[thechapman]

Hey guys. I just finished F5, and have been (more or less) following the NINJA method of waiting for MCQ and sims until I’m through all 10 chapters. Having gone through half the material, I have no clue if I am where I should be.

Would it be wise to do maybe a 90 question progress test on F1-F5 before moving on to see where I am? I have basically 5 weeks of total study before I take the exam, and this is end of week two. This next week I will be watching F6-F10 lectures and taking good notes.

This leaves me with two solid weeks of nothing but MCQs, rewriting notes if I have time, and going through sims after I finish my lectures/notes at the end of next week. I don’t have any other obligations except studying, so I will be able to put 80-100 hours into that phase. If anyone could give me some advice on what I should do that would be awesome, because I’m starting to feel pretty uneasy about this. Thank you for any wisdom!

Passed - 2014

[Anonymous]

I think a progress test is a good idea, I am basically at the same point in studying (& the feeling of being screwed) and I plan on taking a day to review the first 5 chapters just to refresh my memory of it all. This is my first time studying for FAR so I can't know for sure but I feel like the more I see the concepts or do problems on them the better I know them/the faster I would be able to answer the MC questions on the test.

Also, one concept I am having trouble with is the intercompany transactions, it takes me forever to think through the MC questions, does anyone have any advice on those questions or any websites that are helpful?

[JamesBJames]

Honestly, I think postponing all the questions for FAR is crazy. This is mostly just going to be a difference of opinions, but MCQs reinforce the material for me, so right after I get done watching each section in a module I do all of the related HW. How can you expect to remember anything from F1-F5 if you put it out of mind for a few weeks?

I don't think a progress test is a bad idea. I used to do three sets of 30 after every module.

FAR: May 1st, 2014 - 91
AUD: May 29th, 2014 - 97!
BEC: July 16th, 2014 - 91
REG: August 29th, 2014 - 88

Licensed December 2015

Feel free to add me on LinkedIn by clicking my username!

[Jspann225]

@thechapman I am right there with you. I am taking the exam is about 3 1/2 weeks and I am on chapter 9(by far the most boring for me lol). I could not imagine saving the multiple choice questions until the end, because I won't know how much I actually retained from the chapter with out completing them. It definitely depends on how you learn best, and I just don't retain accounting well if I cannot work actually problems.

@alz43210 Intercompany transactions are tricky and the way I remembered is my responsibility is to remove and any profit/gain/loss. For sales you just reverse the initial sales JE and divide the additional profit between COGS and Inventory. If a company sales equipment, you just have to reverse the gain/loss, accumulate depreciation, and equipment for the difference between the cash received and the original cost of the equipment. Also, i have found that the best way to get comfortable with it is to actually right the journal entry as you answer the MCQs.

FAR - 93 - 7/1/14
AUD - 94 - 7/25/14
REG - 92 - 8/30/14
BEC - 89 - 10/6/14

[thechapman]

@Jspann225. I am in Texas also, and legitimately have the same schedule for taking exams as you, down to the day and exam order. Looks like you are quite a bit ahead of me!

Passed - 2014

[Anonymous]

I'm with @James- I would not recommend putting off the MCQs. Out of all the sections, the MCQs in this section should be prioritized. There's just way too much material in FAR to go through all the lectures and then do the MCQS last…for a few section, I would even listen to a chunk of the lecture and then go do the MCQs just on that specific topic.

[Kimboroni]

I know that for me, if I did all of the MCQs for each chapter right away, it would be a waste of time, because I would have spent all that time nailing the concepts only to forget them a few weeks later.

So I did just a few MCQs from each area of that chapter as I worked through to make sure I had a basic understanding of what I was reading, then moved on. Then I went back and reviewed a few weeks later by doing a few more MCQs just to touch base. Then in the last couple of weeks before the test was when I put all my energy into nailing the concepts by doing the rest of the MCQs in my book. I know that I perform best by cramming like that.

So it really depends on if you have a stronger short term or longer term memory.

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. 🙂

[tjohns80]

Yeah, I would highly recommend doing the MCQ's as you go through the FAR material. By doing that, you will remember the concepts better once you go back for the review.

FAR- 87
BEC- 90
REG- 96
AUD- 97

(Becker, NINJA Notes, Wiley Test Bank)

[Mamabear]

What I did was go through each chapter/topic/section of notes (book/lectures–if you use those) then go through all the MCQ for that topic to really nail down the concepts through repetition. If I got something wrong or just guessed then I would make additional notes. When I would start a new section/chapter/topic I would take a little quiz on all topics prior just to keep it fresh. During the review phase I would do MCQ over and over on every topic to weed out where I was still having problems. Focus on those for a week or so, then do more MCQ over and over on those areas. During the last two days I just went through my full set of notes section by section to keep everything fresh again. I was burnt out on MCW and wanted to save those for the actual test so I didn't do any the last two days before the test. All of this allowed me to see the MCQ multiple times and go through my notes multiple times. if you have time I would also suggest rewriting your notes. I didn't have time with FAR, but I did for AUD and I think it helped a lot.

CPA Exam - Finally DONE (November 2014)
BEC (08/10/13) 80
AUD (08/24/13) 65 (11/13/13) 85
FAR (04/12/14) 81
REG (07/19/14) 69 (11/29/14) 87!!

[thechapman]

Thanks for all the advice. Just trying to gauge whether or not I'm making strategy mistakes that could potentially cost me a potential pass which would be devastating. Thanks everyone

Passed - 2014

[Anonymous]

I don't touch MCQ's (outside on the videos) until I'm completely finished with the video lectures. Its common to feel lost/overwhelmed. What reinforces the material for me, is to rewrite each chapter of notes onto flashcards before I begin knocking out MCQ's for that chapter.

[Author]

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