[gettingthere]

I had a family friend ask my advice on the order she should take her exams. I realized that I did it differently than what I would recommend? How about you?

I did: BEC, AUD, REG, FAR

Having REG and FAR back to back was my biggest regret. I felt like I forced myself to forget the financial rules that had been reinforced by AUD in order to retain the REG rules. I then had to turn around and redo what I had just undone.

I should have: FAR, AUD, BEC, REG.

I now suggest starting with FAR since it has the most material and study motivation tends to be highest at the beginning of the process. It’s a nice bonus to have a good understanding of FAR going into AUD. BEC is a nice breather (amount of material to cover-wise, not actually difficulty-wise). Plus, I think it is good to put as much space between FAR and REG as possible. BEC gives you the opportunity to stop focusing on and reinforcing the financial concepts that you will have to purge from your brain in order to remember the tax rules for REG.

AUD-April 2012-CPAExcel only-86
BEC-April 2012-CPAExcel w/ additional practice questions from Becker-91
REG-May 2012-Becker primarily w/ practice questions from CPAExcel-78
FAR-July 2012-CPAExcel primarily w/ Becker supplements-81

[Sandra]

I took FAR, REG and AUD, taking BEC Friday. Feel pretty good about that order. FAR shows up in every test to some extent so taking that first just makes sense. Roger CPA review had my taking them in this order, which is why I took REG next, but in terms of material/difficulty I think it makes sense. From hardest to easiest.

[Sandra]

I took FAR, REG and AUD, taking BEC Friday. Feel pretty good about that order. FAR shows up in every test to some extent so taking that first just makes sense. Roger CPA review had my taking them in this order, which is why I took REG next, but in terms of material/difficulty I think it makes sense. From hardest to easiest.

[Red315]

I agree. I am doing it the same way as you. I really wish I had done FAR first

Jeanne Aparicio

B - 75 (11/2011, First Attempt)
A - 88 (2/2012, First Attempt)
R - 89 (5/2012, First Attempt)
F - 79 (8/31/2012 First Attempt)

I AM DONE!!!!!! BECKER IS AWESOME!!!!

Licensed Florida CPA 09/2012

[mmcgrad1]

I think it depends on what topics you feel are your weakest.

I felt weakest on REG topics so I took that first.

I did REG, AUD, FAR, BEC.

I like the way I did it because I attacked my weakest subject first and then put my strongest subject second. That way I knew I could take AUD with a lot less studying time which I could put toward FAR. I saved BEC for last because it's supposedly the easiest subject.

NIU CPA Review Correspondence is awesome!

I passed all four sections on the first attempt

[Anonymous]

I don't even remember the order any more. I just wish I had passed them all!

[mla1169]

I did FAR, AUD, BEC, REG, REG, AUD, AUD. only thing I'd change was taking 2 exams in the same window while working full time and in school online. I ended up passing exactly one exam per window.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[Whatdidyou]

I think doing the most difficult ones 1st makes sense, so that you don't end up losing credit for passed sections.

BUT, your work/school schedule clearly should dictate your order.

I scheduled it so that I took BEC while i was still in school (smallest amount of material to study while balancing my coursework), took REG and will take FAR during the summer months (want to be able to devote full time studying to the most widely perceived “most difficult” ones).

I was gonna squeeze AUD in too, but ended up pushing it back to devote more time to the big boys.

REG - Passed!!
BEC - Passed
FAR - Passed
AUD - Passed

Study Materials: Becker basic course

[nextstopCPA]

FAR, REG, AUD, and BEC…I think AUD for BEC is best since BEC has a lot of COSO and AUD prepares you well for that.

FAR Passed
REG Passed
AUD Passed
BEC Passed

All aboard, this train's leaving. Next stop, TBD!

[jcw1503]

I have done thus far…FAR, AUD, FAR, REG, BEC, REG (Will be taking again)…FAR seems to be used in AUD a lot more than the others in my experience.

FAR - Attempt 1-(70)...Attempt 2 (Passed Baby)-Praise the Lord-Couldn't have done it without him.
AUD- Attempt 1-Passed!!!!!!!!! )-Praise the Lord-Couldn't have done it without him.
REG-Attempt 1-(73)...Attempt 2 (Passed Baby)-Praise the Lord-Couldn't have done it without him.
BEC-Attempt 1-(71)...Attempt 2 (Passed Baby)-Praise the Lord-Couldn't have done it without him.

****What is one Golden Rule for Passing the Exam? 1) Read the question properly. and 2) Leave yourself enough time to answer all of the....
****Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They makes mistakes, but they don't quit.
****Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.

[latexprimer]

I started with BEC followed by AUD. Now I am working on REG and FAR. I like the idea of building confidence by going from easier (perceived) to more difficult to build confidence.

I agree, it really depends on your situation, and time constraints.

BECky - DONE
AUDry - DONE
REGgie - November 2012
FARah- TBD

[silverblue]

I did REG, BEC, FAR, AUD, and I think it worked out quite well. I thought that placing BEC in between the two heavier sections in terms of reading material (at least to me) was a good idea. And I picked REG first since I felt I am least familiar with Tax materials. That way, I could at least get my weaker section out of the way. The FAR then AUD order was great since it was helpful with FAR materials still fresh in mind when I was studying AUD. And then after AUD, the ethics exam was a breeze.

CPA
REG 88 (5/5/12)
BEC 84 (5/26/12)
FAR 82 (7/7/12)
AUD 92 (7/14/12) - Done! 🙂

CMA
Part 1 - 5/30/2015 - 440
Part 2 - 10/31/2015 - 380 - Done! 🙂

[ud-cpa]

I did FAR, AUD, BEC, REG. I really liked this order. I got out of school in May, and don't start work until Novemeber. I did Becker self study and was able to devote May/June to studying for Far, did Audit in July and BEC in August. I now have Sept and some of Oct to study for Reg. I wanted to give myself extra time for the “harder” ones.

If you have the time, I would highly recommend this. So far putting in the time has really paid off.

FAR - July 2012 - Passed!
AUD - Aug 2012 - Passed!
BEC - Aug 2012 - Passed!
REG - Oct 2012 - Passed!

[TripleNetAcct]

I am not a top accounting performer from college because I went to college for the experience instead of the degree. Now that I have my accounting degree and am sitting for the exam, I have to re-teach myself the proper way to study. I also work in the financial accounting department for a commercial real estate company so I figured after 3 years of working in this role, I will have similar duties day to day that relate to FAR which will hopefully make it flow together a little better. Therefore, I started with the least amount of material and am building to the most.

BEC

AUD

REG

FAR

AUD 73 (Aug 12) 77
BEC 66 71 (Nov 12) 80
REG 54 81 (May 13) 81
FAR 63 (Dec 13) 75 TEXAS

[sarah210]

In Becker, my order is REG, BEC, FAR, AUD. I have a feeling that if I pass FAR, I am going to love this order in retrospect. As it is, I'm super burned out on studying, but am facing this beast. I am so glad that I'm taking AUD next/last(I hope!!). I am expecting it to be challenging for me, but for the amount of material to be smaller than what I'm facing right now, which will definitely be a relief.

REG- 53, 91
BEC- 88
FAR- 62, 85
AUD- 85

Ethics- 93

[nolifecpa]

i don't know which section was the most difficult cuz they're all equally difficult to me. if i can do it all over again i would def take FAR first only cuz it has the most material and when you're fighting against the 18 month clock you want to be covering only 5 chapters instead of 10

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

[Author]

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