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mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

CRA strike doesn't affect my filing, but it sure as hell helps the audit that I had due yesterday.

To be fair, the agent said even though the due date to submit a response was the 18th and he wouldn't be back in until the 19th, it gives me pretty much a definite extension.

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mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

Follow-up: Turns out that no, the public sector strike doesn't affect auditors, so I still have to deal with an audit while finishing tax returns before May 1.

All while studying for the CFE in just over a month.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

Annointed posted:

Wait there's a strike?

Up here there is. Apparently there's picketing in front of Canadian government buildings.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

tony quidtana posted:

If I apply for admission into CPA PEP do I have to enrol in Core 1 right away or can I just sit in the program without registering for anything? I really just don't want to take anything right now and just want to make sure my old university courses don't expire.

Much like Potsie, you can definitely sit on it.

From what I remember, there's a 6 year window from enrollment to completing the PEP program, but you can in fact take time off here and there.

As for expiring university courses, I think once they're accepted as CPA equivalent credits, they don't expire (provided you enroll into PEP) as long as you don't want for the PREP 6-year window to close as well.

Hell, I got my Mohawk College credits applied against CPA PREP credits because I applied via CGA (very brief window that I thankfully was able to slide through in 2014 where CGA took Mohawk and CPA took CGA, but CPA won't take Mohawk) and am still in PEP right now.

Man was last week brutal. An 85-minute Day 3 case due on Friday, a 4-5 hour Day 2 case due Saturday, and three 70-85 minute Day 3 cases due Sunday. I ended up blowing off one of the Sunday ones, but thankfully this week is pretty light. Good thing too since I'm swamped with tax returns.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

tony quidtana posted:

ya I just want to make sure my university courses don't expire so I don't mind sitting in the program for a while. I got one PREP course left then I want to take a break and then just start knocking PEP out next year if I decide to go through with it.

I'm only doing PREP but the deliverables thing is kinda driving me nuts and it sounds like PEP is just as bad if not worse. I get that they're trying to walk you through passing the exams but I've already got my preferred study method and dicking around with assignments that have oddball outlier questions really is a hinderance to me if anything.

I used to specifically skip PEP modules during tax season because... well, I work in tax and was putting in overtime. It's definitely doable. Just remember that once you start Capstone 1, you're basically committed to writing that CFE sitting.

If it wasn't for the fact that my boss is retiring later and they're transferring me to the other office in the next few months, I would've delayed until the September 2023 CFE, but I'd rather miss a few assignments and deal with work than have to deal with a move and a new office if I'm also studying for the CFE.

Good thing they don't really expect you to study. If you don't understand how to search the provided IFRS/ASPE standards to create an answer for the financial reporting standards by now, then you can't be helped (though you should keep an eye out on recurring themes like revenue recognition. I missed some of that on one exam because I forgot about "acting as an agent").

I just hope they don't ask me to actually calculate corporate or personal taxes. Planning is fine, and adding up taxable income is fine, but if I have to sit there and actually determine the federal rate less general reduction plus alternate refundable tax less small business deduction/abatement, and then the ERDTOH/NERDTOH, AII, etc. Holy poo poo is it ever a lot and takes a LONG time to do. That's why I have software to do it at work.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

tony quidtana posted:

PEP is the same as PREP where you need 75% in the course deliverables to take the exam right? cause to be brutally honest my prep strategy has been to just do the minimum effort to get that 75% then go back to studying my own way and its probably going to be the same approach I take for PEP and the CFE. I wouldn't feel bad for a second about skipping deliverables cause its the exams that matters most.

Yeah, you need a 75% in the module itself (and participation in the weekend-long workshop is mandatory and counts as 10% I think), but you get a 1/2 on submitting the assignment and 2/2 if you get an overall grade of C or CD on the assignment.

It's not hard to qualify for the exam, and the whole point of the work is to see where you're going in terms of learning what they look for during an exam. One of our other staff members recently failed the Core 1 exam so it's possible, but Core 1 has the lowest overall pass rate (I assume it's because enough people aren't quite into the groove of case-based writing), and also English isn't her first language so maybe she struggles with communication.

