[The CPA Kid]

I got a little ambitious and gave myself 2 weeks to study for BEC after I just took AUD 2 days ago. What do you all find to be the most difficult parts of BEC that I should prioritize?

I work ~25 hours/week as an online tutor and have a nice base for topics taught in managerial/cost accounting (variances, breakeven points, etc.) so I intend to go light on that and focus more on topics that you all suggest. I’d appreciate any input!

FAR- 82 (December 2013)
BEC- 88 (January 2014)
AUD-94 (January 2014)
REG- 84 (February 2014)

They call me the Kid

[popzvegas88]

Cost Accounting… aka Becker Chapters 2 and 3.

Here is my philosophy based on the tests you have already taken (I've passed FAR & AUD too… take BEC Thursday).

If I had the same time window I would focus on 2 & 3 and lightly review the other parts for the following reasons:

1) Chapter 1 is primarily Corporate Governance… You just took Audit so you should have seen a lot of that material already.

2) Chapter 4 is primarilly IT.. while there are some tough questions most of it is very basic IT related questions.

3) If you can pass freshman year Econ you will be fine on Chapter 5.

4) Chapter 6 has some of FAR in it and also some Internal Audit stuff… this chapter would be my next priority after 2 & 3.

5) Written Communication seems to be graded around format, writing skills, etc… not so much right vs. wrong. I think you can adequately pass this part without much review as long as you have decent writing skills.

Overall, just make sure you understand the formulas in BEC and how to apply them. If you can master that part.. the rest of the exam will include things you have reviewed in the past. Granted, this is based on my experience and education.. niether of which is top notch. 😀

10/13/13 - FAR *PASSED* 76
12/01/13 - AUD *PASSED* 84
01/09/14 - BEC *PASSED* 84
02/27/14 - REG *PASSED* 81

[popzvegas88]

Cost Accounting… aka Becker Chapters 2 and 3.

Here is my philosophy based on the tests you have already taken (I've passed FAR & AUD too… take BEC Thursday).

If I had the same time window I would focus on 2 & 3 and lightly review the other parts for the following reasons:

1) Chapter 1 is primarily Corporate Governance… You just took Audit so you should have seen a lot of that material already.

2) Chapter 4 is primarilly IT.. while there are some tough questions most of it is very basic IT related questions.

3) If you can pass freshman year Econ you will be fine on Chapter 5.

4) Chapter 6 has some of FAR in it and also some Internal Audit stuff… this chapter would be my next priority after 2 & 3.

5) Written Communication seems to be graded around format, writing skills, etc… not so much right vs. wrong. I think you can adequately pass this part without much review as long as you have decent writing skills.

Overall, just make sure you understand the formulas in BEC and how to apply them. If you can master that part.. the rest of the exam will include things you have reviewed in the past. Granted, this is based on my experience and education.. niether of which is top notch. 😀

10/13/13 - FAR *PASSED* 76
12/01/13 - AUD *PASSED* 84
01/09/14 - BEC *PASSED* 84
02/27/14 - REG *PASSED* 81

[Anonymous]

BEC isn't hard. If you had a basic understanding of managerial accounting it's good enough.

Just make sure you know the formulas in the back of your head. Other than that…it's a breeze like AUD.

[Anonymous]

BEC isn't hard. If you had a basic understanding of managerial accounting it's good enough.

Just make sure you know the formulas in the back of your head. Other than that…it's a breeze like AUD.

[nolifecpa]

BEC is a BioEtCh!

the IT section was the worst, studying for it is like trying to memorize a dictionary. i tried to take notes on that chapter and found myself copying the book word for word. my advise would be to get some audio on IT and listen to it every single day till test day

REG-65,71,74,73,70,74,79
BEC-60's,60's,69,71,76*,78
FAR-67,66,65,79
AUD-54,60's,65,83*,69,80
*expired

DONE

[nolifecpa]

BEC is a BioEtCh!

the IT section was the worst, studying for it is like trying to memorize a dictionary. i tried to take notes on that chapter and found myself copying the book word for word. my advise would be to get some audio on IT and listen to it every single day till test day

REG-65,71,74,73,70,74,79
BEC-60's,60's,69,71,76*,78
FAR-67,66,65,79
AUD-54,60's,65,83*,69,80
*expired

DONE

[Kay]

I think many people have hard time studying for IT section. Unless you have IT background, it will depends on luck whether you will have easy or hard questions on actual exam.

Currently:
CPA - Class of 2013
ALMI (Associate, Life Management Institute)
CISA - Passed in 2011, Certified in 2014

In Progress:
ASA (Associate of Society of Actuaries) - EXAM P (O), EXAM FM (O), EXAM MFE (X), EXAM MLC (X), EXAM C (X)

[Kay]

I think many people have hard time studying for IT section. Unless you have IT background, it will depends on luck whether you will have easy or hard questions on actual exam.

Currently:
CPA - Class of 2013
ALMI (Associate, Life Management Institute)
CISA - Passed in 2011, Certified in 2014

In Progress:
ASA (Associate of Society of Actuaries) - EXAM P (O), EXAM FM (O), EXAM MFE (X), EXAM MLC (X), EXAM C (X)

[Kenada]

The IT section – it's just so redundant!!!!

FAR 05/27/14; 786/110 - Done !

[Kenada]

The IT section – it's just so redundant!!!!

FAR 05/27/14; 786/110 - Done !

[Anonymous]

The IT section is definitely giving me the most problems right now.

[Anonymous]

The IT section is definitely giving me the most problems right now.

[sarita]

The IT sections is the only subject I ever got a “weaker” on for the MCQ in all four exams. It sucks and it was like a foreign language to me.. but, hey, I still passed. Honestly, if you only have a couple weeks, I would mainly focus on studying everything else. Like another poster mentioned, the IT questions could very well just depend on luck.. you may spend hours studying keywords that are never tested. Of course, you're never supposed to skip a section.. but I would just suggest not wasting too much time on IT.

Make a list of all the calculations you may need to know and make sure to know those.

FAR 7/3/13 - 82
BEC 8/21/13 - 82
AUD 10/2/13 - 92
REG 12/3/13 - 88

DONE!!!! CA Candidate
Beat the 12/31/13 clock!

[sarita]

The IT sections is the only subject I ever got a “weaker” on for the MCQ in all four exams. It sucks and it was like a foreign language to me.. but, hey, I still passed. Honestly, if you only have a couple weeks, I would mainly focus on studying everything else. Like another poster mentioned, the IT questions could very well just depend on luck.. you may spend hours studying keywords that are never tested. Of course, you're never supposed to skip a section.. but I would just suggest not wasting too much time on IT.

Make a list of all the calculations you may need to know and make sure to know those.

FAR 7/3/13 - 82
BEC 8/21/13 - 82
AUD 10/2/13 - 92
REG 12/3/13 - 88

DONE!!!! CA Candidate
Beat the 12/31/13 clock!

[StephAV]

I haven't taken BEC yet, but the stuff I'm most worried about is the Cost Accounting! It seems like there are sooo many formulas to memorize…

FAR - 7/13 - 72, 11/13- 74, 2/14- 82!!! Best score ever (for me)!!!
BEC - 1/14 - 75!!! Perfect score! First Pass! YAY!!!
AUD - 8/14 - 80!!!
REG - 5/14 - 72, 10/14 - 66, 1/15 - 78 - DONE FOREVER!!!
I did 5 of the UNA and CPAExcel classes to earn units.

[Author]

Replies