When you first decide to take the exam, you should contact your local board of accountants. They will give you a list of test preparation courses that are approved by them for CPA exam practice. Once you have a list of the courses that you can take, you can find out what the requirements are for each state. Some states will require a passing score on the exam, others will not.
After you receive your list of approved test courses, you will want to start looking into which ones will be the easiest for you to take. There is no reason to feel overwhelmed, but make sure that you keep track of the test dates so that you can schedule your study time accordingly. You should also consider whether or not you will need to pay for anything to get you prepared for the exam. Some states will let you take the test for free, but most will require you to pay for some type of study or proctored test.
In addition to testing your knowledge, the CPA exam must test your ability to apply the principles of accounting. There are many concepts that you will need to know in order to succeed at this profession. Once you take the exam, you will need to write a paper about a topic related to accounting. Writing an exam review is similar to studying for any other exam. You will review the material and answer questions to get ready for the actual test.
After learning what you need to know to pass the exam, you will probably want to take practice tests. There are hundreds of different practice tests out there, but they are all divided up by state. If you take a course in your home state, you will probably want to take a test in that state. However, if you are taking a course in a different state, it might be a good idea to take a practice exam in that state. These exams will help you see what topics you will need to cover on the actual exam.
When you have completed the practice tests, you will want to take the real exam. The exam is designed so that you can do a one-section test from scratch. This allows you to review all of the material you learned in the classes and then to focus only on the section that you feel is the most important.
Now you need to get a seat in a testing room. Some people feel better sitting in a quiet room, while others like to know where they’re going. Whatever you choose, make sure it is within a few minutes of your home. You don’t want to be interrupted by a phone call or an exam partner. You want to be able to take your own time to study.
Once you’ve sat through the entire test and reviewed all the material, you can start the actual exam. If you take CPA exam online courses, this process is much easier. You can complete the exam in about five to ten minutes. Since there are usually plenty of questions on the test, you can probably guess most of the questions. However, when you take the exam in any state, you need to review the information thoroughly, which can take more time.
