[jeff]

Post by Another71.

Free Study Planner, Notes, Audio, Flashcards: https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-study-plan/

Free CPA Exam Survival Guide: https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-survival-guide/

AUD - 79
BEC - 80
FAR - 76
REG - 92

Jeff Elliott, CPA (KS)
NINJA CPA | NINJA CMA | NINJA CPE | Another71

[jennibfox]

Tarheelgirl: I have had a few life interruptions during my studying. I have failed Audit and BEC! I am starting to studying BEC again. We are on the same schedule. I am not sure if I am going to do Audit or Reg first. I want to make sure I have enough time for each exam but not too long since I basically have a year and 1 month to pass the last 3 exams. I was thinking BEC end of Jan, Reg in April (right after tax season), and Audit end of May. Then that still gives me half a year.

WE CAN DO THIS!!!

FAR - JULY 2014 - PASSED
BEC - MAY 2015 - PASSED
REG - AUG 2015 - PASSED
AUD - AUG 31 2015

[CPA2B_NJ]

Guys, thank you so much for the words of encouragement. I really appreciate the push-forward vibe. This time around I will start with my weak areas first. It's not that Cost Accounting has heavy calculations, it's just that you need to have a strong foundation. For economics, I was just overall lost with concepts I should have had a stronger understanding.

For my first exam, I read the Becker book, watched the videous, and practiced 50% of the MCQs. For my second exam, I didn't read anything, I just focused on Ninja MCQs. I was average trending 72%, so I should have known that I was still weak going into the exam. This time around I will just focus on the MCQs and aim for a 90% trending. I'm not planning to read except to find some helpful mneumonics in areas I seem to be stuck with.

BEC in February. Here I come….. Let's go Another71 family! We will pass this exam. I'm feeling more encouraged now.

FAR - 50, 78
BEC - 67, 72, 75
AUD - 72, 80
REG - 70, 85

To God be the glory! Forever, amen!

NJ License

[Anonymous]

@Blackhawks… where you at!? Pass!?

[Anonymous]

Back to the drawing board for me too! Who can tell me a good strategy to tackle financial management because I am getting my butt kicked on the Ninja MCQ and Becker MCQ! I am seriously struggling with the way most of the financial management material is presented in a MCQ format.

[Tarheelgirl]

@jennibfox – I have been wondering where you been. Haven't seen you on any of the threads. Life does get in the way sometimes. My husband wants to do all these things and I just can't. SUCKS 🙁 I have 1 year and a month before FAR expires too and I have no clue what to do. Scares me just thinking about.

AUD is such a beast! Even though I improved on my score report my score only went up 3 points. I am going to try Audit again before I hit REG. Taxes is my preference, not saying the exam will be easy to me, but I will probably enjoy studying it. I was thinking about taking BEC at the beginning of January? Should only need 4-5 weeks to review. I didn't even study the WC just the MCQs and will just focus on understanding the concepts more.

Also, going to try and stay as active as possible on this thread like with FAR and hopefully get a pass this time. We are so going to kill this exam in January!

FAR - 46, 79 (7/8/14)
AUD - 56, 59, 2/23/15 3rd times a charm!
BEC - 69, 74 Really??
REG - April, I hope. Fingers crossed!

[jennibfox]

I may follow your lead. That is kind of why I left REG to last because I will enjoy studying it the most. I will study my rear off and hopefully pass BEC in the first quarter ….and maybe squeeze AUD in first quarter as well. My grandmother broke her hip over Thanksgiving so I have been trying to help her as much as possible. So we will see if I can make it all happen. I also had a lot of calculations on my exam. I need to nail those down. I will practice a lot of MCQ in both Becker and Ninja.

I will stay active as well because I am ready for my life back.

FAR - JULY 2014 - PASSED
BEC - MAY 2015 - PASSED
REG - AUG 2015 - PASSED
AUD - AUG 31 2015

[Tarheelgirl]

@jennibfox – You are not the only one. I am absolutely exhausted from studying.

