CPA becker business exam review 2014

Business

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PRO F E 5 5 ION AL E 0 U CAT I 0 N®


BECKER PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION COURSE DEVELOPMENT TEAM
T imothy F.Gearty, CPA, MBA, JD .......................: .Editor in Chief, Financial/Regulation (Tax) National Editor
Angeline S.Brown, CPA, MAC ................ Director, Accounting Curriculum, Audit/Financial/BEC National Editor
Teresa C.Anderson, CPA, CMA ...............................................Manager, Accounting Curriculum
Tom Cox, CPA, CMA, CHFP

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Financial (GASB & NFP) National Editor

Steve levin, JD ............................................................ Regulation (law) National Editor
John B.Pillatsch, MAS, CPA ......................................... Director, Course Development Operations

Pete Console ............................................................Director,Educational Technologies
Katie Tran .....................................................................Director, Quality Assurance
Stephen Bergens ....................................................Manager,Curriculum Quality Assurance
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Tim Munson .................................................................... Course Production Editor
Linda Finestone

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Course Production Editor

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Eric J.Brunner,PhD

Michael Meriwether, CPA, MBA

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John B.Kushner,CPA

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Seth levine,CPA,MPrA, MBA, ABD

Lisa M.Thayer, CPA

Edward McTague,CPA,MBA

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Business

Becker Professional Education I CPA Exam Review

BUSINESS
program attendance record
Student:

_______ _____________

Location:
BUSINESS 2

BUSINESS 1

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Please fax documentation to 866-398-7375 no later than 45 days following the completion of each section .

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v


Becker Professional Education I CPA Exam Review

Business

NOTES

vi

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Becker Professional Education I CPA Exam Review

Business

BUSINESS
table of contents
Program ottendance record ........................................... ............................................................................................................... .... v
Introduction ..................................................................................... ........................................................................................... Intro-1

BUSINESS 1: Corporate Governance and Operations Management

1.

Corporate governance ........................................................................................................................... ................................. 81-3

2.

Operations m anagement: Performance management and i m pact of measures on behavior ........................................... . . 81-31

3.

Operations management: Cost measurement meth ods and techniq ues ........................................................................... .. 81-39

4.

Class questions ..................................................................................................................................................................... 81-67

BUSINESS 2: Strategic Planning

1. Plan n i ng tech niques: Forecasting and projection ................................................................................................................... 82-3
2.

Plan n i ng tech niques: Budgeting and analysis ....................................................................................................................... 82-24

3.

Class questions ......... .................................................................................................................. . . . ....................................... 82-55

BUSINESS 3: Financial Management

1.

Financial modeling and analysis

2.

Capital management, including working capital ................................................................................................................... 83-20

3.

Class q uestions ..................................................................................................................................................................... 83-51

.............................. .................................... ........................................................... . . . . ............

83-3

BUSINESS 4: Information Systems and Communications
1.

Organi zational needs assessment .............................................................. ....... ...................................................................... 84-3

2.

Systems design and other elements ................................................................................................................ ..................... 84-20

3.

Security ................................................................................................................................................................................. 84-34

4.

The I nternet: I m plications for business .............................................. . . . . . ............................................................................. 84-40

5.

Types of information syste ms and technology risks

6.

Disaster recovery and business continuity

7.

Appendix: IT fundamen tals .......................................................................................................................................... ......... 84-60

.

..

........................................................... ... . ....

....................................... 84-52

...........................................................................................................................

84-57

8. Class q uestions ...................................................................................................................................... ........... .... ................ 84-75

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vii


Business

Becker Professional Education I CPA Exam Review

BUS I N ESS S: Economic Concepts
1.

Changes in economic and busi ness cycles ............................................................................................. ................................. 85-3

2.

Economic measure5!indicators ........ ..................................................................................................................................... 85-13

3.

Market influence on business strategies .............................................................................................................................. 85-26

4.

