[Lentilcounter]

During one of the most recent AICPA/NASBA webinars, the AICPA presenter bought up the CPA exam blueprints available on the AICPA website. He said that we should reference these blueprints in preparing for the exams and then there should be no surprises. He also said that any content group/topic that is tested at the analysis level is fair game for a simulation. I have created a short summary below. While the language in the blueprints can be somewhat vague, I think if you at least have a mastery of the topics below, simulations shouldn’t scare you.

Balance sheet/statement of financial position
A) detect, investigate and correct discrepancies while agreeing the balance sheet amounts to supporting documentation
B) calculate fluctuations and ratios and interpret the results while reviewing comparative balance sheets

Income statement/statement of profit or loss
A) detect, investigate and correct discrepancies while agreeing the income statement amounts to supporting documentation
B) calculate fluctuations and ratios and interpret the results while reviewing comparative income statements

Statement of comprehensive income
A) detect, investigate and correct discrepancies while agreeing the statement of comprehensive amounts to supporting documentation

Statement of changes in equity
A) detect, investigate and correct discrepancies while agreeing the statement of changes in equity to supporting documentation

Statement of cash flows
A) detect, investigate and correct discrepancies while agreeing the statement of cash flows to supporting documentation
B) derive the impact of transactions on the statement of cash flows

Notes to the financial statements
A) compare the notes to the financial statements to the financial statements and supporting documentation to identify inconsistencies and investigate those inconsistencies

Consolidated financial statements (including wholly owned subsidiaries and noncontrolling interests)
A) detect, investigate and correct discrepancies while agreeing the consolidated financial statement amounts to supporting documentation

Cash and cash equivalents
A) reconcile the cash balance per the bank statement to the general ledger
B) investigate unreconciled cash balances to determine whether an adjustment to the general ledger is necessary

Trade receivables
A) prepare a rollforward of the trade receives account balance using various sources of information
B) reconcile and investigate differences between the subledger and general ledger for trade receives to determine whether an adjustment is necessary

Inventory
A) reconcile and investigate differences between the subledger and general ledger for inventory to determine whether an adjustment is necessary
B) prepare a rollforward of the inventory account balance using various sources of information

Property, Plant, and Equipment
A) prepare a rollforward of the property, plan, and equipment account balance using various sources of information
B) reconcile and investigate differences between the subledger and general ledger for property, plant, and equipment to determine whether an adjustment is necessary

Payables and accrued liabilities
A) reconcile and investigate differences between the subledger and general ledger for accounts payable and accrued liabilities to determine whether an adjustment is necessary

Revenue Recognition
A) interpret agreements, contracts and/or other supporting documentation to determine the amount and timing of revenue to be recognized in the financial statements
B) reconcile and investigate the differences between the sales subledger and the general subledger to determine whether an adjustment is necessary

Account changes and error corrections
A) derive the impact to the financial statements and related note disclosure of an accounting change or an error correction

Contingencies and commitments
A) review supporting documentation to determine whether a commitment or contingency requires recognition or disclosure in the financial statements

Leases
A) interpret agreements, contracts and/or other supporting documentation to determine the appropriate accounting treatment of a leasing arrangement and prepare the journal entries that a lessee should record.

Subsequent events
A) derive the impact to the financial statements and required note disclosues due to identified subsequent events

BEC = 79

AUD = 79

FAR = 84

REG = 86

Prayer + AICPA blueprints = my success

BEC = 72 (6/08/16)
FAR = ?
REG = ?
AUD = ?

[Wannafree]

Thanks again Ana.

WannaB

[Ana]

No problem. Hope it helps you guys out. I've seen these SIMS on prior exams and see their value. Brushing up on them for sure. I doubt i'll get to them all in my review for the next 14 days.

BEC - 78
AUD - 75
REG - 64, 77
FAR - 73, 73, 73, 82
Ethics: 74, 84, 98
Finally done after 23 months.

[Lentilcounter]

Thanks Ana. I'm trying to get a sum of the SIMs as we speak. I think its feasible in two weeks if you do a certain allocation everyday.

Yes, I agree that Ninja MCQ prepares you extremely well for the multiple choice. I have read so many stories where people are scoring in the 70s on FAR (still below 75) and are weaker on SIMs. Yes, you can argue that FAR has so many topics and why bother studying SIMs because it can be anything. People say to just bang out MCQ and treat like a SIM. I've been there and done that. It didn't work for me.

The AICPA threw us a bone with this. Let's see where this goes.

BEC = 79

AUD = 79

FAR = 84

REG = 86

Prayer + AICPA blueprints = my success

BEC = 72 (6/08/16)
FAR = ?
REG = ?
AUD = ?

