Back to It: BEC Doesn’t Care that I Failed AUD
Greg is a NINJA CPA Blogger.
So after 2 ½ weeks of waiting, 95% of which I spent studying for BEC, I finally got my AUD score. Unfortunately I failed again (68). AUD 4, me 0.
I really thought this could’ve been the one. I actually felt alright when I left the prometric center. I definitely need a new game plan for my retake (scheduled for May).
A number of people in the Another71 Forum have had success with the cram or final review courses that are out there. I have to change it up a little bit if I am going to slay the beast that is AUD.
So, I spent about an hour feeling sorry for myself about AUD, and then had to get back to it. BEC doesn’t care that I failed AUD. BEC will rip me apart anyways if I am not fully prepared.
I am through 5 chapters of lecture videos (and notes on said videos). I will be through the 6th chapter by the end of the week. That will give me 2 ½ weeks to review.
The material is harder than I expected, but I think once I start reviewing my lecture notes, and NINJA Notes and start listening to my NINJA Audio every day to and from work and at work, it will all start to click.
Add in an insane amount of multiple choice questions, and I think I will be just fine with BEC. Then I just need to nail my AUD retake and my REG retake before FAR expires, and I will be on my way.
I have 6 months. I am confident if I give it my all, I can conquer this monster. After that I need to somehow get the required audit hours, and I will have a nice some nice new letters to add to my name – C! P! A!
What else is going on? Well, Valentine’s Day will be here before I know it. Now, my birthday and my wife’s birthday are both within a few weeks of Valentine’s Day.
The good thing about this year is that we both went a little overboard for each other’s birthday gifts, so my wife decided that we won’t get each other gifts for Valentine’s Day. That’s right, my wife decided this. I am a lucky guy.
The plan is to go to dinner & a movie the Saturday after Valentine’s Day. There’s this cool movie theater near us that will let us accomplish both in one spot. We only just moved to our town a few months ago, and haven’t had the chance to go there, so we are both pretty excited.
The concept is that you sit in your seats to watch the movie (obviously), and they have servers that bring you dinner and drinks at your seat. It’s basically a restaurant & movie theater in one. I guess they give everyone little pagers for the servers so that you never have to get up from your seats for a beverage, snack, etc.
It is the ultimate movie viewing experience. The only thing that could make it better is an IMAX screen, or someone rubbing your feet or something.
Once again, I am somewhat thankful for all the fiscal cliff nonsense that is delaying tax season this year. I shouldn’t start working really crazy hours until after my BEC test at the end of the month.
I think part of the reason that I bombed AUD my first time, and failed REG the 1st time around, is tax season. AUD was immediately after my first tax season with a new company, and REG was right in the middle of the September/October mini tax season at another new job.
These tests require a big time commitment. They should not be scheduled in or around your busy season, no matter whether you’re in audit, tax, non-profit, some type of industry, etc. I will not make that mistake again. I must and I will become pass these exams.
Moving through BEC + Waiting to Schedule My Exam
Patrick is a NINJA CPA Blogger.
I’ve finally moved on from module 42 (Economics) to module 43 (Financial Risk Management and Capital Budgeting). The Wiley book is definitely written for people who already have a working knowledge of these topics.
I remember the satisfaction of mastering these subjects during my MBA course. Five years in banking and I haven’t had much opportunity to put this knowledge to practice.
Where I was once fluent on topics like cost of capital, the security market line, or CAPM, I’ve been reduced to a working knowledge. Frustrating. I think a lot of business decisions are still etched out on the back of a napkin.
I have not schedule an exam date yet but it’s looking like late February for BEC. Assuming I pass, that would give my until August to complete REG and hopefully allow for one failure along the way.
We went sailing on the 23rd but the wind was light and it rained almost the whole time. On the way home, the wind died off to nothing so I decided to tow our boat with the kayak, to stay warm. 
The photo is of the v-berth, where we sleep and often read. The shiny stuff on the ceiling is insulation that we installed to keep a little more heat inside.
Our mattress is a 4-inch thick foam pad over lattice. It’s actually quite comfortable…. much better than our former memory foam mattress. I actually prefer the boat to rock at night, while we’re sleeping.
BEC: Plans Change for Final Preparations
Jen is a NINJA CPA Blogger.
It is the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and I am holed up in a Starbucks 450 miles from home, glued to my laptop. I am taking BEC on Monday, three and a half weeks later than planned.
My plan had been to finish up my studying three weeks in advance of my November 3 test date, giving me plenty of time to review, MCQ, and more. I finished my videos, but then life intervened. Twice.
First I postponed to November 9, and when that clearly wasn’t going to be enough time, I pushed it out again to November 26. Even so, with 10 days until my test date, I was worried.
But I buckled down. Having the past few days off work, with extended family to take care of my kids while I study, has been really helpful.
I’ve been doing blocks of Wiley MCQs and reviewing/rewriting the topics that I’m weaker on (cost measurement! Financial management! IT! ARGH!), and reinforcing that with NINJA Audio.
Things are starting to look up. I’m hitting close to 75% on my weaker subjects, and in the upper 80s for my stronger subjects.
I’m not what you would call confident about this test. But at least I feel like I have a chance at a pass. And I did not feel that way three weeks ago.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone, and happy studying!!
