Hot Topics Dece 2015

7/24/2019 Hot Topics Dece 2015

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ACCA P7 Exam Tips December 2015:

ACCAP7Exam Tips December 2015 Session are given below by famous tuition providers

Kaplan

Concentrate on the core areasthese are the ones that are regularly examined; your Kaplan tutor will help you

to identify what they are. But your strategy should be study breadth not depth; it is much better to have a

working knowledge of the whole syllabus rather than just 6 topics in lots of depth.

Pay attention to the verbs in the question to start with. Explain requires you to state an answer with some

facts as examples to support it. So, if the question was, Explain the evidence you would seek when auditingprovisions, then an answer may be, External advice from a solicitor to prove existence and valuation.

BPP

Section ATest planning.Risk assessment.Evidence gathering and practice management.

Non-audit engagement, such as prospective financial information (PFI) or due diligence.Audit completion.Consolidated groups.

Section BAudit evidence and financial reporting issues.Practice management, including ethics.Quality control and reporting, including completion and communication.

LSBF

The format of question paper consists of 2 compulsory questions in Part A and 3 out of which 2 have to besolved in Part B.

1st tip is about strategy. It is that you should start with optional questions or with which you feel confident asthis will help you take a good start that will boost your confidence. Next you should move towards compulsory

questions and then came back to optional question.

2nd exam tip is Always note carefully the verb used by examiner in the question requirements and the marks

allocated. For example if question asks you to identify 6 points and awards 6 marks than you only need sixbullet points with minimum details. On the other hand if it asks you to explain and award 6 marks than you

need 3 separate bullet points but with in-depth details.

3rd exam tip relates to style and presentation. Always remember that this paper is not only examining your

technical knowledge but also your written communication skills. Part of being a good is Accountant or Auditoris being a Good communicator.

Always try to use good business English and structure answers by using headings and subheadings and a alignwith a ruler and leave some space. Do not use bullet points as examiner have clearly stated that answers in this

format is not suitable for P7 students.
http://www.accaglobal.com/us/en/student/exam-support-resources.htmlhttp://www.accaglobal.com/us/en/student/exam-support-resources.htmlhttp://www.accaglobal.com/us/en/student/exam-support-resources.htmlhttp://www.accaglobal.com/us/en/student/exam-support-resources.html


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Audit risk/risk of material misstatement.Matters and evidence (accounting issues and audit work on those issues).Audit report scenarios/implications.Discussion of benefits of new style audit report.Assurance on prospective financial Info.If sitting INT stream, audit of public sector performance information.

Threats to independence.Advertising.Reliance on work of internal audit.And know your ISAs, especially more interesting ones such as 250, 402, 540, 550, 560, 600, 720.If sitting UK Stream, insolvency.

Beckers Professional

Coming Soon

First Intuition

Business risks in a scenario.Identifying ethical and other professional issues in a scenario.Matters to be considered and audit evidence for a couple of core accounting issues.Money laundering.

Insolvency issues.

Open Tuition

Coming Soon



Kaplan

Coming Soon

BPP

Groups of companies involving overseas aspects.Unincorporated business particularly loss relief or involving a partnership.Capital gains tax versus inheritance tax.Overseas aspects particularly the new rules on residence.Personal service company.Company purchase of own shares.Enterprise investment schemes/venture capital trusts.Change in accounting date.Takeover.VAT partial exemption.Transfer of trade or sale of subsidiary.


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Disincorporation relief.Pension contributions.Patent box, research and development expenditure.

LSBF

Make sure you utilize the 15 minutes reading time to select the best question from Section B and then planning

your answer on the question paper so that when the time starts you can immediately start the paper to do that

important question.

Make sure you start with Section B which has short structured questions. Make sure you do the question first

that you can do best and make sure you stick to time, no more than half an hour for each question. When youhave done the first then move on to second best one and give it max half an hour.

When you are starting a new question start it at new page of paper. Make sure you use nice clear headings &

paragraphs to make examiner way through your paper. Secure the easy marks first.

Carefully follow the examiner instructions in each question. Each question ask you about various things and

will often give guidance as to what and how to get to right answer. Make sure you clearly follow the recipe.

IHT with the death estate including BPR and APR and lifetime gifts into a trust and gifts with reservation.

