[ExhaustedCPA]

Now, I don’t imagine there is an AICPA SWAT team busting down doors or anything. But I would rather play it safe, you know? There’s nothing overly blatant going on, like asking about specific questions on the exam or anything like that. But there is a lot of disclosing of the topics people have seen on the exam, like somebody had 4 sims of governmental questions, etc. It might not seem like much but it’s still against the disclosure rules. Somebody hears that the FAR exam is testing heavily on governmental and, thus, they now have an advantage (for example).

Like I said, nothing is too blatant on here. But still, it’s starting to make me uncomfortable. I don’t want to be caught up in a AICPA tornado or anything. Paranoid? Maybe. But why even risk it? So, seriously, can we try to avoid disclosing anything about the exam? I’m thinking of getting off this site and I would really hate to do that. This is an awesome site. It really helps people. So let’s be more careful ok?

Aud 4/2/11 - 86
Far 5/27/11 - 83
Bec 7/1/11 - 82
Reg 8/13/11 - 86! It's over!!!!

[mattsmeesh]

A few thoughts:

– I get a big Cindy Brady vibe from the OP, but I can't really argue with it.

– Wouldn't even saying something like the MCQs were “harder than Becker” “divulge the nature” of the questions?

– The AICPA can sit on it.

FAR - 86
AUD - 78
BEC - 84
REG - 68, 67, 8/4

[Minimorty]

Look, there is clearly a fine line between talking generally about an experience and “disclosing” information about the exam. What I found slightly obnoxious was the op saying he was considering leaving the sit just because a few people step into the grey area with their disclosures. Jeff, Allyson, and any other moderators I am not aware of seem to do a great job of deleting the blatantly inappropriate material. If you just worry about yourself, you are not going to have any issues.

[kb24]

@mattsmeesh

Fine. You don't like the fact that the AICPA insists on nondisclosure, but it's not like you didn't know it going into this process. You're should act like an adult instead of a little kid saying “you can't make me!”.

FAR 4/1/11 - 89
AUD 4/15/11 - 85
REG 4/29/11 - 80
BEC 5/13/11 - 85

[mattsmeesh]

@kb2

Except I haven't divulged anything. I even went back and checked all my posts to make sure I was in the clear. I'm just bitching about the AICPA. I thought we were allowed to gripe on this website?

FAR - 86
AUD - 78
BEC - 84
REG - 68, 67, 8/4

[Anonymous]

https://www.aicpa.org/BecomeACPA/CPAExam/ExaminationContent/ContentAndSkills/DownloadableDocuments/CSOs-SSOs-Effective.7-1-11.pdf

I never get tired of posting this link; it's like people think the CSO provided by the AICPA is a secret or something. Hmm, I'd like to share an excerpt from the updated CSO in regards to IFRS, “Identify and understand the differences between financial statements prepared on the basis of accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (U.S. GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)”. When the AICPA is TELLING candidates that IFRS is a topic that has the same plausibility of being tested as any other topic, I don't think it's an advantage. Especially since it doesn't say anywhere in the CSO that IFRS question testing is still in the infancy stage…but then again, I suppose that's just my interpretation.

These are two entirely different statements:

1) “The AICPA CSO says that IFRS is a viable topic to be tested on the FAR portion of the CPA examination; it would be to your benefit to make sure you have studied that topic. Considering that this is a new addition to the Uniform CPA exam, you are likely to see quite a few questions on it.” (not a violation)

2) “I just got out of my FAR examination; there were at least 20 questions on IFRS!” (violation)

Nobody is arguing that telling other people what/how much/in what capacity a topic was tested on the CPA exam is a violation by AICPA standards, I think they are just saying that someone being told that IFRS is tested on the exam isn't giving anyone an edge.

[Anonymous]

While I agree with the non-disclosure policy, it's stupid to think that people get an advantage by saying one particular area showed up on the exam. Each exam is different. The only person I used to disclose info to was my wife, who happens to be in the Pharmaceutical field 🙂

[ExhaustedCPA]

@BaseballCPA, don't be a smartass. Everyone knows IFRS is tested on FAR. But it's the people who come on here and say, “Man, IFRS was tested heavily on my exam!” And when 1, 2, 3, 4, people confirm this, a person can start to think, hey, maybe I should study heavily the IFRS material. That IS an unfair advantage. Take some guy who doesn't visit boards like this, who has his nose in the book. To him, everything should be studied equally because it all has a chance of being on the test. But then somebody on this board sees how everyone saying how many IFRS questions there are, and now he studies IFRS 200X harder than the guy who doesn't visit the board. Is that fair?

@bullandre – Yeah, you're right I suppose. I guess the AICPA came up with those silly disclosure rules because they were bored. You know, because EVERY exam is different. So why not disclose? Hey, on my AUD exam I had to fill in the blanks for an audit engagement letter! On Reg I had an Estate sim! For BEC I had to calculate the break-even point! On FAR I had to do a bank rec! None of these examples are true, of course, but I hope you see my point. If disclosure doesn't matter, because EVERY test is different, then why are there disclosure rules?

