Trying to past BEC on first attempt! A few questions for those who passed BEC

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    Topic
  • #188696
    leslie4real
    Participant

    Some background: I work full time. My Bachelor is actually in Finance, and I have not had cost accounting, IT, economics since I left college which was in 2004. I managed to pass all three sections on first try, but it was a struggle. Audit was easy and I never had issue with Audit by using Becker only. FAR was challenging due to the amount of material and for some reason, I could not progress. I would study say 3 chapters really well, but by the time I finish the 4th one, I could not remember the first three chapters. It was demoralizing but I kept at it and passed, but it took me 6 months for FAR (with Becker book and software and Wiley textbook) to feel ready to sit (did not necessarily feel ready to pass). After FAR I felt a little more confident with REG. I studied as effectively as I could, and I felt I could progress with REG, but struggled to get the last chapter done on the week of the exam, and i always struggle reviewing the material (even if I try to review some stuff as I advance to the next chapter). Luckily I passed REG but barely with 78. For REG I studied law with Becker and Wiley textbook, but for tax only used Becker. The Wiley law section was a fast and easy supplement, but I did not have time to use Wiley as a supplement for the Tax section.

    I will use Becker as well for BEC and have the Wiley textbook as a supplement.

    A few questions and comments by those who had same approach or issues would be much appreciated.

    1. I get shocked when I hear people studied 100 hours for FAR or REG and passed (some in the 90s). Am I the only one who put at least 300 hours for each of them (emphasis on the word at least). For audit I put around 150 hours to be on the safe side. But for FAR and REG, I really have a hard time believing I could pass with less than 300 hours especially for FAR. It might sound over the top, but I am the type who need to feel ready for an exam to actually sit it. For those who studied as much for FAR and REG, how many hours did you study for BEC?

    2. What chapters are the easiest to review? I have already read on the forum the hardest chapters to study, so the reason I am asking about the chapters that are easiest to review (which are not necessarily the easiest chapter to study) is because I am planning to study those first so I can review them as I move along to other chapters and not forget. That approach worked for me for REG.

    3. If I get a question right the first time and I truly understand the answer, I don’t mark it and don’t do it again. But for FAR & REG, I struggled to review the marked questions since the only marked one were the very difficult one. Anyone has a system to this madness especially when reviewing?

    4. What sections do you consider it more efficient to focus on the review material rather than the multiple choice questions and those you consider more efficient to tackle the m.c. questions?

    4. For those who supplemented with Wiley textbook, any sections you felt made a difference to grasping the concept better than just with Becker?

    FAR: 80
    AUD: 81
    REG: 78
    BEC: 76

Viewing 10 replies - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
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  • #608551
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    @Leslie,

    1. FAR is my last exam and I plan on logging upwards of 250-300 hours for FAR before sitting. You're definitely the norm. For BEC, I studied three weeks (full-time) and had a week to review. I also went out on the weekends.

    2. The easiest chapters to review are the financial and econ chapters (I'm an accounting/finance double degree) whereas the most difficult are cost accounting and IT for most people. With that said, just because it's difficult doesn't mean it shows up on the test you receive (that's about all I can say for that)

    3. When reviewing for BEC, I would reread each chapter and then repeat homework. After all 6 chapters have been reviewed, I started completing MCQ testlets of 24 questions until exam day. At night I would reread chapters that I had struggled with during my review as well as memorize certain formulas and IT CONCEPTS.

    4. FOCUS ON COSO and it's APPLICATION (B.1) as well as IT CONCEPTS.

    #608552
    JamesBJames
    Participant

    1) FAR and REG are time-consuming. I put in about 170 hours for FAR and 140 hours for REG. I think 250-300 is definitely on the high end but you know your own strengths and weaknesses better than anyone, and sometimes the extra time pays off. I probably studied around 90-100 hours for BEC.

    2) Easiest to review? 100% with @_Nick_ on this one. Econ and all the TVM financial stuff = easy; cost accounting and IT = kill me

    3) I always feel like the MCQs are where you learn the most. I don't think I would emphasize or prioritize anything above doing questions.

    4) N/A

    FAR: May 1st, 2014 - 91
    AUD: May 29th, 2014 - 97!
    BEC: July 16th, 2014 - 91
    REG: August 29th, 2014 - 88

    Licensed December 2015

    Feel free to add me on LinkedIn by clicking my username!

    #608553
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    @James, let me turn this on you and ask for any potential tips on FAR

    #608554
    JamesBJames
    Participant

    I'll try, although I'm thinking it's probably gonna be a lot of stuff you've heard before.

    Don't neglect government and not-for-profit accounting. If I remember correctly, it's a solid 20% of the exam. I haven't heard of many people getting SIMS on the two topics, so it means you're probably going to get a LOT of MCQs. Remember your mnemonics. A lot of the questions seem to revolve around classification.

