[Jobless2CPA]

On the real CPA exam, will there be a timer at the left corner to indicate how much time I have spent on EACH question?

It is important because I have basically set a 2 minute limit on each MCQ when I was working on the Becker practice test….

[Jobless2CPA]

I am not working on the final Becker practice test, and there isn't one…..

[Anonymous]

No, you just see the overall time remaining for the exam (i.e. counts down from 4 hours).

[Rebecca_AZ]

You can take a tutorial on the exam here: https://www.aicpa.org/BecomeACPA/CPAExam/ForCandidates/TutorialandSampleTest/Pages/exam_tutorial_parallel.aspx

This tutorial simulates the exam so you can see what the calculator, the time, and all the buttons look like.

I passed in 2012!

BEC - PASSED - I'M DONE!!!
AUD - PASSED (finally!!)
REG - PASSED (Twice - lost credit first time)
FAR - PASSED!

[Anonymous]

Before I go into an exam I calculate on paper how much time I need to allow myself per testlet. I usually give myself 30 minutes per mcq testlet and 15 minutes per simulation on the 3 hr exams and 45 minutes per mcq and 15 minutes per sims for the 4 hr exams. Then I will mark on my scratch paper the increments of where I need to be on the clock during the exam. The clock is a timer that counts down backwards so if we have 4 hours for FAR I would mark my paper like below:

4:00

3:15

2:30

1:45

1:30

1:15

1:00

45

30

15

0

This leaves me 45 minutes for each mcq testlet. If there are 30 questions per testlet then that gives you 1.5 minutes per question. Then it allows 15 minutes per simulation including the research question. Any remaining time from that will be extra for the other sims. At any time I can look at my scratch paper and at the clock and know about where I need to be.

If you take 2 minutes per question then that only leaves you an hour for 7 sims which is not very much time for the sims.

Hope this helps

[Anonymous]

Another thing I find that helps with your time is that if I get to a question that I know will take a lot of time, I flag it to work on after all the other questions in that testlet. I go through the non calculation questions and get those out of the way and also work any calculations that don't take too much time. If it is something that will take a little longer to calculate or I may get stuck on it I save it for the end of that testlet so I don't eat all my time up trying to figure it out.

[Jobless2CPA]

I might have to do create my own “timer” as well….

Thank you for all of your advice!

[Anonymous]

I planned my time for FAR as follows (4 hour exam):

4:00-3:10 (50 mins for MCQ testlet 1. Check after 15 questions to make sure I am at or around 3:35)

3:05-2:15 (50 mins for MCQ testlet 2. Check after 15 questions to make sure I am at or around 2:40. By leaving a 5 minute gap, it gives me a little breathing room for a break at some point if needed.)

2:10-1:20 (50 mins for MCQ teslet 3. Check after 15 etc etc).

1:15-0:00 (Sim testlet, 12 mins per sim. Usually one sim is really quick and easy and will allow me to allocate time to the others.)

I write these times down when I start my exam and check after every 15 questions.

[Author]

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