The ideal review course reduces the risk of failing to pass the CPA exam and significantly reduces the time needed to understand the key concepts. The following list of factors will help you discover the ideal CPA exam review course to ensure success.

1) Course Materials

Every course will cover the same subjects likely to appear in the exam, however tutors use their own ways. The best courses use experienced instructors who can teach difficult ideas while making sure students understand them. Qualified teachers ensure simple ideas do not waste teaching time. The best value CPA review courses come with free lesson samples that you can evaluate before deciding to buy. A further way to understand the quality of a review course is by visiting CPA exam preparation forums and product review sites to see what people are saying about the quality of individual review courses.

Additionally, the lessons can be obtained from a variety of media, such as live or recorded webcasts, CDs, DVDs, or USB. The accessibility of how course materials are available should be taken into consideration when evaluating a review course.

Also, when looking for a review course, make note of any expiry dates for the course materials. Some questions and simulation software will become disabled at any time after activation. If you opt for a course without access expiry, you need to ensure you make use of the material before it is removed from the exam.

2) Practice Questions

Practice questions are a great way to make sure students understand key concepts. They help make it easy to retain through use of practical examples in case studies.

Each of the CPA review courses take different approaches with practice questions. It is not unusual for students to run out of time and fail to cover some of the critical questions. This impacts on their exam preparation and chance to pass.

On the other hand, there are courses which do not provide sufficient sample questions to sufficiently prepare the student for the exam. This ensures the highest rate of return for the student's study time by enabling the student to focus on the most important areas.

3) Student Support

Different CPA review courses provide different levels of student support. If you prefer to make use of phone support services, it is crucial you check the course offers this service prior to subscribing to it. On the other end of the spectrum are courses that have limited support, and in the middle are courses that want students to email questions to the tutors. Naturally, you need to check whatever review course you buy offers the right level of support suitable for your requirements.

4) Frequency of Updates

CPA exam materials are regularly updated due to accounting legislature changes. The update frequency of course materials can impact on your level of success as courses that neglect regular updates may teach outdated techniques.

As the average pass rate for the CPA exam is only 47.49-49.10% (pass rate for Uniform CPA Examination in 2008), failing one or more sections is not unlikely. You will not want to re-study for and re-sit sections of the exam simply because you wanted to save a few bucks by purchasing a lesser quality review course.

Find out which CPA review course is the most highly recommended amongst the many CPA exam review courses on the market today.