Aud 4/2/11 - 86
Far 5/27/11 - 83
Bec 7/1/11 - 82
Reg 8/13/11 - 86! It's over!!!!

[mattsmeesh]

Stipulating that you shouldn't divulge anything, or listen to anything divulged… Wouldn't there be as much upside potential as there is downside potential if you relied on what someone said on one of the boards? For example:

– John Doe says “There was a ton on IFRS, so study that a lot.”

– You study less governmental accounting and focus on IFRS.

– Your version of the exam has very little IFRS and a lot on governmental account.

RESULT: You at a disadvantage.

FAR - 86
AUD - 78
BEC - 84
REG - 68, 67, 8/4

[ExhaustedCPA]

Assuming, of course, that you neglected governmental. A smart person would just study longer than normally planned and use that time to study IFRS.

Aud 4/2/11 - 86
Far 5/27/11 - 83
Bec 7/1/11 - 82
Reg 8/13/11 - 86! It's over!!!!

[Minimorty]

@Exhausted – Are you pissed because you feel like YOU are at a disadvantage right now? Why do you care so much? You are not going to get in any trouble for a couple people posting borderline disclosing material. I'm not sure why you are so worked up over this.

[Anonymous]

@Exhausted — I'm not arguing the ethical implications of exam disclosure, you dolt. I'm merely stating that you're splitting hairs over how much of an advantage one person has by being told the IFRS is on the exam. Any well prepared candidate will most likely have seen, read, or skimmed the Content Specification Outline provided by the AICPA. So now you're talking about all candidates having the ability to view the same information at the same time going into their exam.

Hey guess what? I've never been in outer space, but I've read in many scientific publications that because of the lack of oxygen, humans cannot breathe without a special mask. I can tell Minimorty, “Hey, just fyi, I read this book that says you can't breathe without a mask, so you should probably prepare for that” or I can say, “Dude, just got back from space; DO NOT try and take your mask off! You will suffer a horrible death by asphyxiation!”. By golly, Batman, unless my friend minimorty is a complete moron (which he is not), I don't think that my personal experience in space detailing the relationship between lack of oxygen and mask-less astronauts is going to give him an advantage over another astronaut who is dutifully preparing for his voyage instead of seeking advice from an experienced friend.

I didn't even take FAR in 2011, but in all honesty, if a person can actually go into the FAR exam in 2011 and not speculate that they will get a slew of IFRS related questions, he/she needs to get his/her head examined. It is the FIRST YEAR this stuff is tested! I didn't even take the exam when IFRS was a potential test area, but you can bet that if I had, I would apply the logical reasoning skills of at least a 5th grader to be able to analyze my probabilities of being tested on that area.

[mattsmeesh]

Not necessarily. Your scenario doesn't assume a scarce time resources per se. Additionally, if the ranges contained within the CSOs are accurate and there are a fixed number of questions in an exam, it would be rational to assume that if one topic hits it's maximum point in a range, it would force other topics to be tested at a less than maximum point within the range.

FAR - 86
AUD - 78
BEC - 84
REG - 68, 67, 8/4

[ExhaustedCPA]

@Minimorty – I guess it goes back to my high school days when I would look around during the test and see people using cheat sheets. It's a slap in the face to the people who spent time studying. But that was high school. This is the freaking CPA exam! It's such a honor to get this certification and it would it's like it's devauled, you know? People giving bit hints and pointers to other people…I don't know it just cheapens it for me. Now, are people who come on here and happen to read something that gives them a good idea what to study cheating? No, of course not. But the people who supplied the information…it's just not right.

Ah, screw it. I know what the CPA means to me. So I won't let it bother me if other people have a leg up over me. At least, I will try my best to feel that way 🙂

Aud 4/2/11 - 86
Far 5/27/11 - 83
Bec 7/1/11 - 82
Reg 8/13/11 - 86! It's over!!!!

[Peanut]

I took the live classes in NYC– The instructors would come across a topic and literally say “You might get 1-2 questions on the exam relating to this, so don't get too worked up about it” Look these exams suck 8@lls but we just have to deal with it. I'm always stalking these forums and I don't feel like I have more of an advantage. I still feel like I got drop kicked in the ear every time I take an exam..

AUD 81 (X4) Previous scores 59, 72, 72
REG 80 (X3) Previous scores 59, 60
FAR 75 (X2) Previous score 67
BEC 79 (X2) Previous score 58

[Peanut]

@ExhaustedCPA looks like you might possibly be done all of this forever anyway! Cheers to you.. I should probably keep studying AUD instead of stalking like a cyber creeper

AUD 81 (X4) Previous scores 59, 72, 72
REG 80 (X3) Previous scores 59, 60
FAR 75 (X2) Previous score 67
BEC 79 (X2) Previous score 58

[Author]

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