FEBNM study plan

Build a one-page map of the financial reporting framework: statement elements, recognition criteria, measurement bases, and the qualitative characteristics that drive them.

Work through adjusting entries end to end (accruals, deferrals, depreciation, inventory write-downs) and record the journal entries for each from a narrative description without looking at a solution.

Prepare a full accrual-basis income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows from a single trial balance and reconcile net income to operating cash flow.

Diagnose at least ten errors in a deliberately flawed trial balance and state which statement line each error distorts and in which direction.

Compute revenue recognition outcomes for multi-element contracts, including allocation of transaction price and timing of recognition, and justify each conclusion in two sentences.

Apply the equity method and consolidation basics to a parent-subsidiary scenario, calculating investment income and non-controlling interest.

Calculate and interpret the core ratio families (liquidity, solvency, activity, profitability) from a given set of statements and flag the three ratios most sensitive to accounting policy choices.

Distinguish operating versus finance leases and explain the balance sheet and ratio effects of each under current standards.

Classify costs as direct, indirect, fixed, variable, and mixed, then build a cost of goods manufactured statement from raw data.

Compute product cost under job-order and process costing, including equivalent units and treatment of normal versus abnormal spoilage.

Construct a contribution-margin income statement and solve break-even, target-profit, and margin-of-safety problems for a multi-product firm with a given sales mix.

Calculate the weighted average cost of capital from component costs and apply it as a discount rate in a simple capital budgeting decision.

Compute present and future values for single sums and annuities and use them to evaluate a project on payback, discounted payback, net present value, and internal rate of return.

Rank competing projects under capital rationing and explain why the ranking can differ between net present value and internal rate of return.

Estimate the cost of equity using both the dividend growth model and the capital asset pricing model, and reconcile the two results.

Analyze working capital decisions: cash conversion cycle, inventory and receivables policy, and short-term financing trade-offs.

Compute taxable income from book income by identifying permanent and temporary differences and building a deferred tax schedule.

Calculate tax liability for a sole proprietor, partnership, and corporation given the same facts, and state how each entity's income flows to owners.

Apply the core contract rules: offer, acceptance, consideration, capacity, and the statute of frauds, to short fact patterns and reach a conclusion.

Identify the elements of common business torts and agency relationships, and explain when a principal is liable for an agent's acts.

Design an internal control structure over the revenue and cash disbursement cycles, naming preventive and detective controls at each step.

Distinguish the auditor's responsibilities for material misstatement versus fraud, and describe the audit risk model and how inherent, control, and detection risk interact.

Evaluate a corporate governance scenario for board independence, audit committee authority, and conflicts of interest, and recommend two concrete remediations.

Compare the major business structures (sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, limited liability company) on liability, taxation, and continuity, and recommend one for a stated fact pattern.

Apply supply and demand analysis to predict price and quantity effects of a tax, a price floor, and a subsidy, and compute elasticity from given data.

Interpret the major macroeconomic indicators (gross domestic product, inflation, unemployment) and explain how monetary and fiscal policy transmit to business conditions.

Analyze variance data: compute price, quantity, efficiency, and spending variances, and separate the portion attributable to a controllable cause.

Build a flexible budget and explain how it changes the interpretation of a static budget variance.

Complete two full-length timed practice exams under exam conditions and score each by domain to expose weak areas.

Re-teach your five weakest topics from memory on blank paper, then check against your notes and correct every gap.

Drill the calculation types most prone to error (deferred tax, equivalent units, net present value, variances) until each is completed correctly twice in a row.

Build a one-page formula and rules sheet that you can reconstruct from memory in ten minutes.