[Carolina]

This sounds terrible, but I am only one module into Becker’s FAR review and I already feel like giving up. I have really struggled with the accruals/adjusting journal entries module from F1 because most of the MCQ are not addressed in the lecture. There is just so much I feel like I don’t know, I spent most of tonight just zoned out and trying not to think about how much I suck. How do you all deal with this inevitable feeling of discouragement and overwhelming sense of failure? I don’t really WANT to give up… but my motivation to keep trying drops further and further with every wrong answer. Any advice at all is highly appreciated.

[ahugemistake]

@Allison The scores with a * next to them are expired, and I had to retake them. It's a long story but the first time I took them I didn't pass all parts in the 18 month window, and then let all my scores expire because I was bogged down with working and family things. I started restudying last year again and passed all of the parts within 18 months, so no more studying!

FAR - 78*
AUD - 66, 79
REG - 73, 76
BEC - 79

[ak_cpawannabe]

When I started studying for FAR, I did not remember anything accounting related. I remember I had to google what is accounting equation and that was my first formula in my notebook for FAR journey. I used Wiley Cpa excel. Sooo… software was so good that it taught me everything I needed to know! I spent hundreds and hundreds of hours studying through pain and tests and frustration. Reading, taking notes, googling and YouTubing if I needed more info, doing and redoing mcq until I got at least 90% on them. It took me 4 months total dedication before I sat for far. I got 71! That’s when I got pissed and started studying even harder. Re-read all chapters again, memorized all ratios, re-read all my old notes several times and still after second exam felt like I failed. So I decided that this is the test of dedication (and it is) and I will continue to study until I retire. But scores came and I got 78!!!!

My suggestion, dont get frustrated or discouraged. Go to library or somewhere quiet and just do one chapter at a time. Give all your energy and attention to that chapter. If you see hard questions, don’t focus too much on them. Just do your best guess and flag it so it pops up in your test bank again and just move on. Remember this is one of the hardest tests in human world. It really separates dedicated people from not dedicated. Cpa boards want the most dedicated coolest goal oriented people to be in their elite Cpa club. So keep going! If I was able to pass without even knowledge of an accounting equation, so can everyone! Just make sure you really want it those 3 beautiful letters next to your name CPA! 🙂 Thanks for reading.

[JustMe]

Ok, here's the deal. Revenue Recognition is a newly overhauled standard so all of the rules are new. Some of the overall concepts are the same as before but if it's been a few years since you were in school, this is all going to seem new with all new terminology. I just happened to have gone through the implementation process with revenue recognition at my job so it was fresh on my mind. But I feel like the best source for me was the accounting guides that the various Big 4 firms put out on the subject. PWC's guides are free and available on their websites (see link below). Sometimes, if the material seems foreign, I feel like looking things up here helps before diving into the lectures. For Audit, it had been a while since I was in public accounting and I wasn't aware of all of the changes to the audit reports for non-public entities and FREAKED OUT!! So I went back and read all of the rules on the AICPA's website for non-public companies and it made sense after that. I know it seems like overkill to do that but I promise, all of the stuff I had to look up that way, I will NEVER forget it…ever.

[JustMe]

Also, I would DEFINITELY use Becker if you liked the free trial. That's what I have been using almost exclusively. It's worth the money. I used Roger for AUD for the audio files to listen to in my car but then failed it with a 73 (that was devastating) so switched back to Becker and have ONE MORE to go now. And don't get discouraged on FAR. Keep going. I failed it 3 times before I finally passed. The first time I took it, I cried during the exam and almost walked out.

[JustMe]

let's try this again, this time with the links to the guides :0)

PWC's Revenue Recognition Guide:
https://www.pwc.com/us/en/cfodirect/publications/accounting-guides/revenue-recognition-accounting-financial-reporting-guide.html

PWC page where you can see all of their accounting guides:
https://www.pwc.com/us/en/cfodirect/publications/accounting-guides.html
there's about 13 of them. At about the middle of the page, is a section that says “All Accounting and Reporting Guides…filter by topic”. Click on the filter by topic and you should be able to see them all. You can just click on one and download the PDF. I have all of them on my hard drive and have several printed out and bound on my desk at work for my own personal little library.

[Nbmorty]

Look here is an alternative to boost your confidence, try studying backwards (from the end) do gov. And nfp first, see how you are at those, you even can try pensions and equity or even ppe then get back from the start (the point here is to gain some confidence thats is).
I sucked at f2 but did good later, and i have an explanation for it, since the accruals are *basics* and there is not much going there they tend to complicate it by all that vagueness and extra curveballs , in the other had pensions gov and nfp are hard by themselves, or rather unfamiliar to most of us, so the questions tend to be more straightforward (assuming u get the concept) , at least thats what i have noticed personally.
Try it that why, u have nothing to lose, but confidence to gain.

[sdollen64]

@Momonthemove – don't want to hijack this thread – wish there were a way to message people on this forum. I am using Roger and wondered how you used his review course. Working on FAR and struggling. Did you watch the videos, do the IPQs and move on to the next section? Watch all the videos first and then did IPQs? Just curious what worked for you.

[Lidis]

Hello Sdollen64
Professor Farhat en YouTube has a very good accounting videos you can check them out
He also has a website Farhatlectures.pathright.com
Lidis

[LeeT]

@Sdollen64 – i am also using Roger and passed REG + FAR so far with only Roger. i was confused at first how to use it, but i think the best way is to go through each section at a time, do all the videos + take notes, then do the IPQ for that section until you hit the suggested # of questions and suggested score. try your best not to memorize answers, since if you get some wrong, they will show up as the first 3 questions on your next IPQ question set for that section. even if you memorized it, if it's a calculation question, write out the calculations and understand WHY it's that answer and why you did those calculations.

it would also be really good to go over some older sections as your get further in the material, it's easy to forget the old stuff. for final review, i liked going back to his lectures and doing the questions that are in the videos of each section, and the TBS if you have time. the point of those seem to be the biggest highlights from that section, so those are really good to review. you probably won't get any TBS that are the same, but it helps hammer home the concepts. one thing i missed doing was the sample AICPA tests.. i glanced at them before FAR, and got really upset at the exam because some of the questions i got were nearly identical, but i didn't go over them ahead of time! still passed but was an upsetting moment for sure which is never good during the exam.

[sdollen64]

@ LeeT – thank you for the advice! I'm currently through all the videos and now going back to each section and reviewing my notes and then doing the IPQs and making short notes on any I miss as I go. I have 55 days until my exam; so will definitely do as you suggested and review TBS and AICPA questions. Glad to hear that you felt Roger was enough. I keep reading other posts that say they felt Roger IPQs were too easy compared to the actual exam question. I find that odd and hard to believe since almost all of these review courses seem to have many of the same questions – which actually come from old AICPA released test questions.

Good luck on your last two exams!!

[Author]

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