Philip is a resident of the great state of New York, but has inspired and motivated fellow Roger students through online forums and social media platforms across the globe. Philip has already passed FAR, and is currently awaiting his AUD score.
One more week until I get my AUD test score. I’m both nervous and excited. I am planning on taking December off and enjoying a few weeks of quality time with my daughter and wife. My plan is to move onto BEC next and test in February and then finish strong with REG in May.
Today, I want to write about a study aid I made up during my studying of FAR. One thing I struggled with in college was the statement of cash flows. It was horrible, and no matter how many different professors taught it, that statement just never seemed to click, at least until Roger taught it. I was getting the questions correct, and I could do both versions direct and indirect. Then came the statement of cash flows for government accounting and then for not for profit accounting.
I decided that while this statement was quite elusive during my college years, I would not let the exam take away the confidence I had just developed. I made a three column chart with each column having a heading of: Private, Govt and Not For Profit. In fact, if you studied Rogers chart on marketable securities of HFT, AVS and HTM, you will definitely understand what I did next. I made a row for each section of the statement of cash flows and wrote the details of each section in each cell.
For instance, in the third column, Not For Profit I copied right out of FAR book for all three sections. I was able to see the difference for all three sections (private and not for profit) and the fourth section in government accounting on page. This was not elaborate at all. All I did was use a Sharpie marker and draw the table on a blank piece of paper.
This was a great tool that I used to master the topic of cash flows for the three separate and distinct uses, private, government and not for profit. I made several tables throughout my studies, including foreign translation (remeasurement, translation and IFRS) and what accounts were adjusted and what rates were used. I applied the same concept to AUD when comparing WebTrust and SYSTrust.
Every minute counts when studying, especially when the homework alone can eat away so many precious minutes. Even so, I knew I needed a little extra studying help and that required stepping away from the MCQs and doing a little manual labor writing. And stepping away from the Wiley homework book or software is ok. I hope I was able to share a useful study tip that really helped pull the statement of cash flows together for me. It was useful in FAR and it was useful in AUD.
Happy Thanksgiving, and thank you for reading this blog!