[Stanley1]

I have about 5 years of public accounting experience as an auditor. My tax knowledge is virtually zero. What order would you suggest I sit for the exam?

I’m thinking:

Audit

FAR

REG

BEC

I should be able to pass audit, since that is what I do. Gives me some confidence. I think it makes sense to take FAR either before or after Audit, since you are dealing with financial statement stuff. Then REG, b/c if I fail it, I’ll have time to pass it again after taking BEC, which should be pretty easy. Thoughts?

[finne]

@Sam, from what I'm seeing, there's not a heck of a lot of overlap between exams. They're each independently beastly. However, I have heard that there is some overlap between AUD and BEC. I haven't studied for BEC yet, so I can't say.

REG - 85
AUD - 99
FAR - 89 - w/ NINJA Audio and Blitz
BEC - 91

Using Wiley - books and test bank - 6 months - all 4 first time

[finne]

@Sam, from what I'm seeing, there's not a heck of a lot of overlap between exams. They're each independently beastly. However, I have heard that there is some overlap between AUD and BEC. I haven't studied for BEC yet, so I can't say.

REG - 85
AUD - 99
FAR - 89 - w/ NINJA Audio and Blitz
BEC - 91

Using Wiley - books and test bank - 6 months - all 4 first time

[Sam]

@finne – how far apart did you take REG and AUD? I see you're taking FAR and BEC less than a month apart. I'm taking REG this Sat but also work full time.

[Sam]

@finne – how far apart did you take REG and AUD? I see you're taking FAR and BEC less than a month apart. I'm taking REG this Sat but also work full time.

[Anonymous]

I went for BEC first simply because I had just finished teaching a managerial accounting class but you may also want to sit for BEC first considering they are about to up the difficulty a lot I heard.

[Anonymous]

I went for BEC first simply because I had just finished teaching a managerial accounting class but you may also want to sit for BEC first considering they are about to up the difficulty a lot I heard.

[finne]

@Sam, I haven't started full time work yet, so I've been pretty much able to dedicate all of my time just to studying. I don't know if it may be different for you since you are working. For my schedule, I took about 6 weeks to study for REG, then jumped right into 4 weeks of study for AUD. I took a couple weeks to recover and then started my 6 week study schedule for FAR. Seems like everybody does it differently though.

REG - 85
AUD - 99
FAR - 89 - w/ NINJA Audio and Blitz
BEC - 91

Using Wiley - books and test bank - 6 months - all 4 first time

[finne]

@Sam, I haven't started full time work yet, so I've been pretty much able to dedicate all of my time just to studying. I don't know if it may be different for you since you are working. For my schedule, I took about 6 weeks to study for REG, then jumped right into 4 weeks of study for AUD. I took a couple weeks to recover and then started my 6 week study schedule for FAR. Seems like everybody does it differently though.

REG - 85
AUD - 99
FAR - 89 - w/ NINJA Audio and Blitz
BEC - 91

Using Wiley - books and test bank - 6 months - all 4 first time

[Anonymous]

im planning to take FAR, then REG, then not sure maybe AUD or BEC

[Anonymous]

im planning to take FAR, then REG, then not sure maybe AUD or BEC

[jkpoker1]

I think taking REG and FAR first is probably the best bet. I took BEC first to gain some confidence in passing my first part which I think I just passed after taking it my 2nd time. FAR and REG are probably the most difficult though and should be taken first. I posted on facebook about taking BEC first and a girl I know commented asking why I didn't take BEC/FAR first. She works for a big 4 firm and is extremely smart so I would say taking the hardest parts first is probably most optimal. If you can pass FAR/REG, BEC should be cake and I imagine AUD is simple compared to the 2 I just mentioned. Good luck. As long as you put the time in, you should honestly be fine no matter what order you take the exams.

Quest to be a CPA

BEC-74 (7/13),
REG- ?? (8/13)
AUD-TBA
FAR-TBA

[jkpoker1]

I think taking REG and FAR first is probably the best bet. I took BEC first to gain some confidence in passing my first part which I think I just passed after taking it my 2nd time. FAR and REG are probably the most difficult though and should be taken first. I posted on facebook about taking BEC first and a girl I know commented asking why I didn't take BEC/FAR first. She works for a big 4 firm and is extremely smart so I would say taking the hardest parts first is probably most optimal. If you can pass FAR/REG, BEC should be cake and I imagine AUD is simple compared to the 2 I just mentioned. Good luck. As long as you put the time in, you should honestly be fine no matter what order you take the exams.

Quest to be a CPA

BEC-74 (7/13),
REG- ?? (8/13)
AUD-TBA
FAR-TBA

[Guti]

The clock starts ticking after you pass the first part,if I were you, I would take the hardest part first. In your case, it might be REG.

REG

---

FAR

---

BEC

---

Audit

FAR-84
AUD-
REG-
BEC-

[Guti]

The clock starts ticking after you pass the first part,if I were you, I would take the hardest part first. In your case, it might be REG.

REG

---

FAR

---

BEC

---

Audit

FAR-84
AUD-
REG-
BEC-

[Anonymous]

I am taking FAR on Nov 21 and I am trying to decide whether to take REG or AUD next. I've heard that AUD overlaps with FAR, so it's easy to take it right after FAR. But I also wanted to knock the hardest exams out first. I've never been good at tax, so I think the next hardest exam after FAR will be REG.

[Author]

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