In this episode of the CPA Exam Experience Podcast, you’ll hear how Sam was able to persevere through years of taking the CPA exam and finally pass at 64 years old. There were a lot of setbacks throughout his journey, either from the busyness of work, or even from a form failing to be sent over email. Through it all, Sam kept going.
You’ll hear how much of a difference being a part of the SuperfastCPA forum made in his journey. There were times where he wanted to give up, but seeing other people struggling with the exams and encouraging him helped him to keep going. Sam has a lot of great tips so make sure you listen to the whole episode!
IMPORTANT LINKS:
Master your study process by attending one of our free study training workshops:
https://www.superfastcpa.com/study-secrets/
Episode Timestamps
- 0:00 Sam Interview
- 02:52 Sam’s CPA Journey Started Way Back 2006
- 04:52 Filled the Missing Hours with the Chartered Accountancy Program in India
- 06:13 Wasn’t Able to Find the Time to Study Back Then
- 07:21 Failed AUD Multiple Times and Said That It Isn’t Working for Him
- 09:12 Kept Failing Studying the Traditional Way
- 10:28 Switched from One Job to Another and Decided to Pursue the CPA Again
- 11:53 Finding SuperfastCPA
- 13:03 Knew That SuperfastCPA Is Working When Took AUD Again After Years and Passed
- 14:33 Took REG Next and Remembered Some of the Topics from CA But Had to Restudy
- 15:45 Didn’t Pass REG First Try But Didn’t Feel Defeated Unlike Before
- 17:38 Knowing He Failed After 7-8 Weeks of Waiting, Rescheduled in 2 Weeks and Passed
- 18:37 Said That BEC Was the Easiest But Failed Multiple Times
- 20:14 With BEC Gone in 2024, Switched to FAR and Passed First Try
- 22:02 Choose BAR Since He Just Passed FAR, Failed Four Times
- 23:50 Decided to Switch from BAR to ISC and Passed the 2nd Try
- 25:10 Almost at a Point Where His Credits Are about to Expire
- 27:01 Ran Into A Bit of Trouble Getting Licensed
- 32:02 How Sam Would Study Throughout the Day
- 34:12 Learned That the Constant Repeat Practice is Key
- 35:24 Utilizing the Audio Notes, It Helped a Lot Studying for AUD
- 37:14 Practiced By Writing Down the Steps for a Solution
- 38:30 Didn’t Make Flashcards But Used a Spreadsheet Instead
- 40:23 Sims Study Process
- 41:47 Studied More on Retakes
- 43:25 Also Did Mock Exams As He Progressed to Stay Fresh on All Topics
- 44:51 Also Kept a Spreadsheet to Keep Track of Sims
- 46:41 Practice Sims so You Won’t Ran Out of Time
- 47:58 You Need to Get Through the MCQs As Fast As You Can to Save Time for Sims
- 50:01 Never Leave a Question Unanswered
- 52:09 Find Ways If You Need to Understand More On a Certain Topic
- 53:37 Top Tips for People Still Going Through the CPA Exams
Interview Transcript
Sam: [00:00:00] So I think I studied for three months and took REG, I didn’t pass the first time but somehow I wanted to keep going. I think it, it was the SuperfastCPA forums that helped me.
I think the big, one of the big things was, there was no support group. There was no support system. I wasn’t communicating with other people who were in the same boat.
I saw other people failing and continuing, and that helped me a lot. I didn’t want to quit.
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 Sam.
I really enjoyed talking to Sam. He had a lot of great advice and a lot of great tips, and he has a really cool story. He’s someone who struggled for years and years to be able to pass the CPA exam.
It kept getting put off or he just was too busy or didn’t have time or he failed exams because he just didn’t know how to study or didn’t have the time. And this went on for a [00:01:00] long time. In fact, Sam didn’t pass the CPA exams until he was 64 years old. And I think that is the first time I’ve talked to somebody who has passed it at around that age.
In fact, I think he might be the only person I know who’s passed the CPA exam around that age and I think it’s awesome that he was able to persevere and pass the exam even when he was 64 years old. That’s just something that I think is incredible, and I think you’re gonna want to listen to a lot of the things that Sam has to say in this episode because anybody can pass the CPA exam if they have the right strategies, the right technique, and the perseverance to get through no matter what’s happening.
You know, even if you have hard things going on in your life, or things aren’t working out the way that you want them to, if you follow the right strategies and you’re consistent and you keep showing up every day, then you can pass the CPA exam just like Sam did, again, even when he was 64 years old. So I hope that you love this episode.
Before we dive into the episode with Sam, I just wanna give one more reminder about our SuperfastCPA training webinar on superfastcpa.com. That is one hour, a [00:02:00] free one hour webinar that will save you months and months of struggling with the exam, maybe even years of failing exams because you will know the correct strategies because we share the key ingredients to passing the CPA exam. Again, so you don’t waste your time.
So make sure you check out that webinar, if you haven’t already, make sure you go to superfastcpa.com and sign up for that webinar. With all that said, let’s dive into the interview with Sam.
Logan: Hey Sam, thanks for getting on the call with me today. How are you doing?
Sam: Hi, Logan. Nice talking to you. Um, I’m doing alright.
Logan: I’m glad you’re doing good. I mean, you, you must be doing pretty good cause you finished the CPA exam, so that’s gotta be a good feeling.
Sam: It is, it is.
Logan: Absolutely.
Sam: It was a very stressful journey for me.
Logan: I think it’s, I think it’s fairly normal to, for it to be pretty stressful.
So, uh, yeah, let’s just kind of get started, kind of understand where you were coming from and, uh, your CPA journey.
Sam’s CPA Journey Started Way Back 2006
Logan: So when you decided to go for the CPA, where were you in your life? You know, what were you doing in your career and things like that.
Sam: [00:03:00] Uh, so this journey pretty much started a long time ago, around 2006, um, when I was living in New Jersey. I live in Texas now. Um, and I was working for Siemens AG at that time, in their internal audit group. Financial audit. Um, I had been an accountant/auditor since 1996, it was my first job.
Yeah. So I, I went to grad school. Um, I finished in 1994. Uh, worked about a year, year and a half in public accounting, and then started with, uh, a construction company in New Jersey, that’s based out of Rhode Island, but I started in New Jersey with them.
Uh, in that company there was no, uh, need to do, uh, be a CPA. So, uh, although, although a lot of my friends were pursuing that, I never [00:04:00] took the time to do it. Uh, until I got to Siemens and, uh, at the Siemens Internal Audit Group, it was almost like working for the big four. I mean, they were all, um, mostly CPA’s.
Logan: Okay.
