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ACCA Worldwide pass rates (Fron June 2003 - Dec 2011)

2012-02-24T14:09:00.001+05:30

ACCA Qualification

The current ACCA Qualification syllabus was first examined in December 2007. Pass rates for the old syllabus (from June 2003) are also included here.

Paper	Dec 2007	Jun 2008		Dec 2008	Jun 2009	Dec 2009	Jun 2010	Dec 2010	June 2011	Dec 2011
F1	81		83	67	73	66*	64*	70*	70*	63*
F2	56		51	59	57	58*	54*	60*	57*	53*
F3	67		48	50	55	59*	60*	60*	55*	54*
F4	42		46	39	43	42	51	44	55	49
F5	34		28	30	41	52	57	41	37	38
F6	50		45	53	61	51	46	44	51	48
F7	40		33	42	30	39	28	47	38	56
F8	43		32	43	34	40	36	38	40	36
F9	40		42	40	42	37	43	40	38	38
P1	53		49	53	48	49	53	51	52	51
P2	48		48	54	44	58	47	51	50	48
P3	56		49	52	50	48	51	48	47	51
P4	31		36	36	30	41	34	33	30	34
P5	42		37	43	32	42	44	35	35	29
P6	28		36	41	37	39	35	44	45	39
P7	33		33	39	37	39	32	34	31	31

* Results achieved by students for paper based examinations and computer based examinations.

Professional scheme - pass rates

Paper	Dec 2007	Jun 2007	Dec 2006	Jun 2006	Dec 2005	Jun 2005	Dec 2004	Jun 2004	Dec 2003	Jun 2003
1.1	81	46	53	48	61	44	47	45	44	48
1.2	56	40	40	43	51	50	54	41	57	46
1.3	67	47	47	59	42	53	55	52	48	59
2.1	42	53	47	55	51	48	51	49	63	50
2.2	34	47	40	47	43	44	45	47	52	50
2.3	50	60	44	52	50	52	52	54	48	47
2.4	40	37	45	37	44	37	41	38	39	39
2.5	43	44	43	48	53	51	52	47	50	48
2.6	40	33	31	38	39	41	45	45	42	52
3.1	53	35	32	30	30	39	39	39	44	40
3.2	48	38	33	33	40	39	40	43	42	39
3.3	56	43	41	43	42	50	48	44	45	41
3.4	31	54	55	51	46	51	52	52	54	54
3.5	42	55	44	50	52	50	54	54	55	53
3.6	28	44	43	52	52	50	56	54	53	53
3.7	33	38	35	37	49	44	46	45	49	44

Foundations in Accountancy - December 2011 session Pass Rates

2012-02-24T14:04:00.001+05:30

December 2011 session Foundations in Accountancy pass rates were:

Introductory Certificate in Financial and Management Accounting
FA1, Recording Financial Transactions, 69%*
MA1 Management Information, 65%*

Intermediate Certificate in Financial and Management Accounting
FA2, Maintaining Financial Records, 62%*
MA2, Managing Costs and Finance, 57%*

Diploma in Accounting and Business
FAB, Accountant in Business, 46%
FMA, Management Accounting, 41%
FFA, Financial Accounting, 42%

Foundation Specialist papers
FAU, Foundations in Audit, 53%
FTX, Foundations in Taxation, 70%
FFM, Foundations in Financial Management, 40%

The CIMA gateway assessment (CGA)

2011-12-29T16:18:00.001+05:30

Accelerated route to CIMA with CGA

Develop your professional career and join CIMA through the accelerated route for members of:

affiliates and members of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
passed finalists and members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)
members and passed finalists of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Sri Lanka (ICASL)
members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ghana (ICAG)
South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) – from 2011 completion
Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA) – from 2012 completion.

The CIMA gateway assessment (CGA)

Syllabus
The CGA is drawn from the management level papers of the CIMA syllabus:

P2: performance management
E2: enterprise management
F2: financial management

Section A – three compulsory questions each worth 25 marks.
1. P2 syllabus area B – cost planning and analysis for competitive advantage (25%)
2. E2 syllabus area B – project management (25%)
3. F2 syllabus area A – group financial statements (25%)
Section B – a series of objective test questions totalling 25 marks, from all other areas of the P2, E2 and F2 syllabi not covered in section A (25%).

Passing Marks
The pass mark for the paper is 50 marks.

CGA Exam Fees
For a fee of £290, the CGA accelerated entry route includes:

one exam entry and attempt at the CGA exam
three CIMAstudy.com online study modules (E2, P2 and F2).

Total Exemptions
On successful completion of the CGA exam, you will be granted 11 free exemptions from the CIMA professional qualification and awarded the CIMA advanced diploma in management accounting. You will then be able to enter the strategic level papers P3, E3 and F3.

Practice Exam Papers

CIMA EXEMPTIONS FOR ACCA

2011-12-29T16:13:00.005+05:30

Accelerated route to CIMA with CGA

Develop your professional career and join CIMA through the accelerated route for members of:

affiliates and members of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
passed finalists and members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)
members and passed finalists of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Sri Lanka (ICASL)
members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ghana (ICAG)
South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) – from 2011 completion
Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA) – from 2012 completion

By joining CIMA by ACCA Affiliates and Members you will be awarded 11 exemptions out of 15 papers After completing CGA exam, after completing CGA you will be awarded CIMA Advance Diploma in Management Accounting and you will move to strategic level.

C omplete details on CGA can be found on the following link.
http://studymaterial4.blogspot.com/2011/12/cima-gateway-assessment-cga.html

ACCA closes direct membership route for CIMA members

2011-12-19T19:39:00.002+05:30

ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is removing an option for CIMA members to obtain direct membership of ACCA with effect from 1 January 2012.

The direct membership route has historically been available to suitably experienced members of a small number of accountancy bodies, based on the overall quality of their qualifications and an equivalence in the core syllabus coverage.
This change will be made alongside other ACCA Rulebook amendments with effect from 1 January 2012. ACCA is informing the market of this change now to provide fair notice to CIMA members with appropriate experience who may already be making their applications for direct membership of ACCA.
ACCA will continue to offer CIMA members and students exemptions from selected ACCA Fundamental Level papers for those CIMA examinations which match the content of the ACCA Qualification.

SOURCE

LSBF P4 EXAM MOCK DEC 2011

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P4 Advanced Financial Management

http://www.ziddu.com/download/17585763/P4-LSBF.zip.html

LSBF P3 EXAM MOCK DEC 2011

2011-11-29T11:22:00.000+05:30

P3 Business Analysis

http://www.ziddu.com/download/17585717/P3-LSBF.zip.html

LSBF P2-INT EXAM MOCK DEC 2011

2011-11-29T11:20:00.003+05:30

P2 Corporate Reporting - INT

http://www.ziddu.com/download/17574205/P2_INT_LSBF.zip.html

LSBF EXAMS MOCK DEC 2011

2011-11-28T14:19:00.002+05:30

LSBF EXAMS MOCK DEC 2011

F1 Accountant in Business
F2 Management Accounting
F3 Financial Accounting
F4 Corporate and Business Law
F5 Performance Management
F6 Taxation
F7 Financial Reporting
F8 Audit and Assurance
F9 Financial Management
P1 Governance, Risk & Ethics
P2 Corporate Reporting - INT
P3 Business Analysis
P4 Advanced Financial Management
P5 Advanced Performance Management
P6 Advanced Taxation
P7 Advanced Audit and Assurance

ACCA OPENTUITION EXAM TIPS DEC 2011

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ACCA OPENTUITION EXAM TIPS DEC 2011

F4 Corporate and Business Law-ENG

Numbers indicate questions to practice from BPP Revision kit
Precedent, ratio and obiter (6)
Consideration (24)
Terms (28)
Lifting the veil (63)
Resolutions and meetings (84)
Redundancy – explanation and rules (48
Auditors – qualifications, duties and powers (94 and 95)
Invitation, offer, counter-offer, scenario
Directors’ appointment and removal (88)
Alteration of Articles and binding force (69 and 70)
Compulsory and voluntary winding-up (98)
Shares and debentures (75)
Bribery Act ( Student Accountant article )

F5 Performance Management

Target costing / Lifecycle costing / Environmental Management Accounting (short written part)
Multi-product cost volume profit analysis
Budgetting (written part) / Time series / regression analysis
Planning and Operational variances
Performance measurement – financial and non-financial / Transfer pricing

F6 Taxation - UK

F6 is very predictable so no tips as such.

