In this episode of the CPA Exam Experience Podcast, you’ll hear how Tommy was able to pass the CPA exams first try by using the SuperfastCPA study tools. Tommy crushed the exams, passing all of them in about 8 months. He even received a 96 on TCP!
You’ll hear how Tommy was able to pass the exams even with getting the stomach flu while studying for TCP, and even with having some serious eye strain while studying for AUD. Something happened with his eyes for almost 6 weeks where it made it hard to look at computer screens, so he relied almost completely on the SuperfastCPA mini sessions to continue studying during that time. Tommy had some great tips and study advice, make sure you pay close attention!
IMPORTANT LINKS:
Master your study process by attending one of our free study training workshops:
https://www.superfastcpa.com/study-secrets/
Episode Timestamps
- 00:00 Tommy Interview
- 03:49 How Tommy Got Into Accounting
- 04:54 The Start of Tommy’s CPA Journey
- 06:33 Only Purchased the Study Tools
- 07:38 Tommy’s New Years Resolution
- 08:44 Getting the General Ideae Without the Pro Course
- 09:32 When Tommy First Started to Study with SuperfastCPA
- 10:31 Tommy’s Daily Study Process
- 11:54 Set an Alarm to Do Questions Every 30 Minutes
- 14:00 Doing Reviews Throughout the Day
- 15:33 Utilizing the SuperfastCPA Audio Notes
- 17:11 Preparing to Take FAR for the First Time
- 19:21 Being a Slow Reader
- 22:17 Working on the 30 Questions Re-Review
- 24:08 Consistent Practice Pays Off
- 24:55 Passed FAR First Try and Went Four for Four
- 26:01 Immediately Put on the AUD Audio Notes After Taking FAR
- 26:56 Had an Eye Condition for Six Weeks, Had to Rely on Mini Sessions
- 29:21 Felt Most Nervous About Audit
- 30:48 Felt Unsure Coming Out of Every Exam
- 32:12 Thoughts on Taking TCP
- 33:39 Exam Scores for AUD, TCP, and REG
- 35:07 Setting a Goal for Yourself Helps in the Long Run
- 36:18 Weekend Study and Sims Study
- 38:21 Study Process for the Sims
- 39:40 Taking FAR Made Tommy Decide to Practice Sims More
- 40:34 The Struggle of Studying with Kids
- 44:00 How Tommy Utilized Flashcards
- 45:44 A Tip That Tommy Learned Throughout His Study
- 49:11 Benefits of the Review and Audio Notes
- 50:59 The Main Benefits Tommy Got from SuperfastCPA
- 52:39 Top Tips for People Still Studying for the CPA Exams
Interview Transcript
Tommy: [00:00:00] And I would find like my brain would make these random connections like, your main review course gets into the weeds. The review notes, the audio notes, it gives you that kind of like overview of all the major concepts and I would find, it almost didn’t need to get in the weeds because I’d be taking my walk, I’d be listening to you go over something and then, my brain would make this random connection back to the nuance that I’d studied, earlier in the week or something. I’d be like, oh, well there’s a nuance here. But I wouldn’t have made that connection if I wasn’t, you know, doing the review notes.
Logan: Yeah, exactly.
Logan: Welcome to another episode of the CPA Exam Experience podcast from Superfast CPA. I’m Logan, and in today’s episode, you’re going to hear me talking to Tommy.
Now, Tommy has an awesome story, and I think you’re really gonna love a lot of the tips that he gives in this episode because he was able to pass the CPA exams with just our study [00:01:00] tools. And then he also learned a lot of how to study with SuperfastCPA from our free material on YouTube, on our website, he didn’t buy the PRO course.
So that just goes to show how much great information we’re giving out there for free. So make sure you check out all of our stuff, but that’s not to say that you don’t need the PRO course, so check that out as well.
Now Tommy was able to do really well on his exams. He even got a 96 on TCP, and that was with getting the stomach flu two weeks of that study process.
He was originally gonna do it in six weeks, but he got the stomach flu and his kids got the stomach flu and that made it so that he had to push it out an extra two weeks and he still got a 96 on it. So obviously his study process was working really well.
And at another point in his study process, he had this weird issue going on with his eyes, with his glasses, where he didn’t have the right prescription. You know, his eyes had changed and it made it so that he could hardly look at screens. It really hurt his eyes, and that made studying really [00:02:00] difficult, which added a little bit of extra time to his study process, but he still passed the exams even with that weird issue.
And I loved talking to Tommy because it was inspiring to see, you know, even though he had some things happen during his process, and even though he was busy, he was able to do really well on the exams because he really figured out his study process with SuperfastCPA. So make sure you listen to the whole podcast episode. It’s gonna be great. Before we dive into the episode with Tommy, I just wanna give one quick reminder about our SuperfastCPA training webinar on superfastcpa.com. That is again, one hour, for free, where we will teach you the key ingredients to passing the CPA exam. Again for free.
So make sure you check out the webinar to learn the key ingredients to passing the CPA exam. 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. PRO members get access to a lot of great stuff, including the PRO course, and they also get access to our full videos of our multiple choice question walkthrough videos.
I’ve made multiple choice question walkthrough videos for most topics in FAR, most topics in audit, a lot of BAR, a lot of REG, a lot of [00:03:00] TCP. I am taking a little bit of a break right now because we’re kind of working on our notes and our audios a little bit over again, kind of towards the end of the year, but I will be coming back to those later.
But again, if you want to get the full versions of those videos to help you learn through multiple choice questions, then become a SuperfastCPA PRO member. Now, with all that outta the way, let’s dive straight into the interview with Tommy.
Logan: So thanks for hopping on the call today with me, Tommy. I mean, you just finished a few days ago or found out you passed a few days ago, so this’ll be pretty fresh. How are you doing today?
Tommy: Doing well. Doing well.
How are you? I’m doing good. And I, if, if I’m not wrong, you just barely got home from, from work so thanks for taking the time to top on with me. Uh,
Logan: so yeah, really just, we’re just gonna dive into your journey and everything.
How Tommy Got Into Accounting
Logan: So just a bit of background, how did you, like, where were you when you wanted to become a CPA? Like what had you been doing in accounting?
Tommy: Yeah, so I, I [00:04:00] studied accounting in undergrad, so I graduated back in 2015. Um, and, but when I graduated, I wanted nothing to do with accounting. So I, so I, I, uh, actually was a barista at Starbucks for a number of years, and, uh, then I was hired on part-time as an accountant at a small nonprofit.
Maybe Maybe five years ago. And then I, I, after about a year, I was taken on full-time, left Starbucks, and um, I kind of, I kind of knew CPA was where I wanted to go.
