[Anonymous]

I know Variance Analysis is heavily tested on BEC, but is it mostly the Materials and Labor Variance (PURE mnemonic in Becker) or is VOH (Spending, Efficiency, Volume) heavily tested as well? After tons of practice, and with a bit more memorization I can DO the Materials and Labor ones. But no matter how long I look at/listen to/do the VOH ones (1,2,3,4, 3 way all that) it’s like they’re teaching to a brick wall (me).

Please tell me I’m not likely to have many questions on the VOH stuff. Or tell me there’s some magical way to learn it, because Becker’s not doing it for me I’m just too overwhelmed here.

[jamesjohnson11]

I will tell you one thing. No matter how long i looked at variances I knew i just wasnt going to be able to remember it come test day. It was one of the section I studied and then skipped. The way i see it is if you skip one or two small areas that you know you won't be able to get, or to get them you would need to spend hours and hours on it, you'll still be alright. The problem occurs when you start skipping small area after small area then you end up barely knowing anything. Me personally i would much rather focus my time on all the other stuff and have it down better, and then guess on the one to three question, if that, that will show up on my test.

The same way that you shouldn't spend fifteen minutes on a mcq, i apply to small sections like variances. You shouldn't spend four hours trying to get variances. Variances aren't guaranteed to show up on the test anyways. You may be like me and not get a single question on it.

R PASS
A PASS
B PASS
F AUGUST

[Anonymous]

I sorta but not entirely agree with james…

I studied and passed BEC on the first try with 14 days of studying (took it on the 15th day). Variances was the only section where I only completed 12% of the HW in becker. I literally just saw how they they could ask a variance question and realized that you just need to know the equations / what to use for plug in. Chances are you won't get many variance questions and if you do, they won't be difficult.

I personally got 4-5 variance questions on the whole exam, so it wasn't that bad and they weren't that hard to begin with.

And 10-14% is not exactly ”heavily tested”. I would make sure I understand and focus on chapter 3 instead.

Goodluck!

[Anonymous]

I studied my A$$ of trying to learn the 2 way and 3 way variance I mean I probably spent 2 weeks trying to grasp the concept and it finally clicked and I mastered it! Come exam day, I didn't get a single question about 2 way or 3 way variance!! Sadly I failed with a 74. Took it again last week and I think there were 2 simple variance questions this time.

Every test is different.

[Anonymous]

The easiest way for me to learn variances is using the Tabular approach from Becker and work backward to arrive the definiations from the formulas. I also modified a little bit so it's easier to memorize. The BASIC formulars for all three: direct labor, direct material, and overhead are very similar with some modification, with direct labor the easiest one and OH the most complicating. How I memorize is I start “A” as Actual, and “S” as Standard, “Q” as Quatity (as hours of labor in direct labor, OR units of material in direct materials). “R” as Rate (as labor $/hr or $/unit in materials)…Once I got these down, I have this formular:

AQ*AR

---

AQ*SR

---

SQ*SR

This is the baisc formular (to memorize) for direct labor. with all “A” on the left & all “S” on the left, then you compare each group and figure out the variances: between group 1 & 2: you can tell the differnce is between AR & SR, hence rate variance. If you see the differnce between last two groups, the difference is between AQ&SQ, hence efficenicy variance.

For direct labor, I modefied the formulas a little bit, I first duplicate the middle group:

AQ*AR

---

AQ*SR

---

AQ*SR

---

SQ*SR

Then I added “PU” after the “Q”s, “P” as purchased to first two “Q”s, “U” as “Used” to second two “Q”s:

AQP*AR

---

AQP*SR

---

AQU*SR

---

SQU*SR

compare first two groups: You got AQP * (AR-SR) = price variance, (AQP as Actual Quatity PURCHASED)

compare the second two groups, you got (AQU – SQU) *SR = usage variance. (AQU as Actualy Quatiy USED, SQU as Standard Quality Used), Note; SQU needs a little further calculation.

I basically modify the same formular to arrive the 2-way or 3-way OH variance, but I didn't pay much attention to it as it's too overly complicating. Personally, I think if you can nail down DL & DM variances (in additon to two basic sale variances), you are in good shape.

Another NOTE: Ignore the word “BUDGET” it's never been used for calculation in DM & DL variance analysis. They are there to confuse you. When you are asked a variance question, first determine what kind of variance refers to, either DL, DM, or OH, so you can have a clear mind before dumping into the calcuation. TIP: I wrote down these formulars on paper right after I started the test, then figure out which number belongs to which carefully, then just plug in the numbers! Hope this helps.

[Author]

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