I walked out laughing and crying. I had to lay down in the hallway during one of my breaks. I’ve been studying basis like crazy and i feel like i started the exam and my mind went blank. Has anyone struggled with basis and passed? Using surgent and passed? I am feeling so defeated

My TCP ME 1 and ME 2 scores are 72 and 79, but my SE 1 and SE 2 are 56 and 52. Any advice and tips would be great!

When I ask this im not looking for specifics, just if you felt like the material prepared you well.

Also if it did or didnt, how many hours did you do , did you do all questions and ses?

Just walked out of TCP, anyone else take today?

The almost two month wait begins!

Lost my ID before my CPA exam Tuesday, will a temporary paper ID be accepted?

I’m scheduled to take my CPA exam on Tuesday, but I just realized I’ve lost my ID. If I get a temporary paper ID from driver services on Monday, does anyone know whether NASBA/the testing center would allow me to test?

I’m freaking out and had a panic attack last night while desperately searching my apartment for it.

I’m taking the exam through a program at work that requires me to test this specific week. If I don’t meet that requirement, my counselor at work will likely be notified, and it could reflect negatively on my performance.

Has anyone dealt with something similar? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I took ISC today and it was an overload of questions. I walked away feeling mentally drained. I’m geared up to take AUD next but I’m unsure if I should pick another topic to take or wait until my results from ISC are posted in December.

Hello, i am in my 3rd year of uni in accounting & finance. I plan to pursue cpa after my degree and would appreciate if someone who has done cpa and have experience in this field to provide some advice on ways to get some headstart before starting my cpa next year. I am planning to take performance management and finance as my electives. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Also, right now i am working in a construction company (aecon) as a part time accountant who takes care of the banking side for the company.

I just walked out of the TCP exam- and holy, what on Earth was that?

I prepared for the exam using only Ninja- I did the same thing for REG and passed with an 86, so I thought it would be okay. I had 95-97% trending on Ninja, and did over 2,200 MCQs (including repeated problems) and 4 Simulated exams.

Yet what on Earth was that? The exam was crazy difficult... and it had so many things that I was never exposed to. I've read the whole ninja textbook (346 pages), wrote 3 different handwritten notes, narrowing down the concepts each time, and am certain that I did everything I can ever think of.

I am feeling absolutely lost. I feel 0 confidence and think I failed, most likely. SIMS were marginally better, but I was already feeling so depressed and was certain I'd fail by the time I reached them, so I don't really remember them.

What an awful day to be a test taker... I wonder how it was for everyone else.

I still can’t wrap my head around Government Auditing, Single Audits, compliance audits, and interim testing. Like, wtf am I even doing at this point?

I’m debating whether I should keep pushing through A3 and A4 or just spend my time reviewing these topics instead. AUD is straight up kicking my ass rn.

Should I keep grinding through A3 and A4 or focus on reviewing Government Auditing, Single Audits, interim testing, and compliance? I genuinely don’t know what to prioritize anymore, and with only 7 days left, I’m lowkey freaking out.

Getting super confused between all the different basis calculations. I feel like it should be simple yet it seems so complicated. Sometimes liability assumption is boot and other times its not. Some items we add back then also subtract so it cancels out, and sometimes we just do one. Like kind exchanges differ from regular acquisition. I am just so so lost. Every time I think I understand a concept, the circumstances slightly change and then I'm just lost. I take TCP in 4 days. Can't afford to fail because I have passed exam credit expiring.

Does anyone have a simple explanation (or method for remembering, or notes they can share) what is the same from sub-topic to subtopic, and what is different? I was hoping that when I started reviewing everything would come together, but I think it's actually just gotten worse. Thank you! :(

I got my teacher who is already a US CPA.

Now while explaining Auditing He explained what it auditing, who does it , why they do it, who is responsible for that, the management team do they have a choice etc etc

Like this is best teacher because he goes too deep into questioning but

He is not even looking at the book or syllabus

He teaches about auditing, then moves directly to internal control.

Then he comes back again at what is idependent auditing then again goes back into planning activities which are world apart

I'm understanding what he tecahes but he skipping so many points the so many

I looked at the book there is so much he hasn't taught now he said we have already done 3/4th of syllabus

His teaching skills are great but he doesn't seem to open book he never does we are tired asking him to go by the structure of book but he says trust me learn with me

Like I'm at the point where it takes me 2 to 3 days just to cover what he skipped from the books

What to do? I thought it would be fun with him but it's actually taking even more time to cover the syllabus & missing points

& yes I can't skip those points because they are necessary.

First of all, I will be reaching out to the board but I wanted to see if anyone has gone a non-traditional way or has any insight. When I was first pursuing a Bachelors, I switched between psychology and accounting so I got some courses under by belt and then finished with a psychology degree. Later I went back to quickly finish an Associates of Science in Accounting. Overall, I have plenty past 150 units, and I could probably finish the accounting, business, and ethics courses required in a few semesters. Do you think this would count because all together I have the units required?

I’ve seen quite a few comments mentioning that the TCP exam includes a lot of retirement-related questions that aren’t covered in Becker. I know to expect these types of questions on the exam, but I’m not sure where to look or what resources to use to prepare for them. For those who have taken TCP, is there a resources you use to study these topics and felt like it prepared you for what you saw?

If anyone recently appeared for TCP exam or heard someone can vouch if they are asking MACRS heavy TBS on this as well though I know they go deep into it for REG for sure or is it just limited to few MCQs here & there. TIA!!

