[smoothiezguy]

Hi all,

I took the BEC yesterday. Talk about squeezing it in last minute, there was a major hang up with my application that was submitted on January 6 and as a result I didn’t receive my NTS until last Monday. Fortunately, there was an open spot the very last day of the month at a testing center a state away. That’s fine, I’ll drive a couple hours one way so that I can have an extra weekend to study.

Anyway, as far as the test went. I’d say it went okay. My consumption time ended up being as follows:

Testlet 1 – 25 minutes

Testlet 2 – 35 minutes

Testlet 3 – 49 minutes

Testlet 4 – 71 minutes

The first three testlets got progressively harder (as evidenced by my time on them). The third testlet had a couple questions that really ate the time due to calculations. I kept arriving at answers which weren’t even an option (*facepalm*)! Anyway, I finally got it sorted – just hoping I got ’em right. 😉

As far as all the questions were concerned, nothing was out of left field. I wasn’t surprised by any of them. Nor were there any that were relating to something I had never encountered before. I guess in this regard though I am a bit advantaged having already taken the CMA. I would say overall that the Ninja MCQ were harder than the actual exam questions.

I was blessed to have about the best WC topics possible. That was the part of the exam I was worried about most because I don’t feel like I do very well coming up with stuff to say under pressure. Plus, based on the practice simulations in Ninja MCQ, there were certain areas that I could have received which would have been really tough. However, the ones I got were pretty good. I would have loved to have an additional hour for those, but even still was able to complete all three in time, albeit far from perfectly.

Now to wait and see if I passed or not… This was my first CPA exam, just hoping the next three won’t be too big of bears.

As to my prep, I used the Wiley CPA Excel Book read over the course of the last year (the last half was read in the last two months). I do NOT recommend this, but due to life circumstances, that is what I had. However, as I mentioned earlier, I took both CMA exams last year, which definitely is a much more through dive into many of the BEC concepts.

And then the last two weeks I did 2000 questions in Ninja MCQ, which was hugely beneficial. Even though there were many of the same questions in Ninja as in the Wiley test bank, the Ninja software is MUCH more insightful, user friendly, and useful than Wiley’s. Highly recommend Ninja MCQ!

BEC - 83 x1
FAR - 87 x1
AUD - 71 | 82 x2
REG - 93 x1

I'm Done!!!

CMA - 430
BEC - 83
FAR - ?
AUD -
REG -

[jberrier]

Interesting. I took BEC yesterday and I've seen several people comment on how easy they thought it was. I was not one of those. I guess we all have our strengths and weaknesses, coupled with the various distributions of topics on each individual exam. I actually thought the written communications were fairly easy and probably spent about 35-40 minutes on them, but I understand the pressure involved in coming up with something on the spot. In addition, I have no idea how I did on these and if my responses are considered relevant to the topic. I struggled mostly with IT, ERM, and COSO. I studied pretty hard for the IT part too, as I knew it is a fairly significant topic, although it's one I really don't like. The IT section of BEC reminds me of the Governmental Accounting section of FAR–a broad topic that seems harder to study for and is tested pretty significantly.

What's really frustrating on any of these exams is when you know a particular topic or formula, but the question throws in some type of variable that you don't know exactly how to handle.

I hope you passed your first exam!

[MaLoTu]

Good luck! It sounds like you studies hard and I am sure the CMA experience helped with cost accounting. I had similar time consumption as you, although I am only certain that the 3rd testlet might have been harder (I think they were both harder 2&3 but not confident).

We will see the result next week!

Almost always from my phone... please excuse my typos!

All 4 passed - 2016

CA CPA

[smoothiezguy]

@jberrier – Yes! I resonate with your feelings. Or, there are some really hard concepts in a certain area and you study it like crazy only to not even get a test question on the topic! lol

I'm thinking I'll take FAR next… Is there anything wrong with going about it in that order?

BEC - 83 x1
FAR - 87 x1
AUD - 71 | 82 x2
REG - 93 x1

I'm Done!!!

CMA - 430
BEC - 83
FAR - ?
AUD -
REG -

[mitchmatch]

@jberrier, i was one of the ones who took it yesterday and i was one of the people that thought it was really easy, not a freebie but nowhere in comparison to the other exams. Additionally i was comfortable with it,erm, coso, financial ratios, i seriously struggled with cost which was a nightmare, along side economics. So hopefully the easiness was do to the fact that i was prepared in those topics. I am a little concerned that it wasnt as hard as i thought, because usually people here do opposite of what they thought.

