[Lianetleal]

Hi all:

I was wondering how many months should I study prior taking the exam. Note that I work full time. I was thinking about 5 to 6 months but I’ve heard that if you take long you tent to forget what you prior study. When do you really feel prepared?
Thank you

[Andrew]

I think 2 to 2 and a half months is the sweet spot for far, with a 2 week review of just hitting MCQ. I'll let you know if I'm right by next score release lol

[Anthony]

5-6 month for FAR is just way to long. You could have probably pass all 4 section by 5-6 months. The max for any section is 2 month or less IMO. Any more then you'll start to forget.

[Viva_La_Wis]

8 – 13 weeks depending on study habits.

[muhfreedoms]

I think study hours is the more appropriate measurement for determining whether you'd be ready for a section. For FAR, I would estimate between 140-180 hours would probably be ideal. You could pass with fewer hours but it all depends on how comfortable you feel after studying.

[Jdn9201]

5-6 months is way too long. Not only would review be a nightmare, but you put yourself at risk of losing credits for other passed exams if you fail FAR. From a time frame perspective, it depends on the # of hours you are able to study each week. Let's say you want to hit 150 hours and can do 15 hours per week. That would mean 2 1/2 months would be a good time frame. With that being said, I think time is a poor indicator of test readiness. The study programs will tell you 150-200 hours but it varies widely. I think a better measure is studying efficiency combined with the ability to apply what you've learned to different questions. I work full time and passed FAR in 19 days – probably studied about 75 hours, but I didn't track time. I split my time up based on the AICPA content specific outline and found it to be a good indicator as to which topics are tested more heavily on.

BEC - 88 8/29/15
REG - 82 11/14/15
AUD - 83 1/8/16
FAR - 80 2/29/16

[A1lessio]

I did 11 weeks while working full time, but like everyone said you start to forget and I had to keep going back and reviewing stuff. I think 2 to 2.5 months should be good. I really struggled with the material and have no idea if I passed.

AUD (08/02/2016)

[Anonymous]

It all depends on how well you know the topics already, and how fast you can make your way through the readings, videos (assuming you're using a review course that has those – I think they all do though), and most importantly…the practice questions – all 1,500 of them, or more.

Yes, retention is a problem for some of us not blessed with a perfect memory. That's why you have to always spend time reviewing the old stuff as you study the new stuff. I didn't do enough of that and it kicked me hard in the end. 5-6 months is, I agree too long because you really lose continuity with that long a period. I'd suggest “a few months”. No more than 4 months.

I started studying for FAR in mid-July. In mid-September I got a new job. I was off work for 2 months and used that time to the fullest…I got the bulk of my studying for FAR done during that time (maybe 75% of it). From September to November, I did about 3 hours a night and finished the remaining 25%. By the beginning of December, I was completely burned out. I took it on January 7th and got a 62. If I hadn't burned out, or maybe if I'd taken it RIGHT after I was done studying, I wouldn't have failed. I've moved on to AUD and will re-take later this year.

[Anonymous]

I'd recommend AT LEAST 200 hours depending on your educational background. There is an insane amount of material to cover, although some of it was review. I had to put in nearly 300 hours to feel comfortable, although I did pass on my first attempt. Everyone is different and only YOU know how comfortable you are with the material. Goodluck!

[Anonymous]

OP – you probly know this already but FAR is, by general concensus, the hardest of the four. There is a LOT you have to know – down to the trivia level. It's not hard stuff, mostly.
It's just there is a ton of it. It's an easy exam to fail, even if you go in feeling very prepared. It's different for everyone, as to their experience. Government and Nonprofit Accounting can occupy as much as 1/4 of your FAR exam. The CSO's state 16-24% but it is definitely on the upper bound of that for most exams. Government, I had in Advanced Accounting. Never studied nonprofit though so I had to learn that from scratch. I'd almost recommend studying them before you study the rest of FAR, but if you don't happen to, then plan on studying them routinely for a few weeks before the exam. I actually didn't believe the CSO and was shocked when I took FAR, that it (and others who told me before) that it would be so heavily tested because almost nobody works in those two industries. I know nobody who does and haven't encountered anyone on here who does. Best of luck to you with your FAR experience!!

[Anonymous]

^Excellent advice btw. I probably passed FAR partly bc I hit GOVT/NFP super hard. And, I never had taken GOVT/NFP while at University. I will reiterate, personally I would not step into the Prometric Center with at least 200 hours of studying for FAR. But, there are candidates who pass with less. Personally, I do not know a candidate who passed with less than 200 study hours for FAR. I admire their intelligence and quick learning skills though! Goodluck!

[Anonymous]

I'd be interested to know the average number of hours that people do for each of the exams…I never kept track of the specific number of hours I did for FAR, I can only estimate.
But of the four, I'd guess that FAR requires the most just due to volume of information. Then again, there are those who say that REG requires about the same as FAR, even though
there is less material. It depends on the person I think, and how much they know about the subject areas already. I know almost nothing about the stuff in BEC. I think that might
take me the most time out of the four, especially now that the AICPA is making it a harder exam.

[Author]

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