[Anonymous]

so i noticed the pass rates for aud are the lowest of any section; however studying for aud doesnt seem as bad but i havent taken aud yet. so is the exam really harder or do just ppl underestimate it (ie they work in audit so they dont study enough)

[Anonymous]

I think the thing that gets people with AUD is that it's one of those either you get it or you don't, and if you don't, it's hard to figure out how to get it. So, for some people, they could take it cold-turkey from their college classes and maybe squeak out a pass, but definitely fine with 20-40 hours of study. For other people, they can study for 1000 hours and still not grasp it. Based on what you've said, it sounds like you grasp it. I did. For me, I studied around 40 hours for AUD if I remember right and got my highest score by far on it. FAR was MUCH more of a struggle for me. But, I know people who didn't just grasp it from the start, and for them it's hard…and I think they account for the fails in the percentages. Best I can come up with, AUD is a different style of thinking than others and some people think that way easier than others. (Like how some people learn by hearing and some can't for the life of them and need to do something to learn it – not better or worse either way, just a different way of thinking and learning.)

All that being said, don't take this as an excuse to slack off studying. Study like it's FAR and it's going to need 1000 more hours of study than you can give it, and then, if you're like me you'll get your best score; if you're one that struggles with it more than you realize, then you'll still stand a good chance at passing it. 🙂

[hneagle1]

Audit is one of those exams that I think people underestimate, because there is less material than FAR. But, Audit is one tricky tricky exam! It is the most vague exam I have taken thus far and you really have to read the questions and understand the concepts. I don't think it is as intensive as FAR in terms of studying, but it is for sure more tricky to understand. I think part of the reason why people fail Audit more is because it is an exam where most slack off on their studying, people see the material once (think that they understand) and fail to actually study and practice the material. Personally, I love Audit and find it fun and interesting which is probably why it is my highest test score thus far.

FAR - 82 (8/30/14)
AUD - 95 (10/7/14)
REG - 82 (11/7/14)
BEC - 85 (11/26/14) - PEACE OUT!
Roger CPA, WTB, Becker, and Ninja Notes (with added prayer, tears, and hope!)

[Hammer]

Totally agree with the previous post. Everything I've read on here leads me to belive you either get it or you don't. I personally thought AUD was a cake walk compared to FAR. My scores pretty much support that theory. If you feel like it's easy, you probably won't encounter anything that will stump you. Still, don't skimp on the studying though.

FAR - 70, 81
AUD - 83
BEC - 77
REG - 70, 78

Licensed in Ohio.

Now what the hell do I do?

[Anonymous]

@hneagle made a GREAT point too about understanding. I think that AUD is the least memorization-based exam. Like, for FAR, you could memorize a boat load of information and pass off memory, in theory. In AUD, you can memorize your materials word-for-word and still fail because it requires an actual understanding of it. So, people who are good at memorizing struggle with AUD because no matter how many mnemonics you have, they won't help if you don't understand the “who what why where” of the principles. I'm better at concepts than memory, so AUD was a breath of fresh air after FAR which is more memory-based, but this is part of why AUD stumps people a lot.

[Anonymous]

I passed FAR on my first try, and failed AUD on my first try. However, it was not for lack of studying. I'm still trying to figure out why I failed. I guess I'm dumb.

[mw798]

The reason why the AUD pass rate is the lowest is because a lot of international students take the CPA exam and if English isn't your first language you are going to have a lot of trouble comprehending the questions.

Personally, I found AUD the easiest so far.

[iwana_PASS]

i totally disagree with previous post. based on my interpretation, previous person is saying international students dragged down audit pass rate. i think it makes no sense whatsoever. are you saying far, bec or reg has higher pass rate because alot of international students are taking the exam and help boost those pass rate. i believe difficulty of the exam is up to the individual, their own study habits, the effort and the time they put into studying for this exam. i think its rude to specifically stating that its international students and english is not your first language blah blah.. i am not international student but English not my first language. i passed audit on my first try and i only studied for 5 days. my friend didnt even open his becker audit book and got a 97. in addition, my fellow coworkers we worked at top 10 acctg firms and he is american just got a 56 on audit and he is restudying and another coworker took audit 5 times and she couldnt pass because of ridiculous sims questions and they are american.

you should read this guy post

https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-forum/topic/aud-is-such-a-joke

AUD - 77
BEC - 78
FAR - 79
REG - 82

[thechapman]

The material may be harder to grasp for some people, but I thought it was by far the easiest exam to study for. Much less stressful than FAR

Passed - 2014

[mw798]

I worked with several international students who all told me AUD was the hardest due to how the questions are worded and how tricky they are if you don't have perfect command of English. Three were from China and one was from Taiwan. If English isn't your first language I can easily see AUD being extremely difficult. For the most part AUD is primarily based on reading comprehension. And no, I am not saying that international students boost up FAR, REG, and BEC; not sure where you got that. My post was limited to AUD only.

[NYCaccountant]

FAR is the hardest to prepare for, but the test is actually quite easy. AUD – I agree with Lila, it may depend on how you absorb information. I think once you understand Audit, it just becomes common sense. The SIMS can be very confusing though, especially if you get a Ratio SIM.

FAR - 93
REG - 87
BEC - 84!!!!
AUD - 99!!!!!! CPA exam complete.

[Anonymous]

Aud seems to have almost no calculations, whereas far has the most. I guess thats why i feel its a bit easier, im not that good with math lol

Kinda worried about sims tho, are they mainly fill in the blank

[acctaks]

I took my test today and it was straight from hell! The first 30 mc were okay. The second 30? Well, I can tell you that Becker wasn't sufficient. There were a lot of questions that I didn't recognize and others that I had seen material on in the book. There were no mc or simulation in Becker that covered that material though. I get auditing but I can't quite memorize every line in a 6 chapter book. Looks like I may be taking this one again :/ . FAR was easier because as long as you know the formulas you can solve the problems. Fingers are crossed but I left the test upset….. That's never a good sign.

F-Pass
A-Pass
R-Pass
B-Pass

I'm a CPA!

[Anonymous]

I have yet to take FAR, but I do not believe so.

AUD was the easiest for me (and the one I have scored highest on) due to the lower amount of material compares to the others. However, I see where candidates may have issues. It is very important to follow the wording of the questions closely in order to chose the correct answer.

@acctaks, so the testlets got harder as you progressed? That's a good thing.

[acctaks]

Yes, the 2nd was ridiculous. The third was a little easier I thought. I cracked my book when I got home to look up two of the questions and I confirmed that I got them wrong. Here's comes a week of insomnia :-). For FAR I really relied on mnemonics and was able to handle all of the problems that way. It's much easier but covers so much material. The thing that got to me with FAR was the amount of time it took to complete the homework.

F-Pass
A-Pass
R-Pass
B-Pass

I'm a CPA!

[acctaks]

@4Corners came out with a 92. Stressed for no reason.

F-Pass
A-Pass
R-Pass
B-Pass

I'm a CPA!

[Author]

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