The hardest part is waiting for the California board to post my official score. I took my last part on the last day of the credit period for BEC and it shows expired right now. I won't feel at eaze til it says I passed this monster. I have nightmares about retaking this thing...

I would say REG was the hardest section for me to pass. Failed it 2x before i could pass. The others sections i got through on the first shot.   

I have one yet (probably two) but so far:

I took REG today, and I left almost in tears, I thought the simulations were RIDICULOUS, and very frustrating for me because I didn't really know what to say.  I was very angry there weren't many corporate tax questions because I do 1120's all summer.  Having said that...

REG (am expecting to retake that)

FAR

AUD

BEC (I am expecting this to be the easiest for me)

REG sucked, I felt REALLY good about AUD, reasonably good about FAR, and I feel like I bombed REG.  We shall see.....

I'm going to apologize in advance if you've already seen this.  I put it somewhere else, but it seems to fit here better.

Each of the 4 exams has its own unique charm.... that is, if you think "dreadful" is "charming."

FAR is the foundations course, and getting ahold of it is like alligator-wrestling in the Everglades.  It's a mile wide and an inch deep, and you'll feel like you're drowning more than once in the volume of material.  On the other hand, there is nothing about FAR that is inherently difficult IN ITSELF.  There's just a fire-hose blast of material to swallow.

Once you prepare and take FAR, the other 3 sections make a lot more sense.  You won't waste time scratching your head during the other 3 sections wondering what the heck they are talking about.

BEC is an extra-terrestrial time-traveling alien from the 24th century.  Remember watching Star Trek and guessing what all those blinking lights meant?  You find out in the IT portion.  BEC also covers the material that just didn't fit anywhere else: Practical Accounting for the Real World (Cost and Managerial), Fortune-Telling with the Benefit of Hindsight (Economics), and 101 Reasons why you Never Want to Join a Partnership (Business Structures).

After you pass BEC you'll never be afraid of a computer again.  However, you may wind up being terrified about what the government is doing to our economy, which should give you a REAL GOOD reason to keep working on the exams so that you can get ahead in life while you still can.

REG is a bear.  In its very unreasonableness, I would even compare it to the Soviet Russian bear.  REG is authoritarian and picky and contradictory....  You just know the rules had to be written by someone in the government.  Which they were.

The nicest think to say about REG is that when it's done, it's done.  Plus you can make a comfortable income preparing tax returns for other people who don't want to face the Bear.

Compared to the other three, AUD is Disney's tempermental little Tinkerbell fairy tapping things with her magic wand.  AUD is all theory and virtually no math, which really blows some people away.  The questions are twisty, tricky little passages all twirling around you.  XYZZY.

Passing AUD is not really that tough.  It's like being back on Sesame Street: (cue the music) "One of these things is not like the others.  One of these things just doesn't belong....."  Why they allowed 4.5 hours for AUD and only 2.5 hours for BEC is beyond me.

Sorry about this.  It's been a long day.

Have fun with your studies.

what a riot....all of the sections freaked me out....the order i took them in was REG, FAR, BEC and AUD.

i had to travel 2hrs away to take my first exam (REG) and i remember screaming at the windshield on that long drive home that i was not going to let my pursuit of passing the cpa exam end this way....i was totally demoralized.....mainly because of the simulations and that freaking clock ticking down while i sat there in stunned silence just blowing spit bubbles and trying to muster up more than two sentences on my last writing requirement....6 weeks later i recvd my score....an 87.  wtf.

my 2nd exam was far...which all during the test i was fully expecting to fail....it just seemed that every thing i wasnt prepared for was tested.  I did backflips when 5 wks later i recvd a 77.  be very aware of not for profit on this one....

number 3 in the que was bec.  like most im sure i thought this one would be a breeze since there were only m/c and no simulations...it was miserable studying (becker) for this component as i couldnt seem to get my arms around this thing and i though i did ok on the test but just eeked by with a 78.

the last test for me was audit.  i took one audit class in college.  i recvd an a but was still somewhat confused a bit.  the becker course prepared me pretty well....i came i saw i conquered....90 was my score. 

 toughest ranking...in retrospect

far

bec

aud

reg

good luck guys....they all can be overcome...i did it in 6 months with no retakes....but....i didnt do anything but eat sleep and drink accounting during that time.