[DZagt]

I cant be the only person who feels this way. At least FAR is about one topic overall…BEC is like a box of chocolates. The material (using becker) does not flow or build upon itself its just random topic after random topic. I really do believe that AICPA or NASBA or whatever they just wanted a fourth test for more revenue.

Sorry I just needed to rant.

Jeff should create forum space for just rants.

[SaveBandit]

Agreed. I can understand the need to test Cost, but the rest of it is like all that rice you get in a chipotle burrito – pure filler. They should put Cost in FAR, take away some of the more random crap on FAR, and dump the rest of BEC. What a useless exam.

4 for 4

FAR 85
AUD 94
BEC 86
REG 90

[mtaylo24]

Its harder than Reg too…You don't hear too many complaints because of the way that its weighted. Wait until Q2 2017 when people will have to do MCQs + Sims + WC.

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)

[waffle_house]

I disagree. BEC is a cake walk compared to FAR. The amount of material in FAR is insane and the exam sims are ridiculous. There is no comparison.

[So FAR So Good]

I agree with the original poster. FAR was actually pretty straight forward for me, but BEC is really bringing me down right now…

F - 91 (6/5/2016)
A - 7/30/2016
R - 10/8/2016
B - 12/10/2016

[DZagt]

waffle. With FAR, if I had trouble understanding something I could uses T accounts or JEs and bam I got my answer. With BEC its like studying for four different exams at once. IDK what the test is going to be like but without a question this is harder to study for than FAR.

[cpaMD86]

Yes, studying for BEC is terrible, and the MCQs are just as painful. I had my own BEC vent topic, so I am right there with you.

FAR: 9/3

[waffle_house]

I didn't mean to sound like BEC was easy but I guess since actual accounting wasn't my biggest strength (ironic right) I felt that there were a lot of concepts in FAR that made it hard for me to remember specifically Gov and NFP.

[Over_It]

Studied for 4 weeks for BEC, got an 82. Studied for 4 months for far… got a higher score but it was a million times harder. I guess it's all subjective.

[Missy]

I think it depends on your background and experience in part. I thought FAR was easy but I've been a g/l accountant for 20 years. AUD nearly killed me, if I could have taken FAR four times in lieu of AUD, I would have.

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[RE2PECT]

My scores agree with you OP.

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

[SuckItUp]

Seems like people spend the least amount of time on BEC AND it has the highest passing rate.

What gives?

[gigabyte2001]

I've taken AUD, FAR & BEC. I thought FAR was the worst thing ever. So far I would rank FAR hardest, then AUD and I thought BEC was fairly easy. I used Gleim for all 3 as well as the CMA exam I took in 2011. I had better scores studying for BEC than for either AUD or FAR by a big margin. My experience may be skewed because I have the CMA already and it covers a considerable amount of the same material as BEC and I've been an accountant for 16 years i think. Almost 11 years at my current job as a Controller in Industry and 5 years in public, tax before that.

Incidentally if there are any Tax, Senior folks in the Tulsa area, I know a firm that's hiring one.

B - 11/11/16
A - 4/16/16 87!!
R - 2/17/17
F - 7/26/16 - Waiting for 8/23

[sancasuki]

BEC was tricky but FAR was way worse. FAR has 2-3 times the amount of material to study as BEC. I thought I'd never get through those 1000+ pages of FAR. And I don't really get how people say that FAR is one topic. It's a whole bunch of different topics each with their own little idiosyncratic rules. It never “came together” for me. The only thing that came together for FAR was how balance sheet accounts relate to income statement accounts and to other balance sheet accounts.

I thought AUD was a joke compared to FAR and REG.

[DZagt]

Lol circadian, yet BEC was your lowest score.

[sancasuki]

I did BEC in 20 days. I studied for FAR for 60 days.

[Author]

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