I am starting my CPA journey. Any advices on studying approach and materials?

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  • #191472
    SlavicCPA
    Member

    I am done with my certified internal auditor certification. Next achievement – CPA. Please, share your experiences: what worked for you and what didn’t, what studying materials you think are the most comprehensive. Combination of materials? I am kind of a slow reader and go over the chapters multiple times + MCQs (with my CIA). I know that CPA is much more difficult than CIA but are there any similarities? Thank you.

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  • #642937
    sweetmoon
    Member

    Just saw your other post. As a user of Gleim for CPA, I feel that the material is really good and all you need for exam is there, but it is in the raw form. You need to teach yourself to learn the material. In topics which you are already familiar with, that is not an issue. But in topics which are new, especially for ppl like us who are international candidates, it becomes very tough and time consuming. I am really stuck with Taxation, and had a terrible two weeks trying to figure out with oceans of info from Gleim book. But this is my last exam and I just hope to get through with Gleim. Gleim is good, but it is not in an easily digestible form, thats my opinion. If I were to do it again, I would choose something like Roger since I really like his lectures , and feel like it will cut down a lot of study time when somebody explains it to you. and supplement it with Ninja MCQs since they are fairly cheap @$47 /section.

    FAR : 71, 83
    AUD : 73,88
    BEC : 87
    REG : sweet 82 and DONE !!

    #642938
    SlavicCPA
    Member

    I heard that Roger is really good for people that have visual memory. I'm one of those who understands graphs and tables better than reading through a lengthy explanation.

    #642939
    mjija
    Member

    I like Roger. I'm using it to study for Audit and love the videos. He is not boring and they are pretty interactive for a video lecture. I am not a huge fan of his MCQ's though. It's hard to know what your average scores are – there's no analytics on them. I used Gleim for FAR and it was basic self-study. Their videos are boring and their mcq's are impossibly hard. I do like the analytics on their questions though – there's a lot of feedback to know what to focus on. I used the Gleim book, taught myself, and passed with an 80. If you are disciplined and good at teaching yourself, Gleim works. I'm a Roger convert now though – I think I'll use that for all of the rest. Ninja's flashcards are nice because they are digital and you can add your own or edit the answers if you want to. I've used Ninja audio too, but just listening to something didn't work for me. There's my two cents. Good luck!

    #642940
    Skynet
    Participant

    Sweetmoon, Gleim has videos now if you purchase the Premium version.

    AUD - 90
    BEC - 78
    FAR - 84
    REG - 87
    World Domination Plan

    Phase I : Pass CPA Exams - Complete
    Phase II : Megan Fox - In Progress
    Phase III : Megan Fox & Scarlett Johansson Lingerie Pillow Fight
    Phase IV : Form the new Charlie's Angels with Megan Fox, Scarlett Johansson, & Gal Gadot
    Phase V : TBD

    BEC : 78
    REG : 87
    FAR : 84
    AUD : 90

    World Domination Plan

    Phase I : Pass CPA Exams - Complete
    Phase II : Megan Fox - Initiated
    Phase III : Bring back 8-Tracks
    Phase IV : Megan Fox & Scarlett Johansson Lingerie Pillow Fight
    Phase V : TBA

    #642941
    sweetmoon
    Member

    Skynet – Yes I have the premium version, but they dont have videos for all the subjects. For REG they have video on just one topic -Ethics .And on a sidenote, their videos are incredibly boring. I feel so sleepy and it is hard to grasp anything from them. But their Audiovisual presentations are good and very useful.

    FAR : 71, 83
    AUD : 73,88
    BEC : 87
    REG : sweet 82 and DONE !!

    #642942
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I've been using Becker and it's worked for me for FAR and AUD. They are very thorough and really give you a good foundation to work off of when studying. With that being said, it's a very expensive program.

    #642943
    Pork Flavored Bacon
    Participant

    I used Becker for the in-class lessons and multiple choice questions and used Wiley as a supplement.

    When I was studying, I really like Becker's explanations to their multiple choice questions. If you got something wrong they would say something like “You chose D because you took xxx into acount when you should have considered yyy instead. This is what should happen…” and then they would go into detail about the answer.

    I was not a fan of the Wiley book from which I studied. They had tons of questions but never explained anything. “D is wrong. See A.” where A was the correct answer and did not go into as much detail explaining the reasons A was correct.

    I managed to pass all four exams with Becker and Wiley with a main focus on Becker.

    FAR - 75 | REG - 87 | AUD - 82 | LAW - 81

    #642944

    When I started I spent a great deal of time around here and just found too many people plop down 2-4 thousand for a fancy package and hate it. If your employer is covering it its no risk to you but I did the CPA entirely on my dime. My goal was to start cheap and add as needed. So I started with the Wiley books and NINJA 10pt. That worked great for FAR and BEC (those being my natural strengths). Once I had REG and AUD staring at me in the face I knew I would need a little more so I added Roger CRAM for videos and it was great. Passed all four on the first shot and spent a total of roughly $1000 on materials spread out over time. Of course everybody is different so create your own strategy but I would advise against a package unless you have no other choice…

    MBA,CMA,CPA, CFF?, ABV?

    #642945
    peskypole
    Participant

    Yaeger has been good to me so far. I feel that their lectures cover the important material well. The books look intimidating, but Yaeger doesn't make you read cover to cover. There are also lots of multiple choice questions to go over between the Wiley Test Bank and books that Yaeger often includes with their course. It's pricier compared to some other review courses (cost me equivalent to $1,700 for the package deal), but still a steal compared to Becker.

    The three people that I work with you are using Becker, haven't fared so well. That being said the important thing to remember with any course you choose is to put in quality study time.

    FAR - PASSED!! - 95
    AUD - PASSED!! - 98
    REG - PASSED!! - 93
    BEC - PASSED!! - 90
    Licensed CPA
    Just a couple of thoughts I tried to remember as I went through the journey of passing the CPA exams:
    Philippians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."
    Philippians 4:13 "I can do all this through him who gives me strength."

    #642946
    SlavicCPA
    Member

    To How many letters do you need, did you do a self-study? I feel like self-study will not be a good choice for me.

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