I've been compiling resources as I study for my AIRS - Alliance of Information and Referral Systems Certification certification and figured I'd share what I've found. All free unless noted.
Practice Tests:
- PracticeTestGeeks — most comprehensive collection I've found, good question explanations, covers AIRS - Alliance of Information and Referral Systems Certification, AVOP - Airside Vehicle Operator's Permit, and CFA - Certified First Assist. Free.
- Official practice materials from the certifying body — usually 1 free sample exam, worth doing even though it's short
Study Materials:
- The official AIRS exam handbook / candidate guide (PDF, free from the certifying body's website)
- YouTube — search for "AIRS exam prep" — there are surprisingly good free video reviews for most tax preparation certifications
- Reddit r/certifications — people post their exam experiences and tips regularly
Paid (worth it if budget allows):
- Official study guides run $30-80 for most tax preparation certifications — worth it if your exam has lots of specific factual content
- Some certifying bodies offer prep courses — check if your employer covers it (many do for required certifications)
What resources have others found useful for tax preparation exams? I'll add them to this list.
For AIRS - Alliance of Information and Referral Systems Certification specifically, I found the PracticeTestGeeks explanations were detailed enough that I didn't need to buy a separate study guide. The combination of doing the practice questions + reading every explanation (for both right and wrong answers) covered most of the content I needed.
The official candidate guide is something a lot of people skip but it literally tells you the topic weighting and domain breakdown. It's the roadmap for your study plan. Never skip it.
Great list. I'd add: LinkedIn Learning has some tax preparation-related courses that overlap with cert content, and if you have a library card many libraries give free access to it. Also check if your local library has access to O'Reilly or similar — tons of technical content there.
Quick update for anyone tracking their progress in here. I took a full practice run last night and pulled an 81%, which honestly surprised me because two weeks ago I was barely scraping 60. The service delivery section was where I kept losing points, so I drilled this set a bunch (free airs service delivery) and it really helped me see the patterns in how they word the scenario questions. Didn't expect that to be the thing that moved my score the most, but it was.
I'm planning to sit the real exam the first week of July, so I've got about three more weeks to tighten up the assessment and referral stuff. If you're just starting out, don't stress the early low scores. They climb faster than you'd think once you stop guessing and actually read the explanations. Good luck to everyone grinding through this.
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