Surgent CPA Review

Surgent Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Review is a technology-driven exam prep course for CPA aspirants. It is designed to enable candidates to pass the formidable CPA Exam faster with minimum study time. Its new adaptive learning technology coupled with experienced instructors and credible content makes Surgent one of the leading CPA review providers.

Though relatively new to the CPA market, Surgent has carved a niche among the review providers over a short span of time. Its award-winning learning platform has transformed the learning experience of thousands of students. As a result, Surgent now boasts of several awards and honors from within and outside the educational services industry.

Table of Contents

• Course Overview
• Features
• Surgent Review Courses
  • Individual Course Parts
  • Review Packages
• Pros & Cons
• FAQs
• Free Demo: A Walkthrough for the Students
• What do the customers say?
• Final Verdict

Surgent CPA Review is the only review course in the market that offers a 100% personalized study schedule through its award-winning A.S.A.P. (Adaptive Study, Accelerated Performance) technology.

A.S.A.P. technology works with real-time adaptive algorithms in four phases: Assessment, Study, Study, and Simulation, and finally, Practice and Pass. Its consistent performance tracking helps to identify your weak areas and adapt your study plan accordingly. This reduces your study time significantly.

Surgent claims to reduce 400 hours of your study time. As a result, Surgent students need to dedicate just 46 hours on average to pass each section. This makes it almost four times faster than the other review courses. 

Besides, Surgent’s ReadySCORE predicts your overall exam score with absolute precision. This helps you know just how ready you are to take the exam at any time. 

The course comes with an 88% pass rate. Surgent also assures a pass guarantee for every course and unlimited access until you pass the exam. Besides, it also offers a five-day free trial of the course. 

Needlessly, Surgent’s unique selling proposition is its adaptive learning technique. It helps candidates pass the exam faster with the least effort. Please note that students who prefer self-study with guided video lectures can make the most of this review course. Let's discuss some of the key features of the course.

#1 - ReadySCORE

ReadySCORE evaluates your preparedness to take up the CPA Exam. The course starts with an initial assessment. Then, the assessment result is mapped to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Exam Blueprints content weights to arrive at a ReadySCORE. This score gets updated as you progress through the course.

ReadySCORE analyses your performance by content area, question type, and topic. The software identifies your strong and weak areas and creates a study plan accordingly.  It helps you focus on topics that will help you improve your score in the future. As a result, you end up saving a lot of your study time.

Moreover, it reveals the exact time when you are ready to take up the exam. Note that students who obtain a ReadySCORE of 75 or more stand an 88% chance of passing the actual CPA Exam.

As per Surgent statistics, most students usually improve their ReadySCORE from 43% to 84% while learning with Surgent. Note that you can view your ReadySCORE on your online dashboard.

To find out your ReadySCORE before starting the course, you must enter some details. The details include your learning method, difficulty level, scheduled exam day, and preferred days to study. After that, start answering the assessment quizzes. On completion of the quizzes, a performance report is generated with your ReadySCORE.

The cutting-edge ReadySCORE technology won the Silver Stevie Award in the Technical Innovation of the Year category at the 2019 American Business Awards. 

#2 - A.S.A.P. Technology

Surgent’s proprietary A.S.A.P. technology evaluates your strengths and areas of improvement to create customized study plans. This truly adaptive machinery utilizes a real-time algorithm for progress tracking. 

It has helped candidates attain pass rates almost 40 points higher (with 80% fewer study hours) than the national average. Moreover, the personalized study plan adapts as you go along the prep journey with Surgent.

As displayed below, you can choose A.S.A.P. or traditional study style as per your preferences. If you opt for the adaptive technology, then complete a uniquely selected assessment quiz with multiple-choice questions (MCQs). 

#3 - Daily Surge

Depending on ReadySCORE, Surgent designs a customized study plan. The study plan includes your personalized Daily Surge with recommended study material and practice tests. You may pick bite-sized video lectures, reading material, or MCQs from the surge according to your suitability. 

As you progress through your course, you may transition from the Study phase to the Study plus Simulation phase. You enter this phase when you have mastered the MCOs. In this phase, your daily surge will include task-based simulations (TBSs).

#4 - MyMCQ

MyMCQ is the recent software enhancement to the review course. It analyses your existing knowledge and automatically adjusts the difficulty level of the MCQs. Furthermore, you can increase the difficulty level manually as well. 

It imitates the multistage adaptive test delivery model that AICPA uses in the actual CPA Exam. MyMCQ enhances the complexity of questions depending on your performance. It tests you on topics you need to get exam ready.

It increases your exam preparedness by understanding your weak areas and including more questions from them. However, as your proficiency improves, the difficulty of the questions also increases. This continues till you become adept at them.

This approach saves a lot of study time as it helps you focus on challenging MCQs and not waste time on the ones you already know. As per Surgent, CPA candidates have saved an additional 17% in study time since its introduction.