Class questions ..................................................................................................................................................................... 85-57

BUSINESS

6: Process and Project Management, Globalization, Financial Risk Management, Decisions, and Valuation

1.

Operations management: Process management.................................................................................................................... 86-3

2.

Operations management: Project management ................................................ .................................................................. 86-14

3.

Globalization and local economies ....................................................................................................................................... 86-24

4.

Financial risk management ....................................................................................... . ........................................................... 86-32

5.

Financial decisions ................................................................................................................................................................ 86-51

6.

Financial valuation ..................................................................... ........................................................................................... 86-58

7. I n ternal auditing standards ................................................................................................................................................... 86-64
8. Class questions

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.......... ........ ......... .. .............................. ..................................................... ............ ...... ... .......... ............

86-73

Class question explanations ................. ......................................................................................... . .................................... .......... CQ-1
Glossary.................................................................................................................................................................................. Glossary-1
Index ................................................................................................................................................. ......................................... Index-1

viii

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COURSE INTRODUCTION
and Written Communication Lecture
'.

1.

Business environment & concepts content specification outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Intro-3

2.

Becker's CPA Exam Review-Cou rse introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I ntro-S

Introduction .............................. . ...................................... . ..................................... ..... . ......................... . ...................... . . I ntro-S

Lecture series ....... . . .. . . ............ . .. . .. . .... . .. . ...... .......... . ....................... ......................................... . .. . .. . ................................. Intro-S

Tex tbooks ....................................................................................................................................................................... I ntro-S

Course software...................................... . . . .............. . . . . ......................................................... . ............... ...... . ............... . .. Intro-6

Study planner............... . ................................................................................................................................................ . Intro-7

Study roadmap .......................................................................................................... . ....... . . ........................... . .............. Intro-7

Flashcards ................................. . ................. . ...................................................................................................... . ... . ....... Intro-8

Becker Community and Support................ . .............................................................................................. . . .................. I ntro-lO

The Uniform CPA Exam-Overview...................................... . ....................................................................................... I ntro-lO

Passing the CPA Exam .......................................... . ................................................................................. . .............. . ...... I ntro-l2

Managing your stress before the examination ..... ............ . ............... . ................................. ......................................... I ntro-l4

Surviving the examination

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.

........................................................................... ........... . . . . . . . ............................................

I ntro-lS

3.

Written Communication- Lecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I ntro-16

4.

Written Communication-Additional tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Intro-32


Becker Professional Education I CPA Exam Review

Business

NOTES

Intro-2

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Business

Becker Professional Education I CPA Exam Review

B U SINE S S ENVIRONMENT & CONCEPTS CONTENT SPECIFI CAT I O N OUTLINE

I

B U SI N E S S

E N VI R O N M E N T

&

C ONCE P T S

3 hours
..
(
E----------

Testlet #1

I

85

Points -------...

..e--- 15

Testlet #3

Testlet #2

points ----..

Testlet #4

24

24

24

3

MC

MC

MC

Written

Questions

Questions

Questions

Com. Tasks

40-45 m i n u tes

40-45 m i n u tes

40-45 m i n u tes

40-45 min utes

I I

16-20%

I. Corporate governance

A. Rights, duties, responsibilities, and authority of the board of
directors, officers, and other employees
1.

Financial reporting

2.

Internal control (including COSO or similar framework)

3.

Enterprise risk management (including COSO or similar
framework)

B. Control environment
1.

Tone at the top-establishing control environment

2.

Monitoring control effectiveness

3.

Change control process

16-20%

II. Economic concepts and analysis

A. Changes in economic and business cycles-economic measures/
indicators

B. Globalization and local economies
1.

Impacts of globalization on companies

2.

Shifts in economic balance of power (e.g., capital) to/from
developed from/to emerging markets

C. Market influences on business strategies
D. Financial risk management
1.

Market, interest rate, currency, liquidity, credit, price, and
other risks

2.

