[krokofilen]

Hi all

I need to plan my study time this fall and with full time work I think I can come up with a maximum of 130 study hours for BEC. Is this enough? My planned approach is to read all Becker chapters and do the Becker MCQs right after, with 6 chapters I hope I can do that in 75 hours), and then spend the remainder of time on review of my notes and NINJA MCQs (so 55 hours).

Is this doable? How many hours did you spend on your BEC study?

Big 4 Audit Manager from Europe here to pass the CPA in the U.S. of A in 2014! Niiice!

AUD - 95 / Jul 15 / 130h over 4 weeks
FAR - 86 / Aug 14 / 240h over 4 weeks
(11 week break)

REG - 81 / Nov 14 / 200h over 4 weeks
BEC - 87 / Nov 17 / 30 h over 2.5 days

[Kimboroni]

Yes, that's what makes me afraid, Tux. I took econ when I first started working on my accounting program, so that was like 7 years ago. Cost accounting was probably 2009 or 2010, I don't remember. Finance was 2010, I think. It's been a while since I took any BEC material classes.

Do you guys all actually track your studying time, or are those just estimates? I don't really know how many hours I studied for any section. Just curious.

AUD 84 (1/9/14-Wiley books/TB + free materials)
FAR 83 (5/21/14-the above + NINJA 10 Pt Combo Lite)
REG 84 (7/9/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC/Notes)
BEC 76 (10/5/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC)

Disclaimer: My ninja avatar is not meant to imply that I have any affiliation with this site other than being a forum member. That's a pic of a T-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday. 🙂

[krokofilen]

I track my study time, to make sure I'm on schedule and got enough time available before the exam.

Seems like most people don't find BEC too difficult, however I agree that it probably makes a difference if you're straight from college. As for me, I took finance and those classes back in 2003-2005, so like 10 years ago.

Big 4 Audit Manager from Europe here to pass the CPA in the U.S. of A in 2014! Niiice!

AUD - 95 / Jul 15 / 130h over 4 weeks
FAR - 86 / Aug 14 / 240h over 4 weeks
(11 week break)

REG - 81 / Nov 14 / 200h over 4 weeks
BEC - 87 / Nov 17 / 30 h over 2.5 days

[Anonymous]

It's not as much about quantity as it is quality. 40 focused hours will always be greater than 200 half-@$$ hours. Set goals like number of times reviewing sections/mcq before the exam.

[krokofilen]

CPA33, yes, obviously. But I still only have 130 hours. I would not pass if I had 2 hours. I would probably study more if I had 200 hours. After all, your availability can easily be measured in hours, and hence it is relevant to know how much others have studied in order to pass.

Big 4 Audit Manager from Europe here to pass the CPA in the U.S. of A in 2014! Niiice!

AUD - 95 / Jul 15 / 130h over 4 weeks
FAR - 86 / Aug 14 / 240h over 4 weeks
(11 week break)

REG - 81 / Nov 14 / 200h over 4 weeks
BEC - 87 / Nov 17 / 30 h over 2.5 days

[rana_cali]

@krokofilen

Since you are in Europe, why don't u fly to Beirut or Dubai to take ur exam? The Middle East is way closer to you than the states. That way u would come for a shorter trip..less money, less jetlag, good food 😀

AUD: 84
FAR: 75
BEC: 78
REG: 75

DONE-ZO!!!!!!!!

REG: Used Becker 2014 book, NINJA MCQ, Ninja notes, ninja audio
_______________________________
CFE since Oct. 2013.

[Anonymous]

Test in Dubai. Dubai is a great place. Can't wait to travel back there.

[Anonymous]

90 hours in 3 weeks. I pounded Becker MCQ's until I was blue in the face.

[The Ex Lurker]

@Caro3line did you complete any or all of the lectures from Becker?

F: Apr 14' Passed
A: May 14' Passed
R: Jul 14' Passed
B: Aug 14' Rematch in Oct *Passed*

[Anonymous]

@ExLurker, yes, the 90 hours includes the online lectures AND going to live class. Because BEC was my first exam, I was still “fresh” and could kind of absorb what they were saying. Most of my effort went into the MCQ's (worked all of the hw 2x, then did progress tests every day)…at times I felt like I was just memorizing the answers, but didn't know what else to do. For the sims, I didn't spend a lot of time other than taking a quick shot at all of the hw and reviewing the solutions. For what it's worth, I felt like the actual exam experience was a lot more “pleasant” for BEC than it was for AUD or FAR but keep in mind that it was my first and for you it will be the 4th. Good luck!!!

[krokofilen]

rana_cali:

Yeah, there are a few locations in the middle east where you can take the uniform CPA exam, however, you need to be either a citizen of that country or an American. So it won't work for me.

