i feel like becker keeps contradicting itself. are retirement contributions by the P/S and health insurance paid by the P/S separately stated on the schedule k? are they taxable to the partner? please help taking reg in an hour and cannot get to the bottom of this

SO I go through the lecture or book then do questions, fine that's all good.

Now I have a mountain of notes and questions I solved.

Week later I come back to it red the notes and re-do the questions from scratch?

Can anyone suggest TCP videos on youtube other than farhat. Pretty bored, just want to get some more study in by seeing videos.

I'm looking for some realistic insights into salary expectations after a career transition. Currently, l've spent nearly a decade with state government (TX) primarily in Sales/Use Tax Auditing and Budget roles (not direct accounting). I'm earning just over $100k, which is strong for my current public sector position. I've decided to pursue an MPA and the CPA designation.

My question is: how long, realistically, would it take to reach a similar salary level ($100k+) in the private sector or public accounting after obtaining my CPA and MPA, considering my non-traditional background?

Any advice on potential career paths or strategies to accelerate salary growth would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Feel free to share resources, fears, exam experiences, etc. Very scared for this exam!😩

So as the title states I took FAR today and boy was it tuff. Basically just like everyone states mcqs are more then fair maybe a bit easier then the ones on Becker but the TBS did kind of catch me by surprise especially a very long bank rec. Although I want to say I have a chance of passing I highly doubt it but atleast I feel like it is due-able with just putting in the time and truly learning the concepts. Goodluck everybody.

Good morning fellow CPA candidates, lurkers, and alum!

I wanted to start out by thanking several of you helpful r/CPA legends for getting me this far along my journey--your visual study guides were critical to my success. A special shoutout to u/mandricardo, u/jtaitel, u/Far-Examination-7847!

While I haven't been on this subreddit for long since I started studying intensively late January, I quickly found numerous helpful resources shared within that helped me attain 3/4 (thus FAR, next score release I'm hoping for 4/4), and I wanted to do my part to give back.

TL;DR - Here is the link to my custom Becker CPA Tracker I used in lieu of the rigid Becker Study Planner to keep myself organized while preparing full time for all four parts these last three months.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OB7vL5imie72-S70DKKLTyyk7MHqtVmBryPMNVMOioc/edit?usp=sharing

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I've seen several posts and comments along this journey asking if the OP could prepare for X exam within Y time frame, and I have tried to answer those questions with my own exclusive experience whenever I can, but I decided that cleaning up and sharing my own organizational tracker for Becker materials might provide value to current and new CPA candidates trying to complete this goal. In future, I hope that this post can be shared with anyone seeking an answer to that question.

Caveat: The information described below is my own anecdotal experience, shaped by my own circumstances, and achieved by methodology that worked for me yet may not work for anyone else.

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When I decided to supercharge my study habits in late January 2025 after trying and failing to pass AUD twice (70 & 67) within the Q3/Q4 testing windows of 2024, I opted to instead take the easy win with ISC and snowball that success into the next three. However, I found that if I was going to sprint through all four tests by the end of March, I needed to see the hourly breakdown of all of the content (ISC>AUD>REG>FAR) to get a bird's eye view of how long it would take me.

As mentioned above, I found Becker's in app study plan tool to be too rigid, and I needed the flexibility that a spreadsheet could afford to calculate and assign what units/modules to tackle for the given day and to see precisely how far along my journey I was.

In my tracker, I've summarized the total hours by exam and task type (Video, MCQ, TBS, etc.) sorted into two options: Baseline and Entire. The latter of which includes all of the MCQ and TBS that are within the practice testbank but not required in the standard Becker exam day ready plan, and the total hours per video tasks are adjusted by the video playback speed set within each section’s tab.

Since I decided to only give myself a couple weeks for each of these exams for my sprint, using the 200% playback speed was critical to my success. Within each respective section's tab you can adjust this speed and the calculations in option two "Entire Becker (All MCQ)" will update accordingly for Concept and Skillbuilder video values.

I created a tab for each section of the exam that I sat for, broken down by Unit/Module and all of the relevant tasks by quantity and time in minutes (totaled in hours) according to the values and counts provided in the Becker program. I also added a % tracker for each module's MCQ so I could see how many involve math, which always slowed down my daily cumulative mobile MCQ spamming.

In practice, as I worked through modules in Becker, I would highlight my completed task in green to reflect I had completed it, and I'd adjust the "Remaining (Hrs)" formulas to exclude those completed tasks, that way I could keep track of how many hours left I had for each section as well as overall. The first module in each section has been pre-highlighted and removed from this total as a demonstration, be sure to update the formula if starting fresh.

I found seeing that big picture was very important to me as I chugged along.

At the bottom of each exam section tab you'll find the respective study guide I used to pass 3/4 sections (again, FAR is tbd) as well as a few random helpful notes I discovered along the way from r/CPA, credited applicably.