Domicile including deemed domicile.Group question, involving losses, group relief and consortium relief.Transfer pricing, overseas branch versus overseas subsidiary.Partnership with a partner joining/leaving with opening year rules, choice of accounting date and conditions

for a change of accounting date.Personal pension schemes versus occupational pension schemes.SEIS, EIS and VCT conditions and tax advantages.Capital gains tax including entrepreneurs relief, shares matching rules.SEIS reinvestment relief.

Group registration for VAT and overseas aspects of VAT.Purchase of own shares.Share options schemestax implications.Ethics.


Coming Soon

First Intuition

Business property relief.Use of second spouse nil rate band.Related property.Groups of companies, trading and capital losses.Double tax relief for companies.Degrouping charges.Incorporation relief.Furnished holiday lets.VAT partial exemption.


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Appeals and the four-track tribunal system.Benefits in kind or extra salary, income tax and national insurance implications.

Open Tuition

Coming Soon



Kaplan

Answer the wordy bits first, provided they dont depend on calculations youve not yet done. This paper

awards approx 70% of the marks for discussion, and 30% for calculations.

Watch your time management when doing the calculations. Although they are not technically complicated,they can be time consuming. Lots of practice before the exam means you should be reasonably efficient atthese parts in the exam, although you may well take more time than the 1.8 minutes per mark you should

theoretically allow. However, if you realise it is taking too long, make up some numbers, move on and use

those figures as the basis of your discussion as youll get the follow through marks on that basis.

BPP

Q1: Performance management frameworks (building blocks model or the Balanced Scorecard). Also need to

master transfer pricing, ratios, analysis of quality related costs, ABC.

Q2-4: Commonly tested areas include quality management, information reporting (CSFs and KPIs), the

application of strategic models (such as PEST, Porters 5 forces, the Value Chain), HR frameworks (reward &

appraisal systems), risk management and environmental management accounting.

LSBF

Balanced scorecard.Non-financial indicators.Assessing impact upon performance management systems.Value management systems.Technology and the change of PM systems.


Coming Soon

First Intuition

Critique an existing performance management system and the performance hierarchy.Transfer pricing.Activity based principles.Performance management models (performance pyramid or building block model).


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Value based approaches to performance management.Effective use of information systems.

Open Tuition

Coming Soon



Kaplan

P4 is a technical paper with some complex calculations sometimes but DO NOTthink of the exam as

numbers-only. There are plenty of discursive parts which are usually easier than the calculations and easy

marks can be picked up by applying commercial awareness and common sense.

Analyse the individual requirements of the question. If you can do the wordy bits first then do so as you willnot get bogged down in them like you will with the calculation elements.

Do not expect to finish a question. You must stick to time, especially on the calculations which are very easy

to over-run on. The exam is extremely time pressured and the secret to passing is to have a go at every part of

every question, not to try and get 100% on every questionto do that you would need about 7 hours!

If you are not sure what to do with a particular figure in a question, ignore it and move onstate assumptions,

you havent got time to worry about it!

If you get a Black-Scholes question, always list out the input variables as your first stage and assign the

relevant values to themthere will be about 2-3 marks usually for doing this.

Practice as many questions as possible but do as many as possible to time. You must get used to doing the

questions in the time available and not spending too long on them.

Practice as many questions as possible across the syllabus, and dont only concentrate on what you consider to

be the core areas.

Choose carefully on section B of the paperit is very limited choice but nonetheless it will be critical.

Do not put down unnecessary workings; because as it will cost you heavily in lost time.

If there is a calculation that you are unable to completefor e.g. a WACC which prevents you from going onto do the NPV, then just make a reasonable assumption and estimate a WACC which you have been unable tocalculate, this will then allow you to progress the calculation and get on to the often more generously rewarded

discursive parts of the question.

Look out for examinable articlestwo in particular for June 2011:

24 AugustThe new examiner Shishir Malde gives his approach for the P4 paper


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23 SeptemberAnother article by the new examiner Shishir Malde on Risk Management

January/February article

Two key topics are always NPV appraisal and capital structure, particularly CAPM and Betas. You will notpass if that is all you know but you will struggle to pass if you do not know them!

BPP

Q1: Expect core subjects such as project appraisal (domestic or overseas), business valuations (cost of capital

calculations), and risk management (hedging).Q2-4: Risk management (currency or interest rate), business re-organisation, real options.

LSBF

Investment appraisal using adjusted present values/net present values or capital rationing.

