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Learning Materials Catalogue 2015 Last updated: 9 April 2015

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Table of Contents

Q&A Question Banks – Professional Level

Audit and Assurance Q&A 2015 3

Business Planning: Taxation Q&A 2015 [FA 2014] 3

Business Strategy Q&A 2015 4

Financial Accounting and Reporting Q&A 2015 4

Financial Management Q&A 2015 5

Tax Compliance Q&A 2015 5

Q&A Question Banks – TI Level (old ACA syllabus – final sitting: July 2015)

TI Audit Q&A 2014-15 (Old TI) 6

TI Corporate Reporting Q&A 2014-15 (Old TI) 6

TI Taxation Q&A 2014-15 (Old TI) 7

Q&A Question Banks – Advanced Level (Evolved ACA syllabus)

Audit Q&A 2015 (Advanced Level) 8

Financial Reporting Q&A 2015 (Advanced Level) 9

Exam Room Notes – Professional, TI and Advanced Levels

Advanced Level Audit Risks & Tests 2015 10

TI Audit Risks & Tests 2015 11

Business Planning: Taxation Exam Room Notes 2015 11

SBM Exam Room Notes 2015 12

Strategic Business Management Technique

Smashing Strategic Business Management™ –

How to Pass the ACA SBM Examination (July 2015) 13

Case Study Technique, Mock Exams and Exam Room Notes

Cracking Case™ – How to Pass the ACA Case Study (July 2015) 14

Case Study Mock Exams (July 2015) 15

Case Study Q&A (July 2015) 15

Case Study Exam Room Pack (July 2015) 16

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Q&A Question Banks – Professional Level

Our Q&A Technique – Test, Repeat, Succeed

Our Q&As provide hundreds of short form questions to make it easier to learn ACA topics via an active,

self-test methodology. We believe that the very best way to learn something is to be asked

questions, learn from mistakes and repeat until the knowledge is in your head: this is a much

more efficient process than note-taking or attempting to learn straight from the page.

By splitting topics down into sub-parts, our Q&As allow you to focus your learning on one issue at a

time, leading to greater focus and avoiding the potential overload of trying to learn too much at once by

attempting full exam standard questions as your only means of revision.

As all questions can be completed in a couple of minutes or less, you will be able to revisit our questions

many times before the exam, helping the knowledge to sink in by repeatedly testing yourself.

All Q&As contain detailed analysis of the mark distribution in recent past papers, showing you the areas

which tend to be emphasised by the examiner.

Short form question bank containing over 400 questions on all aspects of the Audit and Assurance syllabus. Provides self-test, exam-focused questions on audit risks and procedures, ISAs, ethical aspects of auditing and other audit regulations. 183 pages, 10 chapters RRP £40 (subject to further discounting by Amazon) Available now

Cover image: “Measurement”

Short form question bank containing over 800 questions on all aspects of the Business Planning: Taxation syllabus. Provides self-test, exam-focused questions on corporation tax, individual taxation (including income tax and CGT), VAT, IHT and all other BPT topic areas. Includes revision of Taxation Ethics issues. 403 pages, 21 chapters RRP £40 (subject to further discounting by Amazon) Available now

Cover image: “Structuring”

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Short form question bank containing over 400 questions on all aspects of the Business Strategy syllabus. Provides self-test, exam-focused questions on the industry environment, strategic capabilities and options, risk management, methods of development, information strategies, strategies for change and all other Business Strategy topics. Also provides testing of mnemonics (such as SMART, ACCURATE etc) to help remember lists of key business strategy points, helping you to flesh out your answers and get beyond the first one or two “obvious” points. 246 pages, 17 chapters RRP £40 (subject to further discounting by Amazon) Available now

Cover image: “Planning”

Short form question bank containing over 1,000 questions on all aspects of the Financial Accounting and Reporting syllabus. Provides self-test, exam-focused questions on IFRSs, consolidation and cash flow statements. Also contains questions on PPE, financial instruments, investment properties, leases, revenue, government grants and other standards. 444 pages, 25 chapters RRP £40 (subject to further discounting by Amazon) Available now

