[Anonymous]

Is it just me that keeps wondering how people pass REG? Currently using Becker and I just feel like I am not retaining the material AT ALL. I am on Chapter 3 right now..corporate taxes …alot of material to digest.. I didn’t thoroughly understand chapter 1 and 2 but I moved on hoping to come back later. My test is currently scheduled for third week of November.. I am starting to panic might not have time to go through chapter 1 and 2. People keep telling me to keep moving, but how can I move on if I don’t understand the material. I am doing poorly on the homework problems.. Please I need suggestions..For those that passed how did you study?? HELP HELP!

[nolan3387]

Don't feel bad, I honestly feel like I am in the same boat as you. Mine is scheduled the day after Thanksgiving. That was the latest Nov date I could get. I am using Gliem, so my materials are set up a little different, but it's all the same material in the end lol. But I honestly feel the EXACT same way you do. Just feel overwhelmed and like I will not be able to complete everything and review before my exam. I feel like these units are alot longer and more complex than AUD, FAR, and BEC. In college, tax was my best classes, but with this it seems like the worst out of the 4.

Anyway, just want to let you know you are not alone, and anyone with tips please share 🙂

AUD - 87
FAR - 82
BEC - 75 - Danced with the bubble and I won!!!!
REG - 73, 80

[taxgeek83]

@cpai – Currently I'm making flashcards. I have almost all of the terms in the Wiley book down, and will hit the Ninja flashcards after. They're available electronically, but something in me just loves paper, and I learn better when I'm actively writing anyway.

After flashcards are done, I'm planning on going through the book and doing all of the problems, chapter by chapter. I can't handle the lectures I bought, so this is what I'm stuck with. After that's done, I'm going to hit the test bank. I have Wiley and am considering purchasing the Ninja one. Loved it for FAR. I'm pretty good with the tax stuff (not that I don't have a few things to learn here and there), but am new to the business law half so I'm thinking that would help. And, of course, bribe a friend or two to go through my hundreds of flashcards with me.

For my other sections it was just repetition, repetition repetition. I'm using that approach with this one too. After you see essentially the same question/write the same flashcard/read the same paragraph a few dozen times, it eventually starts to stick.

Good luck!!

[krschneids]

I had a tough time studying for the tax law portion of REG because I like to think very logically, and tax law isn't logical. Most of the time, the people writing tax law have no accounting background, and it's simply following a political agenda. Once I resolved myself to the fact that I wasn't going to be able to use logical thinking to rationalize the rules, I found it a little easier to get through. Is that at all what you're experiencing?

Writing things out over and over helps me retain information, so once I watched the lectures and completed the homework for a chapter, I would go through it on my own and write out rules for the things Becker deemed important/appeared most often on the homework problems.

AUD 79 (7/14)
FAR 78 (7/14)
REG 78 (8/14)
BEC 81 (10/14)

[krschneids]

I actually had a corporate tax professor in college who, on the first day of class, introduced the subject by saying, “Yeah, this sh*t makes no sense, so gear up.”

AUD 79 (7/14)
FAR 78 (7/14)
REG 78 (8/14)
BEC 81 (10/14)

[Anonymous]

@nolan3387 tax didn't make any sense to me in college..had 2 tax classes and hated both..did the minimum to pass. I was better in Audit.. loved my other accounting classes even cost accounting. Are you almost done with your material? how are you doing on the MCs?

@ taxgeek83 thank you for the tips. I take notes during the lecture and as I go through the homework problems I write down rules I didn't remember from the lecture. I also write down some of the problems I missed and might not remember in the future. This is what I have always done for the other sections and it worked out (well waiting on scores for FAR).

@krschneids you are right I am trying logically work through the problems and it's not making sense so when I decide to memorize all the rules .. I get overwhelmed and freak out.. With the other sections I have always been able to use common sense to answer the questions for the most part and it just made sense.. FAR was hard but wasn't too bad to get through..I will like to think that I have a good understanding of the basics you know debits..credits and there wasn't really any topics that I hadn't seen in college.I am curious to know how you were doing on the becker homework after each lecture. I am currently doing really bad. which is adding to my panic..

I was actually considering switching from becker to Cpa excel….what do you guys think? Just extremely frustrated 🙁

Thank you all for your input!

[Anonymous]

@nolan3387 tax didn't make any sense to me in college..had 2 tax classes and hated both..did the minimum to pass. I was better in Audit.. loved my other accounting classes even cost accounting. Are you almost done with your material? how are you doing on the MCs?

@ taxgeek83 thank you for the tips. I take notes during the lecture and as I go through the homework problems I write down rules I didn't remember from the lecture. I also write down some of the problems I missed and might not remember in the future. This is what I have always done for the other sections and it worked out (well waiting on scores for FAR).

