10 Common Mistakes US CPA Exam Candidates Make | Uplift Professionals

Many of us know that CPA US has rewarding benefits like higher lifetime earnings and faster career advancement. The fact is this is not everyone’s cup of tea. The opposite side of those benefits is the tough cost to earn the CPA certificate. It is often difficult and time consuming to become a CPA. One must make a realistic compromise with other important areas of daily life by making a lot of sacrifices during the CPA exam process.

Hence, CPA exam preparation is meant for serious aspirants who are serious and hard working too.CPA is a professional course and many working people take up this course along with their full-time jobs. Managing both job and this extensive professional course can be daunting if the schedule is not planned accordingly. One needs to first formulate a strategy on how to prepare for the CPA exam without affecting the personal and professional life. A disciplined approach towards studies is required to pass the CPA exam.

Listing the 10 crucial areas of studying CPA that can be challenging.

1. Inadequate preparation.

There are four sections on the exam – Auditing and Attestation, Financial Accounting and Reporting, Regulation and Business Environment and Concepts– and each of these requires a good deal of preparation, usually up to about 450 total. Going into the exam without adequate preparation, especially if there have been new topics announced for the exam, is a critical mistake in exam preparation and can lead to disappointment. So, don’t go for the exam driven by any false confidence.

2. Too much dependent on the theory

The CPA exams demand more solution-making ability than the theoretical knowledge. Not knowing the solution, only the theory. Giving too much focus on the theoretical part than solutions make a gap in the preparation and are a great mistake to tackle the US CPA exam.

3. Writing Skill

The CPA Exam is about accounting and requires writing skills to prove your ability to effectively communicate. So, good grammatical skill and sentence-making ability is a part of the CPA US exam. This must be kept in mind during the preparation for the exam.

4. Computational errors

Knowing how to do a situational problem and getting the right answer are two different things on the CPA exam.  Even with the best theoretical knowledge, the wrong numbers entered in the calculation will yield the wrong answer.  Accuracy is a key component of the exam.  Be sure to work carefully to avoid mistakes that can cause lost points.

5. Comprehension and Interpretation

The supporting text of a question, whether multiple choice or situational, needs to be read carefully to make sure that you understand what the test writer is looking for.  Failure to understand what the test writer is looking for can lead to incorrect answers and a failure of the exam even though your calculation(s) make be correct

The inability to understand the perspective of the test writers can lead to incorrect answers and disqualifying exam even if the calculations may be correct

6. Failure to handle the computational tools

One of the biggest mistakes of CPA test takers is a lack of familiarity with those tools, causing a loss of time, reduction in momentum, and computational errors.

7. Insufficient Practice of MCQs

This is one of the shortfall areas in the CPA US exam preparation. Focusing much more on the adequate practice of MCQs and frequent mock tests evaluation is highly required to pass the CPA US exam.

8. Inadequate Practice of Simulations

Giving less priority to simulations than MCQs is another big mistake. Since CPA Exam simulations take much longer to solve than MCQs, one must keep this in mind during the CPA exam preparation. It is advisable to spend time trying to solve the simulations more during practicing problems. Furthermore, it is better to try to solve the simulations before viewing the answers.

9. Allocating more time to Books/videos than Practice

CPA review videos/books teach the important concepts and everything, but multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and task-based simulations (TBSs) take those concepts and put them into the language of the CPA exam–which is ultimately what matters to crack the CPA US exam.

10. Selecting the Sub-optimum CPA Review Course

This is another area of mistake in opting for a review course which not fit with the candidate’s intent, learning ability, and mindset. A suitable review course with seasoned CPA mentors can prevent many errors to occur and better preparation for the CPA US exam. For example, The Uplift Pro-Gleim CPA package suits most of the candidates who want to pass the US CPA exam on the first attempt.

Summary

Unlike any other accounting exam, the US CPA exam requires correct planning, constant motivation, and guidance from experts. In this era of a competitive world, preparing for such exams is taking a mental or emotional toll on students. Moreover, the lack of dedicated articles related to the subject and discussion groups making things critical.

This is quite evident in the case of working professionals who manage their CPA study preparation with a hectic work schedule. Almost every US CPA exam candidate can say that they’ve experienced a lack of clarity and guidance during their studying at least a few times if not many. In this perspective, avoiding the above-mentioned mistakes seems to help the students to effectively prepare for the CPA US exam.

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