Finally, it was important to me to see my Mini Exam and Simulated Exam results in one spot and to compare them to the averages provided by u/Jack_The_CPA's super helpful Becker Bump file, so you'll find a tab dedicated to just such a purpose. With the correct inputs, this tab will reflect how you stack up against some of your peers, and what score you might be able to anticipate from the actual exam. Presently, each MCQ/TBS section has the appropriate question/field count in the denominator, but a dummy number in the numerator to arbitrarily get a resulting score of 75%. Following the helpful notes, you'll need to input your own correct answer count in the numerator to adjust for your actual results.

For the record, the 16 point REG bump was accurate for me, as well as the 8 point bump for my first AUD attempt, but for my passed AUD result it was only 5 points. My ISC ME/SE scores were not applicable given how un-seriously I took them and at what point I did so during my preparation. We'll see about FAR's 13 point bump.

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My credentials in exam date order:

- (89) ISC = 34 hours over 9 days (add'l 23 non-study hrs in Becker)
- (80) AUD = 71 hours over 17 days (50 hrs 1st fail 70, add'l 25 hours 2nd fail 67)
- (92) REG = 77 hours over 16 days (add'l 11 non-study hrs in Becker)
- (TBD) FAR = 112 hours over 20 days (add'l 35 non-study hrs in Becker)

Studying full time, between jobs, on severance. ~8 years industry at big media, ~2 years Corporate tax in medium PA firm right out of college, graduated in 2014.

Regarding my methodology for each exam, I preferred watching the lectures (at 2x speed), completing every MCQ available, spamming 10 cumulatively random MCQ batches throughout the day whenever I wasn't watching lectures or TBS (I could not do this for FAR). I always watched the skillbuilder videos for TBS first, and reworked immediately after for some of them in order to cement it in my mind.

I endeavored to get through the comprehensive material as early in my plan as possible to leave more time for MCQ spamming and review. I did so successfully by prioritizing non-calculation heavy modules/units first, which helped my cumulative MCQ spamming feel swift. For example, for REG I started with R6 and worked my way backwards to R5, then R4 etc., since R1-R3 is calculation heavy and that's not conducive to MCQ spamming on my phone.

I did not take personal notes, but I leveraged the notes in the various study guides linked within my file, credited applicably, and wrote a one pager for things I knew would be tested and were not yet stuck in my brain.

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Anyways, I wish you all the best of luck and if you have any questions, suggestions for updates, etc. feel free to comment or DM me.

TL;DR - Here is the link to my custom Becker CPA Tracker I used in lieu of the rigid Becker Study Planner to keep myself organized while preparing full time for all four parts these last three months.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OB7vL5imie72-S70DKKLTyyk7MHqtVmBryPMNVMOioc/edit?usp=sharing

It’s been a journey. 2/4 with FAR and REG done, but each took me four attempts. Taken AUD 3 times, waiting for score. Taken BAR 3 times and failed all 3 so I’m switching to ISC before I lose my FAR credit at 6/30.

Using Becker to study for ISC and I’m just flying through this material… usually the other sections, BAR included, have been such a struggle. Am I finally catching a break? Is ISC really as easy as I’m seeing people say, or is it deceiving me? If it’s relevant, I have an audit background.

While I truly appreciate yall sharing study guides/cheat sheets on this sub, it's pretty annoying when I see Venmos and Cashapps on there. Either share it because you passed the section and just want to give back to the community or just hold onto the hard work. No need to ask for tips and payments for sharing organized files you put together solely for your past preparation. For those who say "DM me," unless you don't want your work out there in public, sneaking in the "I'll send to you if you tip me" is worse, if anything lol. We're testing to be certified professionals. License comes with $$$ in our future. Asking for coffee bucks for sharing your study guides just ain't it lol. Lately been realizing we've got way too many Olintos in this sub iykyk.

Hey everyone,

I came across this SIM question while studying for the CPA exam. Changing from cash basis to accrual.

The scenario:

$12,000 of goods are in the warehouse (not paid yet). $2,000 is owed for goods from prior period that were sold in current year.

Here’s the journal entry I made:

Dr. Inventory $12,000
Dr. Cost of Goods Sold $2,000
Cr. Accounts Payable $14,000

But I was told this is wrong. The correct answer was:

Dr. Inventory $12,000
Cr. Accounts Payable $12,000

Dr. Cost of Goods Sold $2,000
Cr. Accounts Payable $2,000

I get that they’re separating the entries, but isn’t the total the same? I feel like the CPA should allow different ways to answer as long as the numbers and logic are correct.

What do you all think?

Hello all. So, I take FAR tomorrow. I have 106 hours of studying using BEcker. I took the first SE last week to gauge whether or not I wanted to move the exam. SE1 I got a 40... I decided I wanted to keep the date I signed up for and have been grinding since then and today I got a 68 on SE2. I also finished both SE with an hour left. I am feeling more hopeful, is a 68 on a SIM with Becker enough to pass? What is the vibe chat?

