[jeff]

Guess I’ll kick it off!

Scheduled to take BEC on 4/19. It’s my last test so I’m putting as much study time in as I can. If I pass I get promoted, if I don’t pass I don’t get promoted, so the pressure is on!!

Good luck to everyone taking BEC this quarter!

Jeff Elliott, CPA (KS) | Another71 | NINJA CPA | NINJA CMA | NINJA CPE

[Theo]

@so1913 I'm not even worried about it. If I see a question on that topic on exam day, I am picking whatever seems right to me. Good luck on the 17th and let us know how it goes.

AUD 01/17/2013 (92)
REG 02/28/2013 (85)
FAR 04/26/2013 (85)
BEC 05/30/2013 (88)

[so1913]

@bcjasper09, I see some flow chart symbols and a mention of “Expert Systems (ES) in the IT section of the notes (I only recall BIS, EIS, DSS, AIS, MIS, and TPS), the notes mentions Direct method and Step methods of allocation service department costs under Job Order Costing (could be in Becker and I overlooked it)…that's all I can recall right now, plus I'm still going through them. Nothing major it seems so far, just anything thing at this point I haven't seen before, or is explained or presented another way makes me initially panic lol.

AUD - 90 Pass
REG - 70,61,81 Pass DONE DONE DOOOOONNEEE!!!!!!!!
BEC - 79 - Pass
FAR - 70,82 - Pass

[Jennifer241]

@drumnum TY for the link to the 2013 questions, I didn't realize that they had released those already! I have 2009-2012. I am also taking BEC in this wave, test is this Tuesday. In for a long study weekend, and I took Monday off from work just for reviewing notes!

Struggling with Capital Budgeting section, ugh!

AUD - Jan 9,13 Pass
REG - Aug 30,13 Pass
BEC - Oct 26,13 Pass
FAR - Dec 4,13 Pass

Licensed CPA in the state of Oregon

[so1913]

Totally OT: But random thought, I can't believe the first time I sat for this thing was in 2002 when it was still paper and pencil, offered 2 times a year, and you had to sit for all 4 parts at once over two days, get 75's on two parts, and 50's on the other two in order to keep the two that you passed. I was fresh out of college and in my first year at a big 4 and did not take it seriously at all, I went ahead and sat for it anyway that first time just for the experience and it was traumatic!!! lol

The company I'm at now, you can move internally without it proving yourself through your work. But when there's no opportunities open to move “up” and you have to start considering outside options, having a CPA is an important qualifying tool for others who don't know you or your work first hand, which is why I'm finally taking it seriously. This is why I applaud all of you who are knocking this thing out early. When you are ready to “move” beyond a certain level, you'll already have this important piece behind you and never have to worry about it down the line! You have made a VERY smart and responsible career decision!

AUD - 90 Pass
REG - 70,61,81 Pass DONE DONE DOOOOONNEEE!!!!!!!!
BEC - 79 - Pass
FAR - 70,82 - Pass

[so1913]

@bcjasper09 instructions here–> https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-forum/topic/cpa-exam-forum-faqs-and-help-center

AUD - 90 Pass
REG - 70,61,81 Pass DONE DONE DOOOOONNEEE!!!!!!!!
BEC - 79 - Pass
FAR - 70,82 - Pass

[Anonymous]

Okay guys after spending 3, well more 4 days in lala land. I need serious focus. Everday I have been reading the posts and finally this ship must move. My problem is I dont know if this is a sign of a burn out or not. Last Saturday I sat for the REG part, when I walked out I felt like someone had taken away my kid (if I had one I assume the feeling is almost the same) I didnt know if I should cry feel sorry for myself or get mad. Then the drama gets worse Monday MD posted the results (Non NASBA state congrats!!! for the inefficiency in year 2013).

Boom!!! failed Audit by 73, really 2 points are you kidding me. Thats after shell shock by the way. Then its been downhill since. I keep on redoing B1 Becker. I am on page B1-39, and I am stuck I cant seem to move forward. Note I am supplementing with Yaeger Listened to Cindy and also Olinto. Only thing that makes sense is corporate governace. Also started rewriting my Ninja notes guess what!!!! I realized oopsy!!! I need to summarize the SOX titles because there is only two on the Ninja notes and go through CRIME and break it down.

Generally when I have to study I wake up at 4:15am so I at least get two on the morning if I am not faffing. But I woke up twice this week and ended spending 2 hrs on fb, amazon and ebay looking for things I dont need. Yesterday cleaned house well 70% there.

Okay someone tell me whats happening. I am terrified that this phase might end up costing me my CPA dream.

Help!!!