It does seem easy, but IME more than a handful of people struggle with it outright. There are probably multiple reasons, but I still remember people in the workshops having trouble that seemed very obvious to me. Like, honestly, they'd have questions about presentations that are answered by simply asking yourself, "Is a client going to care about that?" If not, don't worry about it. If so, you might have to explain this. I think I said this before, but in the Capstone 2 workshop I did last month, the SAME GUY that was in the Capstone 1 workshop must've asked 15-20 questions each day, most of which were obvious.

"To qualify for writing the CFE, you need a 75% in Capstone 2 module. You will receive 2/2 as long as you make a reasonable attempt upon submission."
"Uh, how are we being marked on our submissions?"

Not "how are we assessed?" But the actual marks themselves. Buddy, it's obviously a participation mark.

tony quidtana posted:

It's funny you mention the corporate tax stuff because that's exactly what one of the questions had us do in the Tax PREP exam I took lol. I have a feeling a lot of people ate poo poo on that and the personal tax questions though because I was not feeling good about putting that stuff together and ended up with a 93% on the written portion of the exam.

The Tax PEP exam didn't ask me about that. They just wanted me to compile information about separate issues, like principal residence exemptions, income attribution rules, or calculate individual dividend refund balances, that kind of thing. Oh, and I had to learn divorce rules from scratch because I NEVER touched on it at all in my studying.

I mean, they know that a lot of that stuff is done by software in the real world so you don't need to know the specifics, but you should know how dividend refunds work, or RRSP rules, etc.

It's two cases, somewhere between 90-120 minutes long (I think mine were 100 and 80 or something), and they don't want you spending a half-hour creating a chart to sit there and calculating federal taxes from scratch. I think the practice cases are purposefully made harder to make the exam easier.

Edit:

I also didn't find this out until like, earlier this year, but if you want the Public Accounting Licence (to sign off on financial statements under an assurance engagement), there are specific PEP requirements: you need to take both Assurance and Taxation elective modules, pick the Assurance role for the Day 2 CFE exam, and also get a "Competent" designation in both Assurance and Financial Reporting. Also a minimum of 425 hours of audit PERT experience.

I picked Taxation because I have no real-world audit experience so I'll just pick it up with an extra course after. If not, guess I won't be a partner in an audit firm.

mojo1701a fucked around with this message at 20:06 on Apr 28, 2023

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

This is up there with the time I had someone complain that they withheld a higher percentage of a bonus cheque they got.

Buddy, if you want the same rate of withholding then you're gonna get one hell of a surprise come tax-time unless you plan on depositing that into a tax-deductible account.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

God I hate some of these Capstone 2 practice cases. They're meant to prep you for the CFE but one of my AO's literally requires me to research Non-GAAP Measures and the online discussion board confirmed what I knew: none of that poo poo was ever studied or in the e-books.

I mean, for a stand-alone assignment it's fine, because sure, in the real world you'd have to do research. But if it's meant to be exam prep and you'll only have access to financial reporting standards and the ITA, then, uh... what the hell?

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

tony quidtana posted:

Every educator thinks they're some galaxy brain super genius for putting some niche difficult concept on their assignments that has like a 1.7% chance of actually being a question on the exams.

When I did CFA the guy I used for mock exams had quite an ego and just made brutally hard mock exams on niche concepts and I literally just stopped halfway through the second one because it was loving pointless and wasn't going to meaningfully prepare me for what the exam actually is.

If you're in education at all and reading this put actual loving effort into your test bank. Have challenging questions relevant to the material with wrong answers that you could realistically arrive at by misunderstanding the concept and then loving explain what was wrong with the answer you arrived at and explain FULLY how to arrive at the correct answer. If I have to look up addition crap for your explaination for the correct answer then your test bank blows. That's my test bank rant

It's not the first time that I've seen questions that make me go, "What the gently caress?" but this is the first time it's actually been outside of the scope of what we've been asked to study.

Like, there was one assignment where the facilitators admitted that it's a weird assignment, but this is like getting an assignment that asked me about 1040 filing implications. Not "this person declared $X on their 1040 and paid $Y to the IRS," but "Does this qualify under the tax treaty as exempt income?" That's something you do in real life, but that's not something they expect you to know in the exam.

I haven't been getting nearly as good results on my practice cases as I'd hoped, but the same thing also happened in pretty much every other module I did and exam marks were always better-than-expected (it has a 75-80% pass rating, FFS). I only need a "competent" in both Financial Reporting and Taxation. I'm more worried about PERT and trying to get an auditing job in a year for my practical experience.

