[tak23]

Hi Everyone,

I’m a Japanese university student studying for the CPA exam in Japan.

My goal for now is to get an inactive license in Guam.

I have a question about the order I should take the exam in (ex. FAR, REG, AUD, BEC). It would be wonderful if someone can give me advice!

This is how my schedule looks like right now:

◆　Sept – Nov 2014 = Fulfill Accounting Requirements for Guam / Graduating

◆　Dec 2014 – Feb 2015 = Study for 2 topics during the three months (I’ll be able to study for at least 4 hours or more everyday)

◆　End of Feb 2015= Take TWO exams

◆　April 2015= Start working at a company in Japan (won’t have too much time to study for my first year perhaps…)

Therefore, my goal is to pass two topics before I start working from April 2015.

Someone please give me advice for the order I should take the exam!

Thanks!

FAR- 67, (May 2015?)
AUD- Feb 2015
BEC- ?
REG- ?

"Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion." - Muhammad Ali

[thechapman]

FAR > AUD > REG > BEC > the bars

Passed - 2014

[Kesto]

FAR , AUD , REG, BEC

[rupert]

Agree with others…..FAR, AUD, REG, BEC.

FAR 90 Oct. 6, 2012
AUD 96 Dec. 8, 2012
REG 93 May 30, 2013
BEC 84 Aug. 31, 2013

NIU CPA Review Correspondence and Wiley Test Bank

[Anonymous]

I would say FAR- REG- AUD and last BEC.

[Mr. Dim]

I vote FAR, AUD, REG, BEC. I liked the overlap this sequence provides.

FAR - 95
AUD - 98
REG - 92
BEC - 10/4/14

[tak23]

Thanks everyone for the reply!!!

I forgot to mention this, but I'm fairly new to accounting and I just started attending a private business school to fulfill accounting requirements + take classes for CPA. I feel like it wouldn't have much effect, but would the order change by any chance for those who aren't really familiar with bookkeeping, etc yet? But then again, I heard that FAR would be the basis to studying AUD and BEC so just wanted to ask….

FAR- 67, (May 2015?)
AUD- Feb 2015
BEC- ?
REG- ?

"Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion." - Muhammad Ali

[Anonymous]

Just curious, but this stuck out to me… “April 2015= Start working at a company in Japan (won't have too much time to study for my first year perhaps…)”

There's an 18 month window to pass all 4 parts. If you take a year off after passing the first two, you are really cutting it close to finish the last two exams.

Best of luck, by the way.

EDIT: Also, if you are crunched for time after taking that year off, I would suggest taking FAR & REG first, just to knock some of the most study-intensive exams out of the way.

[tak23]

CMaxwell,

Thanks for your advice!

Yah, well I just heard it from the employees at my company that I may not have time to study too much when I start working since there's a lot of employee training programs, getting used to the Japanese corporate culture, etc. But I'll definitely try my best to continue my studies even after April 2015.

Any advices/studying tips for FAR and REG?

FAR- 67, (May 2015?)
AUD- Feb 2015
BEC- ?
REG- ?

"Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion." - Muhammad Ali

[Ganbatte]

Like everyone else said, I recommend you take them in the order FAR, AUD, REG, BEC.

One thing I noticed, you said you're taking 2 exams at the end of February. That's definitely not a good idea; you should just be studying and focusing on 1 exam at a time. You could study FAR from Dec until mid-January and take it then. Then study for AUD and take it a month later from mid-late February. Since March is a blackout month, you could study for REG and take it sometime in early April, before you start work. Therefore, you will have 3 finished and be left with BEC, which you will have to figure out based on how busy you'll be after starting work.

Hope this helps! I basically have the same schedule as you, but everything is moved earlier for me; I'm starting work next month lol

7/14 FAR ☑
8/14 AUD ☑
10/14 REG ☑
1/15 BEC

[y_u_no_pass]

I'm doing the opposite order of REG BEC FAR AUD. But if you are going to have a lot of time to study in the beginning you probably should do FAR first.

Florida CPA!
Took final exam 2/25/15.
Sent in Application 3/12/15.
Issued License 3/20/15.
Used CPA Excel solely for all exams.

[jeff]

This will help 🙂

https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-survival-guide/

AUD - 79
BEC - 80
FAR - 76
REG - 92

Jeff Elliott, CPA (KS)
NINJA CPA | NINJA CMA | NINJA CPE | Another71

[tak23]

Ganbatte,

Thanks for the post!

Yah, you are definitely right that I should just study for one topic at a time. I was initially thinking of the same thing. But unfortunately I'll finish taking my accounting credits at the end of November, and the application process (sending transcripts to the accountancy board, etc) takes about two months according to my private business school, so the earliest I can take the exam is in February….So that is why I was thinking of taking two exams in Feb….

How long did it take you to study for FAR by the way?

y_u_no_pass,

Thanks for the advice! Yah, thinking of taking FAR first!!

FAR- 67, (May 2015?)
AUD- Feb 2015
BEC- ?
REG- ?

"Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion." - Muhammad Ali

[Ganbatte]

Oh, I see… I'm in NY and the application process for me (from sending the application and transcripts until I received the NTS) took 1.5 weeks. I was expecting up to 1 month but it was really fast! So even though I don't know how long on average it takes in Guam to get your NTS, it might be a lot faster than you think. Either way, definitely study while you wait for your NTS!!

I studied about 6 weeks for FAR (4-5 hrs/day), and only had 4 days for a final review (because I fell slightly behind in my schedule XD). In total, it was around 200 hours studying. For AUD, it was about 1/2 of FAR.

7/14 FAR ☑
8/14 AUD ☑
10/14 REG ☑
1/15 BEC

[tak23]

Ganbatte,

I'm so sorry for my super late reply.

And thanks for giving me a brief idea of how much I should study for FAR! I guess it depends on people, but I'll definitely make time for 4-5hr/day to study. Any recommendations / studying tips for FAR + AUD?

FAR- 67, (May 2015?)
AUD- Feb 2015
BEC- ?
REG- ?

"Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion." - Muhammad Ali

[Ganbatte]

No worries, I don't check this forum every day either XD

Some tips:

– Try to stick to your study schedule/planner as much as you can! You don't want to fall behind and catchup at the end. I had less time to do a final review b/c I fell behind schedule…

– You haven't started studying for FAR, but it's a LOT of material. As you move through the material, you will find that you forget stuff from the beginning, so it's a good idea to look over questions/ do practice quizzes with old material to refresh your memory. Personally, I wasn't able to go through the material and didn't do any practice exams but only managed to pass b/c I recently graduated lol

– If you ever have questions, just browse through this forum and read old topics; read about people's testing experiences so you know what to expect on exam day

– Like you said, everyone studies differently…so try to find what works best for yourself. I'm sure you'll be able to work it out once you start studying and getting a feel for the exam! Take FAR first b/c it's the biggest mountain! がんばって！

7/14 FAR ☑
8/14 AUD ☑
10/14 REG ☑
1/15 BEC

[Author]

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