Accounting Midterm in a Week? A Day-by-Day Study Plan That Actually Works
It is midterm season, and if your accounting or finance exam is a week away, you probably have two feelings at once: "I have time" and "I am behind." Both are true. Seven days is enough to make a real difference to your grade — but only if you spend them practising problems rather than rereading slides. Accounting exams test whether you can produce answers under time pressure, not whether the material looks familiar. This plan tells you exactly what to do each day, built around active practice and targeted review.
Three Rules Before You Start
Rule 1: Practise, don't reread. Rereading feels productive because everything looks familiar, but recognition is not recall. Every study block should end with you solving problems without looking at the solution first.
Rule 2: Prioritise by points, not comfort. Check the syllabus or ask your instructor which chapters are covered and how much each is likely to weigh. Spend time where the points are, especially on topics you have been avoiding.
Rule 3: Protect your sleep. Sleep is when your brain consolidates what you practised. An all-nighter before an accounting exam damages exactly the skills the exam tests: working memory and calculation accuracy. For more on evidence-based study habits, see 10 strategies that actually work.
Day 1: Diagnose
Gather everything the exam covers: chapter list, homework sets, quizzes, any practice exam your instructor posted. Then take a short, mixed practice set — 3 to 5 problems per chapter — without notes. Score yourself honestly by topic.
| Topic | Accuracy | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Journal entries | 4/5 | Low |
| Adjusting entries | 2/5 | High |
| Inventory (FIFO/LIFO) | 2/4 | High |
| Bank reconciliation | 3/4 | Medium |
| Financial statements | 3/5 | Medium |
Your High topics become days 2 and 3. Do not skip this step; students who skip diagnosis spend their week polishing what they already know.
Days 2–3: Fix the Biggest Gaps
Take your two or three High-priority topics and work through each with the same loop:
- Read a short, clear explanation (your textbook section or one of our guides).
- Work one example by hand, step by step.
- Do 15–20 practice problems, checking each immediately.
- Stop when you can hold 75–80% accuracy on new problems.
Common midterm topics and the guides that help most:
- Introductory financial accounting: adjusting entries, FIFO, LIFO and weighted average, bank reconciliations, debits and credits, preparing an income statement and a balance sheet.
- Intermediate accounting: the 7 hardest intermediate topics, revenue recognition, bonds payable.
- Managerial accounting: contribution margin, break-even, job order vs process costing.
- Corporate finance: TVM on the BA II Plus, bond valuation, NPV.
Not Sure You Can Close the Gap Alone in a Week?
If your Day 1 diagnosis shows several weak chapters, a couple of focused tutoring sessions can compress days of struggle into hours. Accounting Tutor Online works with students on exam prep for financial, intermediate, managerial and finance courses.
Book midterm help →Day 4: Mixed Practice
On exam day, questions are not labelled by chapter. You must first recognise what a question is about, then solve it. Spend Day 4 on mixed sets that jump between topics. This "interleaved" practice feels harder than doing 20 problems on one topic, and that difficulty is exactly what builds exam-ready skill. Keep a running list of every mistake and the reason behind it.
Day 5: Timed Mock Exam
Recreate the exam: same length, same time limit, closed notes, calculator only. Use a practice exam from your instructor if available, or build one from homework problems you have not repeated recently. Afterward, mark it strictly. Look for patterns: did you run out of time, lose points to arithmetic, or misread what was asked?
Day 6: Repair and Summarise
Rework every problem you missed on the mock, without looking at the solution first. Then create a one-page summary sheet in your own words: key formulas, the journal entries you keep forgetting, and two or three "traps" you fell into this week. Even if you cannot take it into the exam, writing it is a powerful review.
Day 7: Light Review and Rest
The day before the exam is not the time to learn new material. Do a short set of 10–15 mixed problems to stay sharp, read your summary sheet twice, pack your calculator and ID, and get a full night's sleep.
Adjusting the Plan for Managerial and Finance Exams
Managerial accounting and corporate finance midterms are more formula-driven than financial accounting exams. Spend part of Day 2 building a formula list from memory — contribution margin ratio, break-even units, variance formulas, present value, NPV — then check it against your notes. Formulas you cannot write from memory on Day 2 become flashcards for the rest of the week. For finance exams, practise every calculation on the same calculator you will use in the exam room; switching calculators the night before is a classic way to lose easy points.
If You Are Already Far Behind
If your diagnosis shows most chapters as High priority, do not try to master everything. Pick the chapters most likely to carry the most points, get those to a solid level, and aim for partial credit elsewhere by learning the basic setup of each problem type. A confident 75% on most of the exam beats a shaky 50% on all of it.
During the Exam
- Scan the whole exam first and start with what you know.
- Show your work — partial credit is real on accounting exams.
- For journal entries, check that debits equal credits before moving on.
- Leave five minutes to check signs, decimals and that every question has an answer.
Midterm Warm-Up: 4 Quick Questions
Pick an answer to see the explanation. 4 questions.
Q1. On October 1, a company pays $12,000 for a 12-month insurance policy. What is the adjusting entry on December 31?
Q2. Beginning inventory is 10 units at $5 and a purchase adds 10 units at $6. If 12 units are sold, what is cost of goods sold under FIFO?
Q3. On a bank reconciliation, outstanding checks are:
Q4. Which study method is most likely to raise an accounting exam score?
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