Practise as many exam standard questions as you can.

Make sure you do to time. After the 15 minute reading time you have 1.8 minutes per mark. If a question is split between part (a) 10 marks and part (b) 10 marks then only spend 18 minutes on part (a) and then move on to part (b).

Look at all the requirements of the question, can you answer an easy parts first, for example one part maybe standalone and on something very straightforward, so do this part first

You do not have to answer the questions in the order they are set, if question 5 is the easiest do this one first.

Question 3 will be the hardest so leave this until last but make sure you leave 36 minutes to answer it.

Do not panic if you can’t remember something in a question, don’t spend too much time trying to remember it, have a go or even guess. Then you can move on to other parts of the question.

Above all you need 50% to pass, so find the marks you can do. There will always be more than 50% of the question which is examining core areas of the syllabus, only a few marks will be fringe areas, but you do not have to worry about these as you can find the 50 marks you need to pass.

F7 Financial Reporting

q1 Consolidated balance sheet with subsidiary and associate
q2 Preparation of SoFP and SoI ( maybe Statement of changes in equity
too ) after making adjustments to trial balance or draft accounts
q3 Cash flow ( probably with an element of interpretation )
q4 Development expenditure – chat and short calculation
q5 IFRS9 – 10 mark chat

F8 Audit and Assurance

Q1 Inventory; stock count; computer assisted auditing techniques
Q2 Internal audit v external audit; parts of an assurance engagament
Q3 Corporate governance
Q4 Going concern and audit reports
Q5 Sampling

F9 Financial Management

1 Valuation of shares using PE ratio and using the dividend growth model (including using betas and using asset beta formula)
2 Investment appraisal – replacement and/or capital rationing and/or lease v buy
3 Receivables management (whether or not to offer discounts)
4 Part a) Rights issue and effect on some financial ratios
Part b) Foreign exchange risk management

P1 Governance, Risk & Ethics

q1 Internal control problems, role of the Chair, the contribution that neds
can make to corporate governance
q2 Corporate social responsibility – why and what
q3 Internal auditors and their role in managing risk
q4 Ethical problems – possibly a money laundering situation
possible question – instead of any of those last three – a numbers question

P2 Corporate Reporting

q1 Vertical group, maybe a “D” shape, Statement of Financial Position,
some ethics or corporate governance
q2 Accounting treatment, possibly complicated inventory or substance over
form – but it could be any IAS / IFRS / Framework-based question
q3 “Various IAS accounting treatment” ( 3 or 4 different IASs rather than
a specific one as in q2 )
q4 Role of IFRS, the need for and an understanding

P3 Business Analysis

Q1 Normal appraisal and advice. Perhaps with takeovers and expected values
Q2 Marketing, particularly pricing
Q3 Project – project initiation documents and gateways
Q4 Strategic use of IT
Q5 Strategy and people

P4 Advanced Financial Management

Section A
Big investment appraisal / cost of capital calculation
Managing interest rate risk
Section B
Managing foreign exchange risk
Capital asset pricing model
Written on quantitative easing

P5 Advanced Performance Management

EVA
Non financial performance measures
Information needs of different business structures
Different approaches to budgeting; beyond budgeting

P6 Advanced Taxation - UK

P7 Advanced Audit and Assurance (INT)

q1 reply to an email from a partner about a new audit assignment /
assurance engagement planning exercise – maybe where there was a suspicion
of fraud last year and a change in management
q2 an ethical problem with conflict of interest implications
q3 roles and contrast of internal / external auditors, the need for and
justification of an internal audit function
q4 criticise an audit report
possible question – comment on the matters and identify the evidence you
would expect to find in the review process of an audit file

2011-11-16T15:06:00.001+05:30

ACCA BPP EXAM TIPS DEC 2011

F4 Corporate and Business Law

Q1 Statutory interpretation
Q2 Formation of a contract – consideration or intention
Q3 Tort of negligence – how the duty of care is breached
Q5 Debentures and charges
Q6 Appointment/termination of directors
Q7 Employment law - the employment contract/relationship
Other likely topics – breach of contract and remedies, company insolvency and Insider Dealing.

F5 Performance Management

Specialist Cost and Management Accounting Techniques: Environmental accounting techniques have not yet been tested under the new syllabus, so could feature. Throughput accounting featured numerically in June. ABC vs AC or target costing is also possible.

Decision making techniques: There is a trend for pricing to be examined with other areas of the syllabus, for example learning curves. Relevant costing, CVP, make or buy or other short term decisions could feature as dealing with risk and uncertainty and limiting factors have featured recently.
Budgeting: Discussion marks often focus on the appropriateness of budgeting types or the behavioural impacts of types of budgeting. Numerically it could be tested via time series as a forecasting method.

Standard costing & variance analysis: Variances are likely to feature in the exam, students should be prepared for mix and yield variances, planning and operational variances as well as the basic variances and operating statements. Questions typically require thought about the most appropriate layout and could include discussion of variances which have already been calculated.

Performance Measurement and Control: In June, there was a change in emphasis, with this being the first paper not to contain a question focusing on interpretation of performance and financial vs. non financial measures. Detailed knowledge could instead be required on any of the performance measurement tools. Transfer pricing has not been examined recently, so could feature.

F6 Taxation

Question 1 will test income tax with maybe a VAT section attached as a separate part. The income tax will focus on a self employed individual with property income and some investment income. The VAT section could look at calculation of VAT payable, penalties and special schemes.

Question 2 will test corporation tax and could involve a long period of account, capital allowance computations for plant and machinery, computation of corporation tax payable and payment of tax.

Question 3 will test capital gains tax from an individuals’ perspective. This question will involve a number of different disposals involving entrepreneurs’ relief, part disposals, chattels and shares with a computation of capital gains tax payable. It is possible this question could alternatively involve a company disposing of shares.

Question 4 & 5 will test anything else. Possible topics that may be examined here are:
- commencement, cessation and change of accounting date rules for sole traders and partnerships
- inheritance tax testing the inheritance tax liabilities on lifetime gifts and as a result of the individual’s death.
- Group relief
- Overseas aspects of corporation tax
- Self assessment system
- Badges of trade
- Corporation tax loss relief

F7 Financial Reporting(INT)

Q1: Consolidated SOCI and/or SOFP with one subsidiary plus associate with intragroup adjustments and fair value adjustments. May include written part on a group topic.

Q2: SOCI and SOFP preparation from TB or restatement with usual adjustments for depreciation, revaluation, current/deferred tax plus others such as leases/substance, financial instruments (change in FV or amortised cost). May include discontinued operation/EPS/SOCIE.

Q3: Interpretation and/or statement of cash flows. Could focus on specific part of SOCF or specific ratios.

Q4 & Q5: One question in context of conceptual framework, and the other containing one or two discrete topics, such as regulatory framework, inflation, government grants, discontinued operations, impairments, deferred tax, leases or intangible assets.

F8 Audit and Assurance(INT)

Q1 (30 marks)
This question will be based on a scenario and incorporate between 3 and 5 distinct requirements.
The areas most likely to be tested in this question include audit planning and the identification and explanation of audit risk, audit procedures (substantive tests and/ or tests of control) and internal control.

Q2 (10 marks)
This will be a factual or knowledge based question. It is likely to cover several areas of the syllabus with 2 or 3 separate requirements worth between 2 and 5 marks each.
Topics for Question 2 can be drawn from all areas of the F8 syllabus and questions could include the responsibilities of directors and auditors as well as other definitions such as audit risk, audit assertions, audit regulation and corporate governance.

