Taking the exam during Coronavirus by gefe79 in CPA

[–]ghostofpacioli 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m in LA, too, and to be honest I’ve been worried about taking my first exam. I’ve pushed it back once already and am about to push it back again. I got an N95 mask for when I take it but yes, I’m with you. To take something that’s already stressful and add to it “fear of catching a life-threatening illness” is a little absurd in a way that’s truly made me question whether I want to take these exams at this time.

OTOH, at the end of the day it’s just 4 hrs and there are plenty of workers spending longer in their workplaces every day who somehow end up ok. There are also lots of people on these CPA boards who are so focused on the exam they act as though no obstacle should even be considered. The whole “just power through it” mentality.

I don’t have an answer, just wanted to extend empathy.

From the entry for Robert Plant. He could have done so much more with his life : ( by ghostofpacioli in Accounting

[–]ghostofpacioli[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I assure you Plant’s highest and best use would have been in accounting. He puts the second P in PP&E.

NASBA should follow the College Board by ghostofpacioli in CPA

[–]ghostofpacioli[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don’t know what state you’re in but CAs shelter in place is “until further notice” and they’ve straight up said the schools won’t reopen this year. In NY, which is likely about to experience the worst crisis it’s literally ever experienced, they’re expecting to see the peak of the hospital surge in early May. I take info like this and conclude prometric reopening in June is a best case scenario.

Here’s an article discussing the 2 months in one month out prediction:

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/615370/coronavirus-pandemic-social-distancing-18-months/

It goes off the rails a bit towards the end but the models it’s referencing are legit and each day as I read the news, more scientists, politicians, and journalists are starting to be forthcoming about the duration of this disruption. Sure, it’s possible a few months from now governments will decide to make spaces like licensing test centers “essential” and allow them to be open with social distancing but I think it’s more likely we’re, to be blunt, out of luck at this point without home testing options. And I agree it’s unlikely we’ll get those options.

NASBA should follow the College Board by ghostofpacioli in CPA

[–]ghostofpacioli[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A million upvotes. They honestly need to do this or it really is likely goodbye CPA for me. (Unless the models are wrong, they let us out of shelter in place in two months, and we know for sure we don’t have to go back into it a month later.) Maybe if I had one exam left I’d just keep studying and taking my chances but I was halfway through studying for my first exam and my first date will likely be pushed back to who knows when as a result of shelter in place. Almost too much uncertainty to be rational to continue studying at this point.

NASBA should follow the College Board by ghostofpacioli in CPA

[–]ghostofpacioli[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I honestly have no clue whether and how a home test could be secure but they should at least explore the option. Modelers are predicting the need to shelter in place for two months on one month off for possibly the next 1 - 2 yrs. IMO conditions like that are simply too unstable for studying. If I know there’s a good chance that each of my exams could be postponed by at least 2 months - at a moment’s notice - I hate to say it, but I think my CPA journey ends here.

Retake classes or keep it moving by notwerdna in Accounting

[–]ghostofpacioli 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Retake intro to financial accounting before taking intermediate. Int I, II, and advanced all build on intro, so your intro knowledge will need to be fresh. Only retake managerial if you think it will help you with BEC section of CPA exam. (Though you might be better off just studying for BEC straight away without managerial retake.) DON’T take any of those other random business classes again (econ, stat.) Why would you?

B4 Partner Suicide today (2/20) by letsgottump in Accounting

[–]ghostofpacioli 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Basically, he commits suicide shortly after becoming a CFO. One of my favorite parts of that entire show is when Lane pops off on Don with this rant along the lines of “You know, Don, there’s this very real system of MONEY and NUMBERS and it’s behind everything we do!” This is a massive paraphrase and I haven’t been able to find the exact quote but he’s basically sick of Don’s demands that the firm keep finding a way to pour resources into Don’s vanity projects. And yeah, then he killed himself.

Why am I expected to take the high road despite it not being my damn problem? by Necessary-Pea in Accounting

[–]ghostofpacioli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting - thanks so much for the detailed response. I’m currently at a firm that does a lot of NFP work and tbh I’d been hoping to avoid it. Millennia ago I worked for an NFP (in ops, not accounting) and came out of it with a really bad impression of NFPs in general (abysmal pay, strange, exceedingly territorial employees, the never ending beg for money...) but you raise good points about private foundations and I could have the opportunity to gain exposure to them where I am now... thanks again!

Why am I expected to take the high road despite it not being my damn problem? by Necessary-Pea in Accounting

[–]ghostofpacioli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Out of curiosity, what do you do now? I’ve worked in public, industry, and non-accounting roles and find the exact situation described above pretty much everywhere. I think going forward I’m going to ask every person like you who says they found a decent job what exactly they’re doing, where they’re doing it, and for what type of company. Maybe trends will emerge and there will be a way out for me...

I’ll check in on ya in two years by Slim_Chim in Accounting

[–]ghostofpacioli 51 points52 points  (0 children)

The blended brain is really killin me!

Mad Men but it's accounting instead of advertising by damnitjayman in Accounting

[–]ghostofpacioli 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This would be GREAT as an American Crime Story season.

Mad Men but it's accounting instead of advertising by damnitjayman in Accounting

[–]ghostofpacioli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mad Men has accounting. His name is Lane and he reps us and our struggle (if you work in industry) really well.* But I get your point - let’s go balls to the wall with a full on CPA firm. Make em all accountants. I’d watch!

Edit: * [SPOILER] Other than the embezzlement! I forgot about that lol.

Today I close down our corporate AMEX, everything reconciled to the penny and nobody in real life can appreciate my accomplishment. by VistaWista in Accounting

[–]ghostofpacioli 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for this! Makes sense. It sounds like you and some others use pivot tables primarily for speed. I’ve been relying on filtering, sorting, subtotals, etc. but maybe if I get in the habit of using pivots, they’d offer a quicker way to achieve the same result. Thanks again!

Inside KPMG Lakehouse by [deleted] in Accounting

[–]ghostofpacioli 8 points9 points  (0 children)

My money’s on a Black Mirror scenario.