[Anonymous]

I just passed my last CPA Exam section so I thought I would post things that I know now that I wish I knew when I started my journey.

Order of Exams:

I think I took the exams in a really good order. I started with FAR(failed), AUD(passed), FAR(passed), BEC (passed), REG (failed), REG passed. I think it was beneficial to start with FAR and to roll right into audit because they are so similar. It was nice to have BEC in the middle because it is an easier test. Once I got to REG, I was committed at that point so even though I failed the first time, i had plenty of incentive to pass.

Difficulty of Exams (Hardest to Easiest)

FAR: There is so much material. The content of the simulations is way more involved with journal entries, worksheets, etc., than any other sections.

REG: REG has some difficult material but the exam is way shorter than it should be so they have to bastardize the simulations to make them not take to long. You could only one answer box for a complicated calculation and if you make a simple mistake, no partial credit could be awarded.

AUD: This was the first section I passed. I was studying for FAR around the same time I studied for AUD so this section seemed a lot easier. They have some simulations but they are way more straight forward than the sims on REG and FAR. The book is very small relative to FAR and REG.

BEC: This section is a good one to help you build momentum because you really only need to prepare for the MCQs. The MCQs may be the toughest of all of the sections but you can adequately prepare for them with the test banks.

Hardest Part of the Exam Preparations:

Preparing for simulations is the hardest because you need to be prepared for a deep dive on every topic. I 100% believe that you have to have a plan for doing a deep dive on simulation preparation in order to pass the exam. Especially for FAR.

Materials:

I used Wiley and Gleim. Gleim was too in-depth with their MCQs and it caused me to over prepare for MCQs on my first FAR attempt and under prepare for sims. Wiley’s questions were more similar in difficulty level to the exams. I only watched a few free lectures on youtube from various people as I tried to understand more difficult concepts in sim preparation. I didn’t get a big, expensive course with a lot of lectures and I kind of question the value of lectures. I basically only had the Gleim/Wiley book for each section and a test bank. No matter how much you spend, you are always going to have to put in the grunt work to learn the material and read the books and go through the test bank so I am just glad I skipped some of the fluff or the expensive lectures up front.

Unfortunately, you will have to read the whole book cover to cover. Then start doing MCQs by chapter until you get 80+ on each chapter. Once you get to the end of the chapters, you will forget the early chapter stuff so you will need to review those again. Next start taking comprehensive exams and try to score 80+. Once you are at 80+, you need to start doing simulation preparation by going through the sims in the book you bought. Finally, take the exam.

I don’t really like to look at it in terms of time to do the above process, your goals should be to get into the mid 80s consistently on comprehensive exams (assuming WTB). If you get in the 80s, you are probably going to crush the MCQ section of the exams. If you go through all the sims in your book and you can do those, you will probably have a good shot against the sims. Since the sims are such a crapshoot, you want to get as many points as you can from the MCQs and just hope that you can get a split decision with the sims.

On my first REG attempt, I rushed through preparation and I didn’t do enough practice tests and I failed because I didn’t follow the iron clad rule of consistently getting in the 80s on comprehensive exams.

Anyhow, i thought I would post some of the things I know now that I wish I had known when I started.

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[Tarheelgirl]

Congrats on passing! I am using the same material you are. I am just now supplementing WTB for Gleim MCQs to get a different variety. I really have to focus on SIMS though. Did the WTB Sims help you prepare for the FAR exam?

FAR - 46, 79 (7/8/14)
AUD - 56, 59, 2/23/15 3rd times a charm!
BEC - 69, 74 Really??
REG - April, I hope. Fingers crossed!

[Mamabear]

Congrats! I'm with you on taking FAR/AUD first/second and using BEC in the middle as a break. Much less material and not very tricky. I wish I had known this stuff in the beginning as well. Enjoy your study free future!

CPA Exam - Finally DONE (November 2014)
BEC (08/10/13) 80
AUD (08/24/13) 65 (11/13/13) 85
FAR (04/12/14) 81
REG (07/19/14) 69 (11/29/14) 87!!

