CFE Blog Helping CPA Candidates Prepare for the CFE

To those attending SOA in the near future, here is a few tips to make your stay more pleasant:

1. Bring something soft to sleep on like a (or a few) foam pads. The beds in the residence are very unpleasant and pretty much like sleeping on a wooden board. Unless that’s your thing I suggest you soften it up for yourself. It will help you sleep when you need it most.

2. Another something useful you could bring is a printer or print all the material in advance, including the mock exams. It may seem obvious, but you’ll need to print all the practice simulations and solutions. I always liked having a paper copy of the response I’m marking as well but some people can do this well on the computer.

3. As you may know, you’re not supposed to use the stoves in the residence so my experience during SOA was that anyone with a microwave was very popular.

Anyone else out there have suggestions for this year’s cohort?

Today is a guest blog post from Gus Patel who successfully completed the 2013 UFE

I hope everyone took the time to relax and enjoy the long weekend.  Many of you will be starting some sort of “pre-SOA preparation”, be it an internal prep program, or your own study plan before June.  I wanted to take the time to quickly address a very important point very early on in this process for new candidates: do not get overwhelmed by the wealth of knowledge available to you during the school and within your programs.

When I wrote the SOA in 2012, I decided to be proactive and print out all my internal prep program materials, all the materials on the Boot Camp on the CPA website, along with all my Densmore study guides.  What I was left with after several hours of printing was easily over 3,000 pages of information, prior cases, strategy notes, etc. which sat firmly atop my desk at home.  Staring at this massive pile,  a large overwhelming feeling looming over me – how was I supposed to get through all this information in just a few months?

The reality is – you can’t possibly learn all there is to know about accounting in just a few short months.  The commitment you’ve taken on to learn this information will last more than just your time studying to pass the SOA and UFE.  To be a CPA/CA is establishing an ongoing commitment to professional development.

While I am not discounting the value of going through all this information – do not to get too stressed out and overwhelmed by the volume  available to you during your studies.  The most important and critical thing you can do is learn to write cases which means write cases and debrief them well.

You may be tempted to dedicate a large portion of time to just studying and memorizing technical, just like you did for exams in school, but this exam is very different, and the only way to learn how to score in these cases, is to practice cases.  The technical knowledge you need, you will learn directly from debriefing the cases.  In fact, you might be surprised as you go through the cases, how much (or little) “technical knowledge” you might need for competent on a given indicator.

What are you doing to prepare for the 2014 School of Accountancy?

Today’s post is a sponsored guest post produced by CPA Formula

It’s important not to underestimate the challenge of the UFE.  It’s not just about knowing the right technical answer, but also about knowing the rules of the “game”. While the rules are the same for all writers, there is a multitude of differences in written, strategic and technical approaches to the UFE taken by candidates across the different provinces.

Each writer has unique weaknesses. It’s more than likely however, that writers overestimate the importance of technical material and underestimate strategic or written weaknesses which provide the breadth and depth necessary to pass the UFE.

How can I identify my unique weaknesses?

CPAFormula only hires professional UFE markers who you’ll work with on a one-on-one basis (for 10 one-on-one sessions) the entire time up until the UFE (that’s 3-4 months worth of individual attention).

Each student is provided with a customized schedule based on your weaknesses and access to technical videos in all 6 competency areas across all topics (for a listing of course topics discussed, check out this page).

Your uniquely assigned UFE marker (who they call CPA Trainer) is available to answer small questions free of charge to students by phone, text, live-chat or e-mail all the way until the UFE for those late night cram sessions.

CPAFormula feels this method prepares you much better than anyone in the industry.

What happens if I am already enrolled in a course? i.e. Densmore or PASS?

Short Answer: Take both. Prove that you’re enrolled in another program and receive an additional discount above the UFE Blog discount.

Long Answer: Traditional classroom based programs last 1-2 weeks in July, and overwhelm writers with a wealth of printed materials. The same programs have recently started offering “on-line” programs which can be just recorded classroom lectures. It’s hard to understand exactly what you should focus on, given the overwhelming amount of information.

CPAFormula provides the missing part of other prep programs. Compared to cramming all the technical studying into 1-2 weeks, CPAFormula provides 3-4 months worth of one-on-one attention through individual technical and/or written weaknesses identification; along with technical videos; and case-marking to get you ready.

CPAFormula offers you comprehensive support where you need it most and works around all program schedules. We encourage candidates, even if you are already enrolled in a program, to register with CPAFormula to ensure you receive the support that you need and pass the 2014 UFE.

Also, if you are already enrolled in another program, show us your invoice, and we will provide you with an additional discount on your CPAFormula course fees. Contact us at support@cpaformula.com for more information.

UFE Blog Discount

UFE Blog has negotiated a discount of $133 off any 2014 CPAFormula Courses. Use coupon code: UFEBLOG.

Try CPAFormula Now!

Sponsored posts are content that has been produced by a company, which is either paying for the post or has a business relationship with UFE Blog, and they’re always clearly marked. The content of regular posts produced by UFE Blog are never influenced by advertisers or sponsors in any way.

Many congratulations to the successful CKE writers who are receiving happy results today. And hey, it’s a long weekend so go out there and enjoy the air, the parties or whatever else makes you happy. Congrats!

You can view the results at the link below:

http://www.cpaontario.ca/cke2014/

To those that aren’t receiving positive results today: I’m really sorry to hear you didn’t receive good news. Nothing can be done immediately so I suggest that you take the weekend and some time after to reflect and decide your next steps. It can no doubt be frustrating and I wish I had more consoling words for you. There are many paths to the same place and good decisions are made with a clear head which you may not have right away.

Best of luck and wishes to all those in Ontario writing the CKE tomorrow (or today!)

At least you will be able to focus 100% on case writing after this but do take the rest of the week off at minimum to transition.