CCS exam prep — is the IREM material enough or do you need to supplement?

I scored an 80% after 10 weeks of prep. The CC&R questions test whether you know the hierarchy of authority: governing documents, then state law, then board policies. Getting that order wrong on scenario questions costs a lot of points because the entire answer changes.

For the financial calculations, the best thing I did was write out each formula by hand 10 times until it was automatic, then do 20-30 timed calculation problems in a row. The errors under pressure go away when the formula is truly memorized, not just understood.

The IREM material is necessary but not sufficient on its own — your colleague is right. The explanations for reserve fund math in the official guide assume you already understand depreciation accounting, which a lot of property managers don't have formal background in. I had to supplement with some basic accounting resources.

71-76% at 4 weeks out is actually a solid position. Most people I know who passed were in that range at the halfway point and finished around 82-85% by exam day. Keep your current pace and focus the extra study time on your identified weak areas.

Just wanted to drop a quick update since I'm in basically the same boat. I've been using the IREM materials as my base and just pulled a 74 on a practice test this week, which felt decent but I know I need to be closer to 80 before I feel confident. I'm targeting the exam for late July so I've got about six weeks left to close the gap.

One thing that tripped me up early on was searching for "CCS" study resources and accidentally landing on stuff for the certified billing and coding specialist, which is a totally different animal. Once I got past that I found a few IREM chapter forums with members who said they supplemented with their own notes from real condo board meetings, which honestly makes sense given how scenario-heavy the exam is. The official material covers the concepts but it's pretty dry on the practical side, so if you've got six years of actual experience I'd say trust that more than you probably are.