Becker CPE Courses: An In-Depth Review

Continuing Professional Education (CPE) is crucial for professionals in fields like finance and accountancy to maintain their credentials and demonstrate their competence. Becker CPE courses are designed to provide relevant and engaging content to help CPAs meet their CPE requirements and enhance their careers. Becker has a strong legacy in helping candidates pass the CPA exam, as well as the CMA and EA exams, and now extends its expertise to continuing professional education.

Is Becker CPE Right for You?

Becker CPE is an excellent choice if you value:

A wide range of learning formats: Becker CPE offers live webcasts, on-demand courses, and innovative podcasts to fit any schedule.
Career-focused learning paths: Becker stands out with courses designed to build specialized skills in areas like tax, audit, and finance.
Flexible scheduling options: Becker’s Prime subscription is ideal, with webcasts available on nights and weekends.
Keeping up with critical updates: Becker’s Prime package delivers timely content on industry changes, making it easy to stay informed.
A user-friendly platform with compliance tracking: Becker’s CPE compliance tracker helps you meet state requirements and stay organized effortlessly.
Studying on the go: Becker’s CPE podcasts allow you to earn credits while multitasking, so you can complete courses during daily activities.
NASBA-approved, high-quality content: Becker is known as the gold standard for CPE, offering reliable, relevant material across all packages.

Becker CPE Course Overview

Becker CPE courses build off of their impressive legacy in helping candidates pass the CPA exam. They’ve helped millions of exam candidates pass, and now, they’re helping those same candidates fulfill their continuing professional education requirements. Becker is highly recommended by the Big 4 accounting firms due to their effective curriculum and excellent customer service.

Becker boasts the following:

4.8-star rating on Trustpilot
2,900+ accounting firms trust Becker for CPA exam prep and earning CPE credits
60+ years in business
96% satisfaction rate from students

Becker offers experienced instructors, competitive pricing options, flexible study formats, a comprehensive CPE catalog, webcasts, on-demand courses, NASBA-approved content, and complementary demos.

Read also: Becker Professional Education

Becker CPE Subscriptions

Becker offers three main CPE subscription options: Prime, Select, and Essentials. Here's a comparison:

Feature	Prime (1 and 2-Year)	Select	Essentials
Price	\$799 (\$1,429 2-Year)	\$499	\$329
Payment Plans	Yes, for 2-Year Only	❌	❌
Access Duration	1/2 Years	1 Year	90 Days
OnDemand Courses	700+	570+	475+
Ethics Courses	50+	50+	❌
Industry-Specific Courses	25+	25+	❌
Webcast Times	Nights and Weekends	Weekdays	Weekdays
Webcasts with Live Q&A	1,000+	480+	480+
Unique Courses	Critical Updates, Current Events, Hot Topics, Podcasts	Critical Updates	None

Key Features

Becker offers fantastic features in all of their CPE courses, regardless of which package you choose. At a bare minimum, Becker’s CPE subscription offers the following:

480+ webcasts with live Q&A opportunities
475+ OnDemand CPE courses
50+ newly-added course hours annually
Unlimited consumption of CPE credits
Downloadable course content
All content approved by the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA)

Prime Subscription

The Prime Subscription is where the magic happens. Not only does the higher-tier annual subscription come with hundreds of additional courses, including unique course options like Critical Updates, Hot Topics, and Current Events, but my favorite feature is Becker’s newest:

Podcasts for CPE credits.
Nights and weekends for webcasts
A personalized CPE compliance tracker
A monthly payment plan for the 2-year Prime Subscription
Critical update courses in tax, A&A, and ethics (two 8-hour courses)
50+ board-approved state-specific ethics courses (Prime and Select)
25+ industry-specific courses

What Sets Becker CPE Apart?

There are a few key features that set Becker apart from the competition:

Course Structure, Topic, and Learning Format Variety
Focus on Compliance and Relevance
CPE Podcasts

Course Structure, Topic, and Learning Format Variety

Becker sets itself apart not only with its wide breadth of topics but also with its unique structures and learning formats. Regardless of your schedule, you can access live webcasts on nights and weekends with the Prime Package. Not into webcasts? There are hundreds of on-demand courses. Done with courses? Give podcasts a try. Seen everything already? Becker is always adding new content and expanding their CPE course catalog. Want to save a few bucks? Buy a Becker CPE course bundle. Ultimately, if you tend to get bored by going through the same content in the same way, Becker is a fantastic option to mix things up, whether through topic, structure, or format.

Read also: Understanding PLCs

Focus on Compliance and Relevance

Though every provider focuses on fulfilling CPE requirements, Becker’s team of expert instructors draws on their real-life experience to not only aid in compliance but also give CPAs relevant information that will help them in their careers. Plus, Becker is known for being the gold standard in everything they do, so you can rest assured that the quality will not only meet but also exceed your expectations.

CPE Podcasts

Becker’s CPE podcasts allow you to take your continuing education on the go. Some of their current pods include:

AI in Accounting
Access is Key
The Private Equity CFO who “Loves her job!”
The Fulfilled Family Office CFO

It isn’t just chatting about the state of the industry for modern accounting professionals; it’s also about speaking with industry leaders to see how they find joy and fulfillment within their careers in a more typical podcast fashion.

