What is a CPA Tutor?
CPA exam tutoring is an emerging market that works to supplement review courses and replace existing study methods. A CPA tutor is not just a content expert. Yes, a CPA tutor should be someone who has already passed the CPA Exams, thus gaining the experience and knowledge of how to coach someone in passing the exams. However, simply having passed the exams is not enough. A CPA tutor is not solely a teacher, he or she is also a coach, an accountability partner, and an all-around guide to your success in passing.
My name is Nick Palazzolo, a CPA, a current CPA tutor, and a former tutee of a CPA tutor. After experiencing both sides as a tutee and tutor, I would like to share with you how immensely beneficial working with a CPA tutor can be.
Why should I work with a CPA Tutor?
1. Accountability
There are countless sources of knowledge on the Internet, all accessible for free. Whether you are interested in studying coding, finance, or accounting, a simple Google search will return more information than you could ever cover by yourself. Since this is the case, why is every individual not an expert in every field? The answer is accountability.
We as human beings are not robots, and we lose focus. Throughout my experience studying in college or preparing for my own CPA Exams, accountability was the deciding factor of my own success. Holding myself accountable is not the easiest to do. As I prepared for the exam, did I have someone holding me accountable to finish studying pension accounting? Even if I reviewed a whole pension chapter, did I fully comprehend it? Did I fully immerse myself in the questions asked and could I apply what I studied? These are the factors that a CPA tutor addresses most efficiently. Yes, it is quite possible to pass the exam on your own. However, how much more efficient could you be having someone holding you accountable to your goal? My answer is, immeasurably more efficient. Could a tutor shave off months of studying for you? Why yes, many will attest to that. Accountability and efficiency are what many candidates working with a tutor accept early in their CPA Exam journey, it is why I myself worked with a CPA tutor, and it is why I continue to work with coaches and tutors as I pursue new opportunities in professional development.
2. Giving the Exam 100%
In order to sit for the CPA Exam, you have spent countless hours and dollars on college courses, perhaps worked an intensive job as a tax or audit staff and endured much stress to ensure that you will meet the 3 Es to earn your CPA license (Education, Experience, and Exam). This exam is your final (and many times most difficult) hurdle. It is what you have been preparing for all these years and passing it should be your goal by any means necessary. Many students agree that it is better to double down and hire a tutor than to struggle with additional parts of the exam or not pass at all.
While passing the exam is the goal you have prepared so much for, this feat challenges thousands of candidates each year. If you find yourself needing to seek additional support in your studies by working with a tutor, there is nothing wrong with that. Yes, there is a financial component of having to invest additional funds into your studies and exam prep. However, many students will attest to the money saved by knocking out the exams with a tutor.
3. Weighting of Exam Material & Experience
You as a CPA Exam candidate do not have all the time in the world. Whether you are raising a family, beginning or maintaining a career, or simply doing your best to enjoy life, committing 500 quality hours to study for an exam can seem close to impossible. As someone who tutors CPA Exam candidates for countless hours each week, I have become adept at the “ins and outs” of how the AICPA presents questions on the exam. When a CPA tutor spends years teaching through every concept needed to pass the exam with multiple students, he or she develops an understanding on what content is necessary to pass and which topics are “fluff”.
While review courses such as Becker and Roger are essential to passing the exam, they cover every topic that could ever be asked on the exam including those so lightly weighted, only 1 in 10 candidates may see a question on it. Working with a CPA tutor, however, provides you with insight into which topics are worth your time to study, so you are able to prioritize the more critical topics. A CPA tutor has gone through the struggles you are currently experiencing and knows that the exam is a marathon, not a sprint, and has run this race before.