Gov't and NFP, not that I did bad on those, but such easy points are lost.
Underestimating Stockholder's equity (weakness the first time around but I think I've got it the second time)
I don't know what else, maybe consolidations and intercompany transactions? I haven't gotten there in my review yet.
Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved - Helen Keller
Owner's Equity part for me with JE's for Treasury stock under 2 different methods as well as stocks par vs book value JEs. But now I'm grasping it better. However, indirect cash flows are a huge problem.
I have taken the exam 3 times and I feel that the sheer volume of material you have to master and understand is the hardest part. I have guesstimated that there are about 100 topics that you need to have an understanding of and there is no way to know what will pop up on the exam.
The hardest for me on FAR has been bonds and leases, but as I'm reviewing them they're becoming easier. I would say GOV doesn't make a lot of sense and takes memorization. Other than that, it's the volume of information that's difficult to maintain.
Treasury stock- Cost Method & Par Value Method (Ninja does this in a different way from Wiley)
Dollar Value LIFO (too many steps, I learned it once and promptly forgot it 3 weeks into my studies)
Sales Type Leases & Sale Leasebacks (long journal entries)
I barely understood what hedging was all about. Infamous “hedge funds” are still a mystery to me.
I had some sort of number dyslexia thing going on with:
Going back and forth from accrual to cash basis & cash basis to accrual
Deductible temporary differences & Taxable temporary differences
Not that I got tested on hardly any of this. Nor did I have much of any questions on pensions, bonds, or leases. Like maybe I had one of each. Ugh. I really wanted to review IFRS but CPA Excel has no summary of the differences, nor can you do a session of like 50 MCQs on IFRS. All they have are little blurbs at the end of their 227 (!!) lessons. I did not have the time to make a summary sheet myself.
For me personally, the hardest part of FAR was governmental and non-for-profit accounting. It was just so foreign to me and it never clicked with me. Luckily, I was still able to barely pass despite how weak I was in the topic. Make sure you know this topic well! It's weird, the “hard” sections ended up being my strongest sections and the supposed “easy” section I was having a hard time with.
Bonds, leases, pensions, and stockholder's equity were hard but I was able to figure it out after studying it. Plus I seen it in classes before so it was able to click with me eventually.
So in all, I wish I spent more time on govt/nfp accounting. But my poor time management skills left those two topics to the last two weeks of my studying with four days of comprehensive review. Definitely would not recommend that!
I haven't taken it yet, but I did delay the test a month as I would have failed. At this rate, I hope I will get to where I need to be by July 7th but it is not looking good. I struggle with Government, NFP, Deferred Taxes, Stockholders Equity, Derivatives and Hedging, Dollar Value LIFO. So basically the whole course LOL. By the time I get something down and move on to a few more topics, my trending score in those previous topics drops. So the hardest part is actually the volume of material, it's staggering
I'm pretty sure that I would have passed FAR on the first attempt had I spent more time on Government and NFP. Those were the last two sections on the Roger study course, and I was so burned out by that point that I kind of blew them off.
I don't think they're necessarily the hardest areas, but they make up a such a sizable portion of the exam that it's really important to make sure you understand them. Some of the tough spots I stressed out over with FAR either didn't show up at all on the exam or only had one question.
I agree the sheer volume of material is overwhelming.
The last time I took it, there wasn't anything I hadn't at least seen on the review material. I thought the subjects were basically even – as in the same percentage for everything I can think of. Not once did I think, oh, Another Question on _____.
I wish I had spent a little more time on the journal entries for all types of stock transactions – with warrants, without warrants, APIC, Treasury stock, par and book, the instances where you have to hit RE when buying back or retiring Treasury Stock, etc.
Do you people actually grade the prometric test facility?
When I get to the survey stuff I fill it in without really looking cause I just want to get out of there.
I hate FAR. Loathe & Detest. It's 85-90% word problems, miss one key word and you're completely screwed. The volume of material is insane. I was sure before I started that AUD would be my most difficult subject. I utterly underestimated FAR. My test is the 26th. I'm finishing ch 15 of 20 in Gleim and I'm convinced I'm going to fail. My Gleim scores are a good 10 points below where I was with AUD.
On top of that, my right hand at work is on maternity leave, my mother's started having health issues (and i'm her only child in this timezone) and my husband is driving me insane. If the CEO of my company didn't personally strongly suggest I do this, I'd quit now and never, ever look back. I know I'll get over being frustrated and keep at it, and I pray I'll pass…but right this minute I could just scream and this is the only place I could think of to vent where someone will understand where my head is.
B - 11/11/16
A - 4/16/16 87!!
R - 2/17/17
F - 7/26/16 - Waiting for 8/23
.