[Anonymous]

Hey guys! I passed FAR, AUD & REG all on the first try with no problems. BEC on the other hand is kicking my ass. Scored a 73 the first time and 70 the second time so I’m not too far off but I need to pass this come October or I lose FAR. What I need from you is specific advice as far as things that you have done to get you over the hump. I’m particularly interested in people who have had to retake the test. I’m using Yaeger videos, Ninja Audio and Wiley testbank mainly. This last attempt I used Ninja MCQ a little. I’m not going to blame it on my review material….it ultimately falls on me……I know that every test is different so I need BEC specifics. Ready, set , go!!!

[How many letters do you need]

Well I haven't failed. I passed first shot but that was mostly because of my background and general knowledge going in. I don't really have specific advice other than the best way to bring anything up is to bring the ass up first. I think the mistake a lot of people make with retakes is to focus on the topics they did poorly in on the last exam, and hey it's human nature. Only problem is you get an entirely different exam the next time, and guess what those topics never seem to be on it. The best way to make improvement is to focus on your weak topics OVERALL. Forget about the last exam, you know what your weakest topics are. You need to make them strengths. You need to understand them, not just memorize them. Some people think that because BEC has no sims, they don't have to worry about having an in-depth understanding of the material. The AICPA makes up for that though, in asking MCQs with different spins on the material. You have to have a deep understanding of the major topics, and strive for a deeper understanding of all of your weaker topics. Topics that are sort of middle of the road and lightly tested, it's ok to be generally familiar. Good luck!

MBA,CMA,CPA, CFF?, ABV?

[AOCI]

Add Ninja MCQ.

Wiley WTB is not hard enough. I am sure you did questions over and over again so you get around 95-100%.

I was getting the similar scores but crushed in Ninja MCQ.

You should know all your stuffs by now so just take really good notes for a final review and finish Ninja MCQ.

FAR-82!
REG-82 Again!
BEC-78!
AUD-84!

Done with the exam and LICENSED in VA as of 11/17/2015.

[lvr21]

One of the things that helped me with BEC was I wrote down every single formula and memorized it. Then I had my husbad call out the the name of the formula and I would have to repeat the actual formula to him. Then I would have him call out the entire formula and I would give the name…. I know this is very very basic, but I can honestly say this is one of the reasons I passed… (I also worked the formulas in MCQ)

Good Luck and here is my favorite quote at the time….. “Never quit. If you stumble get back up. What happened yesterday no longer matters.. Today is another day so get back on track.. move closer to your dreams and goals! YOU CAN DO THIS!!!”

{R: PASSED!! (I passed one!)}
{B: PASSED!! (Halfway there!)}
{F: PASSED!! (1 left!!!)}
{A: PASSED(I am done!!)}

[JamesBJames]

Well, if you're getting close but not passing, and you've taken the exam twice– do you know what your weak areas are? Are you being critical about your abilities? The day before the test, I realized how much I didn't want to see variance analyses and IT jargon, and so I spent a lot of time leading up to the exam getting a better feel of both. I think it helped.

There are always going to be a couple of questions that make you wonder what the examiners were smoking, but if you can build a solid foundation for everything else, you'll be fine. I don't feel like the test ever tried to trick me.

FAR: May 1st, 2014 - 91
AUD: May 29th, 2014 - 97!
BEC: July 16th, 2014 - 91
REG: August 29th, 2014 - 88

Licensed December 2015

Feel free to add me on LinkedIn by clicking my username!

[Anonymous]

What I did to pass BEC:

-Created tons of mnemonics to memorize those lists of topics ( I was paranoid I was gonna get a written question and I would need to be able to name Porter's marketing strategies or something like that). I borrowed a Becker book and they had lots of good pass keys. Maybe someone on here can post them.

Created flashcards with formulas (and on each card wrote down a concise example I found in MCQ's that used the formula)

-My weak area was cost accounting so I found examples in MCQ wrote them down and dissected them until I was able to feel comfortable enough to understand where the WIP/finished goods numbers were coming from.

