[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

[Anonymous]

FYI–For those of you using the WBT, I was marked wrong for at least 2 answers that were the same answers they gave in the explanation as the correct answer. Be sure to read the explanations after you answer each question and don't just take their word for it that you were wrong. It affects your score too so you may not be doing as poorly as you think if you are using the progress results as a judge.

[oilgaslb]

OMG Government funds are kicking me down right now….I'm not even 1/2 way through the chapter taking notes and I started this 2 hours ago. There is SO much information and not a lick of it makes any sense.

[Anonymous]

Speaking of government accounting, I am sad to see my performance rating as weaker on this subject on my FAR retake while it was the only area I was stronger during my first attempt. I believe it's because of my outdated 2012 materials against the 2014 changes in government accounting. The only improvement of my performance was on SIMs (comparable) while my MCQs still show weaker. My plan now is to work on thousands of MCQs and improve on FS accounts, Specific Transactions, and of course Governmental Accounting.

[oilgaslb]

@amor – how do you even wrap your head around governmental accounting? what I'm reading makes sense…but if you were to ask me a question about any of it, I would have no idea. I just can't see the big picture.

[oilgaslb]

I think I'm changing my study method for F8-F9…I printed out the Becker lecture outlines…I think seeing it all in a condensed, few pages, will help me wrap my head around it. It's hard to see the big picture when there are 10's upon 10's of pages for one topic. Then I can take notes on that..maybe rematch the lectures, and refer to the actual book if I need a more in depth explanation. Maybe starting in the morning…oh boy this weekend hasn't turned out as planned :-/

[Anonymous]

While reviewing my old notes, I encountered this:

(Written on 10/2013,) US GAAP requires the disclosure of material RPT EXCLUDING: 3 [CEO]

C – Compensating arrangements

E – Expense allowances

O – Other similar items

I am not sure if I wrote it right. Is my word for EXCLUDING correct? Should it not be including? I am doubtful of my own notes, LOL.

I hope someone can confirm it or correct me if it's wrong. Thanks guys.

[samdiegoCPA]

@oilgaslb For some reason, governmental makes the MOST sense to me. Scored “stronger” on both my attempts! Always do well on my HW. Don't ask me how it clicks with me because I have zero idea. I have ALL of the problems with Consolidations though… makes zero sense to me no matter how much I try to study it. How about you?!

AUD: 84
REG: 84
BEC: 79
FAR: 83

[Anonymous]

@Oilgas, I am lost now with governmental accounting too. I understand the funds and all that, but when combining them to GFS, with those wide sheets and multiple columns, I don't see the big picture either. Hopefully I will be able to understand it better now that I have 2014 Becker software. I have not been back to it yet after my recent test.

[teeteenounouche]

Guys, I feel like I've been plugging holes all day…reading through this stuff again makes me realize how easy it is to miss some details when you're just trying to get through the material.

I think I'm tossing in the towel for the night…I feel good about what I reviewed so far. Looking forward to a power Sunday tomorrow. The reports required for interim reporting kept escaping me so I will review that in the morning.

I think just memorizing governmental is the key. That was one section I did well on. I guess because I didn't try to understand the reasoning, just remembered the steps. The link for the journal entries really helped.

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

[How many letters do you need]

I'm in the same boat as most of you. Rough day in CPA prep land. Skipped my weekly review last week so I attempted 100 MCQ spread randomly over mods 12-15 (material the last two weeks) and wound up around 65% somewhere. Frustrating as all hell. The good (or perhaps worse news if you look at it as glass half empty) is that misreading the damn question cost me about 10% pts…..so I'm a little more knowledgeable than a 65% in those areas but clearly a much poorer test taker than I can afford to be when I walk into that Prometric center in about a month.

I started to doubt myself, considered pushing my date back to late April…then scratched it. The gloves are coming off. I remembered that I have tools. Started re – writing my personal notes, remembered that I have NINJA notes to fill in the gaps and rewrote some of those….also recognized that I clearly need to spend more time in the WTB and rereading notes of reviewed material on a daily basis.

This exam will not beat me, nor will it any of you. I will do what it takes. T minus 4 weeks and counting. Let's go.

MBA,CMA,CPA, CFF?, ABV?

[KRina]

This is the in one time I hate my kids are up this early. Thought I could put in about 3-4 hours of study before church time but little boys decided to get up @ 6am. So I have to stop after only about 2hr…grrrr

[Anonymous]

@oilgas–I don't understand government, but memorizing has helped me score decently on the MCQ. However, as I said in one of my earlier posts, the WTB doesn't show any of the actual statements so I'm going to go to CPAreviewforfree and do those 65 problems. Hopefully there will be more questions on it there.

@howmanyletters–I hear you loud and clear. I did approximately 250 questions yesterday and not reading the question got me many times. That happened to me when I was studying for AUD and BEC as well, but when you're in the test you will take more time because the small sets of 30 are not nearly as overwhelming as trying to do hundreds of sets in one day just to get through the material. My goal today is to do small sets of 30 so I can time myself to make sure I have plenty of time on the exam for SIMS. Hopefully that will keep me from getting overwhelmed by how many questions I'm trying to get through and I'll actually read the ENTIRE question and ALL the answers before answering the question.

[NJPRU]

Woot! Good luck on day 2 everyone!

AUD: DONE
FAR: DONE
BEC: DONE
REG: DONE

IM GOING TO BE A CPA!!!!!

[Wanna_B_TXCPA2014]

I am so excited just took what I wanted to be my last 20 question quiz on Bonds and squeaked out a 75! I literally gave away 3 questions because I failed to properly read. Govt/NFP need to be on notice because I am out for blood.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand the WTB explanation for this–If a bond is purchased at a premium how is the carrying value less than the cash paid. The explanation says the carrying value is represented by the amount in the investment account and that it is NOT greater than the cash paid. Huh????

DR Investment in bonds xxx

CR Interest receivable (or revenue) xxx

CR Cash xxx

The Investment in bonds account is debited for the market value of the bond (price paid to seller) while the interest receivable account is debited for the amount of interest accrued from the previous interest payment date to the purchase date. The cash paid is the sum of the bond’s market value plus the accrued interest. Thus, the carrying value, which is represented by the amount in the investment account, is not greater than the cash paid. The fact that the bond was purchased at a premium, by definition, means that the market value (i.e., carrying value) is greater than the face value of the bond.

[Author]

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