[kad022]

Hi guys,

For those of you who passed BEC, please provide your experience regarding how to prepare the writing section. I am not a decent writer and getting nervous about it.

Question 1: Is the topic in real exam really spread out? If I review becker and wiley samples, do they almost cover all that could appear in real exam?

Question 2: Do I have to go over big topics, and memorize advantage, disadvantages, e,g. difference of IRR, NPV and advantage, disadvantage of each?

AUD 81
FAR 76
BEC 5/31/13
REG 07/13

[J]

In my humble opinion, this is the easiest part of the entire CPA exam. In fact, what you write does not even have to be technically accurate (although I'm sure it assists in the process a significant amount). If you write well, it shouldn't give you much difficulty. If writing is not one of your strengths, go through the standard format of the written communications and identify the essential components (i.e. form, structure, etc.). Otherwise, I'm not sure that you can really be “prepared” for this like you can for other parts of the CPA. I – like many other candidates – did not do one practice WC in my preparation for BEC, and still earned a rating of “stronger” on the comparative report.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't spend time specifically studying for the written portion. I agree with the poster above that this is probably the easiest part of the entire CPA exam.

Have an opening paragraph of 3 to 5 sentences restating the question along with two to three general points addressing the question.

Have a paragraph discussing each of the points identified in opening paragraph (2-3)

Then wrap it up with a conclusion paragraph ……

I didn't get a very high score on bec but I think that was due to MCQ and not due to essays. The two essay questions that I got were very general and could had been answered sufficiently having never reviewed a single bec topic.

[kad022]

Thank you both for your advice.

And @InterFC, could you share your experience on your REG part, how did you get a high score like 90? Specially what is your point to get over REG simulations? I didnt pass REG just because it was my weak part last time. Thank you!!

AUD 81
FAR 76
BEC 5/31/13
REG 07/13

[J]

@kad022… I don't think there is a real secret to REG simulations as they are all over the place and it's tough to “practice” them like you might do with FAR journal entries or something of that nature. To be honest, I really didn't do that many simulations in preparation for the exam (I just checked my Wiley Test Bank online and saw that I did 19 of them total, plus a few that were in the Wiley book). Rather, I focused on understanding the concepts of the material and then applying them to the simulations on the actual exam. Aside from the AL question, I had two that were right up my alley, one that should have been right up my alley but I screwed it up big time, and two others that were a little bit more foreign to me but I believe that I was able to put together most of the pieces and get the majority (although certainly not all) correct. Remember, you don't have to get 90% of the MC and 90% of the simulations correct to score a 90.

One other thing… when you really think about it, simulations for REG take three basic forms (other than AL, of course). They're either actual step by step problems (i.e. fill out a Schedule A or something like that), glorified True/False questions, or glorified Multiple Choice questions that are lumped together. For the latter two, just break them down into pieces and solve each part one at a time. For example, I had one simulation (and obviously I cannot divulge the subject matter) but it was really just seven or eight multiple choice questions put together. Look at each piece one by one; you might not get everyone right, but 6 out of 8 is certainly good enough to pass the exam…

[Hunter-Gatherer]

Respectfully, I have to disagree about it being the easiest part of the exam. I took BEC in April (get my scores this week!) and I really struggled with the subject matter of the WC. Granted, I am one of the weirdos who didn't take FAR first, so this could have, and probably did, hinder my understanding of concepts. Two of the three WCs were just topics way out of left field. I mean, the subject matter on these two weren't even topics I remembered learning anything about or being tested on for the MCQ.

Anyway, I consider myself a good writer and hopefully was able to BS my way through it. I'm really counting on the whole they-don't-grade-on-technical-content thing. Without that caveat, I may be in trouble come Wednesday..

AUD: 84 (2/2013)
BEC: 80 (4/2013)
FAR:
REG:

[kad022]

@ InterFC1…I agree that simulations are just sum pieces of MC, just from what I remember, some parts of simulations I encountered last time were not found in the materials. Or maybe they are out there, but they are never paid attention as it doesnt seem like a part to be focused. No MC or any practices I have seen have covered that, but it is on your exam!!

I guess I ran out of time which is another causes to fail my simulations. How much time did you leave for simulation?

I had trouble with research too because it just came up hundreds of codes after I hit search even I changed key words. If I had enough time, I could have clicked one by one, but..

So do you have advice on the research? If hundreds of results are found, would you really click one by one? Sometimes it is just that hard to find the specific paragraph to match the question.

Anyway, thank you for your advice!!

