[jeff]

Welcome to the Q2 2017 CPA Exam Study Group for FAR. 🙂

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

[alexisle88]

Hello guys, I'm having a really hard time with Becker's F4, including Intercompany transactions, equity and acquisition method. OMG, it doesn't seem like Gearty explained anything from the slide. Maybe there wasn't anything to explain beside rules. Do you guys have way to memorize all the JEs? Please help.

[alexisle88]

I do one chapter per week and already feel overwhelmed.

[Mscfisher]

@delbudge
I'm a little confused one this part of the question. On December 31, 2014, the FV of the bonds is $45,000. When the bond market opens on January 2nd, 2015, Corp B sells the bonds for an amount intended to achieve a 7% yield for Corp A.

Why is corp B selling. Doesn't a own the bonds at this point?

So here is my attempt at it. I'm guessing the answer is C
As u mentioned the initial gain is $1247
I calculated that the bond would have to sell ay 46,742 to get to 50000 after 9 years. I set up amortization table in excel and played with numbers. So 45000 -46742 is 1742. Add those together i think the answer is closer to D. Or if could be A if u start from market value.

[jc861]

To anyone that is using, or has used Becker,

If you have extensive experience with other courses in addition to Becker, what is your opinion of Becker relative to the other course(s)? The reason I ask is because I've been using Becker for approx. 3 weeks now and overall I'm underwhelmed considering the pricing. Their customer service has been miserable as I still haven't received my textbook after 3 weeks, 30+min waits via phone, week long waits for responses via email. Academic support routinely takes days to respond, and is actually quite unhelpful. One of their “instructors” responded to me multiple times without fully reading my question or the question that I was referring to, so his responses were basically completely irrelevant. The only positive experience so far is with their platform and its general ease of use.

Ultimately my main concern is the quality and substance of the material itself. Becker seems to be adequate in that regard but I can't really say because of my lack of experience with other courses. The only other course I've experienced was Wiley from their free trial. I found their lectures and notes to be thorough, however their platform was really lacking and I had trouble accessing it from my ipad, which is something I really need in order to facilitate my studying. I also actually purchased Wiley's FAR textbook and found it to be filled with typos and formatting problems, which was also not confidence inspiring. I'm still within the return period and heavily considering canceling, but I wanted to get some feedback/opinions from folks on this forum. So, thoughts? Opinions?

[rwglapalma]

jc861:

I'm sharing a Becker login with someone and so far have only used it for the lectures to help me understand concepts I'm having trouble with. I purchased the 10 point combo and like the book, notes, audio and videos, but I know the format is more lo-fi then some other products. Not sure how it would work on a tablet, either. So far I am feeling comfortable (only week 1/2 or so in) but I also took Advanced Accounting in school (recent grad) so the only real unfamiliar topics are Govt and NFP, everything is else is pretty much review. I'm trying to do things the ninja way so I haven't touched MCQs or SIMS yet, though. A lot of people on this forum mention Gleim, which I hadn't even heard of until I joined the forum, but that might be an option for you, as well.

[mtaylo24]

Halfway thru the Gleim testbank. I'm starting to see a few weaknesses. A/R, Inventory, some PP&E, and A/P. I keep making silly mistakes in those because I put all of my effort in the harder chapters last time. I'm hoping that the second half of the TB will be a breeze!

AUD - 1st - 60 (12/12), 61 (2/13), 61 (8/13), 78! (11/15)
REG - 55 (2/16) 69 (5/16) Retake(8/16)
BEC - 71(5/16) Retake (9/16)
FAR - (8/16)

[rpallarino]

Can anyone tell me if intercompany transactions are tested a ton on the exam? I'm having some trouble with the eliminating entries for gains and losses as well as bonds for intercompany transactions.

[mtaylo24]

^^^No, maybe a few questions since its buried deep inside of section 3 of the blueprint. Gov't/NFP and Conceptual Framework will steal the show and everything else will be fair game. I could see a possible sim on it tho…

AUD - 1st - 60 (12/12), 61 (2/13), 61 (8/13), 78! (11/15)
REG - 55 (2/16) 69 (5/16) Retake(8/16)
BEC - 71(5/16) Retake (9/16)
FAR - (8/16)

[Anthony]

Speaking of Gleim, I've finally seen all 2569 questions at least once. Ended up with a 76-80ish avg on 2.6k-2.7k MCQ, going keep flying through these question and doing sims along the way until game day next month.

I won't lie, Gleim really kicked my ass at in my first 15 or so MCQ session, kept averaging about 60's to low 70's. Must been the jump in difficulty compared to Ninja MCQ plus 18-24 days of not looking at the material because of BEC.

[Anonymous]

how many weeks are you leaving for review? and @mtaylo24 hopefully you are right about intercompany transactions

[mtaylo24]

@anthony That's good man! I can't get out of the 60s. I hope to turn it around in the second half of the TB. I'm gonna work my missed questions after I make it through this first run.

@automn3 2-3 weeks seems sufficient. It's honestly all review for me since I just sat 3/10. Not really starting from scratch (reading/lectures), just going straight for the questions…

AUD - 1st - 60 (12/12), 61 (2/13), 61 (8/13), 78! (11/15)
REG - 55 (2/16) 69 (5/16) Retake(8/16)
BEC - 71(5/16) Retake (9/16)
FAR - (8/16)

[Me!]

@rpallarino:

I sat on March 10 and I had MCQ's and a SIM on intercompany transactions, so they are fair game. I fell short and hoping this window is my finale! Good luck!

[Anonymous]

thank you!

[Namstut]

@aatoural, sorry!!! But you will nail it this time! I felt so p*ssed at myself missing REG by one flipping point but then raised it by 12 points on my retake! You got this!

I got a reply from Becker telling me the same – they did not add the outline, which is dumb. It was a great summary/review tool.

AUD 7/6/16 Passed
BEC 9/3/16
FAR TBD
REG TBD

[HoldMyBeerCPA]

There just isn't enough hours in the day. I've missed out on a day and a half of studying due to 15 hour stints at the office these past couple of days. The best I can do at this point is skip the lectures for interim financial reporting, segment reporting, installment sales and cost recovery method. Out of these topics which would you guys say is the most important to get a deep understanding of?

[Author]

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