10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good CPA review book, January 20, 2010
This review is from: Wiley CPA Exam Review 2010, Financial Accounting and Reporting (Wiley CPA Examination Review: Financial Accounting & Reporting) (Paperback)
This is good/detailed CPA review book. If you're able to set your own study schedule, you can pass the exam using just this and the Wiley CD(wait until the new one is out) with multiple choice questions and simulations. It's cheaper on amazon than on Wiley's site.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Frustrating and convoluted, August 17, 2010
This review is from: Wiley CPA Exam Review 2010, Financial Accounting and Reporting (Wiley CPA Examination Review: Financial Accounting & Reporting) (Paperback)
Despite the many typos throughout the book, which make me question the degree and care of editing, I found this review material to overly-complicate many of the concepts for the FAR exam. I used a different study program for the first two CPA exams I took and passed both of those exams on my first attempt. I switched to Wiley as my original materials expired and the Wiley book was a cheap alternative. This Wiley CPA FAR review takes concepts that I don't deem to be too complicated and presents them in a disorganized and hard to follow manner. I felt myself becoming more confused on topics that I already had a good grasp on as I read through the book.
For the price, it is a good deal. If you want to concentrate on learning the material rather than deciphering the paragraphs, it is not such a good option. Also, there were many times when I was going through the material that I thought things could have been organized in a much easier fashion. For example, the material seems to present itself like this, "situation 'A' must follow these rules. Situation 'B' must follow these rules. But situation 'A' has these exceptions. Situation 'C' has these exceptions. Also for situation 'B', you need to do this." The confusion is continued when the book incorrectly uses its own acronyms. Bargain purchase options is at one point referred to as a PBO, and out of nowhere they begin using the term RV without defining it to identify residual value.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
My 3 Pros And Cons On Wiley FAR Book, September 18, 2010
This review is from: Wiley CPA Exam Review 2010, Financial Accounting and Reporting (Wiley CPA Examination Review: Financial Accounting & Reporting) (Paperback)
I run a CPA exam prep site called [...] where I answer questions from CPA application, CPA review course comparison, exam tactics to life after the CPA exam. I scored 92 on FAR back then, and I would like to share my thoughts on the pros and cons of Wiley's CPA exam review 2010 on FAR. Hope you find it helpful.
PROS
1. Well-Written. The book is generally well organized covering all the hottest topics on FAR, including the concepts and standards for financial statements, identification and calculation of various items in the statements and transactions, accounting and reporting for governmental entities and not-for-profit organizations. Wiley also includes the update on the 2011 CPA exam changes and some tactics on how to pass the exam.
2. Great Value-For-Money. This is one of the most affordable CPA review materials you can find anywhere. The book is also updated on an annual basis -- no wonder it is the best-selling CPA review books on Amazon (by the way, get this here instead of bookstore or Wiley's website -- cheaper here)
3. Competitors Are Using Wiley As Supplements. A few CPA exam review courses such as Roger CPA Review and Yaeger CPA Review use Wiley's books and CDs to complement their lectures. In fact, Yaeger's DVD course spend a lot of time going through Wiley's MC questions as a way to clarify the accounting concepts.
CONS
1. It Over-Prepares You. While I have to say this Wiley book is considerably "shorter" than the previous versions, it is still too comprehensive. There are 1,056 pages -- overwhelming and discouraging to read as you can imagine. Other study guides or lecture notes are more concise and present only the materials you need to know for the CPA exam.
2. Layout Not User Friendly. Since you may be buying the book without physically flipping through it, I think it will be helpful to describe the overall feel and layout of the book. Well, despite the colorful cover, the book is actually printed in thin newspaper print. The questions and answers are often straddle between pages so it is very annoying to flip back and forth to read the answers. It might not sound like a big deal, but many readers of my site have joined in the complaints in this particular aspect.
3. Not An Integrated Approach. If you like this Wiley CPA review book, I strongly encourage you to get the Test CD for the practice questions in computerized format. However, the Wiley book + software combo is still far from the "guided review course" with lectures and a channel for you to ask a question or clarify a concept. In my opinion, the guided reviews, be it a live class or a self-study DVD, is a more integrated and thus better approach.
CONCLUSION
Many candidates manage to pass the CPA exam with Wiley product alone, so it is a good set of review guides. What you need to do now is to determine whether you are disciplined enough to study without a guided review course, that you have the time and energy to read through the entire book, and that you won't be bothered by the relatively poor layout and format.
Please feel free to post a comment if you have any questions or suggestions. Best of luck to your exam! Stephanie
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