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Beware Fly By Night CPA Exam Review Companies

This comes via Yahoo Answers:

How to start a CPA exam review company?
I have some spare money on my hand, and I would like to start a CPA(certified public accountant) exam review company. Can someone give me some advises about the procedures, or anything that would help me get started. How would I distribute the money that I have? I have around 100k. Thanks in advance!

2 weeks ago

Additional Details
I may not be qualified, but I can hire those who’s qualified.

Where do we start with this? Ignoring the fact that this would-be business owner is too lazy to do the preliminary research into what is required when opening a business and probably not at all equipped to help future CPAs navigate the terrors of sitting for the CPA exam, this asker assumes any asshole with a few bucks can run a CPA review course.

The issue with starting a CPA review course is that in order to teach what appears on the exam, the review course must have access to the new material released by the AICPA. Any idiot with an Internet connection can glean this information second-hand from the major review courses themselves, but I imagine that information is diluted by a second translation into said idiot’s review materials. Only a handful of companies actually meet with the AICPA to discuss new CPA exam material, and you can’t just elbow your way into that clique by waving around some cash.

As one answerer points out, the other issue is that as far as we can tell, this person isn’t a CPA. The only facts we know are that he or she has around $100,000 to blow on this and no idea “about the procedures.” Assuming they are not a CPA, that news will not be well-received by any would-be students, who might be slightly off-put by this person’s total lack of qualifications.

All this to say that you guys would be wise to do your homework before committing to a review course. Apparently anyone with $100,000 and a dream can start one.

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