Sam: All my managers were CPA’s. They were pushing for everybody to, to go that route. So that’s what made me start in 1996, uh, 2006. And, uh, I was living in Jersey. Um, although I had two master’s degrees. Um, the requirement was to have 150 credit hours. Um, the master degrees probably gave me 120 hours. So, um, I had to submit my foreign credentials for evaluation.
That was a big process. Um, so I went through that process by, and my foreign credits got evaluated and got approved.
Filled the Missing Hours with the Chartered Accountancy Program in India
Logan: Just curious, what, what were your foreign credentials?
Sam: My bachelor’s was in India,
Logan: India.
Sam: Uh, um, [00:05:00] and it was not accounting. But then after I finished my bachelor’s in India, I had enrolled, I had started the chartered accountancy program.
Logan: Yeah, I’ve heard about that.
Sam: CA, um, in India as a very, very, uh, strong program. It’s, uh. Um, the accounting standard there is way higher than the CPA much stronger. Uh, so I started that, but I didn’t finish it before I came here. So it’s two sec, two parts basically, it’s intermediate and final. Intermediate is seven papers. Here, CPA is just four.
Logan: Wow.
Sam: And then, and then final is like, uh, I don’t know how, how many? I think it’s around eight or nine papers. So, so the total is, so it’s, it’s a long program. Uh, I only finished intermediate to seven. Um, so I submitted that and that helped me get those, uh, additional 30 credits.
Logan: Okay. So you, so [00:06:00] luckily you didn’t have to go do more credits. You, a while to get your credentials evaluated. Is that right?
Sam: Right, right, right.
Logan: Okay. That’s, okay. So that, and that was back in 2006, is that right?
Sam: Yeah. Yeah.
Logan: Okay.
Wasn’t Able to Find the Time to Study Back Then
Logan: So what happened after that?
Sam: And then, you know, Siemens is a very busy place. Uh, I found no time to study, um, although, although a colleague of mine, um, she came from China. She, she passed the CPA in three months with, with scoring all nineties. So, so I can’t, I, my excuse is not, uh, but for me, it didn’t work.
Uh, we were traveling all the time. You’re traveling 90% of the time. Uh, Monday through Friday, I hardly be home. So, on the road, it’s pretty much, um, very, very difficult to sit and study, for me it was, so.
Logan: Yeah. And I’m sure that, um, my guess is that back in 2006, it was, it wasn’t as easy to like [00:07:00] carry around a laptop or just like study on the go. Probably, right?
Sam: We did have laptops to carry around. We could have, I could have enrolled in one of the, could have enrolled in Becker and I could have, we, we were very mobile. I mean, we had, we had laptops with us, um, but, you know.
Logan: But you were so busy with work.
Sam: Yeah, uh, it, it didn’t work.
Failed AUD Multiple Times and Said That It Isn’t Working for Him
Sam: So I, so I think around a couple of years later maybe around 1998 or 9, I’m sorry, 2008 or 2009, I, I sat for auditing for the first time.
Logan: Okay.
Sam: Um, I didn’t pass, so I kind of said, this is not working for me so I just let it go after I didn’t pass.
And then, um, couple of years later, um, I tried again, uh, and I sat for auditing again. Um, didn’t pass again. I think I scored a 74, uh, which is which, which is really frustrating and for me,
Logan: Yeah.
Sam: Yeah. And [00:08:00] again, I said, no, I mean, this is not working for me. I just let it go.
Um, so time went by, uh, I moved to Texas and uh, I think I moved to Texas in 2012. Um, working for a different company called Gilbane, um, the construction company. Uh, I had worked for the company prior to going to Siemens, so, uh, I was going back to the same company, uh, uh, this time I had a bigger role.
Um, I was one of the project controllers on a, um, on a 300, uh, sorry, on a 3.5 billion project in Texas. Yeah, yeah. There were three project controllers, so there’s a massive project for, for ExxonMobil.
Uh, and yeah, I mean they had a lot of money and all the, so, um, so at that time I had more time. I mean, it was not Siemens, it was not, [00:09:00] um, that crazy. So I said, let me try this again. Uh, so, so I sat for auditing again and I didn’t pass. So, so, uh, I just put it away, uh.
Kept Failing Studying the Traditional Way
Logan: If, if I, if I can ask, so, you know, you’ve taken audit three times over the course of multiple years at this point, and what, what, how were you studying? Like, what did studying look like?
Sam: Oh, it was, um, it was Becker’s,
Logan: Right.
Sam: Uh, and it Becker’s all the time, uh, right from the beginning. Um, and I had never heard of SuperfastCPA so, um, my study, studying was listening to each lecture throughout, um, studying, uh, listening to every lecture and then attempting doing the homework, uh, attempting the multiple choice and stuff like that.
I, I actually spent more time in, in those attempts than I did when I started using SuperfastCPA. [00:10:00] I, I, because I, I was listening to all the lectures.
Logan: Right?
Sam: That was, that was, when I started Superfast, I, I’m jumping ahead, but, but I stopped, started Superfast that was big difference. I, I, when I heard Nate saying, don’t listen to the lectures, just dive into the multiple choice.
I said, oh, this, I don’t know if it’s going to work but, this, I, I was sick of listening to this lecture, so I thought this will work
Logan: Yeah. Yeah.
Switched from One Job to Another and Decided to Pursue the CPA Again
Sam: So, um, so what happened was, uh, jumping ahead, I had, um, I moved on from the building company, um, and then I did consulting for a little bit, and then I started with, um, the school district, Houston Independent School District as an auditor.
Um, a couple years there and I came, um, I had to, I left that group. I went into consulting again, and then, um, I had a consulting [00:11:00] project for 15 months working from home. This was after post COVID, um.
Logan: Oh, okay.
Sam: Uh, I was working from home. It was a very small oil and gas company. They gave me, uh, a 30 day contract, which ended up being 15 months. And it, it was, uh, financially it was, it was, I was making more money than than I ever had ever made. So, uh, so, and working from home, uh, and then when I finished those 15 months, uh, there was nothing, uh, I wasn’t getting, uh, any jobs that I, I, the contract ended around October and October, November, December.
Nobody’s hiring. uh, it was very slow and I said, maybe while I’m waiting for something to happen, I don’t wanna just sit around. Um, maybe let me try this CPA thing again.
Finding SuperfastCPA
Sam: Um, actually I had to, I had, by then, Becker’s already expired. I had to buy Becker’s again. [00:12:00] Uh, and then when I was researching this stuff, that’s when I, I saw the SuperfastCPA thing.
And, uh, and, and I said, okay, this, maybe this, this guarantees that you’ll pass. So I tried it. I, I listened to Nate’s it and, uh, I got, I got, uh, sold on it. So I invested. At this point, it’s all, nobody’s paying for my, my Becker or super fast. It was all coming out of pocket. Um, so, um, I enrolled in the super fast CPA program.
