[Silent]

I am about half way through FAR and wonder how is everyone keeping up with FAR? I generally will read my notice on Sat(my day off) but i feel like my brain is now full. Seriously it’s so much info to retain.

How is everyone handling dealing with FAR info?

[FutureCPA2019]

I remember that by the time I got to the end of the material, my brain was so fried that I couldn’t remember what I studied just an hour ago! I had such short memory, it was scary. However, just like people told me, most of it came back in the review period at the very end.

What helped me was to continuously review sections. I’d set aside two hours on Saturday and Sunday and did MCQ on all sections that I covered so far. I wrote down the answers for all questions that I got wrong and those that I felt like I could forget. I used these notes as review notes just before the exam. Good luck!!!

[Nbmorty]

I hate to sound banal but its really just the three (P)s.
Keep redoing it until you will start answering automatically
And then redo it again.
I hope i am done with far but just in case i am giving it 2 hours per day just to keep it fresh.

[12tang]

Passed it twice and failed it once when I didn't study sufficiently. In the two times I passed it, I can tell you that the information was always overwhelming, but allowing for a 2 week review is where it comes together. A 2 week review is a necessity, but at the end of the day, you have to be comfortable with not knowing every single detail. There are many hard topics, and you have to remember the examiners cannot hit you with all of them (although I'm sure they'd like to try if they could). Also, shoot for around 170-200 of study hours. If you're consistent with your study schedule, you should be fine.

Using Becker self-study
FAR: (82) 175 hours - 1st attempt
BEC: (XX)
AUD: (69) 45hrs of study - 1st attempt
REG: (XX)

[Recked]

If i had to do it over again I would allow 2-4 hours one day a week to hammer out some cumulative MCQs to keep everything fresh in my mind.
I ended up not doing that. I originally targeted 2 weeks to review but ended up only having 10 days to review before the exam.
The initial stages of review were horrible because I forgot so much stuff from 6-8 weeks before. It did all finally come together in the review, but I would strongly advise cumulative MCQs once a week. You'll thank yourself during the review phase.
Keep pushing!!

[zman]

Here's the mindset that I went into FAR with, as well as the other sections, and I think it logically makes sense and I have passed AUD, FAR, and REG so it has worked for me thus far. When I was studying for FAR I was completely overwhelmed by the material. You can start getting into the details and before you know it you are 3 miles deep in a rabbit hole. Here is my pro tip for passing FAR…

The CPA certification is the hardest of all of the certifications to obtain and CPA's are generally regarded as being some of the most intelligent professionals in the business community. The AICPA wants to make sure the CPA title always retains its superiority. So there are ten million details that can be tested on FAR and all of these details are 100% fair game but does the AICPA really want people out there with “CPA” by their name if said people do not have a working knowledge of base line accounting concepts like depreciation, Accounts receivable, Debt/bonds, Equity, and general governmental stuff? No chance. Of coarse they can test you on anything and everything, but for the sake of preserving the prestige that comes with having “CPA” by your name, they really want to make sure people who pass the exam have a strong knowledge of more basic accounting concepts. To further my point (and I'm sure that others had different experiences) I only had a total of 3 MCQ's regarding leases and pensions.

So take a deep breath, step back, and ask yourself “If I were handing out CPA licenses, what would I want to be certain the person I'm giving this license to understands?” If I could pass FAR, there's not a doubt in my mind that everyone who has made it to this point in this wild journey can also pass it.

[alex260605]

i'm in the same boat as you are.

practice practice practice.

it's impossible to know everything but the more you know/understand/memorize the better off you'll be.

regularly review material from previous chapters, create memory mnemonics and ways for you to remember what you have already studied and try doing multiple choice questions from previous chapters as you move forward.

what makes FAR difficult is the sheer volume of the material. more so than any of the other sections, it's very important that you don't “drop the ball” with FAR.

[Silent]

Thank you everyone for your reply. I agree with everyone that said this is way too much info, i guess only thing i can do is keep doing those MCQ and keep reading the notices. I hope the other test will be easier, not looking forward at doing this much info retention for the other 3 test.

[PC]

Similar to what Recked said, one extended cumulative MCQ review session per week helped me as well. I took nearly 6 months to study FAR (holidays, vacations, work, slow learner in general) but once a week I'd complete 100+ randomly-selected MCQs filtered for only the sections I'd already covered.

[jeff]

Follow the NINJA Framework – it was designed for this.

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