[Anonymous]

Hi kb24, I see that you did all 4 parts within 2 months. How did you manage your time? Do you full time study? I work full time and just found out that I failed AUD with 72(This stress me out because my FAR will be expired next year February, and I haven’t touch REG yet). My BEC expired and need to retake it. I plan to take BEC in end of July and AUD in August. Do you have any suggestion? Thank you!

[kb24]

@believe – don't have time right now but will get back to you this afternoon or evening.

FAR 4/1/11 - 89
AUD 4/15/11 - 85
REG 4/29/11 - 80
BEC 5/13/11 - 85

[SusanStudies]

@kb24…Way to go on BEC and FAR!!!

AUD: 07/11/11 - Passed
BEC: 08/27/11 - Passed
FAR: 01/17/12 - Passed
REG: 04/30/12; Re-take 7/16/12 - Passed

FINISHED!!!!!!!!

[kb24]

@believe

I don’t work, have a very supportive husband, and am somewhat obsessive so I’m able to focus on a subject for extended periods of time. Even though I’m in a different situation than you, though, I do have some suggestions that might help. The study materials I used were Becker text and notes, Passmaster questions, Wiley text and test bank, and ninja notes. I didn’t use Becker videos or sample tests.

• It’s easy to become discouraged or feel overwhelmed so you need to have something that you can do or to which you can refer to help keep you motivated. This can be anything that works for you e.g. a list of reasons why you want to be a CPA. I hung my MS Accy diploma on the wall by my bed so every morning and evening I was reminded how much work I’d already put into becoming a CPA.

• You need to have a study schedule and stick to it. If I were working, I would have used something like Jeff’s recommendation. Look at the home page of this forum for more info on this. Also, take advantage of any spare bits of time you have. Record stuff and listen to it on your ipod or in your car while commuting. Take notes or flashcards with you wherever you go and review them whenever you have a spare few minutes.

• You have to study efficiently. I’ve seen a lot of posts from people who spend a lot of time on each section and make sure they know it before they move on. If that works for them, that’s great. I studied off and on for 4 years doing that but never got to the point where I was ready to take an exam because it was just too slow. This time I did it very differently. For each section, I read the material and did the problems in the Wiley text, reviewed the answers to the ones I got wrong or guessed on, made a few notes about my weak areas, then moved on. When I did the problems, I treated them like homework i.e. I tried to do them without the text, but referred back to the text if I didn’t know the answers. If there was an area that I didn’t completely understand, I knew I’d get it in the review.

• When reviewing, I read thru the Becker notes, my notes, and the Ninja notes for each section. Then I did all the test bank problems for that section. If I was feeling like I needed more practice, I went thru the Passmaster questions. I wrote out notes for any topic I was struggling with by hand e.g. I kept getting mixed up on bonds so I wrote out all the J/E. This took about 20-30 minutes and I had no problems with bonds after that. If necessary, go back to your old accounting books for extra problems to practice or help with a topic. That’s what I did for audit sampling because I just didn’t understand it with Wiley or Becker.

• I don’t know what study materials you’re using, but I highly recommend a test bank. I used Wiley, but a lot of people also like Gleim. The most important thing to do during your review is lots of MCQ, and a test bank does this more quickly that paper problems. It also helped me to increase my speed at answering questions.

• Focus on how well you feel like you know the material after your review rather than sample test scores. There have been a lot of posts on this lately, but I don’t think they correlate well with your actual score. They’re based strictly on percentage correct whereas the AICPA weights questions based on difficulty and doesn’t count 20% of them. Also, you often start to memorize questions—this is another good reason to use a test bank.

• If there’s something you don’t understand, post a question on this site. There are lots of people who are more than happy to help.

• During the exam, you have to manage your time well and stay focused. Figure out how much time you need for the SIMS and work backwards from there as to how much time you can allow for each MCQ testlet. Stick to this schedule. It’s better to guess at a MCQ and miss it than to not finish the SIMS. Don’t let yourself think about a testlet once you’re done with it. It will distract you, and there’s nothing you can do even if you realize you missed a problem. If you find yourself starting to stress close your eyes, take a couple of deep breaths, and try to relax. If you have know that you suffer from bad test anxiety, do a google search for methods that might help you deal better with it.

• AUD – As you probably realize after taking the exam, you need to know the material in extreme detail. Memorize the unqualified audit report, the changes required for any other type of report, and audit standards. Doing lots of MCQ helped me understand how subtle word differences affected the correct answer and how to evaluate the “best” test for a particular account and assertion. Review your performance report and identify your weak areas so you know where you need to do extra work.

