[lilac]

I had an experience with FAR 9/10/2017. Without disclosing the contents of the exam, it was highly skewed towards two subject areas. That these topics were heavily tested would not surprise anyone who has done a little bit of homework about what the examiners like to test to separate candidates. However, I walked away thinking that if someone didn’t know these two topics, this exam was not passable. Has anyone else had experience like that?

[shawn in VA]

I have NEVER taken FAR but will soon enough and all I hear on this forum is the FAR SIMS are a nightmare, and that Not for profit and Govt is tested heavily.

These stmts are based off what I have read on this forum over the last year or so.

Definitely has me scared. I will allocated 200 hours to this beast. REG was not so bad since I work in tax.

[lilac]

NFP and Govt are highly tested. I've heard that too.

[JCVFUTURECPA]

I agree.

[Wanna_B_TXCPA2014]

@lilac Financial by FAR is there most BS test followed closely by REG. Ask me anything you want out of a 1,000 pg study guide and be as obscure as you like so I really show you how smart I am…

Sure would be be nice to see the exact mix of your individual exam, but that type of transparency may raise the % of ppl that pass by .0005% so…..

They make these test suck on purpose to weed people out. (Rant over)

[Anonymous]

I don't think FAR is that bad. I would have taken it last week if it weren't for the hurricane, but it wasn't a difficult test to study for or understand.

I haven't taken the actual test yet, but I have taken the practice tests. I feel like FAR is very straight forward compared to the other sections and it's a lot like understanding how a car works and all the little moving pieces and parts. In other words, the financial statements, GAAP, IFRS, etc., it's all highly mechanical so if you can picture the financial statements in that way, it makes it a whole lot easier in my opinion.

I rescheduled my exam for a few weeks from now, so that should give me even more time to study (not that I even needed it in my opinion). If I don't pass it for whatever reason, I'll have to reconsider everything I know in life because I've studied the material to it's core.

[nalratoss]

I do think FAR is passable. I passed (took test in April).

Find a review material you like. Then be mentally prepared for the long haul. If you have undergraduate accounting fresh off your mind, most of the FAR stuff is intermediate accounting. The only thing that is new is government, NFP (and maybe derivative, I learned derivative in graduate accounting).

But even with government and NFP it's mostly MCQs so you just need to understand the basics. If government or NFP appears on SIMs then keep your fingers crossed. But don't get discouraged if you have no clue on a government SIMs. If it's hard for you, chances are it's hard for everyone else.

[Matt]

All the material is hard until you know it. Every test is different just keep working at it, FAR has a lot of material but most of it is not super complex.

FAR 74

[Pork Flavored Bacon]

When I took FAR (for the fourth time), a huge portion of the MCQ's were not-for-profit and governmental accounting. As I used Becker and they had a small section on both, I made the mistake of not studying too much for those two sections and, of course, did not pass the test.

The next (and last time I took FAR), I studied the crap out of not-for-profit and governmental accounting. So much so I could have taught a course on that material. And then my test had seven, yes, seven questions on not-for-profit and governmental accounting questions. I counted them because I was kind of annoyed. But maybe getting those seven questions right pushed me to my sweet, sweet 75. woo hooooo

It's a crapshoot, I think. My advice would be to definitely know that junk.

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

[Earla Riopel (NYCARE)]

Based on my latest FAR exams: Q2 (2015) Q4 (2016)& Q1 (2017) with the old format & FAR Q3 (2017) with the new format, it's passable, but not easy.

The following threads might give you an idea on how the FAR Q3 (2017) was like:
https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-forum/topic/far-exam-experience-official-thread/
https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-forum/users/mtaylo24/replies/
https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-forum/topic/far-crash-course/

As for me passing FAR Q3 2017, it's 50/50. I did some silly mistakes that I only realize after it's done (both for FAR Q1 & Q3 2017), just made it worst.

[Amortized and Energized]

I remember the first time I listened to the Becker lecture for FAR it said right in the first two minutes, Government and Not for Profit could account for 25-40% of your exam. No joke. Sadly for me the first time I listened to that lecture was the second time I took the test because I skipped those sections due to time crunch on my first take 😀

FAR - Aug 2015 (58), Feb 2016 (81)
u
BEC - May 2016 (79)
AUD - Jul 2016
REG - Aug 2016

[turo9992000]

I took it in August, and felt good about everything except NFP and Government. Way too many questions on those 2 subjects. It sucks, but I guess that's what we have to endure in order to be CPAs.

[rhayder]

The FAR sims are insanity. It's not that the material is difficult. The problem is that by the time you have read the questions, examined all the source documents, and planned an approach to complete the SIM there is no time left.

If you start reading documents and plug numbers in where you think they might go and then read the scenario afterwards, you might have a chance of throwing some numbers at the forms. No time to check your work. Clicking the tabs with your mouse to switch between documents is clumsy and the calculator sucks.

[AICPAy2Play]

I felt like knowing Govt and NFP fairly well (but not mastered) gave me a lot of easy points on the exam. I also thought the Sims were kind of easy compared to AUD or REG. Then again, I probably failed so….

[BamaGuyinNC]

It is most definitely passable but requires quite a bit of study. Seems like State and Local Governments content area is the most difficult for a lot of us which requires more practice and study to master. FAR is my last part, which I scored a 71 during the 2nd quarter. Saw my score performance report recently and was weaker on State and Local Governments while being comparable on other content areas and was weaker on MC and comparable on simulations. Took again on Sept. 10 and waiting till the 19th now.

[Author]

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