, so I might be, go be done with that by seven is then I actually start trying to work on something for YouTube, whether it’s, you know, preparing notes for something or if I’m doing like a live stream or if I’m doing like a video. You know what I mean I’m, you know, that takes a [00:19:00] certain amount of time and, you know, I’ve got different sponsorship obligations I have to fulfill. Like, you know, one of mine, I had to do two videos per week sponsored by them. Plus, you know, this many like Twitter posts. So it’s, I, I really had to sit down on Sundays and be like, okay, you know, will I have any time maybe on Saturday I can fit in a couple more hours, or, you know, these weeks usually my weekdays were pretty structured, but I try to find different ways. I could also, like I didn’t do much studying in the afternoons and I still really don’t, I, I kind of stick that to the morning time and you know, just do my mini sessions throughout the day, you know, whether it be like on lunch or if I’m in the bathroom, or, you know, usually before I go to bed at night, you know, I like to be on my phone for a little bit.
So take about 15 minutes to kind of go through some multiple choice questions that way. And just try to find if I have, you know, and when you’re studying, you don’t need to, like, a lot of people think like, oh, it’s, you know, 9:30, it’s, it’s too late for me to study. I mean, you can, like, you can just do a, go on your, go on your, uh, [00:20:00] study program or your review course and just do like 10 questions, you know what I mean? It’s a little bit, you know, obviously I think audit was really good with the, you know, with, with, being able to kind of do it like in bed, you know what I mean? Because it’s not as, you don’t have all the math problems, you know what I mean?
But you know, the REG and FAR and BEC had a lot of that. So, um, you know, it was a little easier to kind of be able to go into my, my office and do that kind of thing. But yeah, that was kind of what my week and my days look like.
Nate: Yeah, I, I mean it being able to study from your phone. You know, you kind of need that main session to do like full strength questions and everything, so that has to happen at some point. But just two hours in the morning, pretty much everyone can make that work if they want to. And then just being able to add in another two to three hours doing the mini sessions from their phone just, you know, makes it a much more flexible way of studying [00:21:00] instead of having to find four dedicated hours or five dedicated hours.
Dalton: Yeah, exactly. And that’s just not the way my brain works very well. Even like a of a Saturday, if I had the whole entire day off, like it’s really, really hard for me to say, oh, like. You know, 8:00 AM I can study till two o’clock today, like it’s in, like I don’t, if I have those six hours open, like I’m not like doing hardcore studying.
Like, I might take two hours and take a break and then I might do another, you know, hour or so and take a break. It’s just, you know, I, I think that like, I can’t imagine some of these people that do study full-time, that do 40 hours of studying per week. I just, man, that, that seems kind of crazy to me in my opinion.
Nate: Yeah. Yeah. I mean,
especially if it is doable in the two hours a day and then mini sessions that that was the thing for me is I just didn’t wanna study at night. So I mean, I literally followed exactly what I’m always talking about two hours in the morning and I would study from my phone a lot, just as much as I [00:22:00] could through the day.
But
once I was done with work, I just knew I didn’t wanna, or wasn’t going to, whatever, didn’t wanna study at night. Yeah.
Dalton: Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
The SuperfastCPA Study Material that Dalton Used the Most
Logan: I had a question. So throughout your day, what would you say was the thing, the mini session that you gravitate towards the most? Do you really like the mini quizzes, like reading the review notes, listening to the audio notes, all that stuff? What was the thing that has been really helpful so far?
Dalton: Yeah, I was, I was big on the mini quizzes. I mean, that was like my main thing. I really like with the audio notes. I, I really wanted to be somebody that it worked out well for, but after about 15 minutes, I would just, like, it was kind of just too much for me and I’d kind of, you know, I, I, I would either like, I would kind of keep it going, but I would just. My mind’s just always thinking, and it was really hard for me just to stay, like concentrated on it. And I mostly liked the review notes for kind of having it pulled up while I’m studying, because I liked the condensed version of it. But it was definitely the, uh, the, the mini quizzes that I [00:23:00] liked the most out of the app.
Nate: Yeah. Yeah. And we, we have a, we have a lot of questions now. I don’t know. Well, we probably did.
Taking His Time to Study for His Final Exam
Nate: Were, were you studying the last few months through football season or do you basically just do, you took a break from studying.
