FSA seems easy

Obviously, the exam itself could be a lot harder, but FSA L2 seems easier than FSA L1. L1 was such a wide breadth but L2 is much more narrowly focused. I actually think this FSA is going to be easy to ace. Anyone else surprised by the ease of L2 FSA?

have you finished reading the CFAI books?

kkent Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Obviously, the exam itself could be a lot harder, > but FSA L2 seems easier than FSA L1. L1 was such > a wide breadth but L2 is much more narrowly > focused. I actually think this FSA is going to be > easy to ace. Anyone else surprised by the ease of > L2 FSA? i didn’t think it was that easy, but i was surprised by how easy it was on the test. i thought FSA was my second worst section and i got a >70 on it (if i were to guess, i would say that i only missed two questions). if it’s easy, good for you, you can spend time elsewhere. i wouldn’t underestimate the exam though – you know how many people fail it, including a lot of smart, highly regarded people from this forum. some people smack talk level two before taking it (myself included) but it’s a really tough exam.

I think that’s exactly why kkent uses the words ‘seems’ and ‘surprised’. My first impression is that it isn’t too difficult. I’ll do practice tests on the subject in December and then again in May and I’ll give a definite answer in June :wink:

First off, I refuse to allow myself to think for a second that LII exam is going to be easy. That thought serves as a built in excuse to under-prepare. In fairness LI was easy given the proper preparation so I expect LII success to be just as attainable That said, I have noticed that the readings to this point have been easier “to digest” than LI. I think part of that is familiarity with the curriculum / exam dynamics. That is, for LI so much is thrown at you you aren’t sure how to process it all… what to memorize, what to know cold, what to get a general idea etc. Having gone through that once, now when I read the CFAI LII text I usually have an idea by the end of the reading what segments are vital and what types of questions you might expect. For FSA, I have read book two and the areas that jump out seemed obvious enough: classifying securities, cost, equity and consolidation, PBO-ABO-VBO, translation-remeasurement, accounting shenanigans, and making adjustments to financial statements. And like you said, that is far less than the volume on LI. Of course this doesn’t include Corp Fin which I think is part of the FSA section and I imagine everything from LI is fair game, so don’t forget your ratios, cash flow, above the line below the line stuff just yet.

thats gives me some hope that all my academic adventures wont be failures. im doing some really basic undergraduate accounting courses to satisfy the credits i need to pursue a CA and im getting my ass beat apparently cdn gaap is quite a bit different then US gaap. i thought id be clocking grades in the 90s but im getting C’s, it really dosn’t make any sense.

I’m getting back in the game. I read the first 100 pages or so of FSA then kind of just quit a month a go. Read about 50 just now. I’m up to currency translation which everyone says is a real &%*#). Saving that one for tomorrow. Overall, not so bad.

Nope, not done with the books, but almost done with FSA. I think the worst part of FSA was pension fund accounting–god, I almost puked in boredom. The worst thing is, pension programs, SS, Medicare, etc., are among my non-work related professional interests, but CFAI knew just how to ruin it for me. Nib, I actually thought the currency translation stuff was kind of interesting.

I agree level II fsa is simpler than level. Despite being a CPA, level one was abit tricky. In level II cashflows were tricky when it came to answering questions but I am not sure if that los was removed. The 2007 fsa exam was easy, from AF you can tell that most guys aced A’s so my speculation is that this time it will be hard. I mean who would have thought that portfolio and QM would have led to many fails and they appeared to be straight forward.

I hate to be the only one that dissagrees, but I find FSA Level II to be much harder than Level I. Despite having less volume in Level II, the material is tougher. Accounting by itself is not very difficult, but pensions, intercorporate investments, multinational operations is more complex than inventory or depreciation, especially when you have to apply it to different readings during the test. Unlike Level I, I’m expecting questions with more than one reading per Item Set. So you may get a question that requires you to apply several adjustments to make two companies comparable, then questions whether to consolidate or not and the impacts, to calculate WACC, NPV, IRR, and one or two ratio quetions given the different percetages of ownership. Not to mention that FSA carries the most weight for Level II, just like Level I, so you can probably expect the tougher questions from FSA and Equity Valuation. but then again, this is just my point of view…

I’ll take intercorporate investments, pensions, and cash flow adjustments over LIFO/FIFO, advanced billings/CIP, completed contract/% of completion and their effects on ratios anyday!

I think an important distinction needs to be made here. There’s a difference between claiming 1) Level II FSA material is easier than Level I FSA material 2) You’re finding it easier to learn Level II FSA than you did to learn Level I FSA I think the first claim is nonsense. Without first achieving the grounding in FSA you demonstrated at Level I, I don’t see how any of this Level II FSA can be grasped. However, the second claim is reasonable. The Level I FSA material serves as a good foundation for learning the Level II FSA material, and combined with whatever study discipline you garnered during your Level I experience in general, you may very well be sailing through Level II FSA. The only thing remotely complicated at Level I is inventory accounting. Moreover, when you get around to the Level II equity valuation material, you’ll have to demonstrate further understanding of Level II FSA, particularly w/r/t/ calculation of FCFF, FCFE, and residual income. On the 2007 Level II exam, I’ll concede I was disappointed with how easy the pension accounting questions were, but found the residual income as a premium over book value, FCFF and FCFE questions to be tricky. In any case, I’m happy to hear you’re kickn’ ass on the Level II material so far, but feel obligated to caution against underestimating this exam or any of its topic areas.

Level I FSA can only be made so hard by CFAI. The material isnt very difficult. Level II FSA could make for some nasty questions, but CFAI chose to go easy on 2007 Level II takers. I was surprised how easy most of the questions were as well, but by no means went into the exam thinking FSA was going to be a piece of cake.

After reading through the FSA section last week (and a bit of the weekend), I still think the Level II material is more difficult. The new accounting topics are not any harder than the analysis of leases or inventory, but the adjustments section encompasses all of the material from Level I and II. It seems as if Pensions, intercorporate inv., and multinationals, are just there to fill the last part which was not included in Level I. I would say that the “real” Level II FSA is the adjustments section. In the 2007 schweser notes they begin by saying that this is the most important section in FSA. I hope some of the people who passed the level II exam can comment on how important it was from their experience.

I assume by adjustments you mean the cash flow section (I haven’t seen the 2008 curric but that would be accurate for 2007). I found that section BRUTAL while studying, but the FSA on the test, particularly the cash flow stuff, was pretty benign. The study notes make it seem like you will have to do 18 adjustments per question, but really, you only need to do maybe two adjustments or answer a question about the effect of one of the adjustments on a ratio. I do think you should take all of the FSA seriously since it makes up a huge section of the test and ultimately was the reason I passed L2. Red Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I would say that the “real” Level II FSA is the > adjustments section. In the 2007 schweser notes > they begin by saying that this is the most > important section in FSA. I hope some of the > people who passed the level II exam can comment on > how important it was from their experience.

I’m w/ slouis. not sure if it is outright easier, but def easier to digest. i’m not that far into it, but loving book 2 so far.

I am finishing up Econ today (also have finished Quant and most of Port Man). Heading to FSA next. I feel like I have retained nothing from level I FSA so I hope you are right about it being easier.

just in case u make auto industry analyst, you will defienetely need to know about medicare and pension accounting, especially i fyou cover GM