[Smile1981]

Hi…..I am new to this forum and I am already loving it!!!. It’s great. I feel there are so many people out there who think like me and have the same questions as I do. Anyways without wasting much of anybody’s time let me tell you all I have scheduled my first CPA exam….BEC on august 22nd 2011. Yes time is running out. My question is has anybody taken this BEC test in 2011. What do you feel about BEC changes? anything in particular that is tested heavily? also I am curious to know about the formula in the BEC. Did anybody memorize them? I am finding it hard to memorize them. How do I study these formula…like standard deviation, hedging, probability…TVMF…etc..etc.What kind of questions are asked on it?

[Anonymous]

Hey Smile,

Welcome. If you edit your profile you can add a “signature” which shows your dates for respective exams and passing/non-passing scores. Only if you're interested, of course.

Good Luck!

[IwannaBaCPA]

No one can actually tell you what was heavily tested on their exam or what kinds of questions they saw as this violates the AICPA's disclosure rules…so just be careful when you are asking about that kind of information.

I thought the BEC exam was pretty difficult. The main problem with BEC is that it is such a mix of topics that do not really go together…I found it hard to keep everything straight. That being said, I did manage to pass last window, so it is possible to pass it! As for the formulas, I made a huge word document with all of the formulas and kept going over it as I reviewed the material. Some formulas I treated almost like a drawing so that I could easily recall them during the exam. As soon as a question asked for that kind of calculation, I “drew” the formula before trying to calculate anything. I think that helped me some…

What review materials are you using?

BEC: 79 - April 2011
FAR: 78 - May 2011
AUD: 81 - May 2012
REG: 79 - October 2012
Ethics: Passed - March 2013
I am finally DONE!

[kb24]

@smile

You do need to know the formulas. What I did was to put my formulas on a separate page when making notes for each section. I could then go over these more frequently during my review to help fix them in my brain. The tough thing about BEC is that it tests so many disparate topics it's hard to keep it all straight in your head. I found the CSO released by the AICPA was pretty accurate as far as how heavily each section was weighted on my exam. Make sure to allow sufficient time for the writing section. It's not difficult, but you have to have time to do a decent job. I really liked Jeff's ninja notes for BEC. They were especially helpful with the IT questions.

If you have any more questions, just ask. There are lots of people here to help.

FAR 4/1/11 - 89
AUD 4/15/11 - 85
REG 4/29/11 - 80
BEC 5/13/11 - 85

[Smile1981]

Thanks kb24 and Iwannabacpa and congratulations. I am using Wiley review for BEC (2011 updated). I am thinking of buying gleim test practice. I am on a budget and I have read good reviews about gleim. I am confused because the wiley book says one does not need to memorize the formula …the factors will be given to you or enough information will be given to you that you can easily compute them or use a spreadsheet tool to compute them or use a spreadsheet tool to compute them.

[kb24]

You definitely won't have a spreadsheet function for the MCQ and might or might not for the SIMS. You might have an exam where enough info is given in the questions that you don't need to know the formulas, but I wouldn't count on it. I know I needed to know them.

FAR 4/1/11 - 89
AUD 4/15/11 - 85
REG 4/29/11 - 80
BEC 5/13/11 - 85

[Smile1981]

@kb24

Thanks a lot. May I ask you what review did you use for BEC and any test banks or practice tests that helped you for BEC Exam?

[yankeeaccountant]

Hey Smile!

Welcome to the circus! I would agree with KB, Iwannabeacpa, I passed BEC in the last window, for me, I think it is really smart to use different test banks on this exam. I used Becker, Wiley, Cpareviewforfree, and Gleim. Gleim has a free trial version of any exam–I used it for BEC. They had a good number of questions on Corporate Governance which was good practice. I also made a sheet with all the formulas. I am old fashioned, because I wrote them down. I like putting a pen to paper. I also made a list of ten things that I had a hard time remembering on BEC and then rewrote that page each day (well, maybe not each day!) during the last week of review.

Every exam is different for each person. For me, BEC was the most enjoyable to study for. (hang on, I am darting the tomatoes and such that are being thrown at me!! haha) because I like the econ portion of it. But now, if we talk Audit or REG–OIY!!!!!!!

I would go back and read through the thread on BEC and get more info on study tips, etc. There are alot of good posts out there. Jeff touts the Ninja way. That is watching all the vidoes first, then going back to do the mcq's, taking notes, etc.

Give a shout out if you have more questions….best of luck to you!!

[Smile1981]

@ yankeeaccountant

yes i agree with you. I am old fashioned in that sense too then. I remember better when i write it down on paper.

Thanks 🙂

[kb24]

@smile

I found BEC somewhat difficult to study for because there were so many different topics that I struggled to keep them straight in my head. I used a combination of the Becker text and passmaster questions, Wiley text and test bank, and the Ninja notes.

