Creating Study Guides to Boost Your Grades on Accounting Exams

I spent almost the last 4 decades teaching accounting to business college students. Also, for many years, publishers have hired me to create study guides as supplements to accounting and finance textbooks – tools to help students master content. Additionally, I have authored more than a dozen “quick study guides” for BarCharts Publishing, known for their best-selling learning tools.

While these publisher-created study guides, flash cards, and quick study tools can be very helpful, they should not replace custom study guides prepared by students. Your own, custom guides, created in anticipation of exams or quizzes, are essential for addressing specific course content and individual learning needs.

Creating your own study guides for accounting courses can greatly enhance your understanding and exam performance. Personalizing your study materials ensures that you are focusing on what is most relevant for your exams and assignments.

Here’s more on making your own study guides is valuable learning technique and how you can effectively prepare guides in your accounting and finance courses.

Benefits of Creating Your Own Study Guide

A significant benefit of crafting your own study guide is its customization. Unlike generic guides, your study guide can be tailored specifically to the topics and concepts covered in your accounting course. This customization ensures that your study efforts are aligned with what you need to know for your exams and assignments.

The process of creating a study guide also promotes active learning. As you review, summarize, and organize the material yourself, you engage more deeply with the content. This active involvement reinforces your understanding and improves retention, as you are actively processing and structuring the information rather than passively reading.

Moreover, a well-prepared study guide helps you focus on key concepts and areas where you need additional practice. This targeted approach makes your study sessions more efficient and less overwhelming, allowing for a more systematic and effective preparation.

How to Prepare Your Own Study Guide

Start by gathering all relevant course materials, including lecture notes, textbooks, and any past exams or quizzes. Good notetaking throughout the life of the course is crucial, as your notes can serve as a valuable source of information for your study guide.

As an accounting professor, I consistently emphasized the importance of detailed notetaking, which captures key concepts and details necessary for creating an effective study guide. And I noticed that only a few students in my courses too great notes. Not sure if note taking is emphasized as it was when I was in high school or even in the elementary grades (like 5th and 6th). I was lucky that my sixth grade teacher, showed us how to take notes and create outlines; a skill I am still using many decades later as I study for professional exams and for a tool to write articles and books.

To make your own effective study guide it helps if the professor has given some insight into what will be tested. I always prepared a list of key topics to be assessed. Utilize any “fair game” lists or exam specifications provided by your professor. These lists outline the topics and concepts that will be covered on exams or quizzes and can be extremely helpful in guiding your study efforts. Ask your professor if they would be willing to provide that!

Another approach is to Identify the learning objectives for your course, which are often outlined in textbooks and syllabi. These objectives highlight what you are expected to learn from each chapter or unit. Incorporating these objectives into your study guide ensures that you are covering all necessary content and focusing on the most important topics.

When preparing a study guide for your accounting or finance course, summarizing each topic with clear and concise explanations is essential for effective learning. Here’s how to approach this task to maximize your understanding and exam performance.

Simplify Complex Concepts

Start by breaking down complex accounting terms and concepts into simpler language. Use straightforward definitions and analogies to make abstract ideas more accessible. For example, liken a financial statement to a report card to simplify its components.

Highlight Key Points

Focus on the main ideas and core principles of each topic. For instance, when summarizing depreciation methods, emphasize the primary approaches like straight-line and declining balance, and their key differences. Providing practical examples can further clarify how these concepts are applied in real-world scenarios.

Organize Information Logically

Structure your study guide with clear headings, subheadings, and bullet points. This organization helps you navigate the content efficiently. For procedural topics, break down processes into step-by-step instructions. For example, list the steps for reconciling a bank statement in sequential order.

Incorporate Visual Aids

Use diagrams, charts, and tables to simplify complex data and illustrate relationships between concepts. A flowchart of the accounting cycle or a comparison table of inventory valuation methods can make these topics easier to understand.

One student, who sat in the front row, prepared who study guide by digitally clipping useful diagrams from the eBook version of our accounting textbook.  In the early days of a financial accounting course, she inserted images such as a table of the debit and credit rules and a diagram of the structure of a balance sheet.

Summarize Effectively

Keep your explanations brief yet complete. Focus on summarizing the essence of each topic without unnecessary details. Avoid jargon by using plain language and clearly define any technical terms that are necessary. For example, rather than  get hung upon the GAAP definition of an asset your study guide might state: “Assets are things of value that a business owns or controls. They can be anything from cash and equipment to buildings and inventory.”

Highlight Important Formulas and Definitions

Clearly present key formulas and equations, providing brief explanations of each component. For instance, in a section about ratio analysis, list the formulas for liquidity and profitability ratios and explain their significance. Include definitions for key terms to ensure a comprehensive understanding.

Include Practice Problems

In Outsmart Your Brain, Daniel Willingham emphasizes the importance of incorporating retrieval practice into your study guide. Retrieval practice involves actively recalling information from memory, rather than just reviewing notes. Willingham recommends including practice questions in your study guide to test your understanding and reinforce learning. By forcing yourself to retrieve information, this technique helps to strengthen your memory and significantly enhance long-term retention of the material. Add practice problems that reflect the types of questions you might face on exams. For example, after summarizing cost accounting concepts, include sample problems that require applying these concepts. Provide solutions and explanations to reinforce your understanding.

Consider having a classmate review your guide to ensure clarity and completeness. This also means that you shouldn’t wait till just before the exam to prepare the study guide. It should be an ongoing process – an almost living document that you are always updating with new information right up to the date of the exam. 

---

Author: Michael P. Griffin, CPA, author of MBA Fundamentals Accounting and Finance, was an Associate Teaching Professor of Accounting and Finance at the Charlton College of Business, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.