Principles of Financial Accounting DSST

[Shemrat]

What resources do you reccomend to pass the DSST Principles of Financial Accounting? Would using the Instantcert flashcards for the Principles of Accounting Clep be adequate, or is the DSST any different? Thanks!

[hoagland]

I am currently studying for this exam and plan on taking it within a week. Any last minutes tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. I am struggling a bit with applying it to "real-life situations"; that is my biggest challenge right now. Anyway, thanks in advance for any comments or advice!

`Dakota

[dharmachic]

If you look for the thread with this exam title in the Specific Feedback section of the forum, you should find a wealth of helpful information. Personally, I would not rely solely on IC flashcards for this exam; the resources in the Specific Feedback section should more than prepare you.

[Shemrat]

I'm sorry, where do I find specific exam feedback?

[bricabrac]

I'm sorry, where do I find specific exam feedback?

http://www.degreeforum.net/specific-exam...-dsst.html

[hoagland]

Today I went and passed the DSST Financial Accounting exam with a 67 (passing being a 47). The resources I used were the following:
• The REA book: This enabled me to get a feel for the content of the test. It is very thorough and take in mind that the practice tests were a lot harder than the DSST test. I didn’t score well on them to put it simply.
• The Petersons practice tests: I took all three of the Petersons practice tests and scored below 50% on the first one and in the mid50% range on the next two. If you can get over 50%, I would safely assume you are able to pass the Dantes test. They are a big help to go over and review, so would highly recommend them.
• IC: Instantcert was pretty good for this test. It helped you get concepts and terminology down. Definitely know the first couple sections, although know all of them fairly well. The last section of IC didn’t apply as well (breakeven analysis for example) but doesn’t hurt to go through.
Some questions I can remember/things you should know that were on the
test:

If prepaid expense is adjusted, what happens to the expense and asset accounts? (This is almost word-for-word, do the expense/asset accounts increase or decrease?)
Marketable securities that are called trading securities can be recorded by: historical cost, market cost, etc
A question asking you to find the COGS
A couple questions on asking the maturity value of stock
One question asking you to find the face value of stock
What board puts together the rules of accounting? FASB
A couple questions on internal controls – know that you want separate people doing things and not the same person keeping track of the money, signing checks, and depositing them
KNOW the concepts of financial accounting that IC goes over – conservatism, objectivity, going concern, cost, full disclosure, materiality, and the others. There were quite a few questions on them/which one applied
What is the advantage of a corporation over a sole proprietorship (limited liability)
KNOW what is on a balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement. This will definitely help you on quite a few questions such as: What accounts get closed out? (All income statement accounts but not balance sheet accounts) What gets subtracting under Owner’s Equity on a Balance Sheet (Accumulated Depreciation) and other questions of that sort
Know that assets = liabilities + Owner’s Equity
How accounts are affected (what increases and decreases with respect to assets, equity, revenue, and expense accounts) when an Accounts Payable is paid or when there are sales on credit – there were quite a few questions with things like this
What happens to the asset account when liabilities decrease by $100,000 and equity increases by $15,000? (Increase/decrease by $85,000 or increase/decrease by $115,000)
Know what accounts have a debit or credit balance/what they increase with
There were three questions on bank reconciliation – what its purpose is, what happens when an check is miswrote as $36 instead of $63 by the bank, and what happens with outstanding checks
Know what current assets and current liabilities are – a question asked me to find the current ratio
There was a question about the gross margin
Something I didn’t feel confident on is knowing what formulas/ratios should be used for liquidity, long term solvency, and profitability…so look that up some
A couple questions on WHY LIFO was the best inventory system to use during inflation (lower income tax, I believe) and what system recorded the most recent costs in inventory
A question about how to calculate the average inventory system
A few questions on depreciation – know how to use the straight-line system

I know this seems like a lot to figure out and remember, but it actually isn’t as bad as it looks. I had NO, NONE, ZILCH experience with financial accounting and felt I wasn’t getting it until finally it started to click. Even then, I wasn’t so sure about taking it, but the curve on the DSST is pretty forgiving. There isn’t much calculation either; so as long as you know about what is going on, you will be good to go. Time wasn’t an issue with me for I finished in 65 minutes and review for another 10-15 minutes. It is a definite doable test – so don’t feel discourage or dishearted right off the back. I studied for 2-3 weeks. Good luck to anyone that is taking this test in the future! Hope it helps some!

`Dakota