[jeff]

Post by Another71.

Free Study Planner, Notes, Audio, Flashcards: https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-study-plan/

Free CPA Exam Survival Guide: https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-survival-guide/

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

[Anonymous]

Thanks all. No offense to any of you, you're all great people, but if I ever talk to you guys again, I hope it's in the REG section and not back here in BEC 😉

I will pop in tomorrow to let you know my thoughts though.

[Anonymous]

how are you guys memorizing the formulas? flashcards, re-writing, re-reading? Also, I'm having a hard time differentiating between all the roles of IT (system analyst, computer programmer etc) any advice on how to best learn those?

[fightingforsanity]

For formulas, I find it best to just write every single formula on a piece of paper so that I have them all in one place (plus, writing it helps reinforce it). I try to read over them at least once a day. This method hasn't failed me yet.

I haven't gotten to the IT section yet unfortunately. I'm getting a little anxious that I'm falling behind.

FAR - ✓
AUD - ✓
REG - ✓
BEC - ✓

Don't give up!

[Anonymous]

I, literally, just got home from the exam. I feel good but not great. My exam definitely went Medium to Hard. And I'm pretty sure it stayed Hard. So Medium, Hard, Hard. This was based on the wordiness of questions, difficulty and obscurity of concepts and how complicated the calculations were in later testlets.

My exam was VERY formula / calculation heavy. I'd say close to 40% of my exam required a calculation. I knew for awhile that Finance was my weakest area and I'm REALLY glad I spent as much time in the last part of my review focusing on Finance. It was very finance heavy for me.

The rest came from everywhere. Lots of IT, lots of COSO/Governance and a few Economics. Only a couple Cost Accounting questions. Not nearly as many as I thought based on stories here. Of course there were some variance calculations (I won't go into specifics but EVERYONE knows that variances are tested pretty heavily).

So if you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll answer anything I can without violating the agreement we sign when taking the exam.

[Anonymous]

By the way. I only spent about an hour or two “studying” for the Written Portion. That was mostly looking to see format that Becker recommends and common problem areas.

As far as the content went. There were two I felt I had a good handle on and a third I had to BS about. But from everything I understand, getting the question right isn't as important as writing a good memo with no grammar or spelling errors and proper use of language and key terms.

[Mjganier]

Does anyone have or know of a good comprehensive list of all the formulas? My exam is on 2/28 and I will finish up my initial study next week which will leave 2 weeks for a hardcore review of MCQ, ninja notes, and formula memorization.

FAR 8/18/2014--87
AUD 10/18/2014--78
REG 11/24/2014--76
BEC 2/28/2015--76

"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough"-Albert Einstein

Study Mats: Cpaexcel study text and EQ, Ninja MCQ, Ninja notes

[Anonymous]

Can anyone explain this question?

Immunizing a portfolio from interest rate risk by matching the duration of assets to the duration of

liabilities might be ineffective and/or inappropriate because:

A. conventional duration strategies assume an upwardsloping yield curve

B. immunization models are highly sensitive to adjustments for inflation.

C. duration matching is effective in immunizing portfolios from parallel shifts in the

yield curve.

D. All of the answer choices are correct.

[Anonymous]

I have a lot of studying to do this weekend. I need to get through all of the cost accounting and financial management questions in the Ninja test bank.

Thanks for the review Angel. I need to start to zero in on these formulas.

[Anonymous]

The answer is C. Here is the explanation they give: Can anyone put into english?

Duration matching is effective in immunizing portfolios from parallel shifts in the yield curve.

Conventional duration strategies assume a flat yield curve.

Immunization only protects the nominal value of the terminal liabilities and does not adjust for inflation.

[Anonymous]

I have a question ANGELWATCH if you dont mind:

1. Do you feel the questions and question types in the Ninja BEC multiple choice program which required calculations were similar to the real questions on the exam? In other words did they provide a good prep for the real exam?

2. Did you get any Economic graphing type questions? Any process flow chart questions? Just curious if I should be spending anytime on these at all?

3. Was there a spell check in the writing portion available to use?

Thanks

[Anonymous]

1. I'd say calculations were similar to NINJA.

2. I'm not sure how I feel answering this question. That's getting a bit too specific.

3. I remember being able to copy and paste stuff. There wasn't a traditional spelling check program but there was the “auto” spelling check function. For example, if you would type out ecample, you'd get the red underline indicating that your spelling is incorrect.

[Anonymous]

Angel….in your opinion would you say your exam resembled mostly ninja mcq or becker mcq? My exam is on 2/28 and I'm done with B1 and B4. I'm going to start B2 tomorrow and still want to leave adequate time to do ninja since they are very different test banks. Should I continue to do all of Becker and then hit ninja or should I stop Becker mcq and read the Becker book and do strictly ninja? I took BEC before and didn't study and got a 55

[Anonymous]

Questions with calculations were more similar to NINJA. Calculations in Becker were a lot worse but if you can handle them you will be in good shape. Concept questions are pretty similar between NINJA, Becker and the actual exam.

100%, absolutely, finish Becker. The thing they do very well is give you a good foundation and review of the information. Without that, you will struggle in a pure NINJA MCQ environment.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Angel… I will definitly get through the Becker questions one way or another!! I know chapter 2-3 will take forever. Chapter 1 took me almost 4 hours for the last subset of mcq. I averaged in the 70s for B1 and in the mid/high 60s for B4. I'm concerned that's really low but it is my first time through the material. I won't be able to do the mcq again in Becker plus have time for ninja mcq.

[Anonymous]

It's Becker. Nobody does well on their first pass.

[Author]

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