[Anonymous]

@Tarheelgirl

I found the sims on most of the test banks to be pretty marginal. I went through all the sims in the book and a all the extended examples in the book to prepare for the sims. I usually just got out a spreadsheet and answered the questions on those. The FAR sims on the WTB were especially lacking in quality.

[Tarheelgirl]

Thanks for the information Akkula. I have only done the Sims in the Gleim book will do the ones online too.

FAR - 46, 79 (7/8/14)
AUD - 56, 59, 2/23/15 3rd times a charm!
BEC - 69, 74 Really??
REG - April, I hope. Fingers crossed!

[TNIRISH]

I crammed for the SIMS the last few days before the exam. I feel that all the prep courses do not give a great SIM of the questions. So all you can do is know the material as much as possible and be familiar with the type of questions they will ask on the SIMS and really hope you get more that you have seen before than you have not. That is my two cents.

[Anonymous]

I just finished up my last exam and some helpful tips that worked for me:

1. Do not just do a ridiculous amount of MCQs without really understanding the concepts, why you got the question wrong, why the correct answer is right, and why the others are wrong. I made this mistake for AUD where I just did MCQs nonstop until I was blue in the face, and barely took the time to make notes or actually understand the material, and wound up with a 64. This is a lazy way of studying. You must read the textbook and/or make notes and read them until those concepts are drilled into your head to the point where you can look at a blurb of your notes, read the first word or two and can finish the sentences of your notes without looking. Again I adopted the Ninja method and never failed again, passing three consecutive exams. It really works. Also, make fact nuggets when doing the MCQs and add them to your notes when you get a question wrong due to not maybe having enough notes on that topic.

2. It's quality over quantity. It's better to do two really good hours of studying than four garbage hours where you are not focusing 100% on the material/get easily distracted. Using EAR PLUGS is a great thing, a partner at my old firm suggested this and it helped tremendously, blocking out all outside noise. You have to give yourself up to the material, it's the only way to do it right.

3. Awesome tip for MCQs, what I did which really helped big time, was I went through a chapter of MCQs in Becker and I took a piece of paper out and wrote down what section of questions I was in (ex: Chapter 5 “bonds” or Chapter 5 “leases) and I would make a list of questions by topic. So that way, if I felt I was weak in an area, I knew which question numbers to go back to. Like for FAR, any questions that had to do with EPS calculation, I wrote on my sheet EPS and wrote out those question numbers, or installment sale method calculation I would write Installment Sale Method and list those question numbers out. Then I would put all the theory questions (non calculation) under a theory column. Then, I would take another sheet of paper and write formulas out for each chapter, such as steps to calculate installment sales/cost recovery method, EPS, financial ratios, etc and keep memorizing them. The key really is to make that list of MCQs by topic because if you feel you are weak in something and need practice, you know what questions to go to.

4. Final review is HUGE and CRITICAL. Allow yourself AT LEAST TWO WEEKS, to do a final review. This helps tie up loose ends, and refreshes your memory on things that you may have forgotten or overlooked while trying to get through the chapters. I cannot stress this enough, this can make or break you and I agree that my final reviews are what put me over the hump. If I didn't take the time for a review, I know I would have failed.

5. Make sure you maintain some sort of life/interests while studying. I had the gym, some time with my wife and friends and sports while I was studying. Study hard, make it a number one priority, but allow yourself some free time or you will go nuts. I almost didn't make it out of studying over tax season for FAR, but I was desperate and wanted it bad.

6. You must cover all the material, from cover to cover unfortunately. Also, I felt it was a TREMENDOUS help to have the ninja notes at your side when you are first reading/taking notes and matching up the chapter text with the ninja notes. Sometimes the book can be a little too technical/confusing so if I read a blurb and didnt understand it, I had the notes next to me and they explained it a lot easier.

Also, I felt that Becker was awesome, especially when combining it with the ninja material (I used just the ninja notes, but I have heard that the audio and McQs are great). I think exam order comes down to preference, but I would definitely start with either FAR or REG first.

[Author]

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