Dalton: Oh no, I studied all throughout. I haven’t taken, the only time I took a break was I figured out I passed, like audit on like December, like. 10th or 12th or something like that. And I was like, you know what, all the CPA stuff is changing. Like, uh, I, you know, it’s Christmas time and, you know, it was just, it’s, that’s the, so I said, you know what, take in the next few weeks off.
And I started fresh, like January 1st, and I, and I knew in my head with the new testing windows that were going on that. You know, I had already scheduled my exam for like, the last day possible in March to be able to get fit in on the, you know, on the June release date, which is gonna be a crazy wait. I just knew that, you know, I’m going to go all out on this one.
Honestly, with, with REG, I’ve been studying, like, like I said, since the first of the month. I would [00:24:00] honestly probably be ready to take this one in three to four weeks, but I wanna make sure that I become a master at this because I don’t, I, I wanna walk out of that exam at the end of March saying that, you know what, I passed this one.
When I get my June ref, my June score, I know I’m gonna pass it. I, I
just don’t want to, you know, I I, I just don’t wanna spend two months studying if I had already passed, which is, you know, the, this, it’s gonna be a painful weight. I already know.
Logan: Yeah, I think it’s gonna be brutal for a lot of people, no matter when you take one of the core exams this year, for the first two quarters, I mean, you won’t get your score until like June or July. So like, it’s just, so I, I think that’s a great idea.
So you’re, so you’re on REG right now and you’re, uh, so you’re gonna take it at the end of March? Is that the plan then you said?
Dalton: Yeah, I’ll be taking it at the end of March and I was really hoping when I was, you know, mapping out my CPA stuff, I was really hoping to have passed, you know, audit first time around. Obviously then, you know, defeated REG at the end of the year [00:25:00] so I didn’t have to go through these new testing windows.
But, you know, I, I, I am happy. I was nervous ’cause I was getting down to it, you know, I. When I figured out I failed, uh, audit, you know, I gave myself, I kept trying to fit it on like the closest I could get to the next score lease. So, you know, the first time I took audit, I, I, I wasn’t very good at the audit material for some reason.
Like, you know, everyone has that CPA exam that just doesn’t click for them. That was audit for me. I’m just, I’m way more of like just a math guy. You know, I love numbers. That’s why I got into accounting. So I like seeing a problem saying, oh, like, you know, if I do this with the numbers, it’s gonna, you know, compute the answer to this.
With, with audit, it just wasn’t clicking in my brain. I didn’t have much of a experiential, um, overlap when it comes to my current job and what audit had. And, um, it just didn’t click well for me. So the first time I took it, 65 wasn’t good, wasn’t feeling very good. And I took it, I think about two weeks later and I got like a 73. Which was closer. And then I think I took it at like, [00:26:00] you know, I think two or three weeks. I forget how much longer after that at the, you know, in the middle of November. Um, and I got like, uh, I got an 81 on it, so I was increasing like eight points per, per try. But it was, um, man, that one was really tough for me, but I was just, I was just very blessed that I had. passed at least three of them before the new change
happened in 2024 with the crazy like release dates for these exams. And also audit was one that was gonna get harder. It was getting more material. So I’m like, just please let me pass this one. So, so I’m blessed that I came into 2024, 3 out of 4.
Nate: Yeah. Yeah. I, I know the, the new score releases, I hope they change it after 2024 and go back. But yeah, it, it changes a lot about the strategy, like how, you know, like you said, it’s more important than ever to try to be absolutely sure you’re gonna go in there and pass because you just
have month long, months [00:27:00] long waits to find out.
Dalton: Yeah. No. Yeah, exactly.
Hobbies and Adjustments to Study for the CPA Exams
Nate: I think I know what you’re gonna say to this, but were there any hobbies or kind of your favorite thing to do that you made it a point to keep doing throughout the process? You know, to just stay sane.
Dalton: Yeah, I Guessing football, but.
I mean, yeah, it was definitely, definitely football, but I, I know for me it was a lot of this was also about like sacrifice. Like I was used to the 5:00 AM grind, but I’ll wake up and work out and unfortunately, I, I didn’t, I don’t really have time to fit going to the gym into like my current schedule, but I know that. You know, after I get done with all this stuff, I can kind of get back to it. So I had to give up, you know, the, the working out. I gave up pretty much watching, like, I love watching Netflix series, you know, I like Breaking Bads, my favorite show. I, I love that, like, you know, Better Call Saul. I love, you know, game of, I love getting into these series, but I, I couldn’t do that because I just don’t [00:28:00] have like an hour to burn per night to watch like an episode.
