CRUSH RATING:
Wiley CPA Review helped me to pass the CPA Exam on my first try in about 9 months, and without their course I’m not sure this would’ve been possible. I was working 50 hours a week, so I needed a course that would let me study in quick sessions and give me the flexibility I needed with my busy schedule. Let’s dive into my review of Wiley CPA prep course to find out what it has to offer- and see if it’s a good fit for you too!
Wiley has three different review course packages: Pro, Platinum, and Ultimate. The Wiley CPA Platinum course is the most popular version, so that’s the package I will reference throughout my review.
Overview of Wiley CPA Review Course 2023
Course snapshot (product details):
- Course access until you pass guarantee
- Free course updates
- 17,000+ multiple choice practice questions (including Mobile App content)
- 500+ task-based simulations (including Mobile App content)
- 140+ hours of video lectures
- 4,000+ digital flash cards and 1,000 physical flash cards
- Bite-sized (around 30 minute) lessons
- Built in exam planner
- Unlimited practice exams
- Study guides matched to Wiley’s lessons and software
- Mobile App with additional practice questions and TBS
- Online support with subject-expert professors
- Virtual Classroom Series
- Focus Notes with acronyms and mnemonics (print and ebook included)
- 11th Hour Final Review for Platinum Students
Wiley CPA Updates
Whenever the AICPA updates the CPA exam to match changes to the accounting industry, Wiley updates their course material to match. Their latest update adds new content to their AUD library, including videos, practice questions, and detailed explanations in text passages. Additionally, some of the terminology in their FAR section has also been updated, and more emphasis has been placed on Microsoft Excel proficiency.
What’s Included in Wiley CPA’s Review Course?
Multiple Choice Questions
With a staggering amount of multiple choice questions (over 17,000 of them!), Wiley offers more practice questions than any other review course on the market. You can also organize how you practice with these questions in dozens of different ways. Keep in mind, however, that you’re probably not going to make it through/need all of these questions!
You will have multiple choice quizzes that are in the exact same computer format as the real CPA Exam. The questions are timed at an average of 2 minutes per MCQ, so you will be practicing in the most exam-like conditions. Wiley does a good job at preparing you for the real test format thanks to its aesthetics and layout.
Once you finish your quiz or run out of time, you will see your grade and the questions you missed. You can then go over the detailed explanations behind your incorrect answers and why you got the question wrong. This helps you target the areas in which you need more practice.
Task-Based Simulations
Wiley not only provides you with tons of multiple choice questions, but also includes more than 500 task-based simulations (TBS). This makes sure that you’ll be prepared to confidently answer questions that make up half of the CPA exam sections (except for BEC, where TBSs make up 35% of the section).
I remember seeing identical problems on the CPA Exam that I had practiced with in my Wiley CPA review course (with different numbers, of course). Wiley provides you with a significant number of practice sims, so you’ll be well prepared.
Mobile App
Although this company didn’t have the best track record in the past, their recently updated mobile app for iPhones, iPads, and Android is one of the most impressive currently available for CPA students. This allows you to quickly switch between video lectures, flashcards, and practice exams. As you complete these materials, Wiley synchronizes your progress with all other logins— so you can pick up from where you left off when switching between your phone and PC.
What’s even more impressive about Wiley’s mobile app is the fact that you can access content offline by downloading it directly to your device. This is a rare feature among test prep mobile apps, and it makes it significantly easier to have a quick study session while commuting or in an area with spotty service.
Practice Exams
Once you have finished all the coursework, you get to practice with a Simulated CPA Exam that is exactly the same format as the real deal. It is broken down into three separate multiple-choice sections and a task-based simulation portion that is timed just like the live exam. At the end of the test, you will receive your grade and a breakdown of which topics you did well on and which ones you need to go back and study.
Wiley CPA not only tells you which questions you missed but also gives a good explanation of how the correct answer is calculated. A large portion of my learning happened here, as I would repeatedly take the Simulated CPA Exam, review all of my wrong answers, and then take it again until I consistently scored in the 85-90% range. You’ll have unlimited practice tests with a bunch of new questions each time you retake this test, giving you the repetition and practice needed to pass the CPA exam.
On top of these practice exams, Wiley provides you with 5,000+ true/false questions throughout every section that serve as “proficiency questions.” These help gauge your understanding of a particular section and if you need to spend more time on it.
CPA Flashcards
Wiley CPA comes with 4,200 double-sided digital flashcards containing important definitions and key topics. The platinum course comes with 1,000 printed flashcards to reinforce and improve retention, but the digital ones are great because you can use them anywhere from your phone, tablet, or laptop.
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Video Lectures
Wiley’s video lectures are broken down into small 10-30 minute sections that make studying seem less overwhelming. This is great if you have a full-time job and/or children that take up large chunks of your study time. You will be able to go through the 140+ hours of video lecture in bite-sized lessons, making it much easier to remember information.
In terms of how engaging the Wiley video lectures are, I found them to be a bit dry in presentation compared to other review courses I’ve tried. This may be preferable to you though since the info is to-the-point instead of fluffed up with entertainment.
Dashboard/UX
When you first log into Wiley CPA, you will be greeted with a study dashboard that lays out the entire plan for your study schedule. The study planner is automated and easy to customize to your time constraints. This flexibility was great for me because study delays became inevitable, as you will soon learn when you begin to prepare for the CPA Exam.
For each section, you will be given a lecture, the corresponding study material, and then exam questions to answer. You will also get the slides from the lectures, more questions to test your proficiency, electronic flashcards, and then access to the CPA Mentored Discussion Forum.
