[Anonymous]

So I’ve read quite a few posts but would like to ask about other’s REG experience…

Tax was my worst subject during my undergrad. It was just memorization of a lot of rules and phaseouts, etc that just seemed very arbitrary and meaningless to me. I’ve always been a math guy, but the nature of tax and learning the material was extremely cumbersome and boring to me.

Fast forward a few years and I do have a bit of experience preparing tax returns for several individuals and small businesses (mostly data entries/reconciliations, etc), but most of my experience has been in audit.

I will be taking BEC tomorrow and planning on studying/tackling REG in March (so I have a month to study hardcore)…

What is your best advice for someone who despises tax to get this section done within a month’s time? Is there a method to the madness?

[AndrewE]

Oh I like this, I hope someone sheds some great light on this because I just signed up for REG and I am similar to you, minus the preparing experience. REG 3/9 already experiencing anxiety.

BEC: 77 – 10/1/16 (Becker)
AUD: 70 – 12/4/16 ( Becker) Retake 1/22/17 ( Becker + Ninja MCQ)
REG: 3/9 Becker + Ninja MCQ or Audio ?
FAR: TBD

[SuckItUp]

Same boat, little worse. I'm taking mine late Feb.

Not sure your situation but I'm in busy season with a family.

The “secret” is DISCIPLINE AND HARD WORK.

I just did BEC in a small amount of time while working. Sleep in as long as I can, go to work. Then go home and give myself 30-60 mins to relax. Then hit the books. Most nights I studied to midnight or even later. Did it suck? Yep. But IT HAS TO HAPPEN if you want to pass.

Eliminate ALL distractions. NO time for friends, they will still be around next month. No time for the Superbowl! No time for TV!

The only time you have is either work, study, and exercise but even keep that brief – 30 mins tops.

Study on your commute if you have one. Study on your lunch break if you can.

It's only ONE month. If I pass I'm DONE. If I fail I have two left (assuming I just passed BEC which I'm confident I did).

I'm gonna work my ass off and pass. I haven't accepted failure yet and I'm certainly not going to now.

SUCKITUP and get after it! Good luck.

[Wannafree]

@brickell cpa , yes it can be done for sure.There are just 4 chapters in Tax and that's meat of REG.I can't say same thing for AUD even though it has just 6 chapters in total because that's very subjective and abstract ,taxation is straight forward and follow simple rules and maths.Don't overwhelmed by too many pages of Business laws.As far as Business laws are concerned either you can read the text book or just do the homework of Becker's.All along till March practice Taxation ,stress on basis of assets under partnership ,corp and exchanges of assets ,AMT and NOL.
I have done it so you can too.

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys, appreciate the feedback.

[Anonymous]

I'm in the same boat! Took BEC a couple weeks ago and trying to fit REG in by March 10th. We just have to be committed to getting it done. Good luck everyone! 🙂

[letsrun4it]

Anyone who can pass REG in 4 months is too smart to be doing accounting IMO. If you're that smart, you should be doing something positive for the world.

BEC: 85
REG: 74, 78
AUD: 86
FAR: October?

[Anonymous]

^ Lol. That sounds about right, although I haven't taken REG yet! If you plan on passing REG in a month, I bet u will only shower twice a week and live even more out of a cave! Goodluck though – I admire your Determination!!

[isoceles]

I'm taking it February 4th and my preparation is going to be a little under a month so we will see! I studied briefly (maybe 5 cumulative hours) for it in November, but had to stop due to some family issues going on. Picked it up in early January. Very unlikely I will pass to be honest. I've covered individual tax, property transactions, and about 1/2 of entities. I'm doing well on each section, but my fear is not having the time to do a lot of MCQs that cover all sections to work on recall of information.

My schedule has been:

Weekdays, 4-5:30am, 8:30-10pm
Weekends, study as much as possible. Hard to do with a 1 year old!

Best of luck.

[RE2PECT]

I can't imagine getting it done in a month unless you have a tax background, but anything is possible if you put your mind to it. Don't worry about memorizing all the phaseouts. I'd skip the videos and just read the book and do tons of mcq's. Make sure you know basis inside and out for corps, s corps, and partnerships. Ethics and professional responsibilities isn't a lot of material, but it's almost 20% of the exam. It's easy points if you know it well. Sims are what usually gets most people, myself included, so make sure you practice some of them.

FAR: 75 Roger & Ninja (notes/flashcards/audio/MCQ)
AUD: 73, 81
BEC: 71, retake 8/29
REG:

[isoceles]

It's funny you mention the sims. I did 1 sim yesterday and got dominated in individual tax, even though I've been doing really well in MCQs in that same section. Huge eye-opener for me.

[Goingallin]

I find it funny that we always use weeks or months instead of hours to describe how much time we put into the study. If you can put in 150 hours in a month than REG should be completely doable without requiring a high IQ as someone suggested. But if you're studying for REG and spend 50 hours within that month than yea that is tough. If you're using Becker 4 out of the sections can be done in one week, so if you have a month than you have three weeks to study for the four tax sections (R1 thru R4).

Bottom line is if you can be put in at least 100 hours for REG it is possible I think.

[ortegar5]

Good post! I just started studying for REG on January 16th. I am just about to start studying for R5. I work full time in Internal Audit, but I make use of all my time outside of work to study, watch lectures, and do the MCQ's. I should be done by next week with all chapters. Then I have two weeks to crunch and test on the Feb 19th. I definitely think its possible, but you have to be focused, don't slack off on the MCQ's, take notes, and study. I'm currently using Becker. I plan on purchasing the NINJA MCQ's and supplement those are my final two week review. Good luck to all!

[Author]

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