Cover image: “Counting”

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Short form question bank containing over 350 questions on all aspects of the Financial Management syllabus. Provides self-test, exam-focused questions on NPV calculations, derivatives, WACC, cost of capital and all other key aspects of the Financial Management syllabus. Questions are split into Narrative and Numerical sections ensuring that you do not neglect the relatively easier and predictable narrative (often list-based) topic areas. 193 pages, 10 chapters RRP £40 (subject to further discounting by Amazon) Available now

Cover image: “Time is Money”

Short form question bank containing over 800 questions on all aspects of the Tax Compliance syllabus. Provides self-test, exam-focused questions on income tax, capital allowances, CGT, VAT, IHT, trusts, leases and corporation tax. Includes revision of Taxation Ethics issues. 264 pages, 17 chapters RRP £40 (subject to further discounting by Amazon) Available now

Cover image: “The Taxman Strikes”

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Q&A Question Banks – TI Level (Old ACA Syllabus – final sitting: July 2015)

Our Q&A Technique – Test, Repeat, Succeed









Withdrawal of the old TI syllabus after July 2015

July 2015 is the last opportunity to sit these challenging papers so why not ensure a better chance of

success by using our TI Q&As and Exam Room Notes?

Short form question bank containing over 800 questions on all aspects of the TI Audit syllabus (old TI syllabus). Provides examinable questions on the role of auditors, ethics, corporate governance, audit planning, audit evidence and audit procedures. Also contains questions on TI-specific specialist audit areas such as internal auditing, fraud, IT audits, auditing fair values, small company audits and insolvency/going concern issues. 323 pages, 15 chapters RRP £40 (subject to further discounting by Amazon) Available now

Cover image: “Adding Up”

Short form question bank containing over 1,000 questions on all aspects of the TI Corporate Reporting syllabus (old TI syllabus). Provides self-test, exam-focused questions on new TI-specific areas such as pensions, share-based payments, deferred tax, forex consolidation and hedge accounting. Also covers revision areas such as financial instruments, EPS, groups, presentation of financial statements, leases, government grants and borrowing costs. 306 pages, 14 chapters RRP £40 (subject to further discounting by Amazon) Available now

Cover image: “Quids In”

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Short form question bank containing over 800 questions on all aspects of the TI Taxation syllabus (old TI syllabus). Provides self-test, exam-focused questions on new TI-specific areas such as consortium relief, international expansion, corporate anti-avoidance, special company situations, transformation of OMBs and corporate reorganisations. 289 pages, 16 chapters RRP £40 (subject to further discounting by Amazon) Available now

Cover image: “Tax Savings”

Looking for a TI Business Analysis Q&A?

Business Analysis is a practical and applied topic which is less technical than other areas of the TI

syllabus. We find that most students are able to cope well with the technical aspects of Business

Analysis: the challenge is to produce enough ideas in the time available. We therefore do not produce

a Q&A for this aspect of TI – instead, check out for our Business Analysis Exam Room Notes, an

alphabetical, quick reference set of reminders to be used during the exam to generate marks-scoring

ideas (to be published end of April 2015).

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Q&A Question Banks – Advanced Level (Evolved ACA syllabus)

Aims of the Q&A Technique – Test, Repeat, Succeed





By splitting topics down into sub-parts, our Q&As allow you to focus your learning on one issue at a

time, leading to greater focus and avoiding the potential overload of trying to learn too much at once by

attempting full exam standard questions as your only means of revision.





The Evolved Advanced Level – Goodbye Tax!

With the removal of tax topics from the new version of the syllabus the amount of technical material

which needs to be studied has been significantly reduced. Make the most of this opportunity by using

our Q&As to learn the remaining topics of audit and financial reporting extremely well (including via

revision of brought knowledge using our Professional Level Q&As to rapidly refresh your knowledge).

