[Anonymous]

Does anyone have a good strategy for studying for the SIMS in AUD?? I received my “breakdown” of my failing score – I did fine on the multiple choice (all comparable and strong!) but my weaker spot were the SIMS – I knew I totally blew them – I didn’t understand any of them!! Half of them I have never even heard of what they were talking about.

Does anyone have any advice for studying for the SIMS?? I am using Becker – and I made sure to practice those SIMS but they didn’t seem to help.

Help me!! Ahhh!!!

[Freyer002]

I am studying for AUD now and decided to use the AL for my practice test in becker and was able to find a couple of answers. Like you said, the becker sims may not help as to exactly how they are, but going through the AL may help out. My plan is to leave 2hrs for the SIMS and use the AL when im not certain of the answers.

Also, I feel your pain of failing because of the SIMS alone. For FAR I did stronger in the mcq and did weaker in the sims. Saw the sims and was clueless. So trust you aren't the only one. Best of Luck!!

FAR 66 (07/01/13), 75! (10/01/13)
AUD 64 (08/12/13), 80! (11/23/13)
BEC 84! (05/22/14)
REG 77! (08/28/14)
DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again"

[littlenumberrobot]

Also refresh your memory on journal entries from FAR. Just basic ones, but if you don't use JE's everyday it will help to study those a little. They are not in AL and sometimes get tested in one way or another.

CA CPA - All because of the journey listed below
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FAR - 53('10), 8/25/12 79 PASSED!
REG - 66('11), 69('12), 12/06/12 77 PASSED!!
BEC - 58('10), 74('12), 01/05/13 77 PASSED!!!
AUD - 43('11), 66('12), 69('13), 74('13) 7/29/13 85 PASSED!!!!!

(Combinations of Roger, Yaeger, Wiley Book, Wiley TB, & NINJA Notes)

Ethics 90%

[10keyLeah]

@aliciamarie – the same thing happened to me. I was comparable on MCQ's and weaker on SIMS. I knew this coming out of the testing center. I felt like half of my SIMS were missing information and the AL was no help. What can a person do with the hand they are dealt? Nothing except re-study. You are not alone!

I think if you can look over the areas of the SIMS that you were given and struggled with, that may help. You may not get those SIMS again, but at least you will be better prepared for that type. That's what I plan to do, and hope for the better SIMS.

Ninja Combo, Yaeger, Wiley -- Licensed CPA, May 2015

[MintsRGood]

I 100% agree with @Freyer002 that using the AL when you practice SIMS will help you tremendously on exam day! This will help you avoid the desperate feeling of digging thought the AL on exam day when the clock is ticking. You will already know where to look for major topics because of your practice. Leaving yourself 2 hours is important! It gives you time to not feel rushed and hysterical and to use the AL to the fullest. Use the AL tab for every SIM! You can find something for each SIM if you look hard enough to put you on the right track or to check your work.

The SIMS are great at exposing your conceptual weaknesses. Look at the types of SIMS you aren't doing well on and drill down on those topics. Memorization can get you through the MCQS but the SIMS will eat you for lunch if you don't understand the core of the topic. I don't have Becker so I'm not sure what their SIMS look like but the Wiley Textbook is only $35-40 on amazon and has a tremendous amount of information as well as 700+ MCQS+SIMS and their SIMS are great practice. They have explanations that follow the answer key so you can follow their logic.

Audit is the devil but with practice you can beat it!!!!!!!!!! 🙂

REG: 75 DONE 🙂
AUD: 61, 71, 68, 92 DONE 🙂
BEC: 76 DONE 🙂
FAR: 72, 74, 79 DONE 🙂
Licensed Michigan CPA 🙂
-Some people dream of success...others wake up and work hard for it!!!
-The cowards never start and the weak die along the way!
-You better work, b***h!
-Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.-JFK

[Anonymous]

know how to use and search the AL inside and out. you will not regret this

[Spur]

What is the best place to practice using the AL? I have Wiley and the research SIMS are not working and the book does not have a full version of the AL.

@MintsRGood where would you suggest practicing SIMS using an electronic version of the AL. Somoeone mentioned that the AICPA provides a similar version to the one on the exam.

FAR - Bad Fail '11, Fail '12, Fail '13, PASS It's a miracle!
AUD - Fail, PASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BEC - PASS!!!!!!!!
REG - PASS!!!!!!!! And I'm done!

[Anonymous]

NASBA gives registered candidtes 6 months access to the Authorized Literature. Since Wiley is still working on their problems you can do that to research your problems. Use the advanced search option to focus only on the Audit AL instead of FASB. Then compare your answers to what the 2013 Wiley Audit book says. This helps in knowing how to quickly research when you have access to all the standards but you only need one good hit.

Problem I had with Becker was they limit your search to what the question was asking you. So I could not look at the different sections and drill down to a particular section for AU-C. You have to go PCAOB to access their library. Note GAGAS is not included in AICPA library.

Good Luck.

[MintsRGood]

@Eliabraham Exactly!!!! 🙂

Here is a link to sign up and be sure to have your NTS in front of you as you will need your section ID:

https://www.aicpa.org/BecomeACPA/CPAExam/ForCandidates/HowToPrepare/Pages/literature.aspx

REG: 75 DONE 🙂
AUD: 61, 71, 68, 92 DONE 🙂
BEC: 76 DONE 🙂
FAR: 72, 74, 79 DONE 🙂
Licensed Michigan CPA 🙂
-Some people dream of success...others wake up and work hard for it!!!
-The cowards never start and the weak die along the way!
-You better work, b***h!
-Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.-JFK

[Tncincy]

I am preparing to study for AUD…How do I know if my materials are clarity ready.

It begins with a 75
Been here too long as a cheerleader.....time to pass

It begins with a 75
Been here too long as a cheerleader....ready to pass

[mmp3]

This may have just been my experience but I felt I was really prepared for the audit sims having just taken far prior to my audit exam. The authoritative literature was only helpful for one of my sims. The others required a firm understanding of financial accounting. I would definitely recommend for anyone struggling with audit to try doing the far exam first if you can.

FAR 92 (2/27/13)
AUD 99 (4/18/13)
REG 93 (7/5/13)
BEC 92 (8/12/13)

Becker Self Study

[Author]

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