Good luck to you. I remember there were so many questions I flagged and arbitrarily guessed because the topics weren't covered in Becker or Wiley Test Bank.

[242126]

Economics was my weakest area for BEC. I watched the Khan academy micro and macroeconomic videos and was able to get a solid understanding for the first time ever.

[Anonymous]

Keep em' coming!

[Anonymous]

I've definitely spent too little time on variances…I've started working backwards in my my review material so that I'm able to spend more time on the subjects that I've spent less time on in the past (variances and other planning, control and analysis topics). I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on the rest of the material. Haven't received this score report yet but last score report said I was weaker on financial mgmt and ops mgmt. I was actually stronger on Econ and comparable in IT. I did start writing out flash cards so hopefully that will help. I wrote out Ninja notes for financial and didn't feel it helped me much but I am wondering if doing it for BEC would be any different. If somebody could provide the Becker pass keys that would be awesome! I would really appreciate it! Also, I got comparable on COSO. I would have thought I would have gotten stronger but the COSO questions I received were soooo random!

[wannabeCPA123]

I got by with just flashcards and doing Becker progress tests.

You have to have good understanding of Cost Accounting. That is half of the battle. The rest is all memorization.

I got 78 and my test results indicated that I failed the written exam part. I didn't even finish one of the written exam questions to be honest.

FAR 78
REG 87
BEC 78
AUD 78
Passed all exams on first try! Good luck to everyone!

[NYCaccountant]

@Casa I think I passed BEC mainly because I understood variances very well. I would read the end of a variance question first and then read the entire question as my strategy for these. Keep your head though, I'm pretty sure you'll pass the next time around. BEC is supposed to be easy, but that's a lie. It's tricky and the questions are out of the blue.

AUD - 99
BEC - 84
FAR - 93
REG - 87

NYC born and raised.

FAR - 93
REG - 87
BEC - 84!!!!
AUD - 99!!!!!! CPA exam complete.

[Anonymous]

I just sent you an e-mail.

[kswannabecpa]

I'm with Casa in this boat. I've failed three times. 69, 74, 69. I feel like something about it just doesn't click for me.

[kplummer517]

It took me 5 times to pass BEC. It is one of those tests people underestimate in my opinion. There was a girl I used to work with that took it 7 times before she passed, and had to pass all of her other exams again because she lost credit. Anyway…what helped me this time was rewriting Ninja notes, and doing some NEW MCQ's such as Ninja MCQ's!! Great product. I did every single MCQ until I got 100% on all of them, then I let the system give me the questions in 30-50 questions each time for review. Writing down “fact nuggets” helped me a lot on my weak areas. Writing and writing helps it stick in my brain, I'm a firm believer of this now. Good luck, you'll pass this beast!

AUD - Passed - 82 (10/1/13), Expires 4/1/2015 (57,62,64)
BEC - Passed - 77 (7/14/14) (53,67,70,74) Half way to CPA!!!!
REG - Passed - 81 (8/23/14) (68) 3 down 1 to go!!
FAR - Passed - 75 (11/11/14) I'm DONE!!!!!

Illinois Canidate

[Anonymous]

BEC is the only one I've passed so far and I think my success was due to the massive amount flashcards I wrote out.

Any time I'd do a MCQ or read a passage I didn't have committed to memory, I would make a flashcard. I had a ginormous stack of them that I continued to review and drill up until the exam.

[Gatorbates]

No real advice, just some encouragement … it took me 3 times to finally beat BEC. I kept getting down on myself, because I had always been told it was one of the easiest. Well, for me, it wasn't. I'd rather take FAR 5x than take BEC once.

Each has his/her own nemesis. Mine was BEC. 71, then 73, and finally a 79. I hated it. Still do.

You're 3/4 done … and you've taken BEC twice … which means a lot of the info is still in your head, so you're not starting from square 1. Hammer the parts you are unsure of. Still review the ones you feel confident about, but not as hard.

Good luck.

Licensed Florida CPA:
B: 71, 73, 79
A: 83
R: 78 (expired), 77
F: 74, 74, 80

It's finally freaking over.

[Author]

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