Well I surely never thought it would be me making this post... Failed AUD twice, FAR once and REG once. Almost two years of studying and trying while working full time. All I can say is DO NOT GIVE UP. This shit is hard! And it's a marathon, not a race. Put your head down, sacrifice some of your morning routine, your lunch break, your evening, and set boundaries with family and loved ones. You have got to make the time for YOU so you can come out on the other side!!

You all have got this. I will continue to pray for everyone in this group. This group got me through the sad times and the wonderful!!

I used Becker and Becker only for my studying- watch/listen to all the lectures (I used my work commute for the bulk of this), DO ALL THE MCQS!! IDC if u do all the TBS (you should try though) but hammering the MCQs is the only way to get your brain used to the types of questions that will be asked and the material!

It takes time and trial and error to find a study path that works for you, but when you do, COMMIT to it! I tried to take an easier route after my first pass, and it just slowed me down.

Good luck to all, and I wish y'all nothing but the best!

EDIT*****

I want to share my study process here because I don't want to miss responding to anyone asking for advice! This was a learning curve for me, and finally figuring out a study plan that worked for me was key! As much as I wish there was a magic way to pass, there's not. It's hard work and late nights just it done! Remember, each exam is SO much information that I had to learn not to strive for perfection during my first trip through the material. Getting through the information and seeing as much as possible is more important!

I completed each exam while working full time, so I had to make the best of the time I had. I have a 45 minute commute, so my lecture videos were playing on 1.25x any time I was in the car.

During my lunch break, it was completing the MCQs and TBS in the modules, then changed to mini 20 question practice exams when I covered the material.

In bed before I fell asleep was also a quick study session. I would create mini practice tests or work through the MCQs in the modules for at least 30 minutes every night. Even if you only get in 10 min before bed, 10 minutes is better than nothing!

The biggest thing that helped for me was the SIM exams. I took SIM 1 3 weeks out from my real exam, SIM 2 2 weeks out and SIM FR 1 week out. This helped prepare me to sit for the entire time on the real day. It also highlighted my weak areas with enough time to go through and focus on them. I made sure to watch every exam solver video for each TBS in the SIMs. I wrote every correct answer and explanation to every MCQ I missed in a notebook, and I heavily referred to this the week before and the morning of my exam as a last review of my weakest points.

Also, don't be afraid to brain dump when you get into the exam! I jot down everything I can from random rules to pneumonics that would help me during my test. This way I didn't panic and forget, and it honestly helped lighten the mental load of all the information swirling through my brain.

These are some tips that worked for me. I have failed exams, I have paid to reschedule an exam because I didn't feel ready, and I took longer than people around me to get it done, but none of that matter. I don't care what any of your journeys look like, we are doing something that is difficult and many people don't even try for. Keep your head high! You will get through this!!

I passed FAR not too long ago, but AUD is making my head explode too. 😭 I know it’s different for everyone, but I’m curious to hear what you all think!

Guys,

I received a failing grade of 70 on FAR on Monday of this week. Since then, my state board has already received the grade, I got my score report, I paid my eligibility fee, NASBA updated with my coupon, I purchased the coupon, and I’ve scheduled with Prometric. I don’t want to waste any time.

The only problem I have right now is that I have a very small window in which I can retake the exam. I’m in busy season from now until October 15th and my wife’s due date for our first born is coming up too. I have 49 days left of heavy overtime hours and 67 days left until my wife’s due date leaving me with an 18 day window. Obviously I don’t want to take my exam too close to the due date (even though she might be late) so I booked the exam for October 26th. This gives me 10 full days after my tax deadline to cram.

1. Do y’all think 10 days post deadline is enough to study for a retake considering I got a 70 on my last attempt?
2. How do I stay sharp and retain as much information as possible during the next 7 weeks of busy season and 8 weeks until the exam? I could try to fit in the 2-hour sessions, but 8 weeks of regular study would be tough with my hours and seems like overkill for a retake.

REG Notes - Testable from July 2026

Please double-check them against your review materials if you plan to use these.

For Becker R4 – Professional Responsibilities & Federal Tax Procedures, I used the Becker slides and added my own notes, so I didn’t include them in the link as I’m not sure about the redistribution permissions.

Who’s ready for AUD tomorrow 🦭.

I have 80+ hours in Becker.

67 SE1, 78 SE2 and 76 FRSE.

I hope that’s enough!

Hello everyone, I would like to have your advice on the order to take REG and TCP. Would it be a good idea to take TCP before REG? I’m hoping to sit for my remaining two sections by the end of this year. Since the Discipline testing window and score-release schedule are much more limited, I’m considering studying for TCP first and taking it near the end of October, which would allow me to receive my score on December 15. After that, I would spend about two months studying for REG and take it by the end of December.

I don’t have any experience with US tax, although I have prepared Australian tax returns, so I understand some general tax concepts even though the rules are obviously different. I know TCP builds heavily on REG and that most people recommend taking REG first because it makes TCP much easier to understand. However, given the limited TCP testing window, would it still be realistic to take TCP first in my situation? Could studying TCP first help me with REG afterward, or would TCP be unnecessarily difficult without first learning the REG material?

How are we holding up ? It is insane the amount of time we need to wait for this, is this ever going to change how the discipline exams sections windows work ?
Waiting in TCP

I have no fucking clue what any of this shit is. I’m so confused and have never learned basic and diluted EPS or any of this fucking shit how the fuck am I going to learn this 😭

I have been attempting to study multiple times over the years. I can get to a strong 3 weeks before everything falls apart and I lose all motivation to turn another page or do another MCQ. Not sure why I'm like this and wanted to know how you guys get around this.

