Elsie, I used Becker as well. Without giving away secret info...I can only say this. I've been an accountant for 16 years with a bachelors from DePaul, a great acctg program. Recently finished my masters. These tests are tough, especially FAR...
I was told REG was a bit easier than Audit and FAR, but since I work on Finance and accounting and audit related tasks daily, I feel REG was the hardest so far. In general, I thought the multiple choice was fairly easy in Testlet 1, with 5-6 challenging questions...but each testlet is different, even if you get the same Testlet 1 as others in your window.
If you felt the MC was really easy in Testlet 2...you probably didn't do as well as you thought in Testlet 1....as they get harder, the better you do.
Personally, I thought Testlet 1 was fairly easy, but Testlet 2 got pretty tough, and #3 wasn't much easier.
The sims....well, let's just say they weren't bad except one of the writtens was on subject matter that is rarely covered in a classroom, and was certainly not covered in the Becker Material.
My only hope is that when you see that in a question or sim...it's possible it is a "future-test" question and not being graded....I can only hope. I do not want to take this again, I want to pass all 4 the first time.
As far as knowledge....like all others have posted, you need to have basic knowledge of all areas, UCC, Basis in C-corp and partnerships, DNI, Inheritance taxes, personal taxes (deductions vs. adj to AGI), M1 reconciliation, Ethics, Liability, Property Insurance, the list goes on and on. This exam seemed like they threw the kitchen sink at me.
Given the job market, without both CPA, MBA and experience...I will be hard pressed to get a better job. The market is starting to open up and many C-level jobs are becoming available but CPA is becoming more requested than MBA, and many now want Both +Industry Experience + Experience on their software. I'm just afraid if I have to re-take REG in July, it will be end of summer before I have CPA going into fall when jobs typically dry up again.
Hoping we all pass!!!
FAR 93
AUD 88
REG 4/10
BEC 5/9