[Lentilcounter]

I counted about 63 sims.

BEC = 79

AUD = 79

FAR = 84

REG = 86

Prayer + AICPA blueprints = my success

BEC = 72 (6/08/16)
FAR = ?
REG = ?
AUD = ?

[Wannafree]

Thank you Jeff and Thanks @Lentilcounter and @Ana

WannaB

[Lentilcounter]

NP. Ana had also mentioned Becker F2.2 AND F2.5 in the FAR study group thread too.

BEC = 79

AUD = 79

FAR = 84

REG = 86

Prayer + AICPA blueprints = my success

BEC = 72 (6/08/16)
FAR = ?
REG = ?
AUD = ?

[DarkHorse]

Do you guys think the AICPA is throwing us a bone here like how Ana said?

I am taking FAR soon and feel completely overwhelmed with the possibility of all material being put into SIMS. However, if they map it out for us drilling down these topics seems like it could work well.

The AICPA lending a helping hand to testers does not sound like them at all…

[Ana]

who really knows, it's hard to trust them. but having taken far 3 times I'd say it's a really useful road map.

BEC - 78
AUD - 75
REG - 64, 77
FAR - 73, 73, 73, 82
Ethics: 74, 84, 98
Finally done after 23 months.

[Lentilcounter]

Agreed. If you look at the areas in the road map, it makes sense too that these would be simulation topics that a CPA should know inside and out.

Disclaimer: If I am wrong when you all get your scores in December, don't hate me. Lol.

BEC = 79

AUD = 79

FAR = 84

REG = 86

Prayer + AICPA blueprints = my success

BEC = 72 (6/08/16)
FAR = ?
REG = ?
AUD = ?

[Ana]

you're the first person I'm blaming 🙂
I'm halfway through the Becker sims on the topics. how are you doing?

BEC - 78
AUD - 75
REG - 64, 77
FAR - 73, 73, 73, 82
Ethics: 74, 84, 98
Finally done after 23 months.

[Lentilcounter]

@Ana, I'm about 1/7 of the way. Lol. I'm shooting to be done with all the sims you mentioned by Sunday.

https://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=1481910&s=1&k=D37E74DB4034F33B44607EF7D834E53C&deletecookie=true

Above is a link to the presentation and below is a word for word transcript of what the AICPA presenter said. Fast forward to about 18 minutes into the video.

“In the past, we would say that we test analytical procedures in the audit section. That is not a whole lot of information. What we have now is at what skill level you are tested for analytical procedures in the representative task. So the representative task is an explanation of the content being tested and the skill level that we expect someone who is newly licensed to be able to operate at. This is important as you study. So you can look at the blueprint and say you are accessing potential areas of strengths or weakness for studying. You could say, okay, I am maybe not so strong in let’s say analytical procedures or am I worried that I might get a question that is a deep dive. IF SOMETHING IS TAGGED AT ANALYSIS OR EVALUATION, THEN THAT IS TESTING HIGHER ORDER SKILLS. YOU HAVE A GOOD CHANCE OF SEEING A SIMULATION AT THAT LEVEL. SO YOU HAVE TO BE COMFORTABLE TO ANSWER A MINI CASE STUDY AT THAT GIVEN AREA. ”

BEC = 79

AUD = 79

FAR = 84

REG = 86

Prayer + AICPA blueprints = my success

BEC = 72 (6/08/16)
FAR = ?
REG = ?
AUD = ?

[Lentilcounter]

Bump

BEC = 79

AUD = 79

FAR = 84

REG = 86

Prayer + AICPA blueprints = my success

BEC = 72 (6/08/16)
FAR = ?
REG = ?
AUD = ?

[Ana]

bump

BEC - 78
AUD - 75
REG - 64, 77
FAR - 73, 73, 73, 82
Ethics: 74, 84, 98
Finally done after 23 months.

[mustafa]

thanks a lot for the info guys. I'm taking fAR this weekend after getting a 74 ugh..this list helped me focus on the topics i didn't study much. just looking at the list i found almost every sim that was on the exam a few months ago..

[Anonymous]

Cool, thanks for sharing that list. I feel comfortable enough with those topics from here, however it could be a different story when actually working through them on exam day.

These are really the only two I feel questionable about because I don't particularly remember “reconciling subledgers to general ledgers”:

Trade receivables
B) reconcile and investigate differences between the subledger and general ledger for trade receives to determine whether an adjustment is necessary

Revenue Recognition
B) reconcile and investigate the differences between the sales subledger and the general subledger to determine whether an adjustment is necessary

It sounds easy enough to do, but I don't feel I would be familiar enough with what they could ask on exam day. If anyone has some insights on it I'd appreciate it.

[Author]

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