Eli

[Anonymous]

Well at least when you don't want to study your semi-productive? Okay not appropriate. I would say maybe you need to take a small break and let your brain cool down. I have been studying nonstop for these tests for the last 5 months and I couldn't tell you the last time I had free time to just go out and hang out with friends. It sucks, but that is how I deal. If I just keep pushing on I can make it but everyone is different. Regardless of how you handle stress or study time… you have to have confidence. You have to know that you CAN do this and you WILL do this. I know for me, when I walked into Audit I thought there wasn't a thing in the world I didn't know (even if this wasn't the truth). When I left Reg… I also felt like my child had been stolen (I also don't have a child but I could imagine that would be about as bad as the agony I was feeling) and I was pleasently surprised that I passed. FAR was like a punch in the face.. Still have a bruise in fact, and I'm not sure how that went but at this point I don't care. My focus is on defeating BEC. Its all about confidence. If you believe you can do it, you can do it, if not, well than your wasting your time and money. I know its easier said than done, but my advice to you is to forget the thought of not being able to do this, just forget it… and keep pushing on.

[Anonymous]

@bcjasper09 Thank you for reminding me of how much this journey is costing me. And how much it will cost me if I give up. I CANNOT let this defeat me. Bose on my head so I am not distracted easily. B1 and B2 here I come one page at time.

Later on will chat about how you got 99 in Audit, OMG I would die if that happened to me. This CPA stuff is making me a drama queen. And how you tackled FAR. Any help I will appreciate to get me through this tough time.

Are you working and studying by any chance and do you watch the lecture video's as well?

Cheers!!

Eli

[WhenISay]

Just listened to B4 today. This new guy Mike Potenza kind of flies through the material, and literally underlining everything got a little annoying. Probably will listen to it one more time before I try the homework.

But now to my question, has anyone bought the “additional questions” for Becker that are available for B2 and B3. I noticed it was being counted as apart of my progress yesterday, but my progress changed to 100% when I signed on this morning.

I'm wondering if it's worth it, and if i'll have the time to go through them by the time I repeat everything for second time.

All these topics and formulas I'm encountering is starting to make me nervous, along with reading about some of the horrible experiences/feelings people have had leaving the testing center

FAR: 87 - 2/19/13
REG: 91 - 4/2/13
AUD: 99 - 5/2/13
BEC: 87 - 5/30/13

[Anonymous]

That Mike fella isn't my favorite. I am definitely on team Tim. Peter is a funny dude, but until BEC I preferred Tim because I found myself paying less attention to Peter because he was always crackin jokes but he does a great job in B5 and B6. My personal feelings on IT is that most of the junk is basically acronyms (I firmly believe Techy people make things up simply for the sake of logging an additional acronym) so I am just going to go with the most logical answer *easier said than done. I am struggling with the differing roles of IT professionals. Just wait till you read the explanations for some of the IT questions, I'm pretty sure at least 4 of them say “use the odd man out rule.”

Eli- I am a full time student in my last semester of college and worked 30ish hours a week up until the beginning of April. My method of attack is no fun, no sleep, and no friends until this is finished. Okay maybe some friends… but defiantly no fun haha.

[Anonymous]

Saturday Night … Hmmm I used to have a life. lol.

[Anonymous]

Eli, your post sounds a lot like me! I started thinking about this too late!!! I should have just sucked it up and done it before I was married or before I had a kid but I didnt. But now I'm motivated and I want to get this done. There are days or long nights when I feel hopeless and I just want to give up. But now that I have my son, I want to give him the best life possible. Send him to any college he wants to go to and give him whatever he needs, so I really need to do this! I don't have any help around the house and the only time I get to study is when my son sleeps! So if your situation is a little better than mine, then just take a deep breath and take a section at a time and you WiLL do this 🙂

Don't feel too bad about failing. Everyone is in a different situation. Some people are doing nothing but studying, some people are working and studying, and some people are working, studying and dealing with kids. I know this person who took FAR 6 times and then passed but he stayed motivated. Hope u stay motivated. I hope I stay motivated too :/

[Anonymous]

Econ sucks.

[Anonymous]

I agree. I was dreading Econ to tell you the truth, because I took it my freshman year of college and wasn't the hugest fan… well 3 years really changes a person. I like the fact that it actually makes sense… unlike much of the stuff in IT or B6.

Pretty sure I just got a 98% on the B2 MCQ's. Best part is I wasn't just memorizing answers I was actually understanding how to do them WITH THE exception of the ones that ask you to predict a price based on the contribution margin. I still don't know how to figure those out and the explanations suck. How do people copy questions on here because I'd like to get some advice on how to tackle these since there seem to be quite a few released so the odds of them being on the exam are high.

One example states that you sell 4 units of product A for every unit of B and than it gives you the CM for both. I'm just not sure how to set up the equations but can figure out the algebra after I get the basics down.

[Anonymous]

You've got to just type them out manually.

The situation that you're talking about is one of the few situations that I have nailed down, so when you get a chance type it out and I'll break it down to the best of my ability.

[Author]

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