Valuation of business using free cash flows and Price-earnings ratio methods, defensive tactics or cash offer

or share exchange.

Cost of capital using the principles of Modigliani & Miller prepositions or geared and ungeared betas.Hedging exchange rate risk using forward contract, futures contract and options contract. Explanation of theGreeks.Capital reconstruction schemesdesigning a capital reconstruction scheme or assessing the success of a

given scheme.Real optionsoption to abandon, expand or delay using the Black-Schole option pricing model.


Coming Soon

First Intuition

International investment appraisal techniques focusing on risk management tools such as value at risk.Impact on WACC following hedging of interest rate risk.Company valuation based scenario, possible MBO finance to structure.Adjusted present value with link to real options and Black Scholes option pricing model.

Open Tuition

Coming Soon

Sunil Bhindari:

Q1: Business valuations and cost of capitalcomputation of the company WACC. Valuation of equity

capital using FCF method. Post-acquisition computation using the Bootstrapping technique. Purchaseconsideration evaluationcash, shares and bonds.

report covering: Calculations stated above, assumptions & reservations surrounding the valuations,regulations of takeovers, ethical dilemma relating to the acquisition.Q2: Advanced investment appraisalAPV method. Real options using the BSOP model.Q3: Risk management FX hedging methods (FC, MMH, Futures and Options). Margins maybe tested again.Discussion on the Euro crisis and the effect upon international trade.


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Q4: Corporate reconstructionliquidation vs reconstruction. Valuation of equity. New finance, including S

& T and Islamic choices.



Kaplan

Embed your knowledge on the core models from Johnson and Scholes (the examiner based this paper on their

work).

When answering questions, write answers like you are writing to your senior management. Make it as

professional as possible. Marks are allocated to this in section A.

Do not start writing answers straightaway. Take a minute to think about the structure and presentation of the

answers.

It is important with this level to remember that writing lots of knowledge and theory will not get you through

the exam. The key is application to the material and expanding the relevance to the scenario.

We suggest watching the news / reading the papers, but with a critical eye. For instance when you see that a

business has launched a new product or moved into a new market think about the theories you have learnt thatmay be relevant. In this case it could be:

Porters generic strategies Ansoff Bowmans clock

Then apply those theories to the real life situationunderstand why they have created this product/why theyhave gone into this market. With practice you will find it easier to apply the theories to the scenario.

And of course you can do this for other areas of the syllabus.

There is nothing worse for a marker than getting a script which is just a page of writing. Try to think about

making your script easier to read for the marker. Headings and Sub-headings along with a bit of space will

help. Then use your paragraph to explain the point you are making.

If it is easy for the marker to see the points being made this can make the difference between pass and fail for a

borderline script, include application, plus relevance within your statement, avoid listing.

If you use the word and in your answer, are you making two separate points? If yes, maybe you need to splityour paragraph into two headings / sub-headings.

There are 3 professional marks which will constitute professionalism, presentation and layout.

Know the theory and apply it. Create mind maps of the key knowledge, then learn these. Do practice questions under timed conditions and if possible, get them marked.


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Make sure youve read all the current examiner articles, available on the ACCA website. Get good business awarenessread a quality newspaper. Use the reading time to select questions, and get frameworks for answer plans. Do a section B question first. Dont focus on the numbers do not spend more than 15 minutes on them per question. Watch the clockallocate your time efficientlydont overrun.

Layout your answers in a way that the marker can clearly read and understand. Read the question carefully!

BPP

Value chain.Critical success factors and KPIs.Role of the corporate parent, including BCG matrix/Ashridge.Managing strategic change, including force field analysis.

LSBF

When you doing external analysis, we are talking about Porter Five Forces Model or perhaps about PESTALModel. Remember examiner is interested in strategy and strategy is about future. So although it is important to

identify what is happening in the outside World at the moment what is more important from examiner point is

to identify what will happen in the future.

Strategic analysis.Strategic choice.Financial implications of a strategic choice.Evaluating software and controls over IT.Project management.


Coming Soon

First Intuition

Section AEnvironmental analysis, people with financial analysis.Section BProject management.Strategic action.Information technologypricing strategy.

Open Tuition

Coming Soon


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Kaplan

Do not ignore ethics it appears in every section A question and could have up 10 marks.

