[jeff]

We have a lot of “I took __ today threads” so to consolidate, here is the official thread.

Please – Not even a hint of exam disclosure per AICPA rules.

Links to other Exam Experience Threads:

AUD

BEC

REG

AUD - 79
BEC - 80
FAR - 76
REG - 92

Jeff Elliott, CPA (KS)
NINJA CPA | NINJA CMA | NINJA CPE | Another71

[Stilgoin]

Thursday.

LOL

– and LOL means hysterically laughing, freaking out, and hoping I can get a pass. I’m sick of studying!

I will definitely come back and give exam experience Thursday. It sure has been low on data in this thread lately. 🙁

Stilgoin, CPA

There are enough critics. Be an encourager

B | 62, 78
A | 73, 67, 79
R | 82
F | 59, 59, Waiting

Ethics | 93

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
~Winston Churchill

“In a world full of critics, be an encourager."

[A1lessio]

Just took FAR. First testlet – very easy. I was so excited! Testlet 2, I marked about 10 and then testlet 3 was just straight educating guessing. One governmental sim, I had to completely guess on because I had no idea. The other sims, although hard I think I definitely got some points here and there.

Scored 69 and 75 on the becker practice tests so hopefully that means something. Same becker scores on audit and reg and I scored in the 80s on actual.

AUD - 86
BEC - 70
FAR - 78
REG - 84

People who subject themselves to the strictest discipline, who give up certain pleasurable things in order to obtain a goal are the happiest of men.

AUD (08/02/2016)

[Anonymous]

Just took FAR. Really unsure of the difficulty of the test lets. I thought the first was hard and the last two easy, but I had many government and non for profit questions in the second and third test lets (I'm way better in those topics than the others, which I'm hoping is why I thought they were easy?). Several inventory questions too. No DRS in my Sims, which was a relief. I feel like I did decently well overall on Sims with one research question. Honestly I have no idea how to evaluate how I did. I guess I will see February 23rd! Used Becker and received 67% and 71% on my final exams.

[Wannafree]

Based on exam experiences shared by folks here I feel that if you are good in Govt/NFP then most likely you would do good in FAR.As you said you felt Govt and NFP easy means U did good.All the best.

WannaB

[Stilgoin]

I took FAR yesterday at noon.

The first testlet (supposedly medium) was harder than usual questions. I was worried about 3 and finished in 40 minutes. The second testlet was a hard testlet. I had concern about 2-3 questions and finished it in 40 minutes. My third testlet was a medium one and easier than the first two. I finished with 2:10 left, took a 5 minute break and came back with 2 hours left for sims. On the research question, I got it pretty quick. The other 6 were completely doable, but like everyone always says, there was usually a twist that made them difficult to determine what they were looking for in the answers. I had one sim that was almost identical to one I had in REG, so that was different and a nice surprise. There were no DRSs, and there was nothing I had not seen before. I finished with 10 minutes left, went back through and entered zeros in every blank and submitted with 4 minutes left.

I have taken FAR before, so I can guage the test pretty well. I am hoping this is the time I can be finished.

My advice:

Roger had the topics of the FASB authoritative literature in the front of my CRAM book. I did the research TBSs in the Roger book, and being familiar with the AL helped tremendously. I like how they were listed in the front of the book on paper so you could get a feel for the flow of them all together.

Know your JEs- extensively.

Know your 2017 updates. I see a lot of people saying they are studying with old material. Don’t be silly and assume the AICPA does not test on updates. Updates are crucial to a CPA, and they want to make sure you know how important it is to know the yearly changes in accounting.

As everyone always says, know the major topics. Don’t leave anything out.

I did have an issue and I left a comment at the end. When I chose a JE and I wanted to delete it instead of change it, I could not get it to go away. I had to toggle the delete button and mouse button to finally delete. It was like a glitch in the software and really annoying.

Here’s hoping to be finished in Q1 2017!!

Stilgoin, CPA

There are enough critics. Be an encourager

B | 62, 78
A | 73, 67, 79
R | 82
F | 59, 59, Waiting

Ethics | 93

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
~Winston Churchill

“In a world full of critics, be an encourager."

[SomethingTimeless]

Waiting for FAR score… If I passed, I am done!

Really not sure though. I think I dominated MCQs, but (as always) wished I had more time for SIMS. (Aced research, but spent wayyyy too much time on 1-2 others. Realized I only had ~15 mins left, so I FLEW through the rest… Journal Entries all over the place… For some, I got the GL account names but left the amount cells blank.

Part of me says keep it fresh in my mind (continue daily practice), in case I failed… But, another part of me (plus my husband! ha!) says “Noooo, give your brain a break while you wait for the score!”

