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Articles by Megan Lewczyk
2025 FAR CPA Exam Complete Guide
Every CPA candidate must pass the Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR) CPA Exam section to earn their license. While the FAR CPA Exam may seem overwhelming, Becker created this guide to break down exactly what to expect plus study tips and insights to help you get Exam Day ReadySM. Summary The FAR CPA Exam evaluates your knowledge of accounting and reporting frameworks essential for business, government, and not-for-profit entities.
How Long to Study for the CPA Exam?
If you're considering taking the CPA Exam or already starting to study for it, you know that the process to pass all four exam sections is a long one. You’ve likely heard from other CPAs that it takes months of intense studying to pass all four exam sections, and when you think about how many hours to study for the CPA Exam, it can feel overwhelming.
Financial Reporting
“A simple accounting standard is going to decimate the people in my district’s ability to have home mortgages. This has got to stop. This can’t continue. You should stop and look at the damage you’re going to be doing to the citizens of this country. And in essence after that happens, it’s going to devastate […] Joel Black, partner in charge of the audit practice at Atlanta-based Mauldin & Jenkins, will be the next chair of the GASB, and he eats, sleeps, and breathes governmental accounting.
CPE Archives - Going Concern
Try not to piss yourselves with excitement, kids. Time-strapped accountants who need to brush up on a subject area or meet continuing professional education (CPE) requirements have a new, cost-effective option: targeted study programs through CPExpress, an online learning library offered by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Career Advice Archives - Going Concern
Nearly 10 years ago to the day (10 years and one day, specifically), my esteemed former colleague Caleb Newquist wrote a post for this here then-new website entitled Infuriating Problem of the Day: Accountants Quitting During Busy Season.
You Won't Need a Therapist if You Have a Mentor
Public accounting breeds irritable, highly-caffeinated workaholics. It’s no surprise mental health is an afterthought. Between preparing for intense client status calls and getting workpaper review comments cleared before archiving starts, it’s not likely you’ll have much time to focus on your feelings. We put up with long hours with 85%-90% billable utilization quotas during the day. CPA Exam review is a post-work pastime to relax.
Wells Fargo Not Sick of Bad Press Yet
Oh, Wells. Buddy. What’s going on? Can’t seem to keep your nose clean. Last week heralded another splashy headline in the WSJ: Even we’re getting sick of it! This time, WSJ reported that employees in the wholesale subunit cut corners with data collection — including personal identifying information such as social security numbers — to comply with anti-money-laundering controls. The sloppy rush job was due to the time pressure of a regulatory consent order.
The IRS Has the Mother of All Nightmare Legacy Systems
Legacy systems are awful — so awful it’s the first thing I wrote about on Going Concern. To refresh your memory, legacy systems are obsolete software/hardware with so much technological baggage that they make you want to run away screaming, but you can’t for one reason or another. The most significant reason, unfortunately, is that it would take a lot of planning, money, and a small miracle to transition from the old clunker to a new, fancy tech platform with all the bells and whistles.
KPMG Master’s Degree Program Admits 135 into Indentured Service in 2018
As a Big 4 alumna, when I saw the KPMG master’s degree program, I immediately thought, “What’s the catch?” But before we get to the catch, let’s look at the program itself a little more. Per Accounting Today, the cohort of 135 program participants for the 2018-2019 start class will get their tuition fully paid, a guaranteed internship at KPMG while earning their degree, and a full-time position when they graduate the program.
Excel Is Finally Keeping Up With the Joneses
Two years have passed since I wrote a controversial post about ditching Excel. And as fate would have it, no one listened. We are as attached to Excel as ever. Maybe we like dealing with unruly and unresponsive files? But, those rumors about the AICPA integrating Excel into the CPA Exam have finally become a reality as of April 1, 2018. It’s about time. The CPA Exam is hard enough without dealing with a subpar off-brand spreadsheet tool.
On Chivalry and Emotional Restraint in Public Accounting
When I started in public accounting we did a Skittle icebreaker on the first day in the office and each color had an associated question. My random Skittle question was, “If you could have any superpower, what would it be?” and I remember saying: “Nerves of Steel.” Most people thought it was a unique response. To this day, I still think it’s the best answer. Emotions can be cumbersome when you have a job to do, whether fear, anger or sadness.
Beware of Public Accounting’s ‘Voluntold’ Assignments
Employment-at-will. It’s a lovely sentiment; if you don’t like it, quit. Easy. But, all jobs require you to do things that aren’t your cup of tea. Once you sign an offer letter at your accounting firm of choice, your schedule will be decided months in advance by the scheduling overlords (i.e., whichever unlucky partner or senior manager gets tasked with the undesirable task.) Consider this: You get a call/email saying that the firm just landed a new client.
