Customer Reviews

Wiley CPA Exam Review 2009: Regulation (Wiley CPA Examination Review: Regulation)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is alright and I felt prepared for the exam. However, one complaint, is that just like the eWiley online site, there are numerous mathematical errors. Spelling errors, that's OK, but mathematical errors are not. Wastes time trying to figure out what went wrong. For all of the ones that I figured out what went wrong, it makes me wonder how much information that I spent so much time learning was just a typo.

Example: In computing the Payables Deferral period, one time the denominator said times 360 and one said divided by 360. Big difference. Had to look online at different sites to figure out which one was correct.

Also, a couple times the explanations for getting answers wrong were very vague. Might say something to the effect of "because it is not correct".

I realize that this is cheaper than the Becker program, but that doesn't mean that they should just duct tape some info together. It's still a reasonably expensive book. They need to stop being so lazy and proofread their stuff before publishing.

I don't have the 2008 version, I used the 2006 version and took FAR's exam on Nov. 2007 and the only thing that has really changed since then is Pensions.

As far as the Wiley material is concerned, I think that it will more than prepare you for the FAR's section. I used Wiley exclusively for the FAR's section and I used some Becker material for the REG section. I passed both on the first try, however, I got a 95 on the FARs section and an 83 on the REG section. But to be fair, I was in the middle of busy season when I took the REG section (and I'm also in Audit), but I also used the Wiley Focus Notes for that section as well. So if you are looking for a comprehensive book for any section, Wiley will do the job, as will Becker, but at a much higher price.

In addition to the Wiley book, I also had the Wiley 11.0 Software for multiple choice questions and simulations. The software had its limitations, and I would say that Becker certainly has the leg up on the software side of things. However, the new Wiley 13.0 software may address some of the problems (lack of research component, not as interactive while doing simulations), but I have yet to use it.

As far as readability is concerned, the Wiley books can be a little daunting at times. The gray paper that Wiley uses can make the words appear a little dull. You'll also notice that Becker material uses a lot of white space (blank) on each page, were Wiley crams a lot of information on one page. So I would give Becker the edge on presentation, but Wiley the edge on amount of material covered.

If you were to compare the books by the multiple choice questions provided, Wiley would win hands down. Every section has a bunch of multiple choice questions at the end, sometimes over 100+. Becker at most will have about 25. The majority of Becker's practice questions are in its software.

My only caution for the Wiley material is that you have to be very structured in your studying. If you do the Becker courses, they have everything laid out. If you are someone who needs a class environment (whether in a class or online), or are not good at just using books to study, then I would say go with Becker or some comparable CPA review course. If you can structure yourself, Wiley will work just fine.

In addition to the books, I would recommend you get the Focus Notes (if you decide to go with Wiley). I've seen both Becker's (flashcards) and Wiley's and I think the Wiley Focus Notes are much better and much cheaper.

I studied with Becker the first time I took BEC, and got a 74. The second time around, I was starting to memorize questions and felt I just needed another perspective on the information. The Wiley book was good for this purpose, but I don't know how someone would pass with this book alone. Becker is far superior in terms of organization and focusing on test applicable material. Wiley was much more indepth, which was not necessary.

Also there was some blatantly incorrect information in the book. This surprised me as this is the 2009 edition, and I thought everything would be up to speed. These were not huge items of information, but it did occur more than once.

Overall the book was helpful, and I would recommend it as supplemental material for anyone sitting for the exam.

Wiley tends to throw in ALL of the information you could possibly be tested on while Becker will hold your hand and teach you tons of little tricks, as well as help you schedule your study time. The Wiley books do include a chapter in the front of the book with a study outline, however I didnt waste my time with it. If you can handle a few obvious typos and are self-motivated enough to hold yourself to a schedule, then you'll make it through Wiley's books just fine. I walked out of FAR about ready to jump in front of a bus, but ended up pulling an 85, almost wetting myself. Put in the time and Wiley will not dissapoint. Any complaints i've heard about Wiley are more than offset by the price.

SO far using Wiley books alone and not using any other material I got a 82 AUD, 85 AUD, and 87 BEC. This is also considering the fact I took my last accounting courses over 8 years ago. These books are all you will need.

The only drawbacks are that it is a very complicated book that sums up everything with few words. Every CPA exam so far I took after using this books seemed like a babies test, this book is way more complicated than the exam. This can be good or bad, because going into the CPA exam you will be prepared for much harder questions. Bad is that you will sometimes be overwhelmed when using this book.

Material is about the right depth and difficulty for the exam. The content is straightforward, and the price is just great. I would use in conjunction with the prep software for additional practice questions. I've noticed various minor editing errors, but nothing that significantly detracts from the overall value of the product.

The book was a great supplement to the Wiley FAR 13.0. It went into detail providing the explaination of the concept and provided examples to display the concepts. My problem was that the font was too small. If the font was bigger, I would have been able to read and conceptualize the subject better.

Regardless of which CPA product you use to study, you have to be prepared to work hard. This book offers a lot of good study material. It is very comprehensive, provides some good examples, and definitely served its purpose as I passed the Regulation exam on the first try. I didn't use any additional material for this exam. When I took BEC, I used the Kaplan prep material including an audio CD and some flashcards, and I was more impressed with the Wiley material. Kaplan wasn't as comprehensive and it was very repetitive. However, I did pass both exams. I would recommend this book.

The Wiley Auditing Review was the sole and, therefore, critical tool I used in studying for this portion of the CPA exam. As others have noted, it is both exhaustive and dry; further, it contains far more errors and unclear/ambiguous questions than are acceptable. Nevertheless, for anyone that is discipled and diligent in their study effort (and is willing to do some extra work to identify and correct its errors), the book's comprehensiveness will get the job done in helping you obtain a passing score on this section of the CPA at a relatively low cost. It did for me.

I totally agreed with other people saying that Wiley CPA Review MC's are much harder than Becker's. I am using both Becker and Wiley Reviews to prepare my coming BEC exam which is on Oct. 2. By studying the perviously CPA released MC's, you pretty much got some ideas what the examers expected. They expected you know all the material inside and out. If it's that case, the Wiley MCs are more realistic compare to Becker's. However, I dislike the way Wiley formats the outlets in the book. The studying contents in the Wiley's book are not detail enough to work through the MCs. I like the Becker's books that explains more details in the contents, but its MCs are not indepth enough. By using combination of these two studying reviews, we see if I can pass the BEC.