[Goingallin]

I usually hear how hard an exam is on this forum but rarely hear from candidates who thinks the exam is easier than anticipated. I’m currently studying for REG and find the material much easier to grasp than the other topics. One of the reason is REG is more interesting and doesn’t cover multiple topics that do not relate to one another like FAR and BEC.

[Sticky Nicky]

i thought it was rather easy and never did a tax return in my life…studied half heartedly for 3 weeks

[JMG]

I have no tax experience at all, and my little fed tax courses I took in college barely scratched the surface. That being said, as my first exam period, I wouldn't say it was easy but it was definitely doable if you put in the time. I didn't love studying for like some others have stated, tax is just not for me which is why I went into audit for my career. Hats off to anyone who passed with minimal study time, I put in close to 10 weeks and still wasn't overly confident going in.

[Wannafree]

@JMG “your signature “Studying For The CPA: How To Lose Friends and Alienate People” reflect my feelings too .LOL

[Anonymous]

I am not a tax guy, but I am studying for REG now. There is actually a lot of useful information to learn in this section but it is so dry and mundane (statutes, regulations, BLAH..)

Many of the multiple choice questions can be answered with common sense though. I am finding that for a lot of the questions, the simplest answer is the correct answer and all the other choices just add random bits to try and confuse you.

[tcheney3]

Not in terms of material, but in terms of the actual exam, REG is the only one I found moderately challenging. The Sims will be more difficult than you think.

BEC - 82
REG - 86
FAR - 85
AUD - 84 and I'm out!!!!!
Ethics - 95
In Skynet's Honor:
Act I: Shutdown Skynet and prevent Judgment Day.
Act II: Add a comma and three letters to my title.
Act III: Time Travel and marry a young Denise Richards (and prevent subsequent plastic surgery),return to present.
Act IV: Serve as Successor to Elon Musk as CEO of Tesla.
Act V: Ensure Judgment Day has been stopped. Utopia achieved.

[Andrew]

I work in tax and took the Reg exam on December 8th of last year.

I ran out of study time so I barely went over business law which I did score weaker in (surprise surprise lol) I scored stronger in all of tax, I also thought the sims were really tough, but the authoritative literature helped me a ton. I was literally searching through the AL for almost an hour learning how to calculate amounts for one of the Sims. I would have probably bombed the sims without grooming the AL for answers, I ended up stronger on the sims.

[SuckItUp]

How do you know how you performed with a passing score? This is for Andrew above or anyone else.

I've never received any type of feedback. Thanks

[Goingallin]

For me, regardless of how easy the material seems, I always put in 150+ hours per exam so I don't end up regretting if I fail. AUD was mindless and boring but I forced myself to do multiple choice questions to the very end. When I say the material is easy to grasp, that doesn't mean I think I will pass without a doubt. I'm not a good exam taker and English is my second language so SIM has always been hard for me. Sometimes the way the examiner ask the question could be very confusing and could lead to misinterpretation. Some SIM questions are difficult for me bc I'm not sure what its asking for Conceptually I may understand the material but the question itself could be very subjective. I could easily flunk REG for that reason.

[mtaylo24]

The tax part didn't bother me much. I couldn't come to grips with blaw/ethics

AUD - 1st - 60 (12/12), 61 (2/13), 61 (8/13), 78! (11/15)
REG - 55 (2/16) 69 (5/16) Retake(8/16)
BEC - 71(5/16) Retake (9/16)
FAR - (8/16)

[Anonymous]

Btw, there is No such thing as an “Easy” CPA Exam. Unless you can pass an exam with 30-40 hours of study, I would not consider any of the exams as “Easy.” But, I do understand that an exam could be “easier” relative to another section of the CPA exam. Goodluck!

[Andrew]

@suckitup In Texas you receive a diagnostic report telling you if you scored weaker, comparable, or stronger on each section compared to people who have scored between a 75-80.

[SuckItUp]

Gotcha, thanks. All mine have been 81's so that explains that.

[Andrew]

I don't believe it matters what score you receive, you get a diagnostic report regardless if your score was a 50 or a 99.

The only thing it does is compare you to people that barely passed(75-80) regardless of what you scored.

I'm not sure if any other state gives out a diagnostic report besides Texas. It probably varies from state to state, kind of like the requirements to sit..etc

[Goingallin]

Easy meaning the material does not hurt your head and little critical thinking is required. Each topic requires x amount of hours to study for not bc the material is difficult, but mainly bc there's a lot to memorize. Hard for me is define as something that is hard to understand conceptually, not bc you have to remember what's the adjusted gross income threshold is for certain deductions.

[SomethingTimeless]

I have no tax experience and I didn't think it was THAT bad… But, I basically lived on homemade flash cards and MCQs for 4 months.

[Author]

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