Edit: one of the parts of this assignment had me break down R&D costs and whether or not it could be capitalized. Except instead of giving me specific expenses ("research", "sales salaries", "prototypes", etc.) they had it broken down between drug trial phases and a few notes about expenses. I'm not confident in my answer but whatever, I just need to submit it.

mojo1701a fucked around with this message at 20:55 on May 3, 2023

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

Nea posted:

yeah. any regimented new job will do that. i worked at the post office and it took me 8 months to attain basic competence at sorting mail and hauling boxes to where i felt like i was at a good position.

Took me a long while to understand this stuff, too. I used to ask a lot of questions that I now just do intuitively.

As long as you ask questions and let your supervisors know where your weaknesses are so you can grow and/or they can plan around it is best, assuming they're worth a drat. When I first got hired, I started working two weeks after someone else I went to college with started. She was let go a few months later because she wasn't nearly as inquisitive or open as I was, despite having way better marks than I did in school.

We had a coop student last year or two years ago whose work we ended up having to fix a lot of when we carried it forward to the next year. Wasn't his fault, though. One of my coworkers who was briefly a partner ("mutual decision" from what they told me) was supposed to train and supervise him, but didn't really do much of that. Just kept trusting him to do the job instead of actually looking over his stuff from that year.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

I just got a "conditional fail" on my CFE Day 1 practice case because I didn't put in enough "relevant case facts" into my analysis.

God, I'm dreading that Day 1 case because you're judged "holistically" so it's not something you can really study for. I mean, I'm just going to keep going over the assessments and just try to remember what kind of structure they're looking for, but it's still got me spooked nonetheless.

Thankfully if I do fail it but pass Days 2 and 3, I only need to redo Day 1 on its own.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

Yet another update: I talked with the partner at the other office who wants me to transfer over once mine's downsized. Turns out he's actually signed an agreement to lease more space, which means that as someone in a more senior position, I'll still have my own office (currently I have my own in this office, but everyone else works in a main area like a bullpen other than him). Furthermore, it sounds like he's going to be hiring at least one or two more people so I'll probably be more supervisory as well.

Now I just need to pull a raise from him between the additional responsibility, having to move into an area with a higher COL, and I just got the official notification that I passed Capstone 2 so I'm officially getting to write the CFE in two weeks.


tony quidtana posted:

When I did CFA the guy I used for mock exams had quite an ego and just made brutally hard mock exams on niche concepts and I literally just stopped halfway through the second one because it was loving pointless and wasn't going to meaningfully prepare me for what the exam actually is.

To go back to this, a word of warning: Do all of the Day 1 practice cases if you enter Capstone 2. The Day 1 exam is way different than anything else because they're assessing you "holistically", which means that even though it's a continuation of the large Capstone 1 case and there's a format they expect you to learn ahead of time, there are "other operational issues" you need to identify and address that aren't directly given. The reason I got a "conditional fail" on the one I submitted is because I missed this. If I'd at least gotten a "partial", I would've gotten a conditional pass.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

All three CFE days are done! I hope to God I don’t have to go through that again.

The convention centre was so cold.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

I have yet to have a meeting with the other partner whose office I'll be moving to (I got the official "we're closing this office and we need to know your plans" letter a few weeks ago), but I think I have more leverage in negotiating a pay raise than I thought.

The soon-to-be-retired partner I work for had me do some fix-ups on a file. Apparently, that client (or one of the other owners of a holding company, I forget) was transferred to the other partner because of retirement, and they weren't happy with his work.

The main reason we're still retaining this client is because my boss said that I'd be transferring there, and that kept them happy so they'll be dealing with me instead. Now, I'm still not a CPA, but I think that's a good sign that I could probably negotiate a "I'm moving to a higher COL area, plus I have more responsibility, plus you need me" raise.

I just don't know how much to shoot for. I'm due for a regular COL increase (the previous two were $2/hour per year), and now I'm wondering if I should shoot for. Currently, I make C$33 per hour.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

Well, I can officially post this good news. Took me forever to log in, but: I have successfully passed CPA's Common Final Exam.