Always apply your 5 standard workings when doing CSFP. This will help ensure easy marks are picked up andit is easier for the marker to follow what you have done.

Do not ignore the current issue question. Often it contains numerical aspects of an accounting standard you arefamiliar with as well as the current issue. E.g. reviewing the use of FV and the new rules on financial assets in

IFRS 9.

Practise as many questions as possible across the syllabus, and dont only concentrate on consolidation.

Practice writing out pro-formas so you can do this quickly and efficiently on exam day.

Use the reading time effectivelydecide which question you are not going to attempt from Section B and then

read the Section A question.

If you need help with Accounting Standards, read Clare Finchsguide to IFRS.

If you struggle with Groups, read Tom Clendons guide to Group accounts

Consolidation is hugely important but you cant pass the exam on this alone a significant number of marks inthe consolidation tests your understanding of other accounting standards.

Dont overrun your time on part A of question 1. There are often easier marks available in pasts B & C.

If you cant do something ignore it and move on time is very tight and there is no point staring at a blank

piece of paper if you really dont know what to do.

In addition to consolidation the examiner is particularly keen on:

Revenue Recognition Financial Instruments Pensions Deferred Tax Reconstruction of insolvent company Foreign Currency

Impairment

The examiner writes articles that are published on accaglobal.comsearch for Graham Holt.

An understanding of the Accounting framework is vital in being able to discuss any issues surrounding anaccounting standard or proposed change to that standard.


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Unlike F7, there are very few marks, if any, for simple figures in the Consolidation exercise. Marks are

concentrated on the adjustments and detailed computations of key group issues, like Goodwill, NCI etc. Make

sure your workings are clear and fully explain any adjustments you make to comply with relevant IFRS.

Do not treat the Consolidation exercise as being all 50 marks of question 1. It will typically be 35 so allocatethe correct time to it and the other elements in Q1.

In scenario style questions in section B, be sure to state the relevant accounting standard for any advice that

you give, together with the relevant rules from the standard and then subsequently state the advice on correct

treatment of facts in the scenario. Dont be tempted to jump straight to a statement of the correct treatment asmarks will not be maximised by doing this. Read articles and read around the subject.

Remember

Do not add up the accounts. Start each question on a fresh page. BE NEAT in the exam. Time management (or lack of it!) is the most common reason for failure.

BPP

Section APreparation statement of financial position and/or a group statement of profit of loss and other

comprehensive income or statement of cash flowsincluding a foreign subsidiary, discounted activities,disposals and/or acquisitions.Linked accounting adjustment and social/ethical/moral aspects of corporate reporting.

Section BQ2 & Q3: Deferred tax, foreign currency transactions, financial instruments, pensions, share-based payment,

non-current assets (recognition and/or impairment of tangible and intangible assets), borrowing costs, the

effect of accounting treatments on earnings per share to ratios.Other question will test 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: Revenue recognition, revision of the conceptual framework, regulatory issues over adoption andconsistent application of IFRSs, implementation issues, application of the definition of control and significant

influence (equity accounting) , improvements in performance measurement, classification in profit and loss vs

OCI, integrated reporting.

LSBF

In context of P2 you should consider this exam as narrative exam. Many students tend to focus on numbers

only but the real trick to pass P2 is have a firm grip on the narrative too.

Dont waste your reading time of 15 minutes in the exam for reading question number 1. It is not the righttechnique and certainly acca also dont intended. Use the 15 minutes to decide between the question in the B

section. Just scan the questions in the exams and decide the order in which you will start them.

Dont spend too much time on question 1 if you have started it. Try to startthe exams in backward manner like

starting with question 4 and then 3 & 1 or 2 & 1. Time management is very important in Paper P2.


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Question number 4 is easiest question in the exam so tackle it first as over the past years we have seen students

getting above pass marks by completing question number 4.

Question 1 have 35 marks of numbers. Many students give a lot of explanations in question 1 which is totally

wrong. Explain just necessary things and keep it short. Keep your explanation for narrative sections likequestion 4.

Q1: There are only three possibilities. P/l or b/s or cfs. So to ignore one seems foolish. However, given there

was a p/l in the September sitting it does seem reasonable to focus less on that. Perhaps 20/40/40.

Q2 & 3: There are subtle differences between these two. But essentially both require a discussion of key FRapplied to a scenario. Expect the usual suspectsgoodwill, groups, NCA, revenue, HFS, EARP, FI and so on.

