2015年9月25日 星期五

[分享] 美國會計師 AICPA通過 準備心得(2) 實用資訊

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[分享] AICPA 美國會計師 抵免台灣會計師考試(部分科目減免) 經驗分享
[分享] 美國會計師 證書及執照申請經驗分享 AICPA Certificate/ License Application Experience Sharing (Guam)
[分享] AICPA 考試報名經驗分享 CPA Exam Application Experience Sharing
[分享] 美國會計師 AICPA通過 準備心得(1) 教材使用及時間規劃 


實用網站
雖然說有Becker等教材的輔助,網路上還是有不少好用的資源,提供資訊、考試心得分享、考友打氣等。

我最常造訪的網站就是 http://www.another71.com/,這應該是美國最熱門的CPA論壇,討論內容包羅萬象。一開始可以建議到 http://www.another71.com/a71-cpa-survival-guide.html索取一份survival guide,其中包含許多重要資訊和心態調整的經驗分享。

論壇中,比較實用討論包括Score Release和Exam Experience Sharing。其他任何你想問的問題例如Becker Final Exam Score V.S. Real Score或是Do I need to fill in every blank for journal entries? 之類的都可以用Google搜到這個論壇的討論。

如果不喜歡看英文論壇,那麼http://www.douban.com/group/aicpa/#topics也是我的好朋友。這個豆瓣群組是大陸考生組的,其中有各式各樣的分享,包括JJ。有時候會有好心人士幫忙整理JJ,不過大多時候還是要自己整理,建議不要過度依賴JJ,考前幾天拿出來當查查順便複習就可以了。另外通常豆瓣上的戰友都會組成QQ群組互通有無,我到最後一科考前幾天才知道,但應該滿實用的。

考試當天
記得攜帶NTS和身分證件(據說要兩份但是我都只用到一份)。若報名早場記得一定要吃早餐並且吃飽,畢竟考三四個小時很累人的。建議第一次去考場的話前一天先去探勘路線,免得遇到上班時間塞車又找不到路。我的考場位置就不太好找。

可以提早到,而且可以提早進去考,但是能作答的時間是固定的。進入考場前必須把身上大小東西放到置物櫃,包括手錶,所以只能看螢幕上的倒數計時器來控制時間。考場人員會發給你兩張塑膠墊板跟麥克筆讓你當計算紙用,想當然爾不太好寫,不過美國會計師計算不太難,我沒有用到太多次。進入考場前需要搜身,中間出來上廁所也需要用金屬探測器感應後才能進入。只能在各Testlet間出來上廁所,我的考場的廁所有衛生棉及衛生棉條所以需要衛生用品的女性應該不用擔心。另外我的考場也有飲水機,中間休息可以出來喝水。

坐到電腦桌開始考試前會有幾個小小的問題要填答打勾,切記這個時間不要發呆,因為十分鐘之內沒有作答完會整個考試鎖起來不能考的!不過那幾的勾大概十秒就能作答完畢,所以不用緊張,只要不要發呆就可以了。考完試之後會有個小問卷,大概是問你說你的考場跟State board服務如何,有什麼要反映的。

成績公布都有固定日期,也會寄信通知你預計的Score Release Date。公布的時間是東岸時間凌晨一點,也就是說若在美國的話,前一天晚上就可以熬夜等了。通常成績公布不會提前,若你提前去查只會看到一個大大的倒數計時器讓你更緊張。公布之後網站通常會被塞爆,大約等半個小時後會稍微好一點,當然這樣的等待過程十分折磨人,可以上another71上看很多戰友會相互守夜打氣。

2015年9月24日 星期四

[分享] 美國會計師 AICPA通過 準備心得(1) 教材使用及時間規劃 Experience Sharing: Passing the AICPA Exam (Study Tips)

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 [分享] 美國會計師 證書及執照申請經驗分享 AICPA Certificate/ License Application Experience Sharing (Guam)
 [分享] AICPA 美國會計師 抵免台灣會計師考試(部分科目減免) 經驗分享