@Hunter-Gatherer, good luck to your BEC. I am gonna take some time to prepare writing before the exam. English is not my first language, better to be more prepared.

AUD 81
FAR 76
BEC 5/31/13
REG 07/13

[Anonymous]

@kad022 – Here's my .02 worth…

If you don't feel like your writing is strong enough, then by all means practice. I know I practiced because I felt those points were going to be the easiest to get but also the easiest to lose. You don't have to be technically correct with your response, but you do have to follow the instructions and use proper grammar.

For Example:

Question: You have a new client who is very inexperienced and has no accounting knowledge. This is his/her first business venture. Explain to this client why depreciation is an important factor in providing accurate accrual basis financial statements.

WRONG way to answer the question:

Depreciation is expensed throughout the life of an asset. All assets that are used through several accounting cycles are depreciated.

Why this one is wrong – I didn't answer the question and I didn't acknowledge the clients existence.

RIGHT way to answer the question, if you know the answer:

Congratulations on your new business venture. In response to your question regarding the importance of depreciation in providing accurate accrual basis financial statements, first let me explain a few key terms. Accrual accounting means that revenues are recorded when earned and expenses are recorded when incurred. The accrual basis of accounting has very little to do with the flow of cash.

Depreciation is the “using up” of an asset over its useful life. It is a non-cash transaction. It is important to the users of the financial statements to be able to estimate how long the infrastructure of your business is going to last. Depreciation is also used to comply with the matching principle of accounting. Under the accrual basis of accounting, we want to match the expenses incurred in that period to the revenue generated in the same period. That includes how much of the useful life of an asset went into generating the revenue for the period.

I realize that all of this is new to you and I will be happy to answer your questions in order to make your business venture a successful one. Should you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me.

RIGHT way to answer the question, if you DON'T know the answer:

Congratulations on your new business venture. This letter is in response to your request for information regarding the importance of depreciation in providing accurate accrual basis financial statements. At this time, I do not have a response that I feel will satisfactorily answer your question. I will research this topic and will respond no later than next Monday, May 27, 2013.

Once again, congratulations on your new business and I look forward to working with you.

Why these are right – When I knew the answer, I acknowledged the client and answered the question in terms that anyone could understand. The question was specific about the fact that he had no accounting knowledge so I left out the accounting cycle because he would not have known what that was anyway. When I didn't know the answer, I still acknowledged the client, acknowledged his question, and told him that I didn't know the answer. I gave him a definite time to expect a response.

Once again, if you feel that this is a weak area for you, then by all means practice. You can turn on the readability statistics in Word while you practice. This will tell you on what grade level you are writing. Turn off the automatic spell and grammar check while you are writing and then turn them on when you have finished. Run a spell check and the readability statistics will help you gauge whether or not you are writing over the clients head or if you are dumbing it down too much. If you are unsure of the proper use of a word, such as affect or effect, then find another word to say what you mean.

Just because something is “easy” for one person, does not mean it is going to be easy for another. Easy is a relative term. Something is only easy if you know the answer. I hope this helps. But as I said earlier, this is just my .02 worth, take it to heart or with a grain of salt. That is your choice. Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

Kricket,

Very helpful, thanks!

[J]

@kad022… I flew through the REG MC (I think I completed the three testlets in an hour and fifteen minutes) and then took a ten minute break, so that left me with approximately 1:35 to complete the simulations. I finished the test with approximately twenty minutes to go, but the last half hour was just sitting there thinking about one particular simulation (that I ultimately screwed up anyway)… anyway, that was more than sufficient time for the simulations for REG. BEC is the only section that I've really had to concentrate on the time; that was probably more an effect of being my first test than anything else.

In terms of the research questions, I think that your search should be specific enough to narrow the results down quite a bit; remember, you can use Boolean search operators to assist you. I knew exactly what they wanted in FAR; I literally found it in two minutes. REG was a little bit more difficult but I had the correct answer in 8-10 minutes. If you're having difficulty with it, skip it and then come back at the end. Hope that helps…

[kad022]

@ Very helpful, thanks so much!

@ InterFC, I think I got good advice and experience from you, thank you!

AUD 81
FAR 76
BEC 5/31/13
REG 07/13

[jnnthom]

I'll be taking BEC next week and consider myself a strong writer. That is why I have waited until tonight to finally start going through Becker's simulations. So they really do not care about content?

I remember all the business classes I took in college were a joke. I could almost make stuff up, but if it was well written I always received an A. I guess it is BUSINESS environment concepts.

@Kricket With your response saying that you would research the topic with a response date, does that really work? And if it did, why not use that response for all the written portions?

[Author]

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