[public sector unions]

How much time and effort are you putting into studying IT for BEC?

I find this topic extremely dry and boring.

My review material is extremely specific with the materials and I frankly find myself being bored to death.

I kind of just want to glaze over it and understand the key concepts whilst not spending too much effort memorizing every small detail but I worry it will be a significant part of the actual exam.

AUD - 91
BEC - 97
FAR - 86
REG - 87

p

[shawn in VA]

Public,
I have taken BEC 3 times (74,74,81). Finally passed a few weeks back. In total of 3 tries I spent close to 200 hours. I am 10 years out of school though. Please do not take this BEC lightly . It is a beast. Everyone talks about FAR and REG being hard. I actually found BEC harder than REG, but I do tax for a living.

NO MATTER WHAT DO THE SIMS on the AICPA website. Saved my butt during the exam.

And don't get wrapped up too much in the calcs during your review b/c the exam calcs are short and straightforward. I really can't say not to focus on details, but there are some small detail here and there you need to know.

Best of luck

AUD - 84
BEC - 81
FAR - NINJA in Training
REG - 75

AUD - 84

BEC-  81

REG-75

FAR- TBD

[shawn in VA]

also no point in doing to many WC's. The topics on exam versus my review material never showed up. Know the structure of how to write WC for sure. Your review material will have this

AUD - 84
BEC - 81
FAR - NINJA in Training
REG - 75

AUD - 84

BEC-  81

REG-75

FAR- TBD

[public sector unions]

Thanks a lot for your input Shawn.

As far as WCs are concerned,

I heard that something simple is best.

Here is a skeleton of what I'm thinking although I am not sure if that is the correct way. I would make sure to use a lot of key words and avoid jargon unless necessary for an explanation.

Dear [Controller/CFO/Business Department],

[Present Problem]

[Address Problem]

[Conclude]

Sincerely,
[Bob Johnson]

AUD - 91
BEC - 97
FAR - 86
REG - 87

p

[public sector unions]

I definitely will go ahead and do the problems released by the AICPA. I did the ones they released for FAR and they were of tremendous value.

So that advice is rock solid.

AUD - 91
BEC - 97
FAR - 86
REG - 87

p

[shawn in VA]

Go to the AICPA website. It looks just like the interface of the actual exam in Prometric. They have like 5 BEC MCQs, and 3 WC's, and 4 SIMS (I think or maybe 2-3). You actually take the abbreviated exam online and its like 1 hour long

I did the SIMS a couple times. They saved my rear end on exam day for sure. \

The WC Format you stated above is what I did as well.

AUD - 84
BEC - 81
FAR - NINJA in Training
REG - 75

AUD - 84

BEC-  81

REG-75

FAR- TBD

[Superdude3000]

Don't just do the surface with anything in BEC. There are so few topics relative to the other sections that you're guaranteed to get a handful of questions on IT during the exam. I also found BEC to be one of the hardest sections, if not the hardest.

REG - 92 (1/17)

BEC - 82 (2/17)

AUD - 89 (5/17)

FAR - 94 (9/17)

Rogers Elite + Becker mcqs/sims for all 4 exams

WA State Ethics Exam - 83, 83, 90 (9/17)

AICPA Ethics Exam - 95 (9/17)

1-year of work - complete (11/18)

Licensed WA State CPA

[HoldMyBeerCPA]

I studied for BEC for about 100 hours, but I spent only 10 hours or so on IT, because I felt like I would never understand it.

I did my best to make sure I understand the basics of IT while getting a great understanding of everything else.

This approach was risky and it came back to bite me on exam day, because there was plenty of IT questions. However, most of those IT questions were so far out there, I wouldn't have been able to learn it while I was studying.

"FACT": The odds of consecutively passing all four sections of the CPA exam on the first try: 7%.

Me: Hold my beer...

FAR (April 2017): 75+

BEC (May 2017): 75+

AUD (July 2017): 75+

REG (September 2017): 75+

Roger + Ninja Audio/MCQ/Notes (BEC & REG)

[Anonymous]

IT was a significant portion of my exam and I don't see the AICPA letting up on this. I could see IT becoming it's own exam down the road.

[Big Mike]

1. Buy the ninja notes. Its worth it enough just for this portion

2.
“Dear [insert name], (note that a salutation is only necessary if the WC is formatted as a letter instead of a memo)

Thank you for allowing me to assist with your inquiry regarding [restate the question]. When analyzing [Subject matter to be discussed], we must consider

Each topic should be its own paragraph. Begin each paragraph by giving a definition of each topic.

In conclusion, I recommend [summarize your findings above, preferably using more buzz words].

I appreciate the opportunity to assist you. Should you have any more questions as you review [subject matter] in greater detail, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best regards,

[your name]

Got a 94 on my first attempt with 3 weeks of studying. Never did a WC practice and looked followed that exact structure for all 3 WC

AUD - NINJA in Training
BEC - NINJA in Training
FAR - NINJA in Training
REG - 81

DAY MAN

[public sector unions]

Thanks for all the great advice. I'll definitely hammer down IT and Big Mike, your WC formatting looks superb.

Thank You

AUD - 91
BEC - 97
FAR - 86
REG - 87

p

[public sector unions]

Spencer,

With the fact that you didn't do well on IT and didn't put too much time into studying it, I want to know.

Did you barely pass the exam or would the IT provide a lot of cushion in the event of a borderline pass or fail?

AUD - 91
BEC - 97
FAR - 86
REG - 87

p

[EZ_Sims_4_me_Pls]

IT was a significant part of my exam.. I studied the IT material on becker, ninja, and gleim.. I covered every single question.

the IT questions on the exam were on nothing that the material covered.

the WC saved my score (I passed in Q1 before BEC had Sims).. I got 2 easy subjects which I knew everything about.

AUD - 80
BEC - 84
FAR - 77
REG - 79

one step closer

[HoldMyBeerCPA]

@Public sector: I barely passed the exam (scored a 78), but I think that my performance in IT was not great. Either that, or I'm a really great guesser. I'm thinking it's the former. Every question outside the topic of IT, I felt comfortable with, including COSO. The only problem was that there was so many IT questions which most likely dragged own my score.

In any case, if you believe you'll have the time and resources to learn a lot about IT before your exam, I would say do so. I just didn't think it was worth studying that much for after hearing all the horror stories.

"FACT": The odds of consecutively passing all four sections of the CPA exam on the first try: 7%.

Me: Hold my beer...

FAR (April 2017): 75+

BEC (May 2017): 75+

AUD (July 2017): 75+

REG (September 2017): 75+

Roger + Ninja Audio/MCQ/Notes (BEC & REG)

[rencpa]

After reading your comments, I am getting to the point if it is worth to study IT at all. If I have to guess on majority of questions, why not to invest the studying time in other chapters/topics?

"Self-trust is the first secret of success" -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

[rb2017]

I'd definitely study whatever IT materials your review course gives you as much as any other topic you would study – that way you at least get the basics down (Becker actually did help me with a couple IT terms on the exam). As most have mentioned, there will definitely be questions with terms you've never heard of. I had a ton of random IT questions on my exam and got really discouraged throughout the exam but ended up with an 86. I'd like to think the crazy IT MCQs are the pretest questions that get thrown out.

AUD - 77
BEC - 86
FAR - 75
REG - 77

No need to worry, my accountant handles that.

[Author]

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