[jeff]

NINJA Study Notes, Flashcards, and Audio: https://www.another71.com/products-page/

Wiley Software: https://www.another71.com/wiley-cpa-software/

AUD - 79
BEC - 80
FAR - 76
REG - 92

Jeff Elliott, CPA (KS)
NINJA CPA | NINJA CMA | NINJA CPE | Another71

[katie]

@ kcodyr & @ cpaindiana,

I just took AUD 2011 under Georgia rule yesterday. I failed it at the end of Nov 2010 with a 73 so this was a re-take for me. I REALLY missed the written communications since they aren't part of the 2011 AUD exam but the simulations were not terribly difficult nor time consuming. There was some new stuff with the ethics and international standards just as reported. Jeff predicted that AUD could be the “new hardest exam” but I don't think so, I know someone who took REG in 2011 and said it was a beast! I did not think AUD was a beast.. I just hope I did well enough to pass this time! Good luck to you guys!

[jrsmith416]

I take Audit on Monday… It's going to be the second time I've taken it as I missed passing by a point in October 2010. I've passed the other 3 parts the first time and just need to knock this out. I'm worried about this one, because I'm just not a memorization person. I'm more of a logic person. I think that's why I did well on the other 3. To me, audit seems to be nothing but memorization on who to communicate to and what to include in what report. It's just not my strong point. The concepts aren't hard at all to grasp. It's just memorizing all of this crap. Any pointers? I'm trying to memorize all the neumonics I can from Becker.

[jrsmith416]

I took audit yesterday… I thought multiple choice weren't really much harder than before. The new simulation format was a little tougher though. We'll see in March or April whether or not I'm done with this whole process. Until then… no more studying!

[Anonymous]

i think aud is the most logical and instinctie and i dont think u have to memorize anything.except the reports.or steps to take and nothing more……………..why do ppl keep talking abt memorizing ?? maybe its bcos other review focus on that………….i thank God that yaeger focuses on the actual concepts not on cramming or all that distraction…………….kudos to yaeger!!!!

[jrsmith416]

I agree that the concept audit procedures and assessing risks are very logical. I'm talking about the various reprots on audits, reviews, compilations, attestations. It seems to me that a lot of that is memorization such as where to put what explanatory paragraph or when to mention or not to mention this or that.

[wishfulthinking]

Well, I sit on Thursday for Audit yet again…..Maybe this time I'll pass…….Here's for hoping!

REG 85 | FAR 85 | AUD 88 | BEC 76!!! DONE!!!!

[Anonymous]

everybody i hear got a 74 in aud and thr score reports show very high scores above 80 so i smell something fishy abt aud taken late last year almost like a conspiracy theory type thing like some ppl say they purposefully want more folks taking new sifrs or something…….what do y'all thi9nk???????????????.

[WhyEvenTry]

I'm not sure how it the scoring exactly works out, but I am one of those who's score averaged a passing grade, but my released score was failing. My score report only had one grade below 75 (a 71), but all other areas were above 75 and one or two 80s. My final grade for AUD was a 71. I guess ALOT of people tested really well for the last window. Or….the AICPA wanted to keep the pass rate even lower to make more people test again. Lets be honest…it is a business and they are making money off of me. Nothing we can do about it. Sucks….

BEC - 71, 74, 77 (Feb - 2011)
FAR - 73, 78 (Feb - 2011)
REG - 83 (Nov 2010)
AUD - 71, 84 (May 2011) - Done!! CPA licensed in TX (July 2011)

[RRCpa]

Just took audit again today with the new changes. I didnt really come across too many questions on the new material maybe 5 questions at most. First testlet was fairly easy, the second seemed a bit more tricky and the third was the hardest out of the three testlet. The Sims didnt seem that bad as well…I was expecting worse. There is that lag that other have noted maneuvering between the seven simulation. I would say i had a good handle on four out of the seven sims. Two of them seemed like FAR simulation to be honest. So overall it was a fair exam I finish with ab 45mins left on the clock…lets hope I PASS this time.

REG-77, AUD-60,68,70, BEC-70,68,69,71, FAR-62

[Anonymous]

I took BEC November 30th, 2010. Received my failing 72 late December. Currently studying for the AUD with Becker. I'm so glad I stumbled onto this site. It is so encouraging to hear about other people's struggles….wait, that came out wrong. Just glad to see that it's not just me…haha. I'm in my mid-30's, working full-time with a wife and daughter. What a blessing to see that Jeff did it under similar circumstances.