Q4: Only in the last question does tipping become meaningful. Here are some hot current issues: revenue,

financial asset impairment, equity accounting, changes,SMEs.


Coming Soon

First Intuition

Q1: group question on foreign subsidiary. Will contain a variety of non-group topics, too.Ethics.Revenue recognition or leasescurrent issue.Deferred taxShare based payments.Pensions.

Open Tuition

Coming Soon



Kaplan

Each P1 paper offers 4-6 marks for displaying professional skills, which can easily be the difference between apass and a fail. The marks are available for both format and the tone and style of your answer, where you may

have to prepare a speech or write a letter on behalf of the Board addressing specific concerns. Take a look atthe Article of 24 August 2009 for more guidance and some great hints on style.

P1 is a very wordy paper, and the examiner wants to ensure that you have a good grasp of the theories behindthe questions, but also that you can successfully apply the theories to given scenarios. Therefore, it is very easy

to get lost within a question if your layout and approach to a question is poor.

A good approach is to apply 3 rules in your answer:
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Introductionthis should be very short, but can help you get over any writers block. It might include a read

back of the question, or a definition of the subject matter (for example, if the question asks for the roles of

NEDs, start by very quickly defining what an NED is)

Theorythis section will show the examiner that you actually understand the issue being questioned, again, aswith the introduction, this should really be kept short, it can be a section quote from the code, or a reference to

an author (Cadbury or Greenbury et al).

ApplicationThis will be the main bulk of your answer and should relate directly to the scenario. This is often

the most difficult section of the answer, but should be made easier by the use of the introduction and theorysections.

In addition remember the golden rules of written questions:

Plenty of white space

Headings as required

Short punchy meaningful paragraphs

Following are some of the famous topics that were tested in past

Corporate governance critique and improvements.

Effective internal control systems, reporting within differing jurisdictions.

Influence of and intervention by institutional investors.

Diversification of Board

Function and importance of internal audit.

Risk definition, analysis of risk and the role of the Board of Directors.

Risk correlation and strategies for management of such risks.

Ethical standpoints and their application to business decisions.

Corporate codes of ethics critique and improvements.

Tuckers ethical decision making model.

Social and environmental footprint.

Sustainability accounting.

Integrated Reporting

Conflict of interest and independence

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

BPP

Corporate social responsibility strategycheck out recently published article.The use of stakeholder.Ethical and other CSR theoriesapply them to the scenarios.

Use of risk and governanceboard of directors, remuneration and reporting.

LSBF

Ethics is most important section of P1. In the ethics section there are number of different ethical theories whichyou need to learnt off. These are deontological & ontological as well as absolutist and relativist approaches.

In the exam you may be asked to argue from absolutist or relativist point of view so you may be asked todiscuss how an individual in the scenario actions will be influenced by their position as absolutist or relativist.


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Remember in a question like this the examiner is asking you to explore different courses of action. Examiner

does not want you to explain what you believe personally or what you would do in that situation. You can

maximize marks by thinking about different course of action from absolutist or relativist point of view and

why they would choose these course of action.

Agency is an important aspect of P1 syllabus. Remember you need to learn in detail about this relationship

rather than just definitions. You should also know about the agency problems and how they link to agencycost. Agency cost includes monitoring cost so you need to learn why these cost increase in relation to agency

problems.

Corporate Governance (CG) is an important part of P1 syllabus. It is important to learn at the professional

level papers why each of the provisions of CG is important. It is not enough to just learn of these provisions

one by one. So each CG requirement should ensure that company is efficiently managed in some way.

Internal controls is very familiar topic to all students studying P1 paper. In P1 exam question usually focuses

on analysing internal controls issues in the company in scenario. As such in this area you need to focus heavily

on the application of internal control theory and not just learning the theory itself so you need to be able to

recognise the evidence of poor internal control system.

Stakeholder theories, another important area of syllabus, must be linked to other topics in the syllabus while

studying. You may be asked to identify the stakeholders in the scenario or categorize them in some way or youmay be asked how stakeholders are affected by other issues raised throughout the syllabus.

Key Examinable Areas:

Rules vs Principles.Importance of stakeholders.Internal control disclosure.Risk diversification.AAA model.