Q3, Q4 & Q5 (20 marks each)
These questions will be scenario based but will also include some knowledge based requirements.
Areas which are likely to be covered in these questions include ethics, planning, the audit of specific transactions or account balances (including estimates), subsequent events, management representations, going concern, audit reports, internal control and corporate governance.
Note that the scenario may be set in the context of a profit making or non-profit making organisation.

F9 Financial Management

Important areas to cover:

WACC: - any element of the WACC could be tested, including cost of equity, preference shares & different types of debt, along with their corresponding market values & then putting all of this together to calculate the WACC.

Investment decisions: the exam normally contains a question involving net present value (NPV), often with tax and inflation. In order to discount the NPV, you may be asked to first calculate a weighted average cost of capital (see above)

Working capital: questions on inventory management and receivables management are likely. Ensure that you are comfortable with working capital ratios as you may have to be able to put these in reverse

Sources of finance: a topical area, we would expect a part question on financing problems covering gearing issues and problems companies. Ratio analysis is likely to feature here with discussion of the numbers calculated. Ensure you are comfortable with the calculations of the different sources of finance. Islamic Finance was new on the syllabus for the June 11 exam but was not tested. It is possible it may come up in Dec 11, though if it does, it should be straightforward knowledge for a few marks only.

Business Valuations: commonly tested and a core syllabus area. The examiner often combines different syllabus areas within the same exam question – for example asking you to calculate a cost of equity and then use it to value a company.

P1 Governance, Risk & Ethics

In the long 50 mark scenario question you can expect to see all areas of the syllabus being tested. For this reason you should ensure that you have not neglected any of the broad syllabus areas of governance, risk and ethics. The topic of risk can be further subdivided between risk and control.
Some good areas of governance to look at are agency, stakeholders and directors’ remuneration.
Don’t neglect internal control reporting.
Ethical theories get tested regularly, and professional codes of ethics are an important part of the syllabus. The examiner did not touch environmental issues in the June exam – you should ensure you brush up on these too.

P2 Corporate Reporting(INT)

Q1: group SOFP and/or SOCI including discontinued activities, acquisitions and disposals or a statement of cash flows, plus adjustments on other syllabus areas such as financial instruments, pensions, share-based payment and impairments. Written part on a linked accounting adjustment and social/ethical/moral aspects of corporate reporting.

Q2 & Q3:2 case study questions, one following a theme such as non-current assets, deferred tax, foreign currency, financial instruments, pensions, share-based payment, the other an industry-based question testing a range of standards such as accounting policies and the framework, leases, grants, IFRS for SMEs, reorganisations, provisions, events after the reporting period and related parties.

Q4:discussion question e.g. revenue recognition, fair values, management commentary, improvements in performance measurement, leasing, including an application part with some computations.

P3 Business Analysis

Important areas to cover:

Strategy models
Analysis of the environment and/or internal factors has featured in most exams. Key models include PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces and the value chain. Expect something on forecasting soon.
Evaluation of strategic options is usually tested one way or another (although wasn’t in the last paper).SAF can be a useful framework to generate ideas but don’t feel you need to follow it slavishly.
Strategic action (largely change management and organisational configuration) is often overlooked, but has featured in the last two papers, emphasising the need for good syllabus coverage.

Business Process Change
A popular area, which may be based around models such as Harmon, or completely unstructured, describing a process and asking for improvements. Expect to see some numbers coming in to questions in this area to help with decisions such as automation and outsourcing.

Information Technology
A pervasive theme in many questions. Make sure you are comfortable with some of the more important recent concepts in technology such as cloud computing, viral marketing and new business models.

Project Management
This is a major topic and was not tested in the last sitting so may well be this time. Questions could well focus on analysis and realisation of benefits and again are likely to include a numerical element.
Financial Analysis
Lots of management accounting knowledge from F5 is assumed knowledge here, including budgeting, variance analysis and relevant costing. The lessons from Q1 in the last paper are that, 1) this may be in the compulsory question and 2) you may not be specifically told which techniques to use, but have to work it out from the data given.

People
This is most likely to be tested in conjunction with one of the other topics, as it was in the last paper.
Most importantly…
Knowledge alone will not get you close to a pass on this paper. You need to be able to apply your knowledge to specific situations. Practice this using past questions and stories in the press or on the web as often as you can and you will be ready for whatever the exam throws at you!

P4 Advanced Financial Management

Role and responsibility towards stakeholders:
Ethical issues continue to appear regularly as an optional discussion question, normally with practical financial issues from elsewhere in the syllabus. The discussion question is normally one of the easier optional questions.
Economic value added and ratio analysis can also be used to appraise the performance of a company.
Advanced investment appraisal:
The compulsory question often features an NPV question with an analysis of risk and/or financing; it could easily be set in the context of an overseas investment.
Cost of capital calculations are regularly tested, make sure that you are comfortable adjusting betas for differences in gearing. Real options are also a popular theme.
Acquisitions and mergers:
This exam normally contains a question involving valuations which the examiner sees as a crucial part of the syllabus; valuations questions are also likely to cover strategic and financing issues.
Corporate reconstruction:
A question could also ask you to evaluate a management buy out i.e. whether a business will be worth more if it splits itself up.
Advanced risk management:
We would expect to see a numerical risk management question featuring either interest rate or exchange rate hedging; currency hedging was tested in June 2011.

P5 Advanced Performance Management

Performance analysis:
The new examiner has indicated that his questions will require more skill in interpreting data and discussing strategies to improve performance rather than performing calculations. You may be asked to analysis performance vs budget to identify underlying problems that a company needs to address. This analysis could include the use of activity-based approaches, learning curves or non-financial performance measures.
‘Beyond budgeting’ is an important area that can be tested either as a discussion or a numerical question.
Performance appraisal requires effective information systems, expect to be asked to identify the key strategic, tactical and operational information requirements of a business.

Risk analysis:
Analysis of the risk of a new proposal could include numerical techniques such as expected values and probabilities; but strategic frameworks such as PEST analysis could feature here.
Strategic performance measures in the private sector:
Divisional performance measurement is another key area; ROI, RI , EVA, NPV or even cost of quality could feature here and transfer pricing could feature as an aspect of these questions.
EVA is especially likely given the recent articles published in this area – make sure you have read them. Modified IRR is new to the syllabus so make sure that you are comfortable with this area.

Reward systems:
HR issues are new to the syllabus from June 2011; the examiner is interested in the impact of reward systems on performance management.
Alternative views of performance measurement:
Questions are commonly set that require a good understanding of the balanced scorecard, the building blocks model and the performance pyramid. Questions will often require you to analyse data that has been collected using one of these models. The balanced scorecard and performance pyramid were tested heavily in June 2011.

Performance hierarchy:
Linking strategic decisions to mission statements or suggesting strategic options using models such as Ansoff’s matrix or the BCG matrix lend themselves to questions containing a mixture of financial and discursive elements that could easily include a simple NPV or profit analysis.

P6 Advanced Taxation(UK)

Section A will involve two case study questions covering around 60-70% of the marks. One will be from a personal tax perspective and the other from a corporate tax perspective. Both questions will cover a range of topics and taxes and will require the construction of professional documents like reports/letters.