Uh, I listened to all those, uh, initial videos
Logan: Mm-hmm.
Sam: um, I really got sold in onto it, especially the, the study for two a day.
Logan: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Sam: And I said, let me, let me try this and that was, that was in 2000, that was in 2022.
Logan: Okay.
Sam: 2022. That’s when [00:13:00] I, I enrolled in SuperfastCPA. That’s when I started studying.
Knew That SuperfastCPA Is Working When Took AUD Again After Years and Passed
Sam: Uh, I studied, again, auditing for three months. I think I studied, uh, I followed, um, I wasn’t working. But I wasn’t, I wasn’t also spending eight hours a day studying.
Logan: Right.
Sam: I, I was just not doing that. Um, so I did the two hour study in the morning. Uh, I started very early. Uh, I would sit, sit at my desk around 5, 5:30 in the morning and do the two hours. Um, and I was very serious about it. Because I didn’t have to listen to the lectures. Uh, I just had to, had to do the multiple choice questions.
Um, and, uh, probably scoring, uh, 45, 48, 50 when I started the multiple choice questions and then slowly it started improving. Uh, as I went back, uh, I said, as I started repeating them, um, [00:14:00] over and over again, uh, I, I, I started, my score started improving. Um, I would go from 60 to seventies. Uh, my scores were improving a lot.
I never scored a 90 or a hundred. Um, even at that
Logan: I, I, I really, I rarely did either, yeah.
Sam: I wasn’t scoring.
Uh, but um, when I sat for auditing again, the first time I passed it, the first time. Uh,
Logan: That’s awesome.
Sam: I scored 79 or something. And then I said, okay, this is, this is working.
Took REG Next and Remembered Some of the Topics from CA But Had to Restudy
Sam: Uh, that’s when I said, okay, let’s, let’s try the next one. And the next one I sat for was REG.
Um, I was an accountant, but I never did taxes at work. Um, so the only taxes I knew were my own taxes that I filed every year. That’s, that’s about all I knew. But I did have, um, some knowledge about contract law and [00:15:00] things like that from way back when I was studying for CA in India. And, and,
Logan: A long, long time before
Sam: Yeah. Yeah, but contract law, law hasn’t changed over the years, unlike any other law.
Uh, so those things, partnership law, contract law, and those things came back to me as I started studying for it.
Logan: Mm-hmm.
Sam: Um, taxes, other than the individual part, everything else, um, you know, I have a masters in, in accounting, uh, so I did. I did have some basic knowledge, uh, intermediate accounting
Logan: Mm-hmm.
Sam: Um, so I did have some basic tax knowledge.
It wasn’t, it wasn’t, uh, rocket science, but I had to study everything again. I had to, I had to, I had to redo everything.
Didn’t Pass REG First Try But Didn’t Feel Defeated Unlike Before
Sam: Um, so I think I studied for three months and took, uh, REG, um, I didn’t pass the first time but somehow I, I wanted to keep going. I think it, it was the SuperfastCPA forums that helped me.
[00:16:00] Um, I, I, I saw other people failing and continuing, and that helped me a lot. Uh, I didn’t want to quit. Uh, so when I failed.
Logan: I, I remember seeing you in the forum. Yeah, uh, posting and stuff like that. I’m glad that that was helpful for you. Uh, so you’re saying that, cause, and, and that is a pretty big contrast because with the first three, you know, with the first three times you took audit, you didn’t pass. Or maybe it was more than, more than that.
Like, we didn’t talk about all of them, but, uh, you know, and each time it seemed like it was just like a really big, uh, I don’t, I don’t feel like I should do this. For like two or three years, you know? But then this time, yeah. But this time you failed REG and you had that encouragement to keep going.
Sam: Yeah, keep going. I mean, I think the big, one of the big things was, uh, there was no support group. Uh, there was no support system. Um, I wasn’t communicating with other people who were in the same boat. Uh, and so, so REG when I failed, um, [00:17:00] um, I hated to go back and restudy the same thing. I felt like, like I just finished studying. Uh, I’d sit, sat, sat for the exam, and then the, the worst part is waiting for the, for, for the results to come out.
Logan: Yeah.
Sam: Those days you had to wait for at least seven or eight weeks, and I, I, I didn’t know what the heck to, I didn’t whether to, to start the next one or retake, restudy because I didn’t think I was gonna fail.
I didn’t wanna think that I was gonna fail, let me put it that way. I mean, I, I was never sure that I’ll pass, but I never wanted to think I’ll fail.
Logan: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Knowing He Failed After 7-8 Weeks of Waiting, Rescheduled in 2 Weeks and Passed
Sam: Um, so when I failed, I think I got a 68 or something. Um, it wasn’t a 74, so was 68 or 69 or something like that. And I said, okay, lemme, I actually registered for the exam within two weeks or something like that.
Logan: Oh, you rescheduled it for two weeks later?
Sam: Yeah, yeah.
Logan: After finding out the score? Okay.
Sam: [00:18:00] Yeah. Yeah, I didn’t wanna give myself too much time because I was scared that I would even forget what I got, what I remembered at this point. Um, so I started studying again. Um, long story short, I passed it.
Logan: That’s, that’s awesome. So you’ve passed two at this point.
Sam: Yeah, I passed regulation. I scored in 81, um, which I thought was pretty good. And then, yeah, and then, uh, it was, uh, I was going to do, uh, it was, it was 23, I think I passed, uh, in May of 23, I passed regulation.
Logan: Mm. Okay.
Said That BEC Was the Easiest But Failed Multiple Times
Sam: And then, uh, it was FAR and BEC at that point, and I knew from other people that FAR was the most difficult one, and BEC was the easiest one. So I said,
Logan: Easy? Yeah.
Sam: I said, I said, okay, I finished two, let me try the easy one now. I didn’t know what was, what was gonna happen in [00:19:00] 2024. At that point, I didn’t, I didn’t follow, uh,
Logan: You didn’t know the changes that were coming?
Sam: Changes, I, I didn’t, I didn’t pay much attention to that. So I started studying for BEC and I think I took it three times.
Logan: BEC was, I, I thought it was the hardest exam, personally. I, that was a
Sam: Really, okay, but, but everybody else was saying that was the easiest
Logan: I know. I don’t why.
Sam: Uh, well, and so I, I wasn’t passing it and I was really frustrated. Um, I think what, uh, my, my economics was pretty, my economics knowledge was pretty low. Uh, I, I hadn’t done economics anywhere in my, in, in, in school or even my master’s.
Uh, I didn’t, I I had basic economics. I think microeconomics one course, but,
Logan: Yeah.
