Best CPA Review Courses for 2023

Updated: December 28, 2022

Use one of the best CPA review courses listed below to ensure you pass each portion of your CPA exam the first time.

Our team will help you find the best fit for your studying style by ranking and reviewing various CPA prep courses. Many factors were taken into consideration including price, features, guarantees, learning style, and more.

A CPA review course is a big investment, use our expert reviews to find the course that best fits your needs.

Summary: Find and compare the best CPA review courses below. Utilize our exclusive discounts.

Best CPA Review Course Reviews (2023)

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Our Picks for Best CPA Review Courses

• Best Overall - Becker
• Best Value - Universal
• Best Combo of Price and Features -Surgent

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Best CPA Review Course Video Review

Becker: Best Overall

Key Decision Making Factors

Pros and Cons

What to Expect - Hands on Walkthrough

Becker is one of the most well known CPA prep companies out there. They have a couple of different options for their CPA prep courses:

1. Pro Version - $2,199
2. Premium Version - $2,999
3. Advantage Version - $2,399

Students will get unlimited access to options 1 and 2, and 24 months of access to option 3. All of these courses offer very similar features, but for our purposes, we will take a look at the pro version.

The pro version includes more than 400 SkillMaster videos, 8 simulated exams that match the CPA exam style, 12 simulated mini-exams, unlimited practice tests, and more than 7,000 multiple-choice practice questions. Candidates who purchase this CPA prep course will also have up to 5 one-hour 1-on-1 tutoring sessions and 1-on-1 academic support from expert CPAs.

The course also comes with additional CPA study material including 1,400+ digital flashcards and 1,400+ printed flashcards.

When students enter the course, they will realize there is a separate dashboard for each section of the CPA exam - we really like this feature as it helps to better organize the course and avoid intimidating users.

The lectures consist of instructors talking over notes and slides. While this may sound boring, the instructors are annotating the notes which adds an interactive element to the lectures. Students can also use the technology within the course to add their own notes and highlight important concepts.

The lectures are broken down in a very logical way - there are big topics that are broken down even more into specific modules. This helps students focus on very specific concepts and figure out what they may struggle with the most.

The practice questions are an awesome feature of this course. Each question and practice session is timed and students have the ability to print out the questions (very rare). There are a bunch of additional features like an online calculator, online spreadsheet, and the "see lecture" button. The "see lecture" button allows students to find where that topic was talked about within the lecture and quickly re-learn it.

Students can create their own practice exams for more practice. Students can make these random or adaptable. Adaptable practice exams will give you questions on topics that you have struggled with before - an amazing feature. These practice exams are very customizable and helpful.

In addition to everything listed above, users will also have the ability to create their own study schedules, review flashcards, utilize the massive glossary of terms (with quick search capabilities), and view detailed score reports.

While this course is predominantly done online on the student’s own time, there is an option for live classroom scheduling. This is a nice feature and a good change of pace if a student gets bored with the traditional online learning environment. Students can access this course through their computers, tablets, or mobile phones.

Additional Screenshots

Key Features

• 7000+ practice questions
• 8 simulated exams
• 12 simulated mini-exams
• Unlimited practice exams
• 190+ hours of video
• Printed and digital textbooks
• 1250+ flashcards

Key Differences from Other CPA Courses

• The various ways you can choose to learn
• Ability to print resources within the course
• Live classroom scheduling and 1-on-1 tutoring sessions available

Differences from Previous Versions

• Addition of simulated mini-exams
• Addition of 1-year CPE subscription

Other Useful Resources

• Becker CPA Review - Our team take a more in-depth look at Becker and their different offerings.

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Best Value: Universal

Key Decision Making Factors

Pros and Cons

Hands on Walkthrough - What to Expect

Universal CPA is our choice for best value CPA review course. Universal is an up-and-coming CPA prep company that takes efficient studying to the next level. They utilize both visual learning and application-based learning – it is truly unique and will help save students a ton of time when studying.

