[Anonymous]

I have been studying for Audit since July 1 and I test on Aug 31. I study about 3 hours after I get off work everyday and about 8 hours a day on the weekend. I read all of these forums about people saying that 160 hours is more than enough time to study! How?? Unless you have background/experience with Audit, it seems pretty unrealistic. Of course, everything is possible, right? But honestly, I don’t get it. It takes a substantial amount of time to go through the lectures, read the chapter, do the book MCQ’s, do the CD MCQ’s and then go through the ALL the MCQ’s a few more times (at the end of the day, you’re talking over 3,000 MCQ)!!!! And considering its Audit, it takes a real thought process when answering questions. How in the heck can that only take 160 hours? Someone please advise me as to what I am doing wrong. Thank you 🙂

[OneStepAwayCPA]

Everyone is different. I spent well over 160 hrs, maybe even double(?) and yet failed. I do not have audit experience & audit is a difficult section for me. It is one section keeping me from my CPA. But don't base your studying on # ofhrs. Make every study session productive. No one will ask # of hrs as long as u pass.

[kb24]

@gogetter

As onestepaway said, it's not the number of hours you study but how effective those hours are. Here are some suggestions that might help.

First of all, doing lots of MCQ doesn't mean that you have to do all the MCQ multiple times. I used the Wiley text and test bank and the Becker text but not the videos. When I went thru a section for the first time, I did the problems from the Wiley text but didn't do the ones from the test bank. I also did them in what I thought of as homework mode i.e. I tried to answer the questions on my own but referred to the text if I was at a loss. In these cases I read the answer and then worked thru the problem to make sure I understood it. I did the test bank problems when going thru my review.

You don't have to understand every detail of each section on your first go-through. It's amazing how much will make sense on your review that you didn't fully grasp the first time through.

Allow plenty of time for your review because it is the most important part of your test preparation. It will refresh your memory on about things that you studied earlier and help you grasp areas that you didn't fully understand on your first go thru. This is when I did the test bank problems – first I did them by section as I reviewed each one. Then I did sample exams with random problems.

Make a study schedule. It doesn't have to be super detailed, but you should have a goal as to what you want to accomplish each week. Then at the beginning of each week, decide what your goal is for each study session in order to accomplish the goal for the week. Having goals will ensure that you have a realistic plan for covering all the material. Accomplishing these goals will give you positive reinforcement.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

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

[rknight21]

yeah everyone is different. i started studying from february and took it in may. mine you i am working full time and doing my masters, 9 credits

[ExhaustedCPA]

I used Becker. I studied for 4 weeks at 3 hours a day. The exam was a breeze. Nobody can say how long you should study. Only you know that. Me, I'm a pretty intelligent person who always has tested well. I don't need as much study time

Aud 4/2/11 - 86
Far 5/27/11 - 83
Bec 7/1/11 - 82
Reg 8/13/11 - 86! It's over!!!!

[rknight21]

“I'm a pretty intelligent person who always has tested well. I don't need as much study time” interesting to say the least

[WhyEvenTry]

@ everyone & @ExhaustedCPA

“The exam was a breeze” Hmmm….really?!?!?

For newcomers, the exam is NOT a breeze, at all! If you put the time in, you should pass. But don't cut yourself short.

BEC - 71, 74, 77 (Feb - 2011)
FAR - 73, 78 (Feb - 2011)
REG - 83 (Nov 2010)
AUD - 71, 84 (May 2011) - Done!! CPA licensed in TX (July 2011)

[Soproudofmyself]

ExhaustedCPA – interesting comment to put out there on a site like this.

[ExhaustedCPA]

Why was my comment interesting? People have different study needs. People need to realize that nobody can tell them how much to study. It depends on how well you retain information. For me, auditing was pure conceptual. Memorizing is my forte I guess you can say. Personally, FAR kicked my butt. I needed a lot of study time for that. BEC was very hard too. It was just auditing that I found to be the easiest to study for. That's my personal opinion.

Aud 4/2/11 - 86
Far 5/27/11 - 83
Bec 7/1/11 - 82
Reg 8/13/11 - 86! It's over!!!!

[LisaCPAPlease]

I ended up putting in about 140 hours for Audit over 7 weeks, since I just took it I don't know how I did yet, but with someone with no auditing experience when I started my studying I really thought I screwed myself by not giving myself enough time. But Audit really doesn't have that much material and I was really amazed by how much everything came together by the 3rd/4th week. I was able to go through the lectures (Yaeger) in a week and a half (it was less than 20 hours of lectures if I remember) and was able to devote the rest of the time to reviewing the books, my flashcards, and doing thousands of MCQ's (and without having to do a lot of calculations like FAR you can get through a lot more MCQ's once you are familiar with how they word the questions and the tricks). As someone with no audit experience, I was intimated at first but I feel like it really comes together quickly since there isn't that much material… but I guess I won't really know until I get my score in September!

FAR - 94 (5/2/11)
AUD - 92 (7/1/11)
BEC - 82 (8/25/11)
REG - 84 (11/21/11)

[IwannaBaCPA]

I think we all need to remember that we all have strengths and weaknesses…what was “a breeze” for one person is surely not going to be a breeze for everyone…

As you are working the material and the MCQ, you should get a feel for how well you are understanding things. Use that as the basis for how long you need to study…

I just move my exam a week because I realized I needed more time to understand the material, especially tracing and vouching and that whole chapter in Becker…

BEC: 79 - April 2011
FAR: 78 - May 2011
AUD: 81 - May 2012
REG: 79 - October 2012
Ethics: Passed - March 2013
I am finally DONE!

[Anonymous]

@Everyone, thank you so much for all of your advice! I think that I have already incorporated a lot of your suggestions into my studies thus far. I am a very detailed person. I make detailed study guides, read the chapters, read each answer thoroughly, and I have a planner detailing out my goal for each day until my test day. I am a pretty anal person who stresses out a lot. That's just me. But it's so true…everyone is different! I definitely require more study time than most people and that's how it was in college as well. You guys definitely made me feel more confident. Thanks again 🙂

[I hate FAR]

[I hate FAR]

I pity You People for not being more like ExhaustedCPA. But my question is if it was such a breeze than why is she so exhausted?

[mla1169]

I actually dont keep track of how many hours I study. I guess that alone is too intimidating for me. But I do listen to the wiley audio book all day at work and while I am doing housework (which sadly isnt enough housework but I'm sure you can all relate!), read every night for a couple of hours, do mcqs at least once a day. I think I am spending more time studying for AUD on Aug 25 than I have for any of the other exams I've taken/retaken so far because I never EVER want to do this again!

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[gottagetmycpa]

why is everyone so hung up on the word “breeze”. My brother said the same thing. Everybody mind is different my brother study for 2 weeks and got an 86! If I was him I would use the word breeze as well seeing that you only need a 75 to pass. At the end of the day the goal is to PASS wither it is a breezy or difficult just PASS. Who cares about how many hours tactics etc. My goal is to pass by any means necessary!

FAR 76
REG 76(2x)
BEC FAILED (2x)
AUD FAILED (2x)

"When you don't give up, YOU CANNOT FAIL"

[Author]

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