Sam: Um, and the other thing was those, um, I think 30% of the exam was writing, right. You had to write,
Logan: There was a
Sam: It was not multiple charts. [00:20:00] Yeah, and I wasn’t doing great in those. I, I couldn’t write economics. Um, there, there were short topics. I could talk, speak about them, but I could, I could write about them.
So I think that that’s what kept me tripping.
With BEC Gone in 2024, Switched to FAR and Passed First Try
Sam: And then, um, came into 2024 and I said, um, I, I, I’m gonna skip the BEC for now. And I’m gonna try FAR
Logan: Mm-hmm.
Sam: And I looked at FAR and, and they had split FAR into FAR and BAR. So FAR, was just 50% of the, of the old FAR.
Logan: Mm-hmm.
Sam: Uh, so I said, let me, and for me, I had always been pretty strong in financial accounting, even in school. Uh, cost accounting was very easy for me because coming from India, the chartered accountancy cost accounting, uh, training was awesome. So this cost accounting, I could do it in my sleep. So marginal costing and those [00:21:00] things were pretty easy for me. Um, I sat for FAR and I was, I was actually very enthusiastic for the first time about doing FAR.
I mean, problem solving was more, I, I was in, into that more than studying for theory. So the theory and auditing was horrible for me.
Logan: Yeah. Yeah.
Sam: And REG was a lot of theory as well. Um, so when I started FAR for the first time. Um, I wanted to solve problems and things like that, so that helped a lot. Um, I studied for FAR, I think again for three months.
Uh, I sat for FAR and I passed it the first time.
Logan: That’s awesome.
Sam: And that was, uh, that was in
Logan: That was in 2024.
Sam: 2024. That was early 2024. February 2024, I sat for FAR and I think by April or so, uh, the result came out
Logan: I think it was May, yeah, around May or something.
Sam: Maybe May, uh.
Logan: The score releases were [00:22:00] horrible in 2024.
Sam: Yeah.
Choose BAR Since He Just Passed FAR, Failed Four Times
Sam: Yeah, um, so, uh, now, now I had passed three and BAR, uh, was really part two of FAR, uh,
Logan: Yeah.
Sam: Uh, so
Logan: So you decided to do BAR?
Sam: Yeah, I decided to do BAR.
Nobody told me that was the most difficult one of, of the, of the three choices.
Logan: Mm-hmm.
Sam: Nobody told at that point. Nobody told me BAR was the most difficult. And then knowing that I did FAR, uh, pretty recent, yeah. I said, BAR is my choice.
Logan: Mm-hmm.
Sam: I started studying for BAR, uh, I think I sat for like four times.
Logan: Oh,
Sam: And there, there was a 74 in there. There was
Logan: I remember that.
Sam: 72, 73 and 74.
Logan: I, I remember you posting in the forum and you were just, so I remember you were so, uh, so mad. You’re like, I can’t, you were so mad about it.
Sam: Well, somebody even suggested that when I got to [00:23:00] 74 that I tried doing those reval, reevaluation stuff. Uh, and one thing,
Logan: Oh, like ask the, like ask if they would re-look at it. Is that what you’re saying?
Sam: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I even looked at it. Uh, I almost did that, but I think financially I was very broke and I’m still broke, so, so. So, uh, that kind of kept me from going that path, um,
Logan: And it’s, it’s super unlikely that it’s like almost, it’s almost impossible from what I’ve researched, so I’m glad you saved your money,
Sam: Well, the, the other thing that kept me from that was if I did that, it would distract me from studying for,
Logan: Right? Mm-hmm. Yep. You’d be kind of waiting on that to before without studying. Mm-hmm.
Sam: Yeah. Right. So I didn’t do that.
Decided to Switch from BAR to ISC and Passed the 2nd Try
Sam: Um, and then somebody, I, I’m very pretty weak on IT topics, so, uh, which is why, um, I didn’t [00:24:00] pick on doing IS um, ISC the first time, but, um, I looked at the syllabus, it was just four chapters,
Logan: It’s way smaller. Yep.
Sam: Way, way smaller. I think the first FAR was 10 chapters or something like that.
Logan: Mm-hmm. Yep.
Sam: Each chapter had had, uh, had four or five sections in it. It was huge
Logan: Mm-hmm.
Sam: Even the smaller FAR was bigger than this ISC thing.
Logan: Mm-hmm.
Sam: So I said, okay, let me try this. And there was a lot of theory, which I didn’t like, but I tried it. Um, I think the first time around I got 71 or 72?
Logan: Okay.
Sam: And this is a subject that I had no clue about, and I scored 72. Uh, so I said, okay, let, let me keep going with this. And I, I didn’t give it too much time in between that attempt in the next one, uh, probably two weeks I think, I gave myself, [00:25:00] um, a retake and I, I took it and by the grace of God, I passed, uh, I passed, like I scored 78, I passed. Um.
Almost at a Point Where His Credits Are about to Expire
Logan: And, and had your scores from like audit and REG been extended so that you still had those passing scores? Okay, that’s good.
Sam: Well, I, I was almost at that point where they were going to expire and, and I, uh, I sat for this as a New Jersey candidate, although I live in Texas. Um, so I, I wrote to the New Jersey board, um, and I applied. And I said I passed three. Um, at this point, if I have to go back and take two of them are gonna expire. Auditing was gonna expire and REG was gonna expire soon. And I said, if I have to redo this, I, I’m not going to become a CPA, I’m gonna give up. I, there’s no way, there’s no way I, I’d go back and redo auditing and REG. Uh, I know I [00:26:00] won’t pass. I was confident about that. It’s not like,
Logan: Too, too devastating.
Sam: Yeah, it’s not like you passed it once. You can pass it again. It’s not like that. Uh, so I said, uh, so I, I wrote to them and they took their own sweet time and I was sitting there waiting for them. But, but then they came back and said, we extended you to like November 2026 or something like that.
Logan: Okay.
Sam: Uh, I didn’t need that time. So, because by then, yeah, by then, um, I, I, I, I took, uh, ISC and I think even before I heard from them, I had taken, sat for ISC.
Logan: Passed it?
Sam: No, I sat for ISC and failed.
Logan: Okay.
Sam: But then I took it, uh, I went into that window, but I was only into that window for two, three weeks, I think. Um, and then I passed ISC for, man, that was, to me, to me, it was a, it was a [00:27:00] miracle.
Logan: Oh yeah.
Ran Into A Bit of Trouble Getting Licensed
Logan: And have you, uh, gotten your license yet? Like,
Sam: Yeah. I, okay, that, that was the other thing. That was the other thing. Um, I thought I could use the CPA credential as soon as I passed and I found out I couldn’t, uh, till, till you get certified. So I went into the certification thing and they, they were just crazy. Uh, they, they wanted, it was a 12 page form.
