[maria]

Hey guys! I need some advise, what is the best order to take the CPA exam in? As of now, this is my plan

1. FAR

study May – JUNE

exam 1st week of july

2. BEC

study July – August

exam 1st week of October

3. AUD

study October – November

exam last week November

4. REG

study December – January

exam February

[skiw97]

thats a good plan, thats exactly how i did it.

now it would be nice to have REG out of the way, but its not nearly as bad as I thought it would be, and AUD was a nice break from the math intensive FAR & BEC.

Put the time into FAR, and be patient. Develop your own plan, dont worry about keeping up with Beckers, that was my fault. Plan a day for each lecture and a day or two for questions/notes. Things will get easier as you begin your final review. Feel free to email me if you would like to know the plan I used for AUD & REG, I have an excel document I can share.

FAR 11/13 - 78, BEC 1/13 - 82, AUD 2/23 - 94, REG 5/15 - 86

[Halfwaythere]

Depending on how long you've been out of school it may pay to push BEC up to the last week of August rather than waiting over a month that is closed for testing. BEC isn't easy, but since it's multiple choice only (until January) if you are familiar with with finance and cost accounting, IT will probably be the section to pose the biggest challenge. See if your study materials come with a timeline. I used Becker and they recommended doing one of the five BEC lectures in week 1 and then two for the next two weeks for a total of three weeks going through the material the first time and allowing two more weeks for review before the exam. Also, if you take an exam the last week of the window you will have a shorter wait for your score, which may not sound important now, but it's pretty important when you start waiting! This would free up your September and depending on your other commitments you may be able to knock out both REG and AUD before January 2011 and the changes set in. It's not an easy process at all, but I managed to take all four in 6 months while working full time. (Looking back I don't know how) The one thing I will say however, is if you keep the momentum going and just resign yourself to not much of a life you can get through and put this thing behind you once and for all.

REG-95 BEC-93 FAR-90 AUD-99

[Anonymous]

Hi Maria,

I would consider moving BEC to the end of August. You should have enough time to cover the material and then you would be able to move the last two exams up a little if you feel comfortable with it. Good luck!

[FL_CPA2010]

Maria: I think it's wise to take whichever section you think you are not going to pass first. Then you have less of a chance of scores expiring, since the timeline doesn't start until you pass a part. Also, I would consider how long you have been out of school and how good you are with finance and cost accounting. Those sections on BEC are absolutley EVIL!!! But if you are good with it, you should do well with it. And take into account that BEC will have written sims in January, and FAR will also change quite a bit with the addition of IFRS. REG will change the least in January, so I would do that one last.

REG 79 (Becker); BEC 63 (Becker) 70 (Yaeger); AUD 66 (Becker; 11/30 - Becker); FAR 11/24 (Yaeger/Wiley)

[Anonymous]

After you get through FAR I think you'll be surprised that the other sections probably won't need 2 full months.

[NY GT girl]

I personally studied 6 weeks for FAR, 3 weeks for AUD, and 4 weeks for REG. If you are diligent, you won't need 2 months for each section(other then FAR). In my opinion, the longer you study, the easier it is to forget what you study at the beginning, which seems to waste time.

Good luck!

NY Candidate using Becker: FAR (2/20) - 81, AUD (4/3) - 92, REG (5/3) - 95, BEC (5/29) - 89 DONE!!!

[Author]

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