[ewalk728]

Hello everyone,

I currently started studying to take FAR for the second time. I took it recently in August after studying from mid June until the test but I only used Roger CPA materials and probably didn’t do as well as I could with having a lot of free time. I am currently in grad school for masters of accountancy and have my winter break so I thought this would be a good time to study and take the test again in January.

I have set up a schedule using what Roger CPA gave me for a month study session (I’m a few days short) and also have bought the Ninja Notes and MCQ and have the audio notes as well for FAR. My question is how should I use these to the best of my ability? Should I get through a lot chapters early with Roger then start to use the MCQ and Notes after a week or should I stick with 4 hours of Roger each day and 3-4 hours of Ninja. Any help is much appreciated! Any people that have coupled these study materials together would be a big help as well.

TLDR: Taking FAR 1/12/15. Started studying 12/16/14. On winter break and wanting advice on using Roger CPA+Ninja Notes+Ninja MCQ in the best way.

[Zuly]

@ewalk728 I am also studying with Roger and NINJA and now studying as well for a re-take. Not sure what your score was but if it was within a 5 point range the Roger team recommends you primarily focus on MCQs so that's what I'm doing. Since Roger's MCQs don't line up as easily with the NINJA MCQ's I'm doing them separately. I'm doing one round of Roger's MCQs by getting through all of them and doing flashcards on concepts that I don't understand or a fact nugget. Actually the best way to guarantee you are going through all of them is by going into the main topic and only do a session on a subtopic at a time, that's what the Roger team also recommends.

I'm trying to get through Roger's MCQs within the next couple of weeks so I can then focus on NINJA's MCQs since there are a lot more questions which are more difficult and cover a lot more CPA FAR material than Roger. If you see yourself getting 80s and 90s in Roger but 50s or 60s in NINJA don't get discouraged because most people go through the same thing…I know I did and gave up, hence my 71. I plan to also go through the NINJA MCQs section by section and there's a way to customize your session so you only see questions that you haven't seen before or a session with the last questions you got wrong. Definitely utilize these features.

I also have the NINJA audio which I listen in the car, while doing housework, at work. Sometimes I hear it all the way through and sometimes I mix it up. The best way to use the NINJA notes is by incorporating your own notes/fact nuggets as you go through the material and MCQs so you make them your own and follow Jeff's instructions on how to read them and also re-write them.

Hope this helps. 🙂 Good luck in January!

FAR - (11/01/14) 71 (02/07/15) 79
AUD - (04/30/15) 86
BEC - (07/21/15) 73 (10/01/15) 75
REG - (11/30/15) 55 (05/19/16) 74

[ewalk728]

@zumo thanks for the advice! I'm actually going back through the Roger VODs and watching those and basically redoing the book. I'm not watching the videos on the questions though since when I'm going through them I can answer them more easily the second time around. I think what I'll try to do is power through Roger VODs and MCQs and finish it within 3 weeks. After 2 weeks I'll add in the Ninja MCQs and I'll start re-writing Ninja notes in my spare time now. This will give me 2 weeks on Ninja MCQs and a solid 4-5 days on only reviewing and practice questions.

I scored a 63 the first time around and I think this short burst of studying is what's best for me and I just need to keep on track and get in 7-8 hours a day. Only 25 days left!

[Zuly]

I definitely think that's a good strategy! I also forgot to mention, as you go through both Roger and then NINJA do sets of 30 cumulative quizzes daily or every couple of days of the sections you've covered up to that point so you keep the information fresh. I didn't do that last time and that's something else that hurt me.

FAR - (11/01/14) 71 (02/07/15) 79
AUD - (04/30/15) 86
BEC - (07/21/15) 73 (10/01/15) 75
REG - (11/30/15) 55 (05/19/16) 74

[ewalk728]

Thanks for the extra tip!

[Anonymous]

Here's my copy / paste for FAR:

Here’s my, suggested, list of “must know” topics. Keep in mind that this list is NOT comprehensive.

Government and NFP Accounting (20% of your exam on average)

Non-Monetary Exchanges (with and without commercial substance)

Accounting for Consolidations

Equity Method Investments (You bought an investment for X and the following events took place Y, what is the value of the investment at the end of the year?)

Pensions

Bonds

Statement of Cash Flows (Be prepared to do a full statement using both the Direct and Indirect method)

Construction Accounting (Percentage of Completion)

Installment Sales

Value of Inventory (You’ll want to know the basics like FIFO, Weighted Average, etc. but make sure you can do differences for Lower of Cost or Market between U.S. GAAP and IFRS and Dollar Value LIFO in your sleep)

Of the topics that you listed, I would place less emphasis on the ratios and SEC reporting dates. I’m also not sure what you’re referring to with Fair Value Hierarchy.

My last piece of advice is this: While FAR has a TON of material on it that you need to study and be ready to handle, the AICPA is not trying to “trick” you or test on really obscure material in an attempt to play “gotcha.” Yes it may seem like that at times but they really aren’t. They’re testing to make sure you have a good grasp of the fundamentals of accounting. So the more obscure the topic, the less likely it is to appear on the exam. So if I had to take FAR again (God I hope I never do), the topics I listed above would be where I’d be spending a lot of my time.

Good luck.

[ewalk728]

@angelwatch Thanks for the advice. I did not know enough about pensions the first time I took the test.

[Dantrick]

I know every test is different. I like the above list of things to know but I would add, know Journal Entries! Also know EPS and diluted EPS. I never got one inventory question of any kind, which was a big bummer because I think inventory is the easiest part of FAR, which is probably why they don't test on it, although I you may get some inventory this is just my experience. My list would start with studying IFRS, Leases, Bonds, government, non profit, construction, then just varies random stuff came up. I failed on my first try. I wish I would have studied, non profit, Journal Entries, and IFRS more for sure.

[ewalk728]

Anyone with Roger CPA experience have any advice on what to take and when for the Ninja MCQ's? Not sure which sections equal what on the MCQs. Should I just wait to finish the book then move into Ninja?

[Author]

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