[Anonymous]

Hi! So my application to sit for the CPA exams was finally approved by the CBA yesterday, and now I have to figure out what order I will be taking the exams.
I was thinking of taking FAR first, however, with REG changing in 2019 I was wondering if it would be better to take that first (I’m thinking late August). Would this be a good idea?

So it would look like FAR-REG-AUD-BEC or REG-FAR-AUD-BEC.

I am so nervous for this process, so any insight or suggestions on what the best/most logical way to proceed would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

[Superdude3000]

The second one IMO. I always recommend taking them in that exact order.

[Tarheel83]

Because REG changes in Q1 of 2019, I say take REG first in Q3 (in case of retake – then you can retake in Q4). REG – FAR – AUD – BEC.

If it wasn't for the REG changes I would say you could do it 3rd or 4th, but I will always recommend FAR, then AUD immediately after. AUD always incorporates FAR material into their SIMs.

[CPYAYYY]

FAR takes the longest to study for….I took it first so it wouldnt cut into my 18 month window

[MommyCPA]

I would agree with above about cutting into 18-month window. It'd do FAR-REG-AUG-BEC. But given the Reg Changes- do you have knowledge/experience with the current tax law?

[ds34168]

Take FAR first, then Reg or Aud

[Anonymous]

I just graduated from college this past May, and the last tax class I took was 2 years ago–and tbh I don't remember much, so basically I'm starting fresh. Also I will be joining Tax at Big 4 in January, which is why I thought it might be better to study the new tax changes rather than try to learn/cram/understand the old tax laws.

[Anonymous]

If you don't know much about old tax laws, I don't know that it would make a huge difference to you to take REG after the changes are implemented.

I personally did FAR-REG-BEC-AUD. I really liked tackling the “hardest” ones first, and I strongly recommend doing FAR first while you're the most motivated. Although I didn't, I definitely see the benefit of doing AUD right after FAR though. I had some sims on AUD that I wouldn't know without having taken FAR and just got lucky with remembering the specific material.

You may also look at score releases/black out months to see which works better timing-wise since REG and FAR typically take longer 🙂

[OnmywaytoCPA]

I started with the area that I was the most familiar with. That way since it was my first exam I would be able to retain the information better. I was working as a senior auditor when I started studying, so I started with AUD. FAR is a beast, so if you decide to take that one first, it's not a bad idea. Mainly you want to make you're making the best choice for you. One thing, I do want to warn you about, is that, no matter which part you pick first, you will always have a feeling like you should have picked a different part once you start studying. Every part, I worked on, I said to myself, “I should have started this one first”. Then once I passed, all four, I realized that I took them in the right order that worked for me.

REG - 74, Retook 6/10/16, scored a 72 (Hate this exam)
BEC - 69, 79, 8/1/15
AUD - 83, 4/4/15
FAR - 77, 2/27/16

[jdub]

I would take the one you're LEAST confident in first because it's probably going to take you the longest. It sounds counter intuitive because I was given the exact opposite advice and took BEC first and didn't study that long and passed quickly.

Everyone says FAR is a bear (and it is) but my only experience is in preparing financial statements so I didn't study for that one as much as I did for REG and passed FAR on the first try.

If I could do it all over again I would have started with REG – my last tax class was 6 years before I took the CPA exam (which has been 8 years now) and I have 0 tax experience – as you can see from my signature it took me 4 times to pass for these reasons. I felt like I was trying to learn everything all over again for the first time. I don't even do my own taxes!

I sometimes wonder if taking it first would have been de-motivating to not start with a pass. But I was fresh when I started this journey so it might not have taken me as long. And because it took me so long (and I moved and had to change states since Kansas has a residency requirement I no longer met) I lost my BEC credit and had to re-do that, which was the worst feeling in the world.

[ixlr82day]

I also went in the order of the topics I was most familiar with….BEC-REG-AUD-FAR. Alot of people questioned the order I chose but I felt for me I needed to start with a couple of passes before I tackled FAR. I thought starting with a fail would have been discouraging and if the fails just continued I would want to give up. Passing a couple of parts put the pressure on me that I felt I needed to give it my all to pass.

Then again if I didn't pass FAR in the last attempt and if parts started to expire I would also be questioning the logic of my choices.

[Author]

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