[jeff]

Resources:

Free Study Planner + BEC NINJA Notes (Economics): https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-study-plan/

BEC Exam Experience: https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-forum/topic/bec-exam-experience-official-thread

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

[SeePeeAyy]

Took a couple days off for Christmas Eve and Christmas. Woke up today and grinded out the last of B5. Definitely my favorite chapter and was really interested in it. Killed the McQ concepts.

I'll start and finish up B6 in the next 2-3 days, then have 16-17 days of review. In good shape I think.

Hows everyone else doing?

[nbad311]

I hate not studying with Becker because my chapters don't line up with everyone else's, so I can't complain about chapter “BX” with everyone else!

I “enjoy” and do well in the econ, corporate governance and performance measurement (the ridiculous number of ratios chapter) chapters. IT and cost accounting/analysis chapters were iffy for me the first exam but I think I'm much better in them now. Financial management/ risk analysis/capital budgeting are still my weaker areas! I remember back in my Corporate Finance class in college, I did all that present/future/annuity garbage on my graphing calculator straight up without the factors (using the factors confused me for some reason, it was easier for my brain to start from scratch) and now I obviously don't know how to do either, haha. I sit again on 1/6 so this week I'm focusing on my incorrect MCQs on those chapters I'm doing well in, and taking the weekend to go over my weak areas – doing all MCQs again (and going slow if need be). Next week I'll do a practice test and review from there!

REG - 65, 70, 80!
BEC - 35, 62, 79!
AUD - 73, 75!
FAR - 65, 73, 70, 75! DONE.

[littlenumberrobot]

Almost only a week out from my exam. Fellow re-takers, for those of you rewriting notes…. do you skip over the sections you are scoring well in? I feel like I should have done some MCQ's first to see where my strengths were but I was so set on studying everything again. But I now I feel like I've wasted valuable time on subjects I know well. Well it's too late now, but just curious what everyone else is doing. I am trudging through IT now. Have no plans for the holiday next week and get three days off from work. But will be out of town this coming weekend. I want to lock myself up top focus.

CA CPA - All because of the journey listed below
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FAR - 53('10), 8/25/12 79 PASSED!
REG - 66('11), 69('12), 12/06/12 77 PASSED!!
BEC - 58('10), 74('12), 01/05/13 77 PASSED!!!
AUD - 43('11), 66('12), 69('13), 74('13) 7/29/13 85 PASSED!!!!!

(Combinations of Roger, Yaeger, Wiley Book, Wiley TB, & NINJA Notes)

Ethics 90%

[nbad311]

@littlenumberrobot, I am NOT re-writing notes. I didn't for REG either when I went from my 70 to 80. I agree it seems wasteful to do that much work on areas you know well, when you only have a week left. (if you had all the time in the world, of course it probably wouldn't hurt).

I studied with Bisk from front to back, and got my 62. This time I bought the Wiley book, scimmed the chapters and then did all chapters' MCQs again. As I put above, now I'm going back and re-doing the MCQs I got WRONG in all chapters, and spending some extra time re-reading/highlighting sections of the chapters I feel weak in! For me, with only this short amount of time left, I focus on my weak areas and only dabble lightly in my strong ones. I test on a Sunday so on that weekend (Friday/Sat) I'll review all areas. Good luck on 1/5, I'll be right behind you!

REG - 65, 70, 80!
BEC - 35, 62, 79!
AUD - 73, 75!
FAR - 65, 73, 70, 75! DONE.

[littlenumberrobot]

@nbad311

Thanks for the response. I started doing that with the MCQs right before I took REG(late in the game then too), will try again this time around. I'm also weak in financial mgt and analysis. I rock at Corp Gov & IT. Thanks for the well wishes…. same to you!

CA CPA - All because of the journey listed below
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FAR - 53('10), 8/25/12 79 PASSED!
REG - 66('11), 69('12), 12/06/12 77 PASSED!!
BEC - 58('10), 74('12), 01/05/13 77 PASSED!!!
AUD - 43('11), 66('12), 69('13), 74('13) 7/29/13 85 PASSED!!!!!

(Combinations of Roger, Yaeger, Wiley Book, Wiley TB, & NINJA Notes)

Ethics 90%

[SeePeeAyy]

Just finished B6. Only took me about 39 hours to go through everything, way faster than I thought. Wish I scheduled my test a bit earlier, I feel like 2+ weeks is too much for review.

[Anonymous]

I agree @SeePeeAyy that 2+ weeks may be a little much. I planned for the same thing, but with the holidays I got a little behind (leaving about a week). I plan to hit MCQ as much as possible until the 2nd!!

[todd6414]

When you guys say just pump out MCQs when reviewing do you just keep taking those progress tests with Becker?

[Anonymous]

I do some of those with Becker yes, along with the Wiley Test Bank and Becker Final Review

[todd6414]

Help with MCQ

Which one of the following best describes direct labor?

Answer: Both Prime and Period Cost.

Prime and conversion I see but how is DL a period cost?

[Anonymous]

^

Isn't DL both a PRIME cost and a PRODUCT cost?

[KellyBHopefulCPA]

Anyone have some suggestions for mastering the written communications portion of the exam?

AUD: 97
REG: 86
BEC: 2/21/2013
FAR: 5/2013

[todd6414]

Yes it would be prime and product cost, but not period cost. Thats an expense I thought and doesnt hit COGS. Is this a Becker screw up?

All I hear is Peter Olintos voice in my head, oh vey!

[SeePeeAyy]

This is why Becker pisses me off sometimes. So many errors. Got frustrated during my final exam trying to answer this, when I knew I had the correct formula answer.

Exports $ 20 million

Rental Income 120 million

Gross private domestic investment 50 million

Personal consumption expenditures 1,500 million

M1 money supply 75 million

Imports 45 million

Government purchases of goods & services 750 million

Depreciation (capital consumption allowance) 225 million

The Solution:

G of $750 million + I of $500 million + C of $1,500 million + E of ($20 million − $45 million) = $2,725 million.

Too bad they list the I as 50 million not 500 million.

[I Want My Life Back 10.12]

@KellyBHopefulCPA – when I received my results back from 12/6 I scored “comparable” in the written communication to those who scored between 75 and 80. I went into the written communication with about an hour and made sure I paced myself. When I retake BEC in February I'd like to go into it with an hr and 15 minutes, I felt very rushed going into my 3rd essay in December. As I was reading through the introduction I took down some notes to get myself organized, had an introduction, one body paragraph and a conclusion. I wouldn't stress too much, just write intelligently, keep a steady pace in moving from one essay to the next. Good luck!

REG - 72 (Oct 2011), 74 (May 2012), 80 (July 2012)
FAR - 77 (Feb 2012)
AUD - 70 (Aug 2012), 89! (Oct 2012)
BEC - 71 (Dec 2012), 75!(Feb 2013)

[Author]

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