Uh,
Logan: Oh, wow.
Sam: You had to, yeah, New Jersey is, is nuts. I had to fill eight or nine pages of it. And the last three pages for, for the person the CPA, that is going to certify me. I had 20 years of experience, but uh, only at Siemens. And I think the school district, my supervisor was CPA’s at, at, at the, at the construction company where I spent most of my time, none of my supervisors were CPAs.
Um, so I had to reach back to my Siemens supervisor. I had never spoken to [00:28:00] those people for more than almost 10 years. Uh, and then the most recent one was the school district CpA, uh, the, the, the Chief Audit Executor of the school district. I had never stayed in touch with them because I quit the job.
I, I, I, I hadn’t.
Logan: You didn’t wanna stay there?
Sam: Right. Yeah. I quit the job and, and I hadn’t stayed in touch with them, so I was like, who, who’s going to? So I connected with some of them on, on LinkedIn. Nobody responded. Um, I think the couple of reasons, not because they didn’t wanna respond, because those guys had all retired by now and nobody was, nobody was looking at LinkedIn.
Logan: Mm-hmm.
Sam: Nobody was logging into LinkedIn and all my messages were just sitting there. Just again, it was a miracle. The, the Chief Audit Executive was one of the one people I had requested and, and it was on LinkedIn because I didn’t know how else to contact him. Yes, his profile was still on LinkedIn, [00:29:00] and sure enough he wasn’t looking at LinkedIn. and he, he was retired and he was, he had even not renewed his CPA license.
Logan: Oh, okay.
Sam: So suddenly, all out of the blue, the guy reached out to me and said, okay, I’ll do it. He, apparently, he was, he was, I don’t know why he said, I don’t know why I was going on to LinkedIn. Uh, and then I saw your message and I, I responded immediately and he responded to me.
And he said, I’ll do it. And I was like, oh my God, this is another work.
Logan: Yeah.
Sam: And, uh, so I, I, I, him, I actually filled out the form for him. I, I met him at a Starbucks near my house. Um, he signed everything. And, uh, I won’t go into all the details.
Yeah, sending in was, was a, was a challenge because this guy, um, was not, he, he, he had, uh, he was heading into Alzheimer’s at that point, so he didn’t know.[00:30:00]
I didn’t know that, uh, but he didn’t know how to send this thing, email out.
Logan: Oh, okay.
Sam: And he kept telling me he sent it and sent it, but he never sent it. I mean, I feel bad I saved time for him. Um, uh, but again, he, he didn’t know how to send it, but I kept coaching him on how to send it. I was on the phone with him and finally I had to go to his house and hit send on that email.
And, and even after that, the New Jersey board kept telling me they never got it. They got everything else, but they never got these three pages that this guy had sent out. And I was like, oh my God. I mean, this is, um, so my result came in September. It was already end of October, and I couldn’t use the credential.
Uh, getting so frustrated and then all of a sudden, I don’t know how, uh, end of October, last week of October, the board got my, the last three pages, they said they got [00:31:00] it. And then the very next day, uh, they said, uh, go and pay, pay your pay, your 90 bucks or something, uh, we are gonna approve your license. And I think two days later they gave me my license.
Logan: So finally, after all that time.
Sam: Yeah, it was super fast. It was really fast. Um, and then, uh, I got, got a credential. Oh my God. I still don’t have the wall license, but I don’t care.
Logan: Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. I, I mean, in Utah. In Utah they don’t even send, they just send you a little PDF and you just have to print it out yourself, yeah.
Sam: Oh, okay. Uh, but I’ve seen those licenses over the years
Logan: The nice ones.
Sam: On the walls of all, all my supervisors or whoever, and I still don’t have it, but I don’t care.
Logan: Hey, I mean, you, you finished it and you know, we’ve talked a lot about your kinda like the journey and the process and everything. And some things I kind of wanna dig into before we end the call is, I wanna talk [00:32:00] about like, like how you studied.
How Sam Would Study Throughout the Day
Logan: Um, so you know, before you, you know, with the three audit exams and everything, you’re watching the lectures and everything.
And then you mentioned that once you found SuperfastCPA, you started studying those two hours in the morning and everything. What would be your, the biggest things or the biggest benefits that you got from SuperfastCPA?
Sam: Um, I started doing the two hour sit downs, um, usually 5:30 to 7:30 in the morning, um, no breaks or whatever. Um, and I would do, um, I think I only did a set of 30 or 40 multiple choice, uh, questions. Um, because I took my, my time. I would, I would, uh, I would stop where, where, where it went, so in Becker you can wait till you finish all the 30, or you can go one by one. Uh, I forget what mode that is.
Logan: Yeah practice mode and there’s test mode.
Sam: Uh, okay, so I was [00:33:00] doing the practice work where I didn’t have the guts to wait till the end. So, I didn’t have the patience or the guts to wait till then. So I had to see right away whether I, I, so after 30, um, I would maybe get, uh, to be honest, I would maybe get 10 or 12 right.
Um, and then for the remaining 18, I didn’t just skip and go to the next one. I would stop right there, and that’s what made the big difference I think, I stopped right there and uh, I would see what went wrong there.
Um, it’s not every time, especially with auditing and stuff, not every time that I got, uh, got it into my head, uh, even when I listened to, um, the explanations. I, I didn’t get everything right for time. So I, I, I would finish the 30 and then, um, I think that my two hour window would end by then.
But then [00:34:00] I come back during the day and, and do those, um, repeat those questions again. The ones that got wrong.
Logan: The ones that you had missed? Oh, okay.
Sam: Yeah. Yeah. Um, til I got them right.
Learned That the Constant Repeat Practice is Key
Sam: I think the big lesson, not just with auditing and with everything else, um, you’d have to go back and repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat.
Logan: Mm-hmm. The constant exposure.
Sam: I remember.
Logan: Mm-hmm.
Sam: Yeah. I think it was FAR or, uh, um, BAR, I think it might have been BAR. Uh, there was this task based simulation that I probably did 20 times, the same thing, the same question because, uh, I wasn’t getting it.
It was, uh, something to do with stock price. Uh, it was one of those stock price questions. It was a very complex question. I knew if that question came in the exam, uh, you, nobody would have the time to finish that question. I think Becker purposely did a very complex question because it had everything in it.
Logan: Mm-hmm.
Sam: [00:35:00] So it was almost like if you did that question, you didn’t have to do any math question because it had everything in it. One question, yeah. So much stuff in it so I, I probably, for sure I did it 20 or 25 times the same question, and I said to myself, it’s okay to repeat now. It’s better to repeat now than to repeat after you take the exam,
Logan: Mm-hmm. Yep.
