John is a NINJA CPA blogger.

Hello NINJAs,

As I head into the last four weeks before taking my BEC exam, I’ve really started to hit my NINJA MCQs hard. I’m applying a concept I learned as an analyst and that is the Agile concept.

My interpretation is to go through a process of trying new ideas and if one doesn’t work you keep iterating till you find one that does. I have seen this concept mentioned here on Another71 and I’m putting it to the test.

What made me want to try this process is concept of, “Fail often and fail fast.” This is how I begin analyzing new data sets at work. I first heard this quote from a data analyst seminar.

One of the core mission statements in the development of their software product is to give people the ability to iterate quickly which means fail often and fail fast.

By doing this they get the outcome they are looking for quickly, rather than being slowed down by fear of making mistakes that would take more time to recover.

Using the NINJA MCQs, my goal is to nail the concepts. To me this means failing often and failing fast. I know the more I do MCQs and take notes, the more I will get right and will absorb the concepts rather than memorizing the answers.

I understand this CPA journey is unique to everyone that starts it. I’ve read a lot of articles about how to study for the exams and each one has had great tips which I’m using (like all of the ones in Jeff’s podcasts). In the end, my study plan will be uniquely mine and mine alone because it works for me.

So I put to you NINJAs – Find the path that works for you as you push forward to finishing the CPA Exam.