All I need now is to get my experience verified, but for now I'm going to solicit recommendations on something that requires me to call an LCBO employee with a key.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

Annointed posted:

Congratulations on making it mate

Hellblazer187 posted:

Congrats my guy!

Thanks! The real challenge now (other than getting the experience requirement, which will mean a new job) is getting a raise from the new partner. I figure I should push for one since a) I'm due for a COL increase, b) I'm being asked to work in a higher COL area, c) a number of clients are coming because of me, d) he needs someone experienced like me, and e) there's more responsibility. I was looking at modest 1br basement apartments in the GTA (well, Mississauga) and they're... 50% more than my previous 1br apartment that I moved out of in 2020.

I need to start making other contacts in the industry so I can get a better idea for what I can get salary-wise. Maybe I'll start doing some basic reading on US taxes or something, since I don't need to actually study for now.

On the plus side, my new office is nicer, slightly larger, and carpeted! Just needs art and a proper coffee setup.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

Annointed posted:

I GOT STAFFF ACCOUNTANT JOB FOR HOTEL INDUSTRY

I CAN FINALLY NOT BE POOR

Congratulations!

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

Good Citizen posted:

This seems like normal stuff for someone as fresh as you and hopefully your boss was just having a bad day because anyone working with first timers should know this is normal

Yeah. I swear I have a memory of my boss uttering something negative under his breath in my first year. It's more than a few years later and now I'm a necessary part of the machine.

Oh, speaking of, update: I am now 4/5 days of the week at the new office, but the old office still needs me on Fridays as things wind down there. I really need to push for a raise because it's a higher COL area, but at least I'm getting more attention on LinkedIn and maybe I'll make a jump sometime in 2024 to get my experience requirements. I'm also hoping it'll improve my mental health, but that's for a separate subforum.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

I spent the last day or two fixing up a file for my old boss because I decided to check my work email on the Monday of a long weekend. Like, "I can't believe you forgot <X>, <Y>, <Z> in your file. <Client> gave us their summaries!" I was able to smoothen most of it over with him Tuesday morning because it turned out that no, the client didn't give this stuff (sole proprietorship, first year as a corporation). I missed some stuff but the client now had a separate bank account for her information and gave us a lot of other stuff and didn't actually give us a summary. Still, that was rough.

The new partner I'm working for is out of the country so I was supposed to have a staff meeting, but I rushed to finish this and I realized that I should finally have a staff meeting this week because he told me to do one with the new office.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

Good Citizen posted:

Most people rightly realize that this is an apprenticeship profession and taking on a fresh staff is like adopting a new puppy and a big commitment of your time and understanding. And they know that because they remember being a dumb as hell staff themselves

This was literally me when I graduated college and got my first job.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

19 o'clock posted:

Getting an accounting degree shows you can do the work, not necessarily how to do the work. That's how it was explained to me anyway and made me feel a lot better coming into my first job.

I'll never forget that I started working about a month after one of the other students also got hired. She had way better marks than I did, but was let go after a couple of months because she couldn't put the actual concepts into practice and never felt comfortable asking for help.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

Hmm, starting to notice that my new position is a bit more supervisory than I thought. My new boss hired someone just before I started working here and I'm now being asked to train him a bit more.

I've never done it before, and I'm honestly not sure if this kid will last that long. The new partner doesn't train his staff as much as the old partner, but most of the other staff he's had seem capable. Part of the problem is also that I'm here fixing some stuff up because the new partner doesn't have time to look over a lot of the work they do so I'm trying to get everyone in better habits like making actual notes so someone else like me can understand them.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

Now that I'm more senior in the new office, I'm taking on more managerial work. That also means I found out today that one of our staff members is leaving at the end of the month, which leaves us short-staffed for tax season.

I mean, I think we'll be OK because my old office only had about 4 staff members (1 partner, 3 staff) who processed around 7-800 tax returns annually and we're now 5 here (1 partner, me, and 3-4 other staff) and this office does way less tax returns. Still, now I need to actually think about this.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

Tony quidprano posted:

Anybody in Canada willing to weigh in on what to expect from the Core 1 orientation workshop? I've got mine next weekend and just got an email saying I need to complete some sort of store brand Myers Briggs personality assessment and that cameras have to be on the entire workshop which is setting my expectations at "I'm going to want to blow my brains out by the end of this thing"

I finished the CFE and did all of the modules in the last year or two, AMA.

