[jeff]

We have a lot of “I took __ today threads” so to consolidate, here is the official thread.

Please – Not even a hint of exam disclosure per AICPA rules.

AUD

BEC

FAR

[Anonymous]

Yeah that sounds like a pretest question.

@Pnbrock11 did you think the Becker MCQs were about the same difficulty level as the actual exam. Also what about the AICPA released questions comparisons?

Sounds like you didn't find any benefit to the Becker Sims?

[Pnbrock11]

@tiderfl I found the Becker MCQs to be near identical. I felt good about the Becker MCQ. Becker SIMs had almost no relation to the CPA Exam.

Also, what evidence do you have that it is a pre-test question? I mean how does anyone know what a pre-test question is- other than conjecture (has AICPA ever said anything)? Actually, I kind of hope it wasn't a pre-test question. After I figured out what it was, it easy. I'm a millennial, and it was basically like my daily search and find using Google. I was just confused because I never saw or heard a question like that on the CPA exam.

[Anonymous]

@Pnbrock11 the reason I say that about it being a pretest is b/c that type of question has never been an advertised format or like anything anyone has gotten before but hopefully I'm wrong since you think you got it right.

Did the AICPA practice test reflect Sims on the actual exam?

[Anonymous]

Just because a question is hard or obscure DOES NOT mean it is a pretest. My understanding is that the reason there are pretest questions is that these questions will be implemented in future testing windows and need to be calibrated for scoring. I suppose it's possible that the AICPA uses certain pretest questions that are currently not on the blueprint and that they will add another testing area that corresponds to said pretest questions in the future. They also theoretically could edit these questions before being implemented based on pretest responses. For what it's worth, do not try to analyze whether a question is pretest or not and make sure to answer the question to the best of your ability.

[Cocoadough]

I just came across this question in Becker Mock 3 relating to tax penalties.

This is on testlet 5– question 2–row 4.

Could someone please help me clarify why this is NOT a substantial understatement of tax penalty? The rule is if the understatement is 1) greater than $5000 for individuals or 2) greater than 10% of the correct tax liability than it IS a substantial understatement.

In this question her understatement was $5,500 but the solution is saying it is only a negligence penalty and not a substantial understatement. Last time I check $5500 is > than $5000. What am I missing here?

[Pluck]

Cocoadough – That sim in mock exam 3 caught me off guard. I tried using the AL, and it seemed like the section the question was referencing wasn't available (6662).

However, to answer your question, it is only a substantial understatement if the understatement exceeds the GREATER of $5,000 or 10% of the correct tax liability. In the question you are referring to, the actual tax liability was $60,000. So, 10% of $60,000 is $6,000, and the $5,500 understatement is less than that. Even though it's greater than $5,000, it does not exceed the greater of $5,000 or 10% of $60,000.

I hope that helps.

[Sween1012]

(edited)

[Sween1012]

(edited)

[Anonymous]

I planned to spend 1.5 hours with my first testlets (MCQs), but it never happened. I spent about 2 hours. It’s just impossible to fly through MCQs. They’re not that hard but demanding more time to get them right. Except for 1 SIM that I could not figure the call of the question, SIMS are doable in 3-4 so I was so pressed of time with my last 3 testlets with only 2 hours left. Five of my SIMs have about 6-7 attachments to look at. I was teary eyed when I left the building. Damn, that was hard!

[Anonymous]

@amor
you'll be fine 🙂

[jeff]

Please watch exam disclosure – remember – you can't disclose the “nature” of what you saw on the exam.

[DoubleBogey]

Took today. Crushed MCQ's got more or less crushed by Sims except the research. Cheers to partial credit if I pass. Kinda feels like this exam found all of the gaps in my knowledge and made it sims. 2 sims i was basically lost. Hope one of those was pretest.

[Anonymous]

I just walked out of it. I had a very similar experience to @jsdailey.

First testlet of MCQ's was easy, like introductory-type questions. Big ramp up on difficulty on the second set, but I think I hung in there. So I felt pretty good about the MCQ's as a whole. I used Becker and was trending at 86% on the MCQ's.

The SIMs were another story. Besides the research question and maybe 1 or 2 other ones, it seems like they tested the most obscure bits of knowledge. I can only hope that those were the pre-test questions. I felt worse walking out of FAR and passed, so we will have to see how the results turn out. But I wouldn't be surprised if I passed or failed.

[Drew]

Took REG today as well. Similar experience to the two above. MCQ T2 was harder for sure, but doable. Sims were not out of left field by any means, but there were very small items that I couldn't recall that could impact the answers as a whole. Good news, there wasn't a SIM where I thought “hmm this is a pretest.” However, there were SIMS I certainly could have bombed. It's always challenging sifting through the literature to attempt to find guidance.

I also felt infinitely worse after FAR and passed, however at this point I'll just wait and see. It's my last one so I will be counting down the days to the 28th now I believe?

I am actually taking the CA ethics exam right now. I'm a masochist.

Cheers

[CS]

Good luck to all of you, man those SIMs are no joke I see, I did a few SIMs just to prep my brain for document scanning etc but for me personally no prep is the equivalent to going through actual exam MCQs only to have to tackle SIMs it really is also a test of endurance. Thank you all for your input!

[Author]

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