CLEP Financial Accounting Exam Prep Course
Full course with 450+ practice questions and a practice exam
Self-paced prep for the CLEP Financial Accounting exam. 12 chapters on financial statements, cost behavior and financial analysis, with a quiz after every subchapter. 75 questions, 90 minutes, with an on-screen four-function calculator. A score of 50 earns 3 transferable college credits.
- Backup ACE/NCCRS credit path — earn the credit even if you don't pass
- Lifetime access — no deadlines, no expiry, study at your own pace
- Credits accepted at 2,900+ U.S. colleges
Pricing
$19 for this course with lifetime access, or $29 a month for all 28 CLEP subjects. Every plan also unlocks the ACE/NCCRS course closest to this subject.
- All 12 chapters and 75 lessons
- Five-question quiz after every subchapter
- Readiness score tracker
- Financial statement analysis, worked
- Lifetime access, no expiry
- All 28 CLEP prep courses
- Every chapter, lesson and quiz
- Readiness tracker per subject
- Backup ACE/NCCRS credit path
- Cancel or pause anytime
- Lifetime access to all 28 subjects
- All current and future courses
- 12-month ACE/NCCRS backup path
- Pay once, never renew
What are ACE and NCCRS?
Two independent bodies that review online courses and recommend them for college credit. The American Council on Education (ACE) and the National College Credit Recommendation Service (NCCRS) put courses through faculty panels that assess rigor and learning outcomes, then publish a credit recommendation. When you complete one, the credentialing body issues an official transcript you send to your college — the same kind of transfer credit a student moving from another university would bring with them.
- Reviewed by faculty panels, not by the course provider
- Official transcript issued on completion
- Recognized at 2,100+ colleges, many of which also take CLEP and DSST
Both routes, one plan
Buying CLEP Financial Accounting prep also opens the ACE/NCCRS course closest to this subject — Managerial Accounting — at no extra cost. So exam day isn't the only way through. If the score doesn't land, the course is already sitting in your account: complete it self-paced, no proctor and no 90-minute timer, and earn the three credits through coursework instead.
- Managerial Accounting: 3 semester hours through coursework
- Unlocked automatically — no extra fee, no application
- CLEP can still be retaken after three months
Each college sets its own transfer policy, so confirm yours accepts the route you plan to use.
Check your college's policy before you buy. We keep 280+ school pages listing accepted exams, required scores and credits awarded.
Check your collegeCLEP Financial Accounting exam format and topics
The exam covers a first-semester undergraduate financial accounting course across 5 content areas, with the balance sheet as the largest. About 75 questions in 90 minutes, some of them unscored pretest items. A four-function calculator is built into the exam software. Pass mark is 50.
| Content area | Weighting | Questions | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Balance Sheet | 30–40% | ≈22–30 | Cash and internal controls; receivables and bad debts; inventory valuation; long-term assets, depreciation, amortization and depletion; intangibles; payables and bonds; owner's equity, stock and retained earnings; liquidity, solvency and activity analysis |
| General Topics | 20–30% | ≈15–23 | GAAP; double-entry accounting, transaction analysis and the accounting equation; the accounting cycle; business ethics; how the financial statements relate; forms of business |
| The Income Statement | 20–30% | ≈15–23 | Single-step versus multi-step format; revenue and expense recognition; cost of goods sold; gains, losses and other nonoperating items; profitability analysis |
| Statement of Cash Flows | 5–10% | ≈3–8 | The indirect method; operating, investing and financing activities; noncash activities; cash flow analysis |
| Miscellaneous | Less than 5% | <4 | Investments; contingent liabilities |
| 5 content areas | 100% | ≈75 | 90 minutes · four-function calculator provided · score 50 for an ACE recommendation of 3 semester hours |
How hard is the exam?
Financial accounting is about recording transactions and reporting them in the statements, and the balance sheet alone is up to 40% of the questions. Expect journal-entry logic, inventory and depreciation calculations, and ratio analysis. The calculator handles the arithmetic, but you need to know which numbers go where.
- Start with the balance sheet — 30–40% of the exam
- Know the accounting equation and how each transaction affects it
- Practice depreciation, inventory and ratio calculations
Exam fee and booking
Register with College Board for $97. Test centers may add an administration fee. You can test at a center or remotely with a proctor, year-round. Scores are reported immediately for multiple-choice exams, and you send them to your college yourself.
- Passing score 50, for 3 semester hours
- Retake permitted after three months
- Free for active-duty military via DANTES
The course's financial statements chapter is the core for this exam. Pair it with the practice quizzes and practice final, which follow the exam's five content areas.
Check your collegeCourse chapters and lessons
12 chapters across 53 instructional hours. Expand any chapter to see the lessons inside it.
Chapter 1 Managerial Accounting, Cost Concepts
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1.1 Managerial accounting versus financial accounting
Managerial versus financial accounting, product and period costs, and fixed, variable and mixed cost behavior.
- 1.2 Cost classification: Product or period
- 1.3 Cost behavior: Variable, fixed, and mixed
- 1.4 Relevant range of production
- 1.5 Predicting mixed costs
Chapter 2 Financial Statements
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2.1 Delivery of Information
The income statement, retained earnings, classified balance sheet and statement of cash flows, plus financial statement analysis — the core of the financial accounting exam.
