[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

[hilaryh_88]

No matter what, I would take FAR first, before your 18 month clock starts ticking.

I found out after I took my exams that many suggest FAR first and I put it last. I made it in just under under the wire, but barely.

AUD - 82 Becker
BEC - 75 Becker
REG - 71, 82 Becker
FAR - 66,61,71,74,70 and #6 80!!!! FINALLY DONE!!! 9/20/12
Yaeger and Yaeger CRAM for the final battle!

[Marivy22]

I took AUD, FAR, FAR, BEC, REG and REG. I would have switched AUD and REG 😉

Done 😉
Class of 2012!!!!
Lots of prayers and hard work....

[Lidis]

Hi Hilary, welcome back. What are doing now?

I remember your last struggle with FAR. You were about to lose some of your credits.

[fifthbeatle]

I did BEC first due to time constraints/new job, then AUD, and I'm taking FAR tomorrow. I suppose I would reverse FAR and AUD, just because I think FAR would have helped with the AUD knowledge.

If I pass FAR tomorrow, it's AUD then REG. If I fail FAR tomorrow, it's feel sorry for myself (extremely important), AUD, FAR (probably), and REG.

B 85 1/17/12
A 85 11/12/12 (74 on 1st attempt)
R -- 2/25/13
F 79 8/29/12

[Anonymous]

Before I was serious about the exam, I didn't really consider what order I was taking them in, I just made “stabs” at passing.

I was told prior to the exam changing that you should absolutely pass BEC first and save AUD for last (since I'm a former auditor).

Now that I've gone through all the exams as a serious student, I will say REG is my beast, therefore I would take the exams i nthis order:

REG

FAR

BEC

AUD

[thistooshallpass]

I did AUD, FAR, BEC, REG.

If I could do it again…probably REG, FAR, BEC, AUD. (though I think someone made a good point about having to swap from tax to financial, so not sure that reg & far would be very good back to back)

I thought AUD would be my hardest so I took it first. Compared to the others I actually think it was the easiest. FAR sucked the worst, so I think it's good in the middle. And having the easiest last would've been nice because I'm so SICK of studying.

But of course it depends on each persons strengths/weaknesses…such is life.

AUD 85 (2/12) Using Becker
FAR 81 (5/12)
BEC 79 (7/13)
REG 85 (10/1)

"It's not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves."

[Anonymous]

I did BEC first and I wish I hadn't. Should have started with a harder one. When studying BEC, I thought it was pretty hard, but then I got my FAR book and realized I probably messed up starting with BEC. Anyway, what is done is done, and all I can do now is keep on trucking…. Just hope to get all these passed.

[stephk919]

I'm starting to wonder now what I should do next. I passed Audit in July and though BEC has a lot of points that are similar to AUD , dont think I should leave REG and FAR for last. I would defnintely say that REG is my weakest point but I dont want to have to switch from Financial to Tax….AAHHHHH

Any advise?

AUD - 83!! July 2012 (Expired), July 8 2014... waiting and waiting...
REG - October/November 2014
FAR - Late August 2014
BEC - 82 !!! Nov. 2013

Using Becker Self Study and Wiley Test Bank

[Lizzerz79]

I took AUD, FAR, BEC, then REG. I took advanced audit my last semester of school so I figured take AUD first while that is still fresh. I definitely think that worked out. Got my highest score on AUD. Picked FAR next because I heard that you should take that one first since it's so huge. Then BEC was third by default because I always planned on REG last. I started a tax job in January so I was hoping work experience would help me with REG. Still waiting for that score.

AUD 4/1/12 98
FAR 5/30/12 96
BEC 7/1/12 92
REG 8/18/12 94

[Author]

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