The story of how I took the final competency assessment without even finishing one round of practice exams
I received a LINE message from a former colleague, and that was the first time I realized it was the day the results were announced.
Seeing the word 'congratulations,' I checked the results. I had passed. When I found out I passed, feelings of reflection and regret were stronger than happiness.
I took the exam without sufficient preparation
I took the final competency assessment at a time when my move to Singapore was imminent, so my preparation time was extremely limited. I had no choice but to cram during the Obon holiday period and the study leave right before the exam.
To give you an idea of how unprepared I was, I couldn't even finish one round of practice exams.
When I took the CPA exam in the past, my goal was to be on the leaderboard for every practice exam, and I would approach the test only after having mastered the scope almost perfectly. Compared to that method, my preparation for the final competency assessment was like that of a completely different person.
Both during and after the exam, I thought I had failed
For accounting, auditing, and business management, there were parts where the knowledge I had built up for the CPA exam still applied, but for tax and ethics, there were many areas covered for the first time in the final competency assessment, and there were many times during the exam when I was stuck.
When I left the exam venue, I had almost given up. In fact, perhaps because I was escaping reality, I didn't even know when the results would be announced. It wasn't that I was thinking about what to do next under the assumption that I had failed; I was putting off thinking about it altogether.
The results were: total score B, accounting B, auditing B, tax D, business management B, and ethics C. Having a D and a C in tax and ethics is not even enough to describe it as 'barely passing'.
Reflection was greater than happiness
Even though I passed, why couldn't I be genuinely happy?
One reason is the regret over my lack of preparation. It was wrong to take the exam without even finishing one round of practice exams. The only reason I passed this time was that the knowledge from the CPA exam served as a foundation, combined with some luck; it is not a repeatable result. It was preparation for which I would have had no excuse had I failed.
Another reason is the fear I felt after passing. Regardless of how well I have mastered the exam scope, once I register, I can call myself a Certified Public Accountant to the outside world. Clients will perceive me as a professional in accounting and tax, and they will expect me to answer correctly no matter what they ask. But I am, of course, not perfect. The gap between that expectation and reality outweighed my happiness.
However, that is precisely why it has become a motivation for me to continue studying. It was a results announcement that made me strongly feel that in order to remain an expert worthy of the title of Certified Public Accountant, I need to continue updating my knowledge in practice.
Final competency assessment preparation: what can be learned from my failures
Everyone prepares for the final competency assessment without having enough time. So, rather than talking about ideals, I will talk about how to act with limited time.
I think it is better to use the same prep school as you did for the CPA exam. I signed up for a different prep school than the one I used for the CPA exam, and this was a mistake. Especially in accounting and tax calculation problems, the methods for drafting can differ between prep schools. It is inefficient to master a new drafting method when time is limited. The structure of the textbooks is also slightly different, so the discomfort of reading something different from the textbooks I had internalized during my CPA exam days kept piling up.
You should also actively utilize your textbooks from your CPA exam days. Especially for accounting and tax calculations, for topics that have not changed since the CPA exam, it is easier to understand them by looking at the CPA exam textbooks rather than the final competency assessment prep school textbooks.
I think it is efficient to take classes only for tax, focusing on the scope that is newly covered in the final competency assessment and the areas that have been revised since the CPA exam. For other subjects, you can manage by reading the textbooks.
I recommend doing practice exams only for tax. The format of tax questions is quite different between the CPA exam and the final competency assessment, so you need to get used to it through practice exams. I struggled with this difference in format and couldn't even solve parts that were covered in the CPA exam well. That was the cause of my D grade. For other subjects, I feel that checking the problems and answers, marking the relevant parts in the textbook, and reading only those parts is more cost-effective in terms of time than solving practice exams.
The rest is about repeating the textbooks and example problems to see how much of a wide range you can master. I believe that level of mastery determines whether you pass or fail and the grade for each subject.
What changes after passing
Once you pass the final competency assessment, you can register as an official member of the JICPA (Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants). Finally, you will be able to officially call yourself a Certified Public Accountant.
However, it seems that registration takes several months, and since there is no one around me who is going through the registration process at the same time, I need to actively seek out information myself.
In my case, since I am in Singapore, becoming a JICPA member will allow me to apply for associate membership with CA Singapore. This has been a goal of mine for a long time as the first step toward officially stepping into the Singaporean accounting community.
It feels like I have finally reached the official starting line, years after passing the CPA exam. I feel more strongly that the real work starts from here.
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