I’m not there yet, but business combinations was a pain in the a** when I took it last summer…all that inventory, bonds, and noncontrolling interest..damnnnn :'(
With the exception of cash flows and income statements…evertyhing else is hard for me, but i HATE BONDS, it is not hard because I have been doing good (lately) but it took me a while. Also, it seems that I dont know how to read the questions. I just see a lot of lines and freak out. Yeap, I have psychological issues when I see long MCQ's LOL!!!
For the next two weeks I will be doing progress tests in Becker and MCQ's on study mode on WIleytest bank.
Good Luck!!!
Done 😉
Class of 2012!!!!
Lots of prayers and hard work....
@Marivy22 I think it was Jeff, but I saw a video on Youtube where some CPA person said that the key to the long questions is to skip to the last sentence first, then read from the beginning. I've been doing that and it definitely helps.
@Marivy22…I think most of us hate those long questions….and what sucks even more is that sometimes all you need is 1 or 2 numbers to solve it, but they throw all this other weird crap at us…im like, r u 4 real?lol
I have been known from time to time to skip most of the question and look at the sentence, the problem with that is sometimes you when don't look at the full question, you can gloss over important factors (i.e. dates, IFRS vs GAAP, expense vs. payable, etc. etc.)
Cindy in the Yeager dvd's recommends going to the stem of the question first, the last line before the options and then reading the question in full with the end goal in mind. This seems to be hard for me…I keep trying 🙂
I took Advanced Accting in my last quarter at college and HATED consolidations (business combinations, right?). I barely passed the class with “credit”, although I'm positive it had to be due to a grade curve. However, the MC questions for business combinations were not bad in Becker at all. However, simulations would be completely different I imagine — if they gave you the statements side by side and told you to input all the numbers and JE's.
My audit professor taught us that the CPA exam is like a mile-wide pool, but only a centimeter in shallowness, so to speak. Keep this in mind and that will help to reduce the anxiety.
I'm finishing the supplemental MC's for F4 (working capital, fixed assets for non-Becker students) right now, so I can't really speak for the rest of the book. However, I have heard the chapter on bonds is pretty difficult.
the hardest thing about FAR is FAR. in the volume of material and the depth to which you must know it. the material doesn't relate easily, like BEC, AUD and REG topics.
cash flows seem to give me a really hard time. I get really turned around easily when the accounts are presented and i need to work my way back to a number. Anyone know of any good literature or websites that can break it down easily for me? I have Becker, but I don't think they explained it well enough for me.
I'm all mixed up. My strengths are government, non-profit, consolidations, foreign currency translations, contingencies, and IFRS anything (they certainly made some of the items by GAAP understandable).
My weakness was the installment sales. I would go over, understand it completely, then blank out as if I never reviewed my entire life. I also am not a fan of LIFO, which is prohibited by IFRS. LOL.
AUD - Passed:)
FAR - Passed:)
REG - Retake TBD
BEC - Missed by 3 points Retake TBD
I used Becker, and F3-F7 damn near killed me. They didn't though. The best advice I can give for FAR is to continuously review previous sections via progress quizzes or some other means so that you keep the old info fresh, and to know that it's perfectly normal to feel like there's no way in hell that you'll remember all of that crap. I felt extremely overwhelmed by FAR, but I kept on going anyway, and it paid off. It's a beast, but it's passable.
Good luck to y'all FAR takers!
Rawrrrr to Herbie!!!
AUD - 95, BEC - 85
REG - 85, Rawrrrrrr FAR - 88
Used Becker for all sections.
CA candidate not residing in CA
I am happy now…I not the only one don't like the consolidations chapter. Actually, the Intercompany transactions section is the beast. All those depreciation and stuff…ugh…I can only imagine how the sim is going to be for this section…I already spent too much time on these and not able to move on from this chapter. May be I should move on and come back later?
See the positive side, once we complete this beast, whatever other exam sections left are going to make us feel better!
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