[Anonymous]

So I have successfully completed FAR REG and AUD on my first attempts and have just begun studying BEC and already feel extremely lost!

I am only on B1 of Becker but I definitely don’t know the material well enough at all to thoroughly answer any of these written communications, nor do I really know how to even go about starting to write them. I know more studying will eventually help me understand the topics more in-depth but right now it’s like reading gibberish.

Should I go through all the chapters and then go back and do all the written communications? Or do you have any suggestions on ways to write these things? I find myself reading the questions and simply getting confused by what exactly they want and how I am supposed to pull so much specific information from my brain.

I may just be freaking out too soon but any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks!!

[Anonymous]

Almostthereee – I would say go through the chapters and then do the written communications later. The grading is focused on the formality and structure of your memo, not the content. Not to freak you out, but they can actually ask you about any topic, not just BEC.

There is more info about the written communication grading and examples at the front of your Becker book.

[mmp3]

@almostthere: the only time I practiced writing out the wcs was when I did the two Becker practice exams during my final review. I think it's better to go through all the material first. During your final review you should have a much better understanding of the topics. The one thing I did was make little charts for myself during my last week of study that compared and contrasted or made lists of important concepts. I think if you are a decent writer that will be all you need. It is true that you might get a question from another exam section which is why I wouldn't spend too much time practicing the writing. You will be much better off working the mcqs

FAR 92 (2/27/13)
AUD 99 (4/18/13)
REG 93 (7/5/13)
BEC 92 (8/12/13)

Becker Self Study

[W_HAMILTON]

You've passed the other sections, so you probably know enough about accounting to come up with a few tidbits of information related to most any topic they will ask you about. Given this, if you are a decent enough writer, I wouldn't worry much at all about the written communication. I DEFINITELY wouldn't spend much time doing the Becker practice written communication simulations; there are a lot of them, they go into a lot more detail than you most likely will need to during the exam (which means you will probably feel like you didn't do a good job), and this all for a relatively small portion of your overall grade.

Watch the quick lecture on the written communication section, go through the examples and take note of important points (e.g., don't use bullet points or lists), and maybe read some of the Becker examples — just don't get too overwhelmed at the detail they go into. Assuming you are under a time constraint, I would skip the written communication simulations in each chapter and just practice them during the practice final exams as a way to test your timing during the actual exam.

I spent waaaaaaaaaaay too much time on the MCQs during the BEC exam and felt like I wasn't going to have time to adequately complete the written communications section. I feel like I write well, but it usually takes me a long time, I tend to write long sentences, and I use a lot of complicated grammar. I had maybe 35 – 40 minutes to do the three written communications and it worked out just fine. Forcing myself to be concise and more on-point actually made things easier. I basically just used a generalized format (e.g., “the purpose of this memo is to …” and “if you have any further questions, please contact me …”) and detailed a couple of points related to the topic in separate paragraphs and that was that.

REG - 93 (7/30/13)
BEC - 90 (8/19/13)
AUD - 98 (8/31/13)
FAR - 84 (10/19/13)

[Anonymous]

Thank you for all of the advice guys! I think I am definitely going to just go over all the chapters first and then maybe attempt a few WC in addition to the ones in the final exams. I watched the WC lecture so I know the basic points, so I guess its probably just a lot of getting a topic you know information about because I don't think I'm too terrible of a writer (I hope haha). I have definitely stopped freaking out over this now though so thank you for all the help, it's much appreciated!

[Author]

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