It was just gonna become a distraction for me. So, you know, I, I, always checking the football, and that was definitely not good for my CPA studying. But I, I am happy that I started in March as opposed to September. So, you know, now I’ll never have to do any more studying, like during football season. And you know, also during the fall there’s just a lot of distractions.
I mean, you have Thanksgiving, you have Christmas, and you have the, at least in Florida, you have the nicer weather where it’s not, you know, humid as heck out here. Um, and. You have a it, it was just a good time of year for me to, you know, kind of start it and. Um, so yeah, like football, football was my main thing and I still, I still made time to hang out with my friends. Um, you know, probably about, maybe once or twice a month do something to meet up with them. I didn’t, I didn’t cancel, like I wasn’t, if it was Saturday night, I wouldn’t try to tell people I’m studying for the CPA exam. I just, uh, would try to find ways to fit, [00:29:00] fit things in elsewhere. And I always had, you know, my mornings, which were distraction free for me.
So that, that was kind of the way I approached it.
Nate: Yeah. Yeah, doing the, the main session in the morning, it just solves a lot of problems. It also lets you still have a life somewhat, you know, like you said, that’s a really good description because you do have to cut certain things out. You know, you, it’s hard to get up and study early and be effective if you stayed up till 1:00 AM watching three extra episodes, so like, yeah, you have to cut that kind of stuff out, but you still do have the evenings to a certain extent. It just, yeah, I just think it solves so many problems to just knock it out in the morning.
Accepting That Studying Is a Part of Your Life
Dalton: Yeah, and you just have to accept that with the CPA, you know, this is just a part of your life. I mean, this, this becomes a lifestyle like you can’t. And you also had to come into the position where it’s like, you know, we’re pretty lucky to be studying for this thing. I know [00:30:00] while you’re studying it sucks.
Like you don’t want to be sitting there and punching numbers when it’s like beautiful outside and you could be doing so many other things, but you’re also in such a better position than most people in this world where you actually have an opportunity to further your education, study for this thing, have an opportunity to be able to make more money, to be able to hit all your financial, professional, lifestyle goals, whatever you have.
I mean, we are in awesome positions to do this. It is, you know, about what, six to 18 months of, you know, some unfun moments and I know some people can get like unmotivated to do it all. And you know, they can kind of feel like woe is me kind of stuff. But you know, at the end of the day I can’t even imagine a feeling of accomplishment I’ll have when I, when I do this, especially with me, like I was kind of saying earlier, I didn’t have very good grades in college and you know, I think when the way I looked at, you know, really with the CPA program, even [00:31:00] SuperfastCPA, just the way college was, it just didn’t fit my style of learning. Like, when I would go to lectures, I just, I didn’t get a lot from lectures and, you know, the study material was oh, pages chapter, chapter fourth through chapter six.
That’s what the test is on. So I wasn’t, you know, I, I realized that, you know, the CPA stuff, like, I love the way it’s built and, um, you know, I never thought that I was honestly smart enough to be able to go to CPA, um, license, but, you know, I can’t imagine the feeling of accomplishment I’ll have when it’s done.
And I know I have goals for after, you know, I, you know, my wife is from Puerto Rico and her whole entire family speaks Spanish, so I really want to get into Spanish because if I can pass the CPA license, I can be bilingual, I can learn another language, you know.
Nate: Oh yeah.
Dalton: Like I’m saying, it’s, it’s, it’s tough and it stinks.
Like I hate that I have to wake up tomorrow morning and study, but it’s my lifestyle. I don’t think twice about it. I say, this is what I’m doing. I’m not contemplating whether or not I should do it. I’m not contemplating how I can get out of it. It’s a part of my life right now. And it’s [00:32:00] a temporary pain for, you know, for like, for to attain your goals that you have over the course of your entire life.
Nate: Yep. And I, I think that probably, uh, if you do reach out to your old boss that you mentioned. I mean, kind of what you just described. I, I think the biggest thing, or, I mean, I’m guessing what he’ll say, but basically the idea that it’s just a litmus test for everything you just described, right?
It’s just, yeah, who can go through this and push through to the end, you know, and then there’s, I don’t know, there’s a big percentage that don’t, so.
