[juuustin]

A month ago I had no thought of working in public accounting, but instead I was going to take the Exam for the credential. I purchased the ten point combo and began studying a bit while my NASBA registration went through.

Three weeks later, I have received an associate offer from a Big4 and they are willing to pay for my exam materials. Becker or Wiley CPAexcel are the two courses that are directly billed. Becker seems to be the “premiere” program, but the Wiley material also seems worthwhile.

I intend on keeping the ten point combo for the intensive notes and the adaptive MCQ. What main course would you recommend I choose?

Thanks!

MD Candidate: 10/1/14

FAR - 87 (11/23/14)
REG - 87 (1/30/15)
BEC - 89 (4/19/15)
AUD - 98 (5/30/15)

Ethics - 100

Experience - In Progress!

[Tux]

Look at samples of each course online to see which might be better for you.
They are very different courses.

I use Becker. I wouldn't say that I think it's the best, but honestly, I have shopped around and don't think any of them are GREAT.
Since your company is paying for it, I might lean toward Becker since it is SO expensive to purchase on your own.
If you feel the need to supplement (you probably won't since you already have Ninja), you can always purchase the Wiley test bank on Amazon for about $100.

But overall, the programs are very different.
CPA Excel prides itself on very small lessons, but there are an incredible amount of time.
Becker has a good reputation but, there are a lot of topics that they don't really explain in detail.
(However, I'm not sure that CPA Excel does either??)

They will both have pros and cons.
Even with Becker, I still rely on friends to explain certain topics to me that I really don't understand. So whichever you choose, you still may need a study group to help fill in the blanks.

FAR - 86 - 2/27/14
AUD - 75 - 5/29/14
BEC - 80 - 8/31/14
REG - 89 - 2/27/15
Praise Jesus! I'm done!!

Study resources:
Becker
Wiley test bank

[Monkey Wrench]

Are you, or do you intend to be a professional highlighter? if so go becker.

[juuustin]

@Monkey Wrench – I follow Harvard's advice and refuse to highlight anything while studying. I am mainly concerned with the quality of the video lectures and the organization of the material. I have some 2012 CPAexcel books and I am not really impressed with them. Has much changed in the past two years?

MD Candidate: 10/1/14

FAR - 87 (11/23/14)
REG - 87 (1/30/15)
BEC - 89 (4/19/15)
AUD - 98 (5/30/15)

Ethics - 100

Experience - In Progress!

[klmc]

Becker videos are basicaly a waste of time. They just read over the book for you and tell you to highlight everything (I hate Tim Gearty hes so boring). I would go with Becker and skip the videos entirely, read the book once and then do multiple choice non stop

|FAR| - 72, 83
|AUD| - 73, 76
|REG| - 76
|BEC| - 73, 82

ALL DONE!!

[rzrbkfaith]

I am using Becker. I think the lectures are good (not because they aren't boring, because I won't lie – they are) because they emphasize the material that you need to know. You will also learn some methods to memorizing formulas and things like that, which are not in the book. If you only read the book, every detail seems important, when in reality, you may be not using your time as efficiently because there is other material that is more highly tested, the lectures emphasize that. With that being said, I am a little different in my thought process than many people on this forum. You just have to decide what works best for you.

Becker covers what you need to know. Its in a format that works well for me personally. I think that regardless of the which one you choose, if you put in the time and effort, you will get the job done. Best of luck!

AUD - 99
BEC - 97
REG - 91
FAR - 1/8/16

[Monkey Wrench]

@Juuuustin:

The books aren't great. They are EXTREMELY detailed. for example, FAR is 2 books, both over 500 pages. The lectures are nice, and they have added a lot of secondary lectures also. The “main” lectures are still kinda blah to me. A lot of them going over slides, working some problems. The new lectures called “Deep Dives” are really good. They have gone in and assessed the most difficult topics for students and have put in rather lengthy lectures of someone just solving problems. For example, a pension lecture might by 10-15 minutes, but there may be a ‘deep dive' where they solve lengthy problems which may last 1 hour.

I just find Becker to be overpriced and ridiculous. Wanna learn something? heres a nmemonic “IIHHAASDDDT” thats something becker would pull. I am not saying its bad, but for like literally half the price (and a free ipad) you can get CPAexcel, and get more information that NEVER expires. If you are a student, or have only been out for like 6 months or something like that you qualify for another 20% off CPA excel too.

EDIT: Oh by the way for that nmeumonic to work you have to highlight every 3rd letter in green, every 4th minus 2 in blue, and flip upside down every other 3rd vowel.