I made flashcards for the formulas and reviewed them almost daily. That really helped me., but now I need to add in the exceptions and stuff like that, those are the ones I missed on my last exam. I will start MCQs tonight with Gleim and Ninja.

FAR - 46, 79 (7/8/14)
AUD - 56, 59, 2/23/15 3rd times a charm!
BEC - 69, 74 Really??
REG - April, I hope. Fingers crossed!

[JS867_5309]

I'm worn out too. I started studying for these exams about 18 months ago. Failed my first 4 (REG 2x, then AUD, then BEC) before finally passing AUD a few months ago. I was completely psyched, but the relief at passing was equally outweighed by the crushing pressure of the 18 month clock. I'm really good at most BEC topics – I really thought I'd passed when I took it.

I'm almost done with my refresher studying – I read the NINJA book for all of the sections except IT and Economics (my strongest areas) starting with my weakest, did about 12% of the NINJA MCQ's but didn't feel strong in my scoring. I'm about to wrap up re-writing my notes and am feeling a LOT more confident. After this I'm going back to the NINJA MCQ's with a goal of 90% trending; 60-120 questions per night and 500 on the weekend with breaks for when the memorization starts to get to me.

I was planning on re-taking REG after this, sometime in April, but my Kaplan book (what I was using all the times I failed) is really outdated now. Since Jeff is done with the FAR book and working on AUD first, I'm considering switching the two remainders and taking FAR in May, followed by REG in August. That will still give me about 8 months if I need a retake or two but hopefully I'll be done since I've got a wedding in October!

I told my fiance' tonight I'm so tired of studying. I really want a nice, month or two long break from all this nonsense. But I'm picking myself up by my bootstraps – I'll break when I'm done!! The goal is to be done before the honeymoon 🙂

Exam:I'm done 🙂 🙂 🙂
REG - 71 (2/22/14); 67 (4/3/14); 74 (8/29/15); 83 (2/29/16)!!!
BEC - 72 (5/24/14); 85 (1/3/15)!!!!
AUD - 72 (8/23/14); 76 (10/15/14)!!!
FAR - 77 (5/26/15)!!!

Started in 2013 using Kaplan and failed REG, REG, BEC, AUD. Switched to NINJA suite in Sept 2014 and passed AUD...then BEC...then FAR!
REG took 2 tries but I finally got it in too!
I'm a hard convert - Using NINJA method with NINJA video/book/notes/MCQ

Education: Check
Experience: 3 months left! I hit 4 years on May 30 🙂

[JS867_5309]

Forgot to mention my other tactic is to come up with a few brief notes to “brain-dump” on the whiteboards before the exam. If I can straight-up memorize a few things and sketch them out, like equations or mnemonics, I think it will help. I tend to flip the ratios which I'm pretty sure is why I didn't pass last time. I thought I remembered NINJA having a list of key BEC equations to memorize, but I can't find them now…

Exam:I'm done 🙂 🙂 🙂
REG - 71 (2/22/14); 67 (4/3/14); 74 (8/29/15); 83 (2/29/16)!!!
BEC - 72 (5/24/14); 85 (1/3/15)!!!!
AUD - 72 (8/23/14); 76 (10/15/14)!!!
FAR - 77 (5/26/15)!!!

Started in 2013 using Kaplan and failed REG, REG, BEC, AUD. Switched to NINJA suite in Sept 2014 and passed AUD...then BEC...then FAR!
REG took 2 tries but I finally got it in too!
I'm a hard convert - Using NINJA method with NINJA video/book/notes/MCQ

Education: Check
Experience: 3 months left! I hit 4 years on May 30 🙂

[CPA2B_NJ]

I'm a little scared to schedule my retake of BEC for the first week of January. I'm weighting the pros and cons. Pro: I can push myself to study hard in the next 3 weeks, and pass it before year-end work starts to pick up, and then I can add another section for February before the testing window closes. Cons: I'll have a short amount of time to study hard, I can't slack off during Christmas week for shopping/cooking, and the chances of passing might be reduced.

I have a 2-year old, I work about 10hours a day, and then I come home to cook and clean. I have about 2 hours to study each day.

