CPA Exam Study Tip of the Week

For this week's study tip, we're going to take a look at overall strategy and a subject most CPA exam candidates don't want to talk about. Failure.

It happens to the best of us. Sochiro Honda, founder of Honda Motor Company, once said that success is 99% failure.

Instead of allowing a failure to detract you from your goals, you can turn it into a huge motivator to succeed. Learn from your mistakes and try to analyze where you went wrong.

For CPA exam candidates in particular, failure can feel like a huge defeat. It is not only costly to have to retake a failed section but it also takes time to wait for the next window. It can be a giant blow to your confidence but the important thing to keep in mind is that you are not a failure. This is but a temporary road block to your success; unless you allow it to steer you away from your goals.

Don't!

Remember that the pass rates for first-time CPA exam candidates on any one section are around 30%. You are certainly not alone.

The key to success is not to fall off the horse. Instead of moving on to the next section, immediately begin studying the section you've just failed and schedule a retake as soon as possible to keep you from procrastinating. The information is still fresh in your mind at that point.

Look at your score report and determine what areas you need to work on. A score of 60 or less shows that you missed some big chunks along the way; be very honest with yourself as to why. Did you use the simulation software included with my review course? Did you do all the multiple choice twice? If you didn't, you know exactly where you went wrong and can then correct that.

A score between 70 - 74 shows an excellent command of the information and there is probably no one area that you did poorly in. While these types of scores can be more frustrating than scores of 60 or less, they can also serve as encouragement that you understand the subject and concepts. Perhaps doing more multiple choice questions or making sure you understand each topic to the fullest can help get you those extra few points.

You can absolutely do this!

If you've had some obstacles along the way, please share them with us! Perhaps you came up with a solution after a failure? We'd love to hear from you!