[Anonymous]

I’m in the process of studying for REG and am feeling a little overwhelmed about how in the world I’m going to remember all of these little details. Do I need to make sure and memorize all the form and schedule names? I obviously know the basics like 1040, 1120, etc. But what about everything else?

Also, what about all of the threshold amounts and just random numbers like the kiddie tax calculation, income for filing requirements, and specific deduction/credit amounts. It just seems so tedious to memorize when in real life you can easily look it up.

I was great at my tax classes, but I don’t work in tax and wasn’t required to memorize the majority of this stuff in my classes. It makes more sense to me that the CPA would test you on your understanding of how to prepare returns and schedules, not having all these tedious details memorized.

[Floreat]

Thanks for posting, Allie530. I'm in the same quandary.

I'm starting each chapter with the overview of key concepts. As I drill down, I'm memorizing as much as I can. I'm working on memorizing the schedules/forms and what their purposes are. The review system I'm using (Gleim) asks questions that require me to know the details (ie: Regulation D Rule 504, Elderly Disabled Credit calculation, PAL & Sec 179 limitations, etc), so I'm making an honest effort and it's definitely challenging. The detail seems overwhelming. However, as I go through the MCQ's & SIMs (over and over and over and again) I'm noticing that my recall is getting better and better. At least, I think it is.

I'm looking forward to hearing the insights of others.

FAR: 80 (10/28/2016)
AUD: 85 (2/6/2017)
REG: DSIT (Dragon Slayer in Training) (5/2017)
BEC: DSIW (Dragon Slayer in Waiting) (7/2017)

[x260bm]

Short answer no. As long as you are using a good prep service you should have a good idea what the exceptions are. As far as form names go you might question that references a 1040ez or sim that asks what goes on a 1065, schedule K, or K-1. As a general rule you don't have to know anything indexed for inflation or phase out amounts with very few exceptions. Kiddie tax would be good to know and so would the credit calculations. Especially the educational ones. If they give you percentages you need to know those.

[sweazy]

Probably not, but this sort of thing should be so second nature to you that you dont even need to memorize the difference between a 1065 and an 1120s, or what goes on a schedule D vs a schedule E. I would say it's useful to know in the sense that if you dont know what those are you probably havent studied enough. In the same regard as if youre taking an Algebra test they probably wont ask you what 2 plus 2 is, but you should probably know how to solve for it.

BEC: 77
AUD: 67, 85, 87
FAR: 74, 74, 79
REG: ___

[ThomasHallberg]

As you study, the forms will start to trigger. You don't need to know the form names. At least I did not. However, it will definitely help and as you master the material it will come. Becker always says be prepared to fill out some sort of tax form on a SIM though.

[Anonymous]

@Floreat – I'm using Gleim, too! A lot of people say Gleim is too detailed for them, but I actually really liked it for FAR and BEC because I would much rather study more than I need to know than not enough. But I just don't want to waste valuable study time just memorizing something I don't even need to know!

It sounds to me like it's not a bad idea to know, but that it isn't worth spending time solely on trying to memorize. As long as I'm doing enough practice questions and reviewing the material as I should, hopefully the form names and whatnot should begin to come naturally to me.

I'm not as worried about seeing a schedule or a form show up on a SIM because I can actually see the form in that case. I'm more worried about an MCQ referencing some form name and me not being able to remember it off the top of my head. Or an MCQ asking what an individual should fill out to file an extension and me getting 4868 mixed up with 7004.

I was wondering yesterday if it would be worth my time to make flashcards with all the forms and schedules, but to make and actually study flashcards takes so much time. Did anyone do anything like that or am I better off just making sure to do plenty of MCQs?

[Anonymous]

Writing and thinking it through once will help. Your brain will probably recognize it again if you see it.

I can remember 4-5 MCQ/sim questions that required familarity with some hard numbers..

The reason why people whine about the SIMS is the diverse nature of elements that could be in one sim question. They can test real minutiae if you have one sim with 6 scenarios and 12 drop down boxes..

The devil is in the details with REG..Some people will advocate thousands of MCQ.. but I will forever be an outspoken critic of that approach.

[tygolfer]

I agree with everyone else, as you study you start to know what schedule/form everything is on so you shouldn't need to memorize. There are a few phaseouts that I feel like I got questions on, like the $25k rental property loss phases out between $100-$150k, but in general I would not waste time on phase outs. Honestly, most of the tax questions I got on the MCQ seemed pretty high level. The detailed stuff were on the SIMS, which you can use the AL.

[cpaMD86]

I'd say no. Be familiar and understand how the forms of flow through entities work though. I feel that's an important piece.

Make sure and understand the conceptual/theory processes of the entities. I feel like I probably focused too much on the math when compared to the key concepts. If I recall correctly, if thresholds are a factor, the question will usually reference it.

FAR: 9/3

[gigabyte2001]

I'd say no. I used Gleim and passed all 4 parts on the first try following their system (and both parts of the CMA as well.) I would get really nervous and feel like there was no way I could possibly pass based on my Quiz scores running in the 55-65 range. I ended up with a 93 in REG. Gleim really does a GREAT job of preparing you for the exam if you follow their system. I swear to you i got a 35 on a 20 question quiz in the last couple days before my REG exam. Don't forget their Adaptive Learning System picks up on your weaknesses and tests you on them over & over until you know them.

B - 11/11/16
A - 4/16/16 87!!
R - 2/17/17
F - 7/26/16 - Waiting for 8/23

[Author]

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