[Anonymous]

I took FAR last week and have moved on to AUD. I was going to do BEC next but I guess the stuff about economics and some of the other topics that I know nothing about just scared me off of it for now. So, I started on AUD because I took several auditing courses during school and was naturally more familiar with those topics.

The AUD exam is changing. I’m using Roger’s most updated materials for it, so I’m probably in an OK position as far as preparing for it. He has some new videos and IPQs related to the new DRSs and stuff that will be on future AUD exams. But, and this is going to sound crazy, I am totally lacking confidence when it comes to the practical aspects of audit because I have not done it in a job. Yet. My career path is actually internal audit but to date, all I’ve done is general accounting.

So, I am a bit worried about the exam. I haven’t done any practice exams yet, but I’m just wondering if the test is a theory test, much like FAR is, or if they ask stuff that only seasoned auditors are going to know how to answer quickly. I have a decent working knowledge of all the stuff covered on the exam, but I don’t know if that’s enough. The good thing is that Roger gives about 1,200 questions on AUD and I will be working every single one of them. But…is it sufficient? There’s always Ninja, but I was just wondering if anyone used some other supplemental study materials to get what they needed? Or, is the exam only passable by people who work for Big 4?

[EZ_Sims_4_me_Pls]

yes.

what they say is true. the Authoritative literature is somewhat helpful for audit simulations.

that, coupled with my knowledge of FAR material, and the prevalence of drop-down list questions made the sims relatively easy.

[Anonymous]

@Ezsims – If what you say was a time-tested and valid route to passing AUD, a lot more people would not be failing AUD. If you happened to prep for and pass AUD in a week, well, congratulations. You must have an IQ that is way off the charts as well. Most of us actually have to, you know, study for these exams, and don't have the luxury of just breezing through it in a week or so. Maybe FAR made it easier for you to pass, that would make some sense. The reason AUD is one of the exams undergoing a lot of changes starting in Q2 is because way too many people were passing just based on their guesswork ability on MCQ. Actually that pissed me off at first when I heard about the exam being harder (since I hadn't yet taken any sections), but now I totally get it. As for the SIMs, you don't know what they're gonna throw at you. And, these new DRSs they have out there now can be very tricky. One person could get easy SIMs, and the person sitting next to you taking AUD at Prometric could get difficult SIMs. I've heard people say that they got some very rough AUD SIMs. So, you have to be prepared for more than just drop-down boxes.

Anyhow, what you describe is *not* what most people experience on AUD, or any of these exams.

[MINO21c]

I passed all 4 with no accounting experience what so ever.

BEC 7/12 - PASS
REG 8/17
AUD 9/8
FAR 10/15

[Goingallin]

I said this in a couple of threads and ill say it again. You definitely don't need audit experience to pass AUD but having done FAR, would make understanding the material so much easier. FAR provide such a strong foundation for all the other exams. My advice is to always take FAR first. It's intimidating but its not like you can avoid it forever so why not just get it over with and make the remaining of your journey less strenuous.

[Track55]

I got a perfect score and didn't start working till the next day. Just do Ninja MCQ and Gleim SIMS till your fingers break off and you'll be fine for AUD.

AUD - 74, 99 !!
REG - 74, 92
BEC - 83
FAR - 73, 86

Studying for Ethics exam

California candidate
Business and Industry

[Anonymous]

I took FAR already – get the worst one out of the way first, I agree….although some say “leave it for last.”

I did not work as an accountant while I was in school. I was in my last career as an account manager, nothing to do with accounting. I did night courses and online courses. I think as long as you LEARN the subject of accounting, you can pass all of the exams. But, as Auditing is so hands-on, it would imply that in order to get through the AUD exam, working as an auditor would make it easier. That was the point of my posting this thread. I just wanted to see what other people had experienced as far as AUD in particular – like if you'd worked as an auditor before taking/passing it or not.

[Goingallin]

I'm guessing you haven't gone through all the study material for AUD or else you wouldn't have asked that question. it's really a mindless no thinking involved topic. all you need is to have good memory. no critical thinking involved.

[Anonymous]

I'm just starting on it, like 1 week into it only. So no, I haven't seen all the topics or anything quite yet. Perhaps after I do, I will totally see this differently and wish I'd never posted this hahaha. But, there are plenty of people who flunk AUD for whatever reason. If any of these exams were “easy”, the overall pass rate at any given time wouldn't be in the 40-50% range.

[EZ_Sims_4_me_Pls]

it's generally best to get FAR out of the way first… saving it for last is nonsensical.

I would not recommend moving onto the next test until you are sure that you passed FAR.. taking it does not necessarily equate to passing it.

[Anonymous]

@EZSims – “Taking it does not necessarily equate to passing it.” No, really?

I've moved on to AUD already. If I flunked FAR, I can always come back to it later. But, I am confident in my abilities regarding all the big and important topics for FAR, as they might relate to the other exams. The ones that I might not be 100% on, I can always go back and review.

Ok, so my plan is to take AUD on April 15th. It will be, if I'm not mistaken, AUGUST 16th before I get my AUD score. So I guess I should just sit around and do nothing (or re-read my AUD materials) for 4 months while I wait since moving on to another test without knowing your score is a bad move? Great advice. Or, did you mean that moving on to other tests before just passing FAR is a bad move? Either way, I 100% disagree.

[Author]

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