Sam: Right?
Utilizing the Audio Notes, It Helped a Lot Studying for AUD
Sam: So, um, so for, let’s go back to auditing. Um, the way I studied auditing, I went and repeated the questions.
And for auditing, which is not the same for everything else. Uh, Nate’s, uh, listening to Nate’s, uh, oral, uh, audios helped a lot because, um, I would listen to it and I wouldn’t even finish it. Um, and I would go to something else, but I would come back and listen to it again, and I, I would also listen to it just before going to bed. It’s almost like those things [00:36:00] stayed in your memory
Logan: Yeah.
Sam: The next day. Next, next day morning I would, I would wake up because I probably went to sleep when Nate was still,
Logan: Yeah.
Sam: And, and then, um, I wake up and, and some of it would still stay in my memory.
So it helped a lot with auditing to listen to those, um, audio lectures. Um, and I did that, uh, I did that when I went for a walk. Um, I wasn’t sitting at my desk doing it. Uh, I was listening to it all, all day. So when I sat for auditing, um, I think all those things helped. Also some of it came from my practical experience as an, as an internal auditor.
Logan: Auditor. Mm-hmm.
Sam: Yeah, uh, it helped a lot. Um, the Siemens internal auditor group was probably one of the biggest internal auditor groups in the world. They had 420 internal auditors, and we, we, it was almost like working for the big four.
Because everything was [00:37:00] so structured, uh, uh, every, every step was so structured and everything, uh, it was all by the book, um, which is new to me, but I learned a lot there. So all that helped a lot with auditing.
Practiced By Writing Down the Steps for a Solution
Sam: And then when I came to REG, it’s, uh, I think even REG is, is I would listen to him. It’s only the, the FAR and the BAR sections. I didn’t quite, um, I didn’t quite listen to his audio lectures because he was talking about a problem or a solution to visualize that didn’t help.
For me, I had to write that, write down the formula I had to write down, and I had to, I had to write down and I had to, um, work each step. Uh, if somebody was talking to me about it, that didn’t help a lot, a lot.
Logan: It was too hard to follow?
Sam: Yeah. Well, yeah. It was too hard to follow and I couldn’t, I couldn’t visualize the steps. I had to do the steps. And that’s [00:38:00] how for, it might help, it might work for other people, but it didn’t work. It didn’t work for me. So that was different.
Logan: Ju, just curious, uh, so for FAR and BAR did you use, did you end up using like the mini quizzes and the review notes more because of the audio
Sam: Mini quizzes I, mini quizzes I used. Um, I never used the review notes for any of the sections.
Logan: Okay.
Sam: It’s only the audio notes I used. Um, even for auditing, I don’t, I don’t think I used the review notes.
Didn’t Make Flashcards But Used a Spreadsheet Instead
Sam: So, um, I, I created spreadsheet. I, I never created cards
Logan: You didn’t make flashcards?
Sam: Flashcards, but I created, uh, spreadsheets.
Logan: Oh, okay.
Sam: So I would work problems on the spreadsheets. Um, you know, um, and that helped me a lot. Um, all the problems of rework. Uh, I did it on a spreadsheet, so I wasn’t wasting paper. I wasn’t doing it on a piece of paper. I was doing it on a [00:39:00] spreadsheet. Um, and I, it helped a lot because you have a spreadsheet in the exam.
Logan: Yes. Mm-hmm.
Sam: So it helped me a lot doing it that way. And then I create.
Logan: Practice beforehand.
Sam: Yeah. Yeah, and then I, I, I created, um, my flashcards on the spreadsheets. I printed them out and, and brought them with me. I, I, I printed those out. Uh, I had to go to, I don’t have a printer at home. I had to go somewhere and print it out because I wasn’t working.
I couldn’t do it at work, so, which is not a good thing to be doing at work, but I went to Kinko’s or something, you know, all this cost money. But I’d printed out those pages and, uh, I would color code them. I would make, make, make them, uh, I would look, uh, even when I was not studying, I was not doing stuff, I, I flipped those things and they helped a lot.
Logan: Okay.
Sam: Uh, things throughout the day. Um, and those, those things helped a lot.
Logan: That’s, that, [00:40:00] so sounds to me like some of the biggest helps to you throughout this journey were switching to doing the multiple choice questions instead of the lectures and kind of, and doing that in the morning, like having that done at the start of your day. Sounds like the audio notes helped at certain times.
You liked the mini quizzes, you made your own flashcards, although they were more of like in a, in a spreadsheet and then you’d print out the spreadsheet.
Sam: Yeah, yeah.
Sims Study Process
Logan: Um, and just curious, so you, you mentioned this, you said you did a certain sim in BAR like 20 or 25 times. Overall, what was your strategy with the sims?
Did you do those every day or did you save those for the weekends? Or what did that look like?
Sam: No, no, no. Uh, so I think, um, I spent, uh, I think my strategy was different. As I moved, moved along, uh, later on as I was studying for FAR and BAR, I would do the sims in the morning as well because I, I would finish the 30 multiple choice questions faster and I would have time, I [00:41:00] think my, my thing was 30 multiple cho no, um, I would do two sets of 15 multiple choice and two sims.
Logan: Okay.
Sam: So the 15 multiple choice would go like that really fast, and then I would’ve time for sims. Um, and then actually when I started this thing, I was very nervous about sims and that that fear never went away. I don’t know why, but
Logan: No, I never liked the sims either.
Sam: Yeah, yeah. Uh, so I, I would do, instead of 15 plus two, um, especially when I was doing the reworks after I failed, I did a lot of those 15 plus two sessions. I would do 15 plus two sessions. I would do five or six of them every day.
Logan: That’s awesome.
Sam: Yeah.
Studied More on Retakes
Logan: So you were doing a lot of MCQs and a lot of sims on most days.
Sam: No. Yeah, yeah. Well, for, for, especially for my, when I had to restudy.
Logan: Retakes. Mm-hmm.
Sam: [00:42:00] Retakes, um, that’s what I did. For retakes, and then, um, let’s say I was doing chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. When I was doing chapter five, I would do a 15 plus two. So I don’t, I don’t lose touch. So the, the early morning session would be 30, 30 multiple choice and maybe two sims. Um, and then that would be on the current chapter. But during the day, I would go and do chapter one. Chapter two. I would do 15 plus two
Logan: Okay,
Sam: Every day, every day, every day. Uh, so.
Logan: So kind, are you, are you saying you do that throughout the day? Is that what you’re saying, or?