Um, but I was always, in the back of my mind I was afraid of the CPA exams.
So Yeah, that’s kinda where
Logan: I, I think, uh, I think a lot of people hear the CPA exam and they’re like, oh man, that’s gonna be awful. And, you know, it is hard, but, uh, we’ll talk about how you did, i, from what I saw in the forum, you did really well so we’ll dive into that.
The Start of Tommy’s CPA Journey
Logan: Um, so, you know, you working at Starbucks started the non, are you still working at that non-profit [00:05:00] full-time?
Tommy: Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Logan: And so when did you start the CPA journey? Like you, you knew you always wanted it in the back of your mind, but at what point did you actually start making things happen?
Tommy: Yes, somewhat recently. So I, I purchased, I did, I was doing a little bit of research last fall and I, and I purchased the, the Becker pro package. I, I saw there would be a discount on Cyber Monday, so I did that, and I kind of dabbled with it for about a month. Um, yeah, I, so I, I had been, my, my wife speaks Turkish and so I, I had been learning Turkish on Duolingo and I, and I had the idea, you know, what if I kind of just switch out CPA studying for Duolingo, you know, I got Becker, I got this app, it could kind of function the same way. And that was kind of my original plan was to kind of treat it like my Duolingo studying, um.
Logan: Right. Okay.
Tommy: But I, I didn’t get very far in, in, in that month [00:06:00] and started to reevaluate things.
So that’s, that’s kind of when I started to think more about, I saw a couple ads for SuperfastCPA started to think maybe I should be more aggressive with this, so.
Logan: Right. So you had Becker and so you kind of were already trying to, in your own way, implement one of the basic ideas behind SuperfastCPA where use your phone to, you know, to study. Um, but I mean, and you know, nothing against Becker, but you know, their app is using full force everything, so it’s hard to do on the go as like, kind of like Duolingo, you know?
Only Purchased the Study Tools
Logan: Uh, so you got Superfast, did you get the whole like the PRO bundle, like everything? Or what did you start with?
Tommy: Yeah, I, I got that, the discount I think was mainly associated with the PRO bundle, so that’s, that’s what I went with.
Logan: Okay. And then so did you also have the study tools as well? I think you did because you were mentioning listening to my voice and being happy you don’t have to listen to my voice anymore.
Tommy: Yeah.
Logan: Okay.
Tommy: Yeah, no, I, I, [00:07:00] um, I didn’t get, um, I didn’t get the full SuperfastCPA PRO thing, I, I, I just got the study tools. That’s, that’s what the, I purchased.
Logan: Okay, okay, so you just got the study tools.
So you know, let’s kind of talk about the differences that you started noticing. So you were kind of, I mean, had you ever really used Becker without it being that, like on the phone version, like did you ever do the normal approach?
Tommy: You know, I think I went on just to, to kind of see what the different, like interface was like. Um, but, but I didn’t really do much studying on my computer, um, yeah.
Tommy’s New Years Resolution
Logan: Okay, so you get SuperfastCPA and what, what happened from there? Like, did you just start trying to implement it as best you could, like how did that go?
Tommy: Yeah, so it was a bit of a New Year’s resolution. Um, I got Superfast and, and honestly, part of the appeal to SuperfastCPA was that, it, hearing, I think Nate was talking about it, hearing him talk [00:08:00] about the approach was, was, was similar to my kind of Duolingo approach. And so that, that was part of the appeal.
It was like, oh, like I’m kind of already doing this in some ways, uh, I just have to put in the morning study session. Um, and so that’s, that’s something I, I, I doubled down January 6th, it was a Monday, and I was like, well, I, around New Year’s, I talked to my wife, I sat down with my wife and I was like, all right, so can we, can we do this like for 2025?
Like, can this be our goal?
Um, I, I kind of figured it would take the whole year. Um, but, but I wasn’t exactly sure about timeline and dates, so that, that’s kind of January 6th was kind of my, my official start, start date, that I started, yeah.
Logan: Yeah.
Getting the General Ideae Without the Pro Course
Logan: And you mentioned the studying in the morning, so just curious, um, since you didn’t have the PRO course, did you hear that from like the webinar or where did you get the idea?
Tommy: Yeah. So, so when I, when I got the study tools, I mean two things, so there was the webinar that kind of [00:09:00] went through I, I dabbled in a lot of the, Nate’s got a lot of free, you guys have a lot of free stuff available and so I kind of like dabbled, browsed your website, kind of looked through things, dug around a bit and I, I kind of got, got what I felt like I needed to know, as far as the study method is concerned. And then you also have, Nate has one or two videos that are accessible with, with just the study tools. Um, and so I watched that as well. It kind of gave the, the general review.
Logan: The baseline, yeah.
Tommy: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Logan: Okay.
When Tommy First Started to Study with SuperfastCPA
Logan: So you start with the studying in the morning and you know, you have that general idea from the other resources. So how did, like, what was it like when you first started? Like did it click or was it like, I don’t know if this is working, or how did it feel?
Tommy: Well, I feel like, I think, I think I remember Nate saying something like, you know, you, you do get, like, there is, there is kind of like a money back guarantee if you don’t feel like it’s working. Um, but I, I encourage you wait till [00:10:00] week like four and, and see how you’re feeling at week.
So initially I was like, I was a little bit nervous. I was like, you know, am I really retaining things? Um, I feel like I’m moving through this pretty quickly, I, I trusted that original advice and, um, you know, around week four I was like, you know, maybe, maybe I’m okay, maybe this is working. Um, know, it’s, I’m starting, I, I’ve started to hit the topics, you know, three or four, five times and I’m starting to feel like, a little bit like I have a better grasp on things, so
Logan: Right.
Tommy’s Daily Study Process
Logan: So which, and which exam were you going for first?
Tommy: I, I started with FAR.
Logan: Okay, right. And so what did your routine, like your process look like at the beginning? So did you, you studied two hours in the morning. How did it look throughout the rest of the day as well?
Tommy: Yeah, so, um, so, yeah, so it was the two I, I mean, it was pretty much to a T which you guys recommend for the morning session, you know, I tried to do hour and a half, end with 30 minutes of a practice test.
[00:11:00] Um, and then the rest of the day what, what I, I kind of had to experiment a bit. I don’t know if I did the 30 minute timer from the very beginning, but I started to set a 30 minute timer. Um, and then at whenever it would go off, I tried to just kind of cycle through the different tools.
Um, so I did, you know, the, the mini, mini quizzes that you guys have, um, and the review notes. Those were the main things that I started to cycle through.
Logan: Mm-hmm.
