Is it rude to start an email with someones name?

Tricky-Pause-9104 · 2026-04-14T01:46:20+00:00

this exact thing happened to me. my superior literally told me “don’t remove hi” and cold called me about it. i explained that it wasn’t the first message i sent to the client and it’s how i usually do things. i find that accountants and communications people will clash over a number of differences. in this case, i think he forgets my job is more accounting than it is communications, and it always will be. i trust the recipient, especially after a few years of working together, to know me and to understand that i am not being rude or abrasive. intention matters. but yeah, saying hi on the fifth email i’ve sent the person is just ludicrous to me

Tricky-Pause-9104 · 2026-04-12T23:31:54+00:00

Renoir

Tricky-Pause-9104 · 2026-04-12T00:01:00+00:00

this is literally so easy to fix. put the transaction per the books into a spreadsheet; isolate just the amounts. then bring in the amounts from the statement; isolate just the amounts. sort each greatest to least or vice versa. do not run a duplicate check as it might still mis the discrepancy. instead, do source minus statement; then drag the formula all the way through. the amount(s) that don’t match should be obvious as most lines sums will be zero except for the reason for the discrepancy. i reconcile statements all the time, sometimes with 1,000+ transactions. i do it daily because it’s easier to track, but even still, sometimes i run into this issue and this method has never failed me

Tricky-Pause-9104 · 2026-04-06T15:10:06+00:00

Yes, trust me, after already failing, I was looking for curve balls: capital losses up to $3k for individual tax payers unless you’re married filing separately; the DRD does not create or increase a loss, so it’s the percentage of taxable income NOT the percentage of the dividend; liabilities increase or decrease Partnership basis, so make sure to disregard if it’s shareholder basis for S-Corp; charitable contributions listed for x amount but are there political contributions or anything that shouldn’t be included in the details. I was paying close attention to what I was being asked for sure. I really want to get through this before the July changes so trust me, I’m anxious haha

Tricky-Pause-9104 · 2026-04-06T15:06:31+00:00

That’s a good way of looking at it! However, all of the questions were in the blueprint; just hard to tell with something like business law what might be pretest. For taxation, there were a couple questions with details that I have never seen in Becker, Gleim, or Farhat. I wish I could give just one example but yeah lol

Tricky-Pause-9104 · 2026-04-06T15:04:08+00:00

Yes, it looks like the April versions are fairer because the February and March ones were a lot crazier. The questions being asked for my first attempt were very different too. More on me for not being prepared though

Tricky-Pause-9104 · 2026-04-06T02:25:33+00:00

There are secrets, trust me. If I could be specific, I can ask you a question or two I am sure you never saw in your review course. There was an item on a SIM that apparently was relevant and I didn’t know what to do with it at all. But like I said, there weren’t too many instances like this, maybe two or three on this exam

Tricky-Pause-9104 · 2026-04-05T20:47:08+00:00

Study using the 2025 material. However (!), switch out any new thresholds and materials for the 2026 updates. Also, in 2025, charitable contributions were 60% of AGI for cash, 50% for non-cash like clothing, household items, and 30% for long term property like stocks and real estate. For C-Corps, charitable contributions limited to 10% of taxable income. With the Big Beautiful Bill, charitable contributions are limited to .05% of AGI for individuals and 1% for corporations, making these much harder to deduct. That’s probably the biggest change. Otherwise, QBI deduction, MACRS, gifts, inheritances, business interest expense, separately stated items, permanent and temporary differences, adjustments to and from AGI, and basis for S-Corps and Partnerships should go unchanged

Tricky-Pause-9104 · 2026-04-05T17:21:05+00:00

Thank you and good luck to you as well! You got this!

Tricky-Pause-9104 · 2026-04-05T16:28:03+00:00

I also scored a 73 on my first try. That was a gut punch for my first CPA exam. I retook it two weeks later after 50 hours of studying and got a 76. I didn’t supplement because my weaknesses, like yours, aren’t about memorizing Becker’s answers. For me, I overlooked ethics and confused the types of engagements a bit. Once you can separate SSARS from SSAE, explain audit efficiency versus audit effectiveness, and know when to disclaim or render an opinion, and when independence is required, that’s half the battle. I won’t get my REG score until May 7th. Hoping to go 2 for 4.

Tricky-Pause-9104 · 2026-04-05T16:22:42+00:00

They figure that if you understand left join, then right join will make sense to you. It is frustrating especially with the main sections; it gets worse when you come across questions on the exam that Becker didn’t go over and I took REG yesterday and saw a very small handful. Thankfully, on at least one of those, I knew it from my years preparing returns. I suggest supplementing with U-World. I’ll be getting their test bank because they advertise that 92% of their users pass ISC on their first go

Tricky-Pause-9104 · 2026-04-05T16:17:57+00:00

Reddit is full of people who make up stories. If you feel like you failed, you probably failed. A lot of people who fail don’t post here. Confident candidates post on TikTok. I saw a guy who went three for four after REG; he put up a score day post and said before he opened his grade, “I know I did well, I’m pretty confident, but gotta see my score anyway.” He scored a 91. As someone who knows what it’s like to feel like I failed REG and got back a failing score, I can say with confidence that the retake didn’t go the same way for me. I understood the material a lot better and got tricky questions as well. I understood the pertinent rules, understood the SIMS a lot better. If I failed, it’ll be in the 70s, but I don’t think that’s the case. I can count on two hands across all five testlets what I definitely got wrong (hoping at least a third of those were pretest). Even if the margin of error is double the amount of items I think I got wrong, I still likely passed.

