[Anonymous]

I am sitting for REG tomorrow and I need some help with the research tab. I have passed three exams as of now and I have not been even able to get a single research question right. I mean, I was not able to find it at all.I just want to know excatly how you guys handle this..I know I am doing something wrong.

So, lets say I want to look for treatment for capital loss- individual situation

I type in capital loss in the search box

It gives me a lot of links- options

So after this when I hit the link or the option, most of them are blank, nothing in it

The ones that shows up has a line or to in it, totally not related to what I am looking for

It mostly says subchater….

How do you guys proceed from this step

Any suggestion would be helpful Thanks

[Anonymous]

I never start with the search box! Use tha table of contents! For the situation you described, i did this just by following the table of contents:

Subtitle A: Income Taxes

Chapter 1: Normal Taxes and Surcharges

Sub Chapter P: Capital Gains and Losses

Part II: Treatment of Capital Losses

Section 1211: Limitations on Capital Losses

(b) Other Taxpayers:

In the case of a taxpayer other than a corporation, losses from sales or exchanges of capital assets shall be allowed only to the extent of the gains from such sales or exchanges, plus (if such losses exceed such gains) the lower of—

(1) $3,000 ($1,500 in the case of a married individual filing a separate return), or

(2) the excess of such losses over such gains.

Use the table of contents!! In the sim, there are two frames. the left frame is a navagation bar that shows you the table of contents for the IRC, then the right frame shows you the content. try to narrow it down as much as you can before using the search function.

If you are totally lost, use the search function just to see what general subtitle most of the results are in, then look up that subtitle in the table of contents, narrow it down, and THEN use the “search within” function.

I dont have a tax background, and have never used the IRC before. But i just used common sense looking through the table of contents and thinking about the most likely place it would be in.

Hope that helps!

[Anonymous]

I never start with the search box! Use tha table of contents! For the situation you described, i did this just by following the table of contents:

Subtitle A: Income Taxes

Chapter 1: Normal Taxes and Surcharges

Sub Chapter P: Capital Gains and Losses

Part II: Treatment of Capital Losses

Section 1211: Limitations on Capital Losses

(b) Other Taxpayers:

In the case of a taxpayer other than a corporation, losses from sales or exchanges of capital assets shall be allowed only to the extent of the gains from such sales or exchanges, plus (if such losses exceed such gains) the lower of—

(1) $3,000 ($1,500 in the case of a married individual filing a separate return), or

(2) the excess of such losses over such gains.

Use the table of contents!! In the sim, there are two frames. the left frame is a navagation bar that shows you the table of contents for the IRC, then the right frame shows you the content. try to narrow it down as much as you can before using the search function.

If you are totally lost, use the search function just to see what general subtitle most of the results are in, then look up that subtitle in the table of contents, narrow it down, and THEN use the “search within” function.

I dont have a tax background, and have never used the IRC before. But i just used common sense looking through the table of contents and thinking about the most likely place it would be in.

Hope that helps!

[Anonymous]

@CalCPASoon

Thanks for the suggestion. I will try it. I think thats the better way.

[Anonymous]

@CalCPASoon

Thanks for the suggestion. I will try it. I think thats the better way.

[Zizoty]

Quotation mark is another tool that I used for the research tab. Instead of typing corporate governance, you would narrow your search down more if you type “corporate governance”. GL

AUD - 83 Feb11
REG - 75 May11
BEC - 73 July11 84 Oct11
FAR - 63 Aug11 76 Feb12 I'M DONE!!!!!

[Zizoty]

Quotation mark is another tool that I used for the research tab. Instead of typing corporate governance, you would narrow your search down more if you type “corporate governance”. GL

AUD - 83 Feb11
REG - 75 May11
BEC - 73 July11 84 Oct11
FAR - 63 Aug11 76 Feb12 I'M DONE!!!!!

[ScruffMcGruff]

I have only taken AUD (but have done lots of Becker test sims…). Overall I think the research questions are the easiest part of the exam for me.

Here's the step-by-step process I go through in answering these questions:

*** Step 1: Read the question carefully a few times. Pick out the key ‘problem words' in the paragraph. These ‘problem words' should either be used to search the table of contents or used in the search box (if you're uncomfortable with the search feature, which it seems like you are… don't worry about it. Use the table of contents instead!).

For example if the question reads something like: “You were asked to help Bill, a CPA at your firm to review the inventory at year end. So far, Bill has taken a count of the inventory, but doesn't understand how to ….”

