FREE CISA Study Guide

When I was studying for the CISA, I created a 40-page study guide for myself that you can download for free.

If you decide to use it, here’s a couple points to keep in mind:

• The guide alone will not be enough to pass the exam. Because I created this guide for myself, it contains only material that I thought was important, thought was going to be on the exam, or needed to brush up on. I left out most of the stuff that I already knew. Even so, I think you will still find it helpful, especially since the price is right.

• To prepare for the exam, I read the official ISACA CISA Review Manual, Sybex’s CISA Certified Information Systems Auditor Study Guide, went through the study questions associated with those books, read some miscellaneous materials, and also attended a CISA review session provided by my local ISACA chapter. This guide is based on them, but people make mistakes, so if something doesn’t seem right, check it out. Errors may have been in the books or my paraphrasing of the material, or both! In the end, always judge what you read, and think for yourself!

• The guide is divided into these sections (which ISACA has since revised for the exam):

IS Audit process
IT Governance
Systems & Lifecycle Mgmt
IT Service Delivery & Support
Protection of Info Assets
BCP and DRP

• Throughout the guide, I highlighted key sections and phrases. I also made acronyms out of many of the key concepts. For example, I memorized the 7 parts of the Code of Ethics using the acronym: IPS PC DE.

• This guide contains more IT details than you’ll probably need, as one of the big surprises when I took the CISA was how few questions on my exam related to IT. For example, this guide includes the 7 OSI layers according to ISACA. I’d memorize the layers, but not all the details regarding each layer. Regarding the IT content of the CISA exam, see these posts: Where is the IS in CISA? and More on the CisA Exam.

• Finally, remember that I created this guide for myself, so there will be things you may not understand or seem strange. When something strikes you the wrong way, just shake your head and move on. Or leave me a comment and I’ll respond.

Final Suggestions

• Make sure you know the basics of auditing, like the different kinds of sampling and when to use them (for help, see my Audit and IT Audit for Dummies post). If you have to cut your study time short, skimp on the IT side, not on the audit side!
• Read the following post: How to Pass Certification Exams.

• Check out the suggestions on this blog, dedicated to passing the CISA exam: http://passcisaexam.wordpress.com

Download CISA Study Guide

To download the guide, go to the Free Downloads page. After you download it successfully, please leave me a comment that you were able to do so–this will help others understand they are doing something wrong, and nothing is wrong with the download link. THANKS!

Testimonial

According to one commenter, 1tsm3, the CISA Study guide “contributed to my passing the June 2014 CISA exam!” See the comment here.

MORE

See my post regarding the FREE CISA Glossary.

See all posts related to CISA .

Good luck! And have fun.