P7 bpp exam tips December 2014 exams|ACCA

Hints & Tips for P7 Advanced Audit and Assurance

ACCA Paper P7 – Advanced Audit and Assurance

We expect that the P7 exam in December will mirror previous sittings, with two compulsory questions making up the majority of the marks on offer and a choice of two from three optional questions.

Remember, the compulsory questions will be fixed at 35 marks and 25 marks for Questions 1 and 2 respectively, with up to 4 professional marks available in one of these questions, while the optional questions will score 20 marks each.

You should be aware that for exams from December 2014 onwards, the P7 INT syllabus includes examinable content on the audit of public sector performance information which you should be prepared for – watch out for technical article content as the examining team may decide to supplement the study guide with additional information.

For this sitting, you can again expect a planning scenario in the compulsory section which should test risk assessment, audit procedures and professional issues, while we expect that optional questions will also test audit reports, evidence, ethical and other practice-related matters.

Candidates should also take heed of other recently published article content from the P7 examining team on internal audit, ethics, accounting issues and forensics when preparing for this exam.

Good luck!!!

You can also visit ACCA's website for more information about P7 Advanced Audit and Assurance.

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P6 bpp exam tips December 2014 exams|ACCA

Hints & Tips for P6 Advanced Taxation

General Advice

The exam will comprise two compulsory questions within Section A which will both be of a case study style. The first question will be 35 marks in length and will contain four marks for professional skills.

The second will be for 25 marks in total and will contain no professional skills marks. One of these questions will focus on personal tax issues and the other will focus on corporate tax issues. Section B will comprise three questions, each of 20 marks in length of which only two are to be answered. These will be in a more succinct, note form style.

The whole syllabus is examinable throughout the paper.

The paper will examine candidates' ability to analyse and evaluate the tax implications of various situations, numerical calculations will only be required to assist in producing an answer and no purely numerical questions will be set.

Topics we would expect to see are:

• 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 versus sale of subsidiary

• Disincorporation relief

• Pension contributions

• Patent box, research and development expenditure

You can also visit ACCA's website for more information about P6 Advanced Taxation.

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P5 bpp exam tips December 2014 exams|ACCA

Hints & tips for P5 Advanced Performance Management

Important areas to cover for the December exam:

The question often arises, 'what subjects often come up?' please be aware that the examiner makes an effort not to be predictable and tries to push as much into each exam as possible.
General advice:

Performance Analysis:

The 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 v budgetary targets 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. Ensure you have read the article on Benchmarking published in September 2012.

'Beyond budgeting' is an important area that can be tested either as a discussion or a numerical question.

Performance appraisal requires effective information systems so expect to be asked to identify the key strategic, tactical and operational information requirements of a business or the implications of introducing a new system on performance management.

Risk Analysis:

Analysis of the risk of a new proposal could include numerical techniques such as expected values and probabilities but also strategic frameworks such as PEST analysis and Porter could feature here.

Strategic Performance Measures in the Private Sector: Divisional performance measurement is another key area; ROI, RI, EVA, NPV, share price movement or even costs of quality could feature here and transfer pricing could feature as an aspect of these questions.

Reward Systems:

HR issues are new to the syllabus from June 2011 and the examiner is interested in the impact of reward systems on performance management.

Ensure you have read the article published January 2013 on Reward Schemes for Employees and 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.

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.

You can also visit ACCA's website for more information about P5 Advanced Performance Management.

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P4 bpp exam tips December 2014 exams|ACCA

Hints & Tips for P4 Advanced Financial Management

Important areas to cover for the December exam include:

Question 1

We would expect section A questions to test core syllabus areas such: discounted cash flow & business valuations (both of which are likely to include cost of capital calculations) and hedging.

Question 2-4

• risk management (interest rate risk management is more likely to be tested in Dec 2014) • business re-organisation and
• cost of capital calculations (possibly including cost of debt and credit spreads).

General advice:

Section A of the P4 exam has, from June 2013, contained one compulsory question. This 50 mark question will, inevitably, draw from a number of different syllabus areas.

The examiner has said that he does not plan exams by referring to past exams (i.e. checking that the whole syllabus is being tested over the course of a number of exam sittings).

This makes question spotting almost impossible. However we would expect section A questions to test core syllabus areas as listed above.

In section B (50 marks in total) you will need to choose two questions from a choice of three. Each question will be worth 25 marks, one of the questions may be entirely discussion based (but this is not guaranteed from June 2013). Remember that this paper is not a maths exam – the examiner is as interested in your ability to communicate well and to give good management advice as he is in your numerical ability.