Sam: I never spent, I never spent, uh, eight hours studying throughout the day. But, uh, af after I take a break, I would come back and I wouldn’t be, if I was on chapter five, I would, I wouldn’t go back to chapter five during the day and repeat stuff. I would be repeating chapter one, two, and, and [00:43:00] then. After, now I’m done with one, two, for a couple of days I would be repeating chapter three and four. Um, so I would break it down where, where I never lost touch with, um, the chapters I had finished.
Logan: That makes sense, yeah.
Sam: Yeah, because I wanted to be continuously in touch with those.
Logan: Yeah. You didn’t wanna lose your knowledge. You wanted to stay fresh on everything. That makes sense.
Sam: Right, right.
Also Did Mock Exams As He Progressed to Stay Fresh on All Topics
Sam: And then with Becker, you had those, um, exams, um,
Logan: The, the mock exams?
Sam: Where, mock exams, where they would cover one chapter, 1, 2, 3. In my one mock exam, they would cover chapter one and two and one mock exam. I would do those mock exams, um, when I was doing chapter five. So. I would sit for the mock exam one, which was actually chapter one and chapter two
Logan: Right.
Sam: When I was in chapter four or five of my study.
Logan: To to stay fresh on it?
Sam: Right. [00:44:00] And then, and then once I did, did that, I would go to the next mock exam while I was in the middle of mock of, of five. And then mock exams, again, if I score, I noticed I’ve never passed any of the mock exams,
Logan: Yeah.
Sam: The Becker sims really helped a lot.
Logan: Yeah.
Sam: Um, and like I said, one of those sims I did like 20, 25 times. And this is, and this is not before one exam. It’s because I took BAR multiple times. I, I did that thing several times over and over and over again. I think I could probably even do it now if I tried it.
Uh, uh, although, I, I, I stopped studying for BAR a long time ago.
Logan: Yeah, it’s been, it’s been probably been like almost a year at this point, right?
Sam: Yeah. Yeah.
Also Kept a Spreadsheet to Keep Track of Sims
Logan: So I mean, we’ve covered, we’ve talked a lot about your story and then we’ve covered the, you know, how you studied as well. [00:45:00] Um, and I don’t want you, I don’t want to keep you super long. Um, I guess the last two questions that I want to ask first, is there any part of your process that we haven’t gotten to talk about that you thought about, you know, that you wanted to share that we haven’t gotten to share yet?
Sam: Um, I think I said this before, uh, it’s, it’s about repeat, repeat, repeat,
Logan: Mm-hmm.
Sam: Um, uh, repeating, especially the sims. Uh, I, I had, I had a spreadsheet, um, where I listed all the sims in the entire course and,
Logan: Oh, okay.
Sam: And I would go back, especially when I did the retakes, I would go back and repeat those sims, um, at least twice before I did, took between, um. And you do get faster doing the sims. You know, it’s not like you are doing, it’s gonna take you four to five minutes for a sim.
Logan: Mm-hmm.
Sam: Uh, and it’s not like you would finish [00:46:00] a sim in 10 minutes either. It’s going to take longer. Uh, for me, the sims took between, I would say 15 and 30 minutes, depending on the sim, but.
Uh, that’s why I couldn’t do more than I, I couldn’t possibly do 10 sims a day. It’s not possible. Uh,
Logan: Too time consuming.
Sam: Right. Um, I could maximum do five or six a day. Uh, even at, at my best, I could pro, probably do five or six. It’s not just the time that it took a single sim. I didn’t have the patience to sit around to do four sims at a stretch.
I couldn’t do it.
Logan: Mm-hmm.
Practice Sims so You Won’t Ran Out of Time
Sam: And that was the big thing. When you sit for the exam,
Logan: You have to do it all at once.
Sam: You have to do all the sims and uh, that, you know, uh, the exam itself.
Um. I think the, the, there were, there were exams when you [00:47:00] never asked me about this, but I, I’m gonna tell you what the exams did for me. Um, couple of the exams I ran outta time,
Logan: Mm-hmm.
Sam: Uh, when I came to the last section, which was three sims, I think most of them, most of them I think had, the last section would’ve three sims.
Logan: Yeah, it’d usually be 2, 2, 3. Mm-hmm.
Sam: Yeah. Uh, the two you had to finish before your break
Logan: Mm-hmm.
Sam: And that is before your two hour mark. And then you had two hours for five sims.
Logan: Mm-hmm.
Sam: Pretty much. And I ran out of time, I think couple of my exams and those exams, I never passed, so sure enough.
Logan: That be the reason.
Sam: Uh, ISC I think I finished the entire exam half an hour before time.
Logan: Oh, wow.
Sam: And I walked out not knowing that I was, that I was finishing that fast and, and, and I passed. Uh,
Logan: So that was the one that you passed?
Sam: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You Need to Get Through the MCQs As Fast As You Can to Save Time for Sims
Sam: So, [00:48:00] um, the exam itself, um, you have to be really, really quick with the multiple choice
Logan: Mm-hmm. Yes.
Sam: Because, um, you never know what’s coming in the sims and how much time you need. If you can finish the multiple choice. The two sections of the multiple choice in less than an hour, and you can.
Logan: Mm-hmm.
Sam: Uh, because, because for me, I was doing multiple choice questions. Even in the exam. I was, I was spending less than, it was just, I wasn’t reading. So that was the other thing. Um. I would read the question first.
Logan: Mm-hmm.
Sam: I would never start reading from the beginning. Um, I think you guys teach that all the time.
Logan: Mm-hmm.
Sam: I would read the question, I look at the answers, and then I would read the rest of it. Um, and that is only for the big ones. Some of the multiple choice questions were just small. Good sentence, one [00:49:00] sentence once, I would just click the answer, like, like, I would know the answer right away, whether I got them right or not wrong. I don’t know. I still don’t know whether I got them
Logan: Yeah. Yeah.
Sam: Uh, but that’s how, uh, if you can finish the, I think you have close to 60 multiple choice questions in the real exam. Uh, if you can finish them in less than an hour. And save time for the sims. I think you’re better off.
Logan: Yeah, that, that’s definitely a, a big strategy that we talk about is.
Sam: Yeah.
Logan: The, the better you are at multiple choice questions, the more time you’ll have for the sims, which is one of the best things you can do for yourself, for the sims. You know, besides practicing them, having the time to do them is really important.
Sam: And the other thing, um, I’ve done two master’s degrees, uh, here you never go back to question 1, 2, 3 and review them
Logan: Mm-hmm.
Sam: Because you don’t [00:50:00] have time to do that.
Logan: Right.
Never Leave a Question Unanswered
Sam: It’s only once, uh, uh, so I think the one thing I did was, uh, later on when I was doing BAR and FAR. Um, if there was a, a multiple choice question that looked kind of tricky to me, I wouldn’t stay on it. I would just go to the next one, so without attempting it. But then I never, uh, I never, uh, went from one section to another without attempting all the 30, even if I didn’t know all the 30. So even if it was guesswork, you, I would go back to if, if I was doing 1, 2, 3, 4, and I would go back to number 14 after I finished 30, I would go back to the 14, which I hadn’t marked yet, and I pick, pick.