Their full package CPA prep course is available for $649 (using the Test-Guide exclusive discount) and includes review of all 4 CPA exams, 750 bite-sized learning videos, in-depth study guides (450 pages per CPA exam), 3,000+ multiple choice questions, and 115+ simulations.

The user-interface of the course is designed very well – each CPA exam is organized by chapter concepts with specific video lectures, study guides, multiple-choice questions, and simulations.

One of the biggest differences with Universal versus some of the other providers we looked at is their focus on visual and application-based learning. The videos are short and sweet – they teach you the essential information in an efficient way.

One of the best features of this course is the way in which they set up the multiple-choice questions. Users have a video explanation of how to answer each multiple-choice question right next to each question. Users will not have to go back to their notes or a long video lecture and try to find where that question was talked about – this saves a TON of time.

Students who have questions that arise while studying can use the “Ask Joey” function. This function enables students to ask questions about the content and get actual answers from expert CPA’s.

Universal is great for students who wish to learn on a budget or are big time visual learners. The bite-sized lecture videos and video answer explanations are very different from other CPA prep providers - major pro to this prep course.

With that being said, Universal does not offer all the bells and whistles that other big name providers offer. However, if that does not bother you, Universal is a great choice.

Additional Screenshots

Key Features

• 3000+ practice questions
• Unlimited practice tests
• 125+ hours of videos
• 115+ simulations

Key Differences from Other CPA Courses

• Universal focuses on visual and application based learning with their video answer explanations

Differences from Previous Versions

• Addition of more simulations
• Addition of more video answer explanations

Other Useful Resources

• Universal CPA Review - Our team take an in-depth look at Universal and their different course offerings.

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Surgent: Best Combo of Price and Features

Key Decision Making Factors

Pros and Cons

What to Expect - Hands on Walkthrough

Surgent offers a very solid course that is right up there with some of the best CPA prep courses. Surgent offers 3 different levels of their CPA review course which we have listed below:

• Essentials - $1599 - Includes A.S.A.P technology, 7700 MCQs, 400+ simulations, and 350+ videos.
• Premier - $2399 $1499 using TGUIDE900 - Includes everything in the essential package as well as eBooks, lecture notes, printed textbooks, flashcards, and 1-on-1 coaching.
• Ultimate - $2999 - Includes everything in the 2 courses listed above as well as 1000 extra MCQs, audio lectures, ultimate customer support, and excel certificate course.

When you first enter the course, you are asked if you want to study using A.S.A.P. technology or a linear course outline style. The A.S.A.P. technology identifies your strongest and weakest areas to create a personalized study plan for you. The linear course outline guides you through all course study materials, section by section.

Students who decide to use the A.S.A.P. technology will be asked to take an assessment quiz to gauge their knowledge on specific topics. The quiz is very in-depth and is 350 questions long. After you complete the assessment quiz, the software will devise a study plan that fits your specific needs.

You will see that each section of the CPA exam has a dedicated dashboard. This is nice as it helps separate the different sections and makes studying a little less overwhelming. You will see a couple of different things on your dashboard including number of questions you have answered, study sessions you have in progress, number of hours studied, your study schedule, and more.

While studying, you will find the course is split up into various topics and subtopics. Each topic can be expanded to see the subtopics associated with it. This is where you will do the majority of your studying. The topics include study questions, lesson videos, and readings to help you learn.

The videos consist of an expert in the bottom right corner talking over some slides. The videos tend to be in the 10-15 minute range, so they are good at keeping your attention.

Throughout the course, you will find practice questions scattered around. The questions are associated with topics and you can choose how many questions you want to practice within your study session.

Another cool feature is the ReadySCORE feature. As students complete the course, their ReadySCORE will improve and it will tell the candidate when they are truly ready to pass the exam.

Finally, you can take full-length practice exams to get a great feel for how you will do on the actual exam. The practice exams are timed and make it feel like you are taking the actual exam. After submitting your exam, you will get a results page that shows you different insights about your exam. You can review answers and see why something was correct or incorrect.

