[Ralphie Dos Nachos]

Hey guys,

I know most people say get the most difficult exam done with (FAR).

I don’t know if this is a bad way to think but I was considering taking the easiest one (BEC or AUD for most people) first so if the 18 month clock does run out, I would have to retake the easiest one rather than FAR

[Snickets]

I would take the one with the content that interests you the most. It would help motivate you to stay on target.
In all seriousness there is no “easy” section. BEC was an absolute nightmare for me throughout my testing.
Difficulty of section just depends on your strentghs and level of interest IMO. Don't get sucked into the “easy vs hard” section propaganda. They are all extremely challenging but absolutely doable with a strong study schedule and proper motivation. Pick a section, committ to studying and do your best!

AUD 84
FAR. 78(expired/retake 5/9/16)
BEC 77
REG 76

[CPA2BEE]

I agree with @Snickets. There is no section that is necessarily easier than another, you might just take to some better than others and have an easier time in that sense. I came out of FAR thinking AUD would be “easy” in comparison then ended up failing AUD the first time I took it. Learn from my mistakes! These exams are really hard, but doable as Snicks said. I highly recommend bringing the same level of intensity to your studies for each of the exams.

FAR - 80
AUD - 82
BEC - 80
REG - 85

ETHICS - 90
EXPERIENCE - COMPLETE
Application for California license mailed 8/4/2016

[mooseonloose]

There is no such thing as easiest when it comes to CPA, its subjective. I find Audit easier than BEC, my younger brother found FAR and Reg easier.

[LJGIbbs]

I decided to go with the one I thought would be hardest first (FAR). Although I passed, I wish I had done it last. I thought I'd rather get it out of the way, but in the second half of studying and being burned out, having the motivation of it being the last exam would have helped. However, I'm glad it's over.

Although I'm waiting on my score, I really didn't think the material in BEC was bad, but I've had many cost accounting courses, a couple finances, and the economics didn't seem to go too far in depth, so a lot was a refresher for me(aside from COSO and IT, which was a lot of the exam). I still wasn't as prepared as I wanted to be due to medical issues a week before scheduled, but I decided I'd rather take my chances on March 9th than reschedule and take the new version. BEC was kind of a break for me.

TLDR – FAR really made me question whether or not I made the right career decision since it made me absolutely miserable. BEC wasn't bad. If you get discouraged easily, do the hardest one that you think will be hardest last so you have more motivation to finish.

[Dwill2nd]

As others has said Hard vs Easy really depends on the person.

Of FAR BEC & AUD so far BEC has was probably the more challenging just in terms of having to learn new areas IT I was less familiar with and really taking time to understand all the formulas and objectives. FAR is a beast in terms of the amount of material but nothing was really difficult. Governmental I was worried about but for me it was easy straight forward and made sense. AUD probably has been the easiest for me. I did audit for a few years and the material is more common sense if you really think about it and understand the terminology. Mixed with the fact it has less information and the information that is there repeats itself though out Audit. However I can see how it would be difficult for someone unfamiliar to Audit and not used to the terms.

Which ever the order I do think it is best to go FAR then AUD. Having an understanding over FAR makes it easier to apply AUD techniques to the financial statement which you will need to do.

Bec, 6/8/2016 - 84!
Far, 7/12/2016
Reg,
Aud,

[Trele6]

I took the opposite approach of taking the “harder” tests last because it would give me more “motivation” to pass.

When you are studying for tests 3 or 4 you are seriously burnt out. FAR has 900 chapters, its the last thing you want to see when you are burnt out. BEC and AUD only had 6 chapters each. It was much more appealing for me to take those two last knowing I would fully hate the CPA process by the time I got to those.

My best score was my first test since I could take my time (No clock ticking yet) and I was not burnt out from the process of doing MCQ day in and day out yet.

First go at the CPA! Only using Becker
Reg / Nov 2015 - 87
Far / Apr 2016 - 79
Bec / May 2016 - 80
Aud / Aug 2016

[Char143]

Best day of my life: when I realized BEC was not easy and it was the hardest section for me. Good times.

AUD (2/16)-84
REG (05/16)-69 Retake (7/16)-79 (ty ninja MCQ)
BEC-TBD
FAR-9/8/16

[Author]

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