Probably the most unprofessional professor I have ever had at UCLA. I wish I had filled out her evaluation so that she could see this. She's a decent lecturer and has engaging activities during class to help us learn but do not listen to a word she says about what will show up on the exams. For our midterm, she assured us she would provide us with a list of ratios and we would NOT have to memorize them, only know what they do and whether we prefer that the ratio is high or low. Specifically, this is what her email said: "For Chapter 13, I do not expect you to memorize ratios introduced here. If such ratio is provided in exam you should be able to identify ratio and it's purpose and conclude as to it's meaning for company." Guess what? Big fat lie. She did not give us the ratios. One of her TAs told me that when she learned that students were pissed off about this, she told the TA she did not care because it's her exam and she can do whatever she wants.
Bottomline, not a good professor at all in terms of honesty. I would not take her again. Still better than Gardner though I guess.

i wouldn’t take this class unless if you really need to. the exams are harder than it should be and she doesn’t give us any type of useful study guide/practice exams. just felt like we had to memorize EVERYTHING. however, she does curve the final grade by almost a letter grade and a half which also depends on how well your class did overall. i felt like all i did was spend 80% of my time studying for this class while i had other classes that i needed to study for.

there are better accounting professors than this one. she is nice as a person but sucks as a professor. all she does is read off of slides and sometimes doesn’t even know what the slides even say. it just really shows how she isn’t prepared for the class. it is a bit unrealistic in terms of wanting us to memorize everything but doesn’t know what she’s teaching on that day.

Her exams are extremely hard for pretty much no reason. The midterm 1 average was 57% and the 59% for the final. The content is not hard at all, but she just makes the exams tricky with exercises that are not on her slides or on the homwork she gives. I would not recommend her at all.

Just to start off, I have never written a single review prior to this class, but I feel like it's necessary for other UCLA students to know how terrible this professor was.

In my quarter, the class was composed of a single midterm, final, and project, so there wasn't a lot of flexibility with grades, which is fine but it means that our grade were composed of the exams that were unrealistic, seen by the test averages of the class that were never above passing. Just to give some context, I took 1A with Gardner and 1B with Woo and received As, but I decided to take this class P/NP.

Berges is a great person; this review has nothing to do with her character but just her poor teaching. Her lectures are all powerpoints with no application of the material, which I feel like is one of the most important parts of learning accounting, and as a student, I didn't feel supported by the professor at all.

I highly recommend taking 120A with either Lu, Woo, or literally anyone else. Avoid Berges at all cost, unless you really need to take the class and are taking a very light class load. The class is not impossible for sure if you self teach yourself and spend a good amount of time every week studying (6-8 hours of studying per week of the quarter minimum), but if you're handling any job or harder class load the class would be a huge time waster.

I got a good grade, but wouldn’t recommend the professor. She would be a good mentor and person to know otherwise, but she will mess with your mind as a professor. Expect all of her quizzes to be filled with trick questions. Don’t bother with the textbook problems (I never even looked at them), just study the examples on her slides. Do the tax return project with your peers, because she will pick it apart viciously.

I would not recommend that you take this class as it is rigorous, but it is rewarding for those who invest the time and preparation.

This course is very practical as learning about personal tax law is highly applicable. However, she does go into plenty of nuances, which can make absorbing concepts challenging. The assignments are also rigorous so follow my prep recommendations (below).

Also, attend office hours. I found it to be extremely valuable in understanding complex content from lecture, working through quiz problems I got wrong, and discussing any grading contentions I had. You can also pick her mind on career advice and for letters of rec.

Finally, attend lecture (it is recorded but attend in person anyways). Doing so will help you learn better and earn extra credit (Berges gives extra credit points for in-class practice problems and observations, which are really valuable).

Professor Berges is a compelling and interesting lecturer, very seasoned accountant, and helpful/approachable.

