[Porma Fierles]

I literally wrote out all the becker notes for govt accounting and am now trying the mcq. The mcq is very much kicking my butt. Does anyone else feel this way?

[Anonymous]

Yep. I've been struggling through F8 all day and it's not making sense to me. Hoping it clicks with some more repetition.

Looks like we are on about the same schedule with FAR and REG retakes!

[Porma Fierles]

Yes it does look like it. I guess, that ninja is being nitty gritty with its questions because a lot of them did not read like anything Becker told me about. Some did though, but I underestimated how much GRASPP and SE-PAPI matter to the questions. Why are you taking REG in January instead of later in the quarter? As far as I know they will score them all on the same day.

[Anonymous]

Mid January is when my busy season starts and I really want to be done before then. I'm planning to study full time for the last couple of weeks in December since I have some time off work so hopefully January 9th will be doable.

[Porma Fierles]

Yeah maybe. I will try to study reg on and off during two months while I work. Hopefully I can ask some of the tax staff for guidance because REG+my brain= 😛

[Anonymous]

Make sure you understand the difference between the financial statements for Governmental Funds vs. Government Wide F/S's. Two completely different things that are easy to mix up. GRaSPP SE PAPI mneumonic carries me through governmental.

BEC 08/31/2016
AUD XX/XX/XXXX
FAR XX/XX/XXXX
REG XX/XX/XXXX

[Porma Fierles]

Thanks for the advice. Right now I am on specific transactions which is a larger, also challenging section.

[Anonymous]

I didn't….until I used Roger and he made he perfectly clear.

[letsrun4it]

Honestly I felt like I would never get it, and after 5000 MCQ it all made sense.

BEC: 85
REG: 74, 78
AUD: 86
FAR: October?

[letsrun4it]

Actually the Ninja Audio helped a lot too. And the Roger textbook is rather good.

BEC: 85
REG: 74, 78
AUD: 86
FAR: October?

[Wannafree]

Yeah , I feel it most easy chapter . keep in mind its not for profit but still prepare F/S . Different nomenclature for some accounting terms.Different types of funds and two types of accounting. pure Accrual and modified accrual.One class of fund follow pure and other not so pure accrual.
Govt fund ( not fully accrual )and Govt wide ( accrual ) are two different but duplicate reporting of F/S.
Just two funds Internal Service fund and Enterprise fund are normal like private.
Other types of fund Trust ,if u see trust in name it means Fiduciary fund.Not much accounting here.
Rest others are Govt Fund . ( Revenue when earned and available is the key ).Instead of equity use Net asset or next fund etc.
instead of expense use Expenditure.
keep this hierarchy in memory and u should be good.
Government Reporting Model
MD&A
Government Wide F/S
Net assets
Activities
Fund F/S
Government
B/S
Revenues, expenditures, and changes in fund balances
Proprietary
Net assets or B/S
Revenues, expenditures, and changes in net assets
Cash flows
Fiduciary
Fiduciary net assets
Changes in fiduciary net assets
Notes
Required supplementary information
Funding progress
Employer contributions
Budgetary comparisons
Infrastructure assets
Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR)
Intro section

Financial section

Statistical section

[Porma Fierles]

Good to know, now I am just trying to remember all the accounts and the specific transactions.

[Mike J]

Just know the differences among the fund accounts. Know them to the point where your dreams are haunted by them.

Know what each fund does–let the name help. Know which accounting type is used for which group of funds. Know which of the three main groups of funds have which AND how many financial statements.

Case in point, I remember a NINJA MCQ which asked which transactions (one, both or neither) appears on a statement of cash flow. One was from a debt service fund (or maybe it was special revenue; it was a governmental fund), the other an enterprise fund. I got it wrong because I guessed both. I panicked. As after I saw the answer, I immediately understood that it could only be the enterprise fund.

Obviously, this strategy won't cover ALL of the range of Government questions. But, it should help with enough.

[Mike J]

It may help to memorize the basic General Fund entries, budget, activities such as tax coll and encumbrances, and the closing entries.

Ohh and know that Agency funds only have Cash & “due to…” accounts. Eg NO revenue, expense, etc.

Hope that helps

[Author]

Replies