Section B will comprise 3 questions making up the balance of the marks.
Topics that may appear this sitting are as follows:
Liquidation
Group/Consortium relief
Close companies
Sole trader/partnerships
Inheritance tax versus capital gains tax
Property income
Enterprise investment scheme/venture capital trust
Termination of employment
Income tax losses
Personal service companies
Land and buildings aspects of VAT

P7 Advanced Audit and Assurance(INT)

There are a number of areas that candidates can expect to see in their exam, such as:
•A risk-based planning scenario in the compulsory section
•Questions based on articles published in Student Accountant (although not necessarily from the last six months)
•A number of requirements asking for audit procedures and required evidence in respect of specific financial reporting issues and ISAs
•A practice-based scenario looking at professional, ethical and quality control issues
•A reporting scenario of some sort - probably testing candidates’ knowledge of either the various modifications to the standard audit report or other forms of communication available to the external auditor.
We would also recommend that candidates read the examiner’s report from the June 2011 exam (in the context of the June 2011 exam paper) and keep the following additional issues in mind as part of their revision:
•Don’t forget key brought-forward knowledge from Paper F8 which candidates have traditionally struggled with at P7(audit risk, audit procedures and audit reports).
•Candidates should also not forget about practice-related issues (such as the terms of audit engagements, sampling and documentation) where topics such as quality control procedures, ACCA firm practising requirements and the ethical implications of one firm providing both internal and external audit services could be discussed.
•The correct accounting treatment of complex issues, such as IAS 19 Employee benefits or a newcomer for 2011 IAS 21 The effects of changes in foreign exchange rates or even the associated issues of disclosure (such as IFRS 8 Operating segments or IAS 33

ACCA EXAM TIPS FROM FIRST INTUITION DEC 2011

2011-11-16T14:45:00.000+05:30

ACCA EXAM TIPS FROM FIRST INTUITION DEC 2011

F4 Corporate and Business Law

Sources of law

Offer and acceptance

Contract terms

The law of torts
Employment law
Partnerships
Corporations & separate legal personality
Director
Company meetings and resolutions
Fraudulent behaviour

F5 Performance Management

Target costing
Life cycle costing
Relevant costing decision making
Forecasting
Fixed overhead variances
Financial and non-financial performance assessment
Transfer pricing

F6 Taxation

Resident status
BIKS and employment v self employment
Badges of trade
Adjustment of profits
Basis periods – change of year end
Capital allowances
Partnerships
Property profit
Income tax computation
Corporation tax with group relief
CGT – chattels, PPR, rollover relief, gift relief
NI – Class 1,2 and 4
VAT – cash accounting, default surcharge
Payments on account

F7 Financial Reporting

Q1 Consolidated SFP, with associate, deferred consideration, Pups and fair value adjustment downwards
Q2 Single company accounts questions, including contract, lease, and intangible assets
Q3 Statement of cash flow and comments there on with no ratios
Q4 The framework with computation for no current assets
Q5 IAS 37/IAS 12 and deferred tax computation

F8 Audit and Assurance

Q1 Substantive audit procedures and tests of control on a key area of the Statement of Financial Position eg inventories or non-current assets
Q2 Short 10-marker on ISAs eg audit reports, fraud & error
Q3 ‘Identifying and explaining’ the threats to auditor independence and ways of managing them
Q4 Management letter; identify the weaknesses, consequences and recommendations in a particular company
Q5 Subsequent events

F9 Financial Management

Discussion of the economic environment and the impact on interest and exchange rates
Working capital management
Investment appraisal and cost of capital
Business valuation

P1 Governance, Risk & Ethics

50 mark scenario question, to include: TARA risk model, ethics, absolutist v relativism, chairman and CEO powers need to be separate, also corporate social responsibility, ISO 14001
Optional questions to include: importance of internal control, NEDs and remuneration committee, business risks, Grays Owens and adams

P2 Corporate Reporting

Q1 Group question on disposals, piecemeal acquisitions
Ethics
Revenue recognition – current issues
Deferred tax
Share based payments
Related parties

P3 Business Analysis

Section A
Environment analysis, people with financial analysis
Section B
Project management
Strategic action
Information technology – pricing strategy

P4 Advanced Financial Management

Q1 International investment appraisal techniques focusing on risk management tools such as value at risk
Q2 Impact of WACC following hedging of interest rate risk
Q3 Company valuation-based scenario, possible MBO finance structure
Q4 Adjusted present value with link to real options and Black Scholes option pricing model
Q5 Written question on credit ratings and difficulties of raising debt finance in current credit markets. This could be linked to current challenges faced by Eurozone governments attempting to raise debt capital amidst falling credit ratings

P5 Advanced Performance Management

Performance pyramid
Performance management hierarchy
Quality costs
EV and risk
Impact of external factors on performance
Activity based principles

P6 Advanced Taxation

Income tax- overseas aspects of income tax, share option schemes, change of year end, trading losses, partnerships, EIS and VCT relief
Corporation tax – close companies, benefits for participators, non-UK companies trading in the UK, groups and trading losses and groups and gains, including pre-entry elements. Overseas subsidiary or branch.
CGT – PPR and gift reliefs, reorganisations and takeovers
VAST – capital goods scheme, flat rate scheme
Administration – payment of corporation tax in instalments
IHT – related property, BPR

P7 Advanced Audit and Assurance

Business risk in a scenario
Identifying ethical and other professional issues in a scenario
Audit reports
Group audits
Money laundering
Forensic audits

ACCA EXAM TIPS FROM ICOUNT DEC 2011

2011-11-16T14:30:00.000+05:30

EXAM TIPS FROM ICOUNT DEC 2011

F4 Corporate and Business Law

· Contract breach

· Employment tests

· Company articles and memorandum

· Corporate governance

· Loan capital

· Limited liability

F5 Performance Management

· Linear Programming

· Analysing Performance using Financial and Non Financial Indicators

· Activity Based Costing

· Relevant Costing

· Budgeting

F6 Taxation

· Adjustments to accounting profits to calculate income tax of a sole trader.

· Corporation tax basic groups.

· Chargeable gains for individuals or companies.

· Accounting for VAT, including registration dates.

· Income tax losses.

F7 Financial Reporting

· Consolidated group accounts with parent, sub and associate - with intergroup trading, items in transit and FV adjustments.

· Redraft of single entity accounts with adjustments 3. Statement of Cashflow with liquidity ratios.

· EPS/Construction Contracts

· Features of a finance lease, with computations.

F8 Audit and Assurance

· System deficiencies and controls

· Corporate governance

· Audit assertions and appropriate audit procedures.

· Written representations

· Ethics and safeguards.

F9 Financial Management

· Net Present Value

· Working Capital Management

· Types of finance and WACC – change in Business Risk

· Analysing performance – financial & non financial measures

· PE and DVM valuations

P1 Governance, Risk & Ethics

· Transaction cost versus agency theories

· Board committees

· Risk management and the role of internal audit

· Controlling organisational risks

· Absolutist versus relativist ethical theories

· Professional ethics

P2 Corporate Reporting

· Consolidation Statement of Comprehensive Income (with complex groups)

· Consolidated Statement of Cashflow

· Accounting treatment for Pension / Share based payments.

· Current developments within IFRS'/IAS'

· Financial instruments at FVTPL and amortised cost.

P3 Business Analysis

· Project management skills

· Internal resources and competences

· Supply chain management

· Decision tree

· Budgeting

· Change management

P4 Advanced Financial Management

· Overseas Net Present Value

· Financing incorporating change in Business Risk

· Black Scholes

· Corporate failure

· Interest rate risk management

P5 Advanced Performance Management

· Quality measurement

· PEST/Porters 5 forces

· Incremental Budgeting

· Public sector performance measurement

· Activity Based Costing

P6 Advanced Taxation

· Advising on IHT mitigation with CGT aspects of lifetime gifts.

· Corporation tax groups with VAT groups.

· Sole trader trading losses.

· Employee share schemes.