        I used Becker as my study material and Wiley Focus Notes as supplementary. The preparation method for the four sections were similar. First, I went through the material by listening to the courses and taking few notes. By doing so, I could get a big picture of the exam and then I directly start doing the practice questions. After all, the courses included too much information and it was sometimes difficult to filter the main points. After finish doing the questions, I went through the reading materials to review the main points found when doing the practice questions. After reading through the materials, I did the practice questions again. I paid special attention to those questions done wrong in the first time so I could clarify the concepts I had misunderstood. By doing all the practice questions twice, I was familiar with all the materials. Then, I did the Becker final review and the final exams. In my opinion, Focus Notes were easy to carry around and they were more informative than Becker flash cards.

我用的是Becker,配合Wiley的Focus Notes,四科複習的大致規劃都差不多,都是先聽一遍教材,抓到大方向,但沒有特別放慢或是做筆記。聽完後有個印象,也算是複習大學學過的東西,直接開始做題目。做題目時就會非常清楚考點在哪。畢竟聽課時,總覺得資訊太多,不知道哪裡是重點,做過題目會發現考的概念就是那些。每個章節逐一寫完題目後,距離考試約莫兩周的時間,我會開始把課本上的內容再看一次,這個時候就能把之前做題目發現的重點快速瀏覽,順便加強記憶。接著再寫一次題目,特別要注意第一次寫錯的部分。寫完兩輪題目後,讀Becker Final Review,再寫模擬考,和做考前的總複習。Focus Notes很適合隨身攜帶,我個人認為比Becker的 Flash Card詳盡好用。

FAR 95
        FAR was the first section I took. I spent 1.5 months preparing while doing school at the same time. Since my major was accounting, the topics in FAR were relatively familiar. Note that government and NPO accounting accounts for up to 20% of the questions in the exam, but most students have not taken related courses. I took government and NPO accounting in my masters program which made my study for the CPA less stressful. Among the four sections of the exam, FAR is the section that Becker gets the best grasp of. The MCQs and SIMs in Becker were really similar to those in the real exam. However, the real exam has less complex calculations. Thus, if you can score a pass score in Becker, you will likely pass the real exam.

這是我最先開始準備的一科,也是不少人的第一科,我的準備時間大約一個半月,一邊上學校的課一邊準備。如果大學主修就是會計應該會相當熟悉,因為裡面涉及的內容就是我們熟知的初會中會和高會加上政府會計及非營利組織會計。其中政府會計和非營利組織會計要特別注意,因為我們過去沒有學過,而我在美國有特別規劃修課,因此比較容易上手。因此若之前完全沒有接觸過的,建議先從政府會計這邊開始念。FAR也是我認為Becker最有幫助的,因為不管是選擇題或是SIM都和真題非常像,而真題又比Becker簡單些,因此答題起來非常順手。

BEC 94
        BEC was the second section I took. This is the section that many say is easy. Some even say two week preparation would be enough. I studied for 27 days, half of which I studied full time. The BEC section includes topics that range from economics to IT. The nice part of BEC is that there were no SIMs. Instead, there was a 15% writing part. The economic part of BEC was basic and was not a problem since I had taken economics courses. The calculations were related to cost accounting and financial management. Compared to Becker, calculations in the real exam was also relatively easy. The formulas mentioned in Becker were sufficient to answer the questions in the real exam. The hard part was IT. IT included a wide range of topics that Becker couldn't even cover. I just memorized the points mentioned in Becker and simply guessed through the questions that I haven't seen before.