Dalton: Yeah. No, exactly.
Nate: Yeah.
Logan: Yeah, I really liked, when I was taking the CPA exams, it made me feel like I could do hard things. Like, that was one of my, um, maybe you printed your, like, motivation sheet out from the PRO course. I don’t know. But I know that when I wrote down like, if I don’t finish this, then I’ll be scared of doing things the rest of my life.
[00:33:00] Instead of overcoming it, I ran away. And so I think you can kind of take it and apply it to the rest of your life, just working through it and you’ll ha be better for it in the end.
Feeling You Can Accomplish Anything After the CPA Exams
Logan: Are you planning on taking any of the things that you’ve been applying to becoming a CPA to your life afterwards?
Are you gonna study Spanish similar way or what are you thinking?
Dalton: I think the main thing with the Spanish is I want to like, you know, get the apps because I think, you know, like the mini sessions, the 15 minute mini sessions, I feel you can mini session your way through Spanish, I mean. And, and also it’s not like I’m having like exams. I just gotta know how to, how to speak it, you know?
So, uh, you know, I just think that. If I can, if I can do the CPA, I can do just, just by anything. I mean, I feel like there’s nothing that could really get in my way, you know, because I can, I can learn an instrument if I want, or you know, I can, uh, I can work out to achieve a certain goal if I want. I just think that, you know, my whole entire, really ever since I graduated, I’m like, you know, and even before I [00:34:00] started studying, I knew while I was going through school I was gonna, you know, go for my CPA exam, but I, I was always like, you know, oh, if I can get my CPA if I can pass the exams, and everyone’s like, no, you’re, you’re gonna do it. You’re smart, and this, this and that.
And I’m like, um, and I’m like, yeah, but, you know, it’s hard. And, and you know, I, I struggled in school a little bit, you know, I, I, I, it just didn’t, you know, there’d be people around me that would study for two hours. I’d be sitting here studying forever, and they get higher grades than me. You know, that’s just how it’s kind of gone. But you know, if you commit yourself and you know, you put in the work, um, that’s what it’s all about. Because, you know, it’s definitely not an IQ test. It’s about, you know, how determined are you to do it. And there’s just so many awesome resources out there, um, for you. However you wanna learn.
You know, if some people are good at lectures, some people like lectures. So, you know, if you wanna sit there and you’re gonna learn through an hour and a half lecture. Knock yourself out. But if you wanna books, you can do that if want to, you know, MCQ your way through it, if you wanna audio book your way, you know, there’s so many different ways that will fit [00:35:00] your brain in order to do it. It’s just, uh, you know, luckily SuperfastCPA introduce my way not to do it super fast, but I kind of think of it more like super efficient CPA, you know what I mean? That’s kind of the way the way I see it all.
Nate: Yes, I know. And that’s right. Sometimes the name, I and people have said that, like it just sounds too. Uh, especially for something like the CPA and that’s kind of like, no, it’s more about if you’re layering all these advantages in the study process, you’re going to avoid failing sections and though therefore, you know, you pass faster, is kind of the idea. But anyways.
Dalton: Yeah, exactly. I mean, it’s what you make of it. I mean, some people wanna knock it out in six months and you know, all the power to them. I know I had budgeted about 12 months, which is about what it’s gonna take me, you know, as long as I pass REG which I, I think I will. I mean, I’m, I’m, enjoying this material a lot more in audit. I’ll say that. And I, I’m getting better [00:36:00] scores right away, and I just know that I’m putting in the extra work so I won’t have to have two months of lingering questioning whether or not I pass it. You know, my other ones I kind of shot for the 75. This one I’m trying to shoot for like an 85. I’m gonna come out of that test being like I dominated.
There’s no way I, there’s no way I drop that one.
Nate: Yeah.
Dalton’s Process for Learning Through the Questions First Approach
Nate: Um, so one thing about the, I just like asking this to hear someone one’s description about how they did this. So when, when you would sit down for two hours to like work through the questions first for a lesson, what was your actual process? I mean, would you, if you didn’t know a question, you submit it, reverse engineer the solution, then reperform it?
Or like what was your actual process to learn from the questions for a topic?
Dalton: Yeah. So I mean, I would, you know, I would go through, open up the study material and just kind of go in order the chapters. So, um, you know, I would do, you know, the first set of questions and, you know, I would go through it. I would read it. I would, I would [00:37:00] try my best to, you know, to understand and, and try to get the question right.
