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Helpful Study Tips for Accounting Students

Quick Highlights:

  • Mastering accounting basics is crucial before advancing.
  • Effective study techniques include using visual aids, practicing problems repeatedly, and creating study groups.
  • Time management is essential; setting a routine study time helps improve focus and retention.
  • Maintaining physical health is important for effective studying, including eating well, exercising, and getting enough sleep.

Table of contents

While accounting has developed a reputation for being difficult, this isn’t actually true. With a little effort, you can overcome any challenges. Developing strategies that help you study accounting will be crucial. 

Why is studying important? Figuring out how to study for accounting exams and classes is important because you have to pass your licensing exam in order to be an accountant. By learning the best study tips for accounting students, you can increase the odds that you will pass this test and get hired in a lucrative career field. 

Through the top accounting exam preparation tips, you can prepare yourself for a rewarding career. Effective study habits and time are the only skills you need to pursue a career in accounting. 

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Understanding Accounting Basics

Before you can move on to more complex topics, you first need to learn the accounting basics. You should devote a significant portion of your time to the fundamental concepts involved in accounting. For example, you’ll probably study areas like:

  • Accounting equation
  • Double-entry bookkeeping
  • Comparability and consistency principles 
  • Financial statements
  • Balance sheets 
  • Money measurement concept
  • Dual aspect concept 

You need to gain a solid foundation in the basics of accounting. Everything else will eventually build on these basic concepts, so you need to understand them first. 

Effective Study Techniques

Once you know what you want to study, the next step is learning how to study accounting. With the right accounting exam preparation tips, you can make it easier to prepare for your exams at school. Later on, the same study tips for accounting students can help you prepare for your accounting license. 

Use Visual Aids 

If you’re simply memorizing definitions, it can be difficult to master accounting concepts. Sometimes, you may want to incorporate flow diagrams and charts into your study materials so that you can easily understand different financial processes and relationships. 

Try Practice Problems 

Once you have learned how a concept works, one of the best things you can do to remember it is to put it into practice. You should get an accounting workbook or look online for example problems. Then, you should keep doing these practice problems until you are consistently getting the right answer. 

In addition to helping you learn the concepts; this technique is important for another reason as well. Many of these practice problems will eventually appear on a test, so they are an excellent way to prepare for a future exam.   

Use Repetition 

Another one of the best study tips for exams is to use repetition. In fact, you may need to recall something up to 30 times before you can remember it.   

For an even better approach, try to space your recall attempts farther apart. For example, you may want to review your flashcards at 1-hour, 4-hour, 24-hour, and 48-hour intervals. Progressively increasing the time between recall attempts has been shown to boost an individual’s memorization abilities. 

Read the Textbook 

While reading the textbook won’t necessarily help with memorization, it is an excellent way to contextualize knowledge. Before you have a class on a specific subject, you should read the textbook in advance. This helps to prepare you for the class. Plus, you will know what type of questions you have when you go into the class instead of having to wait until the class starts to think about them.

Create a Study Group 

A study group is one of the best accounting test tips. With a study group, you can get feedback and advice from people who are taking the same class as you are. In addition, you can share flashcards and get help with memorizing information.  

Time Management Strategies

Time management skills are critical for success in college. You need to set aside time in your calendar for studying. When this studying time occurs, you should go to a quiet space and ignore any distractions. 

By setting aside a specific time for studying each day, you can turn your sessions into a routine. This makes it easier to focus and transition to studying when each session arrives. Plus, the added focus can help with learning retention. 

Utilizing Resources

Don’t be afraid to reach out to other people to find study tips. Universities typically have tutoring centers on campus where you can go for help. Other than forming a study group, you can ask your professor for help during their office hours. 

If you want support while you are studying at home, you can always look up answers in your textbooks. You can also go online to discover accounting software and tutorials. 

Practice and Application

Ultimately, all of your accounting knowledge will be used in your day-to-day life as an accountant. Because of this, it is important to put your theoretical knowledge to work. For example, you may want to use simulated accounting scenarios. 

You can typically find these scenarios and practice problems in your accounting textbook. These types of questions are common on accounting tests, so they are important for you to study. 

Preparing for Exams

Some of the best study tips for exams focus on what happens on the day of the exam and right beforehand. By the time the exam takes place, you shouldn’t be learning anything new. Instead, you should simply be reviewing all of the information you have already learned. 

This process may involve going through your old exam papers and homework assignments to review problems you missed. If you get test anxiety, you may want to work on techniques, like deep breathing, meditation, and hypnosis, that can help with stress. Before the day of the exam, make sure to eat a good dinner and get plenty of sleep so that you are ready to focus.

Maintaining Health and Wellbeing

While learning how to study for accounting exams is important, you should also remember to take care of your physical health. You will have a difficult time focusing on your test if you are exhausted or sick. Because of this, you need to find a healthy balance between studying and rest. 

The following tips can help you stay healthy as you prepare for a big exam. 

  • Eat a balanced diet so that your body and brain have the right nutrients. 
  • Use deep breathing, meditation, or yoga to relax and refocus. 
  • Exercise can boost your endorphins and help you maintain your physical health. It can also boost your concentration abilities. 
  • Getting plenty of sleep is important for your overall health and your ability to recall information. 
  • Take regular breaks when you are studying. This can improve your ability to focus.

Prepare for an Accounting Career 

Why study accounting? Through the best accounting exam preparation tips, you can prepare for a career that brings in an average entry-level salary of $62,726 per year according to Glassdoor. To prepare for this highly paid career, you’ll need to learn how to properly study.   

By learning how to study for accounting exams, you can learn information faster. More importantly, using effective strategies to study accounting can increase the odds that you will pass your test. These study tips can help you pass your exam and enjoy your learning journey in accounting.