Means for mitigating/controlling financial risks

19-23%

III. Financial management

A. Financial modeling, projections, and analysis

C. Capital management, including working capital

1.

Forecasting and trends

1.

2.

Financial and risk analysis

2. Short-term and long-term financing

3.

Impact of inflation/deflation

3.

B. Financial decisions

Capital structure

Asset effectiveness and/or efficiency

D. Financial valuations (e.g. fair value)

1.

Debt, equity, leasing

1.

Methods for calculating valuations

2.

Asset a nd investment management

2.

Evaluating assumptions used in valuations

E. Financial transaction processes and controls

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Intro·3


Business

I

Becker Professional Education I CPA Exam Review

15-19%

IV. Information systems and communications
A. Organizational needs assessment

C. Security

1.

Data capture

1.

Technologies and security management features

2.

Processing

2.

Policies

3.

Reporting

4.

Role of information technology in business strategy

B. Systems design and other elements

D. Internet-implications for business
1.

Electronic commerce

2. Opportunities for business process reengineering

1.

Business process design (integrated systems, automated,
and manual interfaces)

2.

Information technology (IT) control objectives

E. Types of information system and technology risks

3.

Role of technology systems in control monitoring

F. Disaster recovery and business continuity

4.

Operational effectiveness

3.

Roles of Internet evolution on business operations and
organization cultures

5. Segregation of duties
6.

Policies
10-14%

V. Strategic planning
A. Market and risk analysis

2.

Forecasting and projection

B. Strategy development, implementation, and monitoring

3.

Coordinating information from various sources for
integrated planning

C. Planning techniques
1.

Budget and analysis
12-16%

VI. Operations management
A. Performance management and impact of measures on behavior

D. Project management

1.

Financial and nonfinancial measures

1.

Project planning, implementation, and monitoring

2.

Impact of marketing practices on performance

2.

3.

Incentive compensation

Roles of project managers, project members, and oversight
or steering groups

3.

Project risks, including resource, scope, cost, and
deliverables

B. Cost measurement methods and techniques
C. Process management
1. Approaches, techniques, measures, and benefits to

process-management-driven businesses
2.

Roles of shared services, outsourcing, and offshore
operations, and their implications on business risks and
controls

3.

Selecting and implementing improvement initiatives

4.

Business process reengineering

5.

Management philosophies and techniques for performance
improvement such as just in time (liT), quality, lean, demand
flow, theory of constrai nts, and Six sigma

Intro-4

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Becker Professional Education I CPA Exam Review

Business

BECKER'S CPA EXAM REVIEW-COURS E INTRODUCTION

I N T R O DU C T I O N

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Intro-S


Business

Becker Professional Education I CPA Exam Review

Textbook Icons

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IFRS-specific Content

When IFRS-specific information is included within the materials,
it will be identified with this icon in the margins.

International

When international comparison information is included within the
materials, it will be identified with this icon in the margins.

Comparison

C O UR S E

S O F T W ARE

An integral part of Becker's CPA Exam Review program is the use of the course software, which provides
access to the nearly 100 hours of multimedia lecture content, thousands of multiple-choice questions, and
hundreds of simulation tasks, including questions and tasks from prior exams. The multiple-choice questions
and simulations reinforce the concepts introduced in the materials, and is organized on a lecture-by-Iecture
basis. The software also provides two comprehensive final exams for each part. The Business (BEC) section
of the CPA Exam includes simulations that test the candidate's writing skills. We encourage you to watch the
Written Communication Lecture

as it will help you gain an understanding of what the examiners are looking for

in a well-written response.
Intro·6

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Becker Professional Education I CPA Exam Review

Business

Two other important features of the course software are the Study Planner and the Study Roadmap, both of
which are described below.

