[jeff]

I have a question that I hope you can help me with…. I purchased the Becker CD’s and installed them on my PC. I have taken and passed all but one of the exams (BEC left).. I was checking to see if my software was up to date and noticed an expiration date of November 2013.. Does this mean my software ( downloaded from my CD’s) will no longer work after November….or will it no longer be supported but I can still take practice exams and do study questions etc?

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

[Skrier]

I seem to have a mental block with the BEC material. Exam scheduled for Thursday and struggling with variance analysis…any suggestions on how to absorb this??

AUD- 84
FAR- 75
REG- 78...I am DONE!!!
BEC- 79

[lawlypop]

Yaeger teaches a “matrix” that eliminates the memorization…it works for all Variable costs:

AQ X AP =

AQ X SP =

SQ X SP =

Actual quantities (AQ) are based on how much you purchase or use and Std Quantity (SQ) is based on units produced. The difference between the top two is the price variance. The difference between the bottom two is the efficiency/usage variance. As you go from top to bottom, if the numbers get larger, it's unfavorable. If they get smaller, it's favorable. I liked this better because it was memorizing one format that can apply to all variable costs. Good luck!

AUD: 84 02/22/13
REG: 84 05/03/13
FAR: 84 07/12/13
BEC: ? 08/30/13

Yaeger CPA Review

[lawlypop]

Yaeger teaches a “matrix” that eliminates the memorization…it works for all Variable costs:

AQ X AP =

AQ X SP =

SQ X SP =

Actual quantities (AQ) are based on how much you purchase or use and Std Quantity (SQ) is based on units produced. The difference between the top two is the price variance. The difference between the bottom two is the efficiency/usage variance. As you go from top to bottom, if the numbers get larger, it's unfavorable. If they get smaller, it's favorable. I liked this better because it was memorizing one format that can apply to all variable costs. Good luck!

AUD: 84 02/22/13
REG: 84 05/03/13
FAR: 84 07/12/13
BEC: ? 08/30/13

Yaeger CPA Review

[Skrier]

@lawlypop…..thank you for the explanation…I do understand this piece of it, but I am struggling with understanding how to calculate the volume variance, or did I miss something??

AUD- 84
FAR- 75
REG- 78...I am DONE!!!
BEC- 79

[Skrier]

@lawlypop…..thank you for the explanation…I do understand this piece of it, but I am struggling with understanding how to calculate the volume variance, or did I miss something??

AUD- 84
FAR- 75
REG- 78...I am DONE!!!
BEC- 79

[vartex]

Under the Contribution/Variable approach, are Variable Selling, General, and Admin Expenses part of the product cost (Variable O/H) or part of the Period Costs. Becker is pretty confused because their two pass keys say 2 different things and same with their MC explanations.

Thanks.

[vartex]

Under the Contribution/Variable approach, are Variable Selling, General, and Admin Expenses part of the product cost (Variable O/H) or part of the Period Costs. Becker is pretty confused because their two pass keys say 2 different things and same with their MC explanations.

Thanks.

[lawlypop]

@Skirier No problem. Volume variance for what, specifically? Sales or production?

For sales volume variance, you can use the above matrix and compare the bottom two numbers, just flip the favorable/unfavorable (as it gets bigger as you go up, it's favorable).

For production volume variance, compare (SQ X SP) for fixed overhead to what was budgeted fixed overhead costs. Not sure if that helped?

AUD: 84 02/22/13
REG: 84 05/03/13
FAR: 84 07/12/13
BEC: ? 08/30/13

Yaeger CPA Review

[lawlypop]

@Skirier No problem. Volume variance for what, specifically? Sales or production?

For sales volume variance, you can use the above matrix and compare the bottom two numbers, just flip the favorable/unfavorable (as it gets bigger as you go up, it's favorable).

For production volume variance, compare (SQ X SP) for fixed overhead to what was budgeted fixed overhead costs. Not sure if that helped?

AUD: 84 02/22/13
REG: 84 05/03/13
FAR: 84 07/12/13
BEC: ? 08/30/13

Yaeger CPA Review

[Skrier]

Thank you lawlypop…yes this is very helpful!! I think if I can just remember the combinations, I will be good. It seems like the majority of Becker practice questions focus on this for the section which leads me to believe it is heavily tested, I just need to get it memorized and I should be good. Thanks again for all your help!

AUD- 84
FAR- 75
REG- 78...I am DONE!!!
BEC- 79

[Skrier]

Thank you lawlypop…yes this is very helpful!! I think if I can just remember the combinations, I will be good. It seems like the majority of Becker practice questions focus on this for the section which leads me to believe it is heavily tested, I just need to get it memorized and I should be good. Thanks again for all your help!

AUD- 84
FAR- 75
REG- 78...I am DONE!!!
BEC- 79

[sdmoore]

I am using Becker for my BEC studies and encountered a question that is somewhat confusing….

I hope that someone can help explain it to me…

The optimal level of inventory would be affected by all of the following, except the:

A: Cost per unit of inventory

B: Current level of inventory

C: Cost of placing an order

D: lead time to receive an order

They say the answer is B, the current inventory level has no impact on the optimal level of inventory? This makes no sense to me.. To me you would need to know what you have to know what you need…. Am I over thinking this?

Final Hurdle- BEC 8/27

[sdmoore]

I am using Becker for my BEC studies and encountered a question that is somewhat confusing….

I hope that someone can help explain it to me…

The optimal level of inventory would be affected by all of the following, except the:

A: Cost per unit of inventory

B: Current level of inventory

C: Cost of placing an order

D: lead time to receive an order

They say the answer is B, the current inventory level has no impact on the optimal level of inventory? This makes no sense to me.. To me you would need to know what you have to know what you need…. Am I over thinking this?

Final Hurdle- BEC 8/27

[Anonymous]

@sdmoore: the optimal level of inventory is a decision for the future- what would be the best amt of inv for the business to have in stock. well, they have to keep in mind how much it costs them to have inventory (a) so that if it's expensive they'll want to keep it down, and how much it costs to place an order (c) so that they know if they could develop policy to make lots of orders or not, and how much time it takes to receive orders (d) to know how much to keep in stock (if it takes 2 weeks, then must keep amt of inventory that will be ok for sales for 2 weeks). The actual amt of inventory they happen to currently have in stock would be irrelevant…

[Anonymous]

@sdmoore: the optimal level of inventory is a decision for the future- what would be the best amt of inv for the business to have in stock. well, they have to keep in mind how much it costs them to have inventory (a) so that if it's expensive they'll want to keep it down, and how much it costs to place an order (c) so that they know if they could develop policy to make lots of orders or not, and how much time it takes to receive orders (d) to know how much to keep in stock (if it takes 2 weeks, then must keep amt of inventory that will be ok for sales for 2 weeks). The actual amt of inventory they happen to currently have in stock would be irrelevant…

[Author]

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