Do you think I should push myself to take BEC Jan 3 before holiday and year-end overtime or Feb 28 after the rush? What are your experiences?

FAR - 50, 78
BEC - 67, 72, 75
AUD - 72, 80
REG - 70, 85

To God be the glory! Forever, amen!

NJ License

[CPA2B_NJ]

@JS867_5309 I feel your pain. The relief of passing at least one part but the weight of the ticking clock. I think your goal to pass it all by your August honeymoon will give you willpower 🙂

It's really hard to not spend time with loved ones so we can focus on the exam. That's my weakness, and that's why I can't pass in my first try, and now I'm in this stress.

FAR - 50, 78
BEC - 67, 72, 75
AUD - 72, 80
REG - 70, 85

To God be the glory! Forever, amen!

NJ License

[Tarheelgirl]

@JS – I would suggest flashcards for the formulas you are having trouble on. Review them everyday you will eventually memorize them, which is what you want to do.

A goal to be done by your honeymoon would be very ideal. My husband and I have been married just over a year. I wish I would have started studying before we got married so I could spend more time with him now in our first years of marriage, oh well. Best of luck to you! You are so close on BEC, you got this!

FAR - 46, 79 (7/8/14)
AUD - 56, 59, 2/23/15 3rd times a charm!
BEC - 69, 74 Really??
REG - April, I hope. Fingers crossed!

[Anonymous]

So the Variance Analysis formulas? Best bet is just to hammer away at memorizing them?

Concepts are easy but there are so many formulas that it's easy to get them mixed up.

[JS867_5309]

@CPA2B – If you feel confident in your knowledge of economics, you may be able to get away with it. I also have only 2 hrs/day to study, and I'm taking 1/3, but I started the week before Thanksgiving. Especially since you have a little one and a lot going on at Christmas, I would wait until late Feb unless you are really confident in a couple of key areas. We don't have any kids, so usually our evenings are spent side-by-side on the couch. After he does all the chores, he surfs the net and watches TV while I study. It helps us (me really – he's so introverted he'd be fine if I disappeared for a week) to at least be in the same room where we can check in verbally every now and then. However – I don't have the distractions that you do.

@Tarheelgirl – Flashcards are great advice for the equations and such. I do use those, but not regularly. I'll start to try and beef up on them during my short breaks at work. Looks like we live in the same area, too 🙂 The last year and a half has been hard for us – I really think he wanted me to break after I failed BEC, but I just felt like I had to give it one more try. Now he knows why I can't give up! We talk about it a lot, because I want him to know our relationship comes first, and I'm very lucky that he's extremely understanding and knows this period of stress will pay off for us both in the end.

@Angelwatch – That's my problem, too! I can NOT seem to get the different formulas for the material variances. One uses normal materials @ actual cost, and one uses actual materials @ normal cost. I can't for the life of me figure out which one gets used when.

Exam:I'm done 🙂 🙂 🙂
REG - 71 (2/22/14); 67 (4/3/14); 74 (8/29/15); 83 (2/29/16)!!!
BEC - 72 (5/24/14); 85 (1/3/15)!!!!
AUD - 72 (8/23/14); 76 (10/15/14)!!!
FAR - 77 (5/26/15)!!!

Started in 2013 using Kaplan and failed REG, REG, BEC, AUD. Switched to NINJA suite in Sept 2014 and passed AUD...then BEC...then FAR!
REG took 2 tries but I finally got it in too!
I'm a hard convert - Using NINJA method with NINJA video/book/notes/MCQ

Education: Check
Experience: 3 months left! I hit 4 years on May 30 🙂

[Tarheelgirl]

For some reason I just understood variances and memorized the formulas. I don't use Becker but someone last quarter told me about a mnemonic that is use in that review.

I googled the mnemonic and this is how someone else explains it. Seems to help out a lot people.

https://cpa-exam.dalesines.com/2010/05/bec-5-additional-info.html

FAR - 46, 79 (7/8/14)
AUD - 56, 59, 2/23/15 3rd times a charm!
BEC - 69, 74 Really??
REG - April, I hope. Fingers crossed!

[Author]

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