Pros and Cons of Becker CPE

Pros

Massive Variety of Courses and Formats: Becker offers a wide range of topics and learning formats.
Gold Standard: Becker CPE provides compliant resources that are useful and interesting.
Podcasts: Becker has shaken up the industry with their podcasts for CPE credit.
Comparably Priced: Becker’s CPE prices are right on par with Surgent and Gleim.
Career-Focused Learning Paths: Becker offers career-focused learning paths that help you develop specialized skills in areas like audit, tax, and finance.
Flexible Pricing: With Becker, you only need to pay for what you use. Feel free to build your own course with varying price levels based on your personal needs.
Engaging Content: Becker’s study content has been designed to engage students while they interact with it uniquely.
Multiple Study Formats: CPE content at Becker is taught using several different study methods.

Cons

Ethics Missing From Essentials Package: Ethics courses are non-negotiable for many states, so it’s a little disheartening to see such an important piece of the puzzle missing from this package.
No Gamification: Whereas competitors like Surgent offer gamified courses, Becker hasn’t caught up with the trend yet.
Online Only: There are no in-person course options or tutoring packages on offer.

CPE Courses and Subscription Comparisons

Becker CPE vs Surgent

Becker and Surgent are the top two contenders in the running for the best CPE courses on the market. However, Becker slightly edges out ahead. Surgent has gamified courses, which I love, but they’re missing Becker’s podcasts. Further, Becker’s courses are actually more affordable, especially with the 2-Year Prime Subscription. I also prefer Becker’s user-friendly interface and its excellent compliance tracker.

Bottom Line: Both are excellent options, but Becker comes out on top thanks to their podcasts, user-friendly interface, compliance tracker, and edge on affordability.

Read also: Learning Resources Near You

Becker CPE vs Illumeo

Illumeo is a stand-out CPE provider thanks to its large CPE catalog, micro-certification programs, and affordable price (\$399 is its most expensive annual subscription). However, Illumeo lacks in the CPE content department when it comes to webinars and live events. Whereas every Becker CPE subscription comes with 480+ live webinars (and up to 1,000+), Illumeo only offers about 40. That being said, Illumeo may be a good option if you prefer self-paced self-study and want to save money.

Bottom Line: Becker is generally of higher quality and offers more unique format options and topics. However, Illumeo may be a good choice for the self-study CPA who wants to save a few hundred bucks.

Becker CPE vs Gleim

The Gleim vs. Becker CPA rivalry is now heating up in the CPE space. However, in my opinion, it’s clear that Becker comes out on top (yet again-sorry, Gleim). It’s honestly pretty weird comparing Gleim’s CPA exam review courses to their CPE content. It seems like they didn’t even really… try? Unlike the other options, Gleim sells their individual courses in a bundle based on hours, with the 100-hour package selling for \$600. I counted all of the online courses in their course catalog, and there were only about 60 at the time of writing.

Bottom Line: I recommend Becker over Gleim CPE, regardless of your situation. It isn’t close.

Becker vs Lambers CPE

Pick Becker CPE for best-in-class production value, huge course variety, and advanced tracking tools. Especially useful if you value tech, webinars, and professional polish.

Pick Lambers CPE if you want a simpler, budget-friendly way to complete your hours with straightforward video, PDF, and webinar access-all in one flat-rate plan.

User Experience

Becker CPE’s user experience is basic but effective. Finding courses is easy with multiple sorting options, including topic and length. It’s easy to find the courses you are enrolled in, as well as to pull your certificates and track your CPE for the year. Like most platforms, individual courses are available a la carte. Courses run from ~$49-\$350, depending on the number of credits each course offers.

Becker CPE is a solid choice for individuals looking for CPE on the go, as their mobile platform is so effective. A well-known name to those who have taken the CPA exam, Becker offers more than 680 on-demand courses, including more than 45 ethics options.

Becker CPE Reviews: Trustpilot vs. Reddit

Trustpilot Reviews

Becker has a 4.6-star average rating on Trustpilot across 500+ reviews. Reviewers overwhelmingly had a great experience with this company. Customers consistently praise the user experience, finding it helpful and well-structured for their study needs. People also highlight the excellent service provided, often mentioning the helpfulness of the staff. Consumers generally agree that the overall quality of the offerings is high, contributing to their success and satisfaction.

Reddit Reviews

However, reviewers on Reddit are a little less enthused. As you can see, the most common negative reaction is over the price. One also discusses a negative customer service experience, but I think it’s fair to say this feels like an exception, not the rule.

Who Is The Becker CPE Ideal Customer?

While Becker’s courses may not be for everyone, you’ll certainly enjoy them if the following describes you:

If you want easy access to CPE over several years, this is the course for you.
If you prefer to be taught by experienced professionals, this is the course for you.
If you work well with self-study materials, this course is for you.
If you prefer to work on CPE in a classroom environment, this isn’t the course for you.

Final Recommendation

Becker CPE is a top pick for the best CPE catalog on the market, whether you want a subscription, course bundle, or individual course selection. It truly doesn’t get better than Becker. Naturally, Becker has some of the best instructors who use their unmatched expertise to offer real-life examples that will help you learn, regardless of your learning style. But beyond that, they prioritize helping real people build CPE around their lives with their CPE compliance tracker, flexible webcast schedules, downloadable study materials, and podcasts for CPE credit. All of this at a price comparable to competitors makes for yet another major win on Becker’s scorecard. Becker is well worth your money; it’s a Big 4 favorite, after all. This is largely due to their comprehensive and varied ways of providing CPE credits, as well as their experienced instructors. No matter what you need to learn, Becker will provide it!

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