Tommy: Yeah, and then I, I did some plan, one thing that’s nice about SuperfastCPA is, um, it gives you, it gives you a general kind of template for how to study, but then, you know, you, you have freedom to kind of tweak things and, and adjust things for what you feel like is working for you. So, so that’s, that’s kind of what I did throughout the process. I tweaked things as I went.
Logan: Yeah.
Set an Alarm to Do Questions Every 30 Minutes
Logan: And, and what, what did you tweak as you went? Like you, you know, at the beginning you were kind of like trying to [00:12:00] follow it to a T, but what did you find to be kind of what you settled on by the end?
Tommy: Yeah. So I mean, so one, one thing that I did, and, and this might just be a personal preference thing, but I, I think I, I kind of preferred the, um, the, the, like, my main review courses questions, I, I felt like it was a muscle, like, like I, I liked the super, like what was nice about the SuperfastCPA mini quizzes is that it, it enabled you to hit more topics and so you could kind of cover a, a greater, um, like breadth of, of information.
But as far as the. I, I, I, I liked that the main review course offered the kind of the muscle of, you know, this is, this is the full strength kind of question. Um, and, and so and so, but I would use the review notes. So, so when my 30 minute timer went off, I would cycle through the review notes, and then I would [00:13:00] do like two, like, and that’s all I would do.
I just two, um, uh, multiple choice questions, um, when the 30 minute timer would go off. And I’d do a section of review notes and then a couple multiple choice questions, kind of, that’s what I would, what I ended up doing.
Logan: So, just to make sure I’m understanding there, so you had a timer on like your phone or your watch or whatever, and every half hour you would read review notes, and then the other half hour, you know, switching off, you would go, was this on your phone where you would go into Becker and do two questions? Or was that on your computer?
Tommy: No, no, so this was, this was just during my normal workday, so I, I, I, just would kind of have my browser open with, um, I, I’m, I’m, I was using Becker and, and then I just, I kind of had a, a practice test up with, in, in practice mode. It wasn’t timed. And then I would just kind of, when my timer went off, it was time I would go on, I’d do two questions and it was, it was pretty quick. You usually wouldn’t take me more than a minute or two to kind of get through a couple questions. and then, you know, back to [00:14:00] work, um.
Doing Reviews Throughout the Day
Logan: And would you do them, uh, like, on this section you had just studied or was that kind of like an extra re-review where it was cumulative, where you were working through those?
Tommy: Yeah. And, and that’s something I kind of played with like in the beginning. I just did, um, as far as I had gotten. Um, so it was, you know, if I was on, if I was on, uh, unit four, I would do units one, one through four. And then, um, as I got further, you know, it’d be a greater, a greater kind of cumulative review.
But then by the last test I was doing REG, I just thought, you know what the heck? You know, SuperfastCPA recommends just kind of hitting everything, even if you haven’t studied it yet.
And so I thought, you know, I’ll try that, you know, that, that kind of makes a lot of sense. So I, I, I kind of stole that idea and I put it in the
Logan: But still with
Tommy: Becker questions. Yeah, yeah. And yeah, so that was kind of my, my approach.
Logan: I like that. I like that. [00:15:00] That’s a, that’s a good idea. Like, you know, and, and you mentioned the idea with the SuperfastCPA is, should be able to do it quickly and get a lot of coverage, but I like that idea of, you know, either mixing in or doing it all the time where, you know, if you’re gonna be doing a short mini session doing a couple full force questions instead of five smaller ones, I think that’s a good idea to do definitely.
Uh, cause you know, it’s still the same general idea where you’re in strengthening your abilities throughout the day, but just in a little bit of a different way, you know, um, so that’s a good idea.
Utilizing the SuperfastCPA Audio Notes
Logan: And, and how was it with the audio notes? Did you listen to those, like while you were driving to and from places? How did you like those?
Tommy: Yeah, so I mean, honestly the audio notes were, I mean, before I was ever exposed to audio notes, they were the main sell for me for wanting to buy the study tools and it’s because I think at one point I, I was driving my car and I was like, you know, let me turn on a Becker lecture. I’ll like, [00:16:00] listen, I won’t like watch it, but I’ll listen to the lecture, and it just was so glitchy. It was buggy, it didn’t work. It was disconnecting. And, and it just like, and then I was like, you know, maybe I could like, do AI, have AI read like my textbook and that wasn’t working. And so I was like, you know, how am I gonna, how am I gonna get like audio? I need audio. So that’s, that was one of the main selling points.
And I, I would listen to them really any chance I got the Becker audio or no, the SuperfastCPA audio notes enabled me to study, you know, it, it enabled me to turn almost every minute, you know, of my free time, whether I was doing the dishes, going on my after lunch walk, you know, getting ready in the morning, um.
Logan: Driving.
Tommy: They, they were great. Yeah, driving, yeah.
Logan: Yeah, yeah. I, I, I love the, those were my, like, when I was a SuperfastCPA customer, uh, you know, I listened to the audio notes. That was probably my main thing as well [00:17:00] cause I was driving to school and to work and always out and about when I was doing it, and so that was super helpful. So that’s awesome that it was, uh, that it was so useful for you.
Preparing to Take FAR for the First Time
Logan: So, you know, you’ve kind of, you, I mean, we’ve hit a lot of stuff cause you, you did the process really well, but we haven’t really talked about the results quite yet. Uh, so how did it go the first exam? So you, you’re studying for FAR and how did that go?
Tommy: Yeah. Um, so I, I, I get to, I did the, um, like the 48 hour
Logan: Yeah, the cram session. Mm-hmm.
Tommy: You guys prescribe. Um, uh, I, I let my friend, so I, I have two young kids. Um, and so I was kind of nervous about, you know, if I study at home all day, I’m gonna get distracted. So I, I had some friends let me go to their house and do like the weekend at their house.
Um, and basically just kind of did as many sets of the, the 30 questions followed by task-based [00:18:00] simulations, making flashcards as I go. Um, and then, yeah, so I, I’d scheduled my test for an afternoon, and I had my little morning, morning routine in place. Now I let myself sleep in a little bit.
Logan: Yeah.
Tommy: I had coffee, first thing. I, you know, had my breakfast menu. I wanted berries, I wanted oats, I wanted eggs.
Logan: Yeah, exactly knew what you, yeah.
Tommy: Yeah. And then, and then I also wanted, um, I, I did a, I did a little bit of audio notes and flashcards. just kind of threw out my morning. I kind of like peppered them in here and there. Um, I, I did audio, like in the car, I got there early. I was in the car doing audio notes and flashcards.
Um, and, um, another thing, I was really nervous about, you know, how am I going to time it, so that I get the caffeine that I need, uh, for the test, but then also that I don’t have to go to the bathroom. Like, I was really like, I was like, this is a puzzle.
