Last-Minute Advice: Passing CIA Part 3

Several CIA candidates have recently asked for last-minute advice for passing the CIA Part 3 exam. Candidates especially need help with the finance questions. Given these CIA exam questions, we have compiled some advice – good luck, soon-to-be CIAs!

Summary of the CIA Part 3 Exam

Part 3 of the CIA exam focuses on business knowledge needed for internal auditing. Therefore, you should study topics related to finance and financial management as well as IT, information security, governance, and business acumen.

What are the surprises on the CIA Part 3 exam?

The IIA doesn’t try to throw in trick questions in the CIA exam. But still, some candidates are caught off guard if they don’t review the entire CIA syllabus. For instance, people sometimes worry about the conceptual questions in addition to the numerical ones.

If you study with a good CIA review course, though, you shouldn’t have to worry about “surprises.” Most of the top courses – like Becker or Gleim – have study planners to make sure you review the entire CIA syllabus before exam day.

You need to practice with a calculator!

Remember that you’ll need a calculator to complete some of the calculations on the CIA exam. However, you can’t bring your own. You have two choices:

  • Check out a calculator from the Prometric staff when you sign in to take the exam.
  • Use the calculator function that is available within the exam itself. This function is easy enough to use, but you should still practice using it before exam day so you don’t have any surprises.

Practice the calculator function in mock CIA exams in your review course

Some of the CIA exam review courses, like Becker and Gleim, have mock exams that mimic the functionality of the CIA exam, including the calculator function.

Don’t forget to study these topics for passing CIA Part 3

  • You will definitely see a few questions about finance.
  • You should understand profitability ratios, too.
  • Review different valuation methods, investment decisions, cost management, and debt financing.
  • Remember your calculations, including basic ratios. It’s likely that you’ll have some questions that require you to recall calculations.
  • Business acumen topics are included in Part 3, too. So, you will probably see questions related to decision-making impacts, strategic and/or project management, and even motivational theory.
  • The use of AI in business processes is a big topic in the news these days, so you’ll likely see some questions related to AI and data analytics.
  • Be sure to review IT topics like security protocols (like firewalls), IT governance, the use of databases, and other cybersecurity topics.

Have you passed the Part 3 CIA exam? Leave a comment!

If you have already passed the CIA Part exam, what did you think? Do you think that the exam threw you any curve balls? Do you have last-minute advice for our readers? If so, please leave a comment, and we will post it for everyone to see!

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