REG – Studying Business Law vs. Tax

  • Creator
    Topic
  • #202011
    Nancy
    Participant

    I take REG the end of this month……Should I mainly focus on the tax portion (Becker R1-R4) and not so much on the business law parts? I had a class in the master’s program that was basically the business law part of Reg and feel better about that portion as opposed to the tax portion. However, when I took BEC I focused most of my study time on the harder concepts (cost accounting and calculation probs) and spent very little time studying the “easier” topics…. and ended up having the majority of the exam on the easier parts that should have been easy points and I didn’t study that much. I passed but just barely. There is just SO much information on business law to retain everything this late. I also work 55+ hours a week, went through all the Becker lectures, and 80% of the MC. Just bought the Ninja MCQ’s and plan on going through as many as possible before the exam.

    Any advice if I should mainly focus on the tax sections for these next 2 weeks?

    AUD - NINJA in Training
    BEC - 78
    FAR - NINJA in Training
    REG - 82
    BEC: 78

    REG: 82

    AUD: February 20, 2017

    FAR: January 2, 2017

    For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
    Philippians 4:13

Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
  • Author
    Replies
  • #776642
    livealittle
    Participant

    It's been a while since I passed REG, but i seem to remember the distribution of questions on topics wan't weighted the way “everybody” seems to think it is.

    I think you are taking a big risk only studying 1 topic for 2 weeks. Maybe laser focus on your weakest topic the first 4 days, then move on for 8 of the remaining 10. On the last 2 days pre-test, reveiw everything at a high level – mnemonics, limits, formulas etc. And let's just say you better know that AMT tax.

    BEC - 8/8/16
    REG - 66, 77
    AUD - 81
    FAR - 9/8/16

    #776643
    patelhj1
    Participant

    From personal experience, I was unable to review the BLaw section the first time around because of time restrictions. I wish I had studied it I would have just passed the first time. Don't make the same mistake I did, at minimum I would say reread the chapters so you grasp a better understanding.

    PASSED ALL CPA EXAM AUG 2016

    BECKER / NINJA MCQ

    BEC 78 08/2015
    REG 71 11/2015, RETAKE 83 01/2016
    FAR 75! 5/2016
    AUD ? 8/2016

    Becker with Nonstop NINJA MCQ
    Google most difficult professional exam

    #776644
    Nancy
    Participant

    “i seem to remember the distribution of questions on topics wan't weighted the way “everybody” seems to think it is”

    What do you mean by this? Do people think there is more tax and end up with more business law on the real exam?

    It is confusing because Becker seems to say the exam is 60% tax, 20% business law, and 20% ethics…but a lot of people on these blogs say 60% tax and 40% business law.

    AUD - NINJA in Training
    BEC - 78
    FAR - NINJA in Training
    REG - 82
    BEC: 78

    REG: 82

    AUD: February 20, 2017

    FAR: January 2, 2017

    For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
    Philippians 4:13

    #776645
    Nancy
    Participant

    Also…is it possible to get a sim on business law topics? I have not heard of anyone that has ever seen a business law sim on the real exam.

    AUD - NINJA in Training
    BEC - 78
    FAR - NINJA in Training
    REG - 82
    BEC: 78

    REG: 82

    AUD: February 20, 2017

    FAR: January 2, 2017

    For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
    Philippians 4:13

    #776646
    livealittle
    Participant

    @NancyD8 that is exactly what I'm talking about. just to illustrate, Becker lecture Peter or Tim says “this topic is generally about 10-15% of the exam…..” Let's just say they were talking about individual taxation. I had 1 MCQ about individual taxation. if there are 90 MCQ on the REG exam, 1 question doesn't seem in line with 10%, especially considering my Becker REG book had 8 chapters and 2 of them were individual tax. That was at least 8 hours of lecture and 20-30 hours of homework.

    BEC - 8/8/16
    REG - 66, 77
    AUD - 81
    FAR - 9/8/16

    #776647
    Nancy
    Participant

    So ridiculous! I felt for BEC anyway the Becker had us focus on these super challenging topics and I did not see a single one on the exam. I swear 25% of my exam was econ and I was fully prepared for all the cost accounting computations.

    AUD - NINJA in Training
    BEC - 78
    FAR - NINJA in Training
    REG - 82
    BEC: 78

    REG: 82

    AUD: February 20, 2017

    FAR: January 2, 2017

    For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
    Philippians 4:13

    #776648
    Yolonge
    Participant

    Give its proportion (about 1/5), I would try to spend business law accordingly. Business law alone could probably match the whole tax, and unless you have so much time I would not try to master business law. You will only get so few questions from such vast content.

    You should not skip business law, but also do not want to spend too much time on it. Tax is majority of the exam (if you factor in sims, business law is less than 10% of your grade assuming no business law sim). When I was taking reg, i tried to allocate 1/3 of my study time for business law. One week was not enough for business law, so I did not cover it in much detail. Surprisingly, I got strong on business law only. I do not think there was a good way to prepare for business law for me… it was so dry and long.

    My advice is do not spend more than 1/3 of your time. It is important but you can spend time more efficiently doing tax.

    FAR - 83 (1/7/16)
    BEC - 87 (4/18/16)
    AUD - 92 (7/2/16)
    REG - 83 (12/5/16)
    Ethics - 100%!

    Licensed CPA in state of Maryland Feb 2017

    Materials: Wiley book + Ninja MCQ

    FAR - 83 (Jan 2016)
    Study time: 6 weeks
    BEC - 87 (April 2016)
    Study time: 2 weeks
    AUD - 92 (July 2016), (74 Feb 2016), (72 May 2016)
    Study time: 4 (Feb) + 2 (May) + 3 (July) = 9 weeks total
    REG - (70 April 2016)
    Study time: 3 weeks

    #776649
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Keep in mind that the test is NOT based on Becker's material, the material is based on the test. I, generally, think that Becker gives a good overview of what will be on the exam and gives you places to focus your attention. I'd say it's a safe bet to assume tax will be more of the exam than Law, but what constitutes a “challenging” part to one person may not be for someone else.

    I am taking my test in 2 weeks and plan to, roughly, follow this study plan (which is based on advice of many on this board and in “real” life):

    Becker R1-R2 – 20% of my time
    Becker R3-R4 – 40% of my time
    Becker R5 – 10% of my time
    Becker R6-R8 – 30% of my time

    Of course this could change based on how much time I have on various days, as well as how the review is going, but this is my plan.

    #776650
    Martin
    Participant

    What are you guys averaging on ninja? I have gone through Becker's HW twice, so now I need new questions. I just complete around 400 questions on ninja, and will begin Gleim's simulations tomorrow.

    Through God all things can happen!

    “You never fail until you stop trying.”
    ― Albert Einstein
    When I was young, I used to admire intelligent people;as I grow older, I admire kind people.
    “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.”

    FAR= 72-84
    Audit= 73-82
    BEC= 74-75
    Reg=77

    #776651
    Nancy
    Participant

    Yeah that makes sense. I think my best bet is to do a study plan similar to yours above. I just get so discouraged doing sims but the MCQs are fine. I may just not waste so much time practicing sims and just study the underlying concepts. Thanks everyone!

    AUD - NINJA in Training
    BEC - 78
    FAR - NINJA in Training
    REG - 82
    BEC: 78

    REG: 82

    AUD: February 20, 2017

    FAR: January 2, 2017

    For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
    Philippians 4:13

Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.