Additional Screenshots

Key Features

• 7700 practice questions
• 350+ bite-sized videos
• 400+ simulations
• Printed and digital textbooks

Key Differences from Other CPA Courses

• Proprietary technology like ReadyScore and A.S.A.P

Differences from Previous Versions

• Improved technology within course
• Improvements made within course to help user experience

Other Useful Resources

• Surgent CPA Review - Our team takes an in-depth look at Surgent and their different offerings.

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Wiley Review

Key Decision Making Factors

Pros and Cons

What to Expect - Hands on Walkthrough

Wiley offers three different CPA prep courses ranging from $1,499 to $2,199. All courses are available to candidates until they pass the CPA. For the most part, the courses have similar features, but we will be taking a look at the platinum CPA course that is offered for $1,499.

The platinum course includes over 140 hours of video lessons and lectures, 2,200+ pages of online CPA study materials, and 500+ task-based simulations. Wiley also offers 12,000+ multiple-choice practice questions and 5,000+ true/false practice questions.

The course also has more than 5,000 digital and printed flashcards to help candidates learn and retain as much information as possible. Wiley updates their CPA study guides twice a year and makes sure they align with the latest CPA exam layout. Students can feel confident they are studying the right material when using this prep course.

Like Becker, Wiley also offers a hybrid learning setting. Most of the material will be learned via on-demand videos, but candidates have the option of learning via live online CPA classes led by top accounting instructors.

On top of that, candidates also receive exclusive help from expert mentors throughout their time using the prep course. Our team really liked how Wiley gives students who use their course access to these experts - this can help save some time and ask questions you may not have been able to ask.

If candidates are looking for specific study materials for the CPA exam, Wiley offers those materials individually as well. Candidates can purchase study guides, focus notes, flash cards and more separately if that is all they are interested in.

Key Features

• 12000+ practice questions
• 140 hours of videos
• Unlimited practice exams
• 2200+ pages of online study text
• 4000+ flashcards

Key Differences From Other CPA Courses

• Ability to learn in a live online setting or self-paced setting
• Ask the experts feature

Differences From Previous Versions

• More simulations added
• Score predictor added

Other Useful Resources

• Wiley Reddit Review

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Gleim Review

Key Decision Making Factors

Pros and Cons

What to Expect - Hands on Walkthrough

Gleim offers a variety of different prep course options. Some of those options include:

• Test Bank - $999. This is a self-guided question bank.
• Traditional - $1599. This is the basic CPA prep course. Includes digital and printed books, audio lectures, 10000 multiple-choice questions, 1300+ task based simulations, 4 mock exams, and unlimited practice exams.
• Premium - $1999. This CPA review course includes everything listed above as well as video lectures, digital flashcards, additional mock exams, access to accounting experts, and access until you pass.

The Premium Review System is their most popular course - we will be looking at the prep course for our review.

The Premium Review System includes over 10,000 multiple-choice practice questions, 1,300 task-based simulations, 100+ hours of video lectures, audio lectures, and digital flashcards. This course also lets candidates seek guidance from personal counselors and assistance from accounting experts.

The personal counselors are there to support candidates throughout the whole CPA exam process – these counselors will help track your performance and help plan your studies in conjunction with the SmartAdapt tool.

Like the other courses, Gleim offers a tool called SmartAdapt that helps candidates study more efficiently. This tool detects weaknesses and recommends a personalized study plan. The tool also shows candidates detailed visual analytics.

With the premium course, you will have access until you pass - so there is no pressure to feel like you need to study to meet deadlines. We like how Gleim includes physical and digital books - this helps all types of students study based on their preferences.

