I thought FAR was the most stressful to study for due to all the material, but REG was the harder test by a wide, wide margin. Those REG sims are killer
I will say REG for me is the most challenging.. AUD and BEC were less harder and it was easier to get a good grasp of the subject. REG I am lost in BLaw translation.
I haven't taken FAR as yet. Heard its a beast but I am hoping it will be less challenging to put the pieces together compared to REG.
I will say REG for me is the most challenging.. AUD and BEC were less harder and it was easier to get a good grasp of the subject. REG I am lost in BLaw translation.
I haven't taken FAR as yet. Heard its a beast but I am hoping it will be less challenging to put the pieces together compared to REG.
REG is the worst. My REG simulations were on material I HAD NEVER SEEN BEFORE & I studied Becker Front to Back.
With that being said, FAR is daunting unless you have a solid background in Financial Accounting. I had a year of working for a Public Accounting Firm under my belt before studying for FAR & it made life much easier than if I had taken it fresh out of school where I didn't retain much.
REG is the worst. My REG simulations were on material I HAD NEVER SEEN BEFORE & I studied Becker Front to Back.
With that being said, FAR is daunting unless you have a solid background in Financial Accounting. I had a year of working for a Public Accounting Firm under my belt before studying for FAR & it made life much easier than if I had taken it fresh out of school where I didn't retain much.
I have only taken AUD and FAR, but between those two FAR was way worse. Not only was there a huge range of topics to know, but there was also a time crunch involved. You can only spend two minutes on each question, even though many require calculations using an ancient calculator from the stone age. For AUD there is no time crunch because there are little to no calculations, so the questions that you know will take you just a few seconds to answer. I ended AUD with one hour to spare, while I ran out of time on FAR (luckily I still passed). Also, FAR took me about double the time to study than AUD did, mainly because of the numerous topics I had to study. So FAR is definitely much worse than AUD.
I have only taken AUD and FAR, but between those two FAR was way worse. Not only was there a huge range of topics to know, but there was also a time crunch involved. You can only spend two minutes on each question, even though many require calculations using an ancient calculator from the stone age. For AUD there is no time crunch because there are little to no calculations, so the questions that you know will take you just a few seconds to answer. I ended AUD with one hour to spare, while I ran out of time on FAR (luckily I still passed). Also, FAR took me about double the time to study than AUD did, mainly because of the numerous topics I had to study. So FAR is definitely much worse than AUD.
I thought FAR was going to be the worst (I'm studying for it right now and the volume of material is just incredible, not to mention I don't have an accounting degree and I don't work as an accountant) BUT now that I'm into it I have convinced myself that REG was worse. At least with FAR “it is what it is.” There is a right answer and you can usually figure out how to get there. With REG, even though I passed, I still don't know what was going on with some of that stuff…
I thought FAR was going to be the worst (I'm studying for it right now and the volume of material is just incredible, not to mention I don't have an accounting degree and I don't work as an accountant) BUT now that I'm into it I have convinced myself that REG was worse. At least with FAR “it is what it is.” There is a right answer and you can usually figure out how to get there. With REG, even though I passed, I still don't know what was going on with some of that stuff…
I've taken all 4 in the last year. And I must say, without a doubt, BEC was the one I hated most. I consider it the “mutt” of the CPA exam. 5-6 different unrelated college courses wrapped up into one exam. FAR builds on itself, as does REG. Audit is non-quantitative.
I've taken all 4 in the last year. And I must say, without a doubt, BEC was the one I hated most. I consider it the “mutt” of the CPA exam. 5-6 different unrelated college courses wrapped up into one exam. FAR builds on itself, as does REG. Audit is non-quantitative.
I've taken FAR, BEC, and AUD. Lots of info in FAR, but always something different when you turn the page. BEC was deceptively full of info to memorize, but I liked that calculation problems are more definite than theory.
AUD is my least favorite. The material is dry and boring. It's been difficult for me to remember all the little differences between reports and rules, and to know what procedure to apply in a situation. It may be different if I had some work experience.
Ninja Combo, Yaeger, Wiley -- Licensed CPA, May 2015
I've taken FAR, BEC, and AUD. Lots of info in FAR, but always something different when you turn the page. BEC was deceptively full of info to memorize, but I liked that calculation problems are more definite than theory.
AUD is my least favorite. The material is dry and boring. It's been difficult for me to remember all the little differences between reports and rules, and to know what procedure to apply in a situation. It may be different if I had some work experience.
Ninja Combo, Yaeger, Wiley -- Licensed CPA, May 2015
Audit was my personal beast. The text read like a handbook with no calculations. I have spent my career in financial accounting, so FAR was not that bad. REG and BEC were both ok.
Audit was my personal beast. The text read like a handbook with no calculations. I have spent my career in financial accounting, so FAR was not that bad. REG and BEC were both ok.
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