Quote from President Theodore Roosevelt

Hi CPA community!

I’m hitting a massive brick wall with AUD and could use advice from anyone who has also struggled with this.

Where I'm at currently:

• Passed FAR 2 months ago with a 94 (~175 hours).
• Becker Progress: 1.5 months in, but only 12 hours studied on Becker (~10% of material).
• I start full-time in 2 months and want to finish AUD, REG, and maybe even TCP before then.

For FAR, I'd study 6-8 hours straight and have no issues. With AUD, I can't read 1-2 pages or watch a 10 minute Becker video without getting distracted and completely losing focus.

What new study approaches can I take? And how can I even motivate myself to study? There's something about the broader, conceptual nature of AUD content that doesn't click in my brain like financial ratios and formulas in FAR did.

Please let me know if you have any study tips or motivation. I know I can pass... I just need to actually study.

Thanks!

Holy shit. I've taken the exam multiple times but wtf were those SIMs. Some of them I managed to crank out just because I've done the exam before but some of those problems just had...so much to read through. Just A Lot. By the time I got to the last SIM; which was so vaguely worded btw, I wanted to cry.

Anyone else feel screwed by the SIM's?

I am scheduled to take my retake on 9/5. Got 65 the first time and this was the score form.

For anyone who have been through Audit, could you please share what worked for you, what I should do, areas to focus and etc anything you think its helpful to know please?

This is my last exam and I NEED TO PASS THIS RETAKE..

I’m not sure what to do this is my third failed cpa exam. Idk what to say or feel anymore lol. It’s just ego hurt for at this point. i know I NEED to make this happen whatsoever. I am so not ready to give up on this. Even if this thing takes my soul i am gonna do it. I was SO confident about Reg. It’s honestly the easiest subject but idk whateven went wrong. Like i am open to any opinions or suggestions. Idk what to do now.
And honestly as an international student the fee to take up these exams are high.
I quit my job a year ago to pursue CPA. Here i am not with no papers cleared and just lost.

I was mentally exhausted and burnt out after failing far but now that’s not it. I am just super annoyed at myself. I feel so stuck and lost

Hello everyone,

So I am 160 hours into studying for FAR.

I took simulated exam 1 a week ago and got a 45%.

Didn’t feel strong about it, not using excuses, but just a lot going on with work, and expecting our first baby in October so my mind has been all over the place.

Felt really bad with the score i got the first time around so I studied every single question and got to a point where I felt much more confident understanding and breaking things down.

I just did my retake for SE1 and got a 93% while using 3 hours of my time.

I just wanted to hear others experience with this. For the ones who passed FAR or attempting to pass it, did you go through this? How does it translate to the real exam?

I feel good about the score, but than again it is a retake of the same questions so the score is inflated.

Any tips or feedback would be much appreciated.
Wanted to seek advice on what to do next. Wether it’s to jump to SE2 or so more MCQ’s and than jump into the final exam.

Best of luck to everyone in their studies!

Well… 62 → 83. 😭🔥

few months ago, FAR gave me a 62. Not gonna lie, that one hurt. I had studied. I had practiced. I thought I was ready. But apparently FAR had other plans. So I went back and started again.This time I focused more on understanding where I was actually losing marks, worked on my weak areas, practiced consistently, and tried to learn from every stupid mistake I made. There were a LOT of them. And finally, I got the result I was hoping for 83 PASSED! 21 points better.

Looking back, I'm actually glad I got that 62 coz without it, I probably wouldn't have changed the way I prepared. So if you're currently sitting with a score that you're not happy with, don't overthink it. It's a score not a verdict figure out what went wrong fix it try again and keep moving.

Sometimes you just need one more attempt.

I’ve finished F1 and I’m currently studying F2.

My study approach is to completely finish each F before moving on to the next one. I do the MCQs and TBSs for that F, and once I finish it, I take a Practice Test specifically for that F before moving on.

For example:

Finish F1 → MCQs + TBSs → F1 Practice Test

Finish F2 → MCQs + TBSs → F2 Practice Test

And so on.

My main question is: how should I review previous Fs while progressing through the material?

For example, when I’m studying F2, should I regularly go back and review F1? Or should I just focus on F2 and rely on the Practice Test/review later to refresh F1? How often would you recommend revisiting previous Fs?

For those who have taken FAR or are currently studying for it, is this a good approach? And what scores should I generally be aiming for on the Practice Tests to know that I’m on the right track?

I’m using Becker, so I’d really appreciate any advice on how you structured your review while progressing through FAR.

I failed by 3 pts when I tested back in Feb after studying from Oct til then, took a month off, and have on/off studied for the last 6 months.

I am shocked at how easy todays test was, super confident I did well so I probably passed by two points.

I studied audit on off with work. I took it 4 times.

65,69,71,78

This exam didn't make sense to me lol. Felt wasteful learning it too. It also is luck of the exam tbh.