You know, most of the time you obviously don’t, and you know, I just kind of read the explanation, try to understand what it’s asking. Then I kind of move on. And honestly, with my initial stuff, I try to kind of get through it quick. You know what I mean? Because I really think most of your learning is through the re-review, because sometimes I would look at a problem, I would just be like. I just don’t understand this. Like, I’m not gonna get this one right. And I, I kind of move on and then, you know, as I’m doing a re-review two days later I’m like, oh, I remember this one. This is the answer. And then, you know, next thing I know I’m like. I knew this one, you know, I just took a little bit of time at first and, you know, and most of the time I’m, I’m like doing like re-review when I’m going through it.
Like, you know, maybe I’ll hit like three chapters and then, you know, one morning it’s a hundred percent re-review for me. You know, I’ll, I’ll go through and, you know, in two hours I’ll, you know, do about anywhere between 40 to 70 multiple choice questions. All of just like re-review and, and just kind of learning it that way and kind [00:38:00] of pounding in my head that way.
Using Flashcards for AUD
Dalton: And, and one thing, I didn’t do this for FAR and BEC just because I passed on my first try. But on audit, I did start the, the note card process. Like I would go through and if there was something that was good to memorize, you know what I mean, I would kind of write it down. I’m kind of going through the same thing for, um, for REG, like I got a good amount of, you know, of cards written down for it. Like, I mean, these are all for REG and, and it’s mostly just stuff that would be good to memorize. And I, and honestly, I haven’t gone through these really at all yet. It’s mostly for like my, once I finish all the content, I’m gonna go back through there and make sure I know everything in there and I save these things for times like this Saturday, I’m going to, you know, get my oil changed. While I’m getting my oil changed I’m gonna be going through these note cards and I also have a, I’m going to Puerto Rico in a few weeks and it’s a three hour flight, so I’m going to make sure I come back and I, I, and I know these front and back, you know what I mean?
So I, I think the main thing is I’m [00:39:00] gonna, you know, write down stuff as I go through and, you know, more stuff that’s just like memorization because that’s what a lot of audit is. It was so much memorization. But I think that’s one thing that I picked up from I guess the failure of it. I, I learned that. Okay. You know, and I’d never done do cards before, but figuring out your best way to do it. I know some people use, like the BrainScape, like they’ve said, I, I, I kind of like writing it down a little bit more. Um, that’s just a little bit better for me, especially to have like physical cards that, you know, I could just like, I don’t know, fit in my pocket.
I just think, you know, getting away from the virtual aspect was a little bit good for me, especially since I, I don’t write physical notes, I don’t really do any printouts. I don’t really look at the books. I think for me, having some kind of physical, tangible like aspect of it was, was good for me.
Logan: Yeah. The great thing about, uh, flashcards that you were kinda, You kind of mentioned in there, you know, like even though you haven’t reviewed them a lot yet, um, just the act of making a flashcard I learned or I felt really helped me [00:40:00] understand a topic better. Even just the act of doing it ’cause I had to look at it and be like, I don’t understand what I’m missing here.
And I had to sit there and force myself to understand it to the point that I could put it in a flashcard. So just the act of making the flashcard helps you learn. Um,
and then obviously the reviewing it as you’ll, as you’ll be doing soon, uh, that also of course helps. But yeah, just making flashcards is also super, super helpful.
Nate: Yes. And when you review ’em, that’s like my big Speech is like those versus handwritten notes. When you review ’em, you’re involving forced recall, like you’re having to
try to pull the info outta your brain. Whereas handwritten notes, it’s all just in front of you. You don’t have to really remember or think about anything.
It’s better than nothing, but, yeah. Flashcards are just a huge difference maker.
When Dalton Started to Use Flashcards
Nate: Uh, did you start that after you had failed audit once? Or, or how, how did you decide to start doing flashcards?
Dalton: Yeah, it [00:41:00] was after I failed audit the first time and, and it kind of stunk because between my first and second exam, like I wanted to go back through like all the material. So like I. But then I think I had like less than two weeks from my, my next attempt, and it just wasn’t enough time to get through as much of them as like would, as I would’ve liked to, you know what I mean?