Keep checking the ACCA website for articles written by the P4 examiner in the lead up to the exam, these are often tested.

You can also visit ACCA's website for more information about P4 Advanced Financial Management.

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P3 bpp exam tips December 2014 exams|ACCA

Hints & Tips for P3 Business Analysis

General Advice

If we look back at the June 2014 P3 exam we can see that the examiner has again required students to have a very good grasp of the syllabus, both breadth and depth, combined with an ability to apply that knowledge to the specific circumstances of the scenario.

In addition it is clear that the examiner likes to keep students on their toes by including substantial "random" elements within questions that are from areas that could be either be considered to be from the fringes of the syllabus or are based largely on knowledge carried forward from earlier papers. For instance in the June 2014 paper there was a 10 mark question on benefits owners, maps and realisation.

It is therefore extremely dangerous for any student to focus on certain elements of the syllabus at the expense of others. To stand the best chance of passing P3 students need to have a good understanding of the entire syllabus.

This will enable them to choose the questions where they believe they will find it easier to pick up marks (for instance because it is easier to understand the requirements, or easier to structure an answer, or easier to pick up knowledge marks) rather than having to choose questions because of the syllabus area. In addition if students were to look at the exams in the past couple of years they will see that all of the key areas of the syllabus have been examined over the past four or five sittings which again shows the danger of question spotting or ignoring areas.

Important areas to cover for the December exam include:

It could be argued that the following areas, despite being key syllabus areas that have been regularly examined, have not been examined significantly in the past couple of papers, and therefore may be a little more likely to surface (however remember that this is a very dangerous game to play if it distracts students from other syllabus areas):

• Value Chain
• Critical success factors and KPIs
• Role of the corporate parent including BCG matrix/Ashridge Finally it is worth pointing out that the December paper saw a return to calculations (the June 2013 paper had very few calculations or financial analysis). We would fully expect this to continue in June this year.

Finally it is worth pointing out that there are a number of new elements that have been brought into the syllabus for this sitting.

 It could be argued that the examiner may take the opportunity to test these this time specifically because they are new and therefore students should ensure that they are familiar with:-

• Integrated Reporting
• Change management frameworks (POPIT and the business change lifecycle) and
• Organisational Configuration - new definitions: Boundary-less organisations, Outsourcing vs. Offshoring, Hollow and Modular structures.

You can also visit ACCA's website for more information about P3 Business Analysis.

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P2 bpp exam tips December 2014 exams|ACCA

Hints & Tips for P2 Corporate Reporting

ACCA P2 CORPORATE REPORTING (INTL)

General Advice

Section A:

• This will be a 50 mark compulsory case study including preparation of a group statement of financial position and/or statement of profit of loss and other comprehensive income which may include discontinued activities, disposals, acquisitions or a foreign subsidiary.

This will include other accounting complications such as financial instruments, pensions, share-based payment and impairments.

• There will also be discursive requirements on a linked accounting adjustment and social/ethical/moral aspects of corporate reporting.

Section B:

Section B normally includes:-

•Questions 2 & 3:

2 case study questions:

one a multi-part question covering a range of topics or a theme such as 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 or ratios; the other an industry-based question (NB: no specific knowledge of the particular industry is required) 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.

•Question 4: a discussion question looking at current developments in corporate reporting and problems with existing standards, such as integrated reporting, revision of the conceptual framework, regulatory issues over adoption and consistent application of IFRSs, implementation issues, , impairment in the current economic climate, revenue recognition, , management commentary, application of the definition of control and significant influence (equity accounting), improvements in performance measurement. Will also normally include a related computational part based on figures from a case study.

One of these questions can also include elements of group accounting, especially if question 1 is a statement of cash flows question.

You can also visit ACCA's website for more information about P2 Corporate Reporting

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P1 bpp exam tips December 2014 exams|ACCA

Hints & Tips for P1 Governance, Risk and Ethics

ACCA Paper P1 – Governance, Risk and Ethics

We expect that the P1 exam in December will mirror previous sittings, with one compulsory question and a choice of two from three optional questions.

Remember, the compulsory question will be fixed at 50 marks, focusing on a scenario testing all three main syllabus areas, with up to 4 professional marks available for producing some form of written communication (a briefing note, press release or letter to shareholders).

The optional questions will score 25 marks each and can test up to two syllabus areas each by applying the syllabus to a real-world scenario. For this sitting, you can probably expect to see content on two new areas added to the syllabus for exams from December 2014 onwards – public sector governance and integrated reporting.

