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November 30, 2010 at 3:59 pm #159275jeffKeymaster
NINJA Study Notes, Flashcards, and Audio: https://www.another71.com/products-page/
Wiley Software: https://www.another71.com/wiley-cpa-software/
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May 15, 2011 at 10:49 pm #464993HarryParticipant
@ Taxi Cow tent. Which review course did you use? I am taking BEC next week and I am using becker. Any tips would be appreciated.
Thanks
BEC 77
FAR 81
AUD 97
REG 75May 15, 2011 at 10:49 pm #465090HarryParticipant@ Taxi Cow tent. Which review course did you use? I am taking BEC next week and I am using becker. Any tips would be appreciated.
Thanks
BEC 77
FAR 81
AUD 97
REG 75May 16, 2011 at 8:13 pm #464995AnonymousInactiveI second that motion. I'm finishing up my studying over the next couple weeks and taking BEC on the 27th. I've been using Gleim software. Any suggestions of last minute study topics or topics that tend to be tested alot…appreciate anything! 🙂
May 16, 2011 at 8:13 pm #465092AnonymousInactiveI second that motion. I'm finishing up my studying over the next couple weeks and taking BEC on the 27th. I've been using Gleim software. Any suggestions of last minute study topics or topics that tend to be tested alot…appreciate anything! 🙂
May 16, 2011 at 9:04 pm #464996AnonymousInactiveMay 16, 2011 at 9:04 pm #465094AnonymousInactiveMay 17, 2011 at 12:07 am #464999Taxi Cow TentParticipantMay 17, 2011 at 12:07 am #465096Taxi Cow TentParticipantMay 17, 2011 at 2:32 pm #465001kb24ParticipantI took BEC on 5/13 and wanted to share my thoughts. It was my 4th exam this test window (I'm really not crazy–things just worked out this way) so any reference to the other exams is to the most current version.
I was glad from the minute I started studying that I was taking this one last. It made things go faster because I had already studied some of the topics/concepts presented in BEC. Also, I think that the topics were covered better or made more sense when presented in the other exams. I used both Becker and Wiley. Becker did a decent job on IC, but was weak on some of the other topics e.g. effective interest rates, factoring. Wiley didn't do a very good job on any of these topics.
Having said that, though, this was the hardest exam to prepare for because I didn't have a clear picture in my mind as to what was being tested. With the other exams, it generally broke down to a few clearly defined areas that were related to each other. FAR was financial statements–public, governmental, NFP, AUD was attestation and assurance services and IC, and REG was business law and taxation. Initially, it seemed to me that the AICPA had just taken all the miscellaneous remaining stuff and stuck it into BEC. This might not be an issue for other people, but it really affected my focus, and I was pretty stressed a few days before the exam. What helped me was to go back to the AICPA exam content outline and review based on that. I was then able to see that these topics were all generally related to the knowledge needed or tools used when managing a business: corporate governance is part of the overall management philosophy, economics explains the various market factors affecting a business, strategy includes the actions taken to optimize a business, and cost accounting and financial analysis are tools used to develop and monitor the strategy. IT was enough of a stand alone topic that I could consider it separately without confusing myself. Part of my confusion resulted from the study materials themselves. Becker did a better job as far as the sequence as to how they presented the material although it wasn't ideal. I only had access to the books so I don't know if the instructors explained the connection amongst the topics better. Wiley was terrible in this respect. I do think that the AICPA isn't completely clear themselves as far as IC because this is part of both the AUD and BEC outlines.
When I was reviewing each section based on the AICPA outline, I went over the Becker notes, my notes, and the Ninja notes, went through the Passmaster questions, and did the related Wiley test bank questions. The last was not always easy due to the way Wiley broke the topics up; much of the time it didn't clearly relate to the AICPA breakdown. The last night I rewrote out all my formulas, did a sample exam on the test bank, and went over as many IT questions as I could and kept reviewing Jeff's notes (they are excellent for IT).
I saw a suggestion somewhere on this forum to study a sheet with formulas on it until the last minute and then write these down on your scratch paper before taking the exam. I did this and it helped although it was a more a matter of reassurance than actual use.