So I didn’t get to write down like as many and I, I, and I think I would’ve actually passed it if I didn’t get such a, I think I got a really hard test because my next exam, the questions were just like way easier. Um, I knew in my first 10 problems I was like, dang, this is, this is a tough testlet here. Um, but yeah, that was something that I implemented. Like after, after I failed and I kind of, I kind of took it forward to like my next ones. I think another good thing about the, the note cards is like, you know, if you’re in a situation like, you know, sometimes I’ll spend, um, you know, I’ll go over to my, you know, in-laws place on like, you know, Monday night and, you know, well, I’ll eat dinner over there.
Like, instead of me looking like, you know, just me playing on looking like I’m playing on my phone when I’m actually studying. I think it’s good to be like, hey, [00:42:00] I’m studying right. You know what I mean? Like, if you wanna kinda want a moment to.
Logan: Don’t bother me.
Dalton: Not look like you’re just being this anti-social person, you know, flipping through their phone, but you’re actually, you know, tangibly, you know, they’re seeing that you’re actually going through study material. So I think that’s, another interesting, uh, way to look at it.
Logan: So browniee points with the in-laws, it’s a big plus.
Dalton: Yeah.
Nate: That is actually, yeah, that’s a good point.
So we’ve kind of gone through most things.
Anything like, I mean, you said you kinda researched the, the whole CPA study process, you know, before you actually started, which is a really good idea. So many people come into this and they’re just positive that they know how to study. They know, you know, their learning style or, and my thing with that is always like, well, at the end of the day, like you have to answer the MCQs and the sims on the test.
So spend a lot of time doing that.
Dalton Was Prepared and Didn’t Run Into Any Surprises
Nate: Anyways, the question is, was there anything that happened during the [00:43:00] study process or that only became apparent once you were actually in it that kind of surprised you about? How, like how difficult it was or just anything about the study process that was a surprise once you actually started.
Dalton: Man, I, I’ll be honest, not because the thing was, I, I passed my first two exams, like my first try, and I know like. Because I had told, like my wife, I’m like, yeah, I found a SuperfastCPA and they said like, I don’t even look at the book. Like she sees the books. I don’t use them. You know, I don’t listen to lectures and I just do like all multiple choice questions.
But she’s like, oh, well you gotta, you gotta read the book, you gotta like, listen to the lectures, you know, this kind of thing. I said, I don’t need to, I don’t need to. So like that first one, I’m like, I hope I, I hope I, because she was right there with me when he checked, you know, the NASBA to see what I got and I was like, and, and I don’t know what I got.
Like, I mean, I went out there and I studied. I felt like I did good, but my first one ever, like I could have got a 50 or I could have done well, you know what I mean? And then when I saw that 80, I was like, holy crap. Like I can do this. You know? I’m smart. I’m smart enough to overcome. My first one was FAR, which was [00:44:00] like everyone said it was like the hardest.
So, and yeah, it was a, I think it was definitely a beast. It was a lot of material, but luckily for me, with my current job. Um, you know, I prepare income statements and statement of cash flows and balance sheets. Like I, I prep quarterly financial statements and, you know, I do, you know, I enter a bunch of journal entries.
I do, you know, fair market value adjustments. You know, I, I deal with derivatives, so I, that one for me was the most like experiential overlap for me. So it was good that, you know, I got the beast out of the way. And also one that I kind of understood a decent amount of the material for. So I think, uh, you know, I think the sims could be a little tricky, but I think with the sims, like I didn’t study much of sims.
I would just, you know, a couple weeks before the exam, I would just kind of flip through the sims to see like what they were like. And you know, I never really committed too much. I would kind of look at it, you know, and maybe. Put some answers in there. Maybe there’ll be one or two where I put [00:45:00] a good amount of time in.
But yeah, the sims take a lot of time and honestly, like I can, I can give a multiple choice question when I’m at home practicing, I can give it the same focus I give on like an exam, but on like a sim like at home, like, you know, these sims can take anywhere between 15 to 30 minutes. And you know, when I’m in exam, you know, I’m going through, I, I’m making sure every little thing is right, but at home it’s. It’s a little bit hard to take it as seriously, and it just kind of feels like you’re kind of looking, it’s like thing I’ve been on this way too long. So you, so you kind of move on and, uh, and you know, just kind of fill the question in. But, um, I kind of familiarized myself with it. But, um, yeah, I think overall just there wasn’t, I hate to give a cop an answer.
There really wasn’t too much.
Nate: Yeah.