Like how do I [00:19:00] do so, so I packed, I packed two cups. I did two cups of coffee. You know, one I, or one was actually a cup of tea. I would do one cup for right before the test and then I put one in the locker, and then on my break. I would go and I would like chunk the cup of coffee and then go back in. So that was kind of my, my test day approach.
Logan: I like that.
Being a Slow Reader
Logan: So, um, and so when you were at the exam, you know, you did, you had done the 48 hour cram session, you had kind of prepped a little bit before you went in, and what was, so this was the first time you’d ever taken an exam, right? Uh, how did it, how did it go? Like were you, did you feel like you were prepared?
Like, yeah, how did it go?
Tommy: You know, I, to be honest, I was just happy that I finished. Um, my, my, yeah, the, that was my biggest fear going, I’m a very, very slow reader. Um, I, I am not, I am not a very fast reader. I’ve, I’ve always struggled with like, [00:20:00] reading comprehension on SATs, you know, growing up like that was just, that was a struggle for me.
And so I was nervous. I was like, you know, am I gonna be able to get through? Because especially when I started studying Becker, I was like, gosh, it’s taking me like 15 minutes to read this question. Like, how am I gonna do this in time? So, um, the, you know, the, the regular testing of, of 30 questions was helpful because it, you know, over time I started to get a little bit faster and, and it, and it gave me a sense of, you know, realistically how many questions can I do in a minute or, or like how much time is it taking per question?
Logan: Mm-hmm.
Tommy: And so for, for each test, it was a little bit different because the, you know, the number of questions and testlets
Logan: Yeah.
Tommy: Is different.
And so I would kind of do a tailor made, you know, for me, I need to, to get through testlet one by like the 50 minute mark and then testlet two, I need to get through by an hour and 40 minutes.
And then I kind of [00:21:00] like, and then I figure, okay, so then how many minutes does that leave me per simulation? And so I kind of did that for each exam using kind of my history of how many minutes per question on average, um, from the tests that the, the 30, 30 sets of 30 questions.
Logan: I, I like that. Honestly, you thought very similarly to how I’ve, I’ve thought about it. Um, as far like, you know, I, I’ve told people that time on exam day is super important, like time management and, you know, you hear the one minute average and things like that, which is a good goal to shoot for, but it’s not always realistic or necessary.
Um, like for example, FAR, which is the one you took first is 50 questions, 50 multiple choice questions. And so if you wanna get through those 50 multiple choice questions by the two hour mark, or before, you actually have like two to two and a half minutes per question instead of one minute per question.
So I, I like [00:22:00] that you kind of like thought that through and, and planned that out. And one other thing I want to talk about, just cause I agree it’s such a big deal practicing the 30 questions, it builds that confidence and that ability to actually be able to go perform on exam day.
Working on the 30 Questions Re-Review
Logan: And so, so actually kind of going back to the re-review really quick.
So at first for, were you able to do 30 questions in 30 minutes? Or what did that look like at first?
Tommy: No, um, and, and to be honest, you know, for better or worse, I really get to doing the questions in test mode. So that is like having to be timed until I, I would wait until I had made it through all the units in, in the course. So I, so usually that was like, you know, I would have like a week or two where I was kind of like a final review.
And um, usually at that point I would start doing [00:23:00] in test mode and so that, and I would be like, okay, I really need to try to be able to finish 30 questions in a reasonable amount of time. And then if I didn’t get to review them right then, you know, I would review them throughout the day or, or, or whenever I could get to it.
Logan: Okay. And so since you weren’t doing it in test mode initially, were you still doing 30 questions in 30 minutes, or were
Tommy: No, I, I would just do as, I would, do as many as I could.
Logan: But you were doing them in practice mode, so you were reviewing them right away.
Tommy: Yeah, right. So, so maybe I would do 10, or I would do, you know, 15, 16, 17 as I got a little bit faster. But, um, no, I, I did, I was not able to do 30, especially at the beginning.
Logan: Yeah. I, I, I found the same thing myself, like I personally for my last three exams, cause I did audit first and that one took me the longest. So I had been studying it for so long that I was able to do 30 questions. But with all my other exams I did [00:24:00] 20 questions a day for my re-review. Just cause that kind of, for me was the sweet spot to be able to do it, get through it in time, and then review it.
Consistent Practice Pays Off
Logan: Um, and what did that look like? How did that translate to like, you know, your final review and what were your scores looking like when you did start doing the test mode and stuff like that?
Tommy: Um, honestly, the, so the scores when I did practice mode versus test mode didn’t change much. Um, uh.
Logan: Because you were still putting in the full effort either time, right?
Tommy: Yeah, right. Um, but, but my score, honestly, my, my scores generally hung between like the seventies and the nineties.
Logan: Yeah, the perfect spot.
Tommy: Yeah, kind of like throughout my study process. Um, yeah.
Logan: Well that’s, that’s exactly what we tell people to shoot for, so that’s good.
Passed FAR First Try and Went Four for Four
Logan: Uh, so all that out of the, you know, all with all that said, did you pass FAR [00:25:00] the, your first exam?
Tommy: Yeah, yeah. I got, um, I got a 80 on FAR, which, which I, I was really happy about cause I was like, okay, this, I mean, first of all, you know, this is working, you know, my approach is working. But then second of all, I was, I was like, I don’t know, I feel like, I feel like studying for the CPA exam is different than school because it’s like, you don’t wanna overs study.
Like, like everything I kept hearing was, you know, don’t ace these things like, you don’t need to ace these things.
Logan: Yep.
Tommy: Just, just study enough to pass. That’s, that’s the ideal approach. And so I was like, okay, good like, I didn’t over study, but I also, you know, had a nice, you know, buffer. Yeah. So I, I felt I felt good about my, my results, yeah.
Logan: I mean, the 80 is a fantastic score and that was the first time you’d ever taken an exam and your process was already working.
So, you know, fast forward through the rest of it. So you took FAR and then, how did the rest go, if I’m not wrong? Did you pass four for four? Like all of them first try or?
Tommy: [00:26:00] Yeah, I did. Yeah.
Logan: Awesome.
Immediately Put on the AUD Audio Notes After Taking FAR
Logan: So, yeah, what that, like after you’ve passed FAR, you know, you knew your process was working and from there, what, basically, what did you do? Like, did you do a similar thing for the other exams or is there anything that you changed?
Tommy: Yeah. Yeah. So I, my approach got a little bit messy after FAR, and that’s because, um, during, so I, I, turned on your audio notes on the drive home from the test for audit. I was, I was like, you know, I didn’t, I don’t know how I felt about that, but I’m just gonna go for it. Like, I’m gonna put my head down and I’m gonna pretend like I’m not gonna stop.
