[Justletmepass]

For those who have successfully passed, what advice would you have for someone on the AUD sims section?

Also, why do many people claim they have so much extra time left over during the exam? I’ve never heard the same remarks from people taking FAR, BEC, or REG.

Thanks.

FAR: 86 (July 15, '14)
AUD: 88 (Oct 1, '14)
BEC: 83 (Nov 23, '14)
REG: 71, 72, retake: Jan 2, '15

[Sarah1421]

Honestly, I'm not 100% sure why I'm responding to this post – I've never felt great about my performance on the simulations. lol But I apparently did fine, so here goes nothing…

For Audit, you should prepare by getting REALLY familiar with the authoritative literature. It helped me out on a couple questions (beyond from my research questions). You can get 6 months access as an exam candidate here: https://www.aicpa.org/BecomeACPA/CPAExam/ForCandidates/HowToPrepare/Pages/literature.aspx

I used this resource when I practiced my sims in Becker – just poked around to see what kind of information I could find. Some people claim to find word-for-word answers to the sims on the exam… I wasn't QUITE as lucky, but I found some extremely relevant information that helped me out.

Other than that, you just have to know the material inside and out for the sims – they give you WAY more options than is helpful. Know your reports like the back of your hand and try anticipate what FAR material you might need to know as an auditor (things like correcting JEs, correct valuation, revenue recognition – but from a VERY high level). I was happy to have taken FAR first, but if you haven't, I wouldn't sweat it too much.

As far as why people say they had extra time for Audit – I'd guess it' because there's little (if any) calculations in the MC. You either know it or you don't and move on… I had well over 2 hours going into the sims. I got burnt out and left about 30 minutes early.

FAR - 90
AUD - 91
BEC - 86
REG - 87

[Kimboroni]

I'm not sure why AUD is a 4 hour test other than there are the same number of questions as for FAR, which is also 4 hours. But I left with 40 minutes remaining on AUD, and I think about 5 minutes remaining on FAR. It is kind of weird.

Ditto to what Sarah said about JEs. Very important. I had not studied for FAR yet when I passed AUD, but brushing up on basic JEs, like I read to do here, was definitely helpful for AUD sims. I felt iffy about the MCQs and pretty solid about the sims, so I credit passing to good sim performance. It can make a big difference.

AUD 84 (1/9/14-Wiley books/TB + free materials)
FAR 83 (5/21/14-the above + NINJA 10 Pt Combo Lite)
REG 84 (7/9/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC/Notes)
BEC 76 (10/5/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC)

Disclaimer: My ninja avatar is not meant to imply that I have any affiliation with this site other than being a forum member. That's a pic of a T-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday. 🙂

[Anonymous]

I'm reviewing for AUD right now after taking FAR. It's true that both sections have the same number of questions but FAR requires more time due to questions involving calculations while audit are mostly theoretical questions. I do a lot of MCQs in AUD and i usually find myself almost memorizing the question so sometimes i already know the answer before i finish reading the question. Time budgeting is also important in exam but some people prefer to stick to their original answer so they just move on as soon as they finish the testlets leaving them a lot of extra time in SIMS which is also do not take much time as FAR. In FAR i budgeted 45-45-1:00-1:30 so I finished on time. I'm planning on using same budget for the AUD but so far I'm averaging 1m/question on MCQ so I may be able to finish 45 minutes earlier. AUD questions are short but tricky, you have to watch out for keywords. Anyhow, we are entitled for 4 hours so use it wisely!

I just realize i missed the answer to your question. I would say don't ignore SIMs. I noticed on my review that once I master the topic, i can easily answer the SIMs. So doing SIMs during review are mainly for practice only so you have idea how questions may be formatted in the actual exam.

[mystical guy]

I had an hour extra for FAR and I think I smashed AUD in 2 hours. Advice I can give you is to know the material very well, study Journal Entries for both, because I can almost assure you that both will require some knowledge of JEs.

I would also advice you take or at least review FAR before AUD. And you'll be alright.

