[Anonymous]

I want to get an idea from all those who have passed any of the exams as to how many hours a week they put in and how many weeks did they study for each section.

I am studying for Audit right now and spending close to 8 hours a day, 7 days a week. And I am planning to sit for the exam after 6 weeks. I don’t think I can take the exam any sooner or without studying 8 hours a day. Of course there are days when its abt 5-6 hours but generally its 8.

[Anonymous]

I work full time with a wife and 2 young kids. Give myself about 10 weeks per exam. M-F I shoot for 45 min of reading Wiley textbook, 30 min NINJA notes, three times of 10 MCQs, and end day with some NINJA Blitz so 10 hours per week with anything on Saturday as a bonus. I almost never hit 10 hours. Even if I only hit 7 which is probably average, that's 70 hours an exam.

[san4596]

I study for 6-8 weeks, 15-20 hours a week. I studied for AUD in 7 weeks, and BEC in 6 weeks.

CPA EXAM: DONE!!!!
Ethics Course: Passed
Application Mailed: 3/16/15
Professional Conduct Exam: 97
Certification Date: 4/2/15!!!

[san4596]

I study for 6-8 weeks, 15-20 hours a week. I studied for AUD in 7 weeks, and BEC in 6 weeks.

CPA EXAM: DONE!!!!
Ethics Course: Passed
Application Mailed: 3/16/15
Professional Conduct Exam: 97
Certification Date: 4/2/15!!!

[QuesoDip]

@Quinacridone – My study schedule is practically the same as yours, except I have to attend class on 2x a week and I drink a beer or two after work. We got the same score on REG and I hope to match your score on FAR since it's my next exam!

I spent about 8 weeks on REG from Jan-Feb – So that's about 25 hrs a week x 8 = 200 hours? Hmmm…that seems like too many, I definitely had a lot of beer and goofing off which should account for 50 or so. Lets call it 150 for REG 🙂

REG - 88 - 8 Weeks (Becker, Ninja Audio/Flashcards, Wiley TB)
FAR - 87 - 10 Weeks (Becker, Ninja Audio)
AUD - 98 - 6 Weeks (Becker, Ninja Audio, Ninja MCQ)
BEC - 87 - 2 Weeks (Becker & Ninja Audio)

[QuesoDip]

@Quinacridone – My study schedule is practically the same as yours, except I have to attend class on 2x a week and I drink a beer or two after work. We got the same score on REG and I hope to match your score on FAR since it's my next exam!

I spent about 8 weeks on REG from Jan-Feb – So that's about 25 hrs a week x 8 = 200 hours? Hmmm…that seems like too many, I definitely had a lot of beer and goofing off which should account for 50 or so. Lets call it 150 for REG 🙂

REG - 88 - 8 Weeks (Becker, Ninja Audio/Flashcards, Wiley TB)
FAR - 87 - 10 Weeks (Becker, Ninja Audio)
AUD - 98 - 6 Weeks (Becker, Ninja Audio, Ninja MCQ)
BEC - 87 - 2 Weeks (Becker & Ninja Audio)

[Thirteenth]

Oct, Nov, i studied about 250 hours for FAR 12/4/13

And a long break time on December

Jan, Feb, i studied about 280 hours again for FAR 2/28/14

I am one of those people who need alllllll that hours and efforts to bearly make it..! Lol

AUD 7/3/12 82
REG 5/30/13 79
BEC 8/29/13 78
FAR 2/28/14 79

Becker 2013 + Ninja
Done.

[Thirteenth]

Oct, Nov, i studied about 250 hours for FAR 12/4/13

And a long break time on December

Jan, Feb, i studied about 280 hours again for FAR 2/28/14

I am one of those people who need alllllll that hours and efforts to bearly make it..! Lol

AUD 7/3/12 82
REG 5/30/13 79
BEC 8/29/13 78
FAR 2/28/14 79

Becker 2013 + Ninja
Done.

[NicoleL]

For FAR, I studied about 20 hours per week for 10 weeks…most of which was on the weekend. For REG, it's about the same so far. I'm using Becker.

FAR - 93 (YAY!!!!)
REG - 93 (Double YAY!)
BEC - 87 (Whew!)
AUD - 96 (DONE!!!!!)

[NicoleL]

For FAR, I studied about 20 hours per week for 10 weeks…most of which was on the weekend. For REG, it's about the same so far. I'm using Becker.

FAR - 93 (YAY!!!!)
REG - 93 (Double YAY!)
BEC - 87 (Whew!)
AUD - 96 (DONE!!!!!)

[samdiegoCPA]

I study 5 or so hours M-F during the day @ work, then 1-3 hours at night. Weekends, mostly all day. If I'm not studying, I feel REALLY guilty that I am not studying. I try to do flashcards in traffic (not dangerously, just believe me!) and listen to audio at other times.