[Anonymous]

I have both Becker and CPA Excel. I bought CPA Excel on my own – I got the cheapest version they had available. No books or videos, just the online course. They were running a special and I got to choose videos for one section for free. I chose FAR. I got a new job at an accounting firm and they paid for Becker, so now I have both.

Anyway, as far as videos are concerned, I think CPA Excel's are worthless. I don't love Becker's, but I think they are actually worth watching. I use Becker as my primary study source, and supplement with MCQ's from CPA Excel. I like CPA Excel's simulations better because you can actually get graded on them.

If I were in your shoes, I would get Becker through work because they are the most expensive and if you need to supplement, you can always choose a program later.

[Monkey Wrench]

It's unfathomable why so many peoples general logic for becker is “get it bc its the most expensive” thats why I hear 90% of the time, with no logic behind it (although above did give A LITTLE logic.)

You got CPAexcel without books or videos only online course? what does that include, the tests bank?

[juuustin]

I appreciate the insight guys. I am leaning towards Becker mostly because I already have had a chance to check out CPAexcel's material through the 2012 books. I know old REG books can be dangerous to use, but if I really hate Becker I can always use the CPAexcel material I already have.

Right now I think my ideal study plan will be as follows:

Becker videos (NINJA videos just didn't do it for me)

Becker books

NINJA Audio on the 45 – 90 minute commute home

A combination of the Becker and NINJA MCQs

NINJA Notes to hammer it all home

I'm sure this plan will be rendered useless once I actually start studying though!!

MD Candidate: 10/1/14

FAR - 87 (11/23/14)
REG - 87 (1/30/15)
BEC - 89 (4/19/15)
AUD - 98 (5/30/15)

Ethics - 100

Experience - In Progress!

[Anonymous]

The logic is that the company is paying for it. If OP doesn't like the review material, at least the most expensive option is off the table and if he has to reach into his own pockets, it's not going to be to dish out over $3K.

[Monkey Wrench]

Lets assume someone would pay for you a brand new car, a nice mercedes, for 35,000 dollars. Or they could buy you a comparable, ford, for 39,000.

I assume you would pick the ford, just because it costs more.

[005]

I'm not too familiar with Becker, other than knowing it's the main program the Big4 uses, but I have passed 3 out of the 4 parts with CPA Excel so I'll offer my 02 on CPA Excel.

I took BEC twice; Aud and Reg passed on 1st try. and currently studying for FAR using CPAExcel. For all of them, I supplemented with Ninja MCQs the week before and just did a ton of MCQs jumping between the Ninja MCQs and CPAExcel's simulated exams. Didn't really practice sims for any.

I paid for the program out of pocket so that is why I went with CPAExcel. Lower priced and never expires. That's a big plus because you never know what might come up in life. Also, their online structure is pretty well set up. (just be sure to put your exam date for a week before your actual exam date so you can have time to review) However, their “estimated study time” for each chapter is waaaaayyyy off. Something they say will take you 20 minutes to get through will probably take you an hour.

Anyways, CPAExcel has the short chapters which is cool. “Bite Sized Lessons” they call it. However, I find it ironic that it seems they are the most wordy of all the courses. What's the point of bite sized lessons if you're just going to have more lessons than everyone else?

Also for FAR, there's a total of two books at over 1,000 pages total…. a bit excessive. Oh, and the “mentor” for the FAR section, Professor Bain or whatever his name is; is a total dick.

Besides that, I like CPAExcel and has been working for me . Don't bother watching the lectures, they just read out of the book. Read the book, answer the MCQs and Sims, take notes, and move on.

Good luck

BEC - ✔
REG - ✔
AUD - ✔
FAR - 11/29/14

CPAExcel, Ninja MCQs, and a sh*t ton of coffee

[yassy]

I've used CPA Excel for FAR, BEC, and AUD and tried Becker for my second attempt at REG. I'm back to CPA Excel for my third attempt because I find it much more organized, although more detailed. I find the “CPA Mentor” feature very helpful, which provides a form in each “bit sized lesson” where you can ask a professor questions about things you don't understand. Questions are answered by a professor within 2 days and sometimes sooner in my experience.

Link: Current CPAexcel Discount Codes

FAR 75 (8/21/13)
AUD 72 (10/29/13) 74 (2/12/14) 84! (04/01/14)
BEC 75 (11/27/13)
REG 72 (05/29/14) 74 (07/10/14) 86 and DONE! (10/02/14)

[Author]

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