P7 Advanced Audit and Assurance

· Audit opinion

· Evidence

· Transnational audits

· Business and financial statement risk

· Ethics

Quality control

KAPLAN ACCA EXAM TIP DEC 2011

2011-11-08T21:55:00.002+05:30

F4 Corporate and Business Law

English Legal System

· Tribunals
· Interpretation of statute
· Judicial precedent
· Human Rights Act

Contract Law

· Acceptance/postal rule
· Consideration
· Terms
· Capacity
· Exclusion Clauses
· Breach of contract

Torts

· Breach of Duty
· Professional Misstatement
· Defences to Negligence

Employment Law

· Common law duties
· Summary dismissal
· Redundancy
· Remedies

Agency Relationships

· Types of Partnership

Fraudulent Behaviour

· Money Laundering
· Insider Dealing
· Fraudulent/wrongful trading

Company Law

· Types of companies
· Articles of Association
· Resolutions
· Meetings
· Class rights
· Directors duties
· Different Types of Directors
· Voluntary Liquidation

F5 Performance Management

· Payoff tables
· Multiproduct breakeven
· ABC
· Regression analysis
· Linear programming
· Performance management

F6 Taxation

Income tax

· Husband and wife
· Joint investment income
· Some exempt income
· Adjustment of profits
· Gift Aid donations/personal pension contributions - extending basic rate band
· Calculation of PA based on adjusted net income
· Employment Income - benefits
· National insurance
· Income tax trading loss

Corporation tax

· Possibly a long/short period of account
· Capital allowances including IBA [IBA cannot be examined after this sitting]
· Penalties for late filing of return
· Interest on late payment of corporation tax
· Groups - Losses

VAT

· Separate part of question 1 or 2 or whole question 4/5 (as in June 2009/ June 2011)
· VAT return – including some discounts and impaired debts relief
· Cash accounting scheme/Flat rate scheme
· Overseas issues

Capital gains tax

· Individual making disposals
· Disposal of chattels
· Transfer between spouses
· Principal private residence relief
· Rollover and gift relief
· Corporate chargeable gains

Sundry topics for questions 4 and 5

· Groups – Losses / Gains Group
· Income tax Basic Planning – comparative scenario with calculation of net cash consequences
· IHT

F7 Financial Reporting

Question 1

Consolidated statement of financial position* including an associate.

Possible adjustments to include:

- deferred consideration/share exchange

- net asset fair value adjustments

- intra-group loan/current account

- goodwill impairment**

- impairment of the investment in the associate

- PURP

* UK: Balance sheet

** UK: Amortisation and possibly impairment

Question 2

Preparation of financial statements from trial balance including a SOCIE*.

Possible adjustments to include:

- revaluation

- depreciation

- financial liabilities (possibly redeemable preference shares or finance

- lease)

- provisions

- revenue recognition

- tax and deferred tax

- prior period adjustment

* UK: Statement of the Movements in Share Capital and Reserves

Question 3

Possible mixed cash flow/interpretation question to include:

- The preparation of a statement of cash flow (or part thereof)

- Calculation of ratios and a short interpretation exercise using the

statement of cash flow and ratio results.

Questions 4 and 5

Lease

Impairment

Non-current (fixed) assets

Intangible asset – possibly to include research & development

Government grant

Investment property

F8 Audit and Assurance

· Audit risk including analytical procedures
· Assurance engagements
· Ethics including fundamental principles/confidentiality
· Systems: payroll, inventory
· Evidence: payroll, inventory, share capital, reserves, opening balances
· Specific standards/topics:

- ISA 530 (sampling)

- ISA 220 (review of working papers)

- Audit committees

- Not for profit organisations

- ISA 520 (analytical procedures)

- Audit regulation – International standards on Auditing

· - Completion (ISA 560 – subsequent events)

· - Auditor’s reports

NOTE :

Please be aware that the current examiner has suggested that the questions will not be restricted to topic areas, i.e. question 1 won’t just be about systems and controls. This is a significant difference from the previous examiner. Also be aware that recent diets for F8 have ranged from those requiring knowledge of the content of a broad range of standards (some quite peripheral to the syllabus) and those requiring grounding in the core auditing concepts/techniques. Therefore, students should be prepared for either possibilities in the December 2011 paper, or a combination of the two.

F9 Financial Management

Investment appraisal

This is a key topic which seems highly likely to be examined every time. The most common technique assessed is NPV with inflation and taxation although be prepared for a twist, possibly involving capital rationing or sensitivity calculations.

Working Capital Management

Another key topic which is likely to examined every time. Exams to date have covered much of this topic but it’s been a while since we’ve seen the more numerical aspects surrounding receivables management or the models for cash management.

Valuations

This has been examined in virtually every F9 exam to date although to a lesser extent in recent sittings. Asset and cash flow based values have yet to be examined although the PE ratio and dividend valuation methods still appear to be the more examinable areas.

Business Finance

This topic has been heavily examined recently and in particular the impact of financing on ratios is an area the examiner likes. We’ve not seen much in relation to rights issues recently.

Cost of Capital

This topic features in virtually every exam to a greater or lesser extent. Good coverage of all of the syllabus areas is therefore essential to ensure you can handle any eventuality on the day.

Risk Management

Within this section of the syllabus, foreign exchange risk has been examined more often than interest rate risk. However, both are fairly under-examined areas of the syllabus as a whole and so this is a topic worth being on top of.

The Financial Management Function and the impact of the economic environment upon it

These topics have largely been ignored thus far although a general discussion of the relationship between investment decisions, dividend decisions and financing decisions was required in the June 2010 exam.

Despite the examiner’s assertion in his first article about F9 that all topics carry equal weight we can probably expect these topics to continue to take a back seat. Having said that, a questions relating to the objectives in both the corporate and NFP sectors could be a potential.

P1 Governance, Risk & Ethics

· Corporate governance: external actors – stock exchanges & Company secretary
· ‘Sound system’ of Internal controls
· Normative / instrumental stakeholder views
· Deontological and Teleological
· Ethical Decision making – Tucker/AAA
· CSR / corporate citizenship
· Remuneration committee
· Risk perception and ALARP
· Role of Chairman and/or NEDs
· Directors Performance Evaluation

P2 Corporate Reporting

· Group statement of financial position
· Retirement benefits
· Financial instruments
· Non-current assets & assets held for sale
· Deferred tax
· Revenue recognition
· Entity reconstructions
· Conceptual framework / Fair Value Measurement
· Management Commentary

P3 Business Analysis

Section A

Question 1 may well be less strategic than we have seen in the past. It could feature a large element of project management for example. But it should have some element of strategic analysis, possibly a SWOT. Project management links well to other areas of the syllabus such as strategy and people and process redesign.

Section B

This will combine all elements of the syllabus (strategic analysis, choice and implementation).

· Pricing

· Project appraisal

· Strategy and people

· Change management

The only chapter from Kaplan’s official study text that has not yet been examined in any detail is the chapter covering finance, so students should ensure that they are comfortable with this chapter as it may appear as part of an option question.

P4 Advanced Financial Management

The examiner has expressed his desire to move the paper away from the highly technical papers set by the previous examiner and to make them more strategic and practical. This has been a feature of the last 2 exam papers in December 2010 and June 2011.

At the March 2011 ACCA Lecturers’ Conference, the examiner explained that question spotting is dangerous at this level – it is important that students should study all parts of the syllabus in detail.

However, for December 2011, we would advise students to focus on the following core syllabus topics in particular:

· Net Present Value – including foreign currency cash flows

· Bond yields and bond values

· Risk adjusted WACC

· Discussion of financing options

· Interest rate hedging – options, futures and FRAs

P5 Advanced Performance Management

It is not easy to predict questions for this paper and the examiner may test a topic that has come up in the last or recent exams.

· CSFs and KPIs

· Strategic analysis tools, i.e. SWOT, benchmarking

· Gap analysis

· External analysis

· Ethics / CSR

· Budget preparation/forecasting

· IT developments

· Performance measurement

· Not-for-profit organisations

· Quality

· League table and targets in the public sector

· Evaluation of financial and non-financial performance (may examine the performance pyramid / prism)

P6 Advanced Taxation

· Overseas aspects of CGT
· Corporation tax groups with consortium relief
· VAT groups
· IHT vs CGT
· Lease vs buy assets
· Employment income: share options and redundancy payments

P7 Advanced Audit and Assurance

Core areas (as per examiner’s approach article) likely to be examined in every paper:

· Engagement planning and risk assessment (business risk?);
· Engagement procedures (i.e. evidence);
· Ethics and professional issues;
· Engagement reporting (ISA’s 700, 705, 706 in particular);

Subjects of recent articles yet to be examined:

· Unmodified audit reports (ISA 700) (October ‘11 article).
· ISA 540 Audit of Accounting Estimates.
· Auditing in a Computer Based Environment;

Significant topics not examined for at least 18 months:

· Laws & regs (ISA 250);
· Fraud
· Money laundering;
· Forensic audit;
· Written representations;
· Quality control (ISA 220);
· Obtaining work;
· Outsourcing/internal audit;

NOTE :

Please note; the UK strand is also very likely to include an aspect of Insolvency.

