Technical studying can get overwhelming. There are so many topics in each competency area. Essentially you’re relearning everything you were taught in your undergrad accounting courses. Technical and theory is the foundation of your CFE.
I recommend that you first get your hands on the technical notes available. Once you have all your technical competency map/area notes, you will complete your first read of these by summarizing them and making your own version of these notes either by typing them out, writing them on flashcards or hand writing them in a large multi subject hilroy book (use tab for different competency areas).
The key is to summarize them very briefly and to not include any excessive content. You want to be as concise as possible because ultimately the goal is to memorize these summarized notes before the CFE. So the more you write, the more you need to study/memorize, so keep it simple!
When making notes, you will include key words, criteria’s, ITA/ASPE/IFRS/CAS sections and any other important content.
Make sure that you understand what you are summarizing. If you are stuck, ask questions and seek help. Don’t pretend to know something because it will reappear on the CFE and you’ll have to face it then.
Making these notes and summarizing them is quiet boring, time consuming and tedious. But it needs to be done, so get started early and get it done right.
You should be spending a few hours every evening after work and weekends studying technical. Do it right the first time and you wont have to repeat any of this. The better you know your technical, the more confidence you’ll have on the CFE.
Remember to write as much as you need to in order to remember a particular HB section or topic. Do NOT exceed 1 page per topic.
What NOT to do: Do not re write pages and pages of the technical topics because it’ll take you forever to memorize and study it. Also, do not keep rereading the source documents and technical notes without making notes because you’ll forget it all after a few weeks and you’ll have to re study everything all over again.
