[jeff]

NINJA Study Notes, Flashcards, and Audio: https://www.another71.com/products-page/

Wiley Software: https://www.another71.com/wiley-cpa-software/

Jeff Elliott, CPA (KS) | Another71 | NINJA CPA | NINJA CMA | NINJA CPE

[MICHI2D2G]

UGHH! what a nightmare the test was but i was totally unprepared and did not have time to study. would be happy if i got a 50! 🙁 if you are prepared, you wil be fine but if you are unprepared, it is what it is

[Path To CPA]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to drop few encouraging words to inspire perseverance:

– Always keep your eyes on the final prize – CPA

– Transform your failures into success by learning from them and improving continuously.

– Remember that CPA exam is like a race and some of us will reach the finish line faster and some slower but at the end of the day it's reaching that line that matters the most.

– Do not be too envious and compare yourself to the people passing the exam with flying colors otherwise you'll lose your self-esteem and confidence. Keep in mind that each person has his/her own day and time to shine and be patient.

– Avoid finding excuse and blaming lack of time for your failures. Just stand up, scream very loud and say that you'll create or even invent time if you must.

Always remember that with CPA it's : “Fool me once, shame on CPA – fool me twice, shame on CPA – fool me for the third, fourth, fifth to the twentieth time, shame on CPA – I give up or I quit, shame on me”

Guys do never give up.

REG: 68, 75
AUD: 80
BEC: 77
FAR: 24, 67, 69, 72, 80 Thank you Lord!!!!

Finally Done! Perseverance is the key to success

NYS Licensed CPA - 2013

[YUGUGELIZER]

Entourage,

You subtract it because on the fund statement, the sale of capital assets is considered an “other financing source”, similar to revenue. This increases fund balance, but has no effect on Government-wide net assets, other than the gain or loss.

FAR - 91
AUD - 97
REG - 10/2
BEC - 11/10

[GettingMyCPA]

My FAR experience was a disaster, or so I thought. When I left the testing center, leaving 1 sim with all 0's because I ran out of time, I wanted to crawl in a hole and cry. We study for 2-3 months, 15 – 20 hours a week, and get 1 shot to pass. I tried to remain calm and keep my confidence but at the end of my first testlet I was @ 52 minutes in. What?! Where did the time go, ok so I went quicker on the 2nd and 3rd testlet, getting them done in 38 and 45 minutes, which left me with 1 hour and 45 minutes for my sims. I always do the research question first since I know the codifications good and generally find them pretty fast, but this time I spent 30 minutes looking and still didn't find the answer. So 1 hour and 15 minutes left to do 7 sims! Ugh! I got through 5 simulations with 15 minutes left, put 0's on the last one, and went back to the research which I found 13 minutes later. How could I get an industry specific research question when it was not a FAR topic?

MCQ's. I kept track of all the questions that I KNEW I got right and that added up to 27. I didn't want to count the calculation questions into this just because when I am rushed I make calculation errors, so I didn't include them. Only a few questions that I had no idea where they came from, assuming pretest questions or else I missed something in my study's. I skipped calculation questions until the end on the 2nd and 3rd testlet and I think that sped up my time.

Testlets – Questions I knew I got right per testlet

1 – 10 correct

2 – 7 correct <– Pretty sure it was hard level, saw a AICPA released hard question on it :))

3 – 10 correct <— Some weird questions

Knowing how many I had correct gave me confidence throughout the exam. That is until I got to the simulations.

Simulations – BRUTAL – ALL of them were extremely tough, except one. Even though that one wasn't tough I knew it would be time consuming with a ton of calculations and then journal entries to record it. Every single simulation required journal entries (which are the easy part, calculation is the hard part). Since I was running out of time, I didn't have time to re-calculate my answers so my confidence level was pretty low.

Looking back, I know within 90% accuracy that I got 3 of the simulations correct. The other 3 are up in the air, I am hoping for partial credit. If I had another 30 minutes I could have recalculated the other 3 and made sure I got them right and finished the one I didn't have time to complete. Praying that the one I left with 0's is the pretest simulation.

FAR - July 3
AUD - Aug 17

[Anonymous]

I'm having some issues with classification of certain components on the statement of cash flows. I am using Becker, and based on the materials long term assets such as PP&E which are sold for gains or loses are classified as investing. However, working the multiple choice questions sometimes the sale of equipment is classified as operating and sometimes its classified as investing. Just wanted to know if anyone could shed some light on this confusing situation to me.

