When you’re looking to take your career to the next level by becoming an Enrolled Agent (EA), Certified Management Accountant (CMA), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CIA), or Certified Public Accountant (CPA); your exam prep can be the deciding factor in passing or failing.
There are dozens of different companies offering exam review materials of varying prices. Therefore, you need to fully understand their features to make the best choice.
Exam prep key feature guide
Here’s your exam prep feature breakdown. We’ve put together a list of 5 things to look for as you consider courses, so you can easily navigate the exam material waters and find the perfect fit.
1. Lower planning time with a programmed study planner
Ideally, you would create a full-blown study plan before you even start studying. However, laying out exactly what you’ll study and when you’ll study it at the beginning has two major flaws.
The first is that what you study will probably change if you get ahead of behind on studying. The second is it takes time to sit down and outline a study plan that spans over a few months. And wouldn’t you rather jump into studying than spend time outlining your study plan?
When you look for exam materials, identify ones that do this work for you. The software should lay out your study plan based on your exam date, and it should adapt as you continue to study.
If you get behind or if you learn certain material faster, your plan should adjust. This will save time on your end, and it will give you peace of mind that you’re ready for the exam on your exam date.
For all exams, Surgent’s Exam Review courses offer an adaptive study planner based on your exam date, helping you study the correct amount before you sit.
2. Reduce redundancies with an optimized study plan
Similar to having a programmed study planner, look for software that tells you exactly what to study each day based on your strengths and weaknesses. Remember, as you learn, your competency areas will change; you want to make sure you have a software that learns from these changes and updates accordingly. You don’t want to cover topics you know really well and topics you’re struggling with at the same rate.
Find materials that feature adaptive technology, which constantly updates as you study. Surgent is powered by A.S.A.P. Technology, which assesses your initial knowledge and adapts as you work through the material to help you feel comfortable and ready for your exam.
3. Know when to stop studying with score prediction
One of the hardest parts about taking the CMA, EA, CIA, or CISA exams is knowing when you’ve studied enough to sit and pass. Is it after a certain number of hours studying? Is it when you feel like you know the material? Don’t risk a subjective analysis with low accuracy.
Find an exam review course that predicts your score based on your daily competency. Surgent’s exam materials include ReadySCORE, an exam performance metric based on how well you’re doing with the learning materials. Once you reach a certain ReadySCORE, you’re ready to sit for the exam.
4. Look for exam review with a pass guarantee
Exam prep providers should stand behind their product. Since their product is supposed to help you pass the exam, there should be a pass guarantee. When you’re browsing through courses, look for ones that have a pass guarantee with reasonable requirements.
Surgent stands firmly behind their product, offering a pass guarantee on all of their Exam Review courses.
5. Consider automatic updates for revised content
The content EAs, CMAs, CISAs, and CIAs need to know changes constantly depending on introduced regulations, tax laws or authoritative literature. The corresponding exams also change, and you don’t want to get stuck with exam materials that aren’t reflective of the exam you’re going to be taking.
As you look around at courses, look for software that offers free updates to the material. Some courses offer updates, but don’t offer them for free. However, it doesn’t make sense to purchase a course that won’t fully prepare you for a changing exam. Surgent offers free updates for all of their courses to help you stay on top of new content and fully prepare you for your respective exam.
Ready to choose your exam prep provider?
Taking and passing an accounting certification exam is going to give you the power to launch your career in a variety of directions. By using our list of 5 things to consider as you look for exam materials, you’ll find a course that’s perfect for your needs and will get you on the road to your dream career.
Surgent incorporates the above key features into it’s industry-leading exam review courses. To see the Surgent difference for yourself, sign up for a full-access free trial of one of our exam review courses. We offer exam review for the following:
With A.S.A.P Technology, students save up to 400 hours of study time and achieve pass rates over 30 points higher than the national average.
Through the power of adaptive learning, students experience a personalized study program that a live professor would find hard to match, but at a fraction of the cost, and one that accommodates your busy schedule.
This review contains over 4,000 multiple-choice CMA exam questions, all with full text explanations, and over 65+ essay problems. Through the power of our proprietary adaptive learning platform, students learn faster.
With A.S.A.P Technology, students save up to 400 hours of study time and achieve pass rates over 30 points higher than the national average.
Through the power of adaptive learning, students experience a personalized study program that a live professor would find hard to match, but at a fraction of the cost, and one that accommodates your busy schedule.
Through our time-saving and personalization features, students experience the ultimate guided study program. See how Surgent can help you pass the SIE Exam.