Key Features

• 10000 practice questions
• 8 mock exams
• 1300 task-based simulations
• 100+ hours of video and audio lectures

Key Differences From Other CPA Courses

• Guidance from personal counselors
• Digital and physical books

Differences From Previous Versions

• Added task-based simulations

Other Useful Resources

• Gleim Reddit Review

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Yaeger Review

Key Decision Making Factors

Pros and Cons

What to Expect - Hands on Walkthrough

Yaeger offers two main options when it comes to CPA prep. Those options are:

• CPA Review Basic - $999. This includes 120 hours of video lectures, online textbooks, practice questions, quiz generator, exam simulator, 24-month access, and two 15 minute phone calls with Phil Yaeger.
• CPA Review Basic Plus+ - $1399. This includes everything that is listed above as well as unlimited access, an audio lecture series, and a cram course for each CPA section.

For our purposes, we will be looking at the CPA Review Basic Plus+ course.

The course includes 120+ hours of in-depth video lectures, downloadable PDF textbooks, audio lectures, and flashcards. Our favorite part about Yaeger is how they integrate the textbooks with the video lectures.

When you are watching the lecture videos, you will see the professor on the right-hand side and the information that they are talking about from your textbook on the left-hand side. This allows you to read and follow along with what they are saying for better retention. This is by far the best feature of this course.

Also included in the course are 5,000+ multiple choice practice questions, practice tests, and custom study plans. This CPA prep course reviews all 4 parts of the CPA exam and follows the blueprints laid out by the AICPA.

Yaeger offers 1-on-1 instructor access for candidates. This access is important for candidates that get hung up on certain topics or questions and allows them to get the help they need. On top of that, candidates also get two 15-minute phone calls with the found, Phil Yaeger. Phil will help you set up a personal study plan and will also provide a progress review.

Key Features

• 5000 practice questions
• 120+ hours of video
• Textbooks
• Phone calls with Phil Yaeger

Key Differences from Other CPA Courses

• Textbooks are integrated amazingly with the video lessons

Differences from Previous Versions

• Integration of textbooks with the videos

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How to Choose a CPA Course

Selecting a CPA review course is a very important process. Not only are these courses very expensive, but selecting the proper course can help save you a ton of time and allow you to study more efficiently. Our goal is to help you evaluate your options and choose the best CPA review course based on your specific needs.

What to Consider When Purchasing CPA Review Courses

Many different factors should be considered when purchasing CPA prep. One of the most important factors to consider is your individual needs. You need to select the course that is going to work best for you. If you are someone who cannot learn from reading a textbook, do not select a course that focuses heavily on textbook learning.

Price

Price is an important factor for many students, especially when it comes to CPA prep. While price is important, it should not be the only thing that is considered. To be honest, all of these CPA courses are expensive. A course should be looked at as an investment in your future - so choose the option that works best for you.

Content

Most CPA review courses offer great content. The biggest difference between the courses is how they present the content. The key is finding the provider that offers content that matches your needs and learning style.

Other Factors to Consider

Some other factors to consider include:

• Study discipline - if you routinely have trouble maintaining a study schedule, you'll find that a prep course could be worth it.
• Need for encouragement -if you need encouragement, feedback and motivation, a prep course with an instructor (either in-person or online) is a good option.
• Learning style -match one of the above best CPA prep courses to your learning style.

Alternatives: Do I Need a CPA Prep Course?

A CPA prep course may not be for everyone. These courses can become very expensive with some options costing more than $2500. Self-studying can be done for the CPA - it will require more work and effort on your part, but it can be done.

Here are some alternatives to consider:

• Free Practice Tests - Use our CPA practice exams to get a baseline.
• Self-Study - Check out this guide for some more information on how hard the CPA exam is.

Methodology: How We Tested CPA Review Courses

We looked at 11+ CPA prep options to start with. Our team then narrowed down those 11+ options to 6. Our team went into these courses and worked their way through the courses like they were actual students. We tried to find things that were not mentioned in the marketing material and things that students would find useful.

After sifting through the courses, we gave the courses different ratings for 5 different criteria. We assigned a weight to each of those criteria which helped us arrive at a final weighted score.

For more details, read about our independent review process.

FAQs About CPA Prep

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