Logan: Like passed Yeah.
Tommy: So, so, and that was hard to be honest. Like it was hard to really be fully committed until I got my results.
But, but it gave me a little bit of a jumpstart. I felt, you know, moving on to the next, the next test. Um, and so yeah, just, I just kind of started audit and I started moving through.
Had an Eye Condition for Six Weeks, Had to Rely on Mini Sessions
Tommy: Um, but about, I don’t remember [00:27:00] how far into it, maybe like four weeks into it, started to get this really, really debilitating eye strain. Like it just, it was, it was kind of weird. Like, like it got to the point where I, I was just, I couldn’t look at the computer screen.
Like I couldn’t open my eyes and look at the computer screen. It was weird. Um, it, it ended up being, I think I just had a really old prescription, like, like my glasses were too old and and maybe, maybe also a combined with like, my eyesight was, was also changing a little bit extra fast or something.
I don’t know. So, so I, you know, and that took me some time. It took me some time to,
Logan: To figure that out?
Tommy: That, like yeah, to, to figure it out first of all. And then also to like, um, to get a, an, an eye appointment scheduled to get new glasses cause it can take some time to get your glasses in once you get your prescription, whatnot, so, like, I, I ended up taking like a six week. I, I could, I just couldn’t do the morning study session for something like six weeks, which was, I, I, I was really getting discouraged cause I was like, [00:28:00] all that I’m doing is my, like, mini sessions throughout the day. I, I, I was still able to, for the most part, I was still able to do the mini sessions throughout the day.
And then I, and then I, I really leaned on the audio notes for audit just because, like, I just, I, I was having trouble looking at, uh, screens, um.
Logan: How did that go for work?
Tommy: You know, I, I, it was, it was hard, but, but, there was something about the, the combined, like getting a little bit less sleep ’cause I’m waking up at five in the morning and then looking at a screen first thing like that.
That was just really, that just really, like, in the dark. Yeah. So like that, that, I know there’s something about that in particular that, that was extra difficult. Um, I mean, I, I was still struggling. All my coworkers were like, Tommy, like, you keep rubbing your eyes, like, are you okay? And I’m like, yeah, yeah, I’ll make it. So, yeah. Well, yeah. Yeah.
Logan: Yeah.
Tommy: But I got my new glasses, you know, I, I, I had, I had a few [00:29:00] weeks left and audit took me three months, but, um, I, I felt like, you know, given, given the circumstances
Logan: It was really more like six weeks.
Tommy: Well,
Logan: Yeah.
Tommy: Yeah. I, the, the six weeks of audio notes and then mini sessions throughout the day, those count for something because, you know, you’re getting, you’re getting the review and, and whatnot.
Logan: Yeah.
Felt Most Nervous About Audit
Logan: So did you feel like you were still relatively prepared? As far as once you did start feeling better, like when you started studying a bit more normally, did you feel like, okay, I have seen some of this stuff? Like you didn’t feel like you were starting totally fresh?
Tommy: No, and that’s, and that’s what, that’s what was great about, you know, still doing the, the mini sessions throughout the day was, I, I, I felt like I was able to, for the most part, maintain what I had. Where as far as I had gotten, um, audit, though, uh, in general I was the most nervous about just cause I just felt like the way they would word the questions, everything was a trick, you know?
It [00:30:00] took me a really long time to understand like, what are, what is the AICPA doing? Like, like what, what are they really trying to ask here? And what are their tricks? And, and so that, that was, I was just nervous, you know, how am I gonna do, so.
Logan: Oh, I, I definitely can understand. Audit, to me, you know, a lot of people struggle with FAR because it just, it does have a lot of material, but if people don’t struggle with FAR then almost guaranteed thing, they’re probably gonna struggle with audit cause it is just so different, completely different than any of the other exams.
And I say this in the audio notes, like it’s just a completely different, uh, exam. Like all the little teeny nuances. That’s exactly what you were saying. Like are, what are they actually trying to ask me here? Are they just trying to trick me with these words? So, yeah, I definitely can understand, understand that.
Felt Unsure Coming Out of Every Exam
Logan: But you passed it, so how did that one go? Like when you went into the test, were you still like super nervous or did it turn out okay?
Tommy: You know, I mean, I, I was, I was, I came out of [00:31:00] each test except for TC, I mean, TCP I, I had a little bit of a different feeling coming out of, but I, I came out of each test feeling like, oh, gosh, I don’t know. I just don’t know if I passed that thing. Um, but I mean, I, I, I, I felt, I felt fine. Like I was like, you know, I, I made it through everything.
I, I answered all the questions, um, which was another big win for me. I was like, you know, I made it through.
Uh, and so I, I kind of did the same thing. I, I, I started listening to TCP on the drive home.
Logan: Yeah, that, yeah. That’s crazy. Like I, I did start studying the day after, but I always, the day of, I was like, no, I’m done. So that’s pretty, that’s pretty crazy.
Tommy: It be, it became something of, something of like a habit, I guess. Uh, listening to the next one on the, on the drive home.
Logan: Right, And I bet, but you were mentioning like, I, I mean, it’s crazy to me that it’s still crazy to me after, even though I’ve been working for SuperfastCPA for like two over [00:32:00] two years now that people are listening to my voice all day long and it’s like, oh man, that must be horrible.
So, uh, congrats for making it through TCP and audit cause those were the ones that were my voice.
Thoughts on Taking TCP
Logan: Um, and, uh, so, you know, you get through FAR, you get through audit, and then I remember you took TCP before you took REG. So what was that experience like? Because you did mention in the forum that it is possible to pass TCP before REG, so what did you find with that?
Tommy: Yeah, I mean, I was a little bit nervous doing it. I, I regularly frequented, there’s a Reddit CPA, um, forum and that I would, that I would go on and I would kind of, like, if I had questions, I would, I would dabble in there as well as the SuperfastCPA forum.
Logan: Right, yeah. I remember you asking questions, yeah.
Tommy: I saw people, you know, I, I saw some mixed advice on TCP, um, but I, I did see people saying, you know, I study, I had no tax experience.
I passed TCP, you can do it before you, you do REG. And [00:33:00] so I was like, you know what? May, maybe I can go for this. Cause I really wanted to hit the July window and not have to wait till October.
Um, and so that was kind of, that was kind of my approach.
Logan: Right. Uh, so you were able to take it in July, but you only found out the score like in August, right? Like sometime in August, or was it in September,
Tommy: I found out the score like five days before I found out REG.
