[lastREG]

Hello Everyone,

Just wanted to share my experience with all the people out there who are struggling to pass REG section.

I passed all my exams in first attempt except REG.Below is what I did and how I passed:

First Attempt: Studied using Becker and did not focus on R8 and missed minor details from R1-R4 and end up getting 74

Second Attempt: Becker+ Ninja MCQ’s: Did not really used Ninja MCQ much because I thought I need to focus on R8 more and I am good to go (big mistake)- end up getting 73

Third Attempt: I treated this attempt like I am studying for a new exam. Ordered a new updated book from Becker and started from scratch. Read each line of the text in detail; Made details notes by each topics (multiple for each chapter- e.g: S Corp, C Corp, Partnership Taxation etc.); Focused on minor details; Ordered Becker Final Review and studied that during my final review stage.

Ordered Ninja Notes and Ninja MCQ’s. I have to say that these are THE MUST. I noticed that after reading the Becker Book more than five times, I still missed some minor details which were covered by NINJA NOTES. I end up getting a 91.

All I want to say is if I can pass anyone can. Please do not get discouraged and focus on one topic at a time when you are studying and it is possible to pass after multiple failures.

I am happy to help/give tips regarding this if anyone is interested.

Good Luck to you all; God is great 🙂

FAR: 85 (Becker)
AUD: 88 (Becker)
BEC: 82 (Becker + Ninja 10 Point Combo)
REG: 74, 73, 91 DONE!!! (Becker + Ninja Notes and Ninja MCQ's)

[Gabe]

Awesome. Congrats @LastREG!! Thanks

CPA, CFE
CISA- Experience will be completed by August 2016

[Troblin]

Thanks for the study tips! I just squeeked by Audit and will be taking Reg in Q2.

Congrats on passing! Hopefully I can join you in a couple months.

FAR: 85(11/22/2014) - Becker(full)/Ninja MCQ (5 day cram)
AUD: 79 (2/1/2015) -Becker/Ninja MCQ/Ninja Notes
REG: 84(4/19/2015) -Becker/Ninja MCQ/Ninja Notes
BEC: 83 (7/13/2015) -Becker/Ninja MCQ/Ninja Notes

Date I Got My Life Back!: 8/4/2015 🙂

[Gabe]

See ya in Q2 Troblin!

CPA, CFE
CISA- Experience will be completed by August 2016

[Last Chance CPA]

@lastREG – What does Becker Final Review include? Is it supposed to be used near the end of the review? Is it a good price? I have Ninja Notes/Audio, and I will purchase Ninja MCQs again. I also have WTB and CPA Excel.

FAR - 76
AUD - 75
BEC - 75
REG - 76

Now I need some experience!!! And some networking...

[Anonymous]

Congrats @lastREG. 91 is an amazing score!. But, what I am confused about all the different advises you get. For my third attempt, I don't know if I should read the book (Becker, Wiley etc.), listen to lectures, only do mcq's, supplement with additional material? Currently I have becker, ninja mcq's and wiley book.

[Anonymous]

Thank you there!

[Anonymous]

I agree with lastREG. Fortunately, I was able to pass my first time. I completely overstudied because it was my first exam and didn't know what to expect, but it paid off. I think minor details can make or break you on the MC. Obviously you want to be able to understand the major concepts (basis, book to tax income, etc) but you will undoubtedly get questions that are buried in the material. Make a list of all the little things (adjustments for AGI versus adjustments from AGI, tax years for partnerships, corporations, estates, trusts, carryover periods, etc). Im not saying all this info was on my exam but this is what I did to prepare and it definitely helped. I also cannot emphasize enough the importance of knowing ethics inside and out. They are free points if you know the material and luckily there is not that much. I used Becker only and only went through the MC questions once. I personally think its a waste of time to do multiple choice questions over and over, especially when you are seeing the same concept with different numbers, but that depends on the preferences of different people. If your going to redo all of them, I would only do the tax MC. For biz law, I just read through my Becker book multiple times and took notes. Also, the last day before I took my exam I skimmed the whole book once so everything was at least relatively fresh.

[Anonymous]

How much is the Business Law material actually tested on the REG exam? I have been spending all of my time focusing on the tax stuff and have done very little in looking over the business law stuff. Are the business law questions very specific or kind of high-level common sense stuff?