S T U DY

P L A N N ER

It takes time to study for the CPA Exam. However, all candidates face the challenge of fitting their CPA Exam studies
into their busy lives. The course software provides you with a Study Planner that will help you establish a study
schedule and manage your study time efficiently and effectively. You have the option of allowing the Study Planner
to prepare a study schedule for you, or you can create your own schedule. The Study Planner will allow you to see
what you need to accomplish each day and each week as you prepare to take the CPA Exam.

S T U DY

R O A DM A P

With so many elements available to help you study, sometimes it is difficult to know where to begin and how
much time should be spent on each element of the Becker Course. Within the course software, each lecture
provides you with a Study Roadmap based on Becker's Learn-Practice-Review methodology. The Study
Roadmap allows you to see, step-by-step, what you need to do to thoroughly study the information that will
be tested on the exam. It also gives you an estimate of the time it will take to complete each step. The Study
Roadmap includes the following elements:
LEARN-View the lecture (Estimated time: 4 hours)
PRACTICE-Complete the multiple-choice homework and the practice simulations (Estimated time: 6-8 hours)

REVIEW-Review flashcards and take a progress test (Estimated time: 2-3 hours)
Lecture Study Roadmap Example

r ,:\ ••I I .'"

.

I."i'

____
'

� ,

'

__

LJ"

_

@ STUDY CENTER F2 : Matching (Revenue & Expenses), Foreign Currency Accounting, a.nd Other F.S.
Study Roadmap
TotIII 5tUdy time: 13 -15 hours

1.

Leam

I\.

View Lecture 14 hours}

0Yer611 SUltus:1

M

A

2. Practice

Compk1e Homewortc:
(5-6 1lOOrs)

o 3. Review
�

RevSew Ael5hcards
o hOuo!
Do Progress THt
(1·211001$)

""",- ­
(1-2 hourS)
SImulation 1

Journel Ent.Ms and Adjusting Journal EntrtK

FOftIgn currency Tran..ctIons end R......... Recogn1llon

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Intro-7


Business

Becker Professional Education I CPA Exam Review

Becker also provides you with a Study Roadmap for your review before you take each section of the exam.
You should give yourself at least one week to do a final review before taking the exam. Your final review should
include reworking the multiple-choice questions and simulations, taking the two final exams, and completing as
many comprehensive Progress Tests as possible.
Review Before Exam Study Roadmap Example

�'

�

1.ReWOrk

2. Take Final Exams

.�

-- 8

ProgressTeslS

-- Ell

F L ASH C A R D S
Flashcards

are an important tool to assist in your preparation for the exam. Although we believe that preparing

your own flashcards is a valuable learning tool, we recognize that time is a precious commodity when preparing
for the exam. For that reason, we also offer

enrolled students

the opportunity to purchase preprinted flashcards

and digital mobile flashcard applications. Flashcards will help you commit to memory the most important
principles and rules tested in each section of the exam. The flashcards are indexed by class session to allow
you to focus your preparation in your weakest areas.
Flashcards Example:
Front Side

Back Side

Conceptual Frameworks

The FASB "Accounting Standards Codification" (ASC).
Name the single source of authoritative
nongovernmental U.S. GMP.

The printed flashcards and digital mobile flashcards can be purchased by calling our National Student Service
Center at 1-800-868-3900 or online by simply logging on to www.becker.com/cpa and select "Flashcards"

from the

Intro-8

Courses & Products

drop-down menu.

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Business

Becker Professional Education I CPA Exam Review

If you want to supplement the preprinted flashcards, several blank cards are provided with the printed
flashcards. If you want to prepare your own flashcards, we recommend the following:
•

Prepare flashcards as you review your lecture notes prior to working the multiple-choice questions. You
can identify those flashcards you would like to create by making a mark, such as "Fe," in the margin of
your outline while viewing the lecture.

