Brent is a NINJA CPA Blogger.

I sat for FAR on Friday and took the entire weekend off from studying. Overall, I feel that my second retake of this exam went well and that I was well prepared for it.

My confidence was growing as I answered each MCQ and a voice inside my head kept telling me not to screw up. After completing the 3 sections of MCQs, I went into the sims with an hour and twenty minutes remaining. I did not take any breaks during the exam.

I started answering the problems in the order they were presented. I completed the portion of the problem that I knew and then moved on, leaving the portion of the problem that I was not sure 100% blank. I now realize that this was a big mistake. By the time I went through all of the problems, I then had to return to the 4/7 questions that I left flagged.

At this point, I only had a little of thirty minutes to complete the exam. When I returned to the problems that were not complete, I had to read over the problem again and think about what they were asking in order to obtain the solution. Doing it this way wasted precious time and by the end of it I was quickly scrambling just to get an answer in the blanks.

In the unfortunate circumstances that I had to sit for this exam for the third time, I will be changing my strategy when I get to the sims. I plan to complete the problem in its entirety to the best of my capabilities before moving on to the next problem. I will then return to the problem, if time permits, to make last minute adjustments.

Now the waiting game begins for scores being released. I know for sure that I did better than my first attempt and I am proud of myself for that accomplishment alone. If I had performed better on the sims I would say this one is done and start studying for REG.

But until I know for sure that I passed, my studies continue with FAR and Jeffs voice from the NINJA Audio can be heard flowing from my work speakers enriching my mind on the topics of bonds, leases and deferred taxes. I encourage everyone to keep at it and stay positive. I will be sitting for an exam in the next testing window. Will you?