[Accountant]

I have decided to sit for the FAR section of the CPA and it has been while since I took a class a financial reporting course. I am planning to take the exam at the end of June which gives me about 2.5 months studying for the exam. On a side note I will not be working at the time of me studying for this exam. So, I wanted to know how long did it take you to pass FAR and do you think 2.5 months too long for far?

I am just new to the CPA exams and any advice is appreciated.

 

See Also: Best CPA Review Courses: 27 Things You Must Know

[Icarito]

That is about the perfect amount of time. 10 weeks. Anything longer than that is too long in my opinion. You might be able to do it in less time if you are full time studying.

Some stuff will come back to you once you start studying. I went 10 years inbetween my last financial acct college course and studying for exam and some stuff came back to me quickly.

[Recked]

10 weeks worked for me.

[vbmer]

That seems like an ideal amount of time to me.

[Tncincy]

It's good to make sure you spend quality time studying because I went through so many disappointing failures because I didn't put in enough time. I felt so rushed to be ready in at least 6 weeks. Take the time since it is available, it's not telling when testing centers will re-open so be ready.

It begins with a 75
Been here too long as a cheerleader....ready to pass

[Mercenary]

I spent 4 weeks on FAR. Longest I spent on any section. But my job, despite being considered full time was more like part time in hours so I could practically study full time.

[Puppykoala]

4 months, no breaks.

[CPAHOPE]

It REALLY depends honestly. Some say do not study more than 3 monthes. I actually listened to their advice and I got fu**ed big time. Look at my failures ha!
Assess your self critically n honesty after 2.5 monthes of studying. Do you know every possible journal entries? Do you know every critical materials in FAR? Does everything clicks once you're done studying? If things aren't clicking, you are probably going to fail. When it clicked for REG N BEC, I finally passed. I also recommend you at least trending 70% on MCQ

[bigstakk]

2.5 months is a bit too much in my opinion. I think for FAR and REG 6-8 weeks is around the sweet spot and for BEC and AUD 4-6 weeks. Anything beyond 8 weeks I personally think is overkill and you’ll have to restudy the earlier material. Unless you are shooting for 90s+ I wouldn’t invest that long unless academically and/or work experience wise you’re not very strong at accounting fundamentals. It all depends though how many hours per day you are studying. For each section you’ll need between 100-140hrs of study time. I never shot for more than getting in the 80s range since a pass is a pass and I just wanted to do enough to secure a first time pass by investing the least amount of time. I spent 4.5 weeks on FAR but only because I couldn’t extend beyond my NTS and didn’t realize it, but it just forced me to cram the last two weeks and I ended up passing (while working full time with a toddler). I realistically needed another 2 weeks though, to not feel rushed and to avoid super late nights of cramming. In short, 6-8 weeks at about 3-4hrs per day is more than enough for FAR assuming you have a degree in accounting and have a decent baseline knowledge. Anything beyond 8 weeks is overkill especially since your not working. Good luck!

[Captain Awesome]

I didn't pass FAR until my fourth try and for that I spent three months.

[mb]

Instead of measuring in weeks or months, you should focus on hours. You will need between 150 – 200 hours. Someone could study for 2 hours a day for 3 months (180 hours) or someone else could study for 4 hours a day for 6 weeks (168 hours). The hours aren't that different but its half the time on a calendar. It is about the hours. Someone telling you how long they studied means nothing if you don't know how much they were studying during that time.

[jombe]

FAR was my first section and I sure didn't know what the hell I was doing at the time and I ended up taking 7 months of studying for it.
I still didn't feel ready, but at that point, I wanted to take the exam even if I failed just so that I knew what the hell I was getting into.

Fortunately I ended up passing on my first attempt and realized 7 months was way too long of preparation.
I ended up spending ~3months per section after FAR. I generally studied 3-4 hours per day every day except for weekends. 2-3 weeks prior to the exam, I upped my studying hrs to 6-8 hrs a day, still took most weekends off thinking I could use some time way from studying to keep my sanity. Ended up working out perfectly for me.

FAR - 94 (10/4/15), Local Prep Online Lectures, BISK & NINJA MCQ
AUD - 99 (1/19/16), Local Prep Online Lectures, BISK & NINJA MCQ
REG - 96 (4/19/16), Local Prep Online Lectures, BISK & NINJA MCQ
BEC - 91 (7/19/16), Local Prep Online Lectures, BISK & NINJA MCQ

581 days of listening to lectures, reading texts & 10,000+ MCQs...

[Tncincy]

Wow, great score jombe. keep those fingers crossed for the rest of us. I don't think I will spend 7 months but I intend to be ready when the testing centers re-open.

It begins with a 75
Been here too long as a cheerleader....ready to pass

[Michael]

depends if you want an education or ability to pass… to get an education takes minimum 6 months imo took me much more. to pass only need probably 3 months.

[JM03]

Like others have said it really depends on you and how focused you can get. I spent 4-4.5 weeks on each exam and found it more than enough to learn and understand the material. Reg even seemed a little too long.

I have friends who spent 2.5-3 months on each. To them that was the time it took to learn the material.

I’d recommend looking at your schedule and setting an aggressive daily schedule giving you enough time to get through everything with 10-14 days of review. Do the first couple modules to see how long it takes you compared to your review course’s estimated time. Then use that info to make a rough estimate for the rest. Then get to it.

The more intense the schedule the more you will have to follow it. Prolonging gives you the chance to procrastinate.

[PC]

I took 6 months but that included time off over the holidays and a spring break trip with the kids along with 10+ practice tests beforehand. I can say that was overkill but I wasn't keen on doing any retakes.

[Author]

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