Logan: Wow, yeah. The, the discipline score releases have been super lame. So you, so you took TCP, went straight into REG, found out you passed TCP after you had already taken REG, and then you found out your score for REG, okay.
Exam Scores for AUD, TCP, and REG
Logan: And how did you do on all on Audit, TCP and REG? Did you get 80 as well or what did those look like?
Tommy: Oh, um, so audit, I got an 86. Um, then REG, I got a 93. I was,
Logan: Wow.
Tommy: I was pretty surprised to be honest, um.
Logan: And then TCP, was that [00:34:00] one, how was that one?
Tommy: So again, I said I came out of TCP feeling a little bit different than the other ones. I, I kind of felt like, I don’t know, I kind of felt like, you know, it was maybe a little bit too straightforward. Like, like I was uncomfortable for a different reason and I was like, you know, maybe,
Logan: Was that too easy?
Tommy: Maybe like they, they threw some tricks in there that I just wasn’t expecting. Um, but I think it was just that straightforward, like, like, I’m not gonna say easy because, because TCP, it’s really hard getting partnerships, S corps and C corp straight, like, like, you, like cause there’s all these different kind of nuanced rules as far as what’s a taxable thing? What’s not taxable? And you know, how does it affect basis a little bit differently?
And so like, getting those straight was, was, it took me some time, so I’m not gonna say it was easy, but, um, but it was more straightforward I felt. And, and the, and the content, like there’s just less content on it. Which, which is the biggest, easy, easy thing about it is, it’s just not as vast.
Logan: Yep. That’s, and that’s how it is with all the discipline. They’re all a lot [00:35:00] smaller. Although I will say, I think BAR is still just as hard as the core exams. That’s my opinion.
Setting a Goal for Yourself Helps in the Long Run
Logan: Uh, but, so you really, I mean, you really crushed the exams. You did, and you did this over the course of about nine months, right? Because you, or maybe more like eight months cause you, when did you take REG?
Tommy: Yeah, if, if so, if you don’t count the months that I dabbled, um, from like Cyber Monday to December. If you kind of start from January 6th, which is when I really started to focus, um, I finished my REG test August 29th. So, so I, I felt really my goal was, you know, eight months. I like, like from like, and I, I made a comment about this in the, in the forum, but, um, I sat down and I journaled.
Nate recommended, um, you know, have like your like mission statement. Have your like goal, have your reward that you put in place. And I, I think that’s really important. I knew [00:36:00] that would be important. And so I kind of journaled a couple days, the beginning of January trying to figure out, you know, when do I really want to get this done?
What do I want my goal to be? And I was like, you know, eight months sounds like a really good goal for me. And it was, it was cool because that’s what it ended up.
Logan: Yeah. Almost exactly right, yeah.
Weekend Study and Sims Study
Logan: Um, so I have a couple questions that aren’t like super related to like, exactly what we were just talking about but first question is, we haven’t really talked about your approach with the sims, and I know a lot of people like me to ask about the sims, ’cause that’s something that a lot of people can struggle with at different times.
So I know what your morning sessions looked like and your mini sessions, but did you study extra on the weekends? How did you study sims? What did that all look like?
Tommy: Yeah, I, I did study extra on the weekends. I, I don’t know what, what you guys cover in the PRO course as, as far as what you recommend for sims, but what, what I basically did was, you know, I, I tried what, what, what I [00:37:00] did glean from the videos that I, I could access for free, um, was that you guys, you guys recommended doing longer days on the weekends.
And so that’s what I tried to do. I just, and I tried to focus on sims, um, in particular, on, on the sims, like the, for which I had already completed the MCQs, so.
Logan: Oh, okay.
Tommy: So I would kind of like, um, I would do my, well, I would do my regular two hour morning routine. So I would, I would just do mCQs, push through the units in the morning with the 30 minute or 30 question testlet.
And then, and then for like my like during the day, I would, I would try to get two good sessions and, you know, fortunately kids. Have take two naps a day generally. So, so I would try to I would try to use those windows, especially for study. Um, and yeah.
Logan: Okay. How old are your kids? Right. Uh, I guess it, I was about to say when you were studying, but actually that was this year, so, uh, [00:38:00] yeah.
Tommy: Yeah. So, so my, daughter turned three this year, um, while I was studying and my son turned one while I was studying.
Logan: Okay. Yeah, so you have, I, I, I have young kids as well, and I had young kids when I was studying as well, so I know the feeling. Um, in fact, I, that was another question that I had that I’ll ask in just a second.
Study Process for the Sims
Logan: But, um, so when you were studying the sims, how, how did you approach them when you were like in the session actually looking at the sim? Like how did you study them?
Tommy: Um, I, did. I did work through the sims, every once in a while I would get to a sim where I just like, I have no clue. Um, and I would just submit the answer and, you know, go through. Um, yeah, I, you know, sometimes I would watch the instruction video. Sometimes I would just read through. Sometimes I thought it was sufficient to just read through.
Usually I would, usually if I watched the video, I’d kind of regret it. I’d like, you know, I [00:39:00] could have gotten you, I got everything that I needed from just reading, you know, the ans like the explanations, like, I don’t know why I watched the video, but I think I always kind of hoped that they would have some key
Logan: Some some little thing.
Tommy: And so I, and so I probably wasted time watching the videos, but, um, but you know, sometimes I would.
Logan: Mm-hmm. So you, so it was kind of just a mixture of whatever you felt like you needed to do to understand that sim, whether it was working through it or if you’re lost just submitting it or whatever the case was, it was just, but the important thing seems to be that you did take the time to work on the sims, like that you actually took hours to work on them each weekend.
Is that right?
Taking FAR Made Tommy Decide to Practice Sims More
Tommy: Yeah. No, I, I, I kind of, I kind of determined that it was important to, to work on the sims, um, just because I, I kind of, I kind of didn’t spend a lot of time on sims on FAR, like, like of, of all the tests, FAR was the one where I kind of didn’t [00:40:00] spend as much time on the sims and, and I really felt weak on the sims for the FAR test.
So I think that that kind of experience made me feel like, you know, maybe I should do my due diligence with these.
Logan: Right.
Tommy: Um,
Logan: Okay.
And, and that was on Saturday and on Sunday, you just did it on both, uh, weekend days or was it a little bit more focused on Saturday?
Tommy: I, I, I, I did church Sunday morning, so, so that usually left less time on Sunday for me, but Saturday I, I would do the morning and the afternoon.
Logan: Yeah, that makes sense.
The Struggle of Studying with Kids
Logan: Um, and then kind of circling back, cause this was the other question that I had. So what was it like studying with two little kids? Because for me, I had a 20 month old and a three month old when I started. Um, and then, and then it took me seven months. So like, they were little the whole time.
