[CPA2020]

I am starting my studies for FAR after passing the other 3 exams. I know most people take FAR first, so I am wondering if there is a different approach for taking it last. Is it really the hardest exam, or is that because most people take it first and are blindsided by the CPA exam experience in general? Are the SIMs really more intensive than REG? Is time management the most crucial for FAR? After having seen it all on the other exams, what is the real differentiation for FAR?

[Recked]

just the volume of the material.
I found the AUD sims to be probably comparable to FAR. FAR might be a little more intensive. firmly recommend time management for FAR, especially if you were close for the others.
i feel like AUD had a ton of extra docs and things to review, similar to FAR

[jeff]

Volume of difficult material. Time management for REG & FAR was the same for me…ran out of time on both.

[CPA2020]

I heard someone say that FAR is like learning a language–everything is connected. BEC seemed like so much material that wasn't connected. Maybe FAR is voluminous, but is the material necessarily more difficult or complicated?

[Recked]

FAR made me feel like an idiot at times, getting 20% correct on practice sets of questions working through the MCQs.
Yea, FAR was a pain.

[Justin]

FAR is intimidating. It's a huge volume of material. Depending on the course review you use, they nitpick every topic and make you feel like you don't know the material. It is essentially all of your accounting courses rolled into a single subject and may have subjects on top of that which you haven't seen. If you are like me, you want to know everything perfectly but in reality it's almost impossible to be 100% comfortable with the entire content of FAR and that makes the exam even more daunting. You'll spend hours studying material that may not even show up on the exam at all. In the end, just push through it and try your best.

[Jonah]

Pretty much the same as what everyone else said, the material is so broad and dense that it feels crazy to have it boil down into 8 SIMS and 66 MCQ's. I would say don't stretch it out for too long, because since there is so much material which is pretty different, you end up forgetting details from the first few chapters and having to go back during final review. Get the best understanding possible but don't waste time being perfect. Its hard because sometimes its just the hand you get dealt with the CPA exam, I spent a lot of time reviewing derivatives and EPS because it had been awhile since I learned it in school, and I MAYBE had 5 MCQ's on those topics. Just do the best you can, I cried in my car after taking FAR and I passed.

[Skynet]

Having Taco Bell before the taking the exam. 😧

[Jimmy Dugan]

Volume + Gov't and NFP, which I had no experience with and I feel like none of the review courses do a good job teaching.

[Pokey]

I agree with Skynet..

AUD - 74 (3x), TBD
BEC - Sept16
FAR - TBD
REG - TBD

[Anthony]

Nothing is really that complicated in FAR IMO. Everything can be done with just knowing your debits/credits. What makes it hard is just that sheer amount of topics that can be covered.

[alex260605]

Volume of material + tricky questions. Takes a while to master the concepts if you've been out of school for a while. It's making me feel very angry and frustrated. I could lose my sh** at any moment.

[woobie]

I think it's the amount of rules, and exceptions to those rules, and exceptions to the exceptions.

And then IFRS, but oh when it's the first tuesday of the month and the statements have been kinda prepared but not really and will be filed in 2 days, and the transaction is material, but the controller said it was immaterial and forgot one amortization discount 8 years ago at a different interest rate…Also, this other thing was depreciated using straight line but should have been some other method. What is the amount to be credited on the 5th journal entry in the sequence if the transaction occurred on April 4th after accruing 4 months of interest and also on Dec 30th before the financial statements are prepared?

a. 0 5
b. 347 987
c. 348 988
e. 350 350

You fumble around excel, click, and get it wrong. “Answer is 0!” The explanation in Becker is like “haha we tricked you you dummy!” it never accrued interest because it's April 4th and NOT the 1st!

It's crap like that that makes FAR so difficult. I'm also venting because my MCQ session on debt restructuring is going horribly right now.

[say]

What makes FAR intimidating is the amount of information. I took the exam on 7/2 and made an 86. It is my first time taking the exam. I have been out of school and out of public accounting for 10+ years.

One thing I'd like to note is that the content is not intuitive. You can't really make educated guesses. You either know it or you don't. My recommendation to those that are taking the exam is to really know the information. You can't lightly know it. Know it so well that you can teach it to someone else. I used Wiley CPA excel and did the test bank every day – heavy on the MCQ and some SIMs. For the weak areas, I would revisit the lecture and if I still was struggling I would go on youtube. I was struggling on Bonds/notes rec. I kept getting tripped up on effective interest rates, straight line amortization of interest, issuance costs. I kept making mistakes because I just didn't get it. So I went on youtube and searched the topic and it clicked. Best of luck to those that are taking it. Take it one topic at a time. Don't freak out!

[LittleTimmy]

What makes FAR the worst is the study process, not so much the Test Day. From what I have experienced, FAR might be the only section where you can skip a handful of Chapters in the study process, and still be able to pass. In fact, I saw a YouTube video recently of a person who didn't have time to cover numerous FAR textbook chapters and took the test just to see what it's like, and was just able to pass the test. I skipped Consolidations entirely, and lightly knew Government, lightly knew NonProfit, and was shaky on Statements of Cash Flows (those 4 topics each got their own Chapter, taking up about 150 pages in the Roger textbook), and I was able to pass FAR. I don't buy into the strategy of taking FAR as the first test… because if you can't pass the other 3 tests in 18-months, then FAR is the first test to expire… I think taking FAR as the 2nd test in sequence is better.

[AGI]

I think thee are many reasons to take FAR / REG first. A good portion of people take the exam freshly out from college, and FAR / REG (which included tax) are basically accounting level 1 to level 4. This is the easiest for a lot of people. You also got to understand that while most of our professors tell us that auditing, tax, financial accounting, etc, are a more highly ranked accounting professions, book keeping and general accounting do make up 85% of the entire accounting market. Many of us will take the most familiar thing first, which is FAR (or tax – REG). An additional reason for taking FAR / REG first is, I felt like 50% of those materials are actually somewhat overlapped in AUD and BEC. So by the time I finished FAR and REG, I didn't study much of AUD and BEC. Just go straight to the test.

Nevertheless, there are also reasons to NOT take FAR / REG first. Like mentioned before, by the time you finished AUD and BEC, you will learned some FAR / REG…which could make life easier.

My professor told me if I take the CPA exam first, it will have a more positive image on my resume and interviews….

New York - NYC
Passed CPA Exam (11/2014)
In search for a position in NYC that will fulfills the license requirement.

[Author]

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