[D]

I’ve seen a few comments that notecards are key for BEC… so I’m going to Wal Mart after work to by some index cards. 🙂 What else does everyone recommend? Also- what are your recommendations for preparing for the written portion?

Any advice or input on what your study plan for BEC was is also appreciated!!

As an FYI, I have Ninja Notes & Audio, Yaeger lectures + Wiley book/testbank.

----------
AUD - 74, 77! (1/2016)
BEC - 80! (5/2016)
REG - tbd (8/2016)
FAR - tbd

Study materials: NINJA MCQ/Audio/Notes

"I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!"
----------

[littlenumberrobot]

I thought NINJa flaschards were very helpful for my BEC exam. And yes lots of MCQ's. I didnt pass first try, oddly enough the written portion bumped me over the pass line for the last try. I recommend getting your game plan down for that portion too.

CA CPA - All because of the journey listed below
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FAR - 53('10), 8/25/12 79 PASSED!
REG - 66('11), 69('12), 12/06/12 77 PASSED!!
BEC - 58('10), 74('12), 01/05/13 77 PASSED!!!
AUD - 43('11), 66('12), 69('13), 74('13) 7/29/13 85 PASSED!!!!!

(Combinations of Roger, Yaeger, Wiley Book, Wiley TB, & NINJA Notes)

Ethics 90%

[D]

Hmm maybe I need to consider the NINJA flashcards vs. making my own then. 😛

Good idea on the written portion. Whats the best way to tackle that?

----------
AUD - 74, 77! (1/2016)
BEC - 80! (5/2016)
REG - tbd (8/2016)
FAR - tbd

Study materials: NINJA MCQ/Audio/Notes

"I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!"
----------

[Jennifer241]

What kind of format do the flash cards come in? Word?

AUD - Jan 9,13 Pass
REG - Aug 30,13 Pass
BEC - Oct 26,13 Pass
FAR - Dec 4,13 Pass

Licensed CPA in the state of Oregon

[littlenumberrobot]

No, NINJA comes in some type of format(dont recall at this time) that you upload into a program called Brainscape. You can use them either on your computer or there is a Brianscape APP for smartphones(iphone for sure, dont know about droids)

For me, I went in with an outline idea, intro paragraph, couple body paragraphs and then conclsuion. Something I changed for my passing attempt was signing the memo. I remember Jeff talking about doing that so I added it in. I was able to get stronger on WC that time. Also you will probably be running out of time for WC, so type out a body and move to next one and continue to last, then go back and edit them all and put final touches on it to make sure you answer all three in time(my opinion).

Now TXCPAGAL12 & Jennifer24, how did you two pass audit!? I am restudying for that after tax season 🙁

CA CPA - All because of the journey listed below
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FAR - 53('10), 8/25/12 79 PASSED!
REG - 66('11), 69('12), 12/06/12 77 PASSED!!
BEC - 58('10), 74('12), 01/05/13 77 PASSED!!!
AUD - 43('11), 66('12), 69('13), 74('13) 7/29/13 85 PASSED!!!!!

(Combinations of Roger, Yaeger, Wiley Book, Wiley TB, & NINJA Notes)

Ethics 90%

[Jennifer241]

Wiley test bank and NINJA Notes only. Busted out MCQ's until I knew the concepts, not the questions.

If I got a questions wrong, I researched why the correct answer is correct and wrote it on the back of my printed out NINJA notes. I called them my “fact nuggets”. So every time I was studying NINJA Notes I also went over all my fact nuggets and everything just started to stick! I reviewed my NINJA notes, by 1 section a day but my fact nuggets I reviewed daily.

Good luck!

AUD - Jan 9,13 Pass
REG - Aug 30,13 Pass
BEC - Oct 26,13 Pass
FAR - Dec 4,13 Pass

Licensed CPA in the state of Oregon

[littlenumberrobot]

Cool Thanks! I am most definetely buying the Notes. I wasnt scoring the best on ALL subjects in Wiley before I took my exam so I know there was room in some areas to solidify but I wanted to squeeze it in before tax season.

CA CPA - All because of the journey listed below
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FAR - 53('10), 8/25/12 79 PASSED!
REG - 66('11), 69('12), 12/06/12 77 PASSED!!
BEC - 58('10), 74('12), 01/05/13 77 PASSED!!!
AUD - 43('11), 66('12), 69('13), 74('13) 7/29/13 85 PASSED!!!!!

(Combinations of Roger, Yaeger, Wiley Book, Wiley TB, & NINJA Notes)

Ethics 90%

[D]

@littlenumberrobot- thanks for your tips! As far as AUD…..

I went through tons of MCQs in the testbank. Take a practice exam of 30-50 MCQ questions (without the automatic answer button on so you don't know how you do right away). From there assess your weak areas… then start by tackling those sections over and over with MCQ until you're scoring 80-90% consistently. Then go through all the others doing the same, making sure you're scoring 80-90% and knowing not only why the answer is right.. but wrong!

I also made sure that for EVERY single SIM I utilized the Authoritative LIterature! (the first couple times taking it I didn't realize that Auth Lit could help in multiple SIM questions, NOT JUST the research!) I also had NINJA audio which helped during my commute. Don't give up, you're almost there!

