[Anonymous]

Hey everyone!

Looking for a little bit of advice and I will give a little bit of background as I am trying to finish scheduling my third exam for Q4 in prometric sometime in the next week!

So first my background – I am about 4.5 years removed from taking my last accounting class and have been working in audit for the last 3+ years. I have taken a few practice tests to see if I felt I was strong enough to squeeze in BEC in the Q3 window, and surprisingly, I scored much higher in the AUD section with no review (I say suprising as I always was much stronger in finance/economic topics in school accounting gpa of 3.3, finance gpa of 3.85), so I have decided based on this, and my upcoming work load, to not squeeze BEC into the 8/30 or 8/31 test date. However I am going to start studying/cramming for it this week by reading the ninja book + notes. That being said, I want to go ahead and schedule 3 sections for Q4 this year, and that is where my questions come to you!

So my plan is I will be taking AUD the first week of Oct (1-3), then I am taking BEC the 21-23 (Oct) and then I plan to sit for either REG or FAR Nov 29/30, so that is where my questions come in!

My first is – I have purchased the ninja notes/etc….for all sections…so my question is with REG…I am in audit, so I use some JE’s, etc., but I would say overall, I have lost more intricate concepts from the FAR portion, however I know AUD/BEC/FAR all somewhat flow together….so if I were to take FAR in Q4 of this year, and go ahead and schedule REG for the first two weeks of Q1 15 (incase I need to reschedule any that I failed from q4), would the ninja notes be out of date and I need a refresh (due to a new calendar year, thus not being able to study as much over the December holiday when my work has its shutdown and I’m able to solely study.

The second – because of the shutdown and how much FAR goes wide with detail, I was thinking I would do AUD/BEC/REG in Q4 this year, and to avoid any updates to the tax laws that could change before the Q1 15 test, however I am not sure how wise that is based on what others have been saying with how the other sections go together, but I feel the extra time off during the off testing month and time off from work, gives me the most time I will have study wise. This is somewhat naïve, but I feel more confident /comfortable for the AUD/BEC sections, its just the other two….

Any suggestions or advice is greatly appreciated, good luck to all studying this weekend!

cheers!

[mla1169]

My advice is not and will not change. You will not know if you're the person who can squeeze in 3 exams during one window until you've actually attempted your first exam. Pick ONE that you can take Oct 1 and focus exclusively on that for now. If it goes well you can try to get another 1-2 exams under your belt before year end.

I wouldn't make ANY decisions based on a couple of practice tests. They indicate that you're doing well and maybe you know a lot of it already. Heck you may even be the person who can pass all 4 in the same week! Until you've sat for one though I say don't plan out any more.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[Jsmith87]

Even if your are pretty good with financial accounting & reporting, there is still a ton of material. Plan on studying 130 hours for it at least.

3 exams in two months would be difficult with a full time job. If you can find the time to study enough, then I guess you can do it. Not many people could handle that.

[tomq04]

His question regarding REG is moot, the year changes do not take effect until July of the following year. I would take REG in January.

REG- (1) 76
FAR- (2) 64, (5)74, (7)83 (Over achiever!)
AUD- (3) 70, (4) 75
BEC- (6) 75

[Anonymous]

Hey everyone!

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it and I was not as clear as I had hoped with my first qusetion, however I appreciate the answer and input @tomq04, I was really curious about the REG exam portion and when that would roll over. I like what you are thinking and honestly with what @JSmith87 was saying as well. I am looking at the timeline and 3 exams in one testing block is alot if I amworking as well. I will be able to take time off (and I work in accounting/auditing, so if I have downtime, I can study at work, and we are not as busy as we have been all year right now, so I am finally mentally committed and know what a pain in the ass it is going to be to bunker down and actually put the time and effort in to studying for these). Based on that and everyone's input, this is what I am thinking I am going to do for my timeline (and please, any additional input is greatly appreciated.

Since it is the 16th, I am going to just plan to take the AUD section on October 3 (Friday). That gives me 8 weeks to study and take FAR on November 29. I am thinking that is the best to do, instead of REG there and take REG in January as Tomq04 mentions. The reason for this, is I want to take the 3 section the first week in January and taking REG in the last 2 weeks of November only gives me 5-6 weeks for FAR instead of the 7.8-8 weeks I get if I take that on the 29th.

From there I will plan to sit for REG on Monday January 5th. Then I have 20-21 days until I take BEC on January 30th (my NTS for all 4 sections runs out 1/30/15). This way, I will know what I have to possibly retake (and if FAR), i can schedule for April and then have 2 months to study, or AUD, I can try to squeeze in based on my work experience etc. Again I do not want to come off as sounding too confident or arrogant, but that BEC date might be somewhat of a squeezer, however I feel really good about that section based on school and my own personal background and general interests. And it could throw me being more of a shorter turnaround, but so what, if I get the other 3 done, I have a long time to pass that one, so I am not too worried!

I do have one more question though as I was looking to schedule my exam on Novermber 29 (FAR) on the prometric website. The testing center were I will take AUD does not have any exams for that Saturday. The next closest testing center does. The question – I am a VA candidate. The next closest testing center is MD. The test is uniform – I should be able to schedule and sit at the MD testing center right, or is that an issue?

Thanks again all!

[Author]

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