[jimboace88]

Just a quick post to say how I felt about AUD….

Much like my experience with FAR, I already can’t remember what most of the multiple choice were on. Also, much like FAR, I DO remember that the difficulty of the questions seemed to stay pretty consistent. There was no time that I thought “wow, these are getting hard.” Whether that’s a result of my dedicated studying or whether it’s attributable to something else remains to be seen…

As far as SIMS, I really didn’t find them to be as bad as a lot of people make them out to be. The first two or three were COMICALLY easy because 1.) I knew them immediately and 2.) I was able to verify my answers word for word using the research tab. The remaining ones ranged from moderate difficulty to substantially difficult, but at no point did they feel impossible or unreasonable; anything I didn’t know cold was my own fault and did not have anything to do with what Becker did or didn’t cover.

I did, however, write a somewhat lengthy rant in my closing comments regarding my research question. Without going into too much detail, I informed them that the question was EXCESSIVELY vague and that there were several areas I found in the standards that adequately answered the question they had posed to me. In addition, I expressed my anger at the fact that all of the time I spent preparing would be wasted if that question were the deciding factor between my pass and fail because I had the correct answer but it was one of MANY correct answers and I was certain that if my number did not match with their pre-programmed computer answer, no credit would be awarded for the question. Was it maybe a little over the top? Sure, but they deserve to have to sit through reading it for giving me such a vague question. No, I’m not exaggerating and no, I’m not misunderstanding what the call of the question was.

Besides that one point of tension, I find myself feeling much the same as I did after FAR–not a clue as to how I performed and forced to wait at least a month to find out. :-/

Good luck to anyone else who is taking exams in the recent future!

FAR 07/27/11 - 87
AUD 10/01/11 - 85
BEC 11/15/11 - 87
REG 01/03/12 - 92

[Anonymous]

I'm actually kind of ticked off about 1 of my SIMS, because it was asking for the effect something had on the financial statements, and the action that would correct it, and then a seperate section about the results.

I was completely unsure if it was asking what the results would be if it was corrected or uncorrected, and it certainly didn't specify one way or another. Obviously, all of my answers will be wrong if I misunderstood it, so that was pretty frustrating. But my SIMS overall were pretty complex, more so than the SIMS I had on REG.

[Peanut]

I'm really getting nervous about my AUD exam Monday.. Keep hearing about these “complex” SIMS 🙁

AUD 81 (X4) Previous scores 59, 72, 72
REG 80 (X3) Previous scores 59, 60
FAR 75 (X2) Previous score 67
BEC 79 (X2) Previous score 58

[hopefulcpa06]

I'm really nervous as well. I failed last time by 2points, and so scared to walk in this time. I'm studying with Becker, should I pretty much remember everything? I'm doing really well on MCQs…is that a good sign in doing well in MCQ for the actual exam?

I'm praying hard for SIMS…and I'm hoping to know the concepts, there's not much I can do.

Hope we all do well!!

[Anonymous]

Do we have to know the ratios for the AUD? I am currently in A4 in Becker and there bunch of ratios in the ancillary material section. Some may be simple to remember but others are not. So the question…should I put the extra effort into remembering all of them or are they rarely tested?

[Yvonne570]

You should know the ratios. You should practice these before the exam. It's not time consuming but you should know this.

AUD - Passed:)
FAR - Passed:)
REG - Retake TBD
BEC - Missed by 3 points Retake TBD

[Anonymous]

okay thanks Yvonne

[v61312]

jimboace88- im taking my exam in less than 3 weeks and I was just wondering what your study method and what material did you use. I fail 5 times for AUD and it was my last exam. If i dont pass it this time around I will lose my credit….any advice on how to study would be helpful.

thank you

–

[rdubz728]

Just finished taking audit. Now I'm just sitting on the bus and thinking about burning my bec and regulation book once i get home lol.

