[Wannafree]

Hi all those who took AFR in Oct,
Can you please share your exam experiences ,kinda curfew on forum .Curious how the things are in general ?

[Wannafree]

@Sunni ,”Granted I finished all but 1 and was able to get halfway through the last before the clock timed out” should be good enough to pass.For 75 you don't need to complete all MCQ and all SIMs.As you mentioned those were easy so you must have completed rest of the SIMs 100% right and that means fairly good chance to pass.

[Anonymous]

When I took my FAR exam last week, I may have missed a few MCQ, but there are 12 MCQ pretest questions out of 66 total MCQ questions. So there is quite a bit of room for “error”. If anything, I might have made a few silly mistakes, but I was able to work through most of the problems it seemed. Also I feel I did an above average job on the SIMs overall, so hopefully this translates into a PASS on score release.

Also I felt a lot better leaving FAR than I did REG and I only missed REG by a few points. I felt destroyed after leaving the exam for REG and guessed a lot on the SIMs, but FAR didn't seem as brutal.

Spent 2 hours on MCQ. 2 hours on SIMs. Had about 4 DRS, 1 research, and 5-10 minutes left for a crazy impossible SIM that I ended up just leaving blank which I'm guessing was pretest.

[PNS2CLT]

I took FAR this afternoon. After torturing myself by attempting more than 5,000 Ninja & Wiley MCQ in less than a month, I found the first testlet to be comparatively easily. I'm fairly certain I did well on it because the second testlet was noticeably more difficult (several questions included verbiage I was unfamiliar with … and again, I attempted 5,000 MCQ). These questions weren't nearly as straight forward, but I think I did OK with them.

As for the simulations… honestly, I don't think any review program could prepare you well for them; they truly do test higher order skills. Overall, I didn't find the simulations to be difficult, but the instructions are lacking — brief and vague, and I know this may have sunk my score. For example — and this is NOT one of my simulations but rather an analogy I'm creating — it might ask you to reconcile accounts payable, saying things like ‘$5000 in merchandise purchased on credit was returned' … am I making adjustments to just the AP account? Or inventory as well? Some of the tasks seem to imply the latter but it's not definitive and the instructions only mentioned AP (and again… this was NOT a sim, but rather something I made up to get my point across).

My first set of sims were involved and I ended up submitted the testlet for time… which turned out to be silly because I completed the other 6 in less time than it took for those two and ended up with a nice chuck of time remaining in the end. One thing I will say — I ***love*** DRS. I only had two, but I'd happy take four. They test comprehension more so than accounting skills and are such a relief.

FWIW, I spent over 20 hours cramming between Friday evening and this afternoon, using Becker's “most likely to be tested” topics. It ended up being a waste of time — I didn't get any of those topics, which is surprising since they're generally the most heavily tested.

[Ana]

thanks @pns2clt for sharing your experience. It's extremely close to how I felt and did last qtr. I'm giving it another try on Friday. Hope you passed.

[IwannabeaCPA2017]

Good luck to those taking it soon!!

[Wannafree]

@Ana , all the best for Friday.You will be probably first to thank or blame @Lentilcounter.Let us see how good Blueprint is.

[Ana]

Thanks @wanna. Lentil is actually taking his on Thursday so he should have the decency to thank or blame himself first lol. I'll be sure to update you guys. But I've taken the exam three times, remember them VERY well and the blueprint is helpful to me. It's a good guide and am thankful to have had it. Although after the last test, not the first two, I walked out and thought you can't study for these SIMS. MCQ you can, it's basic and straight forward but the SIMS are vague or aren't something that is taught in a review course. It's can you think and apply logic or not.

[PNS2CLT]

Thanks, Ana! Best of luck to you as well!!!

Personally, I think it'd be a waste of time to study for the sims. Did mine match what was in the blueprint? Absolutely. But the actual accounting skills necessary to complete the skills were menial — as with my BEC exam last month, the skill level necessary to complete the simulations could be obtained in an introductory accounting class; clearly, the AICPA is primarily assessing comprehension skills. The simulations themselves aren't difficult — they're much, much easier than simulations of years past that have been released — but the AICPA's instructions are. And Becker nor anyone else offers anything like them, sans the research, which generally isn't difficult anyway.

