[Boate]

Hi All,

For some add reason, I’m having a difficult time with Bonds and Leases….. While reading the material it all makes sense but once I begin to work MCQ, I get stuck with all the rules. I’ve done over 150 MCQ in just these two topics and have reworked the MCQ in both Rogers and Ninja and I’m still scoring in the 50s. Unfortunately I’m one who cannot move to another topic until I feel comfortable with the one I’m on now so I’ve dedicated over a week to just these sections. I know I have to move on but did anyone else encounter this problem? I’m feeling quite defeated because of all the time I’ve invested into these 2 sections to still not have any confidence in my knowledge of the topics to answer the questions. I still have over 40 days until my exam so its not like I’m really running out of time.

Thanks

AUD: (65)(66) 77
REG: (66) (48) destroyed me mentally.....
FAR: (68) (66)(69)(71)
BEC: (63) 75

"Greatness is not some precious thing, it is no more unique to us than breathing. We are ALL capable of it."

[Zuly]

I know exactly how you feel because I felt the same way. Studied with Roger too and although I understood it while he taught it I didn't get it when it came time to do the MCQs. I'm a visual learner so I really needed to understand the concepts by doing T-accounts and writing out my own amortization table and you'll see this will be helpful for SIMS and learning the different journal entries.

Allen Marsau really helped with this so here's a link so you can check out his videos. He has a whole bunch on different accounting topics, including bonds and leases.

I'm like you too, didn't want to move on ahead until I got it. Make sure you understand the topic and also look out for the pattern in the questions and you'll notice most questions are asking for the same kind of information. Once you can figure out how to set up the journal entry you can get the answer right from the J/E.

Hope this helps.

FAR - (11/01/14) 71 (02/07/15) 79
AUD - (04/30/15) 86
BEC - (07/21/15) 73 (10/01/15) 75
REG - (11/30/15) 55 (05/19/16) 74

[Anonymous]

DEFINITELY practice doing the journal entries. Even if the question doesn't ask you specifically for a debit or credit amount/account, it helps immensely to see what is actually happening to a company's financials when it issues or purchases debt, becomes a lessee or lessor, etc.

I am fortunate that my job requires me to do a lot of bond accounting, so I was familiar with all the different accounts and concepts involved in recording bond transactions.

For leases, I just developed a strategy for approaching the questions and used that strategy every single time. Leases became ingrained in my head (and I only recall one or two lease questions on my entire FAR exam … go figure). The very first thing I did was look at “the call of the question.” What are they asking you to figure out? This will save you a lot of time and direct your efforts toward the facts and problem-solving steps that are actually relevant. Then, I would go through the steps of determining whether I'm dealing with an operating lease or a capital lease. This will have a tremendous impact on which other facts in the question are relevant. And sometimes, the question is just that: operating or capital? You don't want to waste time calculating the PV of future lease payments if all you need to know is what kind of lease it is. Then, based on the type of lease, pick out the relevant numeric facts for solving whatever question they've given you (how many years over which the lease will be depreciated, PV of lease payments, annual lease expense/income, etc.). This process may not be a good fit for you (we all approach problems differently), but the point is figure out a way that makes sense to you and then drill it repeatedly until you are no longer having to consult the text to reason out the proper problem-solving steps.

[Boate]

Thanks for the response Casey and Zumo. Haven't been writing out the J/E for questions unless they asked for it. I can definitely see how that'll help understand the situation. Little sad I didn't think to do that before, regardless thank you for the insights!

AUD: (65)(66) 77
REG: (66) (48) destroyed me mentally.....
FAR: (68) (66)(69)(71)
BEC: (63) 75

"Greatness is not some precious thing, it is no more unique to us than breathing. We are ALL capable of it."

[Boate]

Thanks for the response Casey and Zumo. Haven't been writing out the J/E for questions unless they asked for it. I can definitely see how that'll help understand the situation. Little sad I didn't think to do that before, regardless thank you for the insights!

AUD: (65)(66) 77
REG: (66) (48) destroyed me mentally.....
FAR: (68) (66)(69)(71)
BEC: (63) 75

"Greatness is not some precious thing, it is no more unique to us than breathing. We are ALL capable of it."

[Author]

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