ABA study plan
ABA · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 6 hours per week
Financial Accounting
Map the full financial accounting domain into a one-page outline of topics and subtopics
Explain the accounting cycle from initial transaction through trial balance without notes
Record journal entries for common accrual and deferral adjustments
Classify each major account type and state its normal balance and financial statement placement
Your checkpoint
A completed 40-question self-quiz on the accounting cycle and adjusting entries, scored and with every miss corrected in writing
Financial Accounting
Apply revenue recognition principles to multi-element and over-time arrangements
Compute depreciation, depletion, and amortization under multiple methods
Prepare entries for inventory cost-flow methods and lower-of-cost-or-market write-downs
Distinguish capital versus operating leases and record the related entries
Your checkpoint
A worked problem set of 10 computational items (revenue, depreciation, inventory, leases) solved to a final numeric answer with supporting entries
Financial Reporting
Differentiate the objectives and qualitative characteristics of general-purpose financial reporting
Identify the required components and disclosures of a complete set of financial statements
Analyze how changes in estimates and errors are reported and disclosed
Interpret segment, related-party, and subsequent-event disclosure requirements
Your checkpoint
A two-page disclosure checklist mapping each required disclosure to the statement where it appears, verified against a practice scenario
Financial Reporting & Financial Statement Preparation
Construct a classified balance sheet and multi-step income statement from a trial balance
Prepare a statement of cash flows using both the direct and indirect methods
Reconcile net income to operating cash flow and explain each reconciling item
Compute and interpret the statement of changes in equity
Your checkpoint
A full four-statement package built from a single supplied trial balance, with the cash flow reconciliation tying to the change in cash
Financial Statement Preparation
Prepare consolidated entries for intercompany transactions and non-controlling interests
Convert foreign-currency balances and record translation adjustments
Assemble a complete worksheet that eliminates intra-group balances
Detect and correct common preparation errors that break statement articulation
Your checkpoint
A consolidated worksheet with all elimination entries, where consolidated totals are independently recomputed and agree
Taxation
Compute taxable income from pre-tax book income by identifying each book-tax difference
Classify differences as permanent or temporary and record deferred tax entries
Apply the rules for net operating loss carryforwards and valuation allowances
Distinguish entity-level tax treatment across common business forms
Your checkpoint
A book-to-tax reconciliation schedule with a supporting deferred tax rollforward that foots to the tax expense figure
Managerial Accounting
Compute contribution margin, break-even point, and target-profit volume
Perform variance analysis for materials, labor, and overhead and label each variance favorable or unfavorable
Build a flexible budget and explain the volume versus spending components of each variance
Evaluate a capital budgeting proposal using payback, NPV, and IRR
Your checkpoint
A one-page decision memo recommending accept or reject for a capital project, with variance and break-even schedules attached
Financial Accounting & Financial Reporting & Financial Statement Preparation & Taxation & Managerial Accounting
Diagnose weakest subtopics from prior deliverable scores and rank them by point exposure
Re-solve every missed item from weeks 1 through 7 without reference to prior work
Complete two timed mixed-domain practice sets under exam pacing
State the core rule or formula behind each frequently missed item type
Your checkpoint
A timed 100-question cumulative practice exam scored at or above 75%, with a written correction log for every miss
Milestones
Week 2: Score at least 70% on the week-2 computational problem set and correctly record all adjusting and depreciation entries on a cold re-attempt
Week 4: Produce a four-statement package in which the cash flow statement ties to the change in cash and the balance sheet balances without plugging
Week 6: Complete the book-to-tax reconciliation and deferred tax rollforward with no unexplained differences and correct permanent versus temporary classification
Week 8: Score 75% or higher on the timed 100-question cumulative exam, with no single domain below 60%