FAR-76 First attempt.
AUD-79 First attempt.
REG-79 First attempt.
BEC-79 First attempt.

Done!

BECKERS

[Tripin93]

SmoothieGuy, for the CMA, which review materials did you use? I am considering taking the CMA next, and I am undecided. Since CPA's BEC is fresh on my mind, I have considered going the cheap route on CMA materials.

Do you know of any free CMA practice tests?

Motivated by JC. I do it to make God proud.

FAR: 91 July 2015
AUD: 83 October 2015
REG: 81 January 2016
BEC: 83 February 2016

[jberrier]

@smoothiezguy: nothing wrong at all going in that order, or any other order that you feel works best for you. I took FAR first and this (BEC) was my second exam. I wanted to get FAR out of the way first, as it is such a huge amount of material.

[smoothiezguy]

@Tripin93 – Once you sign up for the CMA, IMA has quite a few free practice tests. Maybe 6 or more? I can't exactly remember. I do recommend doing them as they are helpful at accessing your readiness.
I studied for the CMA using GLEIM. Based on all that I have read and experienced first hand, I recommend GLEIM above all the other review courses out there. For me personally, I didn't find the audio or visual presentations to be helpful, so didn't bother doing those parts. However, the rest of it I did as GLEIM recommends and was rewarded by first passes on both tests.

I've heard others mention it this way, and it really is a fitting analogy: BEC covers a wide surface that is a few inches deep, whereas CMA is a bit more narrow (but not much) and goes several feet deep. It's MUCH more in depth in its requirements on financial ratios and cost accounting.

BEC - 83 x1
FAR - 87 x1
AUD - 71 | 82 x2
REG - 93 x1

I'm Done!!!

CMA - 430
BEC - 83
FAR - ?
AUD -
REG -

[smoothiezguy]

@jberrier – I too felt like I didn't get many questions on economics or cost accounting.

BEC - 83 x1
FAR - 87 x1
AUD - 71 | 82 x2
REG - 93 x1

I'm Done!!!

CMA - 430
BEC - 83
FAR - ?
AUD -
REG -

[Anonymous]

Watch exam disclosure, please.

[jberrier]

@mitchmatch: It must be hard waiting for the results of your final exam. I was nervous enough checking the score for my first exam, but I can image that waiting for this one is especially tough, as it's your last exam section.

[user2701]

Hey smoothiezguy,

I wanted to ask you about CMA.
How are the exams? How long does it take to study? Approx hours? I know it depends on person to person, still…
Is CMA difficulty level equal to CPA ?

Does the exam have negative marking? Each part we have to score 360/500 right ?
What is the relevant work exp needed to certify for CMA? I have a 5yrs exp in banking industry.

BEC- 43(Feb'16), Retake-June 10, (Wiley text book/WQB/NINJA MCQ)
REG- TBD
FAR- TBD
AUD- TBD

[Tripin93]

Thanks Smotthiezguy! And just like User2701, I am curious to learn about study time (how many weeks/months. How many hours each day.)

Motivated by JC. I do it to make God proud.

FAR: 91 July 2015
AUD: 83 October 2015
REG: 81 January 2016
BEC: 83 February 2016

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

I sat for BEC yesterday and I found that my second testlet was extremely difficult. The third testlet was a mix of easy and hard questions, is this considered hard or medium? Also can there be a chance I passed if I took educated guess on at least 10 to 15 questions?

[Parisa]

I took BEC on Feb 27th. I am a little worried because the testlets did not seem to get much harder, and I didn't really feel like the exam was all that difficult. There were a couple out there questions, but most of it was covered in Becker. I just passed FAR in January so I am really excited to pass the rest of the exams this year. I am thinking about studying for Audit next or start BEC again just in case. Does anyone when the scores will be released?

FAR - 1/25/2016 - 78
BEC - 2/27/2016 - 68
AUD - TBD
REG - TBD

[MaLoTu]

Score release is March 9

Almost always from my phone... please excuse my typos!

All 4 passed - 2016

CA CPA

[Author]

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