CPA Exam Action Plan. Part II

Yesterday I suggested a few ways to mentally approach the CPA exam. Today I'll provide some tangible tips on preparing for and passing the exam:

• Set the date - When beginning my career in public accounting, many first year staff, including myself, thought we could conquer the CPA exam by passively studying, scheduling a section of the exam only when we felt fully prepared. This plan didn't work for a single person I knew. Over the course of my entire first year, I probably studied a total of 10 hours, nowhere near being prepared for the first part of the exam. After a year had passed, I attended my firm's annual training, and was shocked to learn that almost all of my colleagues in the classroom had passed part, if not all of the exam. This finally motivated me to stop languishing in laziness and actually schedule my first exam. Only when I had a date on the calendar was I able to keep myself in a rigorous study routine. Even though I had scheduled my exams in the midst of busy season, the fact that I had a deadline helped me to study late each night, despite the long work days.
• Have a plan - Once you have the dates of your exam permanently fixed on the calendar, work backwards to the present and figure out how many chapters/topics/lectures you need to cover in order to be well prepared for each exam. Figure out how much you can reasonably manage each day. For example, if your study materials provide you with a book, can you cover a chapter a day? If that is too much, perhaps 1/3 of a chapter. Create a spreadsheet with each date from the present to the test day, and detail what material you will cover each day. Don't forget to schedule reviews, practice exams, and a rare day off only if you know you won't have any time to study (e.g. if your wedding day is scheduled during your exam preparation period, you probably won't have much time for studying that day). But try not to take too many days off. Even if you have a special event scheduled, plan on reducing your study hours for that day, but not eliminating them. Breaking your routine for even one or two days could put you in a procrastination slump, which should be avoided at all costs.
• Hold yourself accountable - Sharing your goals, deadlines, and study plans with those closest to you will help keep you on track. I was so afraid to tell my co-workers that I had scheduled my exam, because that meant my manager might ask me how it went! Eeek! What if I failed miserably?! When I finally did tell me co-workers I was preparing for my first exam section, they provided a lot of encouragement. I was able to push myself harder in preparing because they knew I was planning to take the exam soon. My husband also provided a huge amount of accountability, since he knew the details of my daily study schedule, and would ask me regularly if I had completed my agenda for the day.
• Take a break when necessary- While it's important to keep the momentum going once your 18 month clock starts ticking, don't be afraid to take a mental health break after each section of the exam. Many people take a week off of studying after sitting for each of the 4 exams. This time is an important stress reliever, and helps you jump into your preparation for the next exam with renewed enthusiasm and motivation.
• Stay on target - Even if you're not in the mood to study one day, don't think you can save up the lessons you skipped and cover them all in a 10 study session over the weekend. The effectiveness of your studying will greatly wane if you attempt to conquer too much at once. According to the National Training Laboratories, we only retain 10% of what we read and 5% of what we hear in a lecture. So if you think you can take everything in through cram sessions, think again. It will be much more effective to incrimentally tackle all of the material you need to cover on a daily basis.