[krokofilen]

So I made it through the entire REG book in 40 study hours (which I think is safe to say was among the most dull 40 hours of my life). Does not feel like I picked up a whole lot from that, except identification of “trouble areas”. I did however take notes in a neat Excel format that I used for FAR, which ended up being 111 printed out pages… whohoo.

I now got about 150 study hours left, distributed over exactly 3 weeks before exam day.

My problem with REG is a) that I am completely fresh to anything relating to US taxes (being a non-American, and a non-tax professional) and b) that I also found taxes to be the most difficult and most boring topic back in college.

To sum up, REG will be a challenge for me, and I am just about to get started on my 3-week journey. My strategy is to cram NINJA MCQs, and review my notes simultaneously. I have not done any MCQs thus far, so I am not completely sure in how to tackle them. They are 1,867 in total, and with 150 hours I will for sure not have time to go through all of them twice, not even the ones I fail (taking into account that I will probably fail 50% or so since I am starting with the MCQs “from scratch”).

So… any recommendations out there in terms of appropriate MCQ cram strategies for REG? Would you do random, or topic by topic? What topics would you start with? Would you run new questions everytime, or do random (i.e. mixed unseen and seen questions)?

Thanks for any kind of advise. REG is really freaking me out due to the taxation stuff (especially taxation of individuals).

Big 4 Audit Manager from Europe here to pass the CPA in the U.S. of A in 2014! Niiice!

AUD - 95 / Jul 15 / 130h over 4 weeks
FAR - 86 / Aug 14 / 240h over 4 weeks
(11 week break)

REG - 81 / Nov 14 / 200h over 4 weeks
BEC - 87 / Nov 17 / 30 h over 2.5 days

[005]

Well you certainly are attempting to accomplish a great feat, however, it's possible. I know because I did the same. I passed REG having not even gone through about 100 pages of material.

All I can say is MCQ. Over and over and over and over. And whatever you get wrong, write down and work on it. I used the MCQ in CPAExcel and Ninja MCQ (Ninja MCQ are the best imo). So just keep doing that, over and over and over. This will be the key to you passing

Don't worry about not scoring well on the MCQ in the beginning. Just keep going over them continuously and keep writing down and reviewing whatever you get wrong. You'll notice your scores begin to increase.

Here's the thread I had made when I was in (somewhat) your shoes

https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-forum/topic/looking-for-some-advice-need-a-miracle-very-short-on-study-time

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

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

[thechapman]

I only watched a couple of the lectures for business law in Becker (R6,R7,R8), but I never did any of the homework. I decided that since I was in a time crunch that I'd much rather try to nail the tax. Got an 85 without knowing squat about business law. Obviously you won't get the same test I did, but that shows that it's possible. Remember that there are “supposedly” never any business law simulations..that is a fairly big thing to know ahead of time in my opinion.

I just went chapter by chapter and did sets of MCQs of about 20, and made sure not to forget R5 (professional responsibilities and whatnot) because those are easy points and are a decent percentage of the test. I know that people will say I'm wrong about this and that you should pay attention to the b-law, but I thought I'd throw this out there so you know. Good luck!

Passed - 2014

[Kimboroni]

Ditto to doing MCQs in sets of 20, focusing on one topic at a time. I pretty much only do new questions. With a time crunch, you really need to be exposed to as many question types as possible rather than rehashing ones you've already done.

Pick off the tax topics first. That's 60% of the test. After you've practiced at least half of the tax questions, you can start looking at professional responsibitlities and some business law. Then go back to tax.

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. 🙂

[RachelP]

All this being said… I got above average on my first REG test for tax areas & I had not gotten all the way through R7/R8 and missed passing by 2 points for my first test. So knowing the law stuff is pretty important to push you over the hump, at least in that test that I took.

"Don't worry, beeeeee happy!"

