REG – Becker Tax Chapters

  • Creator
    Topic
  • #201259
    CPA2BEE
    Participant

    To all seasoned REG exam takers,

    I’m studying for REG, and going through the tax chapters (especially Corporate Tax) I am seeing some realllllyyyy complicated sh*t that Becker is throwing at us. I work in tax and, for the most part, Becker’s questions are pretty outrageous compared to what you see day-to-day as a tax professional.

    To those who have sat for REG, I am curious if the caliber of the tax questions you saw on the exam are comparable to these monsters you see in Becker? Not trying to discuss content here, just gauging difficulty. I noticed with FAR and BEC that Becker was quite a bit tougher and lengthier compared to the actual exams. I would imagine this is also the case for REG, but I love getting feedback from people who have experience with these exams. Thanks all!

    FAR - 80
    AUD - 82
    BEC - 80
    REG - 85

    ETHICS - 90
    EXPERIENCE - COMPLETE
    Application for California license mailed 8/4/2016

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
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  • #771667
    jessica8926
    Participant

    From what I can remember I want to say Becker prepares you really well for the SIMS on Reg. It was my highest scoring test and I felt really well prepared going into it. Unfortunately the SIMS do focus on those more complicated corporate tax items from my experience. Otherwise I remember the MCQs being basic and nothing crazy definitely did touch on business law and ethics and some short computational questions for individual taxation.

    Good luck!

    AUD - 69, 77
    REG - 74, 81
    FAR - 75!
    BEC - 71, 82

    IL candidate!

    Finally done (5/24/16)!! Yahooooooo!

    #771668
    Martin
    Participant

    I was told by a few individuals who took the exam that Becker's questions were easier than the real deal. The only test bank where questions for Reg are a lot harder than the real exam is Gleim. Someone averaged in the low 70s on Gleim and then got a 99 on Reg.

    Through God all things can happen!

    “You never fail until you stop trying.”
    ― Albert Einstein
    When I was young, I used to admire intelligent people;as I grow older, I admire kind people.
    “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.”

    FAR= 72-84
    Audit= 73-82
    BEC= 74-75
    Reg=77

    #771669
    Nessie
    Participant

    I agree with Martin and Jessica. Becker prepares you quite well. About 10% of my exam was questions I had never seen before in Becker or MBA classes. However, Becker taught me to guess correctly. I checked my answers when I got home and got 3 super tough ones correct which I think pushed up my MCQ score.

    I had one SIM that I refused to study in Becker, just because I thought I would never need to know that info for my tax career, and it has no interest to me. Guess what showed up on my exam SIM??? Yup, that topic.

    My analysis of Becker is that with Becker, they try to trip you up with the question, whereas with the real exam, the questions are structured straightforwardly. The answers with Becker are fairly obvious. There are always one or two choices that are completely off the wall. However, with the real exam, the people who write the exam take the time to deal 4 answers that could be correct, example: you made one little mistake, or two little mistakes, you are 100% correct, etc.

    Overall, I’d say Becker is a bit tougher, but consider what I mentioned about the answer choices. If you are going to skip anything, you really better know what you know to an exact figure.

    REG Aug 20/15: 88
    AUD: Feb 29/16: 80
    FAR: Jun 10/16: 80
    BEC?

    Becker self-study, Becker Final Review & NINJA MCQS

    #771670
    CPA2BEE
    Participant

    Thanks for the feedback guys. I have heard about these crazy REG SIMS so it probably is a good idea to work through the complicated practice problems. With BEC I literally just stopped doing the long and crazy calculation questions and stuck with practicing straightforward ones, it paid off. But it doesn't seem like its a good idea to cut that corner with REG.

    FAR - 80
    AUD - 82
    BEC - 80
    REG - 85

    ETHICS - 90
    EXPERIENCE - COMPLETE
    Application for California license mailed 8/4/2016

    #771671
    jessica8926
    Participant

    @CPA2BEE: this is a little off topic from your REG question but I saw you commented on BEC and wanted to inquire more. I am taking BEC for hopefully the last time on the 21st. I know for a fact that Becker's long computations are not tested on BEC as I did not see any at all on my first attempt. However, I am still super nervous to skip over those questions during my review. I have Wiley test bank to assist this time around so i thought I would try that, but am a die hard Becker fan haha. I really do not know what went wrong on my first try. I received my performance report from Illinois showing my weaker areas, but can barely remember what was on the exam for those sections so still struggling with what to focus on. Is it worth reviewing the Appendix with all the formulas over and over again??

    AUD - 69, 77
    REG - 74, 81
    FAR - 75!
    BEC - 71, 82

    IL candidate!

    Finally done (5/24/16)!! Yahooooooo!

    #771672
    CPA2BEE
    Participant

    @jessica

    I guess it depends on how well you feel you know the formulas. I spent little-to-no time in the Appendix, but felt like I had a decent grasp on many of the formulas – and most of the ones on my exam were literally one or two steps. But I can only speak from my own experience. If you're feeling lost on a lot of them, then it is probably a good idea to study the Appendix. Funny though, when I failed AUD (also a 71) I had no idea where I went wrong, thought I passed for sure. You are super close, so my bet would be you probably know the formulas well enough but might need to focus more on IT and COSO? That is where a lot of people get dinged on BEC.

    Also have you ever tried NINJA MCQs? I haven't failed an exam with it yet. It is only like $50 I think and its awesome how it just maps out your strengths and weaknesses on the same scale that the actual exam is graded. It kind of encourages you to study more and more because you want to get all those averages in the passing range. I highly recommend it. But either way, you're really close and looks like you have bounced back before. Just keep studying everything and I'm sure you'll knock it out this time.

    FAR - 80
    AUD - 82
    BEC - 80
    REG - 85

    ETHICS - 90
    EXPERIENCE - COMPLETE
    Application for California license mailed 8/4/2016

    #771673
    jessica8926
    Participant

    Thanks CPA2BEE! Good luck!

    AUD - 69, 77
    REG - 74, 81
    FAR - 75!
    BEC - 71, 82

    IL candidate!

    Finally done (5/24/16)!! Yahooooooo!

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
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