Big 4 Audit Manager from Europe here to pass the CPA in the U.S. of A in 2014! Niiice!

AUD - 95 / Jul 15 / 130h over 4 weeks
FAR - 86 / Aug 14 / 240h over 4 weeks
(11 week break)

REG - 81 / Nov 14 / 200h over 4 weeks
BEC - 87 / Nov 17 / 30 h over 2.5 days

[krokofilen]

Btw, I can't believe they haven't set up at least one location in Europe yet. Surely it would pay off, there must be hundreds maybe thousands of Europeans taking the U.S. CPA every year. Each of them are travelling to the U.S. to take it, spending thousands of dollars each time. If they found a test centre that could run it at one location in Europe, they could easily over charge (say 500 euros per test), and get all those Europeans take it there instead. Environmental friendly, candidate friendly, and money friendly. Just saying :p

Big 4 Audit Manager from Europe here to pass the CPA in the U.S. of A in 2014! Niiice!

AUD - 95 / Jul 15 / 130h over 4 weeks
FAR - 86 / Aug 14 / 240h over 4 weeks
(11 week break)

REG - 81 / Nov 14 / 200h over 4 weeks
BEC - 87 / Nov 17 / 30 h over 2.5 days

[krokofilen]

Member “accounting” claims in a different discussion that he spent 15 hours for BEC, and scored 82.

“accounting” if you see this, or someone else – how is this possible, how do you study for such a wide concept for just 15 hours? I mean, what's your focus for those 15 hours?

Big 4 Audit Manager from Europe here to pass the CPA in the U.S. of A in 2014! Niiice!

AUD - 95 / Jul 15 / 130h over 4 weeks
FAR - 86 / Aug 14 / 240h over 4 weeks
(11 week break)

REG - 81 / Nov 14 / 200h over 4 weeks
BEC - 87 / Nov 17 / 30 h over 2.5 days

[Sir Study Alot]

I imagine some people who have completed their MBA could take BEC with little preparation. I think it is good to get an idea what other candidates are spending, but keep in mind many people have different experience levels with each subject. I think krokofilen could probably pass BEC in the less than 100 hours based on his score on Audit at 130 hours(not factoring in the many other factors that might come into play).

I think an interesting thing about BEC is it has the most potential for a person to get a lucky pass. I mean it is really hard to guess on the simulations that make up 40% of the other exams. Most people with a US/European college eductation can probably do well enough on the writing portion of the BEC exam with no preparation. The rest of the test is multiple choice and a person who has enough time to become familiar with every section might be able to get lucky by using the process of elimination or lucky guess work. So a person who should of scored a 60 based on the questions he did know could walk out with a 81 based on chance alone. Most people who are even slightly prepared can eliminate at least one answer on most problems.

I wouldn't understudy because of the luck factor, but I will not be rescheduling my Aug 31st exam since there is a chance I may get lucky even if I don't technically accumulate enough knowledge. I have finals on Wednesday and Thursday and I plan to study fulltime from August 15th to August 30th for BEC(my last and most neglected exam). My goal is to get at least 8 hours in each day to get a grand total of 128 hours. There is a diminsihing returns factor that comes into play when you study all day(a big bull of pasta can cut productivity down to half). So I will probably get around 7 productive hours a day for a grand total of 112 productive hours. I hope this will be enough; otherwise its an October retake 🙁

Passed all 4 exams in 2014!

[Anonymous]

It's such a subjective question. I put in more time for BEC than I did FAR (passed FAR quite easily).

The most difficult part for me was the COSO framework and ERM stuff. I am a logical learner, in that if I can see a pattern of logic in something, I can remember it and apply it well. I do well with the quantitative parts or the theory type questions. GAAP, IRC, etc. all loosely follow a pretty standard logic.

Since COSO is so badly written (my opinion and that of many others) I found it very difficult to retain as much as I would liked to.

For me COSO (framework and ERM) seemed like a rushed document created by a bunch of people who all wanted to have their ideas integrated into the final edit.

As a result, I know that I was very weak on that part of the exam. Even if I had 3 months to study COSO exclusively, I would have struggled with it.

That being said I would say to spend at least 60 hours and no more than 100 hours (ballpark figure).

[rana_cali]

@krokofilen

Oh I didn't know that…would have been much closer for u if there weren't those citizenship conditions. Speaking of overpricing like you said they can do in Europe, it's very overpriced here. I'm testing in Beirut and I pay $200 per exam, $100 for re-examination fees, and $300 to test internationally..so I am paying $600 per exam. Kinda sucks if u don't pass :/

AUD: 84
FAR: 75
BEC: 78
REG: 75

DONE-ZO!!!!!!!!

REG: Used Becker 2014 book, NINJA MCQ, Ninja notes, ninja audio
_______________________________
CFE since Oct. 2013.

[Author]

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