Wiley CMA vs. Becker CMA: Is Becker Better Than Wiley for CMA?

Several companies now offer reviews for the Certified Management Accountant exam, and this article compares two big names in CMA review courses: Wiley CMA vs. Becker CMA. Wiley CMA review is designed for busy candidates and its 11^th Hour Review is good, but Becker’s CMA course has been totally revamped. They are both IMA Strategic Partners, so which one is best?

Wiley CMA vs. Becker CMA Comparison Chart

Who Wins? Becker CMA or Wiley CMA?

We are naming Becker as the best CMA review course in this head-to-head contest. Why? Well, Becker is an established brand name and has been working hard to completely makeover its CMA courses, which are now better than ever. Not only does Becker have great study materials, but the amount of personalized support is hard to beat, especially with the tutoring options in the CMA Review Pro package.

Plus, many candidates and our readers have reported errors in the Wiley CMA Excel materials, and that’s hard to overlook.

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Becker CMA Discount Pro Package

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History of Becker and Wiley CMA Review Courses

Wiley Efficient Learning owns a host of training courses, helping its users do everything from passing their CMA or CPA exams to getting better scores on the GMAT or ACT exams for college admissions. Wiley even makes the list of best SIE exam study courses. Actually, the company started with academic publishing and has been in business for over 200 years.

Becker isn’t new to the CMA game, either, but the company does have a totally new CMA Becker course. That is, in the past, the Becker CMA exam prep content was actually material that was licensed by a company called Power Resources. But as of January 2021, Becker now creates all of its CMA courses. What’s more, Becker has leveraged the powerful technology from their best-selling CPA course and added it to their CMA prep course. So all of the Becker CMA study materials are new. In this way, the company can better control the quality and reliability of its products.

Wiley vs Becker CMA Interface

Before we go over the CMA review materials provided by Becker and Wiley, let’s start with a quick discussion of their course interfaces.

Wiley CMA Review

Wiley’s courses start with an interactive study planner, which is customizable as your study schedule changes. Basically, you input when you plan to study, and then you’ll receive email notifications to remind you to stay on track. Each Wiley Efficient Learning CMA email will also break down your weak areas from the results of your practice sessions with MCQs, or multiple-choice questions.

The CMA Wiley courses also use Score Predictor. As you work through questions and take quizzes, Score Predictor actually estimates how well you could do on the real CMA exam. What’s more, you can even look at your predicted score based on the entire exam or just certain topics. In essence, this helps you understand what topics you should study more.

In addition, Wiley’s Platinum course also comes with the 11^th Hour Final Review. Essentially, this review should be completed in the last weeks before your scheduled CMA exam. The review goes over the topics most likely to be tested.

Becker CMA exam review

Becker’s CMA course review, in contrast, uses an adaptive platform called Adapt2U Technology from Sana Labs. Here’s how it works, in a nutshell: First, as you work through lessons and answer MCQs, the software helps you understand what topics you still need to study.

Next, based on what topics you’ve been getting right or wrong, the Adapt2U Technology actually suggests personalized lessons that pinpoint your weak areas. And consequently, you might need to spend less time studying if you have this level of granular feedback about the content you still need to master.

And finally, CMA Becker review courses give you unlimited practice tests that resemble the real CMA exam, and you can take one close to your exam date to make sure you’re ready. Plus, Becker actually lets you choose what kind of practice test you want to take. That is, you can cover all topics in the IMA CMA Learning Outcome Statements that could end up on the exam. Or, users can take personalized CMA reviews by choosing the specific topics that they want their practice tests to address.

Becker CMA Materials Compared to Wiley CMA Materials

Adaptive software, predictive scoring, and extra add-ons like Wiley’s 11^th Hour Final Review are useful. But still, the CMA Exam review resources included in a course are what you will actually be using to get ready for the exam. So, let’s compare Becker’s vs. Wiley’s materials.