Please note that you must master sufficient MCQs to attempt simulations in the study program. 

#5 - UNLIMITED Course Access

Surgent offers you unlimited course access till the time you crack the CPA exam. Also, it keeps updating the course materials throughout the process with no extra charges. This way, you can stay assured of studying only the currently relevant concepts. 

Moreover, it helps working professionals to study as per their schedule without any time limitations. 

#6 - Bite-sized Videos

Students study through over 350 short, simple, and effective video lectures with the Surgent. Each video is mostly 10-20 minutes. They explain complicated topics in digestible chunks and provide personalized study notes. 

You can access only relevant videos and skip the ones that you do not need. Moreover, you can stream the audio-visual classes on the go through your car stereo or with headphones. The video sessions also include PDFs of the lecture slide presentations. 

As displayed above, you can watch videos for the section-specific area. Click on Watch Videos, select the preferred video, and go through it. 

You can also read the transcript mentioned alongside the same.

Moreover, for topic-specific videos, select any area, choose a topic, and click Watch Video.

#7 - Practice Exams

Surgent’s final phase consists of practice exams. They mirror the actual licensure test in terms of format, functionality, and layout. It also teaches you time management so that you can finish the test within the stipulated period.

You must take the practice exams after you have gained enough proficiency in MCQs and simulations. It consists of five testlets of MCQs and TBSs.

#8 - Flashcards

Flashcards are available with Premier and Ultimate Pass review packages. Students with Essentials Pass can buy printed flashcards for $135. Moreover, the review course also offers a free mobile flashcard app for both Android and iOS users. 

The flashcards are updated quarterly to ensure students receive updated content. It contains plenty of practical terms with definitions. Each exam section contains around 250 flashcards.

#9 - Automatic updates

CPA Exam’s content is periodically updated to reflect the changes in the accounting profession. The updates are reflected in the AICPA CPA Blueprints. Surgent maps its content continuously with the blueprints to ensure the course maintains its relevance. Moreover, the revisions are automatically updated through the learning software.

The Surgent CPA Review is available as individual course parts and study packages. The individual course parts include the four CPA Exam sections: Auditing & Attestation (AUD), Business Environment & Concepts (BEC), Financial Accounting & Reporting (FAR), and Regulation (REG).

The available study packages are Essentials Pass, Premier Pass, and Ultimate Pass. These packages are available at discounted rates. Besides, Surgent also offers flexible payment plans.

Individual Course Parts

Review Packages - Essentials, Premier, & Ultimate Pass

Click here to Compare Surgent CPA Review Courses

Please note that to avail the flexible payment option, you must buy with Surgent partner Affirm. Affirm allows you to pay monthly for your purchase. However, it charges 0% to 30% interest depending on the loan period (3, 6, or 12 months).

Pros

#1 - Measurable Results

Surgent consistently upgrades its algorithms to optimize the learning procedure as much as possible. As a result, surgent students get exam-ready in a better and faster way.

Other prep course providers take up as much as 200 hours to complete one section. These include Becker with 190 hours, Gleim with 309 hours, Wiley with 281 hours, and Roger with 192 hours. On the other hand, Surgent students can pass with 46 average study hours per section. 

They beat the average 1-in-2 chances of CPA exam success with sheer ease. Here is the proof. 

#2 - Pass Guarantee

The review course comes with a 100% pass guarantee. In addition, Surgent undertakes to refund the entire tuition fee if a candidate does not qualify. However, candidates must fulfill specific terms and conditions. Please note that individual course sections are not qualified for this program.

To qualify for a refund, you must:

• register and pay the whole tuition fee (with scholarships and discounts) for the entire course
• fail all four CPA exam sections
• attain a ReadySCORE of a minimum of 75 in each section
• get 75 in at least one completed practice exam in each section of the course
• take each section within four months of starting to study that section
• sit for all four sections within 18 months of course purchase

To claim a refund, students must send the score reports for each failed section. It must be sent to the concerned address within ten days of the final score release date.

#3 - Mobile Friendly

You can use the review course on your smartphones (Android and iPhones) or tablets anywhere and anytime. The user interface is smooth, attractive, and 100% mobile-friendly. You can view all the features, including videos, easily on your mobile device. 

#4 - Excellent Student Support

The Surgent Student Support team leaves no stone unturned in offering you the best possible assistance. In addition, Premier and Ultimate Pass students may avail the help of Success Coaches. The latter helps them follow a proper study schedule and leverage some smart test-taking tips. 

For content-specific help, email your queries to editorial@surgent.com or contact through phone or live chat. The Surgent team will reply as soon as possible (within one business day for Ultimate Pass students). 

Ensure to include your Question ID Number and Exam Section to receive accurate answers. 

To avail support, open your online dashboard, click the question mark icon, choose Help, and pick the preferred communication method. 