Dalton: I wasn’t, really surprised about, I’ll be honest with you.
Nate: Mm-Hmm. Yeah. Um.
Logan: I, I actually, I had one question that I was thinking.
Nate: Yeah, go
Dalton’s Motivation for Finishing the CPA Exams
Logan: This is kind of on a different, uh, topic, but I mean, so you know, you have a pretty busy life, you’re waking up early, [00:46:00] studying, then going to work, then coming home and doing your YouTube channel, and obviously you have a wife.
So like that’s also something that you need to spend time on, but how do you manage like the stress, the, just the overall burden of all that, like what keeps you going from day to day besides the motivation of just passing the CPA exam.
Dalton: Honestly with me, like I have, I have a really good work ethic. You know, I, I’m not one that, you know, one reason why I even started my YouTube channel was I, I started it because in college, like I was working like 32 hours a week doing accounting while being a full-time student. And, you know, once I graduated.
You know, and, and I didn’t have any school. I was like, I have a lot of time on my hands. So, and I’m not one that, that just kind of sits there and come home and flip on a TV and chill. You know, I’m always trying to do something so, you know, with, you know, I started d YouTube channel to kind of do something to fill my time in.
And, um, so with, with this, I really, it, it, [00:47:00] it’s tough because I did have, like I said earlier, I had to cut out like working out and with working out, I’m either zero 100, I’m either doing it a bunch and I’m consistent or I’m not really like doing it at all. But really for me, like having, juggling all those different things, like definitely the toughest thing is a CPA exam, just because like, you know, that’s not gonna wait for you.
You know what I mean? Like that no one, you, you don’t write a letter to NASBA and say, hey, you know, I didn’t have much time. Can you, you know, can you, can you be a little lenient on me like that? That’s, uh, you know, that’s, that’s not gonna happen, but, I don’t know, for me, I just, like I said, you go in with a good mindset that this is a part of your life and obviously different things in life come up and you know, everybody has their own, you know, everyone can come up with excuses and that’s one thing with the CPA is like, you know, a lot of times you ask non-accountants like, why don’t they have their CPA and they come up with this, this and re this reason why they don’t have it.
But they know that they probably should have it. It’s just, you know, they decided that, you know, maybe they’re just a little too [00:48:00] lazy for it. I know it’s just, you know, with the CPA, it’s like I was saying earlier, it’s temporary pain, but it’s. There’s a lot, there’s a big end goal, and I know for me, you know, I want ’em when they have kids and I want to be able to, you know, go out and do something and, you know, go out to eat and, you know, let the kids buy coke.
I don’t wanna be like, no, get a water so I can save 2.50. I wanna be able go on vacations and, and not have to, you know, be worried about like, okay, lemme check my bank account, see how much money’s in there. You know, I have plenty of motivation that, you know, while this is painful today in 10, 15, 20 years, I’m gonna be reaping the benefits like crazy and I’m gonna live such a better life.
Because that one year where I was waking up at 5:00 AM to study, um, I was doing that. And, you know, I’m, I’m 30 years old now. I’ll be thinking myself when I’m 40, 50, 60 years old that, you know, at this moment in my life. I was, I was going through and doing this process.
Nate: Yeah, absolutely. [00:49:00] Yep. I mean, that’s the, that’s the right mindset and I think during it, I mean, you kind of described this, but embracing just, just accepting or embracing what it’s gonna be, you know. This is gonna be me getting up at 5:00 AM I can’t grind through all the series that I might wanna watch this year.
You know, just, but yeah, one year max and, and then you’ll be done forever and all the benefits that come with it. Yeah.
Dalton: Yeah, no. Yeah, exactly. You just have to, like I said, it is gotta be a part of your lifestyle and, uh, you know, and, and a lot of people, you know, just try and knock it out as early as you can because I don’t think anybody’s life gets less busy as they get older, especially if they plan to, you know, and I think I’m in the perfect time where, like I said, I am not single.
I’m freshly married, so I’m not. You know, going out and do all the, you know, new boyfriend girlfriend stuff, but I also don’t have kids, so I’m kind of in that sweet spot in my life where it’s a good time to do it. I know if I don’t do it now, like I, I’m not gonna wanna start, [00:50:00] if I have a three and a five-year-old kid, you know what I mean?
Logan: For sure.