If I still don’t, didn’t know the answer, I pick an answer.
Logan: Yep.
Sam: Uh, I never, never took the chance of leaving [00:51:00] something unanswered. And the same thing goes for, uh, sims as well. Um, there were sims in the exam that I couldn’t answer. There was actually one exam. I don’t remember which one, the entire question, the entire sim.
I could not answer. I could not answer a single question. But, um, I finished the rest of the sims. I came back to that one, and, and I guessed all of them. I don’t know which one I got right or wrong.
Logan: Mm-hmm.
Sam: I don’t know if I scored anything on that sim because there’s no negative, uh uh, you don’t lose points by picking, picking the wrong answer.
Logan: Compared to if you were just guessing anyway, if you just left it blank anyway.
Sam: Right, right, right. So why not go and, and, and, and maybe you’d get one or two points from that, and that’s all you need.
Logan: Yep. Yeah, that’s definitely a strategy we talk about as well is never leave an answer blank, whether it’s MCQ or a sim, you always wanna have everything filled out because that’s potential points [00:52:00] ev you, you with an MCQ, you have a 25% chance of getting it right, even with a guess.
Sam: Right, right,
Logan: And then with sim you know, there’s, there, there might be a chance as well.
Find Ways If You Need to Understand More On a Certain Topic
Sam: You know, to this day, I don’t understand government accounting.
Logan: Government accounting.
Sam: Uh, I, I, I, I don’t understand, um, not, not much of, of pensions and, and, and, uh, couple of topics I still don’t understand. But, uh, government accounting made me very nervous when every time I I, I sat for BAR, uh, the governmental accounting piece, I was never thorough with it, even with Becker’s listening to the lectures.
So that’s the other thing, um, some of the topics, I went back and listened to the lectures, uh, like lease accounting, uh, for, uh, I went back and listened to the lectures and they helped a lot, uh.
Logan: Mm-hmm
Sam: Revenue recognition, the 606 and, [00:53:00] and the 840 I think is least, uh, so I went back and listened to those lectures, and now I’m very, very, I, I, I could call myself an expert on those topics. Um, so, uh, I went back and listened to the lectures and then did, did the, did the.
Logan: And that helped. Um, so yeah, I mean, we’ve covered, I’m glad that you got to talk that you talked about some additional things there cause, and that’s what I wanted to, I wanted to make sure that we didn’t miss anything that you wanted to make sure you mentioned. So, again, I don’t wanna take up more of your time, but this has been a great, uh, a great interview, a great episode.
Top Tips for People Still Going Through the CPA Exams
Logan: So as we wrap up here, I’m gonna ask the last question that I always ask. So even if it’s something we’ve already talked about, still, still mention it, what would be your top two or three tips to people who are still going through the CPA exam?
Sam: Uh, repeat, repeat, repeat what? Uh, and then, um, do, if you’re nervous about, uh, task-based [00:54:00] simulations, you cannot ignore them because ignoring them will be the wrong thing to do. You have to get over that fear by, and the only way you can get over that fear is by repeat, repeat, repeat the same question that bothers you. Go back and do it. Go back and do it, and don’t wait. Uh, if you don’t know the answer, just click okay and then read the answer.
Logan: And learn about it. Mm-hmm.
Sam: That helps a lot. That saves a lot of time. Uh. And then sometimes once you read the answer, the fear goes away because you, you are like, okay, is this all, the rest of it? Right? I mean, it’s not all the time, but I mean, that happens too.
Um, and, and if you are studying for a retake, um, I would say, um. You go over every chapter, even the chapters that you, you are comfortable with, uh, don’t skip anything, and, and you do [00:55:00] multiple sessions of 15 multiple choice and two task-based simulations. Those sessions throughout the day help a lot. And if you’re, and you have to do those sessions. From chapter one to chapter five, uh, throughout your every day of your retake, uh, study, we, you try to do them.
It’s not possible to do them. Uh, do all the, uh, if you have five chapters, you can’t do. So what I did was chapter one and chapter two on one day, chapter three, four, and five on the next day.
Logan: Okay.
Sam: So I split them up into two, two days each, and that helped a lot.
Logan: Yeah, I mean those are some really good tips right there. You know, I, I especially, you’ve said this multiple times, which is, which is fitting, repeat, repeat, repeat. Uh, you know that, and that’s what a ton of the SuperfastCPA process is built around is that constant [00:56:00] review over and over and over again cause that’s how you’re gonna keep it in your head, so I’m really glad that you mentioned that multiple times.
Uh. So, yeah, it’s been a great interview with you, Sam, today. Uh, and I’m so glad that you’re done, and I’m glad that you’re finally have your license. It sounds like it was a long journey, but, uh, I’m so glad.
Congrats that you’re, you’re done.
Sam: You guys, you and Nate helped a lot, um, there was a lot of prayer that went into it as well, but you guys helped a lot. Um, I’m 65, 64, so.
Logan: So you’ve pa, so you’ve passed at 64. Hey, that’s awesome.
Sam: I don’t think anybody my age even tries to sit for the exam, so.
Logan: You’re proof that, that they can.
Sam: It can be done.
Logan: Um, so, thank you for being on the call, Sam, and I hope you have a great rest of your day.
Sam: Thanks. It was great.
Logan: Alright, that was the interview with Sam. Again, I thought it was an awesome story. He had a lot of ups and downs, a lot of things that he [00:57:00] struggled with throughout the years that he was trying to do the exam. But he was able to persevere and make it to passing the CPA exam even when he was 64 years old.
I think that’s incredible, and it just goes to show that no matter how old you are, no matter who you are, If you have the right strategies and perseverance, you can pass the CPA exams even though they’re so difficult.
I think Sam is a great example of hope and perseverance for that reason, and I hope that you loved this episode with Sam.
Now before you go, just one more reminder about our SuperfastCPA training webinar on superfastcpa.com. Again, it’s one hour, it is free, and we will teach you the key ingredients to passing the CPA a 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 SuperfastCPA PRO member. They get access to a lot of great stuff, including the PRO Course, which is basically a much more in-depth version of the webinar where Nate goes into detail on how to do every single part of the SuperfastCPA process. So check out becoming a PRO member after you watch the webinar.
If you liked the video, make sure to like [00:58:00] it and leave a comment. If you’re listening to this on a podcast, leave a rating in your favorite podcast app. Thanks again for listening, I hope you liked this episode with Sam. And we’ll see you in the next one.
