Easy Success: How to Succeed Accounting Studies

PREFACE

Dear accounting student,

Having successfully achieved more than 10 accounting degrees and professional titles, it is with confidence that I present to you this volume. My objective, quite simply, is to guide you towards better success.

I basically never stopped studying. Indeed, I wrote the American professional accounting examinations in 2010 and 2013.

Over the course of my various experiences, I have developed a great number of tips and tricks enabling me to adopt a more efficient approach when comes the time to study for, to prepare for, and to successfully write, an examination. Your time is precious, as is mine, and learning how to concentrate on the essentials is a winning attitude.

Personally, I regularly revisit the various approaches and strategies I rely on. How can I get more out of what I am doing by expending the same efforts? I am constantly seeking to improve the results achieved by choosing more useful and more appropriate means, namely those that provide a greater added value.

In light of this goal of learning to work efficiently, I also seek out ways to make the learning of concepts more interesting. How can one summarize information in a more visual manner? Or in such a manner as to flesh out the interconnections between topics? And, finally, how can I promote long-term information retention?

I am pleased to share to with you the sum total of my work, in order to assist you in your own success.

Proud to be an accountant,

Dr. Sylvie Deslauriers

Part 1

Attending Classes

Preliminary Work

Active Listening

Taking Notes

Reviewing Course Notes

The learning curve does not move smoothly upwards: it has its up and downs.

© Deslauriers Sylvie, Accounting Success The Guide to Case Resolution, 2010, page 212.

Part 1

Attending Classes

From the outset, I would like to mention that it appears to me essential to attend all classes scheduled as part of your training program. In your learning path, Attending Classes is undeniably useful. Your professors are there in order to explain, structure, summarize and demonstrate the concepts. Of course, one must find the means of best using the information provided to you. Do not lose sight of the goal of seeking to understand as quickly as possible the subject-matter of the program.

COMMENT

Some students voluntarily choose not to attend some teaching sessions. Among other reasons, they consider that they can do the work by themselves, thereby thinking that they will save time.

According to my experience, I can tell you that that is rarely a good strategy. On the one hand, a student may postpone what he or she could do as the study session is progressing. However, the subject-matter that has not yet been studied slows down the speed with which one can learn the topics that follow. On the other hand, the individual work required in order to replace a course generally exceeds the duration of the course itself. If one conducts a cost/benefit analysis, one quickly realizes that it is not a good idea.

Finally, one should not count on the fact that all the highlights of a course will be properly relayed to us by any of our colleagues.

Preliminary Work

I suggest that you take the time to plan the courses you will be attending. Knowing in advance the contents of the next course in one’s training program is a useful investment. There is, in my opinion, a modicum of work that needs to be performed before showing up for class; this work clearly positions your learning.

This is what I suggest.

puce.tif Refer to the course outline. First of all, it appears to me important to visualize the progression of the courses in their entirety. Identifying the unifying thread in the sequencing of the topics allows one to place each of them— as well as their sub-topics —in perspective and in relation to each other. For instance, the various items making up Assets are usually taught in the following order of appearance on the balance sheet: Cash, Accounts receivable, Inventory, Property, Plant and Equipment, etc. Similarly, you will learn how to calculate the production cost of a single product before learning how to allocate joint costs between several products.

One must also regularly take note of the items covered by each of the individual teaching sessions. This allows you to plan your preliminary reading and promotes the taking of useful notes in class.

puce Conducting a preliminary reading. One must acknowledge that any student preparing for the next course is faced with new topics that he or she is not yet proficient in. When one shows up for class to take a two-hour course on the accounting of property, plant and equipment, for instance, absorbing the concepts becomes more and more difficult as the course progresses. In an ideal world, it is preferable to read all the material suggested in the course outline before attending class. In practice, it is not always that obvious. However, one should not show up for class empty-handed, on the one hand, so as to ensure that your learning will be the most efficient possible and, on the other hand, to ensure that it will be the most interesting possible.

COMMENT

Some students do not write at all in their reference volumes. I suppose they hope to resell them once the study session has been completed.

I can tell you, out of experience, that the volumes directly related to your discipline will be useful for a long time, throughout your studies and in your professional life.

Personally, I consider that a volume that bears testament to the many readings it went through has served its purpose.

Prior to showing up for class, I suggest that, at very least, you perform a preliminary reading of the topics on the agenda in order not to be completely lost after some 15 minutes. For instance, before attending a class on fixed assets, one must have acquired knowledge as to their nature (definition), be able to identify that which forms part of the acquisition cost, know that this cost must be amortized and that there are various methods of doing so. You will quickly observe that these are the first concepts set out in the Table of Contents of any financial accounting volume. It does not appear to me to be necessary to know all the Hows and Whys in the most intricate detail. However, by understanding what amortization is, for instance, you will more easily and quickly grasp the operation of the various methods explained by the professor.

Active Listening

Attending classes is a dynamic activity that requires constant mental involvement. It requires more than simply sitting down and waiting for the professor to transfer his or her knowledge to us. Active listening requires training and concentration in order to establish, as soon as possible, the basic premises for an understanding of the subject-matter. The goal is simple: understanding and learning the greatest amount of knowledge in a given time period.

Here are a few items to consider in order to promote your in-class learning.

puce Adopt a constructive attitude. Being positive and willing to learn are the keys to success. After all, you are there since you deliberately chose to be there. When you come to class, consider the new subject-matter