AUD: 84
REG: 84
BEC: 79
FAR: 83

[samdiegoCPA]

I study 5 or so hours M-F during the day @ work, then 1-3 hours at night. Weekends, mostly all day. If I'm not studying, I feel REALLY guilty that I am not studying. I try to do flashcards in traffic (not dangerously, just believe me!) and listen to audio at other times.

AUD: 84
REG: 84
BEC: 79
FAR: 83

[Kimboroni]

I have only taken AUD. I don't really know how many hours I studied, but I had 7 weeks from the time I decided to test and sent in my application up to the actual test day. I was taking advanced audit at the time, though, and had a good professor who taught toward the practical side of actually doing an audit, which helped immensely for the test. I work full time, not in accounting (but at an accounting firm).

I didn't start actually studying for AUD at all until my class was over. Then I had about 5 weeks left. Then I did light studying of my textbook. I realized that I really needed to be able to practice some MCQs to even know if I'm getting the material at all, so I bought WTB. Then I noticed some gaps in what my textbook covered, so I bought the Wiley 2 volume set from Amazon. I received the books exactly 2 weeks before my test. That's when I really started studying.

weeks 1/2 – course textbook, studied for course final exam

weeks 3/4/5 – course textbook, random YouTube videos, maybe 8 hours per week

week 6/7 – Wiley books, WTB, probably 20-25 hours per week

So that's about 70 hours, give or take? I did 624 MCQs and all of the SIMS in WTB. My books had questions, and I did a good number of those as well, but there was a lot of question overlap with WTB.

I don't recommend this approach. I had a nagging feeling all along that I was wasting away valuable study time. I had definite moments of panic where I wondered if I should reschedule. But I studied really hard those last 2 weeks when I had all of my materials, and somehow it worked.

I know I'm not going to be able to get away with being this lax for my other tests. Especially FAR.

AUD 84 (1/9/14-Wiley books/TB + free materials)
FAR 83 (5/21/14-the above + NINJA 10 Pt Combo Lite)
REG 84 (7/9/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC/Notes)
BEC 76 (10/5/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC)

Disclaimer: My ninja avatar is not meant to imply that I have any affiliation with this site other than being a forum member. That's a pic of a T-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday. 🙂

[Kimboroni]

I have only taken AUD. I don't really know how many hours I studied, but I had 7 weeks from the time I decided to test and sent in my application up to the actual test day. I was taking advanced audit at the time, though, and had a good professor who taught toward the practical side of actually doing an audit, which helped immensely for the test. I work full time, not in accounting (but at an accounting firm).

I didn't start actually studying for AUD at all until my class was over. Then I had about 5 weeks left. Then I did light studying of my textbook. I realized that I really needed to be able to practice some MCQs to even know if I'm getting the material at all, so I bought WTB. Then I noticed some gaps in what my textbook covered, so I bought the Wiley 2 volume set from Amazon. I received the books exactly 2 weeks before my test. That's when I really started studying.

weeks 1/2 – course textbook, studied for course final exam

weeks 3/4/5 – course textbook, random YouTube videos, maybe 8 hours per week

week 6/7 – Wiley books, WTB, probably 20-25 hours per week

So that's about 70 hours, give or take? I did 624 MCQs and all of the SIMS in WTB. My books had questions, and I did a good number of those as well, but there was a lot of question overlap with WTB.

I don't recommend this approach. I had a nagging feeling all along that I was wasting away valuable study time. I had definite moments of panic where I wondered if I should reschedule. But I studied really hard those last 2 weeks when I had all of my materials, and somehow it worked.

I know I'm not going to be able to get away with being this lax for my other tests. Especially FAR.

AUD 84 (1/9/14-Wiley books/TB + free materials)
FAR 83 (5/21/14-the above + NINJA 10 Pt Combo Lite)
REG 84 (7/9/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC/Notes)
BEC 76 (10/5/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC)

Disclaimer: My ninja avatar is not meant to imply that I have any affiliation with this site other than being a forum member. That's a pic of a T-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday. 🙂

[Study Monk]

I'll give you an hourly estimate:

FAR= 250 hours

AUD= 160 hours

Was in retail for last 5 years and I got my degree over 7 years ago, so I assume most accounting professionals and recently graduated students can get by with less.

I spoke to an ancient wise man who sent me on a mushroom induced journey through an ancient forest to find the key to passing the CPA exam. A talking spider monkey told me to throw the last of my drinking water in the dirt to find what I was looking for. So I followed his instructions and the following message appeared in the soil:

"Do 5000 multiple choice questions for each section"

[Study Monk]

I'll give you an hourly estimate:

FAR= 250 hours

AUD= 160 hours

Was in retail for last 5 years and I got my degree over 7 years ago, so I assume most accounting professionals and recently graduated students can get by with less.

I spoke to an ancient wise man who sent me on a mushroom induced journey through an ancient forest to find the key to passing the CPA exam. A talking spider monkey told me to throw the last of my drinking water in the dirt to find what I was looking for. So I followed his instructions and the following message appeared in the soil:

"Do 5000 multiple choice questions for each section"

[Author]

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