[SchruteBeet]

Hey guys,

I am taking FAR in 2 weeks now and this my second attempt at the exam (failed miserably with a 56 on my first try). I have been studying using Becker and Ninja MCQ. My Becker membership expired yesterday but for this attempt I have only used the textbook to make my own notes and study the physical flashcards. I have reviewed my notes multiple times, and I am hitting the Ninja MCQs but I feel very discouraged with my performance. My plan was to hit all the MCQs once, take notes on what I am getting wrong, and then redo the ones I had done wrong. I still have 900 unseen questions left and my average score is 62%. I understand the material when I read through my notes but the moment I sit down to do the MCQs, I feel very lost. I feel like I don’t have a plan to follow-through anymore. I can barely do more 60 MCQs in a day working full-time and I am just frustrated with myself when I read the explanations. This is my last attempt before BEC drops and due to my job, I am taking the test at an international testing center which is very very expensive compared to taking it locally in the States. I would appreciate any advice on what to do and what not to do. I am all over the place.

[Bourne]

WWDSD – what would dwight schrute do? POWER THROUGH AND FINISH THIS BABY OUT. Put everything you have into it. You've already come this far, concentrate on your weak areas and good luck!

[Mike J]

I have some advice.

First and foremost. Breathe. Take a step back when you get a question. I've been there. You can feel quite intimidated. I've literally had to force myself to count to 10 and take deep breaths on exam day.

Ive failed FAR multiple times. Then passed. Then, had it expire. Then passed it again.

You also have to take a step back in terms of individual questions. Just think of what they're asking you. More often than not with FAR, you can sketch out the journal entry to derive the answer. Basically solve for x, high school algebra. e.g. Do you have to expense something? The variable is a debit balance Accrue a payable? Credit balance. REtiring something, think “REverse” of the entry you would make.

JEs don't always work. But, they work more often than not. Also, if you don't waste your efforts memorizing things that can easily be solved with them, you can use the gray matter space memorizing rules for fixed and intangible assets or when to apply cost or par value method for treasury stock.

Further, simply thinking of the logic behind government and nonprofit will help you on these questions too. To keep the different funds straight you basically let the fund name do the work. Agency funds, for instance are fiduciary. A fiduciary works for the benefit of someone else. It is also the only fund without a fund balance, and just has cash and transfers in and out bc the fund holds money for others.

Nonprofit is exactly as the name suggestions. Profit is not the focus. Instead, you must show that you are properly using the money toward the organization's mission. You don't make JEs against net assets so much as change the status of the revenue (donor restricted vs unrestricted) as the requirement for the donation is met. Also, you sometimes recognize revenue and expense in the same entry (e.g. when a CPA donates their services; it is an expense for what the NFP wouldve still needed to pay and contribution revenue because it is a donation). Again, the primary focus isn't profit but what are you properly using the resources?

I know it all can be confusing. Ive been there. But, there is a logic to everything. You'll get it.

[cmckenzie]

I am feeling a bit of the same — Becker expired the first week of February; I'm hitting the NINJA multiple choice now.. and my highest average so far is 70. I've passed AUD, and I am hoping to pass them all by the end of the year, but I work full time+, two small kids (youngest is 2 years old), a million other things/madness… and I am 12 elective credits away from my MBA degree (3 classes) and I have to have those done by June 2019 or my degree lapses… so I feel like I am really in a crunch to finish the CPA this year and then hurry and take those last credit hours first quarter next year… and what if I don't make it through any of it? What if I lose it all — CPA scores AND MBA? It's just a lot on all our plates. My advice is… know you're not alone.. know that you can practice, practice, practice.. make notes, shoot for the moon, land among the stars.. Breathe, make a list, tackle it. We are not the first nor last — it can be done!

[C / X]

I think the most important thing is to not let yourself have a mental block – and psych yourself out which I unfortunately did for my last test as I think I could have been done by now (but hindsight is 20/20) and made myself sick with the stress and fear of it.

35% – 50% That's actually good enough for now and may be enough to pass the test. Someone told me they used Becker and they were in the 35-50% range and they ended up passing as I bet 50% is probably equal to 75 based on my own assumptions (well depending on which questions you could get right and the points).

I took Far in Dec after a month of studying and if I hadn't let my frustration with the MCQ's get to me I could have probably passed as you have to study for each section differently. Sure with FAR MCQ's may be most important but it's more important to know what you're doing wrong and that you at least have a basis in everything as certain topics will be overloaded on the test with others skipped altogether.

Last time I decided it was worth the gamble to see what FAR would be like as I read this forum and thought that it would be extremely difficult to pass anyway so I decided to concentrate what's more on the test to use as a point of reference. From Ninja I pretty much knew Ch 1, 4, 5 extremely well and only studied certain sections from Ch 2 and Ch 3. When I took my test I took much time concentrating on whether or not I had enough points to pass and what topics were covered but honestly I might as well throw most of that out of the window as I realize the I could get totally different topics – there were a lot of MCQ's from certain topics (some I studied well and some I hadn't).

When I looked some things up later it was actually a bit frustrating to know if I had actually studied the topic a bit more (or at all) I could have made up the difference in points (I needed 3). So study everything but have certain topics you know inside and out. Hedge your bets if you can afford it. I can't anymore as I have a test that expires now so I have to know every topic in and out, as I'm not dealing with that. So my procrastinating has pretty much been stopped by the fact that I know I can do other stuff later, this has a time limit; now or never.

Before I would wait until my head was clear until I did MCQ's but knowing how my brain can get foggy on exam day, it's best to study even if the material is not being picked up (at first) because it will be eventually. That being said if your brain is just pooped, take a day of rest to refocus and regroup. When I don't feel like doing MCQ's now I just listen to the “music of Roger and Ninja videos in the background” and sometimes I actually pay attention when I'm not focusing on other tasks. MCQ may be most important but videos help when I want a bit less work on my brain. I think it's different for each person on what will work for them though. Good luck.

[karen]

I just took FAR 2 days ago. My advice? SIMS. They will not only highlight your vulnerabilities in knowledge but as importantly your thinking process vulnerabilities. The SIMS were the worst I’ve seen – and if I retake they won’t get me like they did this time. Half the battle was not getting lost and freezing with total info overload they throw at you. Drop the MCQs and work SIMS. If you can do SIMS you know enough to do MCQs. Best to you!!!

[Anonymous]

I took my test this afternoon and I would agree 100% with Karen. Some of the SIMS were easy, but probably 3 of them were looking at 4+ documents along with a ton of information. Hopefully I gathered enough points on these to pass.

[SchruteBeet]

You guys are awesome. Thank you so much for all the good wishes and tips. I have started taking a deep breath to organize my thoughts everytime I get an answer wrong. I am trying to look at it as more of a learning process – telling myself it's better to get it wrong now than on the actual exam. Will def be working on those sims as you some of you guys suggested. Really appreciate all the advice. Will be revisiting all the responses everytime I need some words of encouragement.

[Author]

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