[Tux]

To those who passed 3 sections on 1st try, then failed REG – what did you do different with REG?

I passed 3 sections on 1st try and I'm going for REG this week.

I believe I'm approaching it the same way as the others, and don't want to get over-confident, for sure, but I have reviewed the material several, several times. I really don't know what more I can do to prepare.

Yet, I see that several people do well on 3 exams, then don't pass the 4th – even twice.

I admit that I have not focused on 3 topics in R8 – money laundering, antitrust, and Dodd Frank.

But, I'm reviewing the other topics thoroughly (I believe) by doing misc. question in Wiley and Becker.

Oh! What about your practice exams – did you do well on those, but still didn't pass the real exam?

I scored 84 on Becker practice exam last weekend. I'll take 2nd one today.

What I feel most nervous about is keeping all the info fresh in my head at one time, and remembering ALL the rules for SOOO many different topics.

Also, when being timed in the exam, it's harder to think through the details and notice the little clues.

FAR - 86 - 2/27/14
AUD - 75 - 5/29/14
BEC - 80 - 8/31/14
REG - 89 - 2/27/15
Praise Jesus! I'm done!!

Study resources:
Becker
Wiley test bank

[lastREG]

@Last Chance CPA- I found the final review to be useful; it has comes with a smaller book with summaries of all chapters with main points and some good MCQ's and Sims for each chapter. It definitely helped me (Its $165 I believe). I highly recommend reviewing NINJA Notes in great detail.

@Cracked- everyone is different so you get different advises. However, I would suggest that you treat it as a “NEW” test. I did that because I did not want to fail the 3rd time. Start fresh and from scratch- It'll help you. Good Luck!

@DebitKredit- Study business law inside and out. The questions I got for BLaw involved minor details about concepts. This could make a difference in 74 and 75.

FAR: 85 (Becker)
AUD: 88 (Becker)
BEC: 82 (Becker + Ninja 10 Point Combo)
REG: 74, 73, 91 DONE!!! (Becker + Ninja Notes and Ninja MCQ's)

[PasstheCPA7]

@lastREG – any tips on how to tackle the Research SIM? I always get the subsection correct, but, it is the “letter” after the subsection I keep getting it incorrect. Tips on that?

Also – I noticed in REG, they have two sections: IRC and TS. When would we use TS? For most of the practice sims I did in Becker, I've just used IRC only. Can you explain that?

[MrCPA511]

@Tux – While pounding MCQs may be worthwhile to many (including myself), 1 strategy that I've used on all exams so far was the use of cling on sheets. If you don't know what they are, they are sheets that stick to your walls without tape. On these, I fill them up with all the “trouble areas” that I've been having or just annoying topics with a lot of memorization (Section 11, 12,17,18, etc). It's almost like a white board, but they are large enough to fill up a lot of material but not take up a lot of space. This way, I am constantly glancing over these sheets on my wall especially on days where I don't feel up for doing MCQs. I've used 2 sheets for FAR and REG, and just 1 for AUD so far. It's also useful as there are certain subjects that don't have any MCQs.

FAR - 86 7/2014
AUD - 95 10/2014
REG - 87 1/22/15
BEC - 84 7/2015

[Anonymous]

@lastREG – Thanks for your tips. I agree with you on the business law/ethics portion. I got my score report last night and I compared that to the one I received on my first fail. In both it showed weaker on business law. Had I been comparable or stronger at least in the business law section, I would have passed the second time, coz everything else was stronger or comparable. I think I spent too much on the tax portion and didn't focus on business law, which in my opinion is heavily tested in the 60% of the mcq's. Anyways, live and learn. Thanks for your tips!

[Last Chance CPA]

@Cracked – I am the opposite. I have been doing fine on Blaw and Ethics, but consistently Weaker on Taxation. Gotta step it up on taxation! Of course, my wife decided to do our taxes this week while I was in San Fran. She is like “our medical expenses for having a baby weren't covered one bit!!!”…of course she doesn't know about the 10% AGI threshold…

FAR - 76
AUD - 75
BEC - 75
REG - 76

Now I need some experience!!! And some networking...

[Anonymous]

thanks for the tips

[Author]

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