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Reasons to Avoid a CIA Exam Books Free Download
If you’re searching for CIA exam books to download for free, you likely have many reasons for doing this. For example, most people searching for free CIA review materials have financial hardships. So, they don’t feel that they can afford to pay for a review course. And downloading CIA exam review materials for free can sound enticing. But, I have a few reasons why you may want to reconsider a CIA exam books free download. Discover these reasons now, so you don’t make a major CIA exam mistake.
Reasons to Avoid A CIA Exam Books Free Download
1. Free CIA Exam Downloads Are Usually Pirated
Utilizing free CIA book downloads is illegal. And the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), the organization that awards the CIA certification, focuses heavily on ethics. As such, the IIA is dedicated to ensuring that CIAs and future CIAs uphold ethical values. So, if the IIA were to discover that you pirated materials or used pirated materials, they could deny you the ability to take the CIA exam or become a CIA.
And if you’re using CIA exam free preparation downloads to cut costs, you may also be missing the bigger picture. Not only is downloading free CIA exam materials illegal, but it may also cause you to fail the exam. Why? Because, in our experience, most pirated CIA exam materials come from previous editions of exam prep.
So, because these editions are older, they don’t reflect the current CIA exam syllabus. And if your download doesn’t have the latest updates, you won’t learn about large topic areas. Or, you’ll learn incorrect information. In turn, this inaccurate and ineffective study may cause you to fail. And failing will cause you to have to pay costly retake fees and potentially more CIA registration fees. Finally, failing the CIA exam once or more delays the bonuses and better job opportunities the CIA affords.
2. Free CIA Book Downloads Aren’t Comprehensive
What’s more, studying only with a book won’t set you up for exam success. The CIA exam pass rates prove that the exam is very difficult. So, you don’t want to increase your odds of failing by limiting your study resources. But downloading a free CIA book makes you do just that because many CIA books don’t contain practice questions anymore. Recently, several CIA providers have elected not to include practice questions in their books because of piracy issues. Therefore, a free CIA book download won’t give you access to materials that are essential for passing the exam.
Instead, the only way to have the best chance at CIA exam success is to purchase a complete study solution. A CIA review course is complete when it includes:
- lectures that actually teach you the material,
- an interactive test bank that introduces you to the format of the exam questions,
- help from the experts that enable you to work through tough topics,
- and more.
And of course, with a comprehensive review course, you won’t have to worry about using outdated materials. What’s more, your review course will tell you everything you need to know. So, you’ll never need to look at the CIA exam syllabus. Additionally, your review course provider will update your course in real time whenever the IIA makes a syllabus change. And they’ll do it for free. You won’t have to pay extra money to receive the new updates.
3. Studying Solely From An eBook Leaves Much To Be Desired
Finally, downloading illegal free CIA exam books doesn’t give you the best study experience. Significant amounts of research show that actively reading your textbook by writing out notes and rewriting those notes can greatly improve your understanding and retention of the information. And in an ebook, you can’t highlight the text or take notes in the margins. You also can’t write down the explanation of a topic in your own words immediately after learning about it.
Furthermore, you have to embark upon a scavenger hunt to find the free CIA textbook in the first place. And many of the free CIA download sites pass along malware to users. So, during your search, you’re at risk of accidentally downloading a virus.
Finally, if you decide to print the ebook, you’ll spend a lot on ink and paper. The process will also cost you a good deal of time. For this reason, you’d be better off purchasing the review course. Acquiring a review course is much easier than printing your own book, and it gives you several more resources for your effort. For example, most review courses come with instructional video lectures, adaptive learning technology, and practice questions covering all the important topics.
The Cost of a CIA Exam Review Materials Free Download
In the end, using free downloads can be extremely expensive for the following reasons:
- If you are caught using or sharing pirated materials, the IIA can deny you the CIA title. And without the CIA title, you’ll miss out on jobs, promotions, and bonuses.
- Old free CIA PDF downloads usually contain irrelevant information and errors that won’t get fixed because review providers only correct and update legally paid-for materials. Consequently, learning this information can cause failure and force you to pay retake fees.
- Passing the CIA exam requires comprehensive knowledge and experience with practice questions. Therefore, relying on a one-dimensional learning solution also increases your chance of failure and the likelihood of having to pay to take the exam again.
