[Anonymous]

I’m going to tackle my first exam this Friday, which unfortunately is FAR :(. I was wondering if I get some advice on time management, SIMS portion, or just anything that will help me in general. I have my NTS printed out, 2 forms of ID, and ear plugs all ready. Does prometric provide scratch paper? I know that sounds like a stupid question. Lol…Thank you all in advance.

[latenight]

For time management:

– 45 minutes per testlet (each testlet is 30 questions and there are 3 testlets)

– 105 minutes for the simulations

For the simulations:

– The goal is to make sure nothing is left blank

– Go through each simulation and do the best you can at first, then return to them as time permits

General help:

– For simulations, focus on at least partial credit

– Some people feel that you can't actually study for simulations (I agree with them)

– A couple days before the test, you may find it depressing to focus on studying one topic at a time

– Some people have found it helpful to do practice exams or use a test bank (Wiley, Gleim, etc) to remedy this

Prometric provides scratch paper, pencils and a calculator built into the exam software. Also, there is something like an excel spreadsheet built into the simulations, should you get a simulation that requires it.

I didn't need earplugs. They provided these big, huge, plastic ear muffs that blocked out everything. I wore them the entire test. I found them helpful.

Hope that helps or at least gets people to chime in with more advice.

AUD - 87
BEC - 76
FAR - 96
REG - 94

[Anonymous]

I would love to chime in but I haven't passed FAR yet. I have been told to allocate your time during the test based on the percentage that it is. For example, in REG the MCQ are 60% and Simulations are 40%, therefore use 108 minutes on MCQ, approx 36 mins per MCQ testlet and 72 minutes on the Simulations. Also I think it is important to know the ‘Call of the Question' before reading all of the question. That is what I do and therefore I know what I am looking for while I am reading the data. In Texas, we aren't allowed to bring anything in but your ID, the scratch paper the site gives you and the pencils the site gives you. If you have nerves just remember to breath. If you don't know the answer right away it is important to stay calm and read the question thoroughly. If you have prepared yourself you can typically narrow down the answer choices to 2 which gives you a 50/50 shot. The biggest this is to not panic! Missing 1 MCQ isn't going to fail you but taking so much of your time to answer that 1 questions can keep you from finishing the test. Best of luck to you!

[Anonymous]

@ CPAski – my advice is spin the roulette wheel hard and close your eyes.. you've just started a wild rollercoaster ride my friend

[Anonymous]

@ latenight – Thanks! That's real helpful. On the simulation, when you say don't leave anything blank, do you mean when a SIM requires JE and you don't need all the rows provided to use “No entry required” and add zero next to it?

@ akb9874 – Thanks! I'll try not to panic lol

@ Click_of_Death – Haha, the moment I started lecture F1 was when the roller coaster ride started and I hate roller coasters too!

[Anonymous]

Is there a spreadsheet program for any questions where you may have to create an amortization schedule, such as on a lease or bond? Or are you expected to make one on paper?

[latenight]

While I can't say what the material was on, I can say that I did get one that required the “No entry required”. They do exist!

The amortization schedule will be a computer template that is already set up. You won't have to make it on paper. Oddly, it would probably be easier to do it on paper. No confusion on how the cells work, etc. lol

AUD - 87
BEC - 76
FAR - 96
REG - 94

[Anonymous]

whoops, I read a previous post wrong. I am taking FAR this Friday too. Good luck test buddy!

[Anonymous]

@ latenight – when you say leave nothing blank on the simulation does that mean on parts of JE you enter a 0 instead of leaving it blank? if thats the case i could have really f-ed up my exam…

Example: Cash xx 0

C/st 0 xx

or can you do it like this:

Cash xx

C/st xx

without 0s…

[Anonymous]

@ Home Stretch – GL to you as well!

[Whyme]

I'm getting confused regarding this Zero's thing. You guys are making me nervous.

Let's say you have 4 lines for a journal entry, and you only use 2, should you enter zero's on the other 2 lines in which you do not input a journal entry?

AUD- 71, 73, 87 Done!!!!!
BEC- 75
FAR- 72, 77
REG- 77

[latenight]

On the “No entry required” ones, I didn't enter any zeros. I felt it would have been weird to make a J/E that actually has a debit and credit of that with zeros. Mine was only a debit of No Entry Required. No credit and no zeros. It was structured so that you had to do journal entries for specific dates. So, on August 15, were any J/Es required relating to the above transactions. For mine, there were no transactions at all that required a J/E, so I just picked “No Entry Required” from the drop down menu.

When I was meaning to not leave anything blank, it was more that you should try to complete as much as you can. 🙂

AUD - 87
BEC - 76
FAR - 96
REG - 94

[Anonymous]

up late doing last minute studying eh cpaski?

[Whyme]

@Latenight, I think I got the same SIM, I am hoping that one is a pre-test lol.

AUD- 71, 73, 87 Done!!!!!
BEC- 75
FAR- 72, 77
REG- 77

[latenight]

@Whyme same here lol

AUD - 87
BEC - 76
FAR - 96
REG - 94

[Anonymous]

@ Home Stretch: Hey did you pass test buddy? Let me know!!

[Author]

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