The next version of the CPA Exam is roughly six months away from making its official debut. As a CPA candidate, you’ve probably imagined what your 2017 CPA Exam experience might entail. Will you feel prepared on Exam Day or lie awake all night dreading your alarm clock? Will you score a front row parking spot at the testing center or be rushing to grab the last remaining space? With so many changes happening to the CPA Exam, it’s natural for your imagination to run wild with all sorts of scenarios of the “what-if” variety.
But how about this for a “what if” – what if you knew the ONE major study behavior that decreases your chances of successfully passing the CPA Exam? While there are many mistakes you can make and bad study habits you can develop, there is one habit in particular that will almost always guarantee an unsatisfactory result on the CPA Exam – that is not having a full, comprehensive understanding of the important terms and concepts that you’ll find on the CPA Exam.
While you might think the best CPA Exam strategy is trying to commit high-level theoretical terminology to memory, successful candidates will be those who get away from the act of memorization, and instead focus on building the solid groundwork that will be applicable to even the most difficult and complex problems. Get back to basics by utilizing your deep-rooted knowledge across all aspects of the CPA Exam – from the straightforward questions to the multifaceted questions requiring deeper analysis and evaluation.
Remember: If you are able teach the foundational CPA Exam terms and concepts to someone who has no accounting background, then you’ll no doubt be successful in passing the CPA Exam!