Many accountants studying for the CPA examination depend on a CPA review course to help them prepare. With such a large number of different courses on the market today, it can be difficult to decide on the one that best fits both standards above.
1) Course Materials
Though all courses cover similar accounting concepts, every instructor describes things in different manners. Good review courses are only taught by engaging instructors that are able to explain tough ideas in an easy-to-understand manner. Also, a good lecturer will spend more time on difficult concepts while just briefly touch on the simpler ones to make lectures more efficient. Some courses offer samples of their lectures for you to view or listen to, so that you can get a feel of the lecturing style before deciding whether to buy the course or not. Alternatively, seek out online forums where other CPA-hopefuls gather, to read about their experiences with the various CPA courses, before making your final purchasing decision.
Another thing to consider is what kind of format(s) the course materials are presented in, and what your preferences are regarding this. The portability and accessibility of the media the course materials are available in should be considered when gauging a review course.
Also, when trying to decide on a review course, be sure to note any expiry dates for the study materials. Some questions and simulations software will become disabled at a certain time after activation. Also, some courses have lectures that are only supplied to a student for a certain duration before the access expires. The best sort of course materials and software is the sort that does not need access to the web to view or use, and thus doesn't expire. If you've got to purchase the type that does expire, ensure that you'll have ample time to digest the materials before it expires on you.
Having studied the course materials, the student is usually provided with practice questions to drill the knowledge into their memory as well as apply the ideas they have learned to actual case scenarios.
Speaking of practice questions, some CPA review courses take the exhaustive approach by asking the student to do every question that has the smallest chance of showing up on the CPA 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. Clearly, this situation is a long way from ideal also.
The perfect CPA review course will contain only questions that are most likely to appear on the examination. This is done by analyzing past exams to identify questions that appear the most often. 3) Student Support
Different CPA review courses provide different levels of customer support. On the other end of the spectrum are courses that have minimal support, and in the middle are courses that permit students to email questions to the coaches. Some review courses provide notice boards and forums to permit students to engage with instructors and with one another. Before buying a review course, make sure that it will provide the level of support you need.
4) Frequency of Updates
One factor that many people take into account, which has not been discussed, is cost. However , considering the typically considerable pay-raise that's experienced by many accountants after they become CPA-certified, it is suggested that you select a CPA review course based mostly on its quality and level of support from the instructors, instead of on price. You will not want to re-study for and re-sit sections of the examination just because you decided to save a couple of dollars by getting a lesser quality review course. Find out which CPA review courses are the most highly recommended amongst the many CPA exam review courses on the market today.