A Field Guide to Quitting a Job in Public Accounting
That is the look of a man who no longer bears the yoke of a Big 4 job. Are you fantasizing about quitting your public accounting job? It’s finally March. Busy season will start to wind down soon and those miserable hours will begin to taper off. You may catch yourself daydreaming about finding another job with more balance, less travel, and a higher salary. But, forcing you back to reality is that fact that even the thought of leaving makes you feel like your tumbling into an unknown abyss headfirst?
What to Do if You Find Yourself Reverse Mentoring a Public Accounting Partner
It’s no secret that public accounting churns and burns its employees. Burnout is a cost of doing business. The result is fewer people embark on the partner track and those who become partners plan on staying put. I’d say most of those partners are crossing their fingers that the gravy train keeps chugging along from now to eternity. There are some interesting consequences as a result of partners camping out, one of which we’ll focus on today.
Insecure Overachievers Will Always Have a Place in Public Accounting
Does the endless stream of work make you want to cry sometimes? I know it is enough to make even diehard auditors buckle and break. Overwork is a hallmark of the accounting profession, and we all know it. Surely if you factor in all of the international teams, we have plenty of people to do the work. Why are we still working ourselves ragged? The hours are terrible. The “set for life” reward of becoming a partner isn’t quite what it used to be.
The Defense Logistics Agency Be Like, “Accounting? What’s Accounting?”
Occasionally I will see something charged on my credit card that I don’t remember. I rack my brain. Sometimes I start to think maybe someone’s stolen my card number. But, more often than not is a charge from an obscure parking meter or something similarly mysterious that I didn’t commit to memory. The credit card statement description is never helpful for those types of charges. When it’s for $3.75, it’s not a big deal. But it’s a little scary when it’s a big number.
5 Ways to Upgrade Your Busy Season Business Travel
Are your frequent flyer miles starting to rack up? Busy season can be hard enough when your clients are local. Add travel and some sleep deprivation, and it can make even the most cheerful manager bite your head off. Here’s what I recommend to you so you’ll be well rested and able to respond with grace and understanding: Who doesn’t have a donut-shaped pillow they forget to bring half the time when they rush out the door? I know I have a couple. I don’t find them that comfortable.
Consumer Tech Accountants Need in 2018 and Beyond
Remember The Jetsons maid Rosie? I recall thinking, “Wow, wouldn’t it be awesome to have a robotic personal assistant to keep me from looking as disheveled as I feel!” never imagining a day when that might exist. I mean, many of us were mesmerized by something as simple as a Giga pet. This is all on my mind because the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2018 wrapped up Las Vegas a little over a week ago. Well, ladies and gentleman, the future is now. Robots galore! Bigger screens and thinner laptops.
Watering Down Data Analytics for Dumb Accountants
Most accountants, especially CPAs, seem smart on paper. Some even live up to it in person. Others are less, um, fortunate… So, it doesn’t come as a big surprise that even our profession’s own publication called us out for being dumb, or at least naïve when it comes to data analytics: Sure, since it’s the Journal of Accountancy you can expect it to be phrased in the nicest possible way. We all know what they were really implying.
Auditors May Have to Keep Artificial Intelligence From Cooking the Books - Going Concern
Some smart people are starting to contemplate how to keep artificial intelligence safe and in-check. It’s a fascinating topic, especially after Facebook had to shut down their AI chatbot after it started to develop its own language in August. Plus, I have a feeling it’s going to trickle into the scope of work for an audit team through Sarbanes-Oxley and internal control testing. Here’s why: Who else has access to all public companies to enforce future AI mandates that require compliance?
Modern Accounting Firm Offices Sport Fancy Coffee, Nap Rooms, But Cling to Hoteling - Going Concern
Big accounting firms are becoming known for their swanky offices. How else will they woo the best and brightest campus hires unless run-of-the-mill abstract art is hanging on the wall? If you’re on the tax team (something I didn’t have the pleasure of experiencing), enjoy the lap of luxury every day since you’re tethered to office almost 24/7, especially during tax season.
FYI, Aspiring Accountants: There's a World Excel Championship - Going Concern
Finally, someone who will give you a trophy (and a sizable cash prize) for your unhealthy obsession with Excel. Certiport hosts an annual international Microsoft Excel championship. Accountants, everywhere, rejoice! Since, while generally, we are not the most athletically inclined (after all, we do spend a lot of time behind a desk), many of us like to tout our excel-lent Excel skills. Just look at how many people were appalled when I said the reign of Excel was over.