Coming Soon

First Intuition

50-mark scenario question to include: ethics, governance, single v. two-tier board structures, also corporate

social responsibility.Optional questions to include internal controls, governance committees and directors remuneration, business

risks, integrated reporting and environmental reporting.

Open Tuition

Coming Soon

ACCA F9 Exam Tips December 2015:

ACCAF9Exam Tips December 2015 Session are given below by famous tuition providers


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Kaplan

Part A:MCQs will be from any syllabus area.

Part B:Some frequently tested areas in the past were

NPV with Inflation and Taxation Cash operating cycle Receivable, Payable & Inventory Management Financial Gearing Cost of Equity & Debt WACC CAPM & MM Foreign Exchange Risk Management Interest Rate Risk Management Sources of Finance

Dont just keep focusing on numbers. Although the numbers are important but approximately half of the marks

are for the written elements. Prepare every topic thoroughly to increase chances of passing the exam.

BPP

MCQs

Macroeconomic goals and policies (fiscal v monetary).Investor ratios (eg total shareholder return, dividend yield etc).Calculations of forward and forecast exchange rates.Basic investment appraisal calculations (payback, ROCE etc).Financing for SMEs (venture capital, crowdfunding, business angels etc).

Section BCalculations on improvements to receivables management (eg early settlement discounts and factoring).Weighted average cost of capital calculations (including its component parts).Ratio analysis to support financing decisions.NPV calculations (possibly correcting an incorrect NPV given by the examiner which includes incorrect taxand inflation calculations).

LSBF

Choose which question to do first in the exams. Typically there will be two relatively two straightforward

questions, one slightly more problematic and other one really tough. Make sure you do the easy one first and

bag as many easy marks as possible.

Please know your cost of capital. This topic comes up in each and every session typically anywhere between 6-

10 marks. The critical issue being WACC (Weighted Average Cost of Capital), you should be able to get all 6or 10 marks.

Make sure you can do all the subsidiary calculations and of course calculate WACC or alternatively if it isabout project specific, make sure you could go through the five steps.


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WACC possibly with a bit of capital structure theory thrown in.Investment appraisal NPV with working capital and tax possibly with a bit of asset replacement.Risk with forward market hedge and money market hedge and a bit of yield curves.Working capital management with inventory and cash and possibly overtrading.

Theory questions possibly on EMH, sources of finance (including Islamic finance), economics.


Coming Soon

First Intuition

Discussion of the economic environment and the impact on interest and exchange rates.Working capital managementreceivables and payables plus operating cycle.Investment appraisal & cost of capital.

Business valuations.Risk management (currency risk calculations).

Open Tuition

Coming Soon

Sundar Bhandari:

MCQs:Please note this section is more challenging than student expectespecially the wordy questions.

My tip here is to attempt the Specimen Paper, December 2014 and June 2015 MCQ sections. Give yourselfminimum of 50 mins and maximum of 60 mins on each 20 question test. Target score is 15/20 as a minimum.Q1:Investment appraisalNPV including inflation, taxation and WC. Discussions on CR.Q2:Working capital managementinventory and receivables calculations. Discussions on WC finance.Q3:Risk managementFX payment hedge via FC and MMH. Discussion on how to hedge without using

financial products, etc.Q4:Cost of CapitalWACC and project specific Ke. Discussions on bond pricing.Q5:Business valuationasset based and DGM, latter with delayed perpetuity with growth. Discussion on

relative merits of each model.



Kaplan

Part A:MCQs will be from any syllabus area.

Part B:Some of the frequently tested areas in the past were

Ethics / Conflict of Interest / Confidentiality / Audit committees


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VFM, Outsourcing,

Audit risks and responses Cash, inventory, purchases (including tests of control) Purchases, revenue, Payroll Written representations

Auditors reports

Limited assurance engagements Expectation gap Auditor rights and duties Engagement letters

Fraud and error

Components of an internal control system Inherent limitations of internal control Risk assessment procedures Financial statement assertions (Ratios)

You must learn the ISAsnot the numbers, but the objectives and key provisions of each ISA. Nearly 30% of

the last exam was testing pure rote-learned knowledge.

The examiner wants QUALITY not QUANTITYsometimes gives 1.5 marks for a well-explained point.

Look at the past examsmany of the model answers were in columnar format. Long windy paragraphs are not

an option. Stay to the point and straightforward.

Time allocation is as important in this exam as it is in the others1.8 minutes per mark.