•

Select major concepts from your class materials (outlines). Do not prepare flashcards for everything
in the outlines (the outlines are already in a summarized format). Only make a flashcard for the major
concepts, general rules and exceptions, mnemonics, formulas, and important lists. Items to consider:

./

Mnemonics

./

Formulas

./

"Heavy on exam" notations

./

"Memorize" notations

./

Other major concepts (noted while reading the explanations to the multiple-choice questions)

./

General rules and exceptions

•

Keep your flashcards as simple as possible, but do not sacrifice correctness for brevity.

•

Use 3"

x

5" or 5" x 7" cards (whichever size is easiest for you to carry around). Write the question, the

general rule, or the title of the list you are trying to memorize on the front, and write the answer, the
exceptions, or the list, as applicable, on the back.
Example:
A-I

Front Side

t-lO\\4\e tt-e -Pive soV.vces o.f! ott-ev
CO\4\fvet-e'lsive i'lco\4\e.

A-I

...
1--....

Code with
class number

Back Side

•

� CO\Sh .plclN heJ.�es

E

El'l'ec+ive povtic�s

R

Rev",I",,,,Hc� s",.pl\.\Ses (lFRS c"ly)

After each class, review all of your flashcards for all of the previous classes. When you believe that you
have a concept memorized, place those cards in a separate pile. Do not stop reviewing those cards, but
it is not necessary to review them as often. The more frequently you can review all your cards, the better
your retention will be.

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Intro-9


Becker Professional Education I CPA Exam Review

Business

BECKER COMMUNITY AND

SUPPORT

The Becker Community and Support area is your source for course updates, supplemental materials, and
unlimited academic support. Just click on Community and Support at:
/>You can also access customer serVice and technical support from Community and Support or by calling
1-877-CPA-EXAM (Outside the U.S.

+

1-630-472-2213).

THE UNIFORM CPA EXAM-OVERVIEW
Exam Sections

The CPA Examination consists of four sections:

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING
The

Financial section

&

REPORTING

consists of a four-hour exam covering financial accounting and reporting,

including International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), governmental accounting, and not-for­
profit accounting.

AUDITING
The

Auditing

&

ATTESTATION

section consists of a four-hour exam. This section covers all topics related to auditing,

including audit reports and procedures, generally accepted auditing standards, attestation and other
engagements, and government auditing.

REGULATION
The Regulation section consists of a three-hour exam, combining topics from business law and
federal taxation.

BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

&

CONCEPTS

The Business section consists of a three-hour exam, covering general business topics such as
economics, financial management, information technology, managerial accounting, and process and
project management.

Intro-10

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Becker Professional Education I CPA Exam Review

Business

Question Formats

The chart below illustrates the question format breakdown by exam section.

M ultiple-choice Questions

I

Task-based S i mulations or Written
Comm unication Tasks
Percentage

Number

90

40%

7

60%

90

40%

7

Regulation

60%

72

40%

6

Business

85%

72

15%

3

Percentage

Number

Financial

60%

Auditing

Section

Each exam will contain testlets. A testlet is either a series of multiple-choice questions (either 24 or 30
depending on the section), a set of task-based simulations, or a set of written communications. For example,
the Business examination will contain four testlets. The first three testlets will be multiple-choice questions and
the last one will contain three written communication tasks. Each testlet must be finished and submitted before
continuing to the next testlet. Candidates cannot go back to view a previously completed testlet or go forward
to view a subsequent testlet before closing and submitting the earlier testlet. Our final exam contains these
types of restrictions so you can familiarize yourself with the functionality of the CPA Exam.
Exam Schedule

The computer-based CPA Exam is offered during the first two months of each calendar quarter. Once
determined to be eligible to sit, candidates can schedule an exam date directly with Prometric
(www.prometric.com/cpa).
Eligibility and Application Requirements

Each state sets its own rules of eligibility for the examination, so the requirements vary from state to state.
Please visit www.becker.com/state as soon as possible to determine your eligibility to sit for the exam.
A pplication Deadlines

With the computer-based exam format, set application deadlines generally do not exist. To ensure that you
have a thorough understanding of your state's requirements, you should apply as early as possible.
Grading System

You must pass all four parts of the examination to earn certification as a CPA. You must score 75 or better on a
part to receive a passing grade.