    Intermittently go over old material. FAR is a slog. If you wait a month before going back over stuff you've already done, you will certainly forget a bit of it. When you apply to that 1000+ pages of material, it gets brutal.

    Journal entries. They're the framework of everything in FAR. Don't understand something? Write out the journal entries. Reviewing a topic? Write out the journal entries. There were a lot of tough questions on my exam but because I understood most of the journal entries underlying the transactions, I had a pretty good idea about how to tackle just about everything.

    Oh, and find a way to remember the important GAAP v IFRS stuff. Becker's got a few pages devoted to the differences (as a summary) at the end of F10, although I'm not sure how other review providers handle it. I don't want to go into too much detail because, well, exam disclosure, but I wish I had studied IFRS just a little bit more. The breadth of material for IFRS is stupid, but understanding the major topics goes a long way.

    FAR: May 1st, 2014 - 91
    AUD: May 29th, 2014 - 97!
    BEC: July 16th, 2014 - 91
    REG: August 29th, 2014 - 88

    Licensed December 2015

    Feel free to add me on LinkedIn by clicking my username!

    #608555
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I have Becker so I will be able to take all of those recommendations, thanks!

    #608556
    rzrbkfaith
    Member

    @Leslie

    I am using Becker for everything, no supplements. I thought Becker did a good job covering all the BEC material. I could seriously hear Peter Olinto and his silly sayings during the exam, which helped. B5 and B6 were by far the easiest to study. B4 was the hardest because it was so boring. All the cost accounting seemed insurmountable because of the vast quantities of homework, but it was really great practice and will definitely prepare you for the exam if you really hone in on comprehending the formulas. Don't forget to read and re-read the question! If you read any of the Q3 BEC threads, you will see that we all had varying impressions of the exam and that it seems like our exams were all very different. Some were calculation heavy, some were theory heavy, so be prepared for anything.

    I probably studied about 120 – 130 hours for AUD. I studied around 100-110 for BEC. I plan on studying about 120 for REG.

    AUD - 99
    BEC - 97
    REG - 91
    FAR - 1/8/16

    #608557
    leslie4real
    Participant

    @Nick/@JamesBJames/rzrbkfaith: Thanks for your response and valuable tips. This would certainly help.



    @Nick
    : see below comment on FAR

    I am super impressed by all your marks and big brains. Am I doing something wrong putting so much hours and barely passing? I am happy with a pass but I would like to avoid the emotional drain/toll of feeling I barely made it after the exam: it's exhausting.

    I tend to read the sections in the chapter first and get an understanding of the concept before I view the lectures. I don't really view the lectures and just fast forward and add the extra notes/markings (if I feel it is needed) and I only spend time viewing the concepts I struggle with. So I am not even spending that much time on lectures and as I said, if I get an M.C. right and truly understand the correct answer and why the other answers are wrong, I don't do them again and only do the marked one. So either my issue is trying to hard to be an expert at every concept or either Wiley as a supplement is really time consuming (maybe I should use it only for hard to grasp concepts., but easier said than done when it's at my disposal)

    @Nick

    “Intermittently go over old material. FAR is a slog. If you wait a month before going back over stuff you've already done, you will certainly forget a bit of it. When you apply to that 1000+ pages of material, it gets brutal”: totally agreed with JamesBJames. Try to continuously review the material as you advance. I know that's the reason I struggled with FAR so much. For REG I continuously reviewed the material (for me I set up 3 to 6 hours every week on just reviewing) and this made a difference and I was able to progress better with this approach because I did not have to worry in the back of my head about forgetting stuff.

    Also, I would say that Becker chapter 7 is consistently heavily tested (so know statement of cash flows, EPS, Treasury stock) and chapter 1 and 2. I barely had any government/NFP on my exam so it shows every exam is different. My exam was pretty much short straight forward M.C. but the SIM were very long with lots of calculation so make sure to allocate at least 1.5 hours for the SIM. For IFRS, straightforward and focus on PassKey. From your marks, I am sure you will be fine.

    FAR: 80
    AUD: 81
    REG: 78
    BEC: 76

    #608558
    rzrbkfaith
    Member

    @Leslie – I would really take the time and watch the lectures rather than reading the material. If you read the material all the details can become so overwhelming and there is no way to distinguish what is really important and highly testable versus what is in there just in case you get a question. The lectures will distinguish that for you. I have found that to be the most efficient use of my time. Hope that helps!

    AUD - 99
    BEC - 97
    REG - 91
    FAR - 1/8/16

    #608559
    leslie4real
    Participant

    @rzrbkfaith

    Thanks for the tip. You might be right, trying to comprehend the material myself first before viewing the lectures probably increased the amount of time I spent. I know it's only 1 last section but I am determined to reduce my study time, be more effective, and more prepared at the same time.

    FAR: 80
    AUD: 81
    REG: 78
    BEC: 76

    #608560
    thechapman
    Member

    This is WACC

    Passed - 2014

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