[Anonymous]

I’m looking into getting the CIA and if possible, I’d like to get any information on the process, study materials, etc. on anyone who’s been through it. Thanks, guys.

[momo5]

@Long Journey

Thank you for your reply. I'm planning on taking Part 3 now, and then Part 2. I just got the IIA's Learning System. Hopefully it'll help me out quite a bit. I might get Gleim's test prep for Part 3, since I've heard it's the hardest. I think the IIA is very overpriced. I guess I'll decide on whether to get it for Part 2 or not after I'm done with Part 3.

Regard Part 1, I really didn't put much effort into it. I guess I was a bit too relaxed.

[Anonymous]

I am using Gleim review materials (part III), so I started from the back sections of the book which are IT stuff. (That's was my weak area in BEC). My question is: Do I need to know in detail all those stuff? I am even using becker CPA and Wiley books the aid me. I feel Gleim is overwhelming I cannot believe any exam will go to the type of detail they have……

Anyone that has taken the CIA part III and use Gleim can give me an idea. … 🙁

[nearly_there]

Gleim does go into alot of detail (using it for CPA), espessially for REG. It throws so many AGI floors and phase-outs out there that it really is overwhelming. I also could not believe that the test was going to be as detailed as the book. I think I've heard somewhere its the only real drawback on Gleim that it goes into more detail than necessary for the test. The only problem is that it's hard to identify those “unnecessary” parts, so you have to study everything.

Overall I feel like its more concise than most other materials because its in the form of notes with no block text to read. It does have a few typos here and there, which can be a bit annoying. Also they have pretty nice online sumulations and a vast MCQ bank.

I would give it a solid B/B+.

FAR - 85 November 2011
AUD - 81 January 2012
REG - 68 March 2012
BEC - 86 April 2012
REG - 92 July 2012

[LongJourney]

You can't ignore IT in the CIA exam since it weighs around 35% of the exam. You don't need to go into much details with the IT, the questions are fairly shallow compared to BEC. My advise is to skim quickly through the materials from the Gleim book and then try to solve the Gleim software questions (highly representative of the actual exam and you might see the exact same questions). If you do well in your initial tries (i.e. 75% or more) then you don't need to spend much time on it. If you already passed part II then you should be fine since it contained almost the exact same IT materials with some additions.

Here is another piece of advise for the rest of part III materials; don't spend too much time on calculations materials (i.e. Financial reporting and cost accounting). You still need to know them but most of the actual exams questions are conceptual.

REG: 80 (02/02/2012)
FAR: 91 (02/06/2012)
AUD: 89 (02/09/2012)
BEC: 79 (02/12/2012)

Ethics: 90 (02/11/2012)

[Anonymous]

Thank you LongJourney and Nearlythere.

Part III will be my first part. BEC was my last CPA part, I figured why no? everything is fresh. I think it was not so fresh!!! I am having hard time with IT my first time around (low 70's in many topics) . I plan to spend most of my time on IT and master all three units. Units 1 and 2 were OK and I feel comfortable with finance and accounting topics, even “advance accounting is pretty basic.

Thank you again for the advice I truly appreciate it… It seems like IT is key and there is no way around it 🙁

Wish me luck !!

[nearly_there]

@ LongJourney

Holy hell…. you took all of your sections within 10 days of each other….. and passed them. That's sick.

Also what's this Ethics score everyone keeps displaying? Can you take that before you pass your sections?

FAR - 85 November 2011
AUD - 81 January 2012
REG - 68 March 2012
BEC - 86 April 2012
REG - 92 July 2012

[LongJourney]

@nearly_there

That was due to bad planning from my side and luckily it worked out for me (I was unemployed at that time and single). My CIA exam process was even shorter than this.

I believe that you can take the Ethics exam at any time during your CPA process (at least this is the case in Illinois). I took mine before the BEC exam since I didn't have a good night sleep.

REG: 80 (02/02/2012)
FAR: 91 (02/06/2012)
AUD: 89 (02/09/2012)
BEC: 79 (02/12/2012)

Ethics: 90 (02/11/2012)

[nearly_there]

Is it the test for your state or some sort of general exam on the AICPA website? I'm waiting for my final score and would rather take it while I wait if I could.

Also, I already have a required Ethics credit from a class that I took. Is this what its refering to?

FAR - 85 November 2011
AUD - 81 January 2012
REG - 68 March 2012
BEC - 86 April 2012
REG - 92 July 2012

[LongJourney]

It's a good idea to take your ethics course now. Each state has different rules for the ethics course (some have their own state course) and I think that some do not even require the course (I'm not sure if this still applies), though I believe most of the states require the AICPA course so check your state board rules.

REG: 80 (02/02/2012)
FAR: 91 (02/06/2012)
AUD: 89 (02/09/2012)
BEC: 79 (02/12/2012)

Ethics: 90 (02/11/2012)

[nearly_there]

I called my state board (TX) and they said that I need to take for the packet to take that Ethics test… guess I'll just have to wait.

Thanks for the help.

FAR - 85 November 2011
AUD - 81 January 2012
REG - 68 March 2012
BEC - 86 April 2012
REG - 92 July 2012

[nycegurl]

I have been trolling the IIA website for the CIA exam fee information but it evades me. Can anyone provide an estimate on how much the actual exam fees are please? Also, for those who have studied and taken the CIA, how long did you study for? 6mos-1yr? Is it feasible to complete the 3 parts within a year based on the material (with the Part 4 waiver)?

REG - 82 (11/09)
FAR - 72 (2/27/10), 79 (5/29/10)
BEC - 69 (7/9/10), Retake 11/26
AUD - 75 8/28/10

[nycegurl]

^ Nevermind on the exam fees, I guess I just had to open my eyes and look opposed to “search” the IIA page.

REG - 82 (11/09)
FAR - 72 (2/27/10), 79 (5/29/10)
BEC - 69 (7/9/10), Retake 11/26
AUD - 75 8/28/10

[ak248902]

Has anyone passed the CIA recently and want to sell their materials?

[Author]

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