[A]

Someone asked about total study hours and timelines in another thread, and now I’m also curious about the range among us. Here is what I’ve done so far:

BEC: ~65 hours over 57 days – pass
AUD: ~72 hours over 48 days – pass
REG: ~74 hours over 57 days – pass
FAR: In progress

B - 77 (2.27.16)
A - 81 (4.18.16)
R -
F -

Roger Review + Ninja MCQs

[taskr]

Background: Graduated over 25 years ago, so I had to have a good review, as my experience in relation to the CPA exam was narrow. I did this working full-time with a very helpful company.
Using Becker as a college course and review, I conservatively estimate:

AUD 200hrs 91
FAR 250hrs 85
REG 200hrs 81
BEC 250hrs 86

I passed each on the first attempt. Yes, I spent a lot of time, but I didn't have to do it more than once. I followed Becker to the letter, listening to lectures and beat myself over the head with MCQs and worked all SIMs. At my age, (over 50), I needed the reinforcement. There are no shortcuts. Just finished up late in 2016. I feel like I am a better accountant for the effort.

[jcbcpa]

@mecrushya, you could be one of the ones that can pass FAR without as much studying, but I would try to squeeze in as much study time as possible between now and your test date. I almost passed with approximately 200 hours of study time for FAR, but my background is in Governmental Auditing. The governmental accounting concepts were easy for me, but the rest was a bit more difficult. I don't consider myself a fast reader, but I wouldn't consider myself a slow one either.

Considering you had passes in other sections with a low number of hours, you might can pull it off. Hopefully, your SIMS won't be as terrible as mine were for my first attempt.

Good luck to you!

AUD - 85 (8/30/2015)
FAR - 73 (10/13/2015), 85 (2/29/2016) (AND DONE!)
BEC - 83 (11/04/2015)
REG - 81 (11/30/2015)

[A]

The SIMS are exactly what I'm worried about. A friend of mine who hasn't been able to pass the other three sections cleaned FAR in one swoop, and she credited that win to practicing SIMS over and over and over on paper. I've planned to spend another 60+ hours between now and March 9th hammering problems and SIMS….I sure hope this approach works! 🙂

B - 77 (2.27.16)
A - 81 (4.18.16)
R -
F -

Roger Review + Ninja MCQs

[Goingallin]

I guess I spent much more than most here. Studied 150+ hours (5 to 6 weeks) for each exam. Pass on first attempt. Aside from AUD, I needed every min of it. After having left college so many years and with an infant when I started, my memory sucks! I wouldn't have changed my study style. Some people just need more time than others. Guess my IQ is below average in comparison to most here. Not jealous. Just grateful I'm almost done =)

[Good Lordy Me]

I'm 6 weeks in on a 7 week BEC plan well over 120 hrs. One thing I agree with Jeff on, but I am a novice so I will warn you, is that the sweet spot is no more than 8 wks total time per test. Pass or fail on this upcoming try no way could I handle anymore of this for any section over 8 wks of prep time. Just my .02!

[Christopher]

AUD – 100
BEC – 45
REG – 250 (Wasted a ton of time on my first two attempts, didn't know how to study)
FAR – At least 120 so far, taking it tomorrow!

[Anonymous]

It seems some people do like 2 hours a day for 2 months. That is 120 hours. I did *at least* twice that amount for FAR for two months – then again, I was only about 75% of the way through 30 chapters at that point. In total, I probably did 300 hours, although did not really study for the month in between finishing the review and taking the test.

It's different for everyone. Comparing yourself to the number of hours other people do is absolutely pointless because, obviously, your life is not the same as someone else's.

[RE2PECT]

I don't know how many of you passed these exams with so little study time, but I tip my cap to you. I have no accounting background and went back to school in 2014 to get the required accounting credits to be licensed in NY. I work full time and my wife had a baby 4 weeks before my first exam. Although I have a ton of hours, I wouldn't say they're all quality hours. I do a lot of studying in the evening and I'm already shot from working all day and taking care of the little one when I come home.

I log my hours on a spreadsheet so they're pretty accurate, give or take a few hours here and there. I use the stopwatch on my phone and include everything from watching videos, reading, writing notes and doing mcq's.

FAR- 200 hours over 9 weeks
AUD- 170 hours over 8 weeks
75 hours over 3.5 weeks
BEC- 140 hours over 5 weeks
140 hours over 6 weeks
70 hours over 3 weeks
REG- 200 hours over 7.5 weeks

If I had to do it all over again, I'd probably skip most of the videos and just read the book and hammer mcq's and sims. It would have cut a considerable amount of time off my hours.

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

[Jdn9201]

Regarding my FAR study time – I saved FAR for last on purpose because I wanted to attack it after I had some passes under my belt, as well as good study habits established. Had I taken it as my first exam, I probably would have spent double the time. It's hard to explain, but as you move through these exams, you develop a pace and a feeling of when you can move on from a certain topic vs. spending more time on it. At least that's what happened to me.
Anyhow, I took FAR 2/29/16 and had planned on starting to study in January. I put it off because I was working year-end and some crazy hours. I finished the book (Roger) in 15-16 days, and had a goal of hitting 2 chapters a day. I listened to some lectures at work which gave me more time to work MCQ's at home. Because I studied over a short window, I didn't need that much time to review (3-4 days). I spent an entire review day just doing research SIMS so that I'd be more familiar with the AL. I used the AICPA outline as a guide to how familiar I needed to be with a topic before moving on. I read repeatedly that people need to know every detail, and I think that's part of the problem. They can't test you over everything because they don't have enough time to.
The only reason I posted my time was not to make people feel bad, but to emphasize the point that everyone is different. By the time I had taken FAR, I had 9 years of working experience (tax, with a strong background in financial accounting). JE's have always been a breeze for me, and I think that helped too. FAR really needs to be approached from a “mile wide, inch deep” perspective. You put a lot of pressure on yourself when you think you have to know everything.

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

[jdagna]

I just started and am only on Chapter 1 with Becker for FAR so I dont have much experience. But I did go through and make a spreadsheet on every video/sim/MCQ that Becker has. I used their high estimate for minutes (for example if the multiple choice said it was =60-120 minutes I used 120). I did this so I know my study plan and how long each section/chapter will take. With everything added together Beckers program for FAR is 208 hours. Thats not taking into account the final practice exams and progress tests, note taking, etc. So I am going to estimate that I will spend probably a minimum of 250 hours, unless there are some chapters I feel comfortable on and skip some of the MCQ. Since this is my first exam as I move forward I am sure I will learn how to tackle it.

[Author]

Replies