這是我考的第二科,許多人說這科是最簡單的,兩周就夠了,我準備了27天,其中大概有一半的時間是全職準備。BEC考的可說是大雜燴,從成管會、經濟、財務、AIS通通都包含,簡單的部分就是沒有SIM,取而代之的是佔15%的寫作。而內容中經濟那邊若大一有好好上經濟學,應該會覺得很容易。成會和財務部分都是考計算,只要把公式記熟小心陷阱應該沒有太大問題。最麻煩的大概是IT,內容涉及之廣泛,非常難準備,只能說把書上的東西學好,考試時遇到不會的就直接猜了,畢竟不會佔太多分數。

REG 91
        I went to Europe for summer school while studying REG so it took me 2 whole months to prepare. According to many who have gone through the four sections, REG is the hardest one. REG covers tax law, business law and ethics. Since I took all three courses in my masters program, I originally thought REG was fine. However, after taking the exam, I found myself totally wrong. The uncertainty of whether I would pass made me anxious for the whole week before score release. Do not underestimate REG! The exam went to every detail in the regulations. At first glance of the questions, I knew what topic it was trying to test me. However, there were many twists in the concepts which made it difficult to choose an answer. The SIMs were super detail orientated and much harder than those in Becker. I was looking up the authoritative literature til the last minute. I recommend that candidates go through Internal Revenue Code and AICPA Professional Standards while studying so that you won't spend a lot of time looking up information during the exam. Also, pay special attention to ethics since it consists of a significant proportion of the exam and the ethics MCQ choices could be really misleading.

我在準備時恰巧逢出國修summer school,因此整整準備了兩個月,不過都是一邊應付學校課業一邊準備。REG應該是大家公認最難的一科,內容涵蓋稅法、商事法和Ethics。由於我在美國碩士班三種內容的課都有修,原以為不會太難,但我真的大大的錯了!REG一直到公布成績的前幾天我都非常非常的忐忑,因為覺得自己好像要Fail了!不要小看REG,他真的非常難,畢竟是法律的東西,規定總是多如牛毛,很多時候看到題目你知道他要問你什麼,但是轉了個彎你就不知道答案了,我考試寫得非常非常心虛。尤其時SIM的部分,幾乎都是很細的稅法,要去翻法條,只能說念書準備時沒事就要熟悉法條怎麼查找,以免考試時亂了手腳。Ethics很多都是考情境題,四個選項代下去都像是對的,當下真的很慌亂,因此念書時一定要把Ethics部分看熟,考得真的很多。

AUD 92
        Audit was the last section I took and my preparation time was one month, half of which I studied full time. Since I took AUD after REG, preparation was less stressful. I originally thought I have forgotten those audit concepts learned in my junior year in college. After studying for the CPA exam, I found out that I still had some impression of what audit was about. Compared to some portion of business law, which I studied for the first time, AUD was much easy to comprehend. Studying Becker would be sufficient to pass AUD. Note that AUD is based on FAR, so it is highly recommended to take AUD after FAR.

這是我最後考的一科,時間為一個月,其中一半時間全職準備。受過REG的洗禮,AUD反而讓我輕鬆不少,原以為自己大三學的審計都忘光了,聽了課程才發現有學過和沒學過還是有差,只能說底子真的滿重要的。像是REG的Business Law有很大一部份我上課沒學到,第一次聽真的有聽沒有懂。AUD的東西比起那些深奧的法條平易近人多了,只要穩紮穩打的把Becker念熟,應該就沒有問題。不過AUD的確非常仰賴FAR的基礎,畢竟要會查帳一定先得知道人家怎麼作帳,也有許多人推薦FAR考完直接考AUD。



