CPA Review Course – How to Choose a Good One?

Many accountants studying for the CPA examination use a CPA review course to help them prepare. A good review course will minimize study time as well as maximize the probabilities of successfully passing the CPA exam. With such a big amount of different courses on the market today, it can be tough to pick the one that best fits both factors above. Below are some of the factors to be considered when selecting a CPA exam review course.

1) Course Materials

Although all courses cover similar accounting concepts, every instructor explains things differently. Favorable review courses are only taught by engaging instructors that are capable of explaining difficult ideas in an easy-to-understand manner. Also, a good instructor will spend more time on tricky concepts and just touch on the more self-explanatory ones to make lectures more efficient. The best CPA review courses have available free lecture samples that you can guage before making the decision to buy. Another way to make an evaluation of the quality of a review course is by visiting CPA exam preparation forums as well as product review sites to see what people say about the lecture quality of individual review courses.

Also the lectures can be available thru a variety of media, such as live or recorded webcasts, CDs, DVDs, or USB. The portability and accessibility of the media the class materials are available in should be taken into consideration when judging a review course.

Also, when hunting around for a review course, be certain to note any expiry dates for the course materials. Also some courses have lectures that are only made available to a student for a certain duration before the access expires. The best kind of course materials and software is the kind that does not require access to the Net to view or use, and therefore doesn't expire.

2 ) Practice Questions



While this may be the safe way to go, it can also be extremely time-consuming. Many students simply run out of either time or patience, or both, and never get around to finishing many of the practice questions, which leaves them ill-prepared for the exam.

On the other hand, there are those review courses that don't provide enough practice questions to adequately prepare the student for the examination.

The best CPA review course will contain only questions that are most likely to appear on the exam. This may be done by investigating past examinations to spot questions that appear the most often. This will guarantee the top rate of return for the student's study time by permitting the student to target areas that may probably matter the most.

Different CPA review courses provide different levels of customer support. If you tend to be a question-asker and wish to talk to instructors over the telephone, then be certain to choose a review course that has that kind of service. Some review courses provide notice boards and forums to allow students to engage with instructors and with each other. Before buying a review course, ensure that it will supply the level of support you need.

4) Frequency of Updates

Due to changes in accounting-related legislature among other things, CPA exam study materials must be updated correspondingly on a regular basis. Some review courses update their course materials and practice questions more frequently than others, so be sure to take this into account when choosing a course.

One factor that many people take into account, that has not been discussed, is cost. However , considering the typical important pay-raise that is experienced by many accountants after they become CPA-certified, it is advised that you choose a CPA review course based mostly on its quality and level of support from the teachers, instead of on cost. Considering that the average pass rate for the CPA exam is only 47.49-49.10% ( pass rate for Uniform CPA examination in 2008 ), failing one or more sections is not improbable. You won't need to re-study for and re-sit sections of the exam because you decided to save a few bucks by getting a lesser quality review course. The only exception is when the course charges will be refunded by your employer, in which case you can wish to exploit this, even if it might mean having fewer options to make a choice from.

To find out which is the best CPA review course currently on the market, please visit CPAReviewCourse.org.