Passing the CPA exam can be a daunting project, particularly if you have heard of the vast number of people that have had to sit through multiple sections several times before ultimately passing the CPA. Below are a number of CPA preparation tips that have helped me to pass the CPA, and I'm certain that they will serve you well also. Pass the CPA exam you will, finally - it is bound to happen unless you give up.

It's never easy to pass the CPA. Passing the CPA exam is a great task that will need a lot of tenacity and time before you will accomplish. Numerous people fail more than one sections multiple times before ultimately passing all four sections of the CPA exam. Brace yourself for the possibility that you may fail several sections before passing all sections, and accept that as a natural part of the journey of getting your CPA. Multitudinous other people have persevered and passed the CPA exam at last, and you will also.

Start enlisting assistance from your family members and friends by explaining to them why you need to pass your CPA exam and how complicated and time-consuming this project is. If they are supportive of what you're doing, they may help you out with some of your present duties (for example chores such as cooking and cleaning), and will understand if you can't be present at every social gathering.

3)Stay in Great Health
Poor health can cause hurtful results on concentration, which in turn can greatly impact on the capability to think & study. Eat a well-balanced diet, get sufficient exercise, and most importantly, get at least 6-8 hours of sleep each night, and take a 15-30 minute nap in between if you need to. As Well, do not neglect to schedule regular rest breaks - they will help you to stay focused and refreshed, and as well help your brain to learn better when you resume after the break.

The top CPA exam review courses on the market come with lecture DVDs that teach hard-to-understand concepts a lot better than printed words do. The better CPA review courses are even equipped with lists of exam questions for you to concentrate on, that will be the most likely to be found on the actual exam. The top CPA review courses offer live support that you can call to ask for further explanation on the study materials, and obtain immediate feedback and detailed explanations from live trainers. In short, investing in a good CPA review program can drastically cut your exam preparation time and inflate your odds of passing the CPA exam.

5)Find People to Study With
Find people that are also preparing for the exam in your area and invite them to study with you. Create a strict study schedule and get everyone to commit to it by scheduling other obligations around it. Study buddies can help you to stay focused, and two heads are often better than one when it comes to working out challenging concepts or problems. When you're feeling discouraged or frustrated, your study buddies may be able to give you the support you need to continue - after all, they're in the same position as you and are in a position to understand how you feel.

Most people find it overwhelming when trying to take on all four CPA sections at any one time. A more manageable way would be to concentrate only on studying for one section at a time, do the exam for that section, take a break, and then start studying for the next section and so on. Getting that hardest section out of your way first will minimize your chances of running out of time and having the eighteen-month window expire on you.

To get the best rate of return for your study efforts, spend it on learning material you have the most trouble with.

8)Taking Notes is Important
Because you'll be using mostly your short-term memory during the exam, materials you review during those last several days will be the freshest on your mind on the day of the exam. This small window of time is simply not enough for you to review all study materials from beginning to end, so be sure you have a comprehensive set of study notes that you can refresh your memory with during the last few valuable days before your exam.

Furthermore, by preparing in this way, you'll be less likely to panic on exam day when you have trouble coming up with the answer to a question.

By doing so, not only will you understand the materials better, but you'll also feel more self-assured about your odds of passing the exam - both of which will result in increasing your exam score!

Read more about how David Bryant finally managed to pass three previously-failed CPA sections over the course of ten months, with impressive scores, in his blog PasstheCPAExam.org.

CPA Review Course - How to Pick the Best One?

Many accountants studying for the CPA examination use a CPA review course to help them prepare.

1) Course Materials

Though all courses cover similar accounting ideas, every instructor explains things differently. Also, a good instructor will spend more time on difficult ideas 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 judge before deciding to buy. An alternative 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.

As well , the lectures can be available thru a selection of media,eg live or recorded webcasts, CDs, DVDs, or USB.

Also, when looking around for 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. As well , 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 kind that does not need access to the Net to view or use, and thus does not expire. If you must 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 study materials, the student is mostly provided with practice questions to drill the knowledge into their memory as well as apply the ideas they have learned to tangible case scenarios.

Regarding the subject of practice questions, some CPA review courses take the cover-all approach by having the student do every question that has the smallest chance of showing up on the CPA exam. While this may be the safest 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 completing many of the practice questions, which does not prepare them well for the exam.



The perfect CPA review course will contain only questions that are most sure to appear on the exam. This will ensure the highest rate of return for the student's study time by permitting the student to concentrate on areas which will probably matter the most.

3) Student Support

Different CPA review courses provide assorted levels of consumer support. On the other end of the range are courses that have minimal support, and in the middle are courses that let students to e-mail questions to the trainers. Before buying a review course, ensure that it will supply the level of support you need.

4) Frequency of Updates

Some review courses update their course materials and practice questions more often than others, so be sure to take this into consideration when selecting a course.

One factor that many people take under consideration, which has not been discussed, is price . However , considering the typical substantial pay-raise that is 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 teachers, rather than on price . Considering that the average pass rate for the CPA exam is only 47.49-49.10% ( pass rate for Uniform CPA exam in 2008 ), failing a number of sections is not unlikely. The only exception is when the course costs will be refunded by your employer, in which case you'll need to use this, even if it might mean having less options to choose between.

To find out my personal experiences with the Yaeger CPA Review Course please visit my CPA exam blog at http://www.PassTheCPAExam.org.