Starting BEC – Need Advice

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  • #192063
    iwillpasscpa
    Member

    Hello Guys, I am starting with BEC, using Becker and will also get Ninja MCQ. Please provide me with some strategies on how to approach BEC, what chapters are most important, how to prepare for the writing test. I will really appreciate any feedback. Thanks.

    FAR - 79
    AUD - 72 / 85
    REG - 85
    BEC - 73 / 82
    DONE!

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  • #647282
    LKD CPA
    Member

    Unfortunately, I do not have experience with Becker so I'm not sure which chapters are which. What I can tell you, is the information is in the study material for a reason. Don't dismiss topics or chapters too quickly. While there may be only one or two questions on the exam for one particular topic, it may be those questions that make the difference between a pass or fail.

    As far as the written portion, don't stress over it too much. If you are able to draft a logical, comprehensive memo, with good spelling and grammar you should be fine. Be sure to rephrase (even verbatim) what the topic of the response is. So, if you are tasked with “Explain to the members of the board how to bake a cake.” I would write: “Thank you for allowing me the opportunity, to explain in detail, how to bake a cake.” Use standard business writing. Three paragraphs – Para 1) Intro of 2-3 sentences, Para 2) Details with at least 3 examples, reasons, etc. Multiple sentences 10-12 and this can also be broken up into separate paragraphs, just make sure it flows from one paragraph to the other, Para 3) Closing – a recap of what you were tasked to do, your recommendation, and MAKE SURE you leave it open for them to come back to you if they have any questions. For closing I would say “It has been an honor providing the details of baking a cake. If you have any questions regarding this process, or would like to discuss it further, please feel free to contact me using the information provided in my signature line below.”

    FAR: 74, 83
    REG: 76
    BEC: 77
    AUD: 89

    #647283
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Well first thing's first, you may read that BEC is the “easy” section since it has the highest passing rate. Get that thought out of your head right away. BEC is not easy. Since you're starting with BEC, you won't have anything to compare it to but you really need to treat BEC the same as the other exam portions and spend the appropriate amount of time studying.

    With that out of the way, Becker does a pretty good job of laying a foundation for what you need to know and NINJA is a really good supplement to the Becker material. The main topics covered by BEC are Governance/COSO, Cost Accounting, Financial Management, Information Technologies / Accounting Information Systems and Economics. That's B1 thorugh B5 respectively with B6 being a lot of smaller topics that could appear on the exam but aren't tested heavily enough to justify an entire chapter.

    B1, B2 and B3 are going to take you the longest to get through. B1 – B3 are very calculation and formula heavy. B4 – B6 are almost entirely conceptual. With that said, you need to know the formulas. They are, heavily, tested on the exam.

    Everyone worries about the Written Communication portion of the exam but it's not worth stressing over. Watch the Becker lecture on it. Read through the examples and move on. Nobody really knows for sure how the portion is graded (since it's done by a computer) but the consensus is that writing a good memo (proper structure, good grammar, no misspellings) is far more important than answering the question correctly. You'll lose a couple points for missing the question. You'll lose a lot more if you type a really bad memo.

    Finally, good luck.

    #647284
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    If you follow Becker to a T and cover EVERYTHING they've got in that book you'll be fine. I wish I gave myself more time with it.

    BEC is not easy and the test covers everything. Some chapters are just more difficult to grasp than others.

    Remember, a 55.5% pass rate looks great when compared to 2 people but becomes a little bit more real/terrifying when applied to 10 people.

    #647285
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    2 simple steps for all 4 sections:

    1. Study as if no amount of luck/prayers will help

    2. Pray as if no amount of studying will help

    #647286
    OnMyWay732
    Participant

    Yea it's not simple, it's just not incredibly long. Some concepts are easier to pick up but it's pretty calculation heavy. Sure you might get conceptual questions come exam day but if you don't know how to compute, you won't know the meaning behind the concepts. Just study study study and do tons of MCQ.

    AUD - July 2014 - 76
    REG - August 2014 - 82
    FAR - November 2014 - 78
    BEC - January 2015 - 81

    DONE!!!!

    Used Becker online. Who needs a text when you can burn your eyes out staring at the screen for months on end?

    "Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you're hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!"

    #647287
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I have been studying 2 weeks and they are all correct. I literally am just finished with chapter 3 today. It took a long time to get through all the material and learn the formulas. Chapter 4 is going quickly though (conceptual entirely), When do you plan to take the exam?

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