[YUGUGELIZER]

If the sale of PP&E includes a gain/loss, the gain/loss is included in the operating activities, to remove the non-cash transaction from net income, and the total amount of cash receipts is included in investing activities.

FAR - 91
AUD - 97
REG - 10/2
BEC - 11/10

[Anonymous]

I just took the 1st Becker final exam and came across this question:

According to the FASB conceptual framework, which of the following relates to both relevance and reliability?

a. Predictive Value

b. Materiality

c. Neutrality

d. Timeliness

The correct answer is B. I thought it was D. I thought that relevance includes predictive value, confirming value, and materiality while reliability (same as faithful representation) includes completeness, neutrality, and freedom from error. Timeliness is the only one of those that enhances the qualitative characteristics and would thus be included in both. Can someone explain to me why this isn't the correct answer? For reference, it's in the 1st Becker final exam, testlet 2, question 1. Thanks!

[YUGUGELIZER]

I am pretty sure that that is a mistake on Becker's part (I had the same question on my Becker practice). Materiality would have been the answer based on the old qualitative characteristics SFAC 1.

FAR - 91
AUD - 97
REG - 10/2
BEC - 11/10

[Anonymous]

Is the markup approach a FAR topic?

[Anonymous]

@Ashley- I haven't heard about it if it is.

For those of you who have taken Becker, can someone please talk to me about question 29 in testlet 1 of the first practice test? I didn't realize that the value of a contributed item went into the determination of whether or not it is recognized as an asset. Becker only talks about public viewing, collection is cared for, etc.

[Anonymous]

First time posting. Taking FAR on the 21st and in the middle of final review and freaking out because I am forgetting, what should be, easy questions. Question:

In determining ending inventory, under lower of cost or market, does cost include freight-in and insurance during freight-in?

The review question I did included freight-in and insurance in calculating GAFS, as it should, but didn't include it in ending inventory cost when comparing cost to market.

I am utterly confused. Any help on why it wasn't included in the comparison will be greatly appreciated!

[major1330]

@entourage

I assume you are referring to the question about Bygone Historical Society? This is kind of a dirty move by Becker, because they don't talk about this in any of the study materials, but it is better to see it now then possibly on the FAR exam.

There are two key tricks to this question. First, you need to remember that non-governmental NFPs, are subject to FASB standards, and while they typically have specific standards to follow, when in doubt defer to what you remember about traditional GAAP if you can't think of a specific rule that applies or just can't remember it.

The second trick with this question is to look beyond the specifics of NFP accounting and first identify whether or not a contribution can be recognized at all and at what value. First off, this is a donation, so the usual bit about valuing assets at what you paid for them is out the door. Now, if we remember back to fair value (fmv) measurement for commercial entities, we remember the three levels of inputs that can be used for fmv. First, you look at the fmv of the asset as defined by an active market (i.e. stocks and bonds traded on markets somewhere). If that isn't available, you look at the fmv of similarly traded assets. If that isn't available, you look management's best estimate- the present value of discounted cash flows. Well, in this case, none of those seem to apply to the question stem. The question states that the photos are not able to be displayed AND they have no alternative use. In this case, there seems to be no purpose for the photos. They clearly aren't traded anywhere and it seems that management doesn't know how to value them. At this point, Becker wants you to reach the conclusion that the photos 0 value because they cannot be put on display and they have no alternative uses.

It is a tricky question and one that is not very well written, one I don't think they expect many to get right. Becker purposefully makes their final exams hard.

Hope that helped.

BEC: 5/30/12 - 92
FAR: 7/2/12 - 93
AUD: 7/23/12 - 94
REG: 8/13/12 - 88

[swc88]

Question about FAR..

Is each simulation question worth the same amount of points or are they all different based on the number of answers?

[Faintear]

Is anybody else using the 2012 edition of the Wiley CPA review for FAR? Can someone help me with TBS#6 in the Inventory section? The explanation that they give are not helping at all. I'm convinced that they must have accidentally copied and pasted the same explanation they used for TBS#5.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Major, thank you very, very much for taking the time to provide that explanation; You're definitely right about few people getting that right, especially when they put it in the NFP section. Hopefully nothing like that appears on the test!

[Author]

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