----------
AUD - 74, 77! (1/2016)
BEC - 80! (5/2016)
REG - tbd (8/2016)
FAR - tbd

Study materials: NINJA MCQ/Audio/Notes

"I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!"
----------

[D]

@littlenumberrobot-

What would you say you did differently the 3rd time taking BEC that pushed you over (other than the WC and signing the memo)? Did you just work on the WC portion and that pushed you over?

----------
AUD - 74, 77! (1/2016)
BEC - 80! (5/2016)
REG - tbd (8/2016)
FAR - tbd

Study materials: NINJA MCQ/Audio/Notes

"I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!"
----------

[littlenumberrobot]

@TXCPAGAL12 Thank you for your advice! I may start doing the MCQ without the answer prompt. Maybe this is what is making me feel confident when in reality I didnt have it yet! Because most often I had narrowed it down to two answers and always chose the wrong one 🙁

I also rewrote my notes, read sections in my Roger book I was weak in and looked over the MCQ in Wiley book for some better explanations on my weaker subjects and also I thought the book had better examples of calcluations. And of course more…. MCQS!

CA CPA - All because of the journey listed below
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FAR - 53('10), 8/25/12 79 PASSED!
REG - 66('11), 69('12), 12/06/12 77 PASSED!!
BEC - 58('10), 74('12), 01/05/13 77 PASSED!!!
AUD - 43('11), 66('12), 69('13), 74('13) 7/29/13 85 PASSED!!!!!

(Combinations of Roger, Yaeger, Wiley Book, Wiley TB, & NINJA Notes)

Ethics 90%

[J]

I have mentioned my strategy (if you want to call it that) in a couple of other threads, so I apologize for the redundancy here. However, I think it is particularly useful for BEC because of the nature of the test in that it really combines a bunch of different subjects and hence BEC has much more of a heterogeneous nature with respect to the the other three sections.

Perhaps I forced myself into this, but I knew that I wasn't going to have the time to study all components of BEC as in-depth as I would have liked; I really started studying on November 12 and took the exam on the 30th, so I really had three weeks. I actually was away from home for one of those weeks for Thanksgiving, and then was sick the last week. Therefore I picked out the content that I knew would be my strength (in this case, economics and finance) and made sure that I covered those first so that I would get the vast majority of points. Only then did I move to other subjects to which I previously had less exposure/experience, and I just tried to be adequate (i.e. comparable) in those. I did not concern myself whatsoever with the written communications; I write reasonably well and did not see the necessity of wasting my time there.

I went into the exam feeling generally under prepared because of the lack of study time but felt very comfortable with the aforementioned components and sure enough, passed with an 85.

I believe that a lot of people waste significant time attempting to transform their weaknesses into strengths; they are weaknesses for a reason. Instead, build on your strengths and just try to improve your weaknesses to a level at which you can perform adequately. If you do this, you have a good chance of passing not only BEC but any of the other sections.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Multiple choice questions focusing on concepts.

Make a condensed summary of the important formulas you will need to know (mine was one notebook page front only) and rewrite it like crazy until you have it memorized to a tee. Those formulas helped drive me through the management accounting portion of the exam.

Econ/COSO/IT just read, reread, take notes, rewrite notes over and over. Oh, and MC like crazy on those too =).

Good luck.

[D]

@InterFC1- great advice! I actually have fairly decent writing skills too so I may just run through a couple examples in the book for WC and see what I might need to work on.

Funny because your strengths are actually my weaknesses.. I suck at Econ and Finance lol! (at least those weren't my strong points in college)

What study materials did you use? And were you working full-time during those 3 weeks you studied for BEC?

----------
AUD - 74, 77! (1/2016)
BEC - 80! (5/2016)
REG - tbd (8/2016)
FAR - tbd

Study materials: NINJA MCQ/Audio/Notes

"I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!"
----------

[D]

Adamdenton1- congrats on your 75!! Thanks for the tips on formulas. I think thats a great idea to condense it to one page!

----------
AUD - 74, 77! (1/2016)
BEC - 80! (5/2016)
REG - tbd (8/2016)
FAR - tbd

Study materials: NINJA MCQ/Audio/Notes

"I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!"
----------

[Jennifer241]

@TXCPAGAL12 I completely understand how you feel, ALL of BEC topics are not my strong point. It may become my “beast”.

AUD - Jan 9,13 Pass
REG - Aug 30,13 Pass
BEC - Oct 26,13 Pass
FAR - Dec 4,13 Pass

Licensed CPA in the state of Oregon

[WICPA06]

I have already passed BEC but have to re-take it due to lost credit. I didn't get an overwhelming passing score the first time, but I know I paid a lot more attention to concepts. Don't get me wrong you need to know a lot of calculations, but concepts and theory are also a big part of the exam. I think the Becker flashcards for BEC are very good for remembering calculations and theory. I also didn't practice written communications. I watched the Becker instructional video once or twice, which is 30 minutes long, and that was totally fine.

BEC - 77 (lost credit), 4/5/13
AUD - 83
REG - 77
FAR - 73, 74, 80! One more to go!!

[Author]

Replies