7 Tips on How to Study For the CPA Exam (2024)

7 Tips on How to Study For the CPA Exam (2023)

How to Study For the CPA Exam has always been a massive question for CPA seekers alongside questions like How to Pass the CPA Exam? or How to Pass the CPA Exam? so in this article, we will go through some helpful tips to help you study for the CPA Exam.

Below we will discuss seven helpful tips to help you pass the CPA Exam.

1- Make a study plan A and plan B
2- Pick the right CPA Review course to Study For the CPA Exam

– Becker CPA Review
– UWorld Roger CPA Review
– Surgent CPA Review
– Gleim CPA Review
– Ninja CPA Review
3- Reward yourself when you hit benchmarks
4- Remind yourself that you can do it
5- Time management
6- Follow an expert to guide you in your preparation
7- Learn if you fail

Let’s get to it

1- Make a study plan A and plan B

According to the AICPA, studying for a CPA takes the average student 300 – 400 hours to pass the CPA Exam, if you want to pass the exam, you will have to give yourself a dose of discipline and a study schedule to Study For the CPA Exam.

Ask yourself these kinds of questions:

  • What days of the week will I study?
  • How many hours a day am I going to study?
  • What time of the day is my mind the most receptive to new information?

Then, prepare for the worst. We all make plans in life, and often, they don’t work out. If you can’t study as often as you initially planned, or if that initial schedule doesn’t give you enough time to remember the information you learn, give yourself room to adjust your schedule as needed.

2- Pick the right CPA Review course to Study For the CPA Exam

You need to know yourself. Do you prefer learning from books? Do you prefer learning from a teacher? Do you prefer learning from quizzes? Do you prefer self-study or to study in a group?

Ask these questions before choosing a review course because review courses can differ. So choose wisely.

What are your options? Let’s take a look at the most famous course reviews to help you Study For the CPA Exam:

1- Becker CPA Review

Historically, Becker has been the market’s most popular and trusted CPA exam prep course. Becker provides students with peace of mind knowing that the largest CPA firms in the world trust Becker to prepare their employees for the CPA Exam.

2- UWorld Roger CPA Review

Even though Roger CPA review doesn’t have as large of a question bank as some of the other courses on this list, the engaging lectures will give you fun ways to remember challenging topics. Roger CPA Review is great for students who typically have trouble focusing during lectures and are also looking for a more affordable option.


3- Surgent CPA Review

Surgent CPA Review provides students with AI software to determine exactly what topics need to be covered. This ensures the shortest study time. Their advanced online technological tools set them apart from the others.

4- Gleim CPA Review

Gleim wins for best value because it offers over 3,000 more test questions for the same price compared to the next most affordable option ($1,599).

5- Ninja CPA Review

Ninja CPA Review works nicely as an inexpensive supplement to an online course. This is an efficient studying tool that can be used as your main course but serves best as an auxiliary study aid with an excellent online support community.

3- Reward yourself when you hit benchmarks

Keep in mind that CPA Exam is no kids’ play. With that in mind, it is worth rewarding yourself along the way.

Start making goals, and set benchmarks for yourself (Must be attainable). Then when you reach those benchmarks, Celebrate and reward yourself because you are doing something that will make you reach your goals and new career highs.

Let’s talk about the benefits of rewarding ourselves upon accomplishing our goals:

  1. Relief
    Rewarding ourselves lower stress, which is good to avoid daily troubles.
  2. Excitement
    Reaching your goal and then rewarding yourself for that accomplishment will help you focus on your tasks.
  3. Change
    Adding the surprise element to routine life helps change the pattern of your day.
  4. Appreciation
    You will no longer need appreciation from anybody else, you will do it yourself.

4- Remind yourself that you can do it

Be positive, the power of positive psychology has been proven again and again.

Everybody gets this feeling of giving up, but if you believe you can Study For the CPA Exam and pass it, you will do it.


Sometimes you have to relax and remind yourself that you are doing all you can and everything is going to work perfectly on your side.

5- Time management

When aiming for a big goal, in our case CPA Exam, the most important thing to focus on is time management, and it is one of the most effective skills to learn.

If you don’t manage your time well, it will be impossible to reach your goals, you might make some process but won’t get any further without good time management.

Here are some tips to manage your time properly:

  1. Set a plan and a specific goal
    To manage your time in a proper way you must set clear goals that can be attainable because setting a goal will help you think of a way to finish your tasks.
  2. create a list with the weekly and daily tasks
    After setting your goals, now it’s time to think about the tasks and procedures to reach these goals.
  3. work on prioritizing what’s important
    With a list of tasks and procedures between your hands, it will be easy to decide what’s important and what’s not and focus more on the important things.
  4. Have a calendar
    Having a calendar supports time management in a big way by recording the date of each task, each time you place a timeline you send a message directly to your brain that there is something important incoming.
  5. Avoid inaction
    It’s important not to delay any unfinished work if you can finish it meanwhile, delaying work makes you lose focus on tasks and important things that need to be done.
  6. Organize your workplace
    It’s always good to have an organized workplace, because you won’t waste time searching for anything.
  7. Take some breaks
    Even when there is a lot of work needs to be done, It’s important to understand that you as a human being need to take a break.
  8. Avoid things that take your attention
    Avoid getting distracted by anything especially people working or studying from home where it can be easy to get distracter by a lot of factors around us.
  9. Learn to say no
    You have to learn to say no without feeling guilty, Setting boundaries is healthy and you need to learn to respect and take care of yourself.

6- Follow an expert to guide you in your preparation

It’s crucial to get to know some CPA experts or people who passed the exam, contact them, talk to them, learn from them and try to get the best out of their journey in CPA. That will help you make it easier.

7- Learn if you fail

If things go wrong, or if you fail the exam. Figure out why you failed and how to fix it.

Find your weak points, work on them and become better in those areas.

Final Thoughts

In this post, I’ve included seven helpful tips to help you pass the CPA Exam, yet there is a lot to go through in other posts.

CPA Exam is no joke and must be taken seriously.

Which one of the seven tips is a priority for you?

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Qusai Ahmad is the founder of "Speak Accounting," a platform dedicated to simplifying Accounting and Excel for learners of all levels. Through insightful blog posts and comprehensive courses, Qusai Ahmad empowers individuals to master accounting principles and Excel skills with ease.