Best Supplemental CPA Course (2026): How to Choose What to Add to Your Review Course
Kyle Ashcraft, CPA · 2019 CPA Exam Scores · 95 FAR · 98 BEC · 91 REG · 90 AUD
You already own a CPA review course. It is mostly working, but something is not: you are behind on the lectures, a few topics keep slipping, or your practice scores have stopped climbing. So you are shopping for a supplement, and you want to avoid spending money on the wrong kind.
I run one of the courses people use as a supplement, so take my judgments as mine. What I can do is lay out the three different jobs a supplement does, tell you how to tell which one you need, and say plainly where I am not the right answer. The mistake I see most is buying the wrong job.
Quick answer: the best supplement is the one that fixes your actual problem. If you need more practice questions, buy a test bank. If you want notes and audio for dead time, NINJA's Supplement is built for that. If the concepts are not clicking or you are running out of time for the lectures, add short teaching on only those topics. Keep your main course in all three cases.
On this page
Last updated October 2026. Gleim information is from Gleim's own pages as read on October 14, 2026. NINJA information is from NINJA's own pages as checked on October 10, 2026. Maxwell student figures come from Maxwell CPA Review onboarding surveys and practice data as of October 2026 and describe my students, not every candidate.
What is a supplemental CPA course?
It is something you add to the course you already own, not something that replaces it. You keep the main course's calendar, its textbook and its mock exams, and you use the supplement for one specific gap. That is different from buying a second full course, which is what most people end up doing by accident and rarely finish.
What are the three jobs a supplement does?
| The job | Example | Published price | Best when |
|---|---|---|---|
| More practice questions | Gleim CPA Mega Test Bank: 12,000-plus multiple-choice questions and 1,200-plus task-based simulations across all sections, plus digital books, 18 months of access | $999 for all sections, or $250 per section | You understand the material and run out of fresh questions |
| Notes and audio | NINJA Supplement: the NINJA Notes, Audio and MCQs | $67 a month | You want condensed written notes and audio for commutes and dead time |
| Short teaching on the topics that are not landing | Maxwell CPA Review: short topic lessons with a quiz set for each, all six sections | $49 a month | You are behind on lectures or a few concepts keep not clicking |
Gleim and NINJA prices are from their own pages (Gleim read October 14, 2026; NINJA checked October 10, 2026), and they change often, so confirm them before you buy. Gleim runs promotions and student discounts. I do not quote Becker or UWorld prices, because their own pages disagree with each other.
Two things the table leaves out. First, UWorld and Gleim have the two largest question banks in the category, so if your gap is purely practice volume, you are looking at them whichever main course you own. Second, none of these jobs replaces the others. A test bank will not explain a concept you never understood, and short lessons will not give you ten thousand extra questions.
How do you tell which one you need?
Look at the last question you got wrong. If you read the answer and thought "of course, I knew that," you need repetitions, so a bigger bank helps. If you read the answer and still did not follow why it went that way, more questions will not fix it. You will get faster at recognizing that question and no better at the next one built on the same rule.
My own student data points the same way. Among students who told me how they did, the ones who reported a pass and the ones who reported a fail had answered about the same number of practice questions, roughly 1,300 each. What differed was how much of the lecture content they had watched: 71% for passers against 54% for those who failed. That is a correlation in a self-reported sample, not proof of cause, but it says the answer is rarely more questions.
A quick test. Pick one topic you keep missing. Do twenty questions on it. If you miss them for different reasons each time, you need practice. If you miss them for the same reason each time, you need that one idea explained again.
What should you add to the course you own?
I have written a page for each pairing, because the gap is usually different for each course and each section. These pages are about how Maxwell CPA Review works alongside what you own. They are not a ranking of other courses.
| You own | FAR | AUD | REG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Becker | FAR Becker supplement | AUD Becker supplement | REG Becker supplement |
| UWorld | FAR UWorld supplement | AUD UWorld supplement | REG UWorld supplement |
| Gleim | FAR Gleim supplement | Same approach as FAR | Same approach as FAR |
If you own Becker and are not sure whether you need anything at all, start with whether Becker is enough. If you are retaking a section, start with what to change after a failed section. And if you are comparing a supplement against a full switch, see the full CPA review course comparison.
What mistakes waste money?
- Buying a second full course. It gives you another library you will not finish. A supplement should be smaller than what you own, not larger.
- Buying a bigger bank to fix a concept problem. If you keep missing the same kind of question for the same reason, volume will not help.
- Switching courses late. Starting over on lectures with weeks to go is the thing you do not have time for. Keep your main course and patch the gap.
- Adding a supplement without a stop date. Decide which topics it covers and when you are done with it. A monthly plan makes that easy to enforce, because you can cancel when the gap closes.
- Skipping simulations. Whatever you add, make sure task-based simulations are in your week. A bank of questions you do not open does not help you.
The short version: diagnose first, then buy the smallest thing that fixes that one problem, and keep your main course. If your problem is that there is too much material for the time you have, Maxwell CPA Review is built for that at $49 a month, all six sections, billed monthly, cancel anytime. If your problem is practice volume, buy a test bank.
Sources: Gleim CPA Mega Test Bank page (gleim.com/cpa-review/courses/test-bank-questions), read October 14, 2026; NINJA published pricing (ninjacpareview.com/faq), checked October 10, 2026; Maxwell CPA Review onboarding surveys, practice data and course specifications, October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What is a supplemental CPA course?
A supplemental CPA course is something you add to the review course you already own, to fix one specific gap such as practice volume, notes and audio, or short teaching on topics that are not clicking. It does not replace your main course.
What is the best supplement for Becker?
It depends on your problem. If you cannot get through Becker's lectures at the pace you need, or a few topics will not click, short condensed teaching helps. If you simply need more questions, a test bank does. See my pages on the FAR, AUD and REG Becker supplements.
Do I need a second question bank?
Only if your problem is practice volume. If you understand the material and keep running out of fresh questions, a second bank such as Gleim's or UWorld's can help. If you keep missing questions for the same reason, more questions will not fix it.
Can I use Maxwell CPA Review alongside my main course?
Yes. Keep your main course as your calendar and use Maxwell CPA Review by topic when a topic stalls: watch the short lesson, do its quiz set the same evening, then return to your main course. In my onboarding survey, 14 of 44 students use it as a supplement and 30 use it as their primary course.
How much does a CPA supplement cost?
Maxwell CPA Review is $49 a month for all six sections, billed monthly, cancel anytime. Other supplements range from NINJA's $67 a month to Gleim's Mega Test Bank at $999 for all sections or $250 per section.
Try it on the topic you are stuck on
CPA 101 is free: all 25 of the 2026 AICPA released MCQs and a free study outline, with FAR, AUD and REG tracks. No credit card required.
Kyle Ashcraft, CPA scored 90 or above on every section of the CPA exam in 2019. He is the founder and sole instructor of Maxwell CPA Review, where he creates every lecture, textbook and study outline himself.
Reach him at MaxwellCPAreview@gmail.com.
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