Write down a systematic weekly study plan, taking into account study facilities, available time and availability of research resources. You should begin studying three months in advance of your exam. You will need to organize your daily routine to plan for at least one hour of study time per day. Consider buying a CPA review book that is broken down into modules. List your study goals for each week and at the end of that week, determine what you have studied and any areas that require additional study.
Practice simulations by working through the exercises on the AICPA website, which are real-life scenarios giving you options for performing a number of exercises, such as competing spreadsheets, researching issues or completing a written communication. Each simulation contains both a research and communication requirement. Brush up on basic spreadsheet skills to ensure proper use of the exam software.
Improve your basic writing skills. The written communication part of the exam is graded based on the quality of the written material and not the technical accuracy. However, the communication must be technically correct in order for it to be graded at all. You need to write a helpful and technically correct communication but you must also write it well.
Practice working problems under test conditions. You need to assimilate the knowledge tested on the examination, but you also need to spend time working actual test problems. You should spend one-half of your study time acquiring and reviewing the knowledge required on the exam and the other half of your time working potential examination questions.