Becker – the organization of the material was OK except for the fact that it combined corporate governance and operations management in the first section. I thought operations management should have been covered later. It made a lot more sense to me after I'd gone through the rest of the material. I didn't have access to the videos so I don't know if any advice was given as to how to relate all the different topics to each other, but that definitely wasn't clear from the text. Also, it had a lot of material designated as ancillary that, IMO, shouldn't have been. I didn't like it for IT. The passmaster questions were good preparation.

Wiley – I used Wiley for all 4 exams but didn't like it for BEC very much because of how it was organized. I just found it confusing. The test bank was good but should have had a lot more questions on corporate governance given its weight on the exam. I also didn't like the text for IT.

Ninja notes – This is a good summary of the material. I especially liked it for IT. I was still struggling with this the day before the exam. I read through the Ninja notes 3 or 4 times and then did all the Passmaster and test bank questions again. The notes really helped make sense of what I did and didn't need to know. I don't think I missed a single IT question on the exam. Also, it's been updated for the most recent CSO changes. I think Becker has been updated for these but I'm not sure, and I don't think Wiley has been updated at all.

Good luck.

@yankee – I'm with you on economics, and I even like cost accounting. But corporate governance and IT?????????

FAR 4/1/11 - 89
AUD 4/15/11 - 85
REG 4/29/11 - 80
BEC 5/13/11 - 85

[yankeeaccountant]

kb24,

I actually could do without the cost accounting, but love the econ. To me, it just makes sense. I also liked all the formulas–I guess I lean towards the concrete portions of the exam relating to financial statement analysis. The IT is interesting to me. I am not a fan per se, mostly wish I had more of a propensity for it. IT and accounting make for a great combination for a career. Don't get me started on corporate governance-ugh!

Smile,

On the corporate governance, Gleim had a great reveiw that you could print out for studying. I agree with KB24, Wiley and Becker didn't have a whole lot in terms of Corporate Governance. Gleim seemed to have to most in my opinion.

Ok..I have been up for 4 hours and haven't even hit the books yet–yikes. I have a date with Peter Olinto–this is our last date. I have to dump him…(well, after he tells me all about Agency, bankruptcy, and the like!! haha)

Have a great day everybody!

[kb24]

@yankee

I think IT is a great tool for accounting, and I think it's important to have a decent understanding of the different IT functions. But I swear I couldn't read even one page of Wiley without starting to doze off, and Becker wasn't much better.

Good luck with your breakup. I hope that Peter doesn't take it too hard!

FAR 4/1/11 - 89
AUD 4/15/11 - 85
REG 4/29/11 - 80
BEC 5/13/11 - 85

[rknight21]

I am now nervous about BEC WC!!!!1

so i know that i need to follow the basic format and put a few points in to get the full mark but what happens when you have no idea of the topic? I just did the Gleim practice exam and got 77% off the MCQ only. I had no idea what to write for the first two WC. the first one asked for me to talk about the fives ways options fluctuates and how does one price an option. HUH???? i thought the WC had general things to write about. eg. fraud, internal control and risk….. the second one i didnt attempt or the third but i believe i could have talked a little about it but not much since it asked for me to explain the key officers in a corporate governance of a compnay. again huh???? I can answer questions on corporate gorvernace but i have no idea about the key officers and what they do.

Can someone who was stumped on the WC and also passed please elaborate.

I planned on killing the MCQ on the exam with the WC being my insurance but without an insurance its looking a little rough..

[IwannaBaCPA]

@rknight21: Honestly, I wouldn't stress about the WC in BEC. Two of mine were not even BEC topics. I just focused on what was asked and tried to formulate a well constructed memo. I followed the format guidance Becker suggested, kept my answers clean and concise and didn't worry about accuracy. I did pass BEC last window, so I think this worked fine for me…

I think Jeff is the one that really stressed in the NINJA, they are grading on how well you write and formulate a response rather than how accurate your response is.

For example: if you had a WC that asked you to explain the differences between a review and a compilation engagement to a new staff member and you stated that you must be independent to do either one, you are clearly incorrect. I don't think they would ding you for being incorrect, but rather give you credit for mentioning independence…(I am studying AUD right now, so that is all I could think of…)

I would practice a few, focusing on structure over accuracy and you should be just fine! Remember that clear and concise responses are better than really wordy ones that don't really say much any day…

BEC: 79 - April 2011
FAR: 78 - May 2011
AUD: 81 - May 2012
REG: 79 - October 2012
Ethics: Passed - March 2013
I am finally DONE!

[rknight21]

thanks for you the feedback iwannabacpa

[Smile1981]

@ IwannaBaCPA, kb24, yankeeaccountant

What material did you use for studying WC questions in BEC?

Thanks

[Author]

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