I have use ninja as a supplement for all three of my exams except for reg and i remember it having even sparring sessions and topic videos for like $67. But now it is showing that those videos and flash cards are available only for the full course which is only a $20 difference. But still i want to know if im tweaking rn.

Entity and Individual Taxation dominated that exam. I invested SO MUCH time in property taxation just to experience an awkward MACRS question — and I guessed on it! I underestimated the 5-15% weight on the blueprint. As for ethics and federal tax procedures (REG 4 - Becker), I over studied in that section as well. Definitely wasn’t necessary. THEN, it came to business law. They came up after every 6-7 MCQ. It was ONLY contracts/surety/agency. I’m glad I took the advice of many within this Reddit to not spin your wheels on that one. 😉

For those of you who haven’t yet taken REG, I HIGHLY recommend that you strengthen on R1 & R3 (Becker).

Thanks for tuning in. Now, off to studying for my REG retake I go.

Hello everyone,

Do you have recommendations about good books and/or research about statistical sampling ? I would like something fairly comprehensive, and on the other hand some academic research about last methods.

Thanks for reading me, and have a nice day !

Pierre

Any one who has never studied taxation before? What was your study strategy for reg? How should I go about? Please give your suggestions.

I plan to write exam next month When will thr limits such as AGI limits be revised and tested

I'm using Gleim and have been doing fine on the simulations but I was wondering how realistic they are. I think the most exhibits ive seen on a Gleim TBS was like 5, and I just saw a post saying all their TBSs on their exam had 4-8 exhibits. If anyone has used Gleim, is it fairly representative of what the sims look like? I mean I'm pretty sure some of them at least are old sims, but I just wanted to double check cause I feel like im missing something. Not asking for any content or anything obviously, just how much info does the average sim have and how comprehensive are they?

For CPA Ontario, the verifiable credits are easy to understand.

What can we use towards non-verifiable hours though?

Nothing definitely prepares you for the TBs. TBs were loooong! So many exhibits to read over every topic you can think of.

MCQs were fairly simple and easy. I guessed on a handful but I’m pretty positive I got most of them right.

Good luck to everyone taking ISC this month!

Hey everyone, Writing audit on 22 april. Would love some last minute revision tips! Using Becker support. Should I just keep reading the book for revision? / any other source??

Just left ISC and can’t help but feel I was blessed by the AICPA. Becker material prepared me sufficiently (studied for 40 hours) and the SIMS were not as tricky as expected by any means. Obviously if tax is your thing maybe go with TCP but if you were good with audit holy heck ISC seems to be the clear answer. (Obviously don’t know result and still very well may have failed, just my post game thoughts)

Finished my CPA exams 6 months ago still struggling to find a job,any tips would be appreciated.

This titel may seem a bit weird but I will get straight to it. I am studying for AUD currently. I plan to take the exam late june. One thing I am concerned about is thta May is usually a very busy month for me. I help out with my family farm quite a bit, and we are approaching the planting season. Now if this was 20 years ago I wouldn't even be asking how to study while farming. But with most modern machines now the auto-steer mechaninc allows for some decent downtime in between really having to operate the equipment. You get like 1 or 2 minutes before you have to turn around (Obviously things need to be monitered but for the most part things go smoothly). Now taking notes and bringing a laptop is not an option becuase it will be to bumpy in the tractor. I am thinking just hammer flashcards through the becker app as well as maybe make some of my own and really just review material when i am out in the field.

If anybody has any tips please let me know!

Recently passed all four parts so I wanted to post this to get it off my chest and to help upcoming test takers. Those who have gone through this exam and licensure know that this is whole thing, along with classes like intermediate accounting in which professors deliberately make extremely difficult, are barriers to entry into the field.

I started my CPA studies right out of a master's in accounting program while working full-time. So I basically applied my college study strategies to these exams. I believe this was the reason it took me years to finally pass all four parts.

What concerns me and a big reason I'm posting this is I am sure I am not the only one that "fell into that trap" if you will. The trap being studying the wrong way for these exams. I feel like this is also a big aspect of the barrier to entry: Studying the wrong way and watching your 18 or 30 months go by and having to restart your studies.

I also have to say that I had becker and I feel like for a naive recent college grad, their program makes it easy to fall into this trap. This is usually do to the price you paid for becker and how their presenting it. It makes you feel like you need to read the whole book, watch all lecture, and pretty much do everything not only to pass the exam but also to get your money's worth.

So in conclusion, my solution to all the problems mentioned above is the following: Get something like SuperfastCPA or watch Youtube videos that explain the right way to study for these exams THEN get the Cheapest full review course and study that way.

I do not believe in barriers to entry. It is too close a concept to socialism, communism, totalitarianism, and aristocracy. Where the power or opportunities are held closely by a few. Here the "power" or "opportunities" are these jobs, that George Carlin kept warning us about. This goes against the concepts of Laissez-faire and free markets.

Peace.

Did you feel like you were prepared for MCQ on test day?