For example (***I'm making this example up, it's NOT an actual simulation***), a simulation might be titled ‘Reconciliation of Unearned Income' and the instructions indicate that I'm suppose to reconcile the unearned income account. Seems straight forward right? But when if the scenarios continually went into detail on inventory items, and there was a worksheet included that listed wholesale prices? E.g. ‘Client X returned their order; it was received on 12-30 but not processed until 1-9. Client X is choosing a credit as opposed to a refund.' Seems like all I was asked to do was reconcile the inventory. But then the last line of the simulation is ‘Assume no other entries have been posted; once your entries are posted, the financial statements will be released to review.' That makes it sound like I should've been reconciling inventory. I mean… I don't get it. I really don't.

Considering the volume & difficulty of FAR — evidenced by a low 40s pass rate — there's no way we should be dealing with this B.S.

[Wannafree]

@Ana ,my situation : without blueprint I was working hard for wrestling championship ( 5k MCQ ) but when I was saw the blueprint ,came to know that actually it was boxing ( SIMs with emails ) and that's why I was knocked out by SIM.I was trying to put my opponent (FAR ) on his back — to pin the opponent. A pin (or fall) is when you put your opponent on his/her back with any part of both shoulders or both shoulder blades of your opponent in contact with the mat for two seconds.While I was trying to pin FAR down, the opponent used to hit with his gloves straight on my nose ,teeth or eyes .I was knocked out with bleeding nose and definitely pinned by FAR as if it was free style wrestling. LOL.
This time I am going with my gloves on and learning to protect my nose ,teeth and eyes and if can protect those ENT things ,that will be draw or tie (75 ).If I will be able to punch on nose of FAR ( BS with 5 emails type SIMs solved correctly) then it would be 80.I will not blame lentil because now I know I have to practice boxing and if I pass will talk to Peter Olinto to pass the lunch coupon to @Lentilcounter.

[Wannafree]

@PNS2CLT , I can feel your frustration as I have had it 3 times in row.I described my situation to one of my friend who works with Artificial intelligence and Machine learning.He mapped my situation in terms of cricket game and suggested me something in terms of cricket game ( a colonial era game ).I am keen to describe the solution in terms of Cricket match but it will sound Greek to American. LOL.

[Ana]

@wannafree your analogy is hilarious! I'm ready to murder this thing…or see me here again next quarter.
@pns I completely understand what you're saying. They're trying to make the exams like real life but failing.

[Anonymous]

So I took FAR.

1. Overall wasn’t that hard. Idk how I did but wasn’t really stumped.

2. For the TBS do I have to enter 0 for everything that I wanna leave blank?

3. I had a TBS question where I’d swear the Financial statement they presented me was missing a line item I was so confused.

4. Only worry I’m having right now is that I put 0 for many TBS lines, I feel they may have been wrong. I also had 2 TBS that were similar and I wouldn’t mind if either of them were pretests.

5. Use the authoritative literature for the TBS questions. Especially the JE ones, and the finish the sentence ones too

[MeanJoe]

2. For the TBS do I have to enter 0 for everything that I wanna leave blank?

–I believe it is mentioned in the instructions if you are to leave it blank or input zeros.

5. Use the authoritative literature for the TBS questions. Especially the JE ones, and the finish the sentence ones too

–How feasible is this? Easy to look up info for the TBS in the AL?

I hope you did well!

[Anonymous]

@meanjoe

Some of them just say you don’t have to use all the lines available so I guess that means I can leave blank.

And using the AL is helpful when you’re not sure if certain things need to be recognized or disclosed, or you’re not sure how to journalise something

[Wannafree]

@another72 ,salute for using AL in FAR and found out JE. Can you teach me how to do that ? You don't need to tell me that JE which will be violation and I sincerely don't want you to do that.Please share whatever you can to (without disclosure )this old timer .I want to say goodbye to CPA exam.

[Author]

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