Wiley’s course was a bit confusing at first, but I found it to be user-friendly once I spent more time with it. It took me an hour or two to figure out how everything worked, but once I went through the course tutorial and started working with the practice questions, I found that the course was very easy to use!
Customer Support
Wiley’s customer support is pretty impressive but not as immediate as I would have liked. You have access to a 24/7 live chat within your course that you can use to get tech support. For technical questions, I would receive a response in seconds to any quick question I had about how to use the course, which helped ease my stress of being initially confused on how to use the software.
However, for CPA-related questions, the service wasn’t as great as the tech side of things. You can ask the live chat for someone to email questions about the content. Once you email your question, it can take a day or two to get a response via email to your content related question. The most popular questions have already been answered in the student discussion boards, where you can add a new topic to discuss or read archived ones.
Course Access and Updates
One of the best parts about Wiley CPA is the unlimited access. When you purchase the course, you will be able to use all of its study tools without having to worry about your course expiring. Plus, you can update your course for free!
You can use the Wiley software from your smartphone (iOS and Android), laptop, and tablet. So feel free to use as many videos, quizzes, and course materials as you want from whatever device you desire, as Wiley works with everything!
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What Course Packages Does Wiley CPA offer?
There are three different versions of Wiley CPA that you can pursue: Pro, Platinum, and Ultimate (all of which you can save on by checking out our Wiley CPA discounts page). Hands down, Wiley CPA Platinum is the most comprehensive CPA review course on the market. The other packages aren’t as popular as the Platinum, but you may choose these packages depending on what type of student you are. Let’s see what’s included in each course!
| Course Package | Pro CPA Review Course | Platinum CPA Review Course | Ultimate CPA Review Course |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | $2,199 | $2,499 | $3,100 |
| Partner Until You Pass Guarantee with free online content & courseware updates until you pass |  | | |
| Online Course Study Materials with text, 17,500 exam questions, 140+ hours video instruction, 500+ task-based simulations, 4,000+ digital flashcards and more | | | |
| Efficient Learning System with bite-sized lessons, exam planner, discussions, unlimited practice exams and more | | | |
| Study Guides map perfectly to the lessons in the courseware (print and ebook included) | | | |
| Companion Mobile App with 7,500+ exam questions, available in iOS and Android | | | |
| Flashcards to reinforce and improve retention (print) | | | |
| Professor Mentoring with online support from subject-expert professors |  | | |
| Virtual Classroom Series with live, online instruction and support | | | |
| Focus Notes with acronyms and mnemonics (print and ebook included) | | | |
Wiley CPA FAQs
Here are the answers to Wiley’s most frequently asked questions!
Q: What resources are available for learning how to use the new course?
A: You’ll find a Product Tour videos on the most popular features of Wiley’s course. It outlines how to study with the new course in three easy steps: Plan, Study, Assess.
Q: Is the online study material (text, video, practice questions, etc.) the same in both versions?
A: Yes. The content is identical in all versions of the course. However, Platinum and Ultimate students have access to exclusive content, including the 11th Hour Final Review.
Q: Is the new Wiley CPA course available offline?
A: No. It is only available online. However, the mobile app allows you to study offline. Printed books also come standard with all of the Wiley review course packages for offline study.
Q: I see there are two practice exams, why?
A: The new course features two new practice exams, each designed to mimic the actual CPA Exam with a unique set of questions selected by subject-matter experts. Additionally, you will have unlimited practice exams with questions dynamically pulled from the course. Keep in mind that these are questions you may have seen before while studying.
Q: Which is better, Wiley CPA or Roger CPA Review?
A: Although these two courses may seem similar at first glance, the truth is that Wiley offers the better overall product. However, Roger is still a fantastic option if you’re primarily interested in video content, since Roger Philipp is the most entertaining instructor in public accounting.
Wiley CPA vs. Becker
Which CPA review course is better, Wiley CPA or Becker CPA Review? I have used both of these courses extensively and found significant differences worth noting. For starters, Becker is the most expensive course on the market with a starting price over $2,000. However, Wiley is slightly more affordable and can cost anywhere between $1,899 and $2,499, depending on what full course package you purchase.
Becker is the most popular educational resource for professional accountants and is endorsed by the Big 4 Accounting Firms. Although Wiley doesn’t have that same recognition, they have a 200-year history in education that makes them seem much more trustworthy in my opinion.
When it comes to the course content, Becker focuses on quality and Wiley focuses on quantity. No one can compete with Wiley’s 17,000 multiple choice questions, 500 task based simulations, and 5,000 true/false questions. Becker includes 9,200 multiple choice questions and 580 task based simulations. However, these materials are more fleshed out and come with detailed answer explanations
Either course can appeal to different students; check out their demos to see which course works best with how you learn! If you want a more detailed comparison, check out my article Wiley CPA vs. Becker CPA Review.
Who is the Wiley CPA Review course best for?
Overall, Wiley CPA is a good course that is ideal for you if you have a full-time job, kids, a spouse, or any other serious time commitments in your life. In my opinion, this is the only way to go if you do not have the luxury to devote all your time to the CPA Exam.
I personally used this course and was able to pass all four sections of the CPA exam on my first try in 9 months while also working 50 hours a week. I attribute much of my success to CPA bite-sized lectures that made it easier to absorb and retain information. Check out Wiley’s free demo to see if you would benefit from this course like I did!
Wiley CPA Course Updates
Wiley has updated its content to reflect some of the changes to the AICPA Blueprints. Also, the content has been analyzed with respect to presentation and assessment to ensure that you are prepared to answer questions at the appropriate cognitive level.
The majority of the changes are structural in nature and the practice exams have been adjusted to mirror the new testlet format of the CPA exam. Below are the improvements made to Wiley’s course, broken down by exam section.
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