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

1) Course Materials

Although all courses cover similar accounting ideas, every instructor explains things differently. Good review courses are only taught by engaging instructors that are capable of explaining tough ideas in an easy-to-understand demeanour. Also, a good instructor will spend a little more time on tricky concepts and just touch on the more self-explanatory ones to make lectures more efficient. An alternative way to judge the quality of a review course is by going to 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 through a selection of media, such as live or recorded webcasts, CDs, DVDs, or USB. The portability and accessibility of the media the course materials are available in should be taken into consideration when gauging a review course.

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. The best kind of course materials and software is the kind that does not require access to the internet to view or use, and thus doesn't 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 course materials, the student is generally supplied with practice questions to drill the knowledge into their memory as well as apply the concepts they have learned to real case scenarios.

While this may be the safe way to go, it can also be overly time-consuming. Many students simply run out of patience, and never get around to finishing many of the practice questions, which does not prepare them well 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. Obviously, this situation is some distance from ideal also.

The perfect CPA review course will contain only questions that are most sure to appear on the exam. This may be done by analyzing past examinations to identify questions that appear the most commonly. This will ensure the top rate of return for the student's study time by permitting the student to target areas which will probably matter the most.

3) Student Support

Different CPA review courses provide different levels of consumer support. On the other end of the spectrum are courses that have minimal support, and in the middle are courses that allow students to e-mail questions to the trainers. Some review courses provide message boards and forums to allow students to have interaction with instructors and with one another.

Because of changes in accounting-related legislature among other reasons, CPA examination study materials have to be updated correspondingly on a regular basis. Some review courses update their course materials and practice questions more often than others, so be certain to take this under consideration when choosing a course.

One factor that many folks take under consideration, that has not been discussed, is cost. However , considering the typical substantial pay-raise that is experienced by many accountants after they become CPA-certified, it is advised that you select a CPA review course based on its quality and level of support from the instructors, 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 improbable. You will not want to re-study for and re-sit sections of the examination because you made a decision to save a couple of bucks by purchasing a lesser quality review course. The only exception is when the course costs will be refunded by your employer, in which case you may wish to take advantage of this, even if it might mean having less options to choose between.

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