#5 - Exclusive Discounts

The Surgent CPA Review provides you with flexible payment options and several discounts. This makes your exam preparation journey more affordable and seamless. 

• Webinar Discount Code - Join a 30-45-minute webinar on an engaging demo of the CPA review program. You will receive a special discount code on your course purchase. 
• Switch to Surgent – Use code SWITCHFULL for Essentials (save $700), SWITHCPREM for Premier (save $1100), and SWITCHULT for Ultimate pass (save $1200). Submit proof of purchase of a minimum of $750 (full course).
• September Sale – Use code ESS700, PREM1000, or ULT1100, to save $700 on Essentials, $1000 on Premier, & $1100 on Ultimate pass respectively.  

#6 - Professional Instructors

The entire Surgent team has years of practical experience as CPAs. Their lectures are short but detailed. They use a student-friendly approach to teaching. Reputed instructors like Liz Kolar and Jack Surgent are a part of the team. 

You can also avail a dedicated exam coach with the Ultimate Pass package. The coach will guide you throughout your exam journey. This way, you can ensure direct doubt-clearing discussion with a professional. 

#7 - Extensive Study Material

Surgent provides you with an ample amount of reading material. It includes more than 7700 MCQs, 400 plus TBSs, 350 video lectures, textbooks, and flashcards. 

You can avail of digital textbooks with Essentials Pass. At the same time, Premier and Ultimate Pass offer a set of printed books. The study material is divided into particular topics to make you learn only the relevant content. 

Besides, students with Ultimate Pass can avail additional 1000 MCQs and 1-on-1 tutoring with experts. 

Cons

#1 - No Audio Lectures

Surgent offers audio lectures only for the Ultimate Pass holders. It makes the students with Essentials and Premier Pass unable to access this highly efficient learning tool. Hence, they must introduce this feature for the other two packages as well. 

#2 - No Mobile App

Though the review course is mobile-compatible, it doesn’t have a separate app. This may create a few issues while learning on the go. However, students can download the flashcard app and go through the relevant definitions on the go.

#3 - Trial Period

The free trial offered by Surgent lasts only five days. Increasing the free trial period will ensure that students get the hang of the adaptive learning platform better. This will ensure more students opting for it as against the linear learning model.

Click Here to can gain access to the free trial of Surgent CPA Review

To start with the course, do the following:

1. Log in to your account.
2. Answer some profile questions.

3. Before starting your Assessment phase, select the learning method (traditional or A.S.A.P.), preferred days to study, scheduled exam date, and difficulty level. The following screen appears. To begin the assessment and establish your baseline ReadySCORE, click LET’S GO.

4. To start the assessment quiz, click START.

There are ten quizzes. Answer them to the best of your ability.

5. After completing all ten quizzes, you receive a diagnostic report displaying your initial ReadySCORE. The report highlights your strong and weak areas. This helps Surgent to create a personalized study plan to improve your ReadySCORE throughout the review course.

6. In the Study phase, you will have your Daily Surge. The Daily Surge indicates your personalized study plan. You can choose the section and specific topics to study.

The dashboard also includes the following icons presenting specific information:

7. To view section-specific areas with study questions and video lectures, scroll down the dashboard.

Moreover, you can also choose a desired study session and question type.

Surgent strives to make you exam-ready as soon as possible through consistent performance tracking. It evaluates your study hours, number of answered questions, study break, and regular study time. 

Moreover, you can always change your study schedule and style as per your suitability. Below-mentioned is the last part of your dashboard. 

Surgent keeps informing you of the phase you are in, the current one being study phase. The review course tracks your progress and determines the point when you are ready to take the simulations. After that, it will move you into the Study plus Simulation phase.

8. In the Study plus Simulation phase, simulations will appear in the daily surge. However, you can also choose a simulation yourself. To make a selection, hover on any grey spots and view the simulation number, category, and status.

Here is an example of a simulation. 

9. In the final Practice phase, you take practice exams that replicate the actual exam. You can take the practice exam from the daily surge or manually select it from your dashboard.

On the dashboard, select Take Practice Exam, click Start Exam, and complete the exam.

Each practice exam has five timed testlets. You must complete the exam within four hours.

The user interface of the practice exams is similar to the real CPA Exam. You are provided with all the resources and tools that you may come across on the actual exam, like calculators, Excel sheets, etc. This familiarizes you with the format and prepares you to take the test.

Take a look at some of the Surgent student reviews.

Surgent CPA Review teaches you how to leverage the modern adaptive technology. It makes you learn faster while also keeping a tab on your overall performance. 

It enjoys an average five-star rating (as evident from user-generated reviews). This proves students’ appreciation for its personalized learning approach and comprehensive study material. 

Precisely put, make the most of your study time and focus on only the weaker parts with Surgent. This will ensure 100% exam success with flying scores!