Philip is a resident of the great state of New York, but has inspired and motivated fellow Roger students through online forums and social media platforms across the globe. Philip has already passed FAR, and is currently preparing to tackle AUD in November.
Hello! Today I want to discuss the reason I chose to tackle FAR first and then follow up with AUD. Roger does an excellent job in each of those courses, providing key lectures that emphasize exactly what the AICPA is preparing to test us on. But I have been in many discussions with colleagues and friends about the most apropos order to tackle the exams.
Besides the fact that FAR is the first course you see to tackle when you pull the 9 or 12 months all inclusive study planner that Roger created for maximum success, the AUD exam draws from the foundation of accounting principles and concepts as laid out in FAR. Think about it for a second. If you are trying to learn auditing procedures, you can memorize ICORRIIA, but how does ICORRIIA apply to fixed assets, stocks and bonds, and accounts receivable.
Roger will provide you with reviews of the appropriate accounting principles in the AUD section such as accounts receivable at the net realizable value, and he will illustrate the ceiling, floor and the middle of the house. But why not learn it the first time in FAR, and make it just a remedial review in AUD? In FAR, the lectures go into much more detail, but for other reasons to prepare you for the FAR exam. If you become the expert at the principles first, then applying ICORRIIA is just second nature.
If you work the exams in that order, then all you really need to focus on is the MCQs and simulations! Whats more? I looked ahead into the BEC and REG sections and saw something rather interesting. I found that the internal control framework established by COSO is tested in the BEC exam, as well. Also, Roger explicitly states that much of the IT portion of the AUD exam has moved to the BEC exam. So for future planning purposes, it might make best sense to follow AUD with BEC.
I can say from experience that the easiest MCQs in the Wiley homework book were the ones that asked questions about applying ICORRIIA to the accounting principles that underlie the accounts being tested. I am confident that if you put FAR first, then you will find that AUD is much less stressful. Just don’t forget to review your simulations.