Can 5G Get Here Already? - Going Concern
Who doesn’t dread seeing the “Poor connection. This video will resume automatically when the connection improves” error message when chatting on FaceTime. Is my iPhone out to get me? It has an uncanny sense of knowing when to interrupt my conversation. We are dependent on the speed of our internet connection. It sets the pace of our day. If it’s slow, you can’t get around it. If it’s down, productivity stops and you’re hobbled from doing much of anything.
How Should You Handle a Partner's Friend Request?
Ding. It’s a friend request. You’re so popular. One problem. It’s from one of your engagement partners. Awkward. Now you have a dilemma. Are you obligated to say yes? Or, maybe, you let it sit in the unanswered request pile for eternity and pretend you never saw it. Weigh the options careful and may the odds be ever in your favor.
The Banking of Things Could Be the Next Technology Accountants Freak Out About
What if your client was a car? No, not the person who owns the car, but the car itself. Absurd, you say? Not totally. For starters, connecting devices to the Internet of Things (IoT) is getting ridiculously cheap. The Wall Street Journal said that last summer Onion Corp. sold an itty-bitty computer with Wi-Fi connectivity for $5. The drop in production costs means this space is evolving. It’s not just your TV and fridge that can connect to the internet. It’s much more ubiquitous now.
Accountants Who Enjoy the Relative Peace of Economy Class Aren't Gonna Like This
Yesterday the Department of Transportation proposed rules that would permit voice calling on airplanes (over Wi-Fi, of course).The clock is ticking until we may have to say sayonara to tranquil flights and hello to the inescapable cacophony. While the DOT hasn’t approved anything yet, and policies allowing voice calling may be still several years out, just the idea of a plane full of chatty Cathys is enough to make you cringe.
Amazon's Giant Data Transfer Trucks Are an IT Auditor's Worst Nightmare
Drowning in more stuff than you know what to do with? Simple fix. Pack up the crap you can’t bear to part with, rent a truck, and tuck it into a storage unit. Holiday decorations and dusty workout equipment, welcome to your new home. What about when you run out of digital storage space? Or, on a larger scale, your company decides to ditch the cost and maintenance required for their in-house data center. Same logic.
Will KPMG Join Wells Fargo in its Walk of Shame?
In 2011, Going Concern speculated about potential issues with internal controls at Wells Fargo that prompted the then CFO, Howard Atkins, to abandon ship. Just a little foreshadowing of what is happening to good ol’ Wells this month. If you haven’t been following the news, here’s the scoop: Over the last 5 years a handful (actually 5,300!) employees went rogue and made millions of bogus deposit and credit card accounts to meet sales targets.
Where Should Accountants Stand on Net Neutrality?
Who doesn’t love getting preferential treatment -- even if you have to pay for it? Priority boarding on an airplane? TSA pre-check? Yes, sign me up! Really, any type of express lane is downright delicious. And, when it comes to the congested internet infrastructure, companies think so too. What company wouldn’t want to pay for their content to reach their customers at faster speeds than competitors? That’s where net neutrality comes in. Unfamiliar with the term?
Underwater Datacenters Might Make for Some Tricky Auditor Walkthroughs
Who says we can’t mix electricity and water? Dangerous… sure. But, hey, why not? Microsoft is currently testing an underwater data center and it’s kind of genius. It’s in the “why didn’t I think of that” category. Dubbed Project Natick, this cutting-edge innovation is vying to create an out-of-the-box subsea datacenter that can get dropped in the ocean off the coast where you live and be ready to rock and roll. I admit, I am intrigued. I guess it’s not a huge concern for developers.
Don’t Let the Completeness and Accuracy of System-Generated Reports Be a 'Leap of Faith'
I have noticed, much to my chagrin, a lot of CPAs don’t take learning about accounting information systems very seriously. In college, so many students write it off because “it’s not relevant” and, you know, that belief is only true if you end up working in a large firm and have the luxury of passing off the technical stuff to the IT assurance department.
Beware of Bring Your Own Device
I woke up in shock on my first day of freedom after leaving my Big 4 job. I leaned toward my nightstand to check the time on my iPhone. Wait, what?! My phone had been wiped. Panic set in first. When did I last back it up? Then reality hit me like a sledgehammer. I vaguely remember signing a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) agreement granting my former employer the authority to remove all of the corporate files from my personal phone. “Appears reasonable,” I thought.
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