In other words, this is going to be the world's most boring post ever. It's even more boring than my post about passing the CPA exam - don't say that I didn't warn you! I'm writing this for the same reason that I wrote about the CPA exam: I really wanted to hear the deets from someone who had been through the process, and I didn't find a lot out there on the internets. CPP is a tough google since it also stands for Certified Protection Professional and Certified Professional Photographer, so let me clarify that we're talking about the American Payroll Association's Certified Payroll Professional exam. I took and passed the test today on my first attempt.
Along the way I tried four different exam prep programs: Momentrix, PayTrain, Practical CPP, and Payroll Source, and I'm going to tell you ever last detail of what I thought about those. The TL&DR summary:
- Don't bother with Momentrix
- PayTrain is really nice and really expensive but I don't feel that it was complete. I did 90% of my studying in PayTrain but I'm not sure if I would have passed the exam if it been my only resource.
- Practical CPP was a bit too indepth and scared me BUT the I felt that it boosted my knowledge and there was one question on the exam that was about material that I learned from Practical CPP. And the price is quite reasonable.
- The Payroll Source was excellent, and the practice questions were very similar to what was on the exam. One question was identical! I wish I'd known about it sooner than one week before the exam;-) And there's a 30 day free trial...sheesh I really wish I would have known this sooner than one week before the exam.
- P.S. although not a study resource, I also took one of the APA's knowledge assessment tests one week before the exam and failed it miserably...I do not recommend taking the knowledge assessment tests because I didn't feel that the questions represented what was on the exam and it really messed with me!