Please be aware that the whole syllabus is examinable. Whilst the above topics are likely to be examined in forthcoming sittings this does not mean candidates should avoid other areas of the syllabus in their exam preparation.

The examiner will set 5 questions, which will all have multiple elements, so it is likely that topics other than the ones noted above will be examined in the December 2011 exam.

The examiner has noted that questions will not be restricted to topic areas (e.g. question 5 will not necessarily be on audit reporting) and instead we should expect to see topics spread across a number of questions.

In addition, please note the case study questions in section A will have the requirements embedded in the question (see the recent article from the examiner ‘Changes in question style’).

CIMA Global part qualified salary survey 2011

2011-11-02T12:24:00.001+05:30

CIMA Global part qualified salary survey 2011

The 2011 annual global salary survey of CIMA students has revealed that 56 per cent of students are satisfied with their current salary, compared with just 51 per cent in 2010.
The annual salary survey gathers responses from part-qualified students in Australia, Botswana, China, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Malaysia, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, Sri Lanka, South Africa, UAE, UK and Zambia.
Salary information was collected in February 2011 in local currencies. This increase could reflect a greater understanding of the security and stability CIMA’s qualification offers in an uncertain climate, or perhaps the expectation shown by 56 per cent of CIMA students that they will receive a salary increase in 2011.

Within the report an analysis of annualised average basic salary expressed in a common currency – in this case British pounds sterling (GBP) – allows us to compare salary levels across countries.
At almost £62,000, Australia has the largest average annualised salary in comparative terms; double that of the UK.
Salaries in Pakistan and Sri Lanka are low in international terms but they are high in national terms, which demonstrates the value of CIMA part-qualified students to smaller, emerging economies.
The large and fast-growing economies of China and India show comparative average salaries much greater than the small economies of Pakistan and Sri Lanka, but their salaries remain far below those seen in the established larger economies (the UK, Ireland and Australia).
At 71 per cent, the proportion satisfied with their salary is much greater in Australia, which has also been shown to have the highest comparative average salary.
Except for Ireland, those countries with the highest comparative average salaries also have the highest proportions of people satisfied with their salary.
For more country-specific analysis and reports , visit CIMA MyJOBS at http://myjobs.cimaglobal.com

Working hours
In all countries surveyed, the number of hours worked in a typical week is most commonly 41–50 hours, except for the UK, where the typical working week is 35–40 hours. In 10 of the 15 countries surveyed, two-thirds or more of part qualified students are working more than 40 hours per week.
This is in contrast to the more established economies: two-fifths in the UK and roughly one-half in Australia and Ireland typically work more than 40 hours per week.
The most common reason for increasing hours was taking on more responsibility, which was mentioned by 78 per cent of students.
However, in terms of the second-most common reasons for increasing working hours, some interesting differences emerge. In established economies, such as the UK and Ireland, staffing constraints are causing a requirement for working longer hours. In fast-growing economies, such as India and Sri Lanka, company growth is causing bottlenecks.

Geographical mobility
The CIMA qualification is held in high regard, with the vast majority of part-qualified students perceiving it as providing career opportunities, as well as strengthening the ability to move internationally and to work across all areas of the business.
Overall, 64 per cent of part-qualified students are planning to move jobs within the next two years, but there is notable variation by country, with the lowest proportions in the more established economies − Australia, the UK and Ireland, where GDP growth tends to be lower – as well as China and Poland.
Likewise, there is considerable variation in the proportions planning to emigrate, with the highest proportion in Pakistan, followed by India, and among the lowest proportions in the UK and Ireland.

SOURCE

ACA-ICAEW EXEMPTION FOR ACCA

2011-10-31T18:08:00.007+05:30

ACA papers

There are 15 modules within the ACA qualification with exams in two stages, covering a range of topics from business and finance to law and business strategy:

Professional stage - Knowledge module

Business and finance
Assurance
Principles of taxation
Law
Accounting
Management information

It is possible to study the Knowledge module as an independent qualification, the Certificate of Finance and Business (CFAB).

Professional stage - Application module

Business strategy
Audit and assurance
Taxation
Financial management
Financial accounting
Financial reporting

Advanced stage - Technical Integration

Business change
Business reporting

Advanced Case Study

The Advanced stage Case Study comprises testing your understanding of complex business issues involving both financial and non-financial data.

EXEMTIONs AVAILABLE FOR PAPERS

ACA Papers ACCA Papers

Accounting F3 Financial Accounting

Assurance F8 Audit and Assurance

Business and Finance F1 Accountant in Business

Law F4 Corporate and Business Law

Management Information F2 Management Accounting

F9 Financial Management

Principles of Taxation F6 Taxation

Audit and Assurance P7 Advanced Audit and Assurance

Business Strategy P3 Business Analysis

Financial Accounting F7 Financial Reporting

Financial Management Taken and passed

F9 Financial Management OR

If you have received a converted pass in F9 you will also

need paper P4 Advanced Financial Management

Financial Reporting F7 Financial Reporting

P2 Corporate Reporting

Taxation P6 Advanced Taxation

CIMA KAPLAN EXAM TIP NOV 2011

2011-10-26T16:58:00.005+05:30

TIPS FROM KAPLAN FINANCIAL

F1
*Single company income statement
*Statement of financial position and statement of changes in equity

*Consolidated income statement and statement of financial position incorporating:
-Inter-company balances/sales
-PUP
-Fair value adjustment

-Depreciation adjustment
-Inter-company Loans/Dividend

*Business tax:
-Calculation of profits for tax purposes
-Overseas tax

-VAT calculation

*Ethical threats
*Objective of an audit and audit reports
*Share issue (bonus or rights)

*Statement of cash flows (extracts in question 2 - maybe two parts?)

*Construction contract
*Non-current asset note
*Depreciation

*Disposal of an asset

*Revaluation of an asset and disposal

*Intangibles Asset - research and devolopment

*Taxation: current and deferred tax

F2
*General interpretation plus limitations of analysis
*Groups - complex group; statement of cash flows
*EPS

*Financial Instruments

*Share based Payments
*Pension schemes
*Substance over form
*Developments in external reporting - IFRS v US GAAP; or Operating & Financial Review (OFR)

F3
Section A
* This generally focuses on topics from syllabus section C:

‘Investment Decisions and Project Control’ (this accounts for 45% of the syllabus)

*Investment Appraisal or Business Valuation could be the main topic.

Although the examiner has said that Section A will not always focus on this area, the last time

Business Valuation appeared in detail in Section A was four sittings ago, so its a key topic this time.

Section B
This will contain three questions. Key topic areas which may be tested this sitting are:
*Working capital management / ratio analysis
*Cost of capital

*the role of treasury

*The link between financing, dividends and investment policies


E1 Section A Expect the questions to cover the full range of the syllabus. Sections B and C The global business environment: Corporate political activity Risk Corporate governance and stakeholders Ethics/corporate social responsibility Culture Information systems: Databases Decision support systems, e.g. EIS User resistance and change management Systems implementation Operations management: Value chain Inventory management Supply chain management Benchmarking Quality Marketing: Marketing in not-for-profit organizations Marketing orientation and plan Managing human capital: Motivation Flexible working *HR planning including selection, induction and training/development

E2
Strategic analysis:

*Strategic analysis. This is a key topic and students should be familiar with the models used for internal and external analysis (PEST, Porter’s 5 forces, Porter’s value chain and resources audit). Students should also be able to pull the external and internal analysis together in a corporate appraisal (SWOT analysis).
*Approaches to strategy. Students should have a detailed knowledge of the rational approach to strategy formulation, and should be able to discuss its drawbacks and suggest alternative approaches, such as emergent, incremental and adaptive.
* Levels of strategy. Students must be able to discuss the different levels of strategy which occur throughout an organisation.

*Transaction cost view. Students should be able to discuss the complex forms of organisation which have arisen largely due to globalisation. Network organisations and the transaction cost view have not been examined for several sittings.