[mago20]

Dilemma – My Fare expires in June, should i try to squeeze my last exam (audit) in this window, so i have 2 shots at it or is it pointless with only 2 and a half weeks left to this window?

[kcodyr]

I have a question for anyone who wants to answer: Do you all think 133 hours is enough time to study Audit? I know this is kind of subjective, but I just wanted people's opinion. Thanks!

REG-84, FAR-78, BEC-88, AUD-Feb 27, 2011

[Anonymous]

@mago20: I think that you might be able to take Audit in this window if you can put in close to 40-45 hours a week (that is probably possible only if you aren't working). I was not working when I took Audit and do not have any experience in the field but once I got the concept, I found it easy to apply to all the MCQs. Again, I think it totally depends on both the quality and quantity of time you can devote in the next 2 and a half weeks.

@kcodyr: 133 hours sounds great to me! I know I did much less than that and I passed so I really hope and pray for a passing score for you too! Good Luck!!! 🙂

[Anonymous]

deepa nwanm pls can give u me details on how best to use my final 2 weeks to nail audit……………i am not working like u and i want to take this and pass and have no excuse if i dont pass bcos i had all the time… im getting very anxious since tiume is near to take test on 22nd feb……..thus i need a systematic plan to nail this exam………..any tips to master reports and sampling……

[reneeflower]

I took AUD on Monday. I've been auditing for 5.5 years, but have been auditing primarily in the government/not-for-profit sector. My coworkers who took AUD last window went on about how it was a breeze. One guy studied for 4 days before the exam and got an 88. I think it must be harder now, or maybe I just didn't study enough.

I used Becker, did only the homework questions for the sections I knew I'd be comfortable with like planning, internal controls, gov't auditing standards, etc. (got in the 70s or 80s the first time around) and I watched the lectures and did the practice questions for the areas I wasn't as strong in like independence, SOX, reviews & compilations, and types of opinions (we usually only issue unqualified, so I wasn't sure about report modifications). I studied auditor opinions and report modifications like crazy. Things like sampling, IT and ratios I didn't think would be heavily tested since they made up such a small portion of Becker's review, but I did all the homework questions and sample sims related to these areas anyway.

I felt pretty good going into the exam. The first testlet was somewhat hard… I had about 4 questions I didn't answer until I had gotten all the way through the 1st testlet because I couldn't narrow it down to 1 right answer, and 6 I had flagged because even though I had chosen an answer, I wasn't more than 80% certain. The second testlet seemed about the same, with 2 unanswered questions about 7 flagged. The last testlet was a beast… 6 unanswered and 10 flagged. To clarify… I do end up putting an answer for the ones I say were “unanswered”; I just don't answer those until I've made it through all the other questions in the testlet in case one of the other questions jogs my memory or presents a situation that hints at an answer.

The reason I say the questions were hard is because there were many that were way more detailed than Becker's review covered. With BEC and FAR which had a lot of math questions, if there was a problem that Becker didn't exactly cover, I felt like I was pretty comfortable figuring it out on the exam. With AUD questions, they're all factual, so there's not really an opportunity to figure it out… you just ultimately have to go with your best guess if you've narrowed it down to two answers, which was the case with most of the ones I had doubts about. For the questions I remembered, I tried to look through my Becker materials, or look online or though audit guidance to find out what the right answer was, and I haven't been able to find conclusive answers for about half the questions I remembered.

As for the simulation, I was surprised at how watered-down it was… not in terms of difficulty, but in terms of how many spaces there were to put answers. There are 7 tabs, one being research. Each of the other 6 tabs had only 6-10 boxes to input answers. I don't know if this is how AUD was before, but with FAR, there were more like 10-20 spaces to put answers on each tab as well as a total of 8-12 non-writing tabs for the 2 sims in total, so if I didn't know the answer to some of the boxes, or didn't feel comfortable with the content on one tab, I knew it wouldn't count that much against me. Not only that, but also in 2010, the non-writing tabs collectively only counted for 20% of the score… now they count for 40%!

Anyway, maybe I was just blindsided by the exam because I thought it was going to be way easier than it was due to my audit work experience. I guess now it's just a waiting game until the end of March when I find out my score. I think it's only 50/50 that I passed, though. Good luck to everyone else taking AUD this window! I hope you have a better experience than I had.

BEC (08/31/10) - 85
FAR (11/29/10) - 89
AUD (02/07/11) - 92
REG (05/31/11) - 88

[Author]

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