Once you see that type of wording, you know that your key search term is likely to be right after that. Write that word, sentence or phrase down on a piece of paper and then click over to the research tab.

*** Step 2: Now that you're over to the research tab, start making good use of the table of contents and/or search feature. Really all you should have to do is scroll down the table of contents for the word or phrase you wrote down from Step 1. If you can't find exactly the word/phrase you wrote down, ask yourself if the term/topic might go by a different name.

If all else fails, go back to reading the question again to see if you missed something or wrote something down incorrectly. Assuming you eventually find the topic you're looking for in the table of contents or search bar, click on it and open it up.

*** Step 3: Alright! You made it to the last step and you should have your answer shortly! The main thing you want to make sure of here is that you read FAR ENOUGH into the section to match the EXACT answer with the EXACT question/problem.

For instance, if the question asked for you to do something like find what auditors need to include in their opinion when reporting on the financial statements of issuers, you would want to look up the 10 GAAS Standards. After finding them, you would want to scroll down until it starts talking about the Reporting Standards.

What I think a lot of people would do here mistakenly is that they will find the general area of where they are supposed to cite a topic and then stop there. So instead of scrolling down and citing the actual 4 Reporting Standards, they will just start reading the overview paragraph of the 10 GAAS standards, which will briefly mention the reporting standards, but won't actually go into detail about them.

Overall, the best tip I can give you here is that the ‘problem words' that you wrote down in Step 1 should almost definitely be contained in the place you want to cite (almost word for word in many cases). Finally, after you are about to cite a source, ask yourself: “Does this citation COMPLETELY answer the question/problem I was given?”

If it only partially addresses the question, you are probably in the right section, but you do not have the correct paragraph cited. In that case, dig a little deeper and you should be able to find it.

Hopefully this helps you!

AUD - 85
FAR - 78 (lol@ FAR Sims)
REG - 85
BEC - August

[ScruffMcGruff]

I have only taken AUD (but have done lots of Becker test sims…). Overall I think the research questions are the easiest part of the exam for me.

Here's the step-by-step process I go through in answering these questions:

*** Step 1: Read the question carefully a few times. Pick out the key ‘problem words' in the paragraph. These ‘problem words' should either be used to search the table of contents or used in the search box (if you're uncomfortable with the search feature, which it seems like you are… don't worry about it. Use the table of contents instead!).

For example if the question reads something like: “You were asked to help Bill, a CPA at your firm to review the inventory at year end. So far, Bill has taken a count of the inventory, but doesn't understand how to ….”

Once you see that type of wording, you know that your key search term is likely to be right after that. Write that word, sentence or phrase down on a piece of paper and then click over to the research tab.

*** Step 2: Now that you're over to the research tab, start making good use of the table of contents and/or search feature. Really all you should have to do is scroll down the table of contents for the word or phrase you wrote down from Step 1. If you can't find exactly the word/phrase you wrote down, ask yourself if the term/topic might go by a different name.

If all else fails, go back to reading the question again to see if you missed something or wrote something down incorrectly. Assuming you eventually find the topic you're looking for in the table of contents or search bar, click on it and open it up.

*** Step 3: Alright! You made it to the last step and you should have your answer shortly! The main thing you want to make sure of here is that you read FAR ENOUGH into the section to match the EXACT answer with the EXACT question/problem.

For instance, if the question asked for you to do something like find what auditors need to include in their opinion when reporting on the financial statements of issuers, you would want to look up the 10 GAAS Standards. After finding them, you would want to scroll down until it starts talking about the Reporting Standards.

What I think a lot of people would do here mistakenly is that they will find the general area of where they are supposed to cite a topic and then stop there. So instead of scrolling down and citing the actual 4 Reporting Standards, they will just start reading the overview paragraph of the 10 GAAS standards, which will briefly mention the reporting standards, but won't actually go into detail about them.

Overall, the best tip I can give you here is that the ‘problem words' that you wrote down in Step 1 should almost definitely be contained in the place you want to cite (almost word for word in many cases). Finally, after you are about to cite a source, ask yourself: “Does this citation COMPLETELY answer the question/problem I was given?”

If it only partially addresses the question, you are probably in the right section, but you do not have the correct paragraph cited. In that case, dig a little deeper and you should be able to find it.

Hopefully this helps you!