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Intro-ll

Business

Becker Professional Education I CPA Exam Review

PA S S I N G T H E CPA E XAM
Strategy and Tactics for Taking the Examination

To ensure that you pass the CPA Exam, you should follow these tips.
Tips for Multiple-choice Questions

TIP 1

Control the amount of time you spend on each question.

The exam time limits mentioned above are overall time limits. The recommended time to complete
the task-based simulation testlet is 60 to 75 minutes. As such, you'll be forced to closely control
the amount of time you spend on multiple-choice questions. For Financial and Auditing, you should
spend approximately 1% to 2 minutes on each multiple-choice question. For Regulation and
Business, you should spend approximately 1 to 1% minutes per question.

TIP 2

Become familiar with the format.

The exam does not contain the typical multiple-choice format such as lettered answers (a, b, c, and d).
Instead, candidates are required to click on the radio buttons or the text portion of the answer they
are choosing as correct. You will see this functionality in our final exams.

TIP 3

Read all four choices before choosing one as your answer.

Given that you're working under time constraints, you may be tempted to choose as your answer
for any given question the first choice that seems right. This can be a costly mistake because the
examiners may include two or more "good" answers among the choices, one of which is the best
answer. You'll get no credit for choosing the wrong "good" answer.

TIP 4

Answer every multiple-choice question.

The examiners don't penalize you for guessing; they don't subtract wrong answers from right
answers. Therefore, guess when you must, and realize that you always have at least a 25 percent
chance of getting the right answer. In fact, on some questions you may have a 50 percent chance
of guessing the right answer because you may immediately recognize that two of the four choices
are wrong.
If you're uncertain about an answer, you can mark that question for later review. You will see this
marking functionality in our final exams. Prior to exiting the testlet, you should make sure you have
answered all questions.
When you're answering multiple-choice problems that require mathematical calculations and you're
unable to arrive at one of the four given numerical answers, you should perform the following
procedure before you record a guess as an answer. First, check the mathematical accuracy of your
calculations; that alone may lead you to the correct answer. If that doesn't produce a correct answer,
check for an error in your logic by rereading the question. If that doesn't clear the ambiguity, choose
your guess to answer the question, and mark it for review at the end of the current testlet if time
permits. Remember though that once you submit a testlet, you cannot go back to review it.

Intro-12

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Becker Professional Education I CPA Exam Review

Business

Tactics for Simulations

TIP 1

Work all homework simulations.

We have developed extensive task-based simulations for you to work as homework. You should
familiarize yourself with the types of q uestions and functionalities covered by the tasks. This
familiarity will save you time on the actual exam because you will understand how to navigate
between tasks and use the various tools that are provided.

TIP 2

Follow recommended progression through tasks.

It is important to have a basic approach when beginning a testlet. We recommend the following:

../

Review each task's instructions.

../

Allocate your time among the tasks. Remember the approximate time frame of 60-75 minutes

for all task-based simulations to be worked. Be sure, however, to take into account any
additional time you saved while completing earlier testlets and the difficulty of the particular
simulation you are working.

../
TIP 3

Be sure that you have answered all requirements for each task.

Use the keyword search function when completing research tasks.

The Research task requires the candidate to answer a question using the appropriate authoritative
literature. It should be noted that the most time efficient way to search the authoritative literature
available on the exam is through the use of a keyword search.

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Intro-13


Business

Becker Professional Education I CPA Exam Review

MANA G I N G Y OUR STRE S S BEFORE THE EXAM I NAT ION

Expect to feel tense and uncertain during the week before the examination. You can manage stress by
following several tips.

TIP 1

Remember, every candidate taking the exam l i kely feels as tense as you do.

Take some comfort from that shared misery and do your best to manage your stress levels.

TIP 2

Use those activities you usually employ to reduce stress.

