[Oh]

I just took the FAR exam and want to inquire about something I did on the exam and how it would reflect the exam.
It’s about one of the simulation exam, where the exam instruction didn’t say anything about blank fields, so I filled all the blank fields with zeros.
Now I see that I shouldn’t have done that because it was debit credit simulation, and if I answered debit, I put credit as 0, which seems so stupid now looking back, but at the time I was so worried leaving them as blanks.
I really hope I could get help before exam score gets released.
Thank you for your time and concern.
God bless you.

[CPAHOPE]

You cant change anything once you're done with the exam. Is this the only sim you screwed up? If you did others pretty well, you should be fine. Lets just hope you passed!

[thunderlips]

hope is right there is nothing you can do about it now. not sure why you would think you could call someone to tell them what happened for an adjustment

[Pork Flavored Bacon]

What kind of help are you expecting to receive?

FAR - 75 | REG - 87 | AUD - 82 | LAW - 81

[Wingdings]

Not sure if it's helpful but on my second FAR attempt I did ok on MCQs then had a total meltdown on SIMs I finished (very poorly) 5/8 SIMs and ended up leaving 3 entirley blank and I got a 66. On another attempt I felt I had crushed the MCQs and felt slightly better on the SIMs but still left one entirely blank and rushed through another and got a 73. If your only hiccup was on one SIM I doubt it will be a make or break! 🙂

[DJD17]

You know you've been doing too much CPA studying when you use words like “inquire” in everyday language.

[rlarivee01]

Hey, look on the bright side- maybe the exam will read 0 the same as no quantity entered. Also, maybe the SIM in question doesn't count!

Worst case scenario is you've got to take it again, but now you know what not to do.

[Lindsey_p87]

I'm not convinced that putting zeroes instead of leaving it blank actually makes a difference, especially if the instructions didn't specify. I wouldn't worry too much about it right now, try to move on.

FAR - PASSED 11/14
AUD - TBD
BEC - TBD
REG - First take 2/16

[elenitta]

I had a similar experience when I took FAR. I noticed right away that the instructions didn’t specify whether I should leave unused fields blank or put zeroes (it was also journal entries). I made a decision to put zeroes in blank fields because when I practiced in Wiley, it’d always tell me to put zeroes and not leave anything blank.

Then I had another simulation in the next testlet that specifically told me to leave the fields blank, so I freaked out a bit about my first simulation that I did. I kept thinking about it after the exam and convincing myself that I did indeed read instructions very closely and it didn’t tell me how to treat unused fields.

Also, I believe Jeff asked AICPA folks about this and they said if the instructions don’t specify what to do with blank fields, you’re fine either way: you can enter zero OR leave them blank. Search for that post here.

I ended up passing FAR.

I also think it's one of those situations where you can appeal with AICPA and win the case if you end up failing the exam by a few points. You can argue that instructions weren’t clear and failed to mentioned what to do with blank cells. I doubt AICPA would ding you on that because a lot of people would end up appealing and winning:). Take a deep breath and try to study for your next exam! Good luck!

[bigstakk]

I don’t think entering in Zeros matters when it doesn’t specify. Only if it specifically indicated to enter zeros or leave blank could it matter. Don’t stress. I’ve definitely whiffed on SIMs and passed exams. If you did well on the MCQs you’ll be just fine either way. Good luck!

[Oh]

thanks guys for cheering me up. helped me alot. Thank you.

[AndreA]

You will be fine, good luck!

[DocJ]

Honestly, if you're gonna fail the exam, it will most definitely NOT be because you put zeroes in the wrong place. An error like that is maybe 1-2 points at most. Also, I'm pretty sure if they didn't want you putting zeroes in, the blank spaces wouldn't be there. I mean, what if they deducted points if you did NOT put anything in? If they weren't clear on the instructions, then this can go either way.

See, this is why I keep saying SIMs have GOT to go. They're terrible, outdated, and always have stupid technical issues like this. Even if you're gonna stubbornly keep SIMs and pretend like that's some reflection on how good an accountant you can be, the AICPA needs to stop being so cheap in using outdated technology and poor as hell instructions. TELL US WHAT YOU &$%#S WANT!!!

[Author]

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