AUD - 85
FAR - 78 (lol@ FAR Sims)
REG - 85
BEC - August

[kb24]

I'd also recommend using the split screen feature. You can have the question on one side and the research on the other. Then you don't waste time flipping back and forth plus you can more easily check that you've found the correct paragraph.

Good luck.

FAR 4/1/11 - 89
AUD 4/15/11 - 85
REG 4/29/11 - 80
BEC 5/13/11 - 85

[kb24]

I'd also recommend using the split screen feature. You can have the question on one side and the research on the other. Then you don't waste time flipping back and forth plus you can more easily check that you've found the correct paragraph.

Good luck.

FAR 4/1/11 - 89
AUD 4/15/11 - 85
REG 4/29/11 - 80
BEC 5/13/11 - 85

[Anonymous]

Hi I don't know if you'll see this in time, but I was doing some of the research Reg sims tonight and kept encountering that problem, as well. Besides for the great advice above, I found the following solved (or helped) the issue-

Here's what happened: After typing in the keywords into the search box, I had many options, chose the one I wanted, and got a page that had a heading but no further info in small type. So I looked for the heading in the table of contents area, tried clicking on the corresponding “subpart” it said in the heading on the screen, but nothing changed. If I then went and clicked on a different subpart, that different subpart would open up further subtopics. So then I went back and clicked on the original subpart, and it opened up more subtopics from which to choose.Once I selected the subtopic I wanted, all the information I was looking for finally appeared in small type on the screen.

It's not as good as having the info appear when choosing an option that comes up from typing in keywords…but for some reason this is how I've been getting it to work.

I hope this makes sense…

[Anonymous]

Hi I don't know if you'll see this in time, but I was doing some of the research Reg sims tonight and kept encountering that problem, as well. Besides for the great advice above, I found the following solved (or helped) the issue-

Here's what happened: After typing in the keywords into the search box, I had many options, chose the one I wanted, and got a page that had a heading but no further info in small type. So I looked for the heading in the table of contents area, tried clicking on the corresponding “subpart” it said in the heading on the screen, but nothing changed. If I then went and clicked on a different subpart, that different subpart would open up further subtopics. So then I went back and clicked on the original subpart, and it opened up more subtopics from which to choose.Once I selected the subtopic I wanted, all the information I was looking for finally appeared in small type on the screen.

It's not as good as having the info appear when choosing an option that comes up from typing in keywords…but for some reason this is how I've been getting it to work.

I hope this makes sense…

[ScruffMcGruff]

Ya that seems kind of weird. Whenever you click on a specific subject via the search function or from the table of contents, it should open up to the specific section within the topic you want (if it's a search), or at the start of a section if you click on an item from the table of contents.

Also, just to make sure we're on the same page, your window in the research tab should be split into two separate areas/sub-windows if it is setup correctly. The left side should be skinny and contain an index of all the topics and subtopics, which you can manually click on if you see a section you want to jump to. The right side should be much larger and contain the actual text that is contained within each topic/section.

Other than that, I have never had a time where NO text showed up after I clicked on something. Are you sure the topic(s) you are clicking on are not ones that have been replaced/superseded by others (they should specifically say that they have been replaced, however, and there should be a link to the new/updated topic)?

AUD - 85
FAR - 78 (lol@ FAR Sims)
REG - 85
BEC - August

[ScruffMcGruff]

Ya that seems kind of weird. Whenever you click on a specific subject via the search function or from the table of contents, it should open up to the specific section within the topic you want (if it's a search), or at the start of a section if you click on an item from the table of contents.

Also, just to make sure we're on the same page, your window in the research tab should be split into two separate areas/sub-windows if it is setup correctly. The left side should be skinny and contain an index of all the topics and subtopics, which you can manually click on if you see a section you want to jump to. The right side should be much larger and contain the actual text that is contained within each topic/section.

Other than that, I have never had a time where NO text showed up after I clicked on something. Are you sure the topic(s) you are clicking on are not ones that have been replaced/superseded by others (they should specifically say that they have been replaced, however, and there should be a link to the new/updated topic)?

AUD - 85
FAR - 78 (lol@ FAR Sims)
REG - 85
BEC - August

[Anonymous]

I think the practice sims on the AICPA website, and maybe even the ones in Wiley or Becker…the research database only shows the sections related to answers to the practice sims. So you might get blank areas because its not actually a complete database of the entire IRC. On the real exam, the entire database is included.

[Author]

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