Uh, and I had, I had to study at work that, that was just what I knew I needed to do. ’cause otherwise I was not gonna get anything done at [00:41:00] home. So how did you manage that? Cause you said on the weekends it was with like naps and stuff like that, but how did it look throughout the week?
Tommy: Yeah. And to be honest, this was probably, this was probably the hardest thing studying for me was, leaving my wife to care for the kids from 5:00 AM to 7:00 AM.
Um, just because, and it sounds like you understand, cause you, because you had
Logan: Exactly what I had to do.
Tommy: If if you had little kids, like you’ll understand that, you know, kids are up all night, you know, they’re go, they’re wetting the bed, they’re, you know, they have a cold and so they’re just not sleeping like they normally do.
They’re awake, they’re teething, they’re awake, they’re, you know, they, they need a nurse. And so you’re, you’re up and down all night and then you know, your five hour alarm, your five, 5:00 AM alarm goes off and you’re like, oh man. So like I, but I mean, to some extent I, and then, and then the other thing is kids get up when the sun gets up.
So, you know, it’s five, [00:42:00] 5:00 AM 5:30 AM and the kids walking into the room and it’s sort of like, my wife’s on duty. Like, like you think, oh, 5:00 AM to 7:00 AM your wife can just sleep. It’s like, no, she’s on duty. Like at five, whenever the kids. Whenever the kids are up, so, I felt, I felt like that would be, and then, well, yeah, so I just, I knew that would be a big sacrifice for my wife and and it was hard. It was hard.
And, and to be honest, I didn’t, I wasn’t religious about my, my morning session. Um, especially like for FAR I was, but, but as things went on, like, you know, I was like, you know, I, my wife needs to sleep or I need to sleep. there were just, there was a little bit of compromise that started to happen, which I don’t recommend, um, but it’s what happened.
Logan: Yeah. And I mean it, and that’s exactly why I, I personally chose to go into work early every day cause I knew that and yeah. But I mean, kudos to both of our wives cause I mean, you know, having to take on that extra responsibility of not [00:43:00] having us to help them as much or really at all, so we can do that.
I mean, you know, it makes a big difference. I definitely wouldn’t have be able to do it with if my, uh, without my wife. Um, but, but it, so basically what you’re saying though is like most of the time, you know, you did study at home, but then you, your wife, it was just kind of like an understanding that your wife was gonna, most of the time go take care of them once they got up so that you could study. Is that right?
Tommy: Yeah, yeah. That was kind of the understanding.
Logan: And yeah, cause I was curious how you, cause yeah, it, it, it still happens. I have a four and a half year old, a 3-year-old and a 10 month old. And there’s just always something that happens either late at night or early in the morning, just almost always something so, um, gotta figure some way out to do it.
But, uh, I mean, I think we’ve pretty much hit most of the things that, um, that I typically try to cover. You know, we’ve talked about your morning sessions, your mini sessions, your [00:44:00] sims.
How Tommy Utilized Flashcards
Logan: Um, I guess one more question was what did you, did you make flashcards throughout your process? Is that something that you utilized?
Tommy: Yeah. So that, that was, that was a mistake that I made early on that, um, I remedied and I kind of figured out a rhythm later on as I went. Um, but for FAR I would make flashcards, um, kind of as I was doing my morning study sessions kind of from the start. And, um, I, I used BrainScape, um, which is, which is great. Um, I, I, I recommend that.
Um, but I, I, I, I exceeded a hundred flashcards on unit two alone, and I was like. I’m spending a lot of time on flashcards and, and I don’t know if it’s necessary. So I, I told myself I can’t make flashcards anymore. I’m not allowed to, so I, I didn’t make flashcards until I got through all of the content and then I was [00:45:00] so, so, I.
Yeah, I gave myself, I don’t know, one, or for every test I gave myself one or two weeks for final review. And, um, then I, I allowed myself to make flashcards, you know, if I got a question wrong, if I got a simulation wrong, I would, I would do the flashcards.
Logan: Okay, perf. Yeah, that’s, that’s ex, that’s exactly the idea. Like, and you discovered that on your own, like if you’re making flashcards on everything. They kind of become pointless because the whole point of flashcards is to take the things that you personally struggle with and turn them into something that you can study more easily and turn into a strength.
But if you have 500 flashcards, it’s, you know, it’s too difficult to do that. Uh, so it looks, it sounds like you discovered that on your own.
A Tip That Tommy Learned Throughout His Study
Logan: Um, but yeah, I think that, is there any other part of your process or any thoughts you had about the CPA that we haven’t gotten to cover yet?
Tommy: Um, you know, I’m, I’m trying to think if there’s anything, any glaring [00:46:00] oversight. Um, I mean, I, I did jot down some notes.
I guess this is just kind of like one more tip that I learned and it was something that I, um, wanted to,
Logan: Pass on.
Tommy: I, I kind of wish, I kind of wish I had done this from the beginning. Um, but one thing that I, that I did with REG, and I kind of did it with TCP too, but, um, for, for me in particular, so, so this might not be everybody, but for me in particular, my, my natural tendency is kind of like slow and perfect. So it made it hard, I think, for me to move through the content at a, at like a reasonable pace. And, and I, and I think, um, I think I underestimated the mastery that would come with the re-review.
Um, and so, what I, what I made myself do was, okay, so make a schedule, figure out how many questions you need to get through, um, in order to, you know, have [00:47:00] however long you want for your final review.
And then at the start of every day, set that goal. Say, okay, I need to get through, you know, this many questions from, from this module to this module or whatever, and do this many task-based simulations or, or whatever. And, and you have that daily goal and, and, and there was something about naming like the daily goal of that really helped me.
It’s sort of like, okay, I don’t have time like to linger on this question if I have to get through, you know, 50 questions today. And so, and so that really helped me. It kind of like, kept me going, you know, and I would, when I would get, wanna get stuck on something, it was like, you know, I, I don’t understand this, but I’ll just have to move on.
And so that was good for me because you really do, the re-review really does provide mastery over time. And, um, and I, and I learned to, to, to
Logan: To let
Tommy: ignore, to, yeah. To
kind of ignore the feeling of unease and to just trust, you know, I will master it [00:48:00] when I get to it again, um.
Logan: Yep. Yeah, that’s, honestly what you’ve just said is exactly what I think a lot of people do need to realize. And very similar to what I did, like I did the same thing. I counted how many questions there were in my review course. It’s laid out how many weeks I wanted to get through them in, and then I would do that many questions per day.
