“My name is Jonathan, and I am a chronic test taker.” I can imagine myself standing up and saying that at some meeting for examinees anonymous. I have already taken and passed the bar exam in more than one state, and now I’m taking the CPA exams.
I recently finished nine study units, which is not bad at all. I got a little overconfident on some of the calculations and missed more questions than I thought I would. Fortunately, these are just the practice tests. They are designed to show us where we need to study. So I reviewed those sections a little more intensely. That’s what I get for relying on computers to do my personal tax return calculations.
I’m really glad that the Gleim program makes us learn this. So many CPAs use computer systems and don’t know how it works. Computers are not perfect, and depending on their programming, they may not capture all of the nuances of a particular tax law. From experience, I know that these programs are only as good as their programming, and if the preparer does not know something is wrong, it can end badly for the preparer and the client. The first time I prepared a tax return, it took me half an hour talking with my supervisor to find a form that I knew I needed. The client and I were fortunate that I knew I needed a form, because the software did not even note that the form was missing. It could have been a bad experience for both of us. Taking those quizzes this week and missing the calculations questions, and remembering that experience have made me appreciate just how invaluable the Gleim program is.
For next week, I’m going to take it a little slower. I plan to work on three study units because I will be traveling for business for part of the week. I started a new, part-time job this month working for a Chinese Law Firm. One of my jobs is helping companies minimize their tax burden under the United States-China Double Tax Treaty. As an aside, if you don’t know much about international tax, I would suggest reading some of the double tax treaties and their accompanying protocols. Tax treaty work really is fascinating, and even though international tax isn’t tested on the CPA exam, it really ought to be. As we become a global economy, international tax will become more prevalent. It is really important for new practitioners to be well-versed in issue spotting in this area of tax. But that’s an argument for another day.