Unhappy with job, long distance boyfriend, not much studying:
FAR- 66 [08/28/12] AUD- 61 [10/04/12] REG- 59 [11/28/12] BEC- 63 [01/11/13]
Year off (from exams): Got new job, got married, moved, etc
✓ AUD- 79!!! 01/10/14 FIRST PASS!! WOOOO!!!
✓ REG- 73 02/27/14, 81 10/27/14
✓ FAR- 83 5/16/14
✓ BEC- 80 7/24/14
✓ Education ✓ Experience
Ethics Exam

[krokofilen]

Thanks all for your input.

I am pretty close to giving up already, realizing that my 150 hours will not be enough to get all this content. For me, this exam is at least twice as difficult as FAR. I have done about 100 MCQs now and I get about 20% of them right, even though I am doing topic by topic and go through notes for each I fail. It just doesn't stick. I always hated tax stuff, and have avoided it thus far in my career. It also is very different from European tax law and I just feel completely lost with all the deductions, exceptions etc. It's too much. I am thinking I should skip this.

Big 4 Audit Manager from Europe here to pass the CPA in the U.S. of A in 2014! Niiice!

AUD - 95 / Jul 15 / 130h over 4 weeks
FAR - 86 / Aug 14 / 240h over 4 weeks
(11 week break)

REG - 81 / Nov 14 / 200h over 4 weeks
BEC - 87 / Nov 17 / 30 h over 2.5 days

[Kimboroni]

By skipping it, I hope you mean rescheduling? Don't give up– you're clearly very smart, and you can get this. Just keep doing MCQs. 100 isn't very many to have a very good idea of aptitude. Use your book as you do the questions to get in the most efficient practice time.

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]

krokofilen, are you able to look at the topics you've gotten wrong and share them with us?

I feel like the only really nitpicky thing with tax is credits. Everything else I think is only composed of a few topics.

Also, you don't have to know every little phaseout. Just stick with whatever's tested on the homeworks.

Also, print out the 1040 form and following along the text/lecture with that. That'll help conceptualize what you're learning and make it less intimidating IMO (everything you're learning is ultimately just going to fit onto a few pages).

[RachelP]

I agree with following along with the tax forms. I remember when I first started studying tax I HATED it because I wasn't used to looking at the forms and would just throw up my hands. I literally passed my first tax class by picking the answer that made the taxpayer end up having the worst end of the stick… LOL and I got an A… but I don't think that will work for the CPA exam. I think if you were to even just watch an intro youtube video on how to prepare your own taxes, it might give you a better over-all picture of what's going on and give you a bit of perspective on the forms/etc.

"Don't worry, beeeeee happy!"

Unhappy with job, long distance boyfriend, not much studying:
FAR- 66 [08/28/12] AUD- 61 [10/04/12] REG- 59 [11/28/12] BEC- 63 [01/11/13]
Year off (from exams): Got new job, got married, moved, etc
✓ AUD- 79!!! 01/10/14 FIRST PASS!! WOOOO!!!
✓ REG- 73 02/27/14, 81 10/27/14
✓ FAR- 83 5/16/14
✓ BEC- 80 7/24/14
✓ Education ✓ Experience
Ethics Exam

[Lion_of_the_Rock]

Kroko! Glad to see you're back on the forum. You're pretty much a legend.

Honestly, tax isn't really hard, it's just a ton to memorize. Considering you don't have any experience, I feel for you. But, if anyone can hit the books insanely hard it has to be you.

Do it for the glory of your homeland and Alaska!

Seriously though, you'll make it if you put in the time.

I don't have any real advice, sorry.

BEC - 78
AUD - 75
REG - 74, 79
FAR - 75

You have to buy a ticket to win the raffle.

[Lion_of_the_Rock]

and, honestly I'd shy away from NINJA to drill down. NINJA MCQ is a good product ($47 heyyyy), but it can make you feel stupid at first because the MCQ hits harder than say Roger's TB, in my opinion. Get an understanding at a high level, work the MCQ that came with Becker, or whatever you have, and go from there. Do MCQs for one topic at a time. I don't recommend a NINJA MCQ binge if you're only at 20% – it'll only kill your confidence. Try to nail as many indiviual parts as you can in tax first, then save the law and ethics for last.

You only need 75%.