9 am to 4 pm on a Saturday and Sunday certainly isn’t fun, but at least you get an hour lunch break and two 15 minute breaks. In my experience the worst part is if there’s someone with a shitload of questions. I had a guy in my final two modules who asked a LOT of questions, so much so that I started keeping track. He even had questions during the few minutes that gave an overview of post-designation PD requirements.

Because of the pandemic I did Core 1 and 2 asynchronously so you may not do this, but there may be a group assignment. Hopefully your group will be chill like my final one was and no one insists on overthinking things, since you’re being marked on presentation.

Other than that, just be present and ask the occasional question. Not much is really expected if you, but you’ll need that weird report that personality test spits out for some small assignments.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

Tony quidprano posted:

So it wasn't too bad although I understand why the program is so rigidly structured after seeing that a solid half the class hasn't even had a job out of university yet and I'm assuming having make work assignments every week is to keep them on track. I personally would rather just be able to do my own thing but whatever that is what it is.

How big is the capstone 1 group project? I think I did an own goal on myself with the personality test since I spiked it to get the usual obvious "leadership type" personality, I didn't realise they sorted groups based on the personality test results and now I've got a bad feeling I'm going to end up managing a bunch of snot nosed kids when that comes around lol.

Well, it’s the whole module. Most of the people who make it to Capstone 1 should have some level of discipline because the elective modules are actually tougher than the Core modules. Most people have a vested interest in passing so even if you have one person who isn’t the best, the rest should work well enough.

Not to get too ahead of you, but it requires at least one weekly meeting. Basically find the sample responses and internalize those. There’s a format they’re looking for and you had better ensure that you follow it. That also goes for Day 1 of the CFE since you’re on how well you put together the follow-up assignment (for the love of God, do not miss those practice cases in Day 1. I missed the deadline for the first one, and got a marginal fail for the second one because I didn’t address any additional operational issues. I got it when I wrote the CFE but that one is a lot harder to nail because it’s “holistic”).

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

Annointed posted:

How much practice does it take to make fewer mistakes?

Twice. You have to try it at least two times.

What they're looking for with Day 1 is different than anything else. Every other module, as well as Days 2 and 3 are practice cases where you read it, analyze it, create an outline, and then put together an answer. Day 1 has a specific format that is graded differently and if you miss one of the specific areas, you can fail Day 1 entirely. In my case, I omitted the "other operational issues" when I did the second practice and would've preferred one more shot on getting it graded so I knew what I was doing.

I still ended up passing it because I memorized the rubric, but I still don't know why Week 1 of Capstone 2 had a due date of "Saturday, 2:55 AM" and then Week 2 was "Friday, 2:25 AM". All of the other modules had similar due dates for the quizzes and integrated problems/practice cases every week.


Tony quidprano posted:

So it wasn't too bad although I understand why the program is so rigidly structured after seeing that a solid half the class hasn't even had a job out of university yet and I'm assuming having make work assignments every week is to keep them on track. I personally would rather just be able to do my own thing but whatever that is what it is.

How big is the capstone 1 group project? I think I did an own goal on myself with the personality test since I spiked it to get the usual obvious "leadership type" personality, I didn't realise they sorted groups based on the personality test results and now I've got a bad feeling I'm going to end up managing a bunch of snot nosed kids when that comes around lol.

I just remembered: there's a Capstone 1 assignment guide here. Part 1 of the assignment is just a general overview of the situation, which builds into Part 2 that goes over the strategic options and other analysis, which builds into Part 3 which is the overall report that you would submit to your theoretical clients.

It looks a lot more daunting than it is, and at least it's only 7-8 weeks long. Like I said, if you can find the sample assignment and response, those will help a lot with the basic framework of the reports and presentation. Good news is that the Capstone 1 and 2 modules start immediately so you go over almost everything with the facilitators instead of waiting at least a few weeks in.

Honestly, the more annoying parts of the module were making sure your Excel pages fit into the limitations, and the peer evaluations. You had to do one immediately after your first meeting when you barely know them, and then one just 2-3 weeks later. "What is this person doing that they should stop? What is this person not doing that they should start? What should this person continue doing?"