Project management :

*Risk management. Risk is part of the initiation phase of project management. Students should ensure they can discuss the risk management process and be able to identify risks from a scenario and discuss ways of managing them.
* Project feasibility. This is part of the initiation phase of project management. Students should ensure they can discuss the 3 types of feasibility and evaluate the feasibility of a project from a scenario.
* Post completion audit – the final stage of a project is an important stage and often overlooked by students. It is important to discuss why post completion audits should take place, what they entail and what benefits can be gained from them.
* Project management tools. This is always a popular topic in the E2 exam. Students must be aware of the tools used throughout the management of a project, in particular critical path analysis, project management software and scenario planning.

Management of relationships :

* Culture/International culture. Culture is a popular exam topic which has not been examined for a few sittings. In particular, international culture (Hofstede) has not been examined for several years, so it is a model that is worth ensuring that students are familiar with and could discuss.
* Management control – this area covers the control systems within an organisation, including legal issues. Topics such as health and safety, discrimination and disciplinary procedures have not been examined under the E2 syllabus, so this is an area that could potentially come up.
* Corporate Governance – This featured in the specimen paper and is an area that students should be familiar with. Students should ensure that they are aware of the main areas of corporate governance and they should be able to apply the rules to a scenario.

* Groups and teams. Team building, leading and motivating teams and how to run successful teams is an area worth looking at. There are a few key models in this area such as Tuckman and Belbin.

* Managing the finance function. This area has never been examined in E2, so it is one which students should ensure they are comfortable with. It covers the importance of the finance function and the positioning of the finance function within the business

E3
*Ethics/CSR

*Change Management
*Divisional performance
*Strategy evaluation
*Objectives/CSFs, possibly including balanced scorecard

*Organisational Structure
*Value chain

P1
*NPV
*ABC
*Variance analysis
*Environmental costing
*Decision trees

P2
*Learning curves and planning op variances
*Transfer pricing
*Kaizen and standard costing
*DPP

P3
*Foreign currency
*Identification of risk and recommending controls
*Small requirement on fraud or ethics
*Corporate governance (new UK Corporate Governance Code)

*IT

*Audit
*Management accounting control systems

CIMA EXAM TIPS FROM ICOUNT

2011-10-26T16:20:00.001+05:30

TIPS FROM ICOUNT

F1
*Published accounts with deferred tax
*Consolidated SFP
*Leases
*Construction contract
*Code of ethics

F2
*Pensions
*EPS
*Financial Instruments
*Interpretation of financial accounts – segmental reporting
*Consolidation – complex groups or changes in group structure
*Current issues

F3
*Overseas NPV calculation and post completion Audit
*Dividend policy
*Valuations
*Comparison of types of Long term Finance
*Working Capital Management

P1
*NPV with sensitivities
*Variances
*Decision Tree
*Functional budgets
*Activity Based Costing
*Receivables Management

P2
*Linear Programming
*Transfer Pricing
*Performance Evaluation (Ratio Analysis)

P3
*Currency risk management: forward contracts and internal hedging techniques
*Corporate governance principles in relation to directors
*Risk mapping and categorisation
*Risks management within an automated process
*Internal audit testing techniques and professional ethics

E1
*International trade and the BRIC economies
*Changeover methods and maintenance approaches in IT/IS
*Relevance of quality and quality costs
*Marketing – segmentation and research
*Motivating a team

E2
*Approaches to strategy
*Analysis of the 5 forces
*Critical path analysis and GANTT charts
*Contingency theories of management style
*Groups and organisational culture

E3
*Product Lifecycle
*Generic Strategies
*Change Management

HEALTH WARNING: These tips should be used in conjunction with proper study and revision. They are not a substitute for in-depth revision. We cannot guarantee that everything we mention will be on the paper. These tips are a rough guide only, no-one knows what the examiner was thinking when the paper was written!

TIPS FROM FIRST INTUITION

2011-10-26T16:16:00.002+05:30

TIPS FROM FIRST INTUITION

P1
*Activity Based Costing
*Variances
*Project Appraisal
*Uncertainty and Risk
*Working Capital Management

E1
*Corporate Governance
*Human Resource Plan
*Marketing mix
*International trade
*Use of IT in operations management

F1
Section B
*Taxation, including deferred tax and a tax computation
*Cashflows
*Ethics
*The Framework
*Consolidation Goodwill
Section C
*Statement of Cashflows
*Single company accounts – Including financial instrument, long term contracts

E2
*Position Audit
*Stakeholders
*Project Management
*Management of the Treasury & Finance Functions
*Communication

P2
*Relevant costing
*Limiting factors
*JIT/Quality costs
*Activity based management
*Divisional performance
*Transfer pricing
*Budgets and behaviour

F2
*Group accounts – disposals
*Interpretation of company performance
*Group SOCIE
*Financial Instruments
*Earnings Per Share
*Pensions

P3
Section A
*Identification and management of risks for the company in the preseen using elements of the risk management cycle
Section B
*Corporate Governance –internal audit, internal controls, Boards of Directors
*Financial risk – currency risk :ways of managing currency risk, including options
*IT risks and controls, including CAATs.
*Evaluation of 2 projects

E3
*Johnson & Scholes strategic management model
*Corporate social responsibility
*Ethical dilemmas
*Value chain
*Knowledge management
*Benchmarking
*Balanced scorecard
*Change management
*Ratio analysis

F3
*Overseas NPV
*Financial forecasts
*Business valuations
*Risk and beta factors
*Working capital management
*Project controls
*Treasury function
*Choosing finance sources

CIMA BPP EXAM TIP NOV 2011

2011-10-26T16:13:00.001+05:30

CIMA EXAM TIPS - NOVEMBER 2011

BPP experts outline the most important syllabus areas for the November exams - more than just tips then

What follows are not a list of traditional ‘tips’ that you should rely on being examined for lots of marks in the exam. Instead they are the most important syllabus areas as identified by BPP’s subject specialists, set in a context in which they may be seen in your November exam, and should only form the core of your revision studies.

E1
•The political, social and economic context – identifying and explaining factors that determine international competitive advantage.
•Operations management – explaining how developments in organisational structure and quality management have helped businesses gain a competitive advantage.
•Information systems – identifying the benefits of information systems and explaining the value of structured system implementation.
•Marketing – applying key concepts such as the marketing mix to a scenario that could include a not-for-profit dimension.
•HR – explaining the value of HR planning, recruitment/selection and training when dealing with any of the above changes.

E2
•Approaches to strategy - comparing and contrasting the formulation / different levels of strategy.
•The competitive environment - analysing the environment or assessing the value/benefit of the analysis - could be extended to include stakeholders
•Business ethics and corporate governance (including CSR) - importance to the company and analysing potential issues arising within a business context.
•Management and Leadership - in relation to management styles and the importance of managing groups – likely to incorporate conflict if examined in Section B.
•Project management - tools and skills in a project management context, including project risks / management of cross functional teams.
•Culture - the theory and the impact it has on organisational success.

E3
•Strategic choice – applying Johnson, Scholes and Whittington’s Suitable, Acceptable, Feasible model to the selection of strategic options.
•Strategic marketing decisions – whether an organisation should adopt a customer or product focused approach to strategy applying techniques such as Customer Account Profitability and Direct Product Profitability.
•Change management – possibly in the context of changing the organisation’s approach to marketing.
•Environmental uncertainty – describing the problems that uncertain environments present, and evaluating techniques such as scenario planning and game theory in dealing with uncertainty.

P1
•Working capital management – the calculation of the cycle, the impact of decisions on the cycle, EOQ calculation, cash flow forecast and compound interest calculation.
•Operating statement reconciling budgeted to actual profits including fixed overhead variances and possibly mix and yield calculations.
•NPV including tax and inflation and/or incremental revenue and costs.
•Sensitivity calculations and yield to maturity using the IRR.
•Expected values, joint probabilities and risk based decisions.
•Decision trees requiring both appropriate construction and evaluation.
•Activity based costing calculations and discussion of benefits and drawbacks.
•Benefits of budgeting techniques for discursive marks.