Grading Weight:
- Quizzes (25%): She assigns take-home weekly quizzes (20 minutes each). They include plenty of application questions that are challenging given that her lectures and assigned readings are more conceptual. To best prepare for this, complete the suggested homework problems.
- Research Problems (6%): Throughout the quarter, she assigns six research problems, in which she asks you to research and write about certain aspects of tax policy. They are quite short (1 hour each). The grading is arbitrary, so if you feel wronged, attend office hours, make your case, and she is quite accommodating.
- Group Project (31%): You prepare the tax returns and a tax planning letter for a sample client. When preparing the returns, you are inputting ~25 pages of source data into tax software. This part is time consuming and confusing as you are getting adjusted to the tax software, so be sure to start early (around Week 5-6). The tax planning letter is fairly straightforward. It goes without saying, attend office hours and seek clarification. Also, take a strong leadership role as she evaluates group dynamics.
- Final Exam (38%): The exam is rigorous but fair if you prepare well. It is closely modeled on your weekly quizzes so be sure to study those questions, ask AI to generate similar questions, and practice (this is the most effective strategy). You are also allowed a 3-page study guide.

This course is rigorous but rewarding to those who invest the time/prep, practice, and apply themselves. It is not for everyone so avoid if you are trying to protect your GPA.

Berges applies a heavy curve upwards (bumps you up 7-8% on average).

Professor Berges was actually one of the best professors at UCLA that I have had. She was clear on exactly what was going to be tested and modeled her exams after the textbook which made things easy. Additionally, she would take the time to make sure we understood in class and would really teach to what she wanted us to understand. Overall, I would take her again for really any class!

I really like Professor Berges, her 1A class is, in fact, what made me want to pursue accounting in the first place. Her reviews might seem..daunting at first, but I ended up really enjoying the class. I finished with a B+ (I forgot to do 1 or 2 hw assignments, but I scored around 92-95% on both midterm and final). During class, she offers extra credit for participation (I didn't...), but she also gives extra credit sometimes to work on problems during class, which is nice. There is a lot of content, though, as with any accounting class, so I did study a lot. But I felt motivated to so it didn't feel overwhelming.

She is truly dedicated to helping her students. She is very caring, and if you visit her office hours, she will support you with anything she can. She also appreciates when students participate in class. She also gives out extra credit points here and there.

Her class is structured to keep you learning throughout the entire quarter. You have a quiz every Friday, which means you study a little each week instead of cramming before a midterm or final. The material builds on itself, so consistent studying is important no matter whose tax class you take.

Before every quiz, she requires a one-page note sheet. Since there are 10 quizzes, you end up with 10 pages of summarized notes by the end of the quarter. When exam time comes and you’re busy with other classes, these notes make it much easier to prepare your cheat sheet. She allows up to three pages for the exam.

There is also a tax software project that can be a major part of your grade. The software is challenging and can take 20 to 30 hours to complete, so you need to start early and plan ahead. Even though it’s time-consuming, it’s extremely practical and very helpful if you want to go into tax or plan to get your CPA license.

All of her lectures are recorded, which gives you extra support and flexibility.

Overall, Professor Berges teaches in a very structured and steady way. She expects students to keep up with the material and study throughout the quarter. Some people may not like this style, and that’s completely fine. If you prefer to learn everything right before a final or don’t want to work in a group on a tax project, this class might not be the right fit. But that absolutely does NOT mean she is a bad professor. Many negative reviews come from students who struggled with the workload, not the quality of her teaching. In my experience, she was one of the most caring and helpful professors I’ve had at UCLA. Her teaching style is specific, but she is an excellent instructor.

I really appreciate the way Professor Berges teaches. Although she speaks quickly, she shares a lot of practical advice that’s relevant to real-world tax work. She’s also very supportive when it comes to answering tax-related questions or offering career guidance. One plus is that there’s no midterm—just a final exam and a group project.

That said, this class is not for the faint of heart. There are weekly quizzes, so you need to stay on top of the material and study consistently to do well. The final is quite lengthy, with around 80 questions, and can easily take the full three hours. The group project can be confusing at times, but with a reliable and committed team, it becomes manageable. If you are confused, you can always go to office hour and the professor is more than happy to help you. Thankfully, cheat sheets are allowed for both the quizzes and the final, which helps a lot.