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 Focus on studying and forget
everything else for a while
With the IRS urging tax return preparers across the country to enroll for, and take the Registered Tax Return Preparer (RTRP) exam right away, it is not easy to escape the pressure of meeting the exam requirements, even knowing that you have until 31 December 2013 to pass it. Presuming you already own a provisory PTIN, you must meet the RTRP qualification requirements in order to continue preparing taxes beyond 2013.
Tax preparer exam, in numbers
Passing the competency exam is necessary for those who wish to continue preparing tax returns after 31 December 2013. That is a fact! If you wish to continue your career in the tax return preparation field, you cannot escape meeting this requirement.
The IRS reports that as of June 2012, over 4,800 candidates have become Registered Tax Return Preparers, but 340,000 preparers still must take and pass the RTRP competency exam before 31 December 2013 (Read IR-2012-59). Doing the math, in the eighteen months from August 2012 to December 2013, an average of 18,888 preparers should be testing in spite of the limited number of locations and seating availability in Prometric, nationwide. And those numbers do not take in consideration candidates that are re-taking the exam.
A smart approach to the Tax preparers exam
Even though you have an eighteen month lead to prepare for and pass the exam, a wise approach could be to just look for a window in time before next tax season to focus on studying, and forget everything else for a while during that period.
Preparing for the IRS competency examination will require a few weeks' time and effort on your part. By freeing some time from your manageable responsibilities and from distractions, and focusing for a while on preparing for the exam, you will increase your chances of passing it on your first attempt. While you are preparing for the exam, your main focus should be on optimizing the use of your time.
By looking at the IRS competency exam as an excellent opportunity to discover ways to better serve your clients and add value to the services you provide them, you will tap into a positive mind-set that will make your preparation journey easier.
How long should it take to prepare for the tax preparer exam?
How much time you should invest in your preparation depends on personal factors such as your familiarity with the tax concepts tested in the exam, and how comfortable you feel about your study habits and exam-taking. Often, neither correlates with how long you have been preparing tax returns because the exam covers all issues related to tax return preparation for individuals and small businesses alike, whereas in the exam, you may find yourself in unfamiliar territory with unfamiliar topics you were never exposed to nor had a chance to practice on.
Knowing a specific income tax concept to prepare a return is sometimes very different from dealing with tax concepts in theory. In the first instance you are guided intuitively by the software tools at your disposal, while in the second, you must have knowledge of the correct tax vocabulary in the IRS Code, to explain or answer questions correctly for a variety of situations regarding a single issue.
How long should it take you to prepare for the exam will also depend on your skills as a student and in your ability to plan, organize and stick to your plan, your general attitude toward the exam, and other personal traits.
Available resources
The IRS has excellent information to guide you during the exam preparation process. Links to the most important resource are indicated below. You can also visit our blog at www.taxstudyguides.com for additional helpful articles and tips.
Focus on your daily results and nourish  yourself with the feeling of accomplishment
Most of us were trained from childhood to focus on our weaknesses and try to improve on them. As adults, we are bombarded by the media with negative news that constantly stimulate our brain to focus on what is wrong, what is not working, and the way we do not want things to happen.
In that trained mindset, we may often find ourselves staring at what we planned to study but did not, the part of the study material that still needs to be reviewed, the time already wasted... and we feel helpless.
With that mindset, even when we finish an entire chapter, our mind's natural tendency is to direct our thoughts and feelings toward what is yet to be done, tomorrow's task, rather than celebrating today's accomplishment with a feeling of relief and exhilaration.
Almost always the feelings derived from our trained orientation to focus on the negative are "negative feelings" such as being overwhelmed, an excessive sense of urgency, a feeling of not having done enough, of lacking something, etc., which drain a great amount of energy from us; energy that we need to apply to the task at hand and move forward.
Even if the task at hand is just reading a line, practice just one exercise, organize the study material, or enroll to take the exam in some day, ...anything..., just thinking that what we did is great makes us feel good about it. You should make it your purpose, from day one of your exam preparation process, to be aware of and steer clear of mental traps you may have been exposed to.
Exam preparation requires a great deal of willpower, especially from adults, because of the many roles in life they have to balance, each demanding daily attention and focus. So, you should consider implementing any "tips" that can help make your journey easier and move forward toward passing the exam.
I am a big advocate of autosuggestion. Every time I decide to convince myself of something, it is just a matter of thinking on it repeatedly and long enough, and soon it becomes a belief that rules my behavior. Actually, that is the way I create new habits.
So, convince yourself that you are doing a great job in your study; that you can pass the exam easily; that learning is an empowering activity; that you can have fun along the way; that soon all will be over and you will have your RTRP credential to be proud of.
Create the habit, every day after your study time, to give some thought to what you accomplished that day, and feel proud about it. You could even write positive phrases or sentences to express your thoughts and feelings, and read them aloud when you feel unmotivated to study.
Nourishing a feeling of accomplishment every time you sit down to study will be an ally that will help you reach your goal. It will have a multiplier effect in your performance and in your results. It is just like a natural law that says "everything you focus on, it expands". Focus on what you accomplished, not on what you didn't do. Focus on what is working, not on what isn't.
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