Get as much rest as you can, exercise regularly, and eat balanced nutritional meals. The evidence is
overwhelming that adequate rest, exercise, and nutrition minimize the harmful and disruptive physical
and psychological effects of tension.

TIP 3

Do not work until you drop.

You'll impair your health and threaten your performance on the examination. Treat yourself to time
away from concentrated study. Focus on the fact that the time to study and learn new material is
behind you.

TIP 4

You may want to try a technique called "imaging."

Some people report that they improve their performance on difficult or stressful tasks by visualizing
that they've already succeeded at the task. Imagine that you're taking the examination and handling
its demands well. Or, imagine you've received your passing grade. This may boost your confidence.

TIP 5

Remember, the examiners cannot test on every conceivable subject.

The examiners must limit the amount of detail they demand and the scope of topics on which they
can focus during the time allowed for the examination.

TIP 6

Remember, if a question pops up with which you are unfamiliar, don't panic.

The odds are that it will be a surprise to most exam takers. Simply gather your wits about you and
prepare the best answer you can. Do not omit the question simply because you are unfamiliar with
the topic. Most likely, the examiners are looking for you to exercise professional judgment in tackling
the topic.

TIP 7

Remember, if you have followed your study plan, you are well prepared.

You will be able to answer most of the questions on the examination easily, and you'll know how
to wrestle with the harder problems in ways that will earn you a passing grade. Even if you've
accomplished only most or some of your study goals, take comfort in the knowledge that you're better
prepared than many other candidates.

Intro-14

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Becker Professional Education I CPA Exam Review

SURV I V I N G T H E

Business

E X AM I NAT I ON

Make sure that you've arr�nged your transportation so you arrive with 30 minutes to spare before your set
appointment time. This margin should enable you to handle any unexpected travel delays.
Second, wear comfortable clothing. The "layered look" should serve you best. The room in which you take the
examination may be perfectly comfortable, but it may be over- or under-heated for the season, and you'll want
to be able to adjust to prevailing conditions.
Additional test-center administration procedures are available on either the AICPA exam website
(www.cpa-exam.org) or at the Prometric test center website (www.prometric.com/cpa).

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Intro-15


Business

Becker Professional Education I CPA Exam Review

W RI TTE N C OM M UNIC AT I ON - LE C T U RE

�
�
�
�

�
�
�
�
�
�������--� �� ��

---------------

INTRODUCTION

For the Business section of the CPA Exam. candidates will be required to complete three written
communication tasks. The written communication tasks will appear in the fourth testlet of the exam following
the three multiple-choice question testlets.
•

Written Communication represents 1 5 percent of your score on the Business exam.

•

Each Written Communication task will give you a situation. a request for a response. and a series of
instructions. Your answer will be typed in the designated response area using a simple word processor.

•

The general format will appear as follows:
[Situation and request for a response]
Instructions:
Your response will be graded for both technical content and writing skills:
Technical content

will be evaluated for information that is helpful to the intended reader and clearly

relevant to the issue.
Writing skills

will be evaluated for development, organization, and appropriate expression of ideas in

professional correspondence.
Use a standard business memorandum or letter format with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Do
not convey information in the form of a table, bullet point list, or other abbreviated presentation.
[Salutation (cannot be edited)]

[Response area]

[Signature (cannot be edited)]

The

response

area will be used to complete the communication task. The word processor has the appearance

and the functions of a simple word processor. Many of the standard features and icons of popular word­
processing software are reproduced in a tool bar to allow you such functions as:

on
CUT

[]

n

COpy

PASTE

UNDO

REDO

SPELL CHECK

In addition. a spell check feature is embedded in the software. Misspelled words are underscored in red in

a manner consistent with many popular word-processing software packages. A right click on your mouse as
you hover over the word will enable you to correct potential spelling errors. The number of spelling errors can
adversely impact your written communication score. so be sure to run the spell check.
Intro-16

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