We understand that the CIA exam can be expensive. We have paid for it ourselves and know the costs firsthand. However, we also know that pirating materials is risky for many reasons. And in the end, getting free CIA PDF downloads can end up costing you much more than paying for the right materials at the beginning of your studies.
A Free CIA Exam Materials Scenario
For example, if you pay for the CIA exam and purchase a review course, you’ll end up paying around $2,000 to become a CIA.
However, if you fail the 3 parts (either once or multiple times) because you didn’t purchase a CIA review course, you’ll end up paying at least $2,500 (including retake fees and costly extension fees that you’ll likely incur as a result of running out of time to complete the exam in the allotted window). And if you are also forgoing job opportunities (promotions, a new career, bonuses, etc.) during this same time, you might actually end up losing out on $5,000 or much, much more.
So, you could pay $2,000, pass the CIA exam on the first try, and gain thousands of dollars in better job opportunities, bonuses, or promotions. Or, you could pay far more in exam fees, retake fees, and extension fees and lose up to tens of thousands of dollars by stunting your career because becoming a CIA is taking longer than necessary.
In most cases, you’ll be able to recoup your CIA exam costs in the first year of employment as a CIA. Furthermore, you may also be able to receive employer assistance for exam fees and materials. In this case, you don’t have a reason to avoid going the safe route and purchasing valid CIA exam materials.
Ways to Save on CIA Exam Fees (While Still Using Legit Materials)
Use my exclusive CIA review discounts to save on your exam prep.
With these discounts, you can save money and thereby increase the value of the review course you purchase. You can also ensure that you get a full review course containing instructional lectures, access until you pass, thousands of practice questions, and more without having to break the bank. For example, you can use my Gleim CIA Review discount to get a complete course with a pass rate of 90%+, which is a little more than twice the national CIA exam pass rate average.
Pass the CIA exam on your first attempt.
While this goal should be on everyone’s radar, some candidates rely on the fact that they can retake the exams to not study as diligently the first time. Knowing they can retake the exam, candidates may also not be as inclined to purchase review materials right away. But if you wait to get study materials and fail the exam as a result, you’re spending more money!
Schedule your exam and stick with your exam date.
Rescheduling or canceling your CIA exam date will also cost you. So, sticking with your original plans and sitting for the exam on your scheduled date is the best way to keep your exam expenses down.
Save up for CIA exam prep.
If your financial situation dictates that you save some money before you take the CIA exam, then you should take this step so you can still afford a high-quality CIA review course. Taking the time to save your money and legally purchase a complete course rather than cheating the system by downloading pirated, one-dimensional books is worth the sacrifice, as you’ll have a better chance of passing the exam the first time and lowering the price of the overall CIA certification process.
Take advantage of financing or a payment plan.
If you have a new job, bonus, or promotion on the horizon, then you have all the more reason to earn the CIA ASAP. Therefore, you should utilize the financing that some review providers offer so that financial restrictions don’t have to hold you back. Or, you can pay with a credit card, which is possible with any of the CIA review courses we recommend. If you commit to passing the CIA exam in a reasonable amount of time, then paying with a credit card isn’t too risky.
So, regardless of what you decide to do, if you don’t have a lot of money, you have some good options. But the only option we don’t recommend is preparing for the exam without a review course!
One Last Problem with a CIA Exam Books Free Download
In addition to all the reasons for buying a CIA review course that we’ve already covered, one final reason to remember is the opportunity to evade frustration. The process of taking any accounting certification exam is taxing on both you and your family members. Therefore, we highly recommend taking the CIA exam as quickly as possible. That way, you can move on with your life. Dragging out the CIA process offers no benefits to you. So, you shouldn’t continue to frustrate yourself, your employer, your co-workers, your friends, and your family by constantly retaking the CIA exam.
But, because the best CIA review course also includes access until you pass and a no-hassle money-back guarantee, you don’t have to worry about losing access to your course if passing the CIA exam does take longer than you planned. And you’ll never have to pay additional fees for your access and course updates. Furthermore, if you decide that you don’t want to become a CIA after you purchase the course, you can request a refund of your money. But, please note that restrictions may apply.
So, if you need help identifying the best CIA review course for your budget, please contact us. We are happy to help!
About the Author Stephanie
I am the author of How to Pass The CPA Exam (published by Wiley) and the publisher of this and several accounting professional exam prep sites.
