[Anonymous]

I am in the process of going through Wiley CPAexcel for REG which I’ll be taking in early May. The B-Law stuff is making my brain hurt and I am worried that this will be the case for the entire course unless I adjust my approach as there seems to be a lot of minutia in the material. Is it best to just focus on the big picture?

I have passed AUD and BEC. Pounding Ninja MCQ was huge for both. Also, while studying, not getting caught up in the little details and focusing on the “bigger picture” has helped. Will that strategy be sufficient for REG? I have little experience with any of the topics in REG. I am just trying to figure out the best way to get through the material at a decent clip and get that 75. What are the keys for this section? Any advice appreciated!

[jdub]

I don't mean for this to be a Debbie Downer response – but I have little experience with any of the topics in REG as well and it took me 4 times to pass (59, 74, 72, and finally a 78).

Honestly what helped me was just the CONSTANT repetition. Since I don't have any tax experience I didn't have anything to relate any of the concepts to so it was basically just doing it over and over and over again until it was memorized. That's how I went from a 59 to a 74. Then I retook it quickly thinking that I only missed it by 1 point so I should be fine and got a 72. From the 72 to the 78 I just pounded the multiple choice questions and re-listened to lectures (I use Becker) for the areas I just wasn't grasping (like S-Corps). Doing the multiple choice questions helped hammer in the concepts and made the simulations come a little easier conceptually.

I don't intend to do taxes for a living so I'm 100% happy with that 78!

[Kimberly]

Hi –

I have used Wiley for REG, and I think it does a pretty good job. I fell a little short on my “Hail Mary” 3 week try for REG last quarter, but overall I felt pretty good with the base I got. Although I did remember a lot of business law from my classes years prior. And a bit of individual tax from when I worked in that.

I think for business law, you don't have to know every eventuality. Read or watch the lectures, do the MCQs, and make sure to do MCQ practice after. That will probably help more than trying to memorize every eventuality.

For the tax stuff, there will be more memorization needed for the rules. I definitely know this is the part I was lacking in. I still think MCQs will help. But I also think (and I plan to do this myself) making a chart of the entities – difference, rules, treatments of basis, etc – will be helpful to use to try to memorize.

I used Ninja MCQs for the one week I had to review and my 71% was pretty much right on with my score, so I think you can't hurt to use that as well.

[Kodiak]

REG was the one I feared the most and probably the one I studied the hardest for. For FAR, you don't have to drill down into the topics but I don't think that can be said for REG. Those basis questions will kill you if you don't really dig into it and understand how it works and the same can be said about deductions and taxable income vs. book income. Just felt like you had to do a lot more work for better understanding and I'm sure that's because I didn't have much tax exposure in college and I work in Audit.

I studied 4 hours in the morning and around 4 hours every night for 3-4 weeks leading up to the exam, probably half that for the couple of weeks before that. Looking back, I'm really glad I pushed so hard on that one because it was easily the only one I studied and worked that hard for and I wound up with the same score as the others. If I hadn't put those hours in, I probably wouldn't have passed.

Blaw is the only area of it you can probably get away with the big picture concept because underlying it is the premise of agency and principal. You don't have to really dig into those items but the little detail can trip you up, however in Becker they made the point you can pass knowing tax items alone if you really get them down. You can't pass if you don't get tax down regardless of how amazing you are at the blaw. Know your tax then deal with the blaw.

[get_away06]

I took REG twice 70, 75 with only Roger. Make sure you are familiar with ALL the concepts cause you never know what will come out on the exam. Rewatch lectures, do all the mcqs at least twice – even if you’ve seen the questions before, work through it. Good luck!

[alloverit]

I did not use Wiley, but I did notice something that might help.

I looked at my review system and focused on the B-Law topics that were covered the most.

For example, if one chapter/topic has 200 questions and another has 100, it should be clear that the chapter with 200 has a 2-1 greater chance of showing up on the exam.

That's not disclosing anything… a comparison of the blueprint (and online commentary on the blueprint) and a cross-referencing of the amount of questions in your own review program should give you a tremendous clue as to where you need to focus your attention.

Speaking of the blueprint and personal exam experience, B-Law stuff is about 15% of the total exam. So while it is important, it is not weighted too heavily either.

[TC85]

I used Roger and passed on my second attempt (74, 76). The majority of what I saw was tax, and equally individual vs business. I obviously can't give more than that but what I can say helped me was repetition, especially on the SIMs. I'm a hands on learner so I don't do as well with thousands of MCQ as I do SIMS. SIMS put the information into perspective for me and make it easier to understand the concepts AND execution which is very important in any accounting field, especially tax. I don't have any tips for B-law, but I would focus on more of taxation. Practice as many SIMS as possible if you're a hand-on learner. I've now shifted gears to using the same approach in hopes that it works for the other sections. Good luck!

REG – 74, 76
BEC – 69, 67, retest 6/7
AUD – 70, retest, 5/10
FAR – 62 :-(, retest 4/4

[TCav12579]

I was honestly surprised with some of the minutia on my exam. BLaw is definitely important for receiving “easy” points, getting the general concept will suffice in my opinion. I also strongly believe that basis is the key to doing well on the exam. That is typically the hardest concept to get down for most candidates. If you can master that, I am positive you will have a fighting chance at getting past this beast. Also, knowing the key differences between the different business entities will prove worth while as well.

I know these are all general tips, but don't want to go in to too much detail.

As far as my studying plan, drilling MCQ's is big for memorization of all of the rules (I was doing about 200 a day or so, 38 question sets from all sections). But do not forget to use the SIM resources you have and also the practice exams. In my experience the SIMS on the practice exams are very representative of the ones on the actual exam. Good luck! Keep your head up, you got it!

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone. There's definitely a fear factor to this one as I have little experience with the material so there will be no shortcuts to a passing score. Going to just have to beat the heck out of the MCQ's until it sticks!

[CS]

If it wasn't for busy season I would have probably taken REG before BEC, and honestly didn't think I'd be able to pull BEC off but since I did I feel compelled to tackle REG which is why I pushed it to the end of the Q.

For people who used NINJA MCQ and passed, how NINJA's test bank hold up to the actual exam? I ask because I also have Gleim and pretty much put it to the burner for now until my review period since I'm not going to bother to learn useless details before I'm done with the material, and NINJA's are much more straightforward, but I'm hoping it's not false confidence.

[dj]

I don’t have a background in tax but was able to pass REG my first try due to doing what was outlined in the forum below (got a 76 on REG)

https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-forum/topic/potential-reg-sim-topics-from-the-aicpa/

[Anonymous]

I used Becker and my advice would be to go through the full study guide, whatever it is you're using. At the end when reviewing you generally have an idea of what stuff you never really understood, and lots of people just ignore it and hope that it doesn't end up on their test. I would recommend when reviewing go back and really learn the stuff you don't know and then review everything else.

[Anonymous]

@dj Thanks for that link. The SIMS will no doubt be the key in the end; MCQ's I am always comparable/stronger. Anyone ever align the Wiley material with those SIM topics?

[Author]

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