Photo by Bench Accounting on Unsplash
If you’re one of the many individuals who are preparing to take the CPA exam, you might be wondering how the CPA review materials have changed over the years. Have they gotten better? Worse? Are they still helpful? Are there any hidden features that previous students didn’t know about? The answers to all these questions and more are below, so keep reading to find out why you should be paying close attention to these resources even as you prepare for your upcoming exam date.
CPA Review Materials – 8 Ways They’ve Changed Over the Years
1) In-person classes are less common
In-person classes are less common due to high costs and inconvenience. The change in course materials has made in-person classes less necessary because of a shift to online teaching methods, such as video lessons and PowerPoint presentations. The change in course materials has also made it more difficult for instructors to teach because they can’t see what students are doing on their computers. Instructors have taken to using remote teaching software or doing live webinars instead of in-person lectures. Additionally, there is now a greater emphasis on problem solving skills, so many classes now include interactive lab activities with instant feedback rather than lecture time.
2) DVD/CD sets and stand alone software packages still exist
CD sets and DVD packages are still available, but they are becoming less popular with accounting professionals. This is due to the rise of internet-based learning methods. Software packages have also been on a decline for years because of this same reason. Software companies use DVDs or CDs as an additional feature, not as their main product anymore.
3) Online courses are more popular than ever
Online courses are more popular than ever. In fact, one of the major changes in CPA review materials over the years is that they have become increasingly digital. You can now complete all or part of your CPA review on your laptop, iPad or phone. Courses are available 24/7 and you can retake quizzes as many times as necessary to get a passing grade.
4) Digital products often include live help time
The CPA review materials and self study tools are different today than they were 10 years ago. You can’t just rely on a few hours of studying or cramming for a few weeks before the exam to pass these days. The materials available to you have evolved significantly over the years. Now, with the plentiful online options like Becker and other course providers that offer webinars, video lectures, live chats, downloadable content and more you also get live help. This way you don’t have to wait for your next lesson to understand a problem you are stuck on. You can solve it right away and move ahead with your learning.
5) Self study is focused on learning, not just passing an exam
Self study is an increasingly popular approach to preparing for the CPA exam. This is because self study provides students with the flexibility and control over their learning experience. With a self-study approach, students are able to make more informed decisions about what they learn and when they learn it, as well as determine how long they spend studying each topic. Additionally, many self-study programs offer interactive online courses that provide engaging video lectures from expert instructors. These lectures are supplemented with practice problems, quizzes, and other tools that allow students to gauge where their strengths and weaknesses lie. In short, self-study allows for a personalised journey of discovery through accounting knowledge and expertise.
6) Everyone needs support, but where they find it varies
Support comes in different forms, depending on where you look. Your friends and family can lend you emotional support when you’re launching a business or even studying for an important exam. Friends and family can also help you out with business advice or just be someone to talk to about your goals. A mentor is a person who has either been in your shoes before or has achieved what you want to achieve. Mentors are usually people who have more experience than you, so they can tell you what pitfalls to avoid, point out mistakes as they happen, and generally hold your hand while they walk you through whatever it is that’s giving you trouble. The digital world has made it easier for Accounting professionals to connect with one another and discuss goals and get feedback on material which was harder to get before.
7) Mobile apps make studying on-the-go easy
Free apps like Google Drive and Dropbox make it easy to download and store documents, in addition to syncing them across devices. This makes studying on-the-go a breeze. All you need is an internet connection and you’re good to go. Ebooks are also a great way to study on-the-go. Not only can they be read on your mobile device, but many of them are also available for purchase online as PDFs, which can be downloaded instantly after purchase. Some even have quizzes or interactive questions that help reinforce what you learned while reading the ebook. There’s an app for everything, including digital flashcards, so you can study during your boring train commute too.
8) Live classes are available online, sometimes even free
The internet has revolutionised how we do everything, including taking a CPA review course. Now, if you have a computer and an internet connection, you can take live classes to study for your CPA exam. The best part about this option is that it’s completely free. You can sign up for a free account with Academized and then go through their self-paced videos on any device from any location.