Fully updated for the new Advanced Level Audit syllabus. Short form question bank containing over 800 questions on all aspects of the Advanced Level Audit syllabus. Provides examinable questions on the role of auditors, ethics, corporate governance, audit planning, audit evidence and audit procedures. Also contains questions on Advanced Level-specific specialist audit areas such as internal auditing, fraud, and social and environmental audits. Includes testing of the new “Audit Focus” questions found at the end of most financial reporting chapters in the Corporate Reporting Study Manual – easy to miss but very important! 285 pages, 13 chapters RRP £40 (subject to further discounting by Amazon) Available now


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Short form question bank containing over 1,000 questions on all aspects of the financial reporting elements of the Advanced Level (applicable to both the Corporate Reporting and Strategic Business Management examinations).

Provides self-test, exam-focused questions on new Advanced Level-specific areas such as pensions, share-based payments, deferred tax, forex consolidation and hedge accounting. Also covers revision areas such as financial instruments, EPS, groups, presentation of financial statements, leases, government grants and borrowing costs. 309 pages, 15 chapters RRP £40 (subject to further discounting by Amazon) Available now

Cover image: “Counting”

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Exam Room Notes

The ACA is unusual amongst accountancy qualifications in having open book examinations – let us

help you make the most of this with our Exam Room Notes.

Our Exam Room Notes have been carefully written to make the most of the open book nature of the

examinations whilst also avoiding the potential downside that we notice in the notes prepared by many

students (too much information and not easy to access under pressure).

Each book is designed to provide a very quick reference set of notes, to be used effectively under

time pressure and serving as a set of reminders and memory joggers.

All Exam Room Notes books have their content arranged alphabetically for very quick reference – no

more wondering where to find audit tests for financial instruments: just head to the “F” section.

Arranging the materials alphabetically is more logical than leaving your notes organised by

study manual chapter.

Our Exam Room Notes are also fully cross-referenced using “See also” references, giving you

reminders of how different topics are interconnected and thus helping you to generate more ideas

when under time pressure.

Alphabetical quick reference listing of all key Advanced Level auditing areas, based on our review of TI and Advanced Level past papers and mock exams since 2009. Includes cross-references to connected risk and procedures areas to help you spot the connections. With the removal of Tax from the Advanced Level, the importance of Audit has been increased still further and without a good ability to provide relevant audit tests it will be difficult to pass the 2 audit-heavy questions of the Corporate Reporting paper. Audit tests may also be examined in SBM. Our Audit Risks and Tests book will ensure you are never short of ideas on tests to perform, no matter what area is tested in the exam (particularly useful if you do not work in Audit in your day job!) 89 pages RRP £40 (subject to further discounting by Amazon) Available now


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Alphabetical quick reference listing of all key TI auditing areas, based on our review of TI and Advanced Level past papers and mock exams since 2009. Includes cross-references to connected risk and procedures areas to help you spot the connections. Our TI Audit Risks and Tests book provides vital reminders for the skill that accounts for at least 50% of the marks in Business Reporting and very often a substantial part of Q3 in Business Change. Our Audit Risks and Tests book will ensure you are never short of ideas on tests to perform no matter what area is tested in the exam (particularly useful if you do not work in Audit in your day job!) 89 pages RRP £40 (subject to further discounting by Amazon) Available now

Cover image: “Adding Up”

Alphabetical quick reference listing of all key BPT tax areas with extensive worked examples and “See also” sections to help you spot connections between tax areas and serving as a reminder of issues to consider. Alphabetical listing saves you time. Need to find the capital goods scheme? Just go to the “C” section rather than wasting time working out which chapter to use in the Study Manual or your tuition provider’s notes. Our BPT Exam Room Notes have been developed after the success of our Audit Risks & Tests Exam Room Notes and are designed to provide the same time savings and useful reminders, in an easy to use alphabetical format. 181 pages, 16 chapters RRP £40 (subject to further discounting by Amazon) Available now (Formerly known as Business Planning: Taxation Two Pagers)

Cover image: “Structuring”

