Best CPA Review Courses of 2018

The benefits of being a CPA are both tangible and intangible. With that designation next to your name, you get a better career trajectory, a higher salary, respect from similarly accredited peers, and the potential to secure corner office positions. Over the course of their careers, CPAs make $1 million more than their non-certified counterparts.  The C-Suite is more likely to be made up of people who are CPAs than those who lack the title—executive search firm Spencer Stuart noted roughly 45 percent of CFOs have a CPA.

The requirements to sit for the CPA exam aren’t especially varied from state to state, but there are certainly some outliers. Understanding these CPA exam requirements is necessary, however, as the first step to becoming a CPA is being able to sit for the exam. For the most part, you’re going to need 150 credit hours of accounting education, along with some work experience. There’s definitely more to the requirements than just 150 credit hours, but you’re going to have that as a basic educational foundation to sit for the exam.

Applying for the CPA exam is a complicated process, especially given the date restrictions and many requirements. Understanding how to apply will help with scheduling and time management, so make sure you cover all of the bases. The basic application process involves school transcripts, submitting the fee and application, receiving the ATT from your state board,  getting your NTS from NASBA, going to the Prometric website to schedule the exam dates, and then finally studying and taking the test. The CPA exam application process is very specific and can be confusing, so make sure you follow every detail exactly to a T.

Finding the motivation to carry on with studying after a failed test is heartbreaking for many people. However, if you can make the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel a tangible goal or event, it will ease the process of starting over. Many people fail at least one section, so it’s certainly possible to keep studying if you know WHY you’re taking the test. Failing a section also doesn’t mean you’re not cut out to become a CPA—many people who occupy corner offices of Fortune 500 companies have failed one section of their exams. The important thing with regard to failing is to make sure you don’t make the same mistake twice.

Recognizing your learning style is the key to cutting hours and hours off of your studying time. Once you know what works with regard to specific types of prep tools—videos, audio content, or practicing by doing via test banks or books—the whole process becomes easier and each minute of studying becomes more valuable. If you’re wondering what your learning style is, I suggest you check out the above post and determine exactly how you process and consume information. Not knowing how you learn best before you invest in a CPA review course is basically burning money!

The test is broken down into the quarterly fiscal schedule on which all businesses rely. So, for the first quarter, you get to take the test within the first two months and an additional ten days into the second month. Once this testing window is over, the schedule simply repeats that pattern. Basically, there’s a 20-ish day period per quarter in which you cannot take the test. If you’re able to plan your studying and schedule your exams correctly, you’ll be able to knock out the CPA in roughly a year!

Creating a CPA exam study schedule is reliant on you making an honest assessment of how many hours you can devote per week. If you’re working full-time, you’re going to want to study a certain amount per day, with somewhat longer sessions on the weekend. If you’re not working, you can devote larger chunks of time per day—the key is to keep a consistent level of studying, as you don’t want to do too much on one day and none on another. Knowing how to study for the CPA exam will be the difference between passing and failing each individual section.

Your first CPA exam section should be the one that you feel most confident about passing. Check out the video below to find out why!