[zcyankeefan]

Hey everyone,

I’ve been preparing to take on this “beast” for the past 4 weeks, and my studying has been like a roller coaster. Some things I understand and move on, some things I spend 3+ days on (I’m talking to YOU Governmental, bonds, and pensions!). I’ve been using Becker (lectures, software, and flashcards) and I spend nearly 6-7 hours a day studying. So far I just finished F8, and I think there’s smoke coming out of my ears. I’ve been taking the progress tests recently, and I’ve been scoring in the low-60’s.

I was wondering if anyone has had a similar experience to what I’m going through right now, especially with the low test scores. I take the exam on the 13th, and other than forcing myself deeper into the text I don’t know what else to do. If anyone that passed FAR would like to offer their 2 cents I’d really appreciate it.

FAR -> 76
AUD -> 74...Revenge 2/16/13
REG -> 83
BEC -> 75

[Anonymous]

From my experience, I felt that the actual exam questions and the sims didn't really go in depth as the the questions/sims you see in Becker. My study strategy was to try to understand and memorize all the little details each topics could have and I would say it is not possible. I felt really burnt out on the last week of review and thought I was going to fail for sure. I would say try to understand the core concept of the subject and don't dig too deep into it because it's just soo much material. It will honestly drive you crazy. Don't forget to be mindful on your study time and not spend alot of time in one area. FAR was my first exam as well and my score was pretty close. Just to add, I didn't study the sims nor did the final exam on Becker. I highly recommend not doing that. LOL! Hope that helps ya!

[Mr.NiceWatch]

I'm in the same exact position as you. I have been studying for the past 4-5 weeks and I hit F8 earlier this week. I have spent the past 4 days reviewing Governmental and it doesn't seem to stick. I have watched the videos and wrote my notes twice, but yet seem to forget things or notice new things when reviewing F8, which indicates I don't completely understand the material.

After going through Governmental accounting, I have now lost all hope. I would appreciate if someone who has conquered FAR chimes in and provides his/her experience with FAR. Planning to take FAR in the last week of July.

– Thanks.

Journey begins in July 2012.

FAR - 87 (8/7/2012)
REG - 89 (11/19/2012)
AUD - 95 (1/17/2013)
BEC - 81 (2/26/2013)

[momto5]

Does anyone ever completely understand the material? Governmental is a bear and I felt lucky to get a general idea of what was going on. I took FAR 2 months ago and it feels like it was an eternity ago already! But I was lucky enough not to get any major SIMS on the subject – many do, though. As they say – whatever you study the most on doesn't seem to get tested much, and whatever you just skimmed over, gets tested the most. (I knew my cash flow statement backwards and forwards and I don't think they even touched on it!)

Flashcards, writing notes to help cement difficult subjects, and lots of MCQ's (taking notes on ones you miss) plus don't ignore the SIMS. As I have said before, once you complete ALL the chapters (and don't have to add any more new material) and can spend more time on just review, it somehow seems to come together a bit better. It always felt uncomfortable moving on to the next subject when I didn't feel like I had the last one down yet. But the final review time is what really helped. Good luck!

FAR - 92 (4/27/12)
AUD - 96 (7/17/12)
BEC - 92 (8/30/12)
REG - 91 (11/12/12)

[Anonymous]

@CPAski what was your study method? I feel like we may have the same attitude in approaching this portion of the test; that is, a sort of nonchalant type of style.

i find myself taking way too much time in writing down the notes because i'm afraid i will lose out on the details as FAR is very vast and can test you on anything. i feel like i need to know it all. however, this is taking me forever! F1 took me less than a week, and F2 is taking forever because i'm writing down everything in the book.

i now realize that this is not too practical because i will just end up writing the entire book — and just because i'm writing it on paper won't mean i'm going to memorize it if i'm essentially writing the entire book.

but like you said, i shouldn't get bogged down in the details, right? i don't feel like studying the sims, either.

what was your exact study method? my current plan is to just cram out the MCQs. take notes IF there is something i should really write down e.g. equations for installment sales, completed contract method, % of completion method, etc. i will take progress tests every 3 chapters.

hopefully i will have enough time…FAR is set for 8/11 and i absolutely cannot postpone it anymore (i've already postponed twice). it's time to bite the bullet and just give it my best..on almost done with F2 and i only have what, 5-6 weeks left? i am taking a week's worth of vacation at the end of july to prep for the exam.

think i can do it??

i do work fulltime and commute 40+hours a month to and from work

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I don't think anyone EVER feels ready for these exams.

Here's what I would do:

Finish going over F9 & F10, do its MCQs/SIMS etc by Thursday

Then start over…do a chapter or two each day (depending on your schedule). This means reading the chapter again, and re-doing it's MCQs & hopefully SIMs if time permits.

After each chapter take a progress test..After Chapter 1, do a progress test on Chapter 1. After chapter 2, do a progress on Chapter 1 & 2, etc…

I was very overwhelmed with FAR and thought there was no way I would be able to retain all these information. However, it's possible if you just keep at it. I know I know, easier said than done….but trust me, it's possible:)

Few pointers for the exam day:

Everyone said bonds, leases, pension would be huge topics…they were right, however, other small topics are just as important, so try your best not to skip anything. (Retail LIFO is okay to skip if you don't have much time:) I also think reading the text couple times is very useful especially when you have an exam that is heavily conceptual.

Gov't and NFP are very very important topics, however, knowing the basic is sometimes sufficient. Becker does a great job with it, and the “BAB BAB” or something that Tim mentions is good to know:)

I mainly used Becker and Ninja audio and was enough! I strongly recommend working those MCQs couple times and reading the book at least twice.

Good Luck:!)