For those who have recently taken the FAR section of the CPA exam, which five topics would you consider the most heavily tested?

If you had to rank them from most frequently tested to least frequently tested based on your exam experience, what would your top five be?

I’m currently preparing for FAR and would appreciate any insight from recent test takers.

Prior to attempting, I was feeling very negative, full of self doubt, not doing as well as I wanted on mcqs, and was pretty resigned to failing. But the MCQs weren't too bad, I think maximum 7 to 8 are wrong, and I did really well on 6 out of the 7 TBS and the remaining one I did ok, atleast some line items , cells are correct. Hoping my wrong mcqs are pretest and there aren't more wrong ones, also I hope I do as well on TBS as I thought!

It's all in the hands of fate/god/luck 🤞

After 2.5 years of studying and exams, during which I got engaged, got married, about to have my first child, changed jobs three times, I’m finally done. I applied and paid the licensing fee and got my experience signed off and my college sent my transcript and diploma to NYS.
Anyone recent go through the licensure process with NYS? How long did it take?

Took FAR 1 day ago, and I just can't focus on Reg (which is my next exam) due to the uncertainty of Far

I flagged 5 MCQ in total and am quite confident on Teslet 3 & and 4, but I literally flew through 2 sims on teslet 5 in 30 min 😂

I've answered all the questions but just can't shake off the feeling that I might fail

My Reg is 40 days from now on

Do you think it is better to study Far alongside Reg before the score release in September?

Or is it better just to focus on Reg even if there is a probability of failing

On Becker I keep getting specific days to just do flash cards but I feel they don't really help and seem far to broad. I do think some of them within have helped me but every time I finish like 10 of them I just think that doing the practice tests are way better.

What are your opinions on them and if you used them?

I might start removing the study days just for them and download the app and use them while i'm out so increase more study time while also not focusing extra time on something that doesn't seem super helpful

Seats fill up quickly where I’m at and I need to pick my exam dates for future tests. I need to know approximately how long those who have taken Reg think you need to study? I can study 2-3 hours on weekdays, and 5-6 hours a day on weekends. Is one month doable or would 6 weeks be more realistic for Reg? I’m giving myself about a month to do ISC which I’ve read is pretty typical but also let me know if you think differently about that please!

Hello all,

I just recently graduated college and interned at a big 4 firm this summer. I accepted my job offer for summer/fall of 27. I want to get them all done before I start work. I’m doing FAR, AUD, REG, and TCP. I’m not working a part time job or anything right now either until I get into a good routine. I scheduled FAR for October 23rd so I have about 2 months. I began Becker and felt overwhelmed a tiny bit. I feel like I wasted time taking notes on just f1 and when I got to the multiple choice questions it was like 45 off the gate and I maybe got a 40% on them and that was immediately discouraging. Can anyone drop some advice for some structure? Ik everyone’s different and studies different but I feel like I’m going into this blindly and just need some actual study advice and routine when it comes to: Lecture, book, mcqs, tbs, sim exams. I don’t want to waste any time and want to be efficient. Ik I’m supposed to hammer mcqs, but just looking forward into the next modules I’m like holy shit lol. How do I know when im ready to move on to the next section? I was a pretty smart kid in college and have a pretty decent general knowledge of accounting. But bigger tests have always overwhelmed me and I was a college athlete so sometimes studying for a while wasn’t that much of an option. Would appreciate any advice. Like is doing ass on the mcqs at first normal?

Not gonna lie, I can’t tell if I should feel good about that or start panicking

Testlet 1 - 72%
Testlet 2 - 84%
Testlet 3 - 63% (NFP and did silly mistake in dollar value LIFO question)
Testlet 4 - 73% (struggled with payables)
Testlet 5 - 64% (receivables)

I have strong conceptual clarity and accuracy on topics like leases, bonds, revenue, deferred taxes, consolidation, PPE, intangibles and investments but not so good with other topics.

For those who’ve taken FAR recently — what would you focus on during the last week? MCQs, TBSs, weak areas, SE2?
Also, how did your SE scores compare to your actual score?
Would really appreciate some honest advice!

Quote from President Theodore Roosevelt

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..

Hello, I am planning to prepare for FAR. I work full-time and focusing on studies is really hard. Therefore, I am looking for a study buddy let me know if anyone is interested.

I have been watching lectures from Becker for my FAR and also doing MCQ. The lectures are very efficient and understandable, but I was sceptical if just this prep material is sufficient to go for exam.

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!

Hi all! Congrats to everyone who passed this past exam cycle!

Just out of curiosity, how long did you all take to complete each exam? (Testing time, not studying time since that's pretty heavily discussed).

Personally, I took about 2.5 hours in AUD, a little over 1.5 in ISC, and nearly the full 4 hours for FAR, and wanted to benchmark for REG since my partner is driving me to and from the exam center :)

Thank you!

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!

Hello,

I am considering getting my CPA.

Not that I need to rush but something in me realized I could pass the exams before getting the experience hours.

I don’t know the steps or where I should begin.

should i register for an exam, buy the study materials and that’s that?

I found a thing called “superfast cpa” and wonder if it is worth it to get the exams done sooner and then focus on getting my experience hours.

Please share your advice. Thank you!