P2
•Relevant costing – in a short term decision making context.
•Value chain – discussion of how the use of the value chain can help drive profit in a given business.
•Pricing – discussion of pricing policies for new products incorporating the product life cycle.
•Activity based costing – extending to DPP, discussion in a retail environment.
•Responsibility accounting – controllability and impacts on motivation / performance measurement.
•Performance evaluation – via financial and non financial measures.
•Transfer pricing – discussion of differing policies and their consequences.

P3
•Different types of interest rate risk and techniques for managing them.
•Strategic risks facing an organisation and recommendations of control measures.
•Focus on risks around HR and how these can be mitigated.
•Risks relating to IT projects, including supplier selection and how they can be mitigated.
•Tools for managing currency risk and evaluation of whether they are appropriate for a given organization.
•Issues raised by technology for auditors.

F1
•Deferred tax calculations and the regulatory framework will almost certainly feature in Sections A and/or B.
•It is important that candidates know definitions for general principles of tax (eg hypothecation, underlying tax and withholding tax) and can perform basic calculations (eg sales tax) as it is likely that there will be a number of taxation questions in Section A.
•Leases are likely to appear in Section B or as a sub-requirement in Section C. Candidates must be able to identify the type of lease and carry out the calculations involved for finance leases.
•Construction contracts are also likely to appear in Section B.
•Accounts preparation requiring an statement of comprehensive income and a statement of financial position is likely in Section C.
•A consolidated statement of financial position featuring a parent, subsidiary and an associate is likely as the other Section C question.
•It is likely that statement of cash flows will be tested for 10 – 15 marks as either two or three section B questions or as a sub-requirement in Section C.
•Both audit and ethics, although smaller topics, will almost certainly be tested for 3-4 marks each, either as standalone Section A questions or as sub-requirements in Section B or C.

F2
Section A
•Written question, eg convergence between US GAAP and IFRS, operating and financial review, environmental reporting or human asset accounting.
•Short consolidated statement of comprehensive income, statement of financial position or extracts from group financial statements.
•Recognition, measurement and/or classification of financial instruments – either an adjustment in a groups question and whole/part of a question in its own right requiring explanation of accounting treatment and/or calculations and/or journals.
•Pension accounting – numerical question with notes to financial statements or written question explaining accounting treatment for defined benefit pension and/or defined contribution scheme.
•Share-based payment – part or whole of a question requiring explanation of accounting treatment and/or calculations and/or journal entries.
•Interpretation of accounts – interpretation of pre-calculated ratios or written/numerical EPS question or limitations of financial analysis.
•Inflation accounting /asset valuation explanation/ comparison between or advantages & disadvantages of historic cost accounting, current cost accounting and current purchasing power
Section B.
•Group financial statements eg consolidated statement of financial position or consolidated statement of comprehensive income or consolidated statement of cash flow with a foreign subsidiary, complex group or change in group structure (disposal and/or piecemeal acquisition).
•An interpretation scenario including ratio calculations, segment analysis or the effect on ratios of changes in accounting treatment and/or limitations of financial analysis.

F3
•Formulation of Financial Strategy - produce a forecast to assess whether objectives will be achieved. Discussion areas could include analysing the appropriate dividend policy and the inter-relationships between dividend, financing and investment policies.
•Financial Management - analysis of a source of finance, including cost of capital calculations / discussion of gearing levels.
•Business Valuations & Acquisitions – as well as the standard valuation techniques, could also cover post merger valuation and discussion of post merger value enhancement strategies.
•Also, make sure that you are able to explain the efficient markets hypothesis – recent stock market volatility casts doubt on the ability of stock markets to price securities in a rational way.
•Investment Decisions and Project Control in the context of overseas investment appraisal.
•Capital rationing could be examined along with a discussion of how to deal with capital rationing problems.
•Finally, post auditing is a project management technique that is regularly examined.

CAT - T3 - REVISION NOTES

2011-10-21T16:20:00.002+05:30

T3-REVISION NOTES

http://www.ziddu.com/download/16936406/T3-REVISIONNOTES.zip.html

FIA TIMETABLE DEC 2011 AND JUNE 2012

2011-10-21T14:25:00.002+05:30

Foundations in Accountancy - December 2011

December 2011 session

Date	Exam
Monday 5 December	Foundations in Taxation (FTX)
Tuesday 6 December	Managing Costs and Finance (MA2) and Foundations in Financial Management (FFM)
Wednesday 7 December	Maintaining Financial Records (FA2)
Thursday 8 December	Management Information (MA1)
Friday 9 December	Accountant in Business (FAB)
Monday 12 December	Foundations in Audit (FAU)
Tuesday 13 December	Financial Accounting (FFA)
Wednesday 14 December	Recording Financial Transactions (FA1) and Management Accounting (FMA)

Foundations in Accountancy - June 2012

Due to public holidays taking place in the UK from 2–5 June 2012, the ACCA June 2012 exam session will take place from 11–20 June 2012. Please see specific dates for exams below.

June 2012 session

Date	Exam
Monday 11 June	Foundations in Taxation (FTX)
Tuesday 12 June	Managing Costs and Finance (MA2) and Foundations in Financial Management (FFM)
Wednesday 13 June	Maintaining Financial Records (FA2)
Thursday 14 June	Management Information (MA1)
Friday 15 June	Accountant in Business (FAB)
Monday 18 June	Foundations in Audit (FAU)
Tuesday 19 June	Financial Accounting (FFA)
Wednesday 20 June	Recording Financial Transactions (FA1) and Management Accounting (FMA)

ACCA TIMETABLE DEC 2011 AND JUNE 2012

ACCA TIMETABLE DEC 2011 AND JUNE 2012

2011-10-21T14:14:00.003+05:30

ACCA Qualification - December 2011

Please note the ACCA Qualification timetable has changed and the following exam timetable will apply from the December 2011 exam session onwards. You should study the timetable carefully, especially if you have sat exams at previous exam sessions, as exams you may have previously attempted may now be scheduled on another day.
However, due to public holidays taking place in the UK from 2–5 June 2012, the ACCA June 2012 exam session will take place from 11–20 June 2012. Please visit the June 2012 exam timetable section for exact dates.

December 2011 session

Monday 5 December F5 Performance Management P7 Advanced Audit and Assurance

Tuesday 6 December F6 Taxation P4 Advanced Financial Management

Wednesday 7 December F7 Financial Reporting

Thursday 8 December F8 Audit and Assurance P5 Advanced Performance Management

Friday 9 December F1 Accountant in Business P6 Advanced Taxation

F9 Financial Management

Monday 12 December F4 Corporate and Business Law P3 Business Analysis

Tuesday 13 December F3 Financial Accounting P2 Corporate Reporting

Wednesday 14 December F2 Management Accounting P1 Governance, Risk and Ethics

ACCA Qualification - June 2012

Due to public holidays taking place in the UK from 2–5 June 2012, the ACCA June 2012 exam session will take place from 11–20 June 2012. Please see specific dates for exams below.

June 2012 session

Monday 11 June F5 Performance Management P7 Advanced Audit and Assurance

Tuesday 12 June F6 Taxation P4 Advanced Financial Management

Wednesday 13 June F7 Financial Reporting

Thursday 14 June F8 Audit and Assurance P5 Advanced Performance Management

Friday 15 June F1 Accountant in Business P6 Advanced Taxation

F9 Financial Management

Monday 18 June F4 Corporate and Business Law P3 Business Analysis

Tuesday 19 June F3 Financial Accounting P2 Corporate Reporting

Wednesday 20 June F2 Management Accounting P1 Governance, Risk and Ethics

FIA TIMETABLE DEC 2011 AND JUNE 2012

CAT - T3 - KAPLAN STUDY NOTES

2011-10-18T15:36:00.002+05:30

T3 - KAPLAN STUDY NOTES

http://www.ziddu.com/download/16700796/T3-KAPLANSTUDYNOTES-DEC09.rar.html

CAT - T3 - FORMULAS LIST

2011-10-16T20:45:00.000+05:30

T3 - FORMULAS LIST

http://www.ziddu.com/download/16700776/T3-FORMULASLIST.rar.html