I mean, I had kind of a similar mindset for sure. Like I think it’s a great idea to just like get it done as soon as you possibly can. Like I was a big advocate and I’m not saying everybody should do this ’cause it is, it was kind of crazy. But like, I was a big, big advocate of just, I, I did it during my master’s degree. Um, so like, just like doing it as soon as you can. ’cause you won’t, you won’t regret doing it sooner, but you will regret if you wait. You know? So I think that’s a, that’s a great point there.
Dalton: Yeah. Hundred percent.
Nate: Yeah.
Top Tips for People Still Struggling with their CPA Study Process
Nate: So the last question I always ask is, uh, what would be your top two or three tips for people in the study process?
Dalton: Yeah, just understand how fortunate you are to be studying it.
It, it sucks when you’re studying. It’s not fun. You think about. All the different things you could be doing, but you know, you’re in a situation where, you know, you are blessed to be able to, you know, e extend, extend your knowledge [00:51:00] and, you know, kind of work toward, um, in a career where there’s really unlimited potential.
You know, there’s so much room for growth in this, in this, uh, field that we work in.
Um, you know, another thing, like we were saying earlier, figure out which study program is gonna work best for you.
You know, I think that’s a big one. Um, make sure that your work life balances as, as, is in check. You know, I know how busy I am, but you know, I also, I have plenty of time in my evenings, you know, while I’m doing YouTube.
I mean, I do enjoy doing YouTube, so that’s pretty therapeutic for me. But, you know, I’ll go out to eat on Friday night. I’ll go get sushi on Friday night or on, you know, Saturdays I might, you know, meet out, you know, meet up with some of my friends and um, just. You gotta keep enjoying life. And a lot of people, you know, when I’ve gone through these CPA testimonies of, you know, people not in the SuperfastCPA program, it’s like, oh yeah, my family went on the boat today.
But I said, no, you know, I, I sat at home and, you know, I studied all day. I just don’t, I don’t know, I, I think, you know, you [00:52:00] can find time to do different things. Of course, there’s things that you’re gonna have to shut down. Like, you know, if your friends are taking a big weekend trip to wherever. Yeah. You’re gonna have to make some decisions there. But I wouldn’t just cut off all your social life. I wouldn’t cut off all your family. You know, I would find ways to enjoy life and, you know, this doesn’t have to be a six month process. And I think they’re even expanding this whole thing to, uh, down the road.
I don’t know, if it’s official yet, but you know, maybe doing 30 months where you’re able to pass it. So, you know, don’t think that you have to sprint through it, go at your own pace. Just because this person on reddit said they passed ’em all in four months, doesn’t mean you have to, and it doesn’t make you dumb if you, if it takes you 12 to 18 months to pass, you know, just, um, go at your own pace.
Don’t compare yourself to other people. That’s not gonna get you anywhere. And I was doing a lot of that in college with, you know, I was kind of the lowest in my class and I was like, okay, well I guess I’m just not smart. You know what I mean? Don’t compare yourself to other people, you know, and, and, and just figure out, I guess, which way works best for [00:53:00] you.
Nate: Awesome. Yeah. So, yeah, it was awesome to hear your story Dalton, and uh, you know, sounds like I’m pretty confident you’re gonna pass REG, you’ll be done in March. But I’m glad you found us and that it’s been helpful. Um, and we appreciate you doing the call ’cause you’ll have something in this interview that someone will like mention in an interview a year from now, that’s happened so many times. So yeah, I appreciate the time. Thanks for doing the call.
Dalton: I appreciate you guys having me on. I, I appreciate the program that you built. It’s definitely awesome. You don’t really see this kind of advice anywhere else. It’s definitely not cookie cutter advice. And you know, it definitely, you know, helped me when I was trying to get into the CPA mindset of, uh, you know, how I want to attack it.
And, you know, I, like I said, watch the webinar. Um, and you definitely won’t regret it, even if, even if you don’t like the concepts, you know, it’s not that much time outta your day. So, yeah, I, I appreciate you having me on and, [00:54:00] uh, can’t wait to almost be done with it ’cause I’m right there at the finish line.
Nate: Yeah, definitely let us know when you find out.
Dalton: Will do.
Logan: All right. That was the interview with Dalton. I think it was a fantastic interview and I’m sure you found it helpful.
I loved his attitude about studying and about being grateful to be studying.
I think that’s something that would be helpful to a lot of people.
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Thanks for listening or watching and we’ll see you in the next one.
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