BEC - 78
AUD - 75
REG - 74, 79
FAR - 75

You have to buy a ticket to win the raffle.

[Anonymous]

@Lion => Would you recommend Ninja for someone who failed using only Becker, and has most of the Becker questions memorized at this point and a decent understanding of the material in general?? (aka me)

[Lion_of_the_Rock]

@CPA1Day I think the NINJA MCQ would be a good fit for your situation if you're done “learning” the material and just want to really know if you've got it down. I think Jeff has a really nice product at a strong price point that will make you do some heavy lifting. If you trend mid 80s on NINJA you should really do fine on the actual exam barring some panic breakdown or something. Obviously don't memo the answers and just utilize the algorithm.

BEC - 78
AUD - 75
REG - 74, 79
FAR - 75

You have to buy a ticket to win the raffle.

[Mika]

Roger TB is pretty easy, it gives you a BASIC idea that comes with his lecture. For sure I will hit another test bank (say Ninja) in order to pass the exam.

REG - 80 (02/13/2015) Roger + Ninja Flash Card + Ninja MCQ + Becker's Note
FAR - 84 (05/29/2015) Roger + Ninja MCQ + Some Wiley book questions
BEC - 77 (08/27/2015) Roger + Ninja MCQ + Half Wiley book questions
AUD - 87 (08/28/2015) Roger + Ninja MCQ + Half Wiley book questions

[krokofilen]

005: I am taking notes, reviewing them, and doing MCQs. Now 5 days later I have done 1/3 of the NINJA MCQs, with an average of 50%. Will spend a day reviewing notes tomorrow, and then do another 1/3 of the MCQs – hopefully I will be around 65% (at least) on that round. There's just so much material to REG – compared with FAR, this is just horrible. The level of detail, and the combination of heavy theory, thresholds/formulas, and calculations. I am still not sure how to fight this, all though I am normally very structured and disciplined in my studying… this stuff just doesn't stick.

thechapman: Thanks for info.

Kimboroni: Pretty much following that strategy. I have done 1/3 of all MCQs now, distributed over all topics. I will do another 1/3 following the same strategy. After that I will do random questions, so both seen (incl missed) and unseen. Unfortunately time is a factor here so I won't have time to go over everything twice.

Akvod: I fail on pretty much every topic. Right now scoring around 50%. As for individual taxation, which I find to be the most difficult part since I have no experience of US taxation what so ever, I have now made a huge sheet of notes covering all adjustments, itemized deductions, credits etc… I will memorize that. Hopefully that will help.

RachelP: Haven't printed any forms yet, but will consider it. I just think it will make everything worse for me, since I am not used with the format of US tax forms anyways. For now I am relying on my own notes in order to memorize thresholds, formulas etc.

Lion_of_the_Rock: Hehe, thanks. That comment actually made me smile which is a good thing after 12 hours of REG studying.

Big 4 Audit Manager from Europe here to pass the CPA in the U.S. of A in 2014! Niiice!

AUD - 95 / Jul 15 / 130h over 4 weeks
FAR - 86 / Aug 14 / 240h over 4 weeks
(11 week break)

REG - 81 / Nov 14 / 200h over 4 weeks
BEC - 87 / Nov 17 / 30 h over 2.5 days

[Anonymous]

I highly recommend printing out the 1040 form, and Schedule A. I would almost say it's mandatory. Any other 1040 schedule or any other tax form (e.g. partnership) can help, but aren't mandatory.

But the 1040 and Schedule A are MUST knows. It'll make the stuff less intimidating since you can see how everything is broken down (filing status, income, deductions to AGI, deductions from AGI, etc).

And I'm not saying memorize the 1040 and Schedule A. But know it enough so that instead of learning individual tax as this one giant blob of information, you're able to understand how an alimony from the side of a recipient is different from the side of the giver in terms of where it'll be on the 1040. It's really important to memorize the Schedule A IMO, since they test that a lot.

I hope you have Becker. Because they basically go through the content as it is in the 1040, and if you follow along with the 1040, it'll make things less intimidating.

[Author]

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