• BEC – This is tough because it covers so many disparate areas, and I don’t think Wiley or Becker is great in how they organize the material. If you use Becker, don’t skim thru the ancillary material. I used the CSO as my review guide which helped me get the different topics straight in my head. If you’re not an IT person, I’d highly recommend the Ninja notes. I was starting to panic about IT 2 days before the exam because I wasn’t getting it. I finally went thru Jeff’s notes multiple times and then did more MCQ. I don’t think I missed a single IT question on the test.

• REG – I thought this was tougher than FAR. You need to know all the law and tax regulation because it’s a big part of the exam, but this is mainly memorization. The tax preparation MCQ and SIMS can be on very obscure matters so you have to know that material in detail. The research tab is available if you need help on a SIM, but this will take longer. There were lots of questions from the ancillary material in Becker, so don’t skim thru it. Several people have commented that they had poorly worded questions. I didn’t have as many as some, but there were more than on my other exams. If you get one like this, make your best guess. This is the one exam I wasn’t certain if I’d passed when I walked out, and I still don’t know my score (thank you Texas). I’m crossing my fingers that I’m like some of the other people who were convinced they’d failed the exam but passed it with strong scores.

I hope this helps you. Good luck on your exams.

@susanstudies – Thanks. Good luck to you with AUD and BEC.

FAR 4/1/11 - 89
AUD 4/15/11 - 85
REG 4/29/11 - 80
BEC 5/13/11 - 85

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your notes KB24. I will definitely try to utilize all my remaining time other than work to study on the CPA. Below are the materials I am using:

AUD

Becker lecture

Becker Passmaster

Becker final review

Wiley test bank

Just bought NINJA notes

BEC

Becker lecture

Becker Passmaster

Becker final review

will get free NINJA note

How do you feel about wiely test bank for BEC?

Thank you!

[Minimorty]

@kb – wow! You definitely need to start charging for posts like that.

@believe – buy that woman a drink!

[Anonymous]

Minimorty, yes I should! KB24, are you in LA? I can buy you a drink…

btw, KB24, what is CSO? where to get it?

Thanks

[watswidme]

I would also add for those who are testing in BEC, study heavily on Corporate governance (especially this one), Economics,IT and Financial Management these topics are where the weirdest questions would come up. 🙂

congrats KB24! I believe you're gonna pass the other two you're waiting for!

FAR 05/21/2011 - 88
BEC 05/23/2011 - 83
AUD 07/30/2011 - 87
REG 08/30/2011 - 84
CPA 04/24/2014 - DONE

[kb24]

@believe – CSO is the acronym for the AICPA exam outline. The link to the latest one is

https://www.aicpa.org/BecomeACPA/CPAExam/ExaminationContent/ContentAndSkills/DownloadableDocuments/CSOs-SSOs-Effective.7-1-11.pdf

I thought the Wiley test bank was pretty good for BEC but not as good as for FAR and AUD. The main problem I had was that it's organized like the Wiley text which is very different than how the Becker text is organized. The questions were decent. Don't bother with the writing simulations unless you're desperate for writing practice. They aren't graded so you can't get even the Wiley computer evaluation. Just in case you didn't know, you can get the test bank at a discount through another71.

wadswidme is right about the questions on BEC. One tip for corporate governance is to work on differentiating the verbiage used with COSO and ERM. Many of the terms are very similar which can be confusing on the exam.

I'd love to take you up on the offer of a drink, but I'm in Houston.

Everyone else, thanks for the positive comments. I wish TX would get its act together and finish posting scores so I'd know one way or the other about AUD and REG (especially REG).

FAR 4/1/11 - 89
AUD 4/15/11 - 85
REG 4/29/11 - 80
BEC 5/13/11 - 85

[Thefacta]

Amen to that KB! Texas is so slow.

I'm a Dallas resident currently relaxing in LA (Venice!) Get me out of that heat!

Go Mavs!

REG - 81 (2/2)
BEC - 87 (2/28)
FAR - 76 (4/18)
AUD - 75 (5/20)

[rknight21]

@watswidme you took ur exams a week after the other and passed both…wow thats something to mention. all the advice here seems good…wiley testbank and becker passmaster for AUD and you should pass.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone for contributing your tips on how to study BEC. Hope this time is the last time I would take the BEC again.

KB24, thank you very much again for your help!

[Author]

Replies