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

Tony quidprano posted:

Boy loving howdy did I get told this in no uncertain terms on the feedback for my first assignments. They apparently are not too loving keen on me turning in the assignment only in Excel without an accompanying word document.

Yeah, the Word document is the main format, and the Excel is there for backups of statements, calculations, etc. I would always write "Please see associated Excel tab <Table 1> for calculations".

Remember: all of the practice cases are meant to be read as an actual memo to whoever the intended recipient is, which includes remembering the target's ability to understand technical jargon.

Good news is that even though you need a 75% to pass, you get 50% just for submitting the practice cases and integrated problems. They're there to make sure you're on the right path, in the event that there are areas where you need extra work.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

Tony quidprano posted:

yeah, the whole guardrails thing is a little annoying tbh but it made sense when I saw how many fresh grads who hadn't even started work there were. I did back-calculate it out of curiosity and you basically have to get a 45% actual grade across all assignments to qualify to write the exam. I get why it's there, you gotta have some mechanism to push people over the finish line. But for myself I am 100% certain that my time and test results would be better suited to just grinding out test bank questions and a few retired exams and this stuff is just getting in the way.

I mean, the practice cases are basically the same as the exams. You get 4 hours to do two practice cases and a certain amount of multiple choice questions.

Like I said, it’s not a matter of grading you, but practice and evaluating you to see where you need work.

Once in a while you’ll have a case that leaves you scratching your head. I had one in Capstone 2, I think, that involved something that was never covered in any of the material at all. The only response in the discussion board from the facilitators was to research it. Which, if this is supposed to be exam prep, was absolute bullshit. Thankfully the actual evaluators have enough sense to say, “Yeah, I know this was stupid. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

The exams are much better and in my experience most of the first four modules don’t really make you hunt for the requires. You just need you practice doing an outline and time management.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

PatMarshall posted:

yeah 2 monitors are standard. Your office should provide.

My new office has me using a laptop and a second screen. I'd ideally have two regular screens, but it's so much better than my previous one with just one desktop screen.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

I also occasionally work from home so I bring my work laptop and plug it into my monitor there. Problem is I already have a laptop plus external monitor setup with my personal computer, so I need to find a shelf or something where I can place the work laptop above my personal laptop and not have to move it (if that makes sense).

Hellblazer187 posted:

My cursor is like 5x regular size and bright green. My 30 year old business partner makes fun of me but it helps so much.

I've noticed one of my new coworkers does this.

PatMarshall posted:

I'm a psychopath who's been working solely on my 14 inch laptop screen for the last four years but I do not recommend it.

...and I have an old coworker who used to do this, too, except that he never adjusted it to be comfortable and would be constantly hunched over staring at the screen from like, a foot or two away. He was never in the best shape, either, and I can't imagine that being any good for him.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

I'm doing a lot more management stuff at this new office, which means I was the one making sure all of our various T-slips (employment, investment income, etc.) were filed by yesterday's deadline.

Even on the deadline, I had to email my boss "Hey, this company we do payroll for has employees with no address or SIN on their slip. We kinda need those to file". It's one thing if the client is late with info that has missing information, but if we're the ones doing payroll, we need to actually make sure that we have proper payroll information because it makes us look bad.

He's too used to keeping high-level stuff to himself and not really putting in effort to make sure that the other staff members know their roles and responsibilities. I'm working on files that were done last year that are half-finished with financial statements that don't look right in terms of presentation, and he's asking me not to spend too much time on this stuff.

I got my bonus a week ago, and after the chat with him I'm convinced that he thinks I'm going to be sticking around long-term.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

We had one staff member leave about a month ago, and now we're losing a second right at the beginning of tax season due to a family emergency.

Thankfully this office processes way less tax returns than my old one, and it also has the added benefit of having me in the office so I think we'll be OK. Still, it'll probably be the first tax season in a long time where I've had to put in actual overtime in a long while.

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mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

Epi Lepi posted:

Must be nice to consider this the beginning of tax season, I've been booked non stop since the last week of January.

We just finished our income slips season (deadline was February 29 to file T4/T5/etc.) and our T1 income tax return filing deadline is April 30. And even then we have a lot of self-employed clients who don't have to file until June 15 (though they will still owe interest on amounts unpaid).

Even if we wanted to start filing, CRA doesn't really start accepting efile submissions until mid-late February.

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