[Rivens]

Just took my FAR today. Oh boy, not what I expected.

Some background on me:

– haven’t worked in accounting industry for many years

– had about a 2.7 gpa in college

– spent about 220 hours these past 2 months to study for FAR using Ninja MCQ + books

– probably failed… maybe got a ~65

Here’s some advice:

0.1. Format (Found this out just the other night)

If you don’t know the format of the test, FAR is 60% MCQs 40% simulations. 3 testlets of 30 questions (90 total) followed by 7 simulations. Questions are not all equal: some are worth more points and some are worth 0 (they put them in for their own analytics sake).

0.2. Time

You get 4 hours. I budgeted myself: 45m / 45m / (5min bathroom + snack break) / 45m / 100m

1. You should know journal entries.

Journal entries are the core of accounting. Knowing how to do JEs for complex items like leases, pension service cost, and fair value gains on trading securities means you understand the process of recording and you know how to calculate the amount to put in the DR or CR.

2. Have a decent understanding of everything rather than putting extra time into hard topics.

The MCQs are very varied and you can be tested on anything. This also means that some topics that you spend 5 hours on may only be 0, 1, or 2 questions on the entire exam. Also, it’s important because you just have limited time. Also, if you have some weak spots, you will be rolling the die and hoping that your weak spots won’t have a high presence on your exam.

3. If you don’t know the topics, don’t do the MCQs.

Where I went wrong is I did a bunch of MCQs to help me understand and learn. Not smart. This method relies a bit on memorization rather than understanding. Better to read up on topic, take some specialized MCQs, assess, and read more.

4. Learn by topic.

MCQ-wise, it’s much better to go by topic than to take broad testing for a section.

5. If you were a crappy accounting student in college, then you’ll need more time.

I read about some people studying 80-140 hours, doing no sims practices, but still passing FAR. However, those people may be fresh out of school or actually got As in their accounting classes. Don’t be fooled: if you were zoning out in school and cramming before tests and hoping for a nice curve like me, you will need extra time.

6. Google trouble points.

Anytime you have a concept that bothers you, try googling it. Books sometime suck at explanations and sometimes you’ll find a nice Cliff notes version on this forum.

7. Do all sims!

Sims are easy to do, easily point out areas where you have no clue on, and are great supplementary exercise after you’ve done some MCQs and want to truly test your knowledge. Unfortunately, Ninja Sims didn’t cover as many topics as I would have liked. Ninja Simulation kind of sucks because you don’t know what the question is about, so go here: https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-forum/topic/ninja-mcq-simulations-complete-topic-list-by-sim to see topics. You can skip the research: not useful.

Brah u srs
FAR - 85
BEC - 77
AUD - 71 -> 61 -> 71 -> 67
REG - 75