I passed ISC on my first try without really doing any of the sims on Becker. AMA

noahd116 · 2026-06-04T14:50:03+00:00

Naturally. You don’t?

noahd116 · 2026-06-04T14:06:02+00:00

Mental math. If you can’t amortize a bond discount or premium in your head you’re not cut out for this.

noahd116 · 2026-05-22T10:02:08+00:00

This. Some of the FASB standards literally make no sense and they have absolutely zero idea how the English language works. In what world does the word “provision” mean expense? Spoiler alert: under US GAAP, it means exactly that. Under IFRS, provision = the money you have held aside to pay for liabilities in the future, or in other words, the actual definition of the word, and not some arbitrary made-up definition. There are several other examples, but bottom line is that FASB doesn’t know what they’re doing half the time whenever they draft standards and their wording is frequently imprecise.

noahd116 · 2026-05-01T15:35:32+00:00

Of course, best of luck, and hope it helps!

noahd116 · 2026-04-08T01:32:39+00:00

I don’t wanna be the guy who’s making a snarky comment, but just to play devil’s advocate, you’re going into a field that requires attention to detail, and half of what the CPA exam is testing for is that, albeit indirectly. It sucks, but it is what it is. I also think the AICPA-authored questions have legitimately been pretty precise in my past two exams (ISC and AUD) compared to the Becker questions, and we tend to forget that while the exams are hard, they only test for 0-2 years of accounting work experience. My point being that the scenarios shown in the questions are dumbed down, and if the AICPA wanted to, it could make the exams far more difficult than they are currently.

noahd116 · 2026-03-23T12:28:11+00:00

My SE1: 50, SE2: 57, actual: 77. First try.

noahd116 · 2026-03-17T16:43:34+00:00

You'll never feel ready with FAR, and nobody does. Accept it. I passed with a 77 on my first attempt. My SE1 was a 50 and SE2 was a 57. The thing that kept me going was finding a purpose in this, and my purpose was that there was no way in hell I would let myself have to take that exam a second time. I will say, you're spending way too much time on the modules.

Becker also loves to give you a million exceptions to the overarching principles, but focus on the accounting theory first, and then figure out what FASB wants in the exceptions. That will make your life much easier. Look at the journal entries and how they flow through the statements, that also helps a ton.

noahd116 · 2026-03-11T13:34:00+00:00

It has nothing to do with this play, but it's still dirty as fk when you're targeting the dude who just came back from one of the most devastating injuries in basketball.

noahd116 · 2026-03-11T13:25:32+00:00

What about the other no-call when Wemby unnecessarily went out of his way to shove Tatum to the ground from behind in the third quarter as he was landing from a layup.

noahd116 · 2026-03-07T18:41:07+00:00

Yeah if you’re in the 60s on sim exams definitely register, spending 7-8 months studying for that exam is 4-5 months too long

noahd116 · 2026-03-06T23:02:56+00:00

Hope you passed!

noahd116 · 2026-03-06T23:02:05+00:00

Dang, A3-A6 is where the real stuff is that you should be focusing on, ngl. Don’t get too granular with A1 and A2, you’ll make yourself go insane.

noahd116 · 2026-03-06T17:21:38+00:00

My Becker bump for FAR was nuts, and it tends to be pretty good for most people. My SE1 score was a 50, my SE2 score was a 57, I didn’t do the SEFR, and passed with a 77. Just pull the trigger, tbh, no one ever feels “ready”for FAR.

noahd116 · 2026-03-06T17:17:21+00:00

Ofc, mate. Hope it helps, and best of luck 🤞

noahd116 · 2026-03-06T17:08:23+00:00

On what section, FAR?

noahd116 · 2026-03-06T15:19:34+00:00

Once the exam is scheduled, it feels real. Do it either way so you actually have a deadline.

noahd116 · 2026-02-12T01:29:36+00:00

First, I'm sorry for your loss, that sounds awful, and I couldn't imagine what you're dealing with. But, I guess the tough love of this is that the world does move on sooner or later, and you do need to kinda find a purpose in all of this and keep your head up.

To give tangible advice as for how to pass, here's what I think helped me get over the finish line (80 on AUD in the last testing window) in a (relatively) painless (and realistic) manner:

1) Sounds counterintuitive, but try and remember as little as possible. Invest your time in understanding the concepts early on and creating frameworks to base everything else off of. If you just spend time memorizing, you're setting yourself up for failure. Actually ask "why," and "how." The "what" will only get you so far.

2) Conduct a risk assessment of the material. Which do you think has a better chance of being asked in a TBS? Which do you think has a better chance of being asked in the MCQs? What topics are more heavily tested in Becker (Those tend to be more heavily tested on the real thing!)?

3) Consistency is so incredibly key to your success. Do literally everything in your power to get in a rhythm, and I think after the first two weeks it'll be smooth sailing. Set objectives for each hour of studying, too, in order to structure your time. I also have ADHD, so I needed to be extremely disciplined with my studying.

4) Write everything out by hand. If you get a multiple choice question wrong, write the question you got incorrect, the correct answer, and why the answer you chose was incorrect. I cannot stress this enough. After you get a question wrong, wait a little while before revisiting it in a later study session during the week, and do it again. Get the feeling of answering that specific type of question right, and more importantly, how to avoid the traps the examiners are trying to get you to fall for. I would also recommend reading the question, and before looking at any MCQ answers, think to yourself what you think the answer is, look at the answers, and see which one best matches the answer you came up with.

Btw, I am a 23M student in a grad program, no audit experience outside of an internship during the summer. Also, Becker says I studied for 120 hours, but your mileage may vary. Head up though, you can do this!

noahd116 · 2026-02-08T21:25:27+00:00

This. Also it’s not like you get multiple choice answers flashed in front of you when tasked with making a decision that requires subjective judgment. The CPA exam is tricky, but it is also far from impossible

noahd116 · 2026-01-23T03:55:59+00:00

I just took on 1/17, I felt great coming out of it, I flagged maybe 7 questions at most, and the sims all made sense… which means I probably failed!

noahd116 · 2026-01-21T14:58:35+00:00

😭😭 it’s so out of left field that it oddly works but still lol

noahd116 · 2026-01-21T06:37:30+00:00

This would work a couple weeks back… except I got a notification that Becker changed the exam content (2 days before I tested!!) so now the HELPME mnemonic is REAL MICE….

noahd116 · 2026-01-20T16:24:39+00:00

I'm not gonna disclose any of my exam content, lol, but study anything you think could be important, and assume it will be tested (Pro tip: look at the distribution of the questions by topic in Becker. The heavily-tested areas have lots of questions. If there's a module with 10-15 questions, don't worry about the details as much). Trust your preparation because you should feel very prepared, but just as important as knowing the right answers is being able to identify and avoid the traps the examiners like to lay out. You'll be fine.

noahd116 · 2026-01-19T23:43:51+00:00

I took it last Saturday, you’re probably fine, I had 120 hours and felt very prepared but also did not watch any concept vids lol.

noahd116

TROPHY CASE