[andrewmarii]

The only research question I got correct was on my FAR exam, for REG and AUD I didn't end up finding the research. You just know when you get a research question right, and that wasn't the case for me for both AUD and REG. You can imagine all the yelling that took place in the parking lot after those two, but I did make it in the end. I don't think you can get partial credit for the research to be honest. I always felt great with the MCQs and horrendous with the SIMs after the exams just like you, so I like your chances. Good luck!

AUD - 75
BEC - 86
FAR - 84
REG - 78

No one ever fails the CPA, people only quit the CPA exam.

[andrewmarii]

I remember on my Reg exam there were some tax law definitions questions that I knew weren't going to count, so if that's only 1 of your few concerns you should be fine. Also Reg has a surprisingly higher pass rate.

AUD - 75
BEC - 86
FAR - 84
REG - 78

No one ever fails the CPA, people only quit the CPA exam.

[andrewmarii]

Good to know, good luck to both of us.

AUD - 75
BEC - 86
FAR - 84
REG - 78

No one ever fails the CPA, people only quit the CPA exam.

[andrewmarii]

I remember after taking Reg I didn't notice a change in difficulty. To be honest, I thought both MC testlets were difficult (I flagged like 10-12 each that I thought could go either way). If your walking out of prometric and your wondering to yourself if you unlocked that second harder testlet, think back and try to remember if your second testlet had more lengthy computations- that should be a pretty good indication. Also, don't think of this as a sign of passing or failing because we don't know the impact in the end.

AUD - 75
BEC - 86
FAR - 84
REG - 78

No one ever fails the CPA, people only quit the CPA exam.

[andrewmarii]

What I did for FAR was I read through the material and did the mcqs right after each section. When I was done with the book and I was in the review stage was when I completed some of the simulations. Becker's simulations are not as essential and you definitely don't need to do all of them. To be honest, the real simulations on the actual exam are crazy and I don't think you can really prepare for those. But you definitely need to do some so you get the idea of how to approach a simulation.

AUD - 75
BEC - 86
FAR - 84
REG - 78

No one ever fails the CPA, people only quit the CPA exam.

[andrewmarii]

Sorry about the 74 I'm sure it hurts. To be fair, a 74 on FAR first attempt is impressive. If you give government and NFP the right attention, you will definitely get them down. Im surprised you find those topics hard, from what I remember they were mostly memorization. I failed FAR my first time as well and made my weaker topics my stronger topics (consolidation). If you do this by test day, you will feel like gold. The questions on your exam that are harder are the ones that carry the most points, so it's important not to skip modules/lectures that you find difficult.
Hope this helps!

AUD - 75
BEC - 86
FAR - 84
REG - 78

No one ever fails the CPA, people only quit the CPA exam.

[andrewmarii]

I got a 78!!! Im so convinced my research was the pretest

AUD - 75
BEC - 86
FAR - 84
REG - 78

No one ever fails the CPA, people only quit the CPA exam.

[andrewmarii]

I received a 73 on my AUD becker mock exam, and a 75 on my actual AUD exam. However, I feel like this is a more unusual bump and the average bump for this section is like average 7 points. Some of my AUD sims were heavily tied into FAR, and I would have failed if I never looked at FAR (maybe refresh on basic journal entries, nothing too complicated though).

AUD - 75
BEC - 86
FAR - 84
REG - 78

No one ever fails the CPA, people only quit the CPA exam.

[andrewmarii]

I'm wondering the percent chance the research will be the one that is a pretest…probably pretty low. I mean it was one sentence long and extremely vague.

AUD - 75
BEC - 86
FAR - 84
REG - 78

No one ever fails the CPA, people only quit the CPA exam.

[andrewmarii]

6/8 sims I picked up some points, some more than others, but were not completely blank on any of them (besides 2, one being the research). I thought the sims were ok, what you would expect.

AUD - 75
BEC - 86
FAR - 84
REG - 78

No one ever fails the CPA, people only quit the CPA exam.

[andrewmarii]

Hello Red07,

At the end of the day you don't have to become a CPA, it should not be make or break your happiness in life. If you want to put it down to put more time into your family, hats off to you I respect it. I will not lie to you, your current motivation level will not get you through this process. I am myself a slower learner so I know how much work it takes to put into these exams, but people who are stay at home moms, people who work 70+ hours a week, going through divorces, or all the above have all passed with the discipline. If nothing is clicking for you comprehension wise, then go through each module slower. Its ok if you do one module a day at first, everyone has their own pace. It's all a matter of how much you want it, everyone has felt at some point where they feel like they are in shambles with the material. “There is no such this as failing the cpa exam, there is only such thing as quitting the exam process” (someone said that on here I just can't remember who haha).

AUD - 75
BEC - 86
FAR - 84
REG - 78

No one ever fails the CPA, people only quit the CPA exam.

[andrewmarii]

Thanks everyone for their responses, to answer everyones question I am in public accounting (Ernst and Young) and I am in the commercial sector (not FSO) if that helps. I'll probably give it a rest then to be honest but I'll just try to take a test in the beginning of January.

AUD - 75
BEC - 86
FAR - 84
REG - 78

No one ever fails the CPA, people only quit the CPA exam.

[andrewmarii]

You most likely would not get a pensions Journal entry sim (in fact most FAR sims are not JE based), but obviously everything is fair game so you never know. Its those types of things that if you were to run into it on the exam and get right would separate you from the rest of the population (the harder the question, the more points are awarded if you get right). Also, I'm not even kidding you I had a sim that was literally based off the 2 pass key on page F7-6 (ending PBO and ending FV plan assets).

I was in a similar position to you in that I was close to passing FAR the first time (71) and went back to it with alot of tenacity (which I think you have considering your comments above) and I got an 84 my second time. You'll get it next time for sure.

AUD - 75
BEC - 86
FAR - 84
REG - 78

No one ever fails the CPA, people only quit the CPA exam.

[andrewmarii]

Common Sim topics that I've seen on my FAR exam:

– Subsequent events combined with contingent liabilities (Know IFRS for this)
– Bank reconciliations (F3.1 should help, remember the rules and you should be fine)
-Pensions
-Revenue Recogniton
-Cash Flow statement fill in
– Extremely difficult consolidating financial statement

I felt good with the mcq's but i only felt good on 4/8 sims and i still passed so don't feel discouraged after if you feel wrecked by the sims. Good luck!

AUD - 75
BEC - 86
FAR - 84
REG - 78

No one ever fails the CPA, people only quit the CPA exam.

[andrewmarii]

Go back to audit is my best advice. Its not like another section in that reviewing Audit is more smooth than all the other sections that are heavily number based. This might sound corny but I had a process when approaching mcq's that worked for me with audit: I would read the question, think back to the specific module that the question is getting its info from before reading the choices, recall all the info your head, and then use the process of elimination. You should end up with the right answer 9/10 times. Stick with it and don't give up.

AUD - 75
BEC - 86
FAR - 84
REG - 78

No one ever fails the CPA, people only quit the CPA exam.

[Author]

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