Never Compare what Others Say/ Qualified in 2 years with Full time Job

Hi Everyone,

I guess that many of you are already receiving the latest March 2022 results and many of you might have already finished after a long journey.

Personally, I would like to share my experience with ACCA and OpenTuition in helping achieve my goals to be qualified in less than 2 years.

As a background, I am 31 years old with a full time job (non-practice) and before I have also worked in practice for a major audit firm. I have MSc in Finance and the Diploma in IFRS issued by ACCA. This is not to publish myself but more or less to know my background.

I started my journey when we were in full lockdown and I decided not to spend my time just watching series. So I started. I did not want to take private courses or pay for tutors so I found OpenTuition and started studying. I did everything that was recommended, download the notes, watched the videos and bough myself the Practice Books from BPP. Personally, I am more of a person that needs the theory and to be sure that has read all before taking practice tests and exercises. So I also bought the Workbooks.

After reading the notes and the Workbook and the videos, I also made my on notes more summarized for easy reference and easy way to revisit when needed. I read the exercises, I solved the exercises, I read again and I solved again. I remember that I had solved BPP multiple choice questions for FM and AA 3 times each! I repeated. I went back to the text, I went back on the video. I tried again.

I had personally, and I stress that, personally, thought that the best tactics in the non professional papers was to “assure” that I have secured around 80% of my capacity to solve the multiple choice questions.

For the Professional level courses, I read and I read and I read again the exercises for SBL, AAA. And solved solved and solved again the exercises for AFM and SBR.

I managed to pass my FM, PM, AA in one sitting (September 2020), then TX in Dec2020, SBR in March 2021 and until July 2021 I did not study anything.Why? Because I was tired. Because I said that I cannot. Because I said to myself I AM TIRED OF STUDYING. I gave myself the time.

But I wanted to finish as initially planned in 2 years. So in July I started studying for AFM and AAA. 2 courses that are 4 days apart and are easy to combine. One super theoretical, the other super practical. And I paid to sit for December 2021 at home. For technical reasons, and after studying A LOT, I could not sit for the exam. But I said to myself, I want to finish in March 2022. in 2 years. So I paid for 2022 for the SBL as well and booked my flights for another city in order to be able to go to an exam center.

I printed my docket and had 3 Professional Level exams in one sitting. Monday AAA, Tuesday SBL and Friday AFM. It was exhausting, stressful, tough. I remember leaving the exam center after SBL and felt like I had worked 20 hours without sleep.

But I did it !!!!! Today I got my results! And I did it! 54, 65 and 56 (AAA, SBL and AFM).

How?
1. Everyday, of every week of every month since the start of this journey, waking up at 6. studying until 8.45 and then at 9 work.
2. Entire weekends
3. Never listening to no ones opinion! Because the others did not make it, does not mean you cannot.

Set the goals, study be strong and KNOW and UNDERSTAND what you study! Do not try to remember exercises, to copy text books to memorize exercises. Understand what you read and make sure you are the owner of the knowledge. Do not assume anything. Just because you work in audit does not mean you will pass AA/AAA. Be committed!

It is tough. You will want to give up! You will want to cry! You will wish you had just never started. You will fail. But you need to get up! You will need to try. You will need to say to yourself why the other and not me and you will do it!

DO NOT LISTEN TO ANYONE. Their failures will not be yours if you are committed.

Here I would also like to give a BIG THANK YOU TO OPENTUITION and all professors. And especially to Mr. Moffat which whom not only did I learn ticks and trips but I also laughed a lot with his natural way of saying things and reacting to his own small mistakes when making the videos. I felt like I was in class. Deeply thankful and happy that I shared my path with you!