[Just3Letters]

Hi Friends,

I took BEC yesterday. Hurray for free days off work!

Here’s what I thought:

1. I did have that one question that I couldn’t figure out but I totally could answer it correctly now which is super annoying.
2. More cost accounting than I thought there would be from everybody else’s posts so that was surprising. Overall, it was a good surprise because I’m very biased towards actual accounting problems rather than random super left-field COSO, IT, Econ questions.
3. That leads me to the random COSO, IT, Econ questions. This was my third test. I really thought that I was prepared for all the material (will, at least most) on my previous two exams. For this exam, I had relatively the same preparation. There were still probably around 5 or so MCQ on that test that I really had to take an educated guess because I had never even crossed paths with those terms before.
4. I definitely felt that both the second and third testlets were tougher than the first. That’s a good sign. Or maybe I just knew less of the topics that randomly showed up on my second and third testlets. Who knows. BEC is weird.
5. The written questions seemed kind of like a joke honestly. I’ve always considered myself a better writer than accountant though. My family would probably agree. So I can understand why the written portion may be tougher for different people. Or maybe I failed that too. Who knows haha.

Bottom Line: Much less analytical than FAR and REG. Much more conceptual. If you are good at getting four choices down to at least two choices you are going to be at a huge advantage on this test in my opinion.

My Score Guess: 77. But could be 27. We’ll see September 9 ????

FAR- 81
REG- 81
BEC- Aug 22, 2016
AUD- TBD

[MaLoTu]

Good luck! BEC is the worst. It is definitely the most random of the exams and there is an abundance of material that is “left-field”.

[RE2PECT]

Hope you aced it Just3Letters! I'm taking it for the second time on Monday. I feel more comfortable with cost accounting than I did for the first attempt and I've been doing much better with Ninja than I was the first time. Trying to nail down my weak areas these last few days and plan on reviewing all my notes, especially COSO and IT, the day before the exam.

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

[caotran]

I just passed FAR and start studying BEC now. I plan to take it on 10/9. Do you think 45 days studying ( about 100-120 hours) are enough for BEC ? Consider English is my second language so guessing answers maybe not my strength. Neither writing portion.
Any advice would be very appreciated.

[Just3Letters]

Hey Ashely,

sorry I just checked back on this post! I would say that it depends on your commitment and availability. If you have enough free time during the day to study a few hours at least each day and then a good chunk of the weekend 45 days may be enough! I couldn't imagine studying for the CPA exam as a second language. You are much smarter than I am 🙂 Anyways, I would say focus on key words that come up a lot in your MCQ studying and then try to look for those words in the test questions. That may help you get to your answers quicker.

Also, a big thing that helped me a bunch for the writing portion was addintg in key terms that have to do with the question prompt. For example, if the test wants you to write a memo about the different between capital and operating leases, add some key terms about leasing. The essays are mostly graded by computers as well and you know that the computers have certain key terms that they are looking for.

I just found out I passed BEC with an 80 after about 45 days studying and working full time so I believe you can do it!

FAR- 81
REG- 81
BEC- Aug 22, 2016
AUD- TBD

[Author]

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