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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Honest and Forthright, December 20, 2010
This review is from: Wiley CPA Exam Review 2011, 4-volume Set (Wiley CPA Examination Review (4v.)) (Paperback)
So far, I been through only the prelimiary chapters and there appears to alot of material. Being that I have not actually started studying the Modules, they do seem to broken down very nicely into bit-sized chucks. What has impressed me thus far is the authors are honest and tell you this course will greatly improve your odds at passing the CPA exam, but it should not be your end-all-be-all source of material. The course should be supplemented with college texts and information from other places (i.e AICPA, PCAOB, etc.).
I may report back after I sit and get results for my first section. Good Luck to anyone that buys this course.
Edit: Update 6/24/2011
I started with the Auditing Course and it goes fairly indepth about many topics. Learning and reinforcement will greatly benefit from also using the 4-volume test bank. Without the test bank, I thought I would be able to just learn the material and go sit. But, after a few modules the information really begins to overwhelm and demotivate learning. At this point, I still haven't sat for any sections, but that's a personal issue. Obviously, we are all accountants and enjoy what we are doing, yet do not stray away from the course too long. Believe me, getting back on course is just as much of a challenge as starting the course anew. I'll be sure to post again after a sit in a few months.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Almost Perfect, May 26, 2011
This review is from: Wiley CPA Exam Review 2011, 4-volume Set (Wiley CPA Examination Review (4v.)) (Paperback)
I have yet to take the CPA exam, so I can't comment on how well this prepared me for the actual exam. But, it seems as though it is preparing me well. The books include helpful tips on how to study, how to take the exam, and provides plenty of information and questions to review. The books outline relevant standards in the back of the book, while the study modules go over the most commonly tested areas. Unfortunately, I've found a number of errors in the book that are sometimes confusing. Occasionally, answers to the questions are wrong. The introduction to the auditing appendices references outlines for the Statement of Standards for Accounting and Review Services (SSARS), but they are not there. Instead, outlines on the PCAOB standards and government auditing standards are present. The outlines for the SSARS are actually in the module pertaining to accounting and review services. I'm guessing that they got moved when the 2010 edition was updated to the 2011. There are a number of these "artifacts" leftover from previous editions throughout the book that can prove to be confusing for a moment until you realize that the book just has a couple of mistakes.
Additionally, sometimes the questions test you on subjects that weren't in the study guides or relevant standards outlines pertaining to that module. For instance, the module on "Professional Responsibilities" has a multiple choice question pertaining to review services which seemed out of place. I learned in a later module how to answer that question. But when I was still on module 1, it was frustrating because I assumed that I should have known the answer to the question at that point.
Besides these things that you run into from time to time, the books seem to be preparing me well. I can't comment on comparison to other study material, as I haven't used any other material.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
You get what you pay for, January 11, 2012
This review is from: Wiley CPA Exam Review 2011, 4-volume Set (Wiley CPA Examination Review (4v.)) (Paperback)
The good: The material seems to be quite comprehensive and there are a good amount of multiple choice questions (roughly 80 for an average module). There is coverage of IFRS and the simulation problems. The meh: I would like to see more simulation problems. A typical module has 5-7. When you consider that simulation problems make up 40% of the exams (those that have them), this is really not enough. Many are merely glorified multiple choice problems (matching problems), but a few involve spreadsheets and calculations. More of the latter would be useful. The bad: The books are riddled with errors and typos. Not so much that you can't understand what's going on, but certainly enough to be noticeable. At some point you'll find yourself looking at what appears to be nonsense until you figure out that the question or answer (or both) is wrong. Some of the content is relatively well-formatted, but some is a wall of text (especially in the FAR book). It can be frustrating to deal with at times.
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