[Anonymous]

Becker Question –

Does anyone else feel that studying for cost accounting, budgeting, & variances is worse than pulling teeth? I feel like I’m struggling a lot with this chapter and it’s killing my motivation. Any helpful or thoughtful words?

How hard is the actual BEC exam?? I hate this section the most!!!

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[Anonymous]

A good number of questions come from this chapter so you have to nail it down. I would recommend you draw out the variance graphs and pictures and memorize them. I think Becker's Ch. 5 HW questions were longer and more detailed than the actual questions on the exam.

[mulligan]

Try watching the Roger CPA review demo for BEC. It covers variance analysis and it seemed to help tie it all together. He definitely does the OH variances better.

FAR 10/18 - 81 | BEC 10/26 - 83 | AUD 11/29 - 80
REG 02/28 - 71, MULLIGAN 05/19 NTS 4503

[Sdb2fsu]

I agree; this is the area that caused me to fail last time; I feel so much better for tomorrow! Cindy from Yeager you are my hero!

BEC - 60, 71, 79
AUD - 73, 66, 87!!!!! Yes! I am done!
REG - 74, 76
FAR - 75

Yaeger Review for all except my last AUD score (Roger)!

[Anonymous]

I am going to start BEC right after FAR. I hear B5 is rough. Should I start there and then maybe it will feel like I get the worst behind me? From what I understand, the chapters don't really build on each other. I figured while I was in torture-mode from FAR I would dive into the meat first. Any suggestions?

(I am using 2009 Becker until Yaeger 2011 comes out).

[2010Please]

CPAWannaBe

If you are going to be getting Yaeger anyway, I would just start with Becker B1 instead of jumping to B5. I think Cindy will probably do a much better job in teaching cost since that seems to be a strong area for her. I used only Becker for BEC, AUD, and REG, but I'm using Becker AND Yaeger for FAR right now. Based on what I've seen so far from Cindy with Yaeger in FAR and what I know about Becker's B5 – I think you'll likely get a much better grasp on it by just waiting and watching her lecture. Why frustrate yourself unecessarily in the meantime. 🙂

Becker does a good job with B1, B2, B3, and B4 (at least in my experience), but B5…they really could have done better. Also, the guy for B4 in Becker is pretty boring, but reading the text should be helpful.

AUD 92, REG 85, BEC 90, FAR 85
Ethics 100
Obtained License 7/11/11 🙂

[whitesoxfancpa]

B5 was the worst out of the 26 total chapters that I completed in Becker. I'd take any FAR material over the variance stuff.

BUT…once you nail it down, it's a piece of cake. It's the initial learning of it all that is overwhelming and exhausting. You'll often spend several minutes on a question and still not get it.

I made a post about how to understand overhead variances (those are the worst ones). Let me go find it…

AUD 96 FAR 95 REG 94 BEC 88

[whitesoxfancpa]

Here it is. It won't make sense now, but trust me, if I didn't have this chart drawn and memorized, I wouldn't have gotten one single overhead variance question correct. By learning this chart, I probably got 95% correct. It was a BEC lifesaver, and that's an understatement. Regardless, I encourage you to save this and when you're done with the B5 lecture and struggling with overhead variances (trust me, you will be), draw the chart. Use it when working the questions. So here's the post from a couple weeks ago:

I give Roger CPA credit for this:

The best way I do the overhead variances is by drawing a picture. In fact, tomorrow when I am taking my exam, the first thing I'm going to do is draw a picture on my scratch paper.

I don't know how this will turn out when I post it, but I start with four columns across the top:

Actual……….Budget@actual activity……….Budget@standard activity……….Applied

I typically draw three big V's below the chart, linking each item to the one next to it.

The difference between the first two columns is SPENDING VARIANCE. This is variable and fixed.

The difference between the 2nd and 3rd columns is EFFICIENCY VARIANCE. This is variable only.

The difference between the last two columns is VOLUME VARIANCE. This is fixed only

The mnemonic I use is from Roger CPA…”SEVen!” There are four columns and three variances which = SEVen. S = Spending, E = Efficiency, V = Volume

I know it sounds awfully complicated, but it really is super easy. Just memorize the four columns across the top. Then memorize the “SEVen” mnemonic. Then memorize that the first one (the S) is variable and fixed, the second one (the E) is variable only, and the third one (the V) is fixed only.

If you have that down, the variance questions answer themselves.

I tried everything else and couldn't understand them, so I finally buckled down and just flat-out memorized that chart, the “SEVen” thing, and the fixed/variable thing listed above.

Try it. I think you'll be surprised at how effective it is.

Created with Compare Ninja

AUD 96 FAR 95 REG 94 BEC 88

[mulligan]

Unless you are starting BEC this year, I wouldn't start with BEC 1 since it is moving to REG.

FAR 10/18 - 81 | BEC 10/26 - 83 | AUD 11/29 - 80
REG 02/28 - 71, MULLIGAN 05/19 NTS 4503

[mulligan]

whitesoxfancpa, that is how I grasped the material, Roger CPA. He explained it better than Becker IMO

FAR 10/18 - 81 | BEC 10/26 - 83 | AUD 11/29 - 80
REG 02/28 - 71, MULLIGAN 05/19 NTS 4503

[2010Please]

Oh, well if B1 is moving to REG (forgot about that), then yeah, don't start with it. 🙂

But, all I have to say if you decide to look at B5 first is, have fun, my dear…and remember, I warned you! It is doable, but I bet Cindy does it better – just guessing here, of course. 🙂

AUD 92, REG 85, BEC 90, FAR 85
Ethics 100
Obtained License 7/11/11 🙂

[Anonymous]

I really appreciate everyone's comments and posts. I'll be studying the last part of ch 5 with variances tomorrow ( yay!).

I can memorize the formulas & kind of follow along, but the practice M.C for becker I feel are very tricky and require a lot of time just to think and calculate with backing in answers.

Are calculating the variances the most tested in chapter 5?

[Prayingfor75]

I don't know if this will help anybody, but when I sat for BEC I did chapter 5 first, then went back and did the others. That way, I had the entire 4-6 weeks that I studied for BEC to “chew” on the cost accounting stuff since it can be a tad overwhelming at the end. Good luck!

BEC - 8/16 - 89
REG - 10/1 - 94
FAR - 10/25 - 86 (Didn't finish the sims)
AUD - 11/22 - 88

[pshustler]

Dont get too bogged down with the variance if you dont get it. You're probably talking about 3 out of 90 questions. Try and get it, but dont freak out if you dont

BEC - 86
AUD - 94
REG - 88
FAR - 89

[Anonymous]

B5 is a nightmare for me. The mcq's are a beast. Becker doesn't do a very good job explaining it, and then the mcq's are ridiculous.

[millerg]

What variances are you all talking about? I haven't gotten to that part yet?

FAR 67, 73, 71, 76; AUD 61, 85; BEC 70, 77; REG 75

DONE

[Author]

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