[thetoddgreen]

So I take BEC (my first exam) in 3 days – March, 6 @ 1pm.
I started to get more casual and recently realized I didn’t study for the entire last section (using WileyCPA). It is called Planning and Measurement – including things like cost accounting, planning and control (budget/forecasting, CVP and variance and cost analysis), decision making (relevant costs and transfer pricing – sounds easy), and performance measures / management techniques ( inv mgt, balanced scorecard, competitive and ratio analysis – sounds like a lot of stuff from my senior management class).

So up to this point, I completed the cost accounting header and can knock out the rest of planning and control tonight most likely. I still want to see what the writing portion feels like as well, and take a practice test early enough to know what my weak points are to review. What is the best way to use my time? I feel like if i focus and try to learn the rest of this section, I will be pushing for time that I don’t have to try to actually review over the weekend. Work isn’t giving me much slack. They are sending me tons of assignments so I can’t get started until around 5 tonight either. I feel backed into a corner that I put myself into 🙁

[RockLobster]

I used Becker, but I noticed you didn't mention IT in your study plan. Don't slack on IT, seems like everyone ends up with that several questions from that section on their exam. Also make sure you hit performance measures and variance analysis hard. The writing portion is pretty straightforward, if your writing skills are strong I wouldn't devote much time to that portion of the exam. Also, know your basic formulas: ROI, ROA, DuPont formula, APR, WACC, EOQ, etc.

[thetoddgreen]

I already covered IT. I was just laying out the stuff in the last section I didn't realize I forgot until the other day. Do I really have time to hit a new topic hard, without sacrificing review material for everything else to make sure it is fresh? That is my concern.. I feel like if I hit this new stuff hard, I lose. I feel like if I skim it so I can get to overall review, I lose…

[Anonymous]

I take REG on Friday and I'm pretty much at the point where everything goes in one ear and out the other.

After I finish the current Corporate Taxation section I'm working through, I am planning on taking another practice test, reviewing the results, and then re-focusing on any weak areas. Then on the 1-2 days before the exam, I plan on skimming through the questions in the NINJA book material and any notes I've taken to pick up on any last details I might be missing.

[RockLobster]

To answer your previous post, if something I mentioned is a new topic to you, you should definitely go over it at least briefly. By no means was I super confident in any one section specifically. I think it will benefit you more to have a general understanding of all topics in the book then to be 100% confident on just a few of them that you've already looked over.

Each of the 3 exams I've sat for so far have had a nearly even blend of every section in my review materials. I just took BEC on the 28th, and I can tell you that many of the Planning and Measurement topics you mentioned above were concepts I retained that helped me significantly on test day.

[Author]

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