[jeff]

I’ve had a few requests for April/May Study Groups…March will be here before you know it.

In order to take an early April exam, you should begin studying…now. 🙂

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

[rvcpa]

btw- comparable or stronger on everything except the sims -_- thats how you get a 69.

[hopeimnottoolatetobeacpa]

i have a problem with social media and the web in general, when i study and get frustrated of wrong answer or having a meltdown, i immediately browse internet for comfort and i realized i think i should walk around or do some breathing exercise or something for 5 -10 minutes for my break, instead of browsing and look at the news, facebook,etc that easily distract and hypnotized me and forgetting the time and ended up spending 20-30 minutes or so!! urghhhhh…how do you discipline and restrain yourself from social media guys?

[PocketsWithCash]

teetee & rvcpa – I'll give you a simple example, let me know if you want something more complex:

Say you have a question requiring you to make a series of journal entries for trading, AFS, and HTM investments. You have to record the investment, change in value at year end, and sales of the asset.

Pretend you don't know anything about these types of investments. If you do a search for available for sale securities, you'll be able to find the relevant topic, ie. ASC 320-10. Now you want to know about measurement, recognition, and sale (derecognition in the Codification). These are all sections under this topic. If you choose Subsequent Measurement – ASC 320-10-35-1, it will tell you that trading and AFS are recorded at fair value and HTM are at amortized cost. You'll also see where changes in value show up – income statement vs OCI. ASC 30-10-40 (derecognition) will tell you how to handle the sale

From this information, and the given account titles, making journal entries is relatively easy. You know what value to use for each security (FV vs. amortized cost), and you know if the changes in value at year-end go into an IS or OCI account. When it comes to the sale entries, you won't forget to reverse changes in OCI because the Codification tells you that is a requirement.

Given your limited options you can piece most of this together without actually having known anything about debt/equity securities.

Some topics even have examples of proper application for calculations and presentation.

FAR 97
REG 91
AUD 5/30/14
BEC 7/11/14

[stoleway]

@hopeimnottoolatetobeacpa

You basically need to have a strict time schedule where you’re only focused on your review materials and software.

For eg, if I sit down to study and it’s usually 2hrs at a time. I make sure the only browser open on my computer is the review software and my phone is immediately put on silent.

I have all the time in this world to check my phone, Facebook and this forum during my study break or when I’m completely done for the day , Don’t let social media distract you, discipline is an intrinsic value to passing this exam.

REG -63│ 84!!
BEC- 59│70│ 71 │78!
AUD- 75!
FAR- 87!

Mass-CPA

[KRina]

@ Pocketswith cash, thank you so much for the tip. @Tee and rvcpa, thanks for asking the birlliant question. I am going to practice searching that as I study now…whatever to get those extra points.

Also for those using becker, and re retakng, I find the outlines to be extremely helpful ontop of the page on right. Someone mentioned it and it is working for me. I am going via outline and all homeworks for each section being this is my retake again … hope it helps with time management as well

[rvcpa]

PocketsWithCash- thats pretty impressive. I am assuming that all that info was in the same area of the codification? I thought about using the codification during my last exam but was low on time and didnt even know where to start

[hopeimnottoolatetobeacpa]

@stoleway, thank you much for the tips and motivation! you're right discipline is an intrinsic value to passing this exam, i will keep reminding my self for that and apply the strict time slot schedule and block out everything!!

[teeteenounouche]

@PocketsWithCash, thank you so much, I really appreciate the time you are taking to answer questions. This is really going to help me. I will practice your tips on a few SIMs in CPAexcel and see how it works for me.

@hopeimnottoolatetobeacpa, I have the same problem…every time I answer a question, I feel like I deserve a break lmao…I need to get over that quick!!

Florida:
AUD: 73, 81! Thank you Lord!
BEC: 73, 77! Thank you Lord! and WTB
REG: 71, 82! Thank you Lord! and A71
FAR: 72, 78! Thank you God and my Mommy in Heaven!

CPA Excel, Ninja Notes & Audio, Wiley Test Bank, CPAreviewforfree

[Anonymous]

So I spent about a week for each chapter (Becker) and I this week is supposed to be F10, the last of chapters. As I look at my notes I've written all along and the material that's covered, I am worried if I will have enough time to review. I am thinking I won't focus much on F10 (except for partnership accounting and debt restructuring) but instead use this time to start reviewing everything else (do MCQ's till my eyes bleed, review notes and start re-writing Jeff's notes). My exam is on 04/03. Is this a good strategy?

[rvcpa]

I can see this being very helpful. Currently on the AICPA literature library and you can deff get some answers from the lit.

[PocketsWithCash]

rvcpa – yeah, once you find the broad section, it's just a matter of choosing the right subsection and those are usually titled something related to what you're looking for, ie. recognition, etc. If you understand how to use the codification then you can find all of that in a few minutes. A lot of times one place will have all the information you need, you just have to scroll or use the “search within” feature – which works like a CTRL-F.

If you're low on time, try a quick search of a keyword. If the first result isn't particularly useful back out to the overall section of that result (ASC XXX-10 – the 10 is usually the “table of contents” for the section) and you might be able to find an appropriate subtopic. Only give yourself a few minutes for the quick search, and use extra time after answering ALL questions to go back and do more detailed research. You don't want to leave things blank. It will probably take a little practice to get good at this, I learned because it was required for one of my classes.

FAR 97
REG 91
AUD 5/30/14
BEC 7/11/14

[rvcpa]

pockets- did you use becker to look over the lit or the aicpa library access we all get?

[PocketsWithCash]

aicpa, becker only gives you limited access in the software because they only provide sections related to their research questions, so if you use it for other questions you may not have access to a section you would need. The actual exam gives you access to the full codification.

FAR 97
REG 91
AUD 5/30/14
BEC 7/11/14

[teeteenounouche]

What materials are comparable to the Becker outlines you guys are talking about?? I feel left out, lol…

Florida:
AUD: 73, 81! Thank you Lord!
BEC: 73, 77! Thank you Lord! and WTB
REG: 71, 82! Thank you Lord! and A71
FAR: 72, 78! Thank you God and my Mommy in Heaven!

CPA Excel, Ninja Notes & Audio, Wiley Test Bank, CPAreviewforfree

[Anonymous]

Wiley and Kaplan both have sample codification in the SIMS practice. If you add the SIM to your practice set, you get a sample AL to search from like you would on the regular test. @teetee–CPA Excel doesn't have that?

[Author]

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