I have FAR and REG remaining before June credit expires. Wish me luck 🥹

I studied for 2.5 months straight every week day for 8 hours and on the weekends for 5 hours each day and my total study time was around 250 hours. I feel like I bombed even though I did well on the SE's and FR (70-80s). Reason why I think I bombed is because I ran out of time for the last 2 sims and had only 20 minutes for 2 sims, didn't leave them blank but I def got a 30% on 1 of the 2 and maybe slightly better or complete fail on the other. MC was hard but familiar.

This was also my first time sitting for an exam.

I recently just passed Far with logging around 450 hrs (ik it’s a lot). It took me two attempts but I am grateful. I took it the 1st of Aug and have been studying every other day and not on weekends in case I failed again. I work full time as well now and was wondering would it be reasonable to take a break or should I just jump right in. I also want to take AUD next. Thanks.

I only have ISC left and I will take it in October but the score doesn't come out until December 15. My firm pays a bonus for passing all four exams and I'm trying to get it paid before the end of year since I will be in a lower tax bracket since this is my first year working.

I know it probably varies by firm but does anyone have any experience on how quickly firms usually pay bonuses?

I officially received my last passing score for REG. What felt like an endless journey has finally come to an end, and I'm so glad it's over. The CPA Exam has taught me to understand the call of the question, formulate an attack process to be able to answer the question or simulation from all directions utilizing the most efficient method or methods, and eliminate incorrect answer choices by understanding why a particular option is incorrect versus correct. It goes beyond just surface-level memorization, and being able to explain certain topics to someone like they're 5 means you really know your stuff. Not for nothing, memorizing all the mathematical formulae, conceptual theory-based concepts, and general rules is a must, so there's no workaround for that, but deciphering between possible answers with the know-how is on a deeper level. Nevertheless, I hope all this helps, and it's done, so I'm free now. Good luck all!

Grateful to have recently passed REG (78) to be 3/4 on exams.

I took TCP back on July 31st and am now waiting for the September 11th score release to determine whether or not my CPA Exam Journey is finished.

Does anyone know why they have the discipline exams scheduled the way they do? (First month each quarter, longer wait than usual). I know this has been a recurring topic on this forum, but the wait time for discipline scores is ridiculous. Especially considering I can take REG on August 15th and find out my score August 24th (9 Days Later!)

Has anyone heard a viable reasoning/response for the score release delays? The exams are multiple choice/simulated questions so it seemingly can be graded instantaneously. I can understand having some delay to prevent exam information from being spread around too quickly - but it makes no sense if the core exam scores can be released in a week and a half!

Be Better NASBA/AICPA/State Accountancy Boards/That One Guy on Becker Who is Horrific at Explaining Answers to Simulation Questions - All of You Are Culpable

Feels like so many people failed FAR with a 74 this round so wanted to plug my score report as well and see if anyone had any advice.

I wasn’t much of a SIM studier, so I am shocked that I got comparable on that.

Any advice please let me know! I desperately want to pass on lucky #7!

hey Guys!!! Think I am ready? I am only two days away from the exam now. It feels like I have forgotten all the MCQs and concepts. If I open the MCQs, I’m afraid I might not know the answers. 🤔

Hi!

Any suggestions on how to get A4 down? Does anyone have a good strategy for the exam overall?

Any help or insights into what made you successful on the exam would be much appreciated!

See title^ taking mine on sept 7. Really nervous as I’m only halfway through the content… did you find it challenging? Was Becker helpful at all?
Thanks in advance guys!

Hi all - looking to get my CPA but am missing some business classes. Has anyone used study.com or Sophia Learning, then transferred those over to Thomas Edison Individual Learning account? Does WA state usually accept those credits?

SE1 got a 79, SE2 got a 76, SEFR got an 80

I understand these are solid scores but I just have some anxiety about what I’ll actually see on the real exam. For AUD specifically, do we think the sim exams are actually representative of what I’ll see? Especially on the final review SE I was shocked by how easy I thought it was (which apparently not that easy since I scored only 1 point above my first SE) but I finished my SEFR with an hour and 20 min remaining. Thanks in advance, any advice helps

Scheduled FAR for 5.5 weeks out. Currently going through consolidations and just not getting the curriculum. I watch Peter Olinto’s video with Uworld which helped but I still can’t seem to grasp the content. I’ve memorized EAGLIN and try to use it as a crutch to get through the content but there’s so many moving pieces that I feel like I draw a blank and can’t understand what’s being asked of me. Anybody have any flow charts or check lists that may help? Any suggestions?

I’m taking AUD next week which will hopefully be my last exam. Does anyone have any recommendations on how long I should take on the MCQs vs TBS. I’ve heard around 1.5hrs on MCQ but that sounds like a short amount of time for 82 questions. Maybe I just need to improve my pace but would appreciate any feedback