For the most part, the exam was't too tricky. I finished the m/c in 1 1/2 hrs and used 2 hrs for the sims. Maybe I was just lucky, but 10-15 questions from my m/c were straight from the becker hw questions. So it was a big relief whenever I came accross one of those. I felt that the Difficulty of the testlets were all about the same and were all manageable. However, I was kind of nervous going into the test since I only studied diligently for about 2 1/2- 3 weeks. My advice is to give yourself atleast 2 hrs for the simulations. Becker does a really poor job in teaching you how to apply your audit knowledge to answer audit simulations. But if you have a full 2 hrs and basic accounting knowledge from college courses(supplemented with what you did learn from becker), you should be able to sit there and break down what the simulations are asking you to do. just take a deep breath and don't let the initial wording of the simulation intimidate you. If you were able to get through the Reg sims then you shouldn't even worry because the reg sims were on a completely different level haha.

So I'm hoping for the best.

Goodluck to everyone else taking the exam.

BEC 2/23/11: 84
FAR 7/2/11: 89
REG 8/22/11: 94
AUD 10/4/11: TBD

[Yvonne570]

I agree with what you said about Becker and sims. I was pretty confident with the M/Cs yet was completely stunned when I approached the SIMS. I completed the final exams with Becker and the additional items. The first testlet was so easy, then progressively got much harder.

I provided Becker with feedback. For the costs involved, they have a very high expectation to perform. LOL. I finished my masters with a 3.98 gpa recently so not like i'm completely off base.

AUD - Passed:)
FAR - Passed:)
REG - Retake TBD
BEC - Missed by 3 points Retake TBD

[fg]

For those who alreday took the exam:

Any suggestion for studying Sims?

Thanks!!

[Yvonne570]

Fg, after my experience with the SIMS, all I can say is make sure you have every concept down 100%. Some of the SIMs were the most complex and were not covered by Becker or Wiley. I have also seen the released CPA questions from earlier exams this year and they were so easy. Not sure why this exam I took 10/1 presented the by far most complex scenarios that would throw off any CPA or anyone. I was pretty stunned. So study very hard.

AUD - Passed:)
FAR - Passed:)
REG - Retake TBD
BEC - Missed by 3 points Retake TBD

[Yvonne570]

I just wished Becker would have reduced the emphasis on reporting and covered more of the walk through in depth. Think they failed to change when testing removed the communication piece.

AUD - Passed:)
FAR - Passed:)
REG - Retake TBD
BEC - Missed by 3 points Retake TBD

[fg]

Thanks Yvonne570!!

[hopefulcpa28]

ahh you are all scaring me;) I take in 9 days, and still on A4. Hoping to finish by A5 in 2-3 days. Then focusing at least 6 days on: 1) Re-doing all Passmaster MCQ & SIMS, 2) WIley MCQ & SIMS, 3) Becker Final review, 4) AICPA released questions, 5) Becker Final exams and then finishing it off with reviewing with note cards and Ninja notes!

Don't know what else I can do!

PS: I took the exam back in July and missed it by 2points. I still haven't gotten by performance summary, but MCQs weren't horrible, and SIMS weren't too bad except couple that I wasn't too sure on. One was J/E, def. messed up by debit and credit…I really considered myself lucky and hoped to pass, bc I didn't think I would ever get another straightforward test like that. Apparently, easy things are never worthwhile…lol

[Yvonne570]

Hopeful, please review the PCAOB link that I sent and review. As long as you know the assertions and the tests for each cycle, you should be fine. They were heavy with this. I think some of my sims were bogus. LOL, outside the scope of audit; however, I think Becker could have emphasized more on this topic in depth than the summary they provided – with more emphasis on the reporting aspect. You never know what you will get but study hard.

Sorry, if I scared you. Just being realistic. No surprises – hands down, they really expect us to be more than entry-level with this concept.

AUD - Passed:)
FAR - Passed:)
REG - Retake TBD
BEC - Missed by 3 points Retake TBD

[Author]

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