[gabe1475]

I see lots of questions on how much time you should put in before you are ready for a part of an exam (including myself). I thought it would be a good idea to create a thread on past performance/study time/ materials used to give users an indication of what they can expect as far as time commitment to pass. I will add to this thread myself if I ever get my FAR score.

FAR - 95
AUD - 82
REG - 94
BEC - 84

[michelle119]

Just got back my far results an 88 and I studied probably 160-200 hrs for this one… probably overkilled it but it was my first exam so I felt it necessary to overkill…

FAR 7/2 - 88
BEC 7/30 - 87
AUD 8/27 - 80
REG 11/12 - 96

[Anonymous]

I probably studied 40-60 hours for each section, maybe a little more for Audit and FAR. I had some serious weekend reviewing (and cramming) before each exam. And I passed each on my first try. However I am usually a very good test taker and never had to study a ton throughout school in order to get the grade I wanted.

If you feel you need the 100-200 hours per section, more power to you. You probably will retain the material better in the long run than I did. I just want people who are starting their CPA journey to realize there is such a thing as over studying. Figure out what is working for you and make your own study plan. You don't have to study the same way as everybody else. Prioritize…when time (or mental sanity) is scarce doing MC questions are probably going to be more beneficial than note cards, scanning the book is probably more useful than watching the whole lecture again, etc. And make sure you can be as close to 100% focused as possible when you study. And relax on test day! Good luck everybody!

[viper71506]

Audit – 90 hrs

Reg – 90 hrs

FAR – 180 hrs

BEC – 120 hrs

Reg - 89, FAR - 79, BEC -74, 82, Aud -85

[fufusufan]

I have found it difficult to base my study time on the history of others. I work full time and have a fear of “over-studying” so I tend to keep my study hours low. That being said, I tend to do well on standardized tests so my hours might be lower than most.

AUD – 50 hours (99)

FAR – 40 hours (90)

Starting BEC soon and aiming for 40 or 50 hours.

Good luck!

Susan

AUD 4/2010 - 99
FAR 7/2020 - 90

[potatogun]

Great scores for such low hours Susan. What is your work experience like? You seem to get some very productive studying done.

FAR 92 - AUD 91 - REG 94 - BEC 86

[fufusufan]

I was a Financial Analyst at a corporation during those 2 tests (working hours ranging from 40-55 hours per week). Started in Internal Audit at the same company recently (one month in this role so far, and they want me to have my CPA by April so now I have extra motivation!). As long as I watch the Becker videos, I am good to go. I didn't get to the last Becker video for FAR, but maybe I made some good guesses on that topic (my NTS was expiring that week so I didn't have a chance to complete the videos or do any MC questions). I am pretty good at test-taking (ACT, GMAT, etc.), so as long as I am exposed to the material once I am set.

It sounds like it takes most people more hours, but reading through these boards I can see huge variations from person to person. I think people will get a sense for how much time they need based on the first test they take, how many hours they prepped for it, and the score they received.

I'm hoping to finish in Jan or Feb and can't wait to be done! 🙂

Susan

AUD 4/2010 - 99
FAR 7/2020 - 90

[Hayes]

FAR – 160 hrs

BEC – 80 hrs

AUD – 110 hrs

REG – 120 hrs

FAR - 5/08/10 - 96
BEC - 5/29/10 - 88
AUD - 7/03/10 - 96
REG - 8/06/10 - 99

[Anonymous]

BEC – 1st attempt: 74 Study time: none

– 2nd attempt: 76 Study time: 3 hours

FAR – Score: 87 Study time: 21 hours

AUD – Score: 83 Study time: 16 hours

REG – Score 93 Study time: 23 hours

[Author]

Replies