BPP

Ethical threats and safeguards.Corporate governance and internal audit.

Audit planning.Materiality.Audit procedures (especially substantive procedures).Audit finalisation and audit reports.Audit risk.Internal control and audit procedures (both substantive procedures and tests of controls).

LSBF

MCQs will cover whole syllabus, mostly knowledge areas, but a couple of practical ones as well.

Part B:Ethics, threats to independence.Confidentiality, when to breach.Audit risk and response, written scenario.Internal controls objectives/procedures/tests on sales cycle.Inventory and stocktakingcontrols and substantive tests.Substantive tests on receivables.Advise company on improving its governance.Role/benefits of audit committees.


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Roles of internal audit and comparison with external audit.Know your ISAs, especially 210, 250, 260, 450, 560, 570, 720.


Coming Soon

First Intuition

MCQs from the whole syllabus.

Ethics.

Audit risk and auditor response (including ratio calculations).

Internal controldeficiencies, implications and recommendations (revenue and receivables or payroll cycle).

Audit evidence and substantive testing.

Subsequent events, written representations and going concern.Modified auditors reports.

Open Tuition

Coming Soon



Kaplan

MCQs can come from any syllabus area.

Consolidation of Financial Statements

For the consolidation question (Q1) you will benefit from having the proforma/standard workings of your final

answer set up first. For example if the question requires a consolidated SFP then drawing up the SFP with open

brackets beside those numbers that do not need a standard working can get all the easy adding across 100% ofthe Parent and subsidiary figures. The other headings can have the standard working number written beside

them instead. A couple of lines would need to be left for each section of the SFP in case other things come upin the additional information.

In addition to this setting up the standard workings can also be done. The subsidiaries share capital figuresand the year end retained earnings can be put into these without reading any of the additional information. In

addition to this the parents retained earnings figure can also be put into W5 (Retained earnings) withoutreading any additional narrative.

With all of the proformas and standard workings set up, it means that you are able to tackle the issues in the

order that they are presented in the question. It also allows you to deal with both sides of any adjustments as

everywhere is set up to make the adjustments. It hopefully prevents non-balancing accounts and means that

each issue only has to be addressed once; thus helping with time management. Also if you run out of time, you

will get full credit for all that you have already done provided everything is referenced through.


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A similar process can be applied to the income statement equivalent of setting up final answer and workings to

help tackle the issues that come up.

Single Company Financial Statements

Single company financial statements (question 2). As with the groups question, it may be possible to get the

proforma of the final answer set up, particularly if the data in the question is set up with the draft financialstatements rather than the trial balance. If possible it then means that open brackets can be used and the draft

figures placed in them, ready for adjustments as they arise. Generally speaking there are often more

adjustments required for cost of sales figure in the income statement and the PPE figure in the SFP. As such Iwould suggest these are likely to need separate workings rather than just a bracket beside the final answer.

If there is a topic/adjustment that you are unsure of, come back to it. You are better to get the adjustments thatyou are comfortable with done first. It is easy to get bogged down and waste time on a difficult adjustment at

the expense of doing an easier one that appears later in the question.

Performance Appraisal

With a performance appraisal question you may be asked to calculate ratios or prepare a statement of cash flowor both. When calculating ratios, if you are unsure of a particular calculation always have a go, as even if the

calculation is incorrect you will be awarded merit for your discussion of the incorrect number in the written

section of the question. It also really helps the marker if you note your formula down so that your working is

clearly identified.

When preparing a statement of cash flow setup you proforma immediately and begin to get the easy marks in

the cash flow such as finding the movement in the cash and cash equivalent balance, and finding the

movements on basic shares and loans. You will also find the operating activities section familiar and useful for

scoring marks. If there are any cash items that you are unfamiliar with come back to these at the end after you

have dealt with the items that you can do.

Finally, when appraising the performance of a company ensure that you always refer to the scenario providedto ensure maximum credit is awarded.

BPP

Q1 & Q2: One likely to be an interpretation or statement of cash flows; the other may be a consolidationquestion if Q3 is not a consolidation.Other possibilitiesconceptual framework, intangible/tangible assets and impairment, provisions and

contingencies, revenue and grants, financial instruments discontinued operations/assets held for sale orearnings per share.Q3: could be a single entity or a consolidation (statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive incomeand/or statement of financial position).

