[Master the CPA exam]

I am currently studying for the FAR exam, which I scheduled for the last week of April. I am feeling overwhelmed since I can’t seem to keep up to the study schedule that Wiley has provided. I am studying to really learn the lessons but then I am wondering if the areas where I am spending most of my study time will even be on the exam. Any suggestions

FAR - May 2015 - 69
BEC - TBD
REG - TBD
AUD - TBD

Wiley CPA Excel, Wiley Test Bank, & Ninja Audio Notes

"Fight through the pain, so you can live like a CHAMPION"

[State Aggie]

I've used CPA Excel for all my sections. I have noticed two things: they front load the course giving you a lot of material to cover early in their recommended study plan, and they recommend you study 10-12 hours a week for six and a half weeks and in the same breath tell you should study 100/120 hours total. Also, any of the material can be covered on the exam, but there is so much to cover it is ok if you don't understand every detail for FAR. I hope that helps.

BEC - 87
AUD - 74, 92
REG - 82
FAR - 65, 85

[kleon52]

You must get ninja mcq, cpaexcel mcq will not prepare you for the real thing

REG: 80
AUD: 82
BEC: 83
FAR: 83
Finished Feb 2015, 5-6months

Ninja MCQ for AUD, BEC, & FAR

[jschrei2]

Agreed. CPAExcel lesson plans are larger at the beginning. If you are able to reasonably keep up with their suggested lesson schedule, you should be okay. However, I liked that the lesson schedule towards the end was shorter as that allowed to be do MCQ's after I was finished with the CPAExcel lessons. As for what to study…everything. However, if you are running short on time, pick the areas where you are least comfortable to focus on.

Wiley Test Bank MCQ's came with my CPAExcel subscription and I used them for FAR. For REG I used WTB and Ninja MCQ's. My scores were the same for both tests. I know a lot of people here like Ninja, but honestly I didn't notice that much difference. As long as you have some support of supplemental MCQ's, I think that is all that matters.

FAR- 88
REG- 88
AUD- 93
BEC-86

[y_u_no_pass]

Well if you really run out of time. I will tell you it is still possible to pass

72% Framework, Overview and Statements

33% Financial Statement Accounts

9% Specific Transactions, Events and Disclosures

100% Not-for-Profit Accounting and Reporting

83% Governmental Accounting and Reporting

These are the percentage completions I have for each area. Overall, I only completed about 30% of the multiple choice, but I focused on the following areas when I was running out of time: business combinations, government, not for profit, leases, pensions, income taxes, and non-monetary exchanges. Before I realized I was out of time I had covered the overview, cash, some intangibles and inventory. I would also suggest that if you run out of time, you may reach a point where you aren't even doing all of the multiple choice. FAR is very calculation heavy, so if low on time it is sometimes prudent to only do a few of the problems to be sure you have a feel for the subject, then move on. I completely missed most of IFRS, and all stock transactions (One of my SIMS was on a topic I didn't study and I just put zeros and random guesses for the journal entries). The fact is you can miss a lot and still pass. Focus on the most heavily tested, and as jschre said your weakest areas, if you reach the end an aren't done.

But ideally you should try to get through all of it. I was certain I had failed because I had so many areas I wasn't prepared for.

Florida CPA!
Took final exam 2/25/15.
Sent in Application 3/12/15.
Issued License 3/20/15.
Used CPA Excel solely for all exams.

[okcpa2015]

Same thing happened to me…

I had about 3 weeks until the exam when I panic and this is what I did.

I went back through each lesson and just did the multiple choice until I got a 90%. If I didn't I took down a couple notes of what I did wrong and then tried again the next day (so I would only do the mcqs for that lesson once in a day). Took me about a week (studied probably 30 hours), To get this done.

After that it was like a light bulb almost went on and I started to get most of it. I recommend to get through the material, try to go through the mcq's again, and then just drill, drill, drill. I felt very prepared for the test.

FAR - 91
REG - 88
AUD - 98
BEC - 88

[Anonymous]

I have to disagree with kleon since I've been using cpaexcel for all the parts and the MCs do prepare you for the real exam. It does feel overwhelming for FAR at first but you can do it. Government accounting seems like a lot but if you master the different types of funds, revenue recognition and differences between government and commercial F/S you should be ok. You can also supplement your material with Ninja notes which I got too and are excellent as an “on the go” studying. Unfortunately you CANT skip anything from FAR.

Link: Current CPAexcel Discount Codes

[Author]

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