[JR]

Hello All,

I am a few weeks out from the FAR exam and I am still having trouble with the research TBS questions I think mostly because the student edition that the AICPA gives to use for exam prep has funky search functionality. To make a long story short, does anyone have any tips or tricks to locate the section in the FASB codification quickly? It takes me like 15 minutes sometimes to find the right passage and I get it wrong like 50% of the time.

Thank you!

[AusNat]

How much experience/knowledge do you have regarding the structure and content of the Codification? IMO, trying to jump straight to searching is the absolute worst method to learn. Knowing the areas (ex. general principals, presentation, assets, broad transactions, etc) makes it MUCH easier to locate the correct topic. And then within the topic, it's incredibly helpful to know which of the standardized sections you're probably looking for. When they give you a prompt that asks about measurement of inventory with a fair value that has fallen below cost, being able to ID that you're most likely looking for guidance within a topic in the asset area and then the subsequent measurement section of that topic will narrow down your search considerably.

Once you've got that basic understanding, searching will be easier b/c you don't have to get as specific or exact with your search terms. You'll be able to scan down a set of results and pick out the most likely candidate quickly. That's if you even need the search function – I don't use it about 1/2 the time when I practice research SIMs.

[JR]

Thank you, AusNat, for the heads up. I was finding faster going to the overall topic areas like Presentation and then drilling down but thought to myself there is a search function it should work but, alas, it's garbage. Thanks again.

[dayton]

I have the same exact question! I can’t use the AL to sav my life

[Author]

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