[Anonymous]

First, thank you for taking your time to read my post. I am glad to be a member of this forum and go through this journey with all of you.

I started studying for the CPA in 2010 and passed FAR & BEC. I failed AUD twice even though I thought that was the one I enjoyed more, I understood better, and each time I took it, I felt great when I got out of the test center.

Needless to say, due to personal reasons and bad timing, I decided to put it on hold until now and obviously I lost the credit for both tests.

Well, the reason I opened this topic is because I am not sure on what I need to use this time around. I still have the Becker books from 2010-2011 but I understand there have some major changes, so I don’t know if I would be able to use those books. Also, is there anyone who has used Becker before and then decided to just go for another review course? I am afraid that if I get the Becker books again, that a lot of those I would have memorized and not pass again. Is there a course that you have found is very compatible with Becker? The money is not an issue since my employer is paying for it, but I just need to make sure that I don’t have to keep retaking these. Also, I don’t plan on taking the first exam until 2014, so would you recommend me waiting until 2014 to order the material since it’s so close?

Thank you so much for your help and good luck to all of you!

Ena

[tough_kitty]

I'd recommend Roger CPA Review (with Wiley test bank). You can check some of his lectures on YouTube.

From what I learned, changes on exam are effective mid-year so it shouldn't matter unless you'll take REG or AUD in the second part of 2014 but they always post the updates.

FAR: 81 (May 2013)
BEC: 81 (July 2013)
REG: 83 (August 2013)
AUD: 82 (November 2013)
California CPA since 1/30/14

[tough_kitty]

I'd recommend Roger CPA Review (with Wiley test bank). You can check some of his lectures on YouTube.

From what I learned, changes on exam are effective mid-year so it shouldn't matter unless you'll take REG or AUD in the second part of 2014 but they always post the updates.

FAR: 81 (May 2013)
BEC: 81 (July 2013)
REG: 83 (August 2013)
AUD: 82 (November 2013)
California CPA since 1/30/14

[Anonymous]

I would advise against using the 2010-2011 books, because there's been too many changes since then. 🙁 As for picking a new material, look around for sample lectures and/or books from the big review materials to see what looks like it'll work best for you – Roger, Yaeger, Gleim, Becker, CPAExcel, etc. Personally, I went the non-lecture route and just used Wiley books, but I know that doesn't work for everyone. 🙂 You could probably do Becker again without it being a problem that you'd used it before, but it might be harder to motivate yourself to study (I know that for me, it'd be easy to be like “I read this before, I don't need to again” even if it'd been 3 years and I really needed to!).

As for what people change to after Becker, it all depends. I can think of people off the top of my head who have gone from Becker to Wiley, Roger, and Yaeger – there's not as many Gleim and CPAExcel users on here, so I can't think offhand of anyone who went from Becker to those last two, but I'm sure there's people that have! So, I would say just try to look for one that seems to suit you…something that you feel like you learned a lot from watching the sample video (or reading sample pages). Personally, as a Wiley fan, I'd recommend something that comes with Wiley books and test bank (I think both Roger and Yaeger do 😛 ), but that's just because I like the Wiley materials. 😉

[Anonymous]

I would advise against using the 2010-2011 books, because there's been too many changes since then. 🙁 As for picking a new material, look around for sample lectures and/or books from the big review materials to see what looks like it'll work best for you – Roger, Yaeger, Gleim, Becker, CPAExcel, etc. Personally, I went the non-lecture route and just used Wiley books, but I know that doesn't work for everyone. 🙂 You could probably do Becker again without it being a problem that you'd used it before, but it might be harder to motivate yourself to study (I know that for me, it'd be easy to be like “I read this before, I don't need to again” even if it'd been 3 years and I really needed to!).

As for what people change to after Becker, it all depends. I can think of people off the top of my head who have gone from Becker to Wiley, Roger, and Yaeger – there's not as many Gleim and CPAExcel users on here, so I can't think offhand of anyone who went from Becker to those last two, but I'm sure there's people that have! So, I would say just try to look for one that seems to suit you…something that you feel like you learned a lot from watching the sample video (or reading sample pages). Personally, as a Wiley fan, I'd recommend something that comes with Wiley books and test bank (I think both Roger and Yaeger do 😛 ), but that's just because I like the Wiley materials. 😉

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your responses. I do agree that if I go with Becker again I might not be as motivated since I have gone through that material before. I am thinking of probably going with Rogers CPA Review, and take BEC first since it was one of the tests that I already passed. Tough_kitty, any tips on BEC with Rogers Review?

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your responses. I do agree that if I go with Becker again I might not be as motivated since I have gone through that material before. I am thinking of probably going with Rogers CPA Review, and take BEC first since it was one of the tests that I already passed. Tough_kitty, any tips on BEC with Rogers Review?

[W_HAMILTON]

Outside of possibly the written communications part, has BEC changed all that much since 2011? I used the 2012 version for my BEC exam in 2013 and had no problems.

Also, at least for Becker, I think their next year (2014) materials should be released relatively soon. I remember when I first purchased mine, I was told that the following year's materials would be released around November, and that is right around the corner.

REG - 93 (7/30/13)
BEC - 90 (8/19/13)
AUD - 98 (8/31/13)
FAR - 84 (10/19/13)

[W_HAMILTON]

Outside of possibly the written communications part, has BEC changed all that much since 2011? I used the 2012 version for my BEC exam in 2013 and had no problems.

Also, at least for Becker, I think their next year (2014) materials should be released relatively soon. I remember when I first purchased mine, I was told that the following year's materials would be released around November, and that is right around the corner.

REG - 93 (7/30/13)
BEC - 90 (8/19/13)
AUD - 98 (8/31/13)
FAR - 84 (10/19/13)

[Anonymous]

W_HAMILTON, I am really not sure what has changed since 2011 because after I stopped taking it, I did not follow up on the changes. Have you just studied using Becker? I see you've had great results with Becker. What has been helpful for you because what I found with Becker was that after a while I was just memorizing most of the MCQ and wasn't really sure what areas I was strong or weak on? That's why I thought that choosing Rogers CPA Review and would be a little different for me.

Does anyone know when will Rogers CPA Review release the 2014 materials?

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

W_HAMILTON, I am really not sure what has changed since 2011 because after I stopped taking it, I did not follow up on the changes. Have you just studied using Becker? I see you've had great results with Becker. What has been helpful for you because what I found with Becker was that after a while I was just memorizing most of the MCQ and wasn't really sure what areas I was strong or weak on? That's why I thought that choosing Rogers CPA Review and would be a little different for me.

Does anyone know when will Rogers CPA Review release the 2014 materials?

Thank you!

[Author]

Replies