CPA Exam Review News Blog

Being a young accountant means having one of the widest fields of career potential in front of you. The profession is in high demand, but supply, especially of CPAs, is struggling to keep up. This favorable job market doesn't mean you should sit back and relax, but rather be ready and treat opportunity as if it were always around the corner. You should be professional to the standard of seasoned pro's, bring the energy of someone new to the industry, and able to meet every expectation as times and common practices have changed. This means your LinkedIn, handshake, Twitter, business card, and Instagram pages should all be kept to a professional standard as they will be scrutinized. The worst thing you can do is impress online and disappoint in person. Keeping everyone happy and making genuine connections can feel intimidating and taxing, but it is possible and worth it.

Busy season has ended which is supposed to make it feel like you have all the free time in the world now, right? Then why does it feel like your responsibilities are stacking up and growing out of control?

The simple answer might be because you are letting them.

In the same way athletes gain weight after their season is over, accountants risk falling behind their work after busy season. The day to day goes from forced productivity, to a more lackadaisy office culture. Since the amount you have to do drops so drastically, the urgency to do work decreases too. Since 24 hours is feeling like a lot more without the busy season pressure, you start putting off responsibilities. It doesn't seem like a big deal and before you know it, you're behind.

So you just got married – now what?

Congratulations! It is such an exciting time of life. College parties turn into Sunday morning brunches, late Friday nights out turn into coffee dates on Saturday and suddenly everyone around you is getting married, sitting the CPA Exam and having children. Now it is your turn – so what should you be thinking about and what are some of the taxation implications. You are a CPA candidate, so this is right up your alley.

Everyone has heard and most of us regularly keep a "To Do" list. Their detailed tasks sit line by line on folded up sheets of paper in pockets and in the notes sections of our phones. We cross them off and in doing so, feel a sense of accomplishment. One thing we don't give ourselves credit for is the very thing which gets in the way of crossing more of those "To Do" items off.

If the thought of a five hour work day in the corporate world of business seems impossible, you should really take a look at what Collins SBA of Tasmania is doing to shake the industry norm. A simple look at their website shows a slightly different face than you'd expect from a Financial Advisory company. They don't mince words about their alternative approach either - along with titles of "advisor" or "director" are Hiker, Diver, Coach, Architect, and Cook. This simple recognition about some of the people who make up the company gives you an inside look at how the company views their employees.

There's a lot to learn in the process of becoming a CPA and getting your license depends on more than just sitting for the exam. There may even be some differences depending on what state you are in. Before we dig into the details, let's cover some of the basics.

As a CPA, you will most likely be participating in many audits. Whether it involves performing the audit work, supervising the audit work, or reporting on the results of audit work. An essential part of the reporting of the results is writing the audit report, which provides an accounting firm’s opinion on whether the financial statements are prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

Currently, Millennials are feeling the stress and increasing pressure of debt and it's impacting many areas of their lives. The AICPA released an article called "How to Take the Stress Out of Debt" in which they talk about the mental burden debt brings on top of the financial burden. They reported that nearly 75% of Millennials have debt and 43% have anxiety from their debt. This affects their sleep, work, and relationships in negative ways. But what can you do to help with this debt stress?

As a CPA, you may be called upon to examine, test, and report on the controls for various types of organizations. Most of the time, you will be dealing with controls that encompass internal operations. However, because of the integrated nature of business operations, a business may work with outside organizations to process transactions. So, the concern is not just that the controls of the company are working for are secure and keeping your data safe, but that the data sent to and from outside service providers is secure.

Say goodbye to the 2018 Tax Season and hello to studying for the CPA Exam!

First off, take a breather! You undoubtedly deserve a little rest, but make sure it doesn't last too long. Coming off busy season is a great time to transition into studying to get your CPA!

You are already being highly productive and maintaining a rigorous schedule, so you might as well keep it rolling. Obviously, you can cut out some of the habits which are not healthy. Re-institute time for exercise and friends, and get back some of the sleep you may have sacrificed -- but don't lose your stride. Those who competed in the Boston Marathon earlier this week are going to rest a little bit, but they aren't going to stop training! They already have their eyes on the next race and future goals.