FAR cost or pricing data specialist exam — TINA exceptions are killing my practice scores
I work in contracts for a defense subcontractor and my supervisor pushed me toward the FAR certification to formalize what I already do day-to-day. I've been studying for about 3 weeks and feel decent about the general FAR structure, but the Truth in Negotiations Act provisions and cost or pricing data thresholds are genuinely tripping me up. There are so many exceptions and I keep confusing which applies where.
Current practice score is around 63% and I need to hit 70% to pass. I'm putting in about 2 hours per night after work, but on exhausted nights I'm retaining almost nothing. Thinking about compressing remaining study into longer weekend sessions instead of daily short blocks.
I'm strongest on competition requirements and procurement methods. Weakest is definitely the cost accounting standards interaction with TINA — specifically when CAS coverage kicks in alongside the pricing data requirements. Has anyone found a resource that explains that overlap clearly without going full law review article?
Also not sure how much to weight contract administration material vs pre-award content. My day job is almost entirely post-award but I assume the exam covers pre-award heavily.
The TINA threshold changes got me on my first attempt. Make sure you're studying current dollar thresholds and not outdated prep materials — they've shifted a few times and some study guides haven't caught up. I failed at 68% partly because I had the wrong numbers memorized.
Don't underestimate the small business programs section. It was maybe 10% of questions but I'd barely touched it and it cost me. Read through the 8(a) and HUBZone provisions even if you don't work with them regularly.
Weekend intensive sessions worked better for me than nightly 2-hour blocks. I retained way more in a 5-hour focused Saturday than in a full week of tired evening studying. Your instinct to shift the schedule sounds right.
Pre-award is probably 55-60% of the exam. Even if your job is post-award, you need Parts 14 and 15 cold. The CAS vs TINA threshold overlap is genuinely complex — I made a one-page cheat sheet with both sets of thresholds side-by-side and it helped a lot for scenario questions.
I just passed this section last month and TINA exceptions were my biggest stumbling block too. What finally clicked for me was stopping trying to memorize the exceptions as a list and instead asking myself "does the government actually need certified cost or pricing data here?" — because the exceptions exist exactly when they don't. Commercial items, prices set by law or regulation, adequate price competition — once I understood the logic behind each one, they stopped blurring together.
The other thing that helped was doing practice questions specifically on what "adequate price competition" actually means under FAR 15.403-1, because that one tripped me up more than once. It's not just "more than one offeror" — there are conditions. Once I drilled that distinction I stopped second-guessing myself on the exam. You've already got the foundation if you know the general FAR structure, so honestly you're closer than you think.
Ugh, TINA exceptions were my nemesis too. I just hit a 74 on my most recent practice test though, which honestly surprised me because I wasn't feeling confident going in. The thing that finally clicked for me was treating the exceptions (commercial items, adequate price competition, etc.) as a checklist I mentally run through every single question rather than trying to remember them in isolation. Also, if you haven't drilled into CAS yet, don't sleep on it — I found a solid question bank at far/questions/cost accounting standards cas that really helped me see how CAS and TINA interact, which made both topics feel less like separate islands.
I'm planning to sit the real exam around the third week of July, so I've got maybe three more weeks of heavy practice. I figure if I can consistently hit 78+ on the mocks I'll feel ready. Good luck with your prep — sounds like you've already got the practical experience to back it up, which honestly counts for a lot when you're decoding the hypotheticals.
Ugh, TINA exceptions were the thing that almost made me quit. I'd done three full practice runs and kept bombing the same cluster of questions — I couldn't figure out if I was misreading them or if the material just wasn't clicking. Ended up spending a whole Saturday going through cost accounting standards from scratch, specifically the far/questions/cost accounting standards cas 2 questions, and something finally snapped into place. The exceptions aren't random. Once you see how CAS ties the whole framework together, the TINA piece stops feeling like trivia.
You're three weeks in and already flagging the right problem area, so don't bail now. Keep drilling the exceptions in isolation until you can say out loud why each one qualifies. That's what got me through it. The exam isn't trying to trick you, it just wants to know you actually understand the reasoning behind when TINA applies versus when it doesn't.