[jeff]

Welcome to the Q4 2017 CPA Exam Study Group for BEC. 🙂

Introduce yourselves and let your fellow NINJAs know when you plan to take your BEC exam.

The Five Steps (NINJA Framework): https://www.another71.com/pass-the-cpa-exam/

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

[kenckang]

my experience is pretty similar to your's. there were like 5 or 6 questions in each mcq testlet i had to completely guess on. i was able to actually answer 3/4 of the sims. the 4th i just totally guessed on. i was only able to competently answer 1 WC. the other 2 i kinda had a vague idea of what to talk about so i just tried to include as many keywords i thought were relevant. i dont feel super confident about my performance but im gonna start studying REG for now and hope i just pass.

[Scared-cpa]

Well it's good to know everyone else is experiencing similar exam as me. Maybe this means we weren't underprepared, just that the exam is different. Maybe this will throw everyone's scores off and they will curve more, allowing us to pass 😉

I'm waiting on REG so I've got 10 glorious days off until I find out if I am completely finished or if I need to start restudying. In that time I am keeping myself busy by cleaning the house, tending to the garden, getting the exterior decorated for fall, and playing the Sims (my favorite!). This is a much-needed break as I was beginning to experience serious burnout.

Good luck everyone!!! 🙂

[kenckang]

@summer so i have just begun to start studying for REG. aiming to take it on Dec 10. how did you feel going into REG? what was your preparation like?

[PNS2CLT]

I used Wiley CPAexcel and thought it was excellent in preparing for the exam; many of the computational questions were identical, sans different figures – I'm uncertain as to whether these were AICPA-licensed questions (which would appear in Ninja) or original Wiley Test Bank questions (which wouldn't). Shame on me for going off of feedback from here & elsewhere and skipping over these questions — ironically, I pounded out MCQ for over an hour just before my exam (my testing center asked non-MCAT testers to check-in after 8:30AM … I had shown up around 7:30AM) and came across at least three computational questions similar to what was on the exam, but just skipped them. My only beef with Wiley CPAexcel is that several sections it claimed were ‘lightly or rarely' tested on the exam showed up on mine!

Ultimately, I can't complain; while I'd be surprised if I passed the exam, I'm pretty close.

[Scared-cpa]

My preparation for REG was the same as it was for BEC and every other section I have taken and passed. I originally go through Wiley CPAexcel material, took me 3 or 4 weeks. Then I worked Ninja MCQs for 4 weeks. Went through 2,200 questions or so and was averaging 70 trending 86ish or so when I sat. I felt pretty decent afterwards but I can't remember a whole lot about it now.

[kenckang]

crap…now that i think about it. i made a stupid mistake on one of the sims. elasticity is the %change in quantity/% change in price. damn

[Scared-cpa]

That sucks! Don't beat yourself up though. I had a similar problem with variance analysis. I always struggled with rate and efficiency variances (knowing when to use actual vs. budgeted rates) but I'm hoping I did it correctly! If that was TMI, please take down this post!

On second thought, I had about 30 minutes left when I submitted my exam. The last time I did that was my first AUD attempt and I scored 69. That, coupled with my sucky MCQ performance, makes me think I most likely failed 🙁

[PNS2CLT]

If you only guessed on a handful of MCQ, I wouldn't be sweating over your score. Remember, the exam is not scored based upon %. Personally, I'd be feeling confident!

I wouldn't be sweating over time, either – it's not an indication of your performance. As I mentioned, my first testlet was at least two-thirds computational and many of those questions were intermediate calculations. I intentionally skipped (just randomly guessed) one question I knew how to do since it would take at least 5 minutes to compute. One person earlier mentioned he didn't get any computational questions — could you imagine how much faster his test went than mine?

[rencpa]

Let me share something with you guys…

Any time I feel down about the CPA exam, I recall myself about my audit professor back from college. He said, “A CPA exam is an exam that you take every testing window. Don't ever skip one! And don't ever compare to any exam from college. Passing or failing a CPA exam is not reflecting your knowledge, it is reflecting your luck! etc…”

I believe we all study hard because we want to pass. Sometimes we get lucky with the exam, sometimes we do not. Sometimes, we forget the easiest material during the exam, sometimes we remember the most complicated formulas/rule. We never know what may happen during the actual exam. We all make mistakes, especially during the actual exam.

Let be positive and help each other. The exams are hard even for those who score 90+. I believe.

[Scared-cpa]

Thanks, guys. All computational questions were pretty basic. What scares me the most about MCQs is that my second resort did not get harder than the first. I would say it was about the same. But hopefully I did well on the second testlet. Sims I feel really good on, but I'm afraid that means I actually bombed them. Who knows!

[BBHYX]

@summer did your first and second testlet have around the same number of computation questions? I've just been hearing many people say they get a second testlet that has fewer computations, more COSO/IT

[PNS2CLT]

My second testlet had fewer computational MCQ, and plenty of COSO and a few IT. There were probably more Cost/Managerial Accounting, but I assume more people were unfamiliar with the IT topics than Cost/Managerial, so it just seemed to be moreof them.

[Madam Secretary]

hi everyone. I need help where I can get IT book to pass CPA BEC section this quarter? I failed, probably because of IT. Thanks.

[Scared-cpa]

@BBHYX I would say the second testlet had fewer computations. The thing is, I felt pretty decent about testlet one computations so it worried me that there were fewer on the second one. Second testlet had more IT than the first…quite a bit to be honest.

[Madam Secretary]

@Summer – do you where we can get more IT practice question or IT videos/discussions. Thanks. We are the same. More out of the field IT.

[Author]

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