[Anonymous]

@ CannotPassAgain: My circumstance is a bit different different than yours because I'm currently unemployed (left Big 4) so I had the opportunity to study full time. I will tell you how I studied for FAR though. I put in about 6-8 hour a day studying, with breaks of course. On Saturdays, I would take it easy (6 hrs at most of studying). Just like you, I took a lot of notes down as if I was rewriting the book. In the end….I ended up not reviewing my notes nor flashcards and just read the book instead during final review. What a waste of time right? After each lecture, I would do the MCQ and make note of areas that I would need to focus more during final review for the sake of time. For the simulations, I only did up to F3 and skipped the rest. My mentality was that you don't even know what simulations you are going to get so how do you even study for that? My strategy to study for the simulations was to really understand the core concepts of the different areas through MCQ and reading. From my experience, the actual MCQ questions were not as detailed as the Becker, which why I recommend not digging too deep. It's not very efficient to be stuck on a topic for too long because there just so much material to go over and review as you can see already.

My advice to you is to just write notes down on equations and definitely JE. They really like to test JE. If I didn't know my JE, I would of failed for sure. Review your Ninja Notes for the stuff you didn't write down. I didn't have Ninja Notes for FAR, but I'm using it for REG now. I can honestly say they are such time savers. When you're doing the MCQ, make sure you understand them and not memorize them. I took progress test as often as I needed to boost my confidence.

I honestly think you can do it with the amount of time you have. Remember to stay positive and not give up. Sorry if this was kind of long….lol Good luck to ya!

[Mr.NiceWatch]

Thanks for the insight/tips, guys. Makes me feel much better!

Finishing up F8 mid-day today and hopefully starting F9 later today. Let's do this.

Journey begins in July 2012.

FAR - 87 (8/7/2012)
REG - 89 (11/19/2012)
AUD - 95 (1/17/2013)
BEC - 81 (2/26/2013)

[Anonymous]

@CPASki thank you! i think i will just try to cram as many MCQs as i can, and with progress tests every 3 chapters. maybe read the book on the more difficult topics.

really…the process of writing notes may help most people to learn the material…but it's just taking way too long for me and i have a tendency to write everything for the fear of missing anything.

good luck on your exam! once you're done with FAR i think you've got it pretty good from now on.

why did you leave big 4? i'm at a regional size firm right now and it's summer time and although we do both audit and tax, i'm getting a little bored right now at work..

[Sandra]

I think I have an advantage since I have certainly put in my time as a financial statement monkey so I've had the opportunity to really see things come together…

Here is the thing about FAR to me… almost all the material MAKES SENSE, if you really think about WHY. I think there is tremendous value in really thinking about why certain things are recorded a certain way instead of just trying to remember stuff. Of course there is stuff you just have to memorize, but if you understand why it doesn't really matter if you remember it because you'll be able to reverse engineer the answers, especially in the sims.

It seems like many people try to memorize and I think there is just too bloody much to remember that way.

That being said- my usual disclaimer- I haven't passed the test.

[Anonymous]

@sandra although I know you have good intentions, i say your post is as useful as my senior whom i stopped asking for help. why? after being stumped on a tax question, i would formulate what seemed to me like an intelligent question and her idea of help or advice would be, “you have to THINK about it”.

really?? you don't think i tried thinking about it, and actually love being humiliated and disparaged by you?

we all know the solution to everything is to understand why. the difficult part, and this is also what i believe separates a good senior/manager from a bad one — is the ability to teach someone why the answer is the answer.

[Anonymous]

@ CannotPassAgain: I was in audit and my office required more traveling than what I was told. It was cool and all at first, but being out of town 80% of the time kind of put me in a depressing mood. I realized that audit wasn't really for me also. It was my first real job out of college so I lived and learn. Now I'm here to knock out these exams while I still have the drive/momentum. My goal is by the end of this year. 🙂 You can wish me luck for REG since I already passed FAR. 🙂

I totally agree with you about Seniors…too many bad Seniors out there. I've had my fair share of experiencing them working for Big 4.

[Sandra]

Well that wasn't really my intent CantPassAgain. If you look over the board posts here you will see many posts about how its just too much to remember… The one good thing about FAR is that a lot of things make sense and aren't just based on random made up rules/regulations.

Note that I was talking about study methods and ways to approach remembering all the info. It has NOTHING to do with how things should be handled in a work situation etc. It was intended for test purposes only.

[Anonymous]

low progress scores are common. My first time going through questions I don't think I have ever cracked 70%, its usually in the 40-50% range. You need to understand every topic very well. Every test is completely different and seems to focus on a few things but will generally ask you 2-3 questions from every topic.

The good thing about FAR is that the exam is extremely fair and straight forward. During the MCQ, there was nothing out of left field, although they really hammered down on NFP for some reason. The SIMs were a nightmare though

Audit and Regulation are more tricky. For example, I just got a reg question wrong because the answer was “more likely than not” rather than “reasonably possible”. There won't be anything like that on FAR.

[Givemesleep]

Not bragging or anything, the first time I ran thru the 36 questions on Wiley for

Pensions I scored 100 which scared me. Maybe some ansers were luck.

I think the wiley questions for pensions are too easy compared to the topic itself.

I'm sure in reality I only know 70% of it. Anyone else have a similar experience?

Reg 11/15/2011 - 80
Aud 02/28/2012 - 81
Bec 05/31/2012 - 78
Far 08/31/2012 - 83 Do you believe in Miracles, YES !!!

CPA License received 10/2012 !!
CFE License received 04/2013 !!
EA License received

Givemesleep

[mrcpa]

I would also suggest you take a free exam from Gleim and do the AICPA released questions. The Gleim score was pretty representative of my actual exam

Licensed - 2012

[Author]

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