Not sure what to do. All other times, I actually had another exam to prepare for to keep my mind off the score release…

Others waiting for the last exam score: What's your plan? Continue studying in case there's a retake in your future? Or take a “brain break”?

THANKS, EVERYONE. GOOD LUCK!!

[SomethingTimeless]

@stilgoin, I had that SAME issue with the journal entry toggle thing (couldn't figure out how to make the account name go away after I selected it). Unfortunately, my brain was so fried, I just pushed away from the desk and walked out of the testing center. I didn't even think about putting that in the comments section at the end. Glad someone mentioned it! And, even better, glad you were able to figure out how to change your selection! When I couldn't readily figure out how to the prior selection, I just told myself, “oh well, go with your gut– and your gut told you to pick that one.” Hope it turns out ok! Good luck!

[Stilgoin]

Good luck to you too! I wish I could continue studying, but I don’t have it in me rn. I’m fat and exhausted. I’m just hoping for a pass while I try to put my life back together and find my healthy inner self, whom I miss very much.

Stilgoin, CPA

There are enough critics. Be an encourager

B | 62, 78
A | 73, 67, 79
R | 82
F | 59, 59, Waiting

Ethics | 93

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
~Winston Churchill

“In a world full of critics, be an encourager."

[SomethingTimeless]

@stilgoin Haha! I hope it works out for us!!

Besides neglecting work, sleep, health, relationships, etc… The worst part might actually be that I have not told my boss/employer that I am going working on this. So, on top of the looming score release, I am also carrying around this huge secret… So, I will probably gain some stress weight between now and Feb 8 too. 🙁

Hey, just curious, how'd you take Ethics already? Signature says you got a 93. (Prob your state's rules are diff than mine. Just wondering how it works elsewhere.)

[Stilgoin]

In my state you can take it before you pass all exams and it is good for a year. I’m in TN. It is the AICPA ethics exam on their website.

My score release is Feb 23.😩

Stilgoin, CPA

There are enough critics. Be an encourager

B | 62, 78
A | 73, 67, 79
R | 82
F | 59, 59, Waiting

Ethics | 93

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
~Winston Churchill

“In a world full of critics, be an encourager."

[SomethingTimeless]

Gotcha. TX has an Ethics too, but I haven't any idea how to go about taking it. (All I know is that: 1. I can take it at home, 2. I am ethical AF. (haha)) Not worried about it, just don't want to get my hopes up too much, in case there's a FAR retake up ahead.

Was Ethics pretty much just the ethics related info on other BARF exams?

[Stilgoin]

Actually, the AICPA ethics was hard af and really nothing like BARF, but I got 3 shots, and there was a .pdf study guide with all the questions on it in the tools section. I started and stopped at will as long as I didn't submit before finished. It was def a bi-otch to complete- I spent about 8 hours on it one day, but I did make 93 on the first try and 90 or better is passing.

You should knock it out while waiting if TX allows you to do it early. TN is pretty stringent on their requirements. Maybe TX ethics will be easier.

Stilgoin, CPA

There are enough critics. Be an encourager

B | 62, 78
A | 73, 67, 79
R | 82
F | 59, 59, Waiting

Ethics | 93

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
~Winston Churchill

“In a world full of critics, be an encourager."

[SomethingTimeless]

@stilgoin Sheesh… I just devoured a cupcake while reading your last response. LOL. Def sounds like Ethics while waiting for this last score release would be ideal– help take my mind off Feb 8. Thanks!! I'll look into it!

[mjbey1s]

Pretty sure you are not supposed to enter zeroes on sims where answers are not needed. It is clearly stated in every simulation questions if you are supposed to enter zeroes in spots where there are no answers or if you should leave it blank.

I had a simulation on my FAR exam where I had to adjust all of the balance sheet accounts. The instructions clearly stated, “If a balance sheet account does not need to be adjusted, leave cell blank”. Not trying to scare you, but i know that according to what I have read on here and people who have contacted the AICPA regarding this, you are supposed to follow what they tell you.

AUD - 83
BEC - 82
FAR - 80
REG - 83

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”

― Paulo Coelho,

Ethics - 96

[Stilgoin]

You are not scaring me at all. My sims did not specifically state to leave blanks. If we don’t know how to follow instructions by now, we are probably in the wrong business. And if the instructions did not state to leave blank, I’m pretty sure they won’t count it wrong. Also, ‘if balance sheet account does not need to be adjusted, leave blank’ could just mean leave the part where you choose the JE blank. I’m not over confident, but I’ve been here before. No worries 😉

Stilgoin, CPA

There are enough critics. Be an encourager

B | 62, 78
A | 73, 67, 79
R | 82
F | 59, 59, Waiting

Ethics | 93

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
~Winston Churchill

“In a world full of critics, be an encourager."

[Author]

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