2015年9月21日 星期一

[旅行] 最高貴的礦泉水 The Most Luxurious Bottled Water

        在洛杉磯短暫停留的第一天,我報名了一個City Tour,而其中停的一站,就是名人居住的比佛利山莊和附近的Rodeo Drive。我其實沒聽過Rodeo Drive的,不過能和這樣不凡的社區比鄰,想必有其不凡。果不其然,司機兼導遊在前往目的的路途中開始絮絮滔滔的講了不少,原來Rodeo Drive就是大名鼎鼎的奢華一條街,街上全是精品店,而所謂的精品店絕對不只是我們在台灣只能看櫥窗的精品店,因為你可能根本連櫥窗都看不到。導遊說,那邊很多店是需要預約的,你若沒預約直接進去是會被掃地出門,哪怕你是茱莉亞羅勃茲。正當我聽得津津有味,導遊又用標準但飛快的英文繼續說,那些預約的店家大多數需要收取預約費用,例如有家西裝店就是美國總統就職演說西裝的御用西裝店,那裏的預約費是1500美金,當然預約費用可以抵免消費,不過若只花1500大概只購買雙襪子,而沒有消費的話1500就沒收了。

        就這樣,我聽了至少二十分鐘的奇聞軼事,心中默默把導遊說的廁所門牌背下來,想說我待會就在街上遠遠的拍張照以免被側目,然後上完廁所就要走了。下了車,洛杉磯的艷陽完全不輸德州,一路上沒有幾間大門敞開的店家提供吹出來的冷氣,我被曬得又乾又累。迅速拍了幾張照,折騰了一陣子找到了位於地下室的廁所,上樓之後遠遠看到了那間西裝店,看了看錶,再十分鐘就要集合,我趕緊回頭走。路上遇到不少同車的朋友,大家互相揶揄彼此問說怎麼沒有買東西。正當我趕著要離開時,遇上了同車的中國女孩,她看了看時間說還有五分鐘,「不如我們就進去一家開著門的店逛逛吧」,她拉著我說。我看了看一身庸俗打扮的自己,實在有點為難,但也不知如何拒絕,於是勉強的和她走入離街口最近的店。

        果然走進店裡就是一陣沁涼,卻也讓我愈發心虛。我不敢抬頭,很怕有人瞪我,甚至趕我走。沒想到這時,一個圓臉蛋的女店員走了出來,招呼我們,就像任何一間美國服飾店的店員一樣用甜甜的嗓音問我們需不需要幫忙,我們立刻說自己只是在看看,並往門口退了幾步,沒想到女店員繼續溫柔親切的問我們需不需要水,我一時有些愣住,正在想如何婉拒時,中國女孩立刻優雅地接受了,當然也順便幫我接受了,而女店員走到後台拿水時還一邊和我們抱歉說水不是冰的。就這樣,我拿到了一瓶不大也不冰,卻質感相當高雅的瓶裝水,上面還有該店黑底白字印的名字,我至今都不知道該怎麼念。我愣愣地呆著,一邊還偷偷的看了錶,不好了,剩五分鐘。女店員卻和中國女孩聊起天來,當然也順便和我聊,店員的親切讓我彷彿回到德州的鄉間小店,她開心地問我們是哪來的,而一如許多美國人,她可能不只沒出過國,聽到外州的事情彷彿聽到地球另一端發生的事情一樣驚奇。短短的談話中穿插了多次:「阿!我都不知道那裏這麼冷/熱!」之類令我有些哭笑不得或不知所措的對話。我是不知所措的,因為眼看時間就要到了,巴士是不等人的,中國女孩依然從容優雅自在,我則是不斷的示意她要離開,心不在焉的看了幾件衣服,標價三百多,我和女孩互看一眼,其實沒有想像中貴,當然,也不是我負擔的起的。好不容易把她拉到了門口,轉身想要尷尬離去之際,女店員揮手高聲道別,彷彿我們是多年不見的老顧客,而不是在高檔服飾店裡擺明想要吹冷氣的觀光客。


        就這樣,我拿到了我在Rodeo Drive唯一的戰利品。我是該開心的,大概世上沒多少人會在短短二十分鐘內在那條街得到戰利品,況且還是一介草民如我。雖然我仍然記不起那個我買不起的牌子,但我始終記得那瓶高貴的水,以及那女店員。她的高貴令我汗顏,我汗顏的不只是自己庸俗的打扮,而是自己庸俗的心。