@krschneids you are right I am trying logically work through the problems and it's not making sense so when I decide to memorize all the rules .. I get overwhelmed and freak out.. With the other sections I have always been able to use common sense to answer the questions for the most part and it just made sense.. FAR was hard but wasn't too bad to get through..I will like to think that I have a good understanding of the basics you know debits..credits and there wasn't really any topics that I hadn't seen in college.I am curious to know how you were doing on the becker homework after each lecture. I am currently doing really bad. which is adding to my panic..

I was actually considering switching from becker to Cpa excel….what do you guys think? Just extremely frustrated 🙁

Thank you all for your input!

[thelawnwranglers]

CPAI- Using Becker too- I take the test Nov 22nd. I am finding it very hard to get into the material. Keep grinding. I am going to have to lock down this weekend to feel like I am back where I need to be. how much time do you have to study?

[Anonymous]

@ thelawnwranglers I take my test november 26th. I am on chapter 3 at the moment. what chapter are you on? trying to get through the 138 mcqs. How are you studying for it?

[thelawnwranglers]

I am on Chapter 5 but I have only worked like half of the 1st Chapters questions. I am going to pound through the lectures by end of next week. I do the live class, and try to watch the lecture before. I will then just pound MCQ, and if I am doing poorly maybe go back to a section. I might try some flash cards of key things, but would like to see what keeps popping up in MCQ. At a minimum I want to make it through all the MCQs and lectures. If I miss a question I mark it so I can just focus on those.

For Audit (just took) I mostly was able to keep up with MCQ, and then the weeks after class just keep pounding more questions. I don't know if it is study fatigue or the subject but I am finding REG really hard to get through.

[Texan_Stuck_In_OK]

@nolan3387

I'm also taking REG the day after Thanksgiving! Just took FAR on the 18th and using CPAExcel. It starts with Ethics, then Business Law, then Tax. I'm hoping to retain just enough to pass. Good luck to us all!!

A 88, B 76, F 84, R 76 Passed 2014

Licensed in OK

[Anonymous]

@Texan_Stuck_In_OK how is CPAexcel working for you? are you retaining?

[jferguson0000]

I agree totally that tax is not logical. I think it just boils down to straight up reading the books a million times, reading and writing all the notes you have. And doing it again, until you have it memorized. I've taken this test three times now, and I've seen questions about everything in the book.

I took REG in May using Yaeger with the Wiley book and test bank. Got a 65. Then I bought a Becker book, re-read everything went through a thousand questions (at least), took the test Aug 31 and got a 73. Then I bought the Ninja MCQ's and Notes. Copied the notes twice, read them a bunch. Re-read sections of the book, did another 500 or so questions out of the new test bank and took the test on Oct 8. Still waiting for results.

And after all this studying (6 months worth!!!) I still saw questions on the exam that I didn't know the answer to. Little obscure things from like one paragraph in the book. WTF

So I don't how to study or pass this thing, I hope this was enough. All I can say is if you want to be a CPA you have to pass REG, and in order to pass REG you have to memorize information that isn't logical. That's why it's so hard because if you don't know something, you can make an logical attempt, you pretty much just have to guess.

AUD - 81(5/29/13)
BEC - 76(10/13/13)
FAR - 70(4/1/13), 68(7/2/13), 81(2/28/14)
REG - 65(5/30/14), 73(8/31/14), 83(10/8/14) DONE!!!

[Anonymous]

Tax laws are designed to be complicated so you will not question what the government are collecting. Business laws are also designed to be obscure so the lawyers will have their jobs. I also don't like taxation and business law (I just started reviewing the section so I'm not sure if it will sink in), but if I should have known that I can make good money out of it, I should have forced myself to love it in the beginning. Let's give it a chance…

[Texan_Stuck_In_OK]

@cpaimustpass

I definitely like CPAExcel better than Becker. I can use their app to work on flashcards or MCQs when I have a few extra minutes. I just have a real distaste for business law. I have a harder time with conceptual ideas and theories. I prefer to be able to work problems using numbers. That said, using CPAExcel and also listening to Jeff's Ninja Audio is what helped me go from a 72 to an 88 for AUD. REG reminds me a lot of AUD. Maybe I'll change my mind once I get to the tax section 🙂

A 88, B 76, F 84, R 76 Passed 2014

Licensed in OK

[CPA50]

I just bought a cram course plus Ninja. Hope it's enough! I don't have much time!

AUD - 80
BEC - 77
FAR - 80
REG - 80

3 years

+ 16 tests

+ 2 expired sections

= DONE FOREVER!

AUD 88 (expired), 80 retake
FAR 64,69,67,73,67,73,73,73, August 3
REG 75 (expired) September 7
BEC 72, 77

The adventure continues...

[Author]

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