Video Lectures

Wiley is known for its high-quality video lectures. In fact, the instructors in the Wiley videos actually make accounting concepts interesting. The lively presentations keep you interested, especially if you take notes as you watch the videos to reinforce the content. Additionally, both the Platinum and Pro courses (you might see some users call them Wiley CMA silver vs gold) come with over 66 hours of videos. The lectures are broken into bite-sized chunks. So, you can squeeze in study time whenever you have a few extra minutes. And even better, the videos have multi-media elements like infographics that help you retain the information better.

Likewise, the Becker videos are also quite good, although the Becker CMA prep reviews don’t have quite as many hours as Wiley. All of the Becker instructors are CMA exam experts, so you can trust their advice. In fact, all of Becker’s instructors are CMAs or top professionals from fields like accounting, business, and law.

And Becker’s videos are short and only cover one topic at a time; you won’t get bored watching super-long lectures. Becker gives you copies of the slides, too. After all, when you see, hear, and then read the material as you work through lectures, you’ll retain the info better.

Access Length

In this category, Becker and Wiley are equal: both companies offer packages with unlimited access to your CMA course review. Why is this so important? Well, some companies only give you access to your course for a certain timeframe—18 months is common. But what happens if you don’t finish studying in that period? In this case, you’ll need to re-purchase your course. And that is an expense that you want to avoid. Therefore, take our advice: pick a course with unlimited access until you pass the CMA exam.

Help from Experts

In the past, if you went with an online CMA course, you didn’t have many opportunities to get face-time with an accounting expert if you needed help. However, more and more companies are starting to understand that help from experts when you need it can be critical to your success. Therefore, both Becker and Wiley now offer instructor mentoring.

Specifically, Becker gives you the best personal support available. First, if you go with the CMA Review Pro course, you’ll get five one-on-one personal tutoring sessions. And really, you can’t get better support than that. In addition, you can also take the LiveOnline classes. Basically, these classes replicate the classroom setting and cover some of the CMA exam’s hardest topics. And you can even interact with your instructor in real time. And finally, Becker even has an online student portal for direct access to an expert. Users simply need to go to the CMA Academic Support page, submit their course-related questions, and they will receive a direct response!

Wiley’s approach to support

Wiley’s Platinum CMA review also comes with access to live classroom instruction. The classes run for 6 weeks, with one class held each week. Wiley’s website doesn’t indicate if the classes are online or if they are held at a specific location. So I emailed customer support to ask. And rest assured, the Live Classes are all held online.

Wiley’s approach to one-on-one instructor mentoring is much less hands-on than Becker’s services. Instead of personal tutoring, Wiley has an online question-and-answer forum that users can access directly through their course dashboard. Users can post a question and receive a response from an accounting expert within 48 hours. And oftentimes, users can search through previous posts and find an answer to their questions without ever posting a query. But still, this type of searching can be more time-consuming than just asking your personal tutor a question, as you could if you went with Becker.

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Becker CMA Discount Advantage CMA Study Prep

Flashcards

Many CMA candidates like to use flashcards to study. Personally, I prefer to make my own. When you write out your own flashcards, you’ll learn the concepts faster. Still, it’s understandable that some users would rather purchase flashcards because they are short on time.

Therefore, Wiley and Becker both include flashcards in their top packages. A total of 750+ digital Wiley CMA flashcards are included in the company’s Platinum course. Plus, you get another 500+ printed ones if you go with the “print” package. Likewise, Becker also gives you more than 500 digital flashcards that cover important concepts and definitions.

Mobile App

Becker and Wiley both have mobile apps that let you access study material from your smartphone. For example, you’ll find videos, practice MCQs, and quizzes that you can practice anytime, anywhere.

But keep in mind that you don’t necessarily have to download an app if that feature isn’t important to you. For instance, the Becker courses are designed to be accessed from your computer, tablet, or smartphone wherever you have an internet connection.

Books

Even though online platforms and video lectures are a great way to study, a lot of us (like me!) still like the old-fashioned way: by reading a book. So I’m always happy when CMA courses continue to offer hard-copy or digital books to review content.

Wiley’s courses have over 800 pages of online study text between CMA Part 1 and CMA Part. That’s equal to a pretty heavy textbook! Plus, you also get a study guide in both digital and print versions.