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Alphabetical quick reference listing of all key SBM numerical and narrative scenario areas. Also includes notes from the similar predecessor paper Business Change from the old Technical Integration syllabus. With only 2 questions to attempt in SBM, it is important that you focus on the right areas in your answer. Using our SBM Exam Room Notes will instantly remind you of marks-scoring points in all major scenario areas such as investment appraisal, analysis of financial statements, valuations, risks, strategies, financing and many more. Our Exam Room Notes book is designed to pair up with our new Smashing SBM™ textbook (see next page). Don’t waste time hunting around in your notes – if you want to look at Valuations just head to the “V” section; if you need to know about “Liquidation” just head to the “L” section. RRP £40 (subject to further discounting by Amazon) Available end of April 2015

Cover image: “Money Bridge”

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Strategic Business Management Technique

We are pleased to announce our new textbook for SBM entitled Smashing SBM™ – How to Pass the

ACA SBM Examination (July 2015).

Now that there have been 2 SBM examinations (July 2014 and November 2014), we have 2 real exam

papers to analyse and our tutor team has also been able to teach SBM for 2 sessions. We have also

attended both SBM Workshops at the ICAEW Tutor Conference. Smashing SBM™ draws on all these

resources to provide you with over 250 pages of tips and tricks.

We are proud to have been specifically asked by students to write this text, following the success

of our similar title for the ACA Case Study, Cracking Case™ – How to Pass the ACA Case Study.

As SBM has been specifically designed by ICAEW to be a “bridge” from the Professional Level to the

final and unusual Case Study examination1, our previous experience of tutoring Case Study puts us in

a great position to offer a unique and practical approach to SBM.

Like Cracking Case™, Smashing SBM™ provides students with a unique and practical planning

approach, designed to ensure that your time is used effectively in an examination which gives you very

little guidance as to what to write about and, crucially, no statement of how many marks will be available

for each element of the examination. Our unique MAP planning strategy, together with our 9 Mark

Allocation Rules, will help you to estimate the mark allocation correctly and therefore

concentrate your efforts in the right direction.

Given the importance of brought forward knowledge, we also include revision notes on specialist

Audit & Assurance areas, practical business advisory areas (valuations, strategic, investment

appraisal) and selected revision Q&A questions from our Business Strategy Q&A 2015 and Financial

Management Q&A 2015.

Smashing SBM™ also contains extensive analysis of the 2014 examination papers, Sample Paper and

ICAEW mock examinations as well as discussion of key examiner comments regarding the 2014 real

examination papers.

(See also our SBM Exam Room Notes (page 12)).

Chapters include:

• The Nature of the Examination

• Need Direction? Use a MAP!

• The Correct SBM Writing Style

• Analysis of the July 2014 SBM Examination

• Analysis of the Nov 2014 SBM Examination

• Useful Points from the Examiner’s Comments

• Specialist Audit and Assurance Revision Notes

• Practical Business Advisory Revision Notes

• Comments from ICAEW Tutor Conferences RRP £40 (subject to further discounting by Amazon) Available end of April 2015

Cover image: “Money Bridge”

1 Source: VITAL Magazine, Issue 60, April 2014, page 13 and examiner comments at the SBM Workshops at the 2014 and 2015 ICAEW Tutor Conferences.

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Case Study Technique

We are pleased to announce our new, fifth edition of Cracking Case™ – How to Pass the ACA Case

Study (July 2015).

Since its first publication in 2013, Cracking Case™ has quickly gained a worldwide reputation and “cult”

status within the student community, providing a very original and simple approach to this unusual

examination. As can be seen from the numerous 5 star reviews on Amazon.co.uk, the planning

approach put forward in Cracking Case™ really does work and boosts student performance.

We are determined to provide the best possible learning materials so after every sitting of the Case

Study we revise and improve the text of Cracking Case™ to reflect the lessons learned from the most

recent examination. Our July 2015 edition contains further improvements to our planning sheets

and a full update for the important lessons learned from the November 2014 examination (Rolling

Stores Limited).

The new July 2015 edition contains over 150 pages of tips, including chapters on how to write a good

Executive Summary and Requirement 1 to 3, detailed explanation of patterns in the mark scheme,

review of key “practical” recommendations that tend to be rewarded, explanation of how to make your

writing style more efficient and detailed Planning & Reminder Sheets for use in the examination.

