[Anonymous]

I was wondering how did you prepare for FAR Sims? Is going through the Becker Sims enough? I have heard that they are mostly word problems with journal entries. Or did you go through becker and look at each chapter and study the problems/examples in the chapter that provide journal entry answers? My test is in two and a half weeks so I’m trying To focus a week on sims. Thanks and I greatly appreciate your feedback.

[Anonymous]

I didn't work not one SIMS in Becker because someone told me it was a waste of time and IMO I agree. I just used that time to understand concepts by reading notes and working the MQCs over and over. I did however look at the answers to the SIMS to drive home the concepts. The reason being is that the chances of getting a SIMS that is similar to anything in Becker is slim. If you know the material then the SIMS should not be an issue on the exam.

[Anonymous]

I didn't work not one SIMS in Becker because someone told me it was a waste of time and IMO I agree. I just used that time to understand concepts by reading notes and working the MQCs over and over. I did however look at the answers to the SIMS to drive home the concepts. The reason being is that the chances of getting a SIMS that is similar to anything in Becker is slim. If you know the material then the SIMS should not be an issue on the exam.

[NicoleL]

I did all the Sims in Becker (including the practice tests) and they helped me alot and it was enough to prepare me. I also read all the answer explanations even for the ones I got right. In addition, I reviewed all problems in the book at least twice. I believe in using everything they give you since I paid (alot) for it. I definitely didn't want to shortcut anything and chance not passing. I used nothing but Becker and a few CPAforFree questions (before I got Becker).

FAR - 93 (YAY!!!!)
REG - 93 (Double YAY!)
BEC - 87 (Whew!)
AUD - 96 (DONE!!!!!)

[NicoleL]

I did all the Sims in Becker (including the practice tests) and they helped me alot and it was enough to prepare me. I also read all the answer explanations even for the ones I got right. In addition, I reviewed all problems in the book at least twice. I believe in using everything they give you since I paid (alot) for it. I definitely didn't want to shortcut anything and chance not passing. I used nothing but Becker and a few CPAforFree questions (before I got Becker).

FAR - 93 (YAY!!!!)
REG - 93 (Double YAY!)
BEC - 87 (Whew!)
AUD - 96 (DONE!!!!!)

[Anonymous]

I did the Sims for Becker too. They give additional insight that you may not have seen from doing the MCQs and reading the chapter.

There were some concepts that I didn't really understand completely and the Sims explanations did a better job in explaining it than the MCQs.

[Anonymous]

I did the Sims for Becker too. They give additional insight that you may not have seen from doing the MCQs and reading the chapter.

There were some concepts that I didn't really understand completely and the Sims explanations did a better job in explaining it than the MCQs.

[cool_kid]

For FAR simulations that require calculations and entering in numbers on the actual exam, do you have enter in the numbers yourself or is it just like the testbank simulation where you select the answer using a drop down menu? Forul example, if you were to do a lease amortization or bond amortization schedule in the wiley test bank, the drop down menu gives you selection of responses for interest expense. I was under the assumption that you have to enter it in yourself after looking at the information.

[cool_kid]

For FAR simulations that require calculations and entering in numbers on the actual exam, do you have enter in the numbers yourself or is it just like the testbank simulation where you select the answer using a drop down menu? Forul example, if you were to do a lease amortization or bond amortization schedule in the wiley test bank, the drop down menu gives you selection of responses for interest expense. I was under the assumption that you have to enter it in yourself after looking at the information.

[Fanalyst]

@digi2003 – I can't speak to Becker as I used Yaeger/Wiley, but I would not suggest spending a week on SIMs. I maybe solved 5-10 SIMs total, but I looked at (did not solve) all of the AICPA released questions for as many years going back that I could. To me the SIMs are just a series of MCQs (without the answer “multiple” answer options). You answer one question (a JE for example) then you move on to the next question that builds off of that first one.

Very important to leave yourself time to use the AL. I found one solution word for word and even though I assume that question was thrown out, it still alleviated the stress of not knowing how to work a SIM. My main advice is to maybe spend a day near the end of your studying on SIMs, but otherwise focus on MCQs and the areas where you feel the weakest.

[Fanalyst]

@digi2003 – I can't speak to Becker as I used Yaeger/Wiley, but I would not suggest spending a week on SIMs. I maybe solved 5-10 SIMs total, but I looked at (did not solve) all of the AICPA released questions for as many years going back that I could. To me the SIMs are just a series of MCQs (without the answer “multiple” answer options). You answer one question (a JE for example) then you move on to the next question that builds off of that first one.

Very important to leave yourself time to use the AL. I found one solution word for word and even though I assume that question was thrown out, it still alleviated the stress of not knowing how to work a SIM. My main advice is to maybe spend a day near the end of your studying on SIMs, but otherwise focus on MCQs and the areas where you feel the weakest.

[Fanalyst]

@cool_kid you usually have to manually enter numerical values (i.e. 100), but are given a drop down for descriptions (i.e. Interest Expense). It probably varies a little bit depending on the SIM, but that was my experience.

[Fanalyst]

@cool_kid you usually have to manually enter numerical values (i.e. 100), but are given a drop down for descriptions (i.e. Interest Expense). It probably varies a little bit depending on the SIM, but that was my experience.

[Kimboroni]

I did all of the WTB sims for AUD, and I plan to do the same for FAR. I don't do that well on MCQ (I am easily led astray by plausible sounding wrong answers in MCQs), so I firmly believe that I passed AUD because my sim performance pulled me through. To me, it definitely is not a waste of time to practice for the sims.

I would rather be overprepared and get a higher score than undershoot in my prep and just barely miss the mark.

AUD 84 (1/9/14-Wiley books/TB + free materials)
FAR 83 (5/21/14-the above + NINJA 10 Pt Combo Lite)
REG 84 (7/9/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC/Notes)
BEC 76 (10/5/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC)

Disclaimer: My ninja avatar is not meant to imply that I have any affiliation with this site other than being a forum member. That's a pic of a T-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday. 🙂

[Kimboroni]

I did all of the WTB sims for AUD, and I plan to do the same for FAR. I don't do that well on MCQ (I am easily led astray by plausible sounding wrong answers in MCQs), so I firmly believe that I passed AUD because my sim performance pulled me through. To me, it definitely is not a waste of time to practice for the sims.

I would rather be overprepared and get a higher score than undershoot in my prep and just barely miss the mark.

AUD 84 (1/9/14-Wiley books/TB + free materials)
FAR 83 (5/21/14-the above + NINJA 10 Pt Combo Lite)
REG 84 (7/9/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC/Notes)
BEC 76 (10/5/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC)

Disclaimer: My ninja avatar is not meant to imply that I have any affiliation with this site other than being a forum member. That's a pic of a T-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday. 🙂

[Anonymous]

My advice would be to work the AICPA adapted sims since they give you a good representation of what to expect.

Also spend a little time getting familiar with the codification since it can help a lot. One of my computational sims was literally word for word from an illustrative example in the code. Sometimes I think the AICPA just wants to see how resourceful you are.

[Author]

Replies