[jeff]

Welcome to the Q1 2016 CPA Exam Study Group for FAR.

Some BLITZ videos to help your exams: https://www.another71.com/ninja-blitz

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

[Josh]

marqzho – what's the right way? Maybe, I was close on BEC? Not sure. Trying to relearn how to do exams in a month or less.

Spartans92 – you have a great question! How do you feel about memorization? Some people are for it. Most people are not, but I can't help but think it helps people seeing some of the flashcards out there and in this website. Just food for thought. I agree with doing new questions. I'm still not sure how people learn best, though. I could get dramatic, but not memorizing questions reminds me of “the men in black.”

keyonda21 – there's 2 main schools on thoughts on the orders of exams, take a hard one first or an easy. I thought I was going to use Becker live and go FAR AUD REG BEC, which is like taking the hardest first? statistics indicate that hardest to easiest goes FAR REG AUD BEC. I ended up with Gleim, which I don't hear much talk about, but it exists. They give a free diagnostic to score yourself on their website I scored REG FAR AUD BEC, so at their recommendation and school of thought I took BEC until I passed it. Now I'm in the opposite camp. Doing FAR REG and AUD, which I bounced in a time since and did better but not good enough. Congrats on passing AUD the first time! Now to keep myself from lapsing, I better not struggle with FAR or REG too bad or I'll end up lapsing at some point. Do more research on what works best for you. I'm getting my NTS 2 at a time. I grabbed all 4 when I got Superfast believing I could do them all in 3 months or maybe even in the 6 month NTS window. It's said that if you take an easy exam first great, you get some momentum and keep moving (and confidence), but if you really struggle with a hard one afterwards, people go through lapses all the time.

Most people are probably not going to take what I say seriously, but I'm not giving up on myself. I ended up losing a month on my NTS because it fell on New Year's weekend. I tried to turn out FAR and REG at the same rate I did BEC, but 5 weeks each was not enough the way I was doing them. I have a lot to learn. So the lesson is be careful how you plan it and do your homework now on how you're going to do it, pick a path and stick to it, and if you learn something that revolutionizes your world in the process, be ready to “roll with the punches”. (Sorry, too much ukemi?)

Thank you for this training. I hope I can encourage you just how well as you have helped me and continue to do so even now.

[mckan514w]

marqzho- thats the problem, Im not sure where I am/ was messing up with PP&E- I understand the concepts, I understand the calculations- but yesterday was one of those days where I would add everything up and none of my answers matched my choices given… chalking it up to a bad day as I just re-did 20 mcc's and only missed one- on non-monetary- which I will go back and review… have earmarked Sunday to be a review day so will start with this and go from there…

and they ask me why I drink...

FAR- 61-next time I'll ask for lube instead of a calculator
REG-75- Never been so happy to see such a low grade
BEC- 8/11
AUD- 9/2

[Anonymous]

@Operation_CPA, Becker software is great but their progress test bank sucks. You have to finish each session before you could see the final answer/solution. It's not worth the time to waste, leave each item, and repeat getting all the details laid out to solve the problem.
Not with NINJA MCQs! You could see the answer and explanation right away after each question.

[Spartans92]

Hey guys,
Can someone please explain to me about OCI and AOCI.. Tim is going a little to quick and I can't really catch on. So gains and losses that are not ready to go into the I/S (unrealized) are put into OCI which goes into AOCI then when they are ready they are taken out and flow into the I/S?? Thanks for the clarification! This is related to pensions but I guess more of the general concept is better.

BEC- PASS

[Excel14]

@Spartans92:

Yep, you have got it down. Once they are realized, the entry is to remove them from AOCI, and place them directly into income.The OCI elements continue to add to the AOCI total in the Statement of Stockholder Equity, until such time as they are “realized”. OCI accounts are nominal accounts, that get closed to AOCI every period.

BEC (2/28/16) ----- 78
FAR (09/10/16)-----
AUD
REG

CIA, CGAP, CFE

[marqzho]

mckan514w

we all have those days 🙂

REG 90
FAR 95
AUD 98
BEC 84

[marqzho]

Spartans92

Although a lot of topics will touch OCI concept in some way, AFS should be one of those topics that will show the full picture and reasoning of OCI and AOCI 🙂

REG 90
FAR 95
AUD 98
BEC 84

[Spartans92]

Hey,
I apologize for posting again but can someone explain how to determine whether it's a DTA or DTL. I recall learning this in intermediate but Becker doesn't actually show the process and I don't remember. Here is the Question:

AmeriGene Inc. reported net periodic pension cost of $400,000 in the current year, calculated as follows
Service cost $ 300,000
Interest cost 175,000
Expected return on plan assets (100,000)
Amortization of prior service cost 40,000
Amortization of net gain (15,000)
Net periodic pension cost $ 400,000

AmeriGene has an overfunded pension plan. The company's effective tax rate is 30%. How will the service cost component of the current year net periodic pension cost affect the current year balance sheet?
a.
$90,000 increase in deferred tax asset.
b.
$300,000 decrease in retained earnings.
c.
$300,000 increase in noncurrent pension benefit asset.
d.
$90,000 increase in accumulated other comprehensive income.

Answer: A. I get the 90,000 where it came from but I am not understanding the concept of being DTA. What if DTL was also an option? How do I differentiate. Thanks for the replies!

BEC- PASS

[mckan514w]

@Spartans92 – I haven't gotten to pension section yet and going on “remembering only” so maybe someone else can explain it better however I think the 300 service cost is the future benefit which once paid out you would then take the deduction on, thus you are creating a Deferred Tax Asset which will be used in a future period (i.e. when you pay out the service fee)….

and they ask me why I drink...

FAR- 61-next time I'll ask for lube instead of a calculator
REG-75- Never been so happy to see such a low grade
BEC- 8/11
AUD- 9/2

[wjxhahaha]

@Spartans92 This question seems weird to me because service cost should be expensed instead of putting in OCI and amortize. Or its just my memory went wrong….
If I recall correctly, it is the prior service cost that we should amortize, and it will created as deferred tax asset, or just a future tax benefit. Because we need to pay more due to this cost, and our net income will be lower, so there is a tax benefit, but we can't use this benefit now(we can't expense them right away), we have to put them into OCI and expense them in the future. So it is a deferred tax asset that we would hold on for now, use it in the future to decrease our NI in order to pay less tax.

[Author]

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