CPA - Since 2015
CISA - Smashed 2012
CIA - Passed 2015

[005]

I didn't do FAR before AUD, and got an 86 on AUD, so don't stress over that.

I had an hour left over. I'm gonna co-sign Sarah, use the authoritative literature if you get stuck on a sim.

BEC - ✔
REG - ✔
AUD - ✔
FAR - 11/29/14

CPAExcel, Ninja MCQs, and a sh*t ton of coffee

[Anonymous]

what do you guys mean about brushing up on JE's? What kind of JE's?

[kpb]

I didn't take FAR before AUD and failed. I will say it's probably due to NOT being fresh with my JEs. I got completely blindsided by that as I didn't have FAR under my belt and honestly i probably would've needed to read the entire far book in order to feel comfortable with JEs. That is just me though. I have heard of other people passing aud without taking far, its possible i guess it depends on what sims you get and what work experience you have, doing je's or not ( like me)

BEC - 81 4/08/14
FAR - 80 8/25/14 Thank you Jesus!
REG - 69 (Nov 14),80 1/08/15 Thank God!
AUD - 70 (May 14), xx 5/1/15

Becker Online & Becker Flashcards
I definitely wish I was one of those people who got all 4 exams done in 4 months, but unfortunately LIFE (being a newlywed, stress, adjusting to newlywed life and cpa exam study life, as well as starting a job with a Big4 which I am very happy about) got in the way, just happy that I am passing period!!

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!

[kpb]

the aud book reccommends to look at far for some examples of JEs but they are way different than what you'll see on exam. I guess just know what is a debit and what is a credit….. and go from there. look at lots of examples online.

i got a 70 in aud, probably JUST because of my sims…i dont think I knew 4-6/7 ….:(

BEC - 81 4/08/14
FAR - 80 8/25/14 Thank you Jesus!
REG - 69 (Nov 14),80 1/08/15 Thank God!
AUD - 70 (May 14), xx 5/1/15

Becker Online & Becker Flashcards
I definitely wish I was one of those people who got all 4 exams done in 4 months, but unfortunately LIFE (being a newlywed, stress, adjusting to newlywed life and cpa exam study life, as well as starting a job with a Big4 which I am very happy about) got in the way, just happy that I am passing period!!

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!

[Mr. Dim]

I agree that becoming familiar with AL would be helpful. I'd also recommend managing your time well during the MC so that you have 1:45-2:00 hours for SIMS. This will give you plenty of time to poke through the AL.

This is what I did: I gave the SIMS a first pass, answering they way I thought was correct. Then I spent the remaining 1.5 hours double checking my answers against the AL. You'd be surprised how much you can find in the AL if you dig deep enough. For this reason, I would NOT recommend leaving early unless you are 100% confident in all of your answers….use that time to double check your answers.

FAR - 95
AUD - 98
REG - 92
BEC - 10/4/14

[zoctoman]

I just tried to get a solid understanding of all the concepts. I tried to know the underlying theory rather than memorizing facts. This helped to understand the sims. I never spent time looking up stuff in AL and scored very highly.

I guess it's all how you choose to spend your time. For me I spent 0 time practicing with AL and 100% on learning material. Others get comfortable with AL and know how to look up stuff but may be weaker on their first pass through. In theory if you know it cold you shouldn't need AL….but a little thing called LIFE can get in the way sometimes, so AL familiarity could help.

Good luck!

Audit(11/5/13) - 89
Reg(5/16/14) - 86
FAR(7/18/14) - 82
BEC(11/14) - 85

[rnguyen7]

So by looking at this post, you are allowed to use authoritative literature on the exam?

[Kimboroni]

Only in the final testlet (simulations).

AUD 84 (1/9/14-Wiley books/TB + free materials)
FAR 83 (5/21/14-the above + NINJA 10 Pt Combo Lite)
REG 84 (7/9/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC/Notes)
BEC 76 (10/5/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC)

Disclaimer: My ninja avatar is not meant to imply that I have any affiliation with this site other than being a forum member. That's a pic of a T-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday. 🙂

[Author]

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