Um, so very similar to what you did. So I, I really like that idea, that idea, cause I, cause I did it. And, uh, and, uh, but especially, yeah, like planting the seeds is you do want to get an understanding if you can, but it’s not about perfection. Because you’re not, I mean, you’re not trying to become a professor in this.
So the understand, the deeper understanding and you know, as you said, the mastery really does come from the re-review. If, if there’s one thing that I think that people are usually missing it from their process is the daily review. I think that it makes a huge difference. And [00:49:00] you’ve mentioned it multiple times. Um, would you agree with that?
Tommy: Oh yeah. Oh yeah, no, the, the daily review does, um, it just keeps it fresh. It keeps it fresh.
Benefits of the Review and Audio Notes
Tommy: Oh, and this is, this is an extra little thing to throw in there. What one of the one gen, like the genius of the review and audio notes that, that you, that you wouldn’t get if you just did the random testlets, um, is there’s no guarantee with the random set of questions that you’re gonna hit, all the topics, all the major topics that you need to, um, over and over again.
Like, you might, you might just like luck of the draw, you might just get, you know, five questions on, um,
Logan: On one topic.
Tommy: On, yeah, on one topic, um, on loan interest or something weird. And, and so, what’s nice about the review notes is it guarantees that, you know, if you’re, if you’re doing it, cause whether it’s the reading it or doing the audio, is you do hit every topic, every major topic at least.
And, [00:50:00] um, and, and, and I would find like my brain would make these random connections like, your main review course gets into the weeds. The review notes, the audio notes, it gives you that kind of like overview of all the major concepts and I would, and I would find, it almost didn’t need to get in the weeds because I’d be taking my walk, I’d be listening to, to you go over something and then, my brain would make this random connection back to the nuance that I’d studied, you know, earlier in the week or something.
I’d be like, oh, well there’s a nuance here. But I wouldn’t have made that connection if I wasn’t, you know, doing the review notes.
Logan: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that I love, I love that you just said that. Um, yeah, I don’t really have anything else to say cause that is, that’s perfect. Um, I mean, you’ve mentioned a lot of awesome benefits that, uh, and, and a lot of great ideas that you had throughout your whole process and, um, I think as we kind of finish up here, uh, I have two, two last questions for you.
The Main Benefits Tommy Got from SuperfastCPA
Logan: [00:51:00] So, again, you’ve, you’ve already mentioned a lot of this stuff throughout the video, but the first question is, what would you say were the main benefits that you got from SuperfastCPA?
Tommy: Yeah, so actually, I actually do have some, some notes here that I jotted down that I wanted to, that I wanted to cover, um, on this in particular.
So there were, I wrote down like 4, 4 major benefits of, of your, of your study tools, and it gives you the scope of each test in a form that’s easy to digest. You know, oftentimes I come into this test, I’m like, you know, what is, what is the breadth of this thing? Like, what am I gonna cover? And, you know, by the, by the third, listen through of the audio notes, I had a grasp, you know, this is generally the scope and so that was, that was number one.
Number two was it gives you a high a level understanding of all the major concepts, you know, I, I mentioned this. Your review course will give you the nuance, it’ll get into the weeds. [00:52:00] Um, you get, you get kind of all the major concepts at a high level with the, with the review notes. Um, they’re short enough to go over and over. Um, and so like as you go over, like third or fourth time, it really starts to sink in.
Um, and then the last, well, the last thing is what I just said. You know, the whole your notes in, they guarantee that you’re gonna hit all of the concepts, you know, that a, a random set of questions might miss.
Um, so that’s, those are the, the really, the, the four things that I felt were, were really,
Logan: We’re beneficial.
Tommy: Really helpful about, yeah, your study tools.
Logan: I love it.
Top Tips for People Still Studying for the CPA Exams
Logan: And, uh, kind of leading straight from that question into the last question that we always like to ask everybody, and again, even if it’s something we’ve already talked about, but what would be your top two or three tips to somebody who’s still going through the exam? What would you say to them?
Tommy: Hmm. Um, don’t, don’t underestimate the, the kind of the initial goal [00:53:00] setting and planning, um, that, that, that Nate talks about in the beginning. You know, having your little why. Knowing your why. Um, and, you know, kind of having a, a, a, a rough timeline of, of like a goal because there’s. Um, you, you guys are right. Like, like you, you need, you need a little bit of pressure like I did.
I needed, if I, if I ever didn’t have pressure, if I ever like, hadn’t scheduled my test yet or something, that you need that motivation. Um, and, and I, I don’t really like putting pressure on myself, but, but I needed it. Like, I needed the pressure to help me, to help push me. Um, so that’s, that’s definitely one thing.
Um, I guess another thing is, um, if you, if you, if you’re consistent, if you, if you kind of do everything, feeling uneasy is okay. Like I, I, I had a lot of moments where I just was really second guessing myself and, um, not sure if I was retaining things, if I was grasping things [00:54:00] and, um. And I mean, it turned out okay.
So, um, so I think if having a, having a how to study that you can just kind of lean on, kind of frees you up from worrying about how, and it really helps you to really focus on the content and actual studying.
Yeah, actually learning and, um, kinda, you don’t have to worry about. Like, is what I’m doing effective? Is what I’m doing working? I can just kind of trust in that, that it is. But yeah, there is a balance. There’s a balance of, you know, figuring out the how, like how to do this CPA thing, but then also the whole like, the what, the content. Um, and it’s, you gotta figure that out.
Logan: Yeah. Uh, I mean, you’ve had a lot of fantastic tips and advice and it’s a really cool story, Tommy.
Thank you for getting on the call today with me, Tommy. I think that you, again have an awesome story, so I’m really happy that you were able to share that and I think a lot of people are gonna benefit from it.[00:55:00]
So yeah, thank you and uh, I hope you have a great rest of your day.
Tommy: Yep, likewise. Thanks Logan.
Logan: Yeah, no problem.
​All right. That was the interview with Tommy. Again, he had a lot of great tips. He did really well on the exams. Again, I’m still super surprised that he got a 96 on TCP. I don’t think he mentioned that in the interview, but he messaged me afterwards and said, Hey, make sure you mentioned this because I feel like SuperfastCPA helped me to get this, so I wanted to mention that. Again, 96 on TCP, he did really well on his exams, even with the stomach flu at one point, and with having that weird issue with his eyes where he could hardly look at screens for a while, he was still able to pass the exams.
And I think Tommy’s story is great, that no matter what you’re going through, you can make it through these exams, you can push through, as long as you have a good study process, you can pass these exams. so I’m glad that I was able to talk to Tommy. He had a great story. 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 [00:56:00] 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 to get access to the PRO course and our full multiple choice question walkthrough videos on the member forum.
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Thanks for watching or listening, and we will see you in the next episode.