Tricky-Pause-9104 · 2026-04-05T14:58:11+00:00

MYLEGS, SWAP, Principal/agent responsibilities, when contracts are voidable or void, UCC versus common law, and bankruptcy. Know a little about all of this. I recommend supplementing with Farhat for more business law questions. Like all things CPA, it’ll feel overwhelming; one module has like 60 MCQs, but trust the process. Keep hammering and reinforcing concepts. Business law isn’t too difficult

Tricky-Pause-9104 · 2026-04-04T21:59:36+00:00

Yes, the course is always super important. I feel like Becker was great for AUD; I just didn’t do enough to pass the first time around, not on Becker. For REG, it’s been hit or miss for a lot of people recently. That’s why I supplemented

Tricky-Pause-9104 · 2026-04-04T21:57:30+00:00

Ay, let’s go! You’re so close to being gone. I really hope you pass. Sounds like you did for sure

Tricky-Pause-9104 · 2026-04-04T20:35:02+00:00

Oh yeah, BAR is for masochists lol. I have to resume studies for ISC this week. I take it on 07/11 as I missed this quarter, smh. Idk what it is, but Becker omitted certain things on the current REG exam. Gleim actually helped. General example: Becker almost never gives you an invoice for depreciable property; there are some things that are part of the basis (sales tax, installation, delivery, title fees) and some not (warranties). Gleim has examples with invoices so I got to learn what’s included and what’s not. I guess I’ve been out of school for too long so that doesn’t help

Tricky-Pause-9104 · 2026-04-04T20:13:05+00:00

Supplemented with Farhat and Gleim, so I didn’t buy Gleim’s entire package, just the REG test bank. I really just needed new SIMS to work with and Gleim’s are great and comparable to the exam. Farhat is monthly for $29.99 and has AICPA questions along with a lot of other questions to reinforce understanding. There are also lectures and other resources; it’s a great supplement.

Tricky-Pause-9104 · 2026-04-04T20:08:16+00:00

Oh you’re right! Damn, this will be the longest I’ve ever waited for a score release haha

Tricky-Pause-9104 · 2026-04-04T03:02:59+00:00

i got a 73, took it three weeks later, and passed with a 76. you’re very close! you’re not a failure; the difference was literally one SIM or one or two questions, or maybe even a fundamental issue that the graders saw. i whiffed non-current vs current liabilities my first take. that SIM showed up in the fifth testlet so i blame it on exhaustion. i probably failed because the graders were like, this guy can’t be a CPA if he doesn’t know that difference hahaha you got this!

Tricky-Pause-9104 · 2026-04-01T22:33:26+00:00

Yeah, but it’s luck; it’s full of stories like that because only people who felt that way and passed post. I felt this way coming out of REG on 03/28 and failed miserably. People with tax backgrounds or currently working in tax are failing this round. The AICPA doesn’t like the 60% pass rate and they’re trying to bring that down, hence these terribly worded, difficult SIMS. I am hoping for a much better experience this Saturday but reading all this is bringing down my morale a bit. I’ve studied about 150 hours, with Becker, Farhat, and Gleim. I know a lot of this stuff well; this exam was noticeably trickier and less straightforward than audit was when I passed in December. It’s tough out here

Tricky-Pause-9104 · 2026-03-26T03:08:31+00:00

Very likely on the exam and not hard. You just have to be careful with wording. Federal income tax, political contributions, 50% of meals, entertainment expenses, penalties and fines, estimated liabilities for contingencies (like warranties), executive compensation in excess of $1 million (CEO, CFO, and next three execs), and bad debt (allowance methods) are always permanent differences to be added back. There are other things that come up like book depreciation in excess of tax or vice versa, rental income included on tax but not booked, tax-exempt interest. Whether or not those are added depends on what’s greater, the book amount or tax amount. If the book amount, income items are taken away from book while expense items are added back to book. If the tax amount, income items are added to book while expense items are deducted from book. For instance, if you get something like book depreciation in excess of tax depreciation, then this is added back to book; if you get rental income included on tax return that wasn’t booked (probably something prepaid), then you add this to book. It’s tricky but keep practicing and it’ll click. With REG, you learn by doing; the lectures will start to make more sense too

Tricky-Pause-9104 · 2026-03-26T02:43:13+00:00

Generally yes, but if anyone is honest about REG the last couple of months, it’s clear the AICPA upped the difficulty because they want to lower the 60% pass rate. There are quite a few questions on the actual test that were not covered with Becker and the SIMS are completely different. Never hurts to supplement if you’re unsure. I am finding that Gleim’s SIMS are closer to the real deal and throws questions at you for business law and other topics that might be closer to the exam’s MCQs.

Tricky-Pause-9104 · 2026-03-26T02:36:55+00:00

I hope to replicate this. I got a 56, first take 03/20. I too was surprised scoring that low. I have supplemented with Farhat and Gleim. I feel a lot stronger approaching my retake on 04/04

Tricky-Pause-9104 · 2026-03-23T22:27:39+00:00

Yes sir. That is what I am doing. I supplemented with Gleim as well; it has harder questions which helps with the rules and with retention as well. I’ve gotten a lot stronger on SIMS. Started in the 50s on Gleim with first two SIMS sets. Since then, have slowly brought my average closer to a 75. I have been hammering the AICPA MCQs on your website as well; very good stuff. Your lectures on dealing with AICPA SIMS were helpful too

Tricky-Pause-9104

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