The latest edition of Cracking Case™ contains a coded message in the cover image, reflecting our view

that passing the examination is all about “cracking the code” of the unusual, competency-based

assessment method. The first student to crack the cover code will be awarded £500!

In addition, all purchasers of the July 2015 edition of Cracking Case™ receive a £20 discount on

the pack of 5 mock examinations that we will be preparing based on the live July 2015 Advance

Information.

We are delighted that the success and recognition of Cracking Case™ has resulted in student-led

requests to create a similar book for the related SBM examination (see above).

Chapters include:

• Case: Some Common Fallacies

• The Correct Case Study Writing Style

• How to Write a Good Executive Summary

• How to Write a Good Requirement 1



• Practicalities of the Exam Day

• Plan B: What To Do If You Screw Up Your Timing

• Planning & Reminder Sheets (Appendices) 169 pages, 21 chapters, 4 appendices RRP £40 (subject to further discounting by Amazon) Available now

Cover image: “An Enigma Variation (July 2015)”

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Case Study Mock Exams (July 2015)

Each sitting, we produce 5 full exam standard mock examinations based on the live Advance

Information. This provides you with an ideal opportunity to “kill two birds with one stone” by practising

your technique within the context of the live Advance Information and Case Study business which you

will be tested upon in July 2015. We strongly believe that practising mock examinations based on

the live material is a better use of your scarce study time then sitting irrelevant past papers.

We have considerable experience of reading the Advance Information and setting questions that test

areas which are ultimately very relevant to the real examination.

All mocks come with full ICAEW-style question papers and Exhibits, ICAEW-style marking grid

and a fully written out narrative answer showing you the correct headings and writing style to

use.

All mocks are written to full ICAEW levels of difficulty to give you an accurate test.

For a free sample of our November 2014 mocks, simply go to the Downloads page of our Case Study

pages. This will show you what is included in our mock pack and will also show you that we are capable

of predicting and setting scenarios which are very close to the real tasks set by ICAEW.

RRP £210 plus VAT (or £190 plus VAT for purchasers of the July 2015 edition of Cracking Case™)

Available 19 June 2015 (or as soon as possible after this date)

Case Study Q&A (July 2015)

Knowledge of the Advance Information is essential if you are going to perform well in the examination.

Once the live Advance Information has been released, we create a set of 150-200 short form

questions so that you can actively learn the Advance Information inside out and save valuable

time on exam day. Our Q&A follows the “Test, Repeat, Succeed” philosophy which we successfully

use in our Professional Level Q&A books (see above).

Whilst reading through the Advance Information is obviously useful and important, after a while you will

find that simply reading and re-reading does not add to your knowledge. Using our Q&A will instead

keep things more active and will also reveal aspects to the Advance Information which you may not

have noticed from your own reading.

We have considerable experience of teaching Case Study and this allows us to focus our Q&A

questions onto the right areas, revealing and emphasising important aspects for you.

RRP £50 plus VAT

Available start of July 2015

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Case Study Exam Room Pack (July 2015)

Whilst we strongly recommend that you use our mock exams and Q&A to become as familiar as

possible with your Case Study business, you should still make the most of the “open book” nature

of the Case Study examination by taking in our Exam Room Pack, a 16-18 page condensed

summary of all key aspects of the Advance Information.

Using our experience as tutors, and our skills in simplifying and condensing materials, our Exam Room

Pack contains a set of skeleton notes which reduce the Advance Information into its core elements

(including page references) but without any loss of information. This will provide you with an ultra-

quick reference resource for use in the examination, saving valuable checking time and also

providing you with reminders of key points which you may otherwise forget under time pressure.

As information is spread out all over the Advance Information, we also use our Exam Room Pack to

bring together all relevant points within a particular topic onto one page so that you have all the

relevant points to hand: for example, all Requirement 1 reasons/causes are placed on one page and

all possible ethical issues are condensed and summarised onto another page, and so on. This will

prevent you missing the connections which the examiner is trying to hint at.

Case Study is a very time pressured examination so any time that you can save from quickly finding

the necessary reference material will greatly enhance your chances of success.

RRP £55 plus VAT

Available mid July 2015

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