My time management wasn't as good on this exam as it has been on the past ones probably as a result of sleep deprivation. I had more calculation problems than I expected and some were pretty wordy. I made the mistake of starting to do the calculations as I was reading rather than checking what was being asked first. I realized what I was doing and got faster, but I ended up with less than an hour for the SIMs. I read all the SIMs and put down a few points I wanted to make on each, but didn't take the time to do a more formal outline as Becker suggests. I took too much time on the first SIM; I can write well, but I have a tendency to write slowly. I did better time-wise on the second one, but was still a little slow. I ended up with 9 minutes for the last one. I whizzed through it and finished with 2 minutes to go, read through and made a couple of word changes, and was done with 5 seconds to spare.
The SIMs were another reason I was glad I took BEC last; one of the topics was BEC, one was FAR, and one was general business. The first two were pretty clearly worded although the directions were such that they required fairly lengthy answers. The last one used a couple of terms that were unclear because they were too general so I made my best guess and wrote from that perspective.
I hope this helps any of you still preparing for BEC. It feels weird not to be studying while I'm waiting for my scores, but I'm trying to enjoy my vacation this week. Good luck to everyone taking exams over the next couple of weeks.
FAR 4/1/11 - 89
AUD 4/15/11 - 85
REG 4/29/11 - 80
BEC 5/13/11 - 85May 17, 2011 at 2:32 pm #465098kb24ParticipantI took BEC on 5/13 and wanted to share my thoughts. It was my 4th exam this test window (I'm really not crazy–things just worked out this way) so any reference to the other exams is to the most current version.
I was glad from the minute I started studying that I was taking this one last. It made things go faster because I had already studied some of the topics/concepts presented in BEC. Also, I think that the topics were covered better or made more sense when presented in the other exams. I used both Becker and Wiley. Becker did a decent job on IC, but was weak on some of the other topics e.g. effective interest rates, factoring. Wiley didn't do a very good job on any of these topics.
Having said that, though, this was the hardest exam to prepare for because I didn't have a clear picture in my mind as to what was being tested. With the other exams, it generally broke down to a few clearly defined areas that were related to each other. FAR was financial statements–public, governmental, NFP, AUD was attestation and assurance services and IC, and REG was business law and taxation. Initially, it seemed to me that the AICPA had just taken all the miscellaneous remaining stuff and stuck it into BEC. This might not be an issue for other people, but it really affected my focus, and I was pretty stressed a few days before the exam. What helped me was to go back to the AICPA exam content outline and review based on that. I was then able to see that these topics were all generally related to the knowledge needed or tools used when managing a business: corporate governance is part of the overall management philosophy, economics explains the various market factors affecting a business, strategy includes the actions taken to optimize a business, and cost accounting and financial analysis are tools used to develop and monitor the strategy. IT was enough of a stand alone topic that I could consider it separately without confusing myself. Part of my confusion resulted from the study materials themselves. Becker did a better job as far as the sequence as to how they presented the material although it wasn't ideal. I only had access to the books so I don't know if the instructors explained the connection amongst the topics better. Wiley was terrible in this respect. I do think that the AICPA isn't completely clear themselves as far as IC because this is part of both the AUD and BEC outlines.
When I was reviewing each section based on the AICPA outline, I went over the Becker notes, my notes, and the Ninja notes, went through the Passmaster questions, and did the related Wiley test bank questions. The last was not always easy due to the way Wiley broke the topics up; much of the time it didn't clearly relate to the AICPA breakdown. The last night I rewrote out all my formulas, did a sample exam on the test bank, and went over as many IT questions as I could and kept reviewing Jeff's notes (they are excellent for IT).
I saw a suggestion somewhere on this forum to study a sheet with formulas on it until the last minute and then write these down on your scratch paper before taking the exam. I did this and it helped although it was a more a matter of reassurance than actual use.
My time management wasn't as good on this exam as it has been on the past ones probably as a result of sleep deprivation. I had more calculation problems than I expected and some were pretty wordy. I made the mistake of starting to do the calculations as I was reading rather than checking what was being asked first. I realized what I was doing and got faster, but I ended up with less than an hour for the SIMs. I read all the SIMs and put down a few points I wanted to make on each, but didn't take the time to do a more formal outline as Becker suggests. I took too much time on the first SIM; I can write well, but I have a tendency to write slowly. I did better time-wise on the second one, but was still a little slow. I ended up with 9 minutes for the last one. I whizzed through it and finished with 2 minutes to go, read through and made a couple of word changes, and was done with 5 seconds to spare.