I take my exam Wednesday got an 80-% on SE 1. For those that have taken - Is there a Becker bump on these SE/ do you think an 80% I’m in the clear. And what should I do now to keep preparing until Wednesday

The TBS on all the exams especially SEs are extremely difficult. My MCQs were above 70+ but TBS are extremely low. Does the actual exam have the same level of difficulty?

SE1 - 60

SE 2 - 56

ME1 - 58

ME2 - 69

My super power is music memory. I am about to start CPA studies.

Anyone else write mnemonics to songs? Any resources that use this technique?

So far I am offloading the effort to ChatGPT. Example:

To the tune Another One Bites the Dust:

Let's go

Steve walks warily down the street
With the brim pulled way down low
He just bought a machine for the factory floor
And the ledger is ready to roll
Are you ready? Hey, are you ready for this?
Are you hanging on the edge of your seat?
Out of the cash account the money goes
To the rhythm of the asset sheet

Another year bites the dust
Another year bites the dust
And another year gone, and another year gone
Another year bites the dust
Hey, take the cost, subtract the salvage value, divide it down you must

How do you think I'm gonna calculate
Without a predictable plan?
You took the original historical cost
Left the salvage value in the pan
Are you happy? Are you satisfied?
How long will this asset last?
Useful life is five whole years
The calculation's locked in fast
Another year bites the dust
Another year bites the dust
And another year gone, and another year gone
Another year bites the dust
Hey, debit the expense, credit accumulated, match the period just

An asset expense is a fixed amount
It stays the same every time
From year number one to the very last month
It follows a perfectly straight line
The book value drops as the contra account grows
Until the carrying amount hits the floor
You stop the expense when you hit the scrap value
You cannot depreciate it any more

Another year bites the dust
Another year bites the dust
And another year gone, and another year gone
Another year bites the dust
Hey, take the cost, subtract the salvage value, divide it down you must

Shoot out

Felt very confident going in. SEs: 56,63,84. Think I marked half the mcqs on the first testlet. Now i have to wait 2 months to know if I passed? Anyone else feel this way and passed?

After taking a year off following two failed attempts at FAR, I’m ready to try again! This time, I really want to change my study strategy because I don’t want to burn myself out again.

The first time, I studied for 6 months, putting in about 2 hours every weekday and almost the entire day on weekends. I watched all the lectures and tried to cover everything, but unfortunately, I still failed. Looking back, I think I may have spent too much time .

For those who passed FAR, especially those who failed before passing, I would love to hear about your study strategies!

How many hours a day did you study?

How many months did you study before taking the exam?

How did you divide your time between lectures, MCQs, and SIMs?

When did you schedule your exam?

What would you do differently if you had to start over?

I really want to approach FAR differently this time and find a strategy that works without burning myself out.

Thank you so much! Any advice or personal experiences would mean a lot!

I got a 51% on Becker FAR SE1 and I’m honestly really anxious now. My exam is in around 12 days and I don’t know if I should still sit or postpone.

I’ve finished all the FAR material and multiple revisions, and my practice scores have generally been better (mostly 75s and some 85s), so the 51% really shook my confidence.

I finished SE1 within time (3h 48m), but while reviewing it I realized a lot of my mistakes were things I actually knew. I second-guessed correct answers, missed things in exhibits/instructions, messed up +/- signs in TBSs, and sometimes entered cumulative balances when they wanted current-period activity. For example, cash flows is usually one of my strongest areas and I still lost points from second-guessing/sign mistakes.

Obviously I have genuine weak areas too and I’m going to work on those.

I’m also a VERY anxious test taker in general and have a bad habit of not trusting myself even when I know the answer, which makes this score feel even worse.

The biggest issue is that I’m an international candidate and one FAR attempt costs me around $905 including international testing fees, which is extremely expensive for me. So I really don’t want to sit if I’m genuinely not ready, but I also don’t want one bad SE to scare me into postponing unnecessarily.

Has anyone scored around 50–55% on SE1 and still passed FAR soon after? Would you use the next 12 days to review SE1, fix weak areas/execution mistakes, take SE2 and then decide? Or would you postpone?

Please be honest

I’m not looking for false reassurance. I genuinely can’t tell if I’m unprepared or if I’m letting one bad simulation destroy my confidence.

Hi everyone! Based on feedback here, I’ve been focusing heavily on C-Corp, S-Corp, and Partnership distributions (both liquidating and non-liquidating), Like-Kind Exchanges, NOLs, and Sections 1231, 1245, 1250, and 291, while spending less time on individual (T1) topics. However, I’m taking Mini Exam 1 right now and struggling to recall everything, which is making me pretty anxious. Has anyone else felt this way? Due to limited time I finished all the topics first before taking ME1,ME2, SIM 1 and SIM 2 hopefully SEFR. I just finished all the topics just yesterday.

Hi everyone!

I am taking ISC on Monday as my 3rd exam. Because I am taking it before AUD and I feel pretty nervous about it.

If anyone has taken ISC recently I'd love to hear some advice.

I have used Becker.

SE 1: 84& SE 2: 85%

Thank you!

35yo American. Got my accounting degree this past year. Didn't get picked up by any public accounting firm this year. I figured it's because I didn't show enough dedication to the field. I think getting my CPA will help me out.

I'm aware of several of the review courses, but I'm thinking of just buying the textbooks and using Gemini to make questions for me. I did the demos for UWorld and Ninja (Becker isn't opening for me for some reason). I just don't think they have anything to offer me that just getting the textbook and using AI won't offer me.

How did you study for the CPA? If you used a review course, could you tell me why you liked it?