To become a CPA, a candidate must complete three requirements: education, evaluation, and experience. Our learning journey as CPAs does not cease upon membership; there are formal annual continuing professional development requirements.

In 2004, three hundred undergraduate students were subjected to chipper economics professor, Dr. Dougie. One early morning, he proposed waitstaff should be tipped at the beginning of the dining experience so they could match the level of service to the remuneration provided.

Emotionally speaking, the weight of a Core 1 Orientation Workshop makes it challenging to teach. Learners are transitioning from the mindset of a student into the realities of being a CPA candidate, without the linear path of “do this, get this”, leaving a steep, unavoidable learning curve.

In the first of the mini-series, I discussed practical time-saving tactics and tools to map the long-term trajectory of your goals. This second post will add more tactics and tools to help you execute that strategy to achieve your larger goals.

This two-part mini-series will introduce practical, and time-saving study tips split into two parts. The posts will focus on the tactics, that is using a larger goal to work backwards from, followed by tools, the daily tasks we complete to work towards that larger goal.

During these challenging times we, the co-authors of this blog post, have taken many of the presentations we typically deliver live and in-person and transitioned them into the asynchronous virtual world.

While gaining practical experience, I used music to spark my motivation (you know, that “mo'”). Whether it was Britney Spears who encouraged me to write my practice cases or Limp Bizkit helping me prioritize, their melodies often helped me refocus daily actions.

My mother took it upon herself in high school to be my number one cheerleader and taskmaster. Each day she would check to see if I had completed my homework. In university, her method of communication shifted to text. I graduated, starting working, and she persisted.

In my opinion, there are a few overlooked and underused resources for CPA PEP candidates. If used effectively, they can help you go from surviving to thriving. I’ve chosen these resources because, as I often reminded my team when I worked in industry, there are rarely accounting emergencies.

In a recent post, I discussed how candidates can cement their knowledge of recent tasks and cases with active reflection. In the same way we encourage candidates to engage in active reflection in their responses, did you know that your CPA PEP educators and administrators use candidate feedback in their own active reflection to improve?

According to learning and management sciences, a feedback loop exists to assist in learning from mistakes. Scholars agree that this loop has, at a minimum, an inciting event, reaction, and reflection.

My former rugby coach and conditioning trainer used to tell us, “you practice like you will play”. Since hanging up my cleats, I have often wondered, did Paul know his lessons for pitch preparedness would parallel to the accounting profession?