[justgivemea75]

Hi all,

I was just wondering, when preparing for FAR, how screwed are you if you understand the concepts but aren’t that great at journal entries? To give you an example, if someone asks me to calculate the net periodic pension cost, I can SIRAGE like it’s nobody’s business. However, if you asked me to give the journal entries for anything related to pensions/gov/non-profit stuff, I’d be speechless (I’m generally good on the other topics, however).

How screwed am I for FAR?

FAR - 84
AUD - 76 (phew)
BEC - 88
REG - 77

DONE!

[samdiegoCPA]

You're not screwed now, but you will be screwed if you don't learn them!

https://www.principlesofaccounting.com/illustrative%20entries/entrieslist.htm

At least get all those MEMORIZED. JE are a huge part of the SIMs.

AUD: 84
REG: 84
BEC: 79
FAR: 83

[Anonymous]

I think I'd find some topics borderline impossible without JEs. bonds and treasury stock come to mind immediately, but pretty much any topic I rely heavily on knowing the journal entry. maybe my mind works differently from yours, but journal entries are just a simple, organized and efficient way to see what accounts are affected by a transaction, by what amount, and what the ending balance is. all those things are parts of your typical quantitative MCQs. if you can answer all those questions without journal entries – well, first of all, if you can answer all those questions what's so hard about turning it into a journal entry, and second of all, I guess you're probably in good shape for most MCQs. I don't recall many MCQs in my review asking specifically for the full journal entry…maybe asking what the debit or credit is, though.

but, sims. sims are worth 40% of your grade. they're by far the hardest part of your exam. they're also a wonderful opportunity and format to ask for journal entries during. if you're really bad at journal entries and don't get better, sims are going to mess you up.

[JamesBJames]

If you don't know journal entries, best of luck on the SIMs. Personally, I had a few SIMs where I had to input multiple journal entries.

Knowing how to use journal entries and T-accounts is really important if only to parse the information you're given.

FAR: May 1st, 2014 - 91
AUD: May 29th, 2014 - 97!
BEC: July 16th, 2014 - 91
REG: August 29th, 2014 - 88

Licensed December 2015

Feel free to add me on LinkedIn by clicking my username!

[stoleway]

It will be like a slow moving train heading to crash if you dont master your JEs.

A good accountant should know his or her JEs, you don't have to be perfect but its really important to know them.

REG -63│ 84!!
BEC- 59│70│ 71 │78!
AUD- 75!
FAR- 87!

Mass-CPA

[kappa1032]

@SamDiegoCPA – thanks for the link to the JE's, will def. use this for my review.

FAR - 81
REG - 74, 87
AUD - 88
BEC - 88

Finally.

“The only guarantee for failure is to stop trying”
― John C. Maxwell

[Anonymous]

Extremely important. One way I started memorizing them was to write out JEs for every problem, even if it wasn't needed for that particular problem. It just helped to learn them by doing them all the time.

[MintsRGood]

You must be tight on JEs to survive FAR, no question! Also, don't neglect the JE's for NFP/Gov. because it will bite you on exam day. Trust me. See that 74 on FAR in my signature? My ONLY weak topic was NFP/Gov. Know your JEs!!!

REG: 75 DONE 🙂
AUD: 61, 71, 68, 92 DONE 🙂
BEC: 76 DONE 🙂
FAR: 72, 74, 79 DONE 🙂
Licensed Michigan CPA 🙂
-Some people dream of success...others wake up and work hard for it!!!
-The cowards never start and the weak die along the way!
-You better work, b***h!
-Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.-JFK

[Anonymous]

Here's a site for government JEs

https://sites.google.com/site/farnotes/gas-34/journal-entries–fund-based-vs-government-wide

[Zackrampage]

All I can say was when I took FAR this past winter the MCQ were not that hard, I felt I was doing well. All 6/7 of my sims were JE's for which I didn't know how to do them, and did not pass. PLEASE I urge you know JE's well!

FAR - 62 , End of aug 2015
BEC - 67, 67
AUD - TBD
REG - TBD

[UHC2005]

To everything posted above:

https://oi44.tinypic.com/mj3abp.jpg

Using Ninja MCQ, NINJA Notes, Audio, Flashcards and BLITZ, and 2014 Wiley Text

FAR - (61,63)
AUD - (68)

Keep Calm and RTMFQ

Accountant, what is best in life? To crush your MCQs, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their SIMS!

[Justkeeppassing]

I was very uncomfortable with them and the way Becker explained them. I was able to get by in FAR without having a concrete understanding of journal entries, but having seen them in everyday tasks at work I will say it's extremely beneficial to know!

FAR - 10/1/13 - 78
AUD - 11/14/13 - 77
REG - 1/12/14 - 78
BEC - 2/23/14- 74, 5/29/14- 84!! I'm Done!!

[MustPass1988]

I had two sims that were purely related to journal entries. No doubt about it, you HAVE to know them. They're really not that hard, just write them over and over until it makes sense. Don't memorize- understand.

AUD: PASSED [81]; Expired, retaking August 23rd
BEC: PASSED [83]; Expired, retaking July 11th
REG: PASSED [83]
FAR: FAILED [64]; Retaking May 23rd

[Tripp11]

During my review of FAR, I would write the JE for every problem even if it didn't ask for the JE. Every exam is different obviously, but yours might be the one where there are 3 SIMS solely dedicated to JE's.

AUD - 93
BEC - 80
REG - 86
FAR - 83

[zieba]

Yo, 75! You still here? Have we sufficient scared you?

AUD - 75*, 88 done 5/14! (*exp)
BEC - 74 , 77
REG - 65 , 76 (10 point combooo!!)
FAR - 69 , 75

Dr: perseverance
Dr: intelligence
Dr: luck
. Cr: . advisory score

[Determined CPA]

I don't know where 75 went but I appreciate the links/information!

A - 75
B - 78 God is good.
F - 77 Answered prayers.
R - 84! Done!!

Paperwork sent - waiting for license!!
Still on a cloud and in shock. Through God, all things will happen.

[Author]

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