Statement of changes in equity, statement of cash flow extract, earnings per share calculation or linked writtentopic.Consolidation question with adjustments, eg fair values, deferred/contingent consideration, PUP on

inventories/PPE, intragroup trading and balances, goods/cash in transit.

LSBF

Read the entire question paper during the 15 minutes reading time and choose to do the your best question first

helpful for your success.


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Question 1would possibly be Consolidated Statement of Financial Position with an associate that what i think

is likely. There were no associate from last two sessions and associates on average come up almost every time.

The other possibility is the Consolidated Statement of Financial Position (CSFP) and Consolidated Income

Statement (CIS) as this has come up in December 2008 and December 2009 so thats in a real competition.Otherwise question one is likely to be Consolidated Statement of Financial Position with an associate.

Question 2this time would likely to be Published Accounts (Single Entity Financial Statements) with

standards but redrafting of Published Accounts have not come up since 2008. So the trial balance with 8

adjustments is the most likely scenario for question 2 but there is also a possibility of redrafting of PublishedAccounts which have not come up since 2008.

Question 3 could be Statement of Cash Flow with Interpretations and either interpretation exclusively on CashFlow or it could be half and half brief cash flow and then ratios and then interpretations.

I would include lots of standards 5 or 6 marks from

Capital Grants

Investment property Provision and contingencies

Leasing

Tangible Non Current Assets etc


Coming Soon

First Intuition

MCQs on the whole syllabus.Extracts from single company accounts including non-current assets, taxation and IFRS 15.Interpretation of accounts including a statement of cash flows.Consolidated SFP and / or SPL with associate, PUP and fair value adjustments.

Open Tuition

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ACCAF5Exam TipsDecember 2015 Session are given below by famous tuition providers

Kaplan

MCQs can come up from any syllabus area so cover the breadth of every topic.

Section A:


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ABC, Life Cycle costing, Target Costing and Throughput Costing are very commonly tested topics while

Environmental costing is rarely tested.

Section B:

Usually there are two questions from this area. Commonly tested topics are

Relevant CostingPricingCost Volume Profit AnalysisLimiting FactorMake or Buy or Shutdown Decisions and other Short term decisionsDealing with Risk and Uncertainty

Section C:

There are two questions from this area. Variances analysis is more commonly tested topics while Budgeting is

also tested off and on. Every exam has some variances in it and could be basic or advanced variances.

Section D:

Performance evaluations is another area where questions always come upvery hard to learn a set method as

each one is different. The important thing is to read the question carefully and make sure you link your

analysis to the scenario. Commonly tested areas are

Transfer Pricing

Balance scorecard

The examiner does not like students who simply quote from the textbook, writing information that is not

relevant to the question. The examiner also likes you to have an opinionhas the company done well or not?

Clearly state your opinion and reasons why it is so.

BPP

Coming Soon

LSBF

General Tips:

Remember there are five core topics in the exam and there are also 5 questions in the exam paper therefore you

can reasonably expect to have 1 question from each area.

When it comes to F5 paper there are very few areas that you can guarantee to come up in exam and variancesare one of them. Therefore make sure you know the basics and you are able to deal with planning and

operational variances, mix and yield variances and idle time variances

Make sure you answer the question in set format. When we look at F5 questions, they are highly specific as to

what they do and do not want you to do. Dont just write everything about subject instead interpret carefully

the requirement before you even think of putting your pen on the paper.


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Manage your time very carefully indeed. At the simple level it simply means 35 minutes per question but more

than that break down the question into its components parts and make sure you spend appropriate amount of

time on each part of the question. Utilize the reading time to slot time to every part of the question.

Make sure you have good subject coverage that means you have covered all core topics areas before going intoexams. Question spotting is very foolish exercise. Remember there is no choice in the exam, if you dont cover

something before exam than you could suffer disappointment.


Section AMCQs from Entire syllabus!

Section BLife cycle costing with environmental accounting.Relevant costing/decision trees.Budgeting theory/flexed budgets.Mix and yield/sales mix and quantity variances.

Divisional performance (ROI, RI).


Coming Soon

First Intuition

Lifecycle costing.Environmental accounting.Limiting factors.

Relevant costing.Flexed budget and budgeting discussion.Divisional performance.Mix and yield variances.

Open Tuition

Coming Soon

Hot Topics Dece 2015

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