The SIMs were another reason I was glad I took BEC last; one of the topics was BEC, one was FAR, and one was general business. The first two were pretty clearly worded although the directions were such that they required fairly lengthy answers. The last one used a couple of terms that were unclear because they were too general so I made my best guess and wrote from that perspective.
I hope this helps any of you still preparing for BEC. It feels weird not to be studying while I'm waiting for my scores, but I'm trying to enjoy my vacation this week. Good luck to everyone taking exams over the next couple of weeks.
FAR 4/1/11 - 89
AUD 4/15/11 - 85
REG 4/29/11 - 80
BEC 5/13/11 - 85May 18, 2011 at 2:48 pm #465003truaneParticipantI took BEC this past Monday for the 4th time and I agree with a lot of the previous posts about this test being a bit outrageous. I've been close (68-73) the past times I've taken the exam and I really hoped I passed because this is my last exam and if I failed, I'll lose REG. There were definitely some questions that I was just made me want to walk out. I barely had any IT, which I was hoping for because I do well on that. I really felt like I could have not have prepared for some of these questions at all. I used every study souce possible this past time (Becker, Bisk, Wiley, cpareviewforfree.com) and I didn't feel that any of these resources prepared me for some of the test questions. I'm hoping these questions were practice questions but who knows. The writing area I found pretty easy but who knows with the multiple choice. I also agree with others that for the other exams I was pretty prepared from my study materials, while this one I did not feel as prepared, but I don't know how I could have prepared anymore than I had. Now it's just a waiting game.
May 18, 2011 at 2:48 pm #465100truaneParticipantI took BEC this past Monday for the 4th time and I agree with a lot of the previous posts about this test being a bit outrageous. I've been close (68-73) the past times I've taken the exam and I really hoped I passed because this is my last exam and if I failed, I'll lose REG. There were definitely some questions that I was just made me want to walk out. I barely had any IT, which I was hoping for because I do well on that. I really felt like I could have not have prepared for some of these questions at all. I used every study souce possible this past time (Becker, Bisk, Wiley, cpareviewforfree.com) and I didn't feel that any of these resources prepared me for some of the test questions. I'm hoping these questions were practice questions but who knows. The writing area I found pretty easy but who knows with the multiple choice. I also agree with others that for the other exams I was pretty prepared from my study materials, while this one I did not feel as prepared, but I don't know how I could have prepared anymore than I had. Now it's just a waiting game.
May 19, 2011 at 3:56 am #465005AnonymousInactiveI agree with truane in that there were questions that I did not see anywhere, including college. I'm hoping those were the non graded questions. I did, however, feel very confident in the rest of the exam, all except for those three or four questions. I thought that the essay communications were very straight forward, and actually simple compared to the multiple choice. I'm sure that my second two testlets were the hard variety, so hopefully I was able to at least knock out a 75. Like someone else said, if I don't pass it, I'm not sure where I would even begin to restudy for this beast.
May 19, 2011 at 3:56 am #465102AnonymousInactiveI agree with truane in that there were questions that I did not see anywhere, including college. I'm hoping those were the non graded questions. I did, however, feel very confident in the rest of the exam, all except for those three or four questions. I thought that the essay communications were very straight forward, and actually simple compared to the multiple choice. I'm sure that my second two testlets were the hard variety, so hopefully I was able to at least knock out a 75. Like someone else said, if I don't pass it, I'm not sure where I would even begin to restudy for this beast.
May 19, 2011 at 11:52 am #465007AnonymousInactiveI'm taking BEC next week and starting to freak a little. This will be my third attempt – the first one didn't count since I didn't study 😉
The exam in 2010 didn't have near the number of calculations I had in February, so I was thrown off on my second attempt and rushed too much.
I think I am better prepared this time for the “junk drawer” of the CPA exam.
@kb24, I am using Becker and Wiley as well. I don't see how anyone goes through the Wiley book without a video lecture. It's way too detailed. Yeager breaks it down into manageable pieces and they explain it really well.
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