- 2.2 Income Statement
- 2.3 Retained Earnings (Statement of Owner's Equity)
- 2.4 Balance Sheet
- 2.5 Classified Balance Sheet
- 2.6 Statement of Cash Flow
- 2.7 Financial Statement Analysis
- 2.8 Financial Statement Analysis: Horizontal Analysis
- 2.9 Financial Statement Analysis: Vertical Analysis
- 2.10 Other Financial Analyses
Chapter 3 Job-order Costing
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3.1 Job-order costing Info
Job-order costing, the flow of inventory costs, predetermined overhead rates and job cost sheets.
- 3.2 Job-order costing flow of inventory costs
- 3.3 Predetermined manufacturing overhead rate
- 3.4 Applying manufacturing overhead to jobs
- 3.5 Job cost sheets
- 3.6 Multiple predetermined manufacturing overhead rates
Chapter 4 Process Costing
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4.1 Process Costing Transactions for a Manufacturing Company
Process costing transactions and department calculations for a manufacturing company.
- 4.2 Transfer from the packing department to the finished product
- 4.3 Process Costing Calculations for a Department in a Manufacturing Company
Chapter 5 Cost Volume Profit (CVP) Analysis
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5.1 Purposes of cost volume profit (CVP) analysis
Cost-volume-profit analysis, the contribution margin income statement, and break-even points.
- 5.2 CVP analysis using the contribution margin income statement
- 5.3 CVP analysis when sales quantity changes
- 5.4 CVP analysis and changes on net operating income
- 5.5 Break-even point and target profit
Chapter 6 Segmented Income Reporting
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6.1 Purposes of segmented income reporting
Segmented income statements, contribution and segment margins, and how fixed costs are traced to segments.
- 6.2 Prepare a segmented income statement
- 6.3 Contribution margin and segment margin
- 6.4 Fixed costs and the segmented income statement
- 6.5 Organizational segments within segments
- 6.6 Segment cost-volume-profit (CVP) analysis
- 6.7 Breakeven calculations for segmented income reporting
Chapter 7 Budgeting
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7.1 Purposes of budgeting
The master budget and its parts: sales, production, materials, labor, overhead, cost of goods sold and selling expenses.
- 7.2 Master budget
- 7.3 Sales budget
- 7.4 Production budget
- 7.5 Direct materials purchases budget
- 7.6 Direct labor budget
- 7.7 Manufacturing overhead budget
- 7.8 Cost of goods sold budget
- 7.9 Selling and administrative expenses budget
- 7.10 Budgeted income statement
Chapter 8 Flexible Budgeting and Performance Evaluation
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8.1 Planning budgets
Planning versus flexible budgets and flexible budget performance reports.
- 8.2 Prepare a planning budget
- 8.3 Limitations of planning budgets
- 8.4 Prepare a flexible budget
- 8.5 Prepare a flexible budget performance evaluation report
Chapter 9 Standard Costs and Variance Analysis
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9.1 Purpose of standard costs
Standard costs and materials, labor and overhead variances.
- 9.2 Direct materials variances
- 9.3 Direct labor variances
- 9.4 Variable manufacturing overhead variances
- 9.5 Standard costs variance analysis and evaluation
Chapter 10 Decentralized Performance Evaluation
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10.1 Organizational structure
Responsibility and investment centers, return on investment and its limitations.
- 10.2 Responsibility centers and performance evaluation
- 10.3 Investment centers and performance evaluation
- 10.4 Advantages and disadvantages of return on investment (ROI)
- 10.5 Social return on investment (SROI)
- 10.6 Residual income
Chapter 11 Differential Decision Making
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11.1 Differential Decision-Making Process
Relevant costs and differential decisions: dropping a segment, make or buy, special orders and selling or processing further.
- 11.2 Relevant and irrelevant costs of differential decision making
- 11.3 Add or drop a segment
- 11.4 Make or buy (outsourcing)
- 11.5 Special order
- 11.6 Sell or process further
Chapter 12 Capital Budgeting Decision Making
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12.1 Capital budgeting decision making
Capital budgeting with payback, simple rate of return, the time value of money, IRR and net present value.
- 12.2 Payback period
- 12.3 Simple rate of return
- 12.4 Time value of money
- 12.5 Internal rate of return
- 12.6 Net present value method (NPV)
- 12.7 Analyzing capital budgeting decision making
Practice exam Practice final exam
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Practice final exam — 100 multiple-choice questions
A full-length practice final that mirrors the exam's content areas and question style. Your score feeds the readiness tracker, so you know when you're ready to book the real exam.
These chapters make up the CLEP Financial Accounting exam prep class. They build accounting foundations through financial statements, cost behavior and financial analysis, and the practice quizzes and practice final follow the exam's content areas.
Take the CLEP exam for the fastest route to 3 credits. If it doesn't go your way, your plan also includes a backup course that earns the credit through coursework.
See pricingColleges that accept CLEP Financial Accounting
CLEP is recognized at more than 2,900 U.S. colleges, but each one sets its own minimum score and decides how many credit hours to award. Check yours before you book the exam.
Browse college credit policies
Policies change. Every college page lists the date the policy was checked, and we recommend confirming minimum scores and credit awards with the Registrar before you schedule an exam. TransferCredit.org is an independent education service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the institutions listed.
Practice tests and study guides
Five questions in the style of the CLEP Financial Accounting exam, drawn from the chapters above. No sign-up needed — see where you stand before you buy.