What's the Best Way to Study For the CPA Exam? Studying for the CPA exam requires a lot of prep time. Many people suggest you need at least 100 hours of study time per section. However, you first need to figure out how you are going to allocate your time and create a schedule before you start studying. in Public bookmarkswith cpa_examcpa_exam_study_schedulecpa_studying Note: Studying for the CPA exam requires a lot of prep time. Many people suggest you need at least 100 hours of study time per section. However, you first need to figure out how you are going to allocate your time and create a schedule before you start studying.