[Witty]

Hi guys, I am starting to study for BEC tonight and was wondering if anybody had specific tips on studying? I took audit three times and finally passed it. I am not good at theory MC but do consider myself good at computation problems, hence the reason why audit gave me such a hard time. I work full time and trying to take it February 10th. Any advice helps!!!

AUD: 70, 73, 85!
BEC: - 81!
REG: - 75!!!!!
FAR: -

[mitchmatch]

Cant wait to hear some advice from someone who took this. BEC is absolutely killing me.

FAR-76 First attempt.
AUD-79 First attempt.
REG-79 First attempt.
BEC-79 First attempt.

Done!

BECKERS

[wombataholic]

Off the top of my head, here are some of the must-knows for BEC:

Cost accounting
COSO framework <- Do not underestimate this topic.
Information Technology
Financial decision-making (IRR, NPV, etc)

There's more, but that's just a quick list.

As far as general study tips, I'd say that on a short schedule MCQs are more important than notes/videos/reading. I studied for BEC over 5 weeks and worked heavily on MCQs and 1 round of copying ninja notes.

You're not really going to be able to prepare for the writing portion of the exam, but it's also only 15% of your grade. Just be ready to BS a couple of paragraphs and try to give yourself a chance to grab some points with maybe half an hour left on the clock.

Licensed CPA
Passed each section on the first try with Ninja Notes/MCQ/Audio

[hasy]

I agree with the sections that wombataholic listed. I did MCQs every single day leading up to the exam, even if I repeated a lot of them. Financial management was tested so heavily that I thought it was so unfair since obviously that was my weaker part. For WC, I think I spent at MOST 2 hours out of all ~5 weeks to study for them and all I did was read a lot of the examples in Roger's and WTB a couple of times to get what they're asking. Know the difference between memo and letter and how to start it. I would make sure each response has 3 paragraphs.

Good luck!

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved - Helen Keller

-

BEC 80 (10/23/15)
FAR 72 (4/2/15); 83 (7/11/16)
REG 52 (4/28/15)
AUD (9/9/16)

Roger + NINJA MCQ + WTB

[Excel14]

Thought I'd chime in on this. I called Gleim this morning, because the WC that they had at the end of a unit, wasn't covered anywhere in the studies, and had zero to do with anything covered. I had to ultimately score myself a zero, which caused me to fail the unit. I had done pretty well on the MCQs. The person at Gleim stated that they throw a few of those at you, similar to how the exam will on occasion. Needless to say, if I get one of these “left field” WCs on the exam, put me down for a “goose egg” on that part.

BEC (2/28/16) ----- 78
FAR (09/10/16)-----
AUD
REG

CIA, CGAP, CFE

[shanek327]

COSO and IT!

FAR - 75
AUD - 78
BEC - 82
REG - 77

2 Corinthians 5:21

Our value does not come from our skills and abilities, as good as they may be; it does not come from our GPA, our job, a promotion from that job to a better job, our success on the CPA exam, or anything of the like; but our value comes from the fact that we have a Creator who loves us, cares for us, and desires to help us navigate the rough waters of this life in a way that provides security, hope, and true, everlasting joy while we anticipate the life to come, with Him.

[jcf175]

IMO spend 50% of your time on IT and COSO and 50% on everything else

Passed all sections between 5/15 - 10/15 order AUD REG BEC FAR (used Becker only)

[Jdn9201]

I agree with the topics suggested. Don't blow off BEC but just because you say you are weaker in concepts doesn't mean you will have more problems with BEC. I'm also weaker at concepts and I didn't think BEC was that difficult at all. Do you remember micro/macro economics from college? I'm very interested in that topic and did well in those classes. I actually knocked out BEC with about 50-60 hours of studying because I pretested myself on topics (using Roger) and skipped lectures I scored above a 70% on. If you are familiar with basic economic concepts, I'd start out with MCQs and only look at notes/lecture materials on the areas that you are weak on. IMO, going straight to MCQ's can cut out a lot of studying time.

BEC - 88 8/29/15
REG - 82 11/14/15
AUD - 83 1/8/16
FAR - 80 2/29/16

[Rodney Ruxin]

I would know COSO very very very (Did i say Very?) well. Also if you are using Becker, I don't think they cover this topic enough i would delve deeper into it rather than just knowing the mnemonics they give you. I think a deeper understanding is necessary. I heard Gleim covers it better than Becker but not sure if that's 100% true. See some more info on COSO here as well. https://www.coso.org/documents/ERM-Understanding%20%20Communicating%20Risk%20Appetite-WEB_FINAL_r9.pdf

FAR - 75
AUD - 82
REG - 83
BEC - 79

[mitchmatch]

@ rodney, thank you very much.

FAR-76 First attempt.
AUD-79 First attempt.
REG-79 First attempt.
BEC-79 First attempt.

Done!

BECKERS

[monikernc]

So, I am having trouble retaining the information needed for BEC and rescheduled my exam to provide more time to prepare. I am not a memorizer so in order to remember something I have to really grasp the concept and for calcs, repeat them over and over and over and over again. I have already done a first pass at the ninja mcq's and run through the ninja book. My plan is to start back at the beginning of the book and read more carefully and take new notes. Then redo the mcq's as I go. Of course, this is just a repeat of what I have already done so I wonder, will this really help?

Nothing about the info is perplexing. There are no startling revelations in this material – I have seen everything before in school – long ago. IT was my prior career. I have done 1721 questions, trending score in ninja mcq is 92%, average is a meager 72%, dashboard hours are 93. I have 100 questions left to answer correctly to hit review phase. My problem is the volume of info – how to remember 500 pages of info when 200 pages of it has to do with all these calculations. I go through, do the problems for a section, it takes a long time, and then I go back to a previous section for review and it is like I have never seen that info before. I have to dig through notes or pull up the response to get through the question again. It makes me think I am a tad senile and it is very frustrating.

Finally, if you cannot tell from the composition of this post, I have not started practicing the writing components yet.

So any words of advice or support? How did you do it?

I am so happy you are all here. Thanks.

FAR 7/25/15 76!
AUD 10/30/15 93
BEC 2/27/16 82
REG 5/23/16 88!
Ninja Book and MCQ and the forum - all the way!!!
and a little thing i like to call, time and effort!
if you want things to change, you have to do something different

[monikernc]

bump…

FAR 7/25/15 76!
AUD 10/30/15 93
BEC 2/27/16 82
REG 5/23/16 88!
Ninja Book and MCQ and the forum - all the way!!!
and a little thing i like to call, time and effort!
if you want things to change, you have to do something different

[Beto42392]

I was going to take BEC on Feb. 10th but I rescheduled to Feb. 24th lol…I'm using Becker self study, currently working on B2 (profitability and pricing analysis, and currently doing marginal analysis). There are so many f'n formulas to know..didn't think it would be this much. Anyways, thanks a lot Rodney. When everyone was saying definitely to focus on COSO I was like oh shit Becker doesn't seem to cover too thoroughly…I will certainly read over that pdf file you posted. Seems like a lot to read for COSO…but F it; I'm tryna pass this exam!

Edit: found some other good information in regards to COSO
https://www.coso.org/documents/COSO%20ICIF%2011×17%20cube%20graphic.pdf
https://www.coso.org/documents/990025P_Executive_Summary_final_may20_e.pdf

not sure how this works

[Author]

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