[juxin]

Omg, i spend so much time on b5 (becker), especially the OH variance and i also watched rogercpareview demo for the variance. Now my questions is i understand the concepts, however, when i’m trying to do the mcq i just don’t know how to apply into the calculation. Do i need some kind of formula, i am running out of time. Can somebody help me with that please, or any suggestions? will be greatly appreciated. Exam on Monday.

My CPA exam journey.

[75 CPA]

I also had trouble with variance analysis. However, Cindy Simpson, the teacher for Yaeger's BEC, had a simple one page summary of the variance problems that I used on my BEC exam. Cindy even e-mailed an answer to a question that I had on variances. I had no problem knowing which variance analysis formula to use after listening to Cindy Simpson.

Cindy Simpson in Yaeger's BEC is awesome! I also used Becker, Kaplan, Bisk, and Gleim for BEC. Cindy is the best teacher for BEC! If I had to do it all over again, I would not waste my money on the other CPA review programs.

Becker just confused me. Roger did not go into enough detail to be any help to me on AUD. I assume that Roger was also of no help on variances in BEC.

[Grant9859]

I don't have my notes with me, but I'll see what I can do off the top of my head.

Using the Roger demo as our base, we have our 4 columns from left to right:

1) Actual OH

2) Flex Budget Equation @ Actual

3) Flex Budget Equation @ Standard

4) Applied OH

So we know that Actual OH will always be given and is equal to Actual FOH + Actual VOH. From there, moving from left to right, our equations are as follows:

FBE@Actual = Budgeted FOH + VOH Rate*(Actual/unit * Actual Units Produced)

FBE@Std = Budgeted FOH + VOH Rate*(Std Allowed/unit * Actual Units Produced)

Applied OH = FOH Rate*(Actual FOH Cost Driver)

+ VOH Rate*(Std Allowed/unit * Actual Units Produced)

Remember that we determine our FOH and VOH Rates by dividing Budgeted OH Costs by the Estimated Cost Driver (note that the Rates may be given in some problems). Also, note above that FBE@Actual and FBE@Standard will have the same FOH, and FBE@Standard and Applied OH will have the same VOH. This may save you some time if you have to calculate the Efficiency or Volume Variance. Another thing to keep in mind is that our FOH and VOH portions of our equations need to be in Dollars, therefore, for example, if our Rates are in $ per Hour, we know that we need to end up with Hours inside the parentheses ($ per Hour * Hours = $). In the example equations above, our VOH Rates would have to be in $ per Hour as Units are canceled out inside the parentheses. Rates may be in $ per Hour or $ per Unit, but just remember that we always have to get back to Dollars for FOH and VOH costs, so use the proper canceling to get there.

I hope this helps somewhat. I struggled with OH Variances as well using Becker, but the Roger demo made things much clearer for me. My suggestion would be to start each MCQ by writing the formulas out, then apply the number to the formula. Since Becker's MCQ will work off the same information for a few consecutive problems, you might as well create the full, 4-column OH Variance table as well.

FAR - 81
AUD - 91
REG - 85
BEC - 80

[mulligan]

Roger's Demo on variances is what helped me with them. You should watch the demo.

FAR 10/18 - 81 | BEC 10/26 - 83 | AUD 11/29 - 80
REG 02/28 - 71, MULLIGAN 05/19 NTS 4503

[jeff]

Link: Roger CPA Review

[juxin]

Thank u everyone for giving me such helpful suggestions. i am still trying to tackle this topic.

-Grant, i was about to give up on this topic, but you gave me such nice and detailed explanation. i am now much better on this topic than before now.

-75cpa

Do u still have that one page notes for this topic ? i am really trying to understand the material. if u have can u email me: haiyun_tang@yahoo.com Thank u in advance.

My CPA exam journey.

[75 CPA]

I have noticed that a lot of people are having trouble understanding Cost Accounting in Section 5 for Becker. The reason for this is because Becker does a terrible job of explaining variances. I also had trouble learning this topic, specifically the overhead variance analysis, with Becker.

Cindy made variance analysis very easy for me in Yaeger’s BEC Home Study. Cindy summarized all variances in an easy to understand handout.

[Author]

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