The Becker CMA book, in comparison, is brand new this year. The Becker CMA Part 1 course has a separate book from the Becker CMA Part 2 course. What’s more, the Becker CMA Review Pro package includes both printed and digital textbooks. (Personally, I like to take notes in the margins of printed textbooks.)

Multiple-Choice Questions and Essays

Although you can find some practice questions in the IMA study materials, the limited IMA CMA exam prep probably isn’t enough to help you pass the CMA exam. Therefore, it’s important to have a big test bank or collection of MCQs. At the end of the day, the only way you’re going to know if you’re ready for the CMA exam is to answer practice questions.

The Wiley CMA test bank is large, with 5,500+ questions. Additionally, the Wiley MCQs include explanations of the answers. You can also tag questions and come back to them later.

Right now, Becker’s test bank is technically smaller than Wiley’s at 4,000 MCQs. However, the Becker questions are all high quality and mimic what you’ll see on the CMA exam. And personally, I would choose quality over quantity because studying with the highest quality questions is one of the best ways to get ready for the CMA exam.

Wiley CMA vs. Becker CMA Pass Rates

It’s hard to compare the pass rates of Wiley CMA vs. Becker CMA because we don’t have enough information to do so right now. That is, we know that about 80% of users who study with Wiley pass their CMA exam. And since the Becker CMA materials are new, we don’t yet know the pass rates of Becker users. But as soon as we have that information, we will update this article.

Learning Styles for Wiley CMA vs. Becker CMA Review

Wiley could be best for CMA candidates who already have a full schedule and are looking to reduce the total number of hours they need to study. Therefore, candidates should consider Becker if they want a course that is going to push them to study every single topic that is likely to appear on the CMA exam.

Becker, additionally, is for anyone who wants to interact personally with experts in addition to self-study. For example, if you don’t always learn so well from videos or textbooks, you should consider Becker’s CMA Review Pro package and take advantage of the LiveOnline classes and the five one-on-one tutoring sessions.

Wiley CMA Discounts and Becker CMA Discounts

If you want to save some cash on your CMA review, be sure to add one of our discounts when you purchase your course. And keep in mind that although the Becker CMA cost is slightly higher before discounts, the costs between Becker and Wiley are fairly similar if you use our CMA coupons.

• Use our Becker CMA coupon code

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Who Should You Pick? Wiley CMA or Becker CMA?

Our Conclusions about Wiley CMA vs. Becker CMA

As you can see in the chart above, we ranked Becker CMA higher than Wiley CMA. Although Wiley scores high in several categories, many users have reported typos and errors in some of their material. Plus, Wiley doesn’t offer one-on-one tutoring, which can be a big help when you’re grappling with concepts you don’t understand.

And even though Becker comes in at a slightly higher price point, remember the old saying that you get for what you pay for. Of course, with our CMA discounts, you’ll save a lot of money. Plus, with Becker, you’re paying for high-quality materials. That is, Becker users can take practice tests, use the Adapt2Y technology to assess their performance, and take advantage of personalized feedback linked to the exam’s learning objectives. What’s more, Becker has a personal commitment to your success on the CMA exam and your career. After all, with the Becker Pro package, you get personal tutoring and even a 1-year subscription to Becker’s Continuing Professional Education courses. Therefore, there’s a difference between studying for the CMA and studying for the CMA with Becker.

Should I buy Becker CMA if I already have Wiley CMA?

Some readers have been wondering if they should purchase Becker if they’ve already been studying another course. And honestly, that’s up to your progress. As I mentioned above, about 80% of Wiley’s users have passed the CMA exam. So clearly, you can pass with Wiley. However, if you feel like you’re not making enough progress with Wiley, definitely check out the Becker CMA free trial.

Next Steps to Find Your CMA Review Course

If you still can’t decide between Wiley CMA vs. Becker CMA, or if you have questions about becoming a CMA, check out these links:

• The Becker How to Become a CMA article is a good summary of the CMA benefits, or you can read our thoughts on the CMA benefits here.
• Here’s a link to Becker’s free 14-day trial of its new CMA courses.
• And, of course, don’t miss our comparisons of CMA prep, too, like Wiley vs Gleim vs Becker CMA.