You can also expect to see the use of ethical and CSR theories applied to scenarios, as well as the use of risk and governance syllabus content – you should be aiming to revisit as many past-paper questions as possible as we are starting to see exam requirements that have been examined before.

Candidates should also take heed of the examining team's recently published article content for P1 when preparing for this exam – at time of going to press, this included two articles on public sector governance, but keep checking to make sure you have seen any last minute additions.

Good luck!!!

You can also visit ACCA's website for more information about P1 Governance, Risk and Ethics

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F9 bpp exam tips December 2014 exams|ACCA

Hints & Tips for F9 Financial Management

Important areas to cover for the December exam:

Please be aware that the examiner makes an effort not to be predictable and tries to push as much into each exam as possible.

Investment Appraisal –

 it is highly likely that there will be a question featuring an NPV calculation, additional methods may be tested including IRR, ROCE and Payback.

Working Capital –

this is a large syllabus area and topics tested could be on anything within chapters 4 – 6 of your course notes.  There is a good chance that working capital ratios will be tested, either explicitly or implicitly (i.e. working backwards to find, say receivables if you are provided with receivable days and credit sales).

Cost of Capital –

 most exams feature a WACC calculation so make sure you are comfortable with working out the different costs of finance as well as their market values.

General advice:

Section A comprises 20 multiple choice questions of 2 marks each. Section B comprises three 10 mark questions and two 15 mark questions.

The two 15 mark questions will come from working capital management, investment appraisal and business finance areas of the syllabus. The questions will contain both calculations and discussion so it is important that you practise both skills. The F9 Examiner likes to test across the whole syllabus. In many post exam commentaries the Examiner has stated that candidates who were well prepared and who had studied all parts of the syllabus did well on this paper.

Candidates who were not successful may have focused on a small number of topic areas.

You can also visit ACCA's website for more information about F9 Financial Management.

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F8 bpp exam tips December 2014 exams|ACCA

Hints & Tips for F8 Audit and Assurance

ACCA F8 has a new exam format for the December exam.

Question 1

Internal control, audit planning, audit evidence and audit procedures (both substantive procedures and tests of control).

Section A:

12 multiple choice questions of which eight are worth 2 marks each and four are worth 1 mark each. The MCQs will largely be knowledge based and will balance out the questions in Section B to make sure that all aspects of the syllabus are examined.

Section B:

Q1 – Q4:

Four 10 mark questions. These will test single topic areas of the syllabus and so will either test syllabus area A, B, C, D or E. The questions will be broken down into sub requirements and may also be based on a short scenario. Areas expected to be tested in questions 1 to 4 include ethical threats and safeguards, corporate governance and internal audit, audit planning, materiality, audit procedures (especially substantive procedures), audit finalisation and audit reports.

Q5, Q6

Two 20 mark questions which will be broken down into sub requirements and be scenario based. The majority of marks in each question will test syllabus areas B, C and/ or D.
Areas expected to be tested in questions 5 and 6 include audit risk, internal control and audit procedures (both substantive procedures and tests of controls).

F8 has the following syllabus areas:

A Audit framework and regulation
B Planning and risk assessment
C Internal control
D Audit evidence
E Review and reporting

General advice:

Where questions are based on a scenario it is essential that you use the information in the scenario to make your answers relevant. At the beginning of the exam you are given 15 minutes "reading and planning" time. During this time you can read and annotate your question paper and so this is a perfect chance to make notes next to the information in the scenarios of things to include in your answer.

During this time you should also think about how you will present your answer – try to use a tabular format in your solutions where relevant as the examiner has stated that candidates who do this score better.

Finally pay attention to the verbs used in question requirements as these indicate the number of marks available. For example, the verb "explain" requires a sentence and will score one mark if properly explained whereas the verb "list" simply requires you to list out information with no further explanation and this will score ½ mark per point.

You can also visit ACCA's website for more information about F8 Audit and Assurance.

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F7 bpp exam tips December 2014 exams|ACCA

Hints & Tips for F7 Financial Reporting

ACCA F7 FINANCIAL REPORTING (INTL)

General Advice

Section A:

• Twenty 2 mark multiple choice questions on a wide range of topics including several on consolidation and interpretation of financial statements

• Expect a few questions on non-core areas (e.g. inflation, specialised entities)

Questions 1 and 2

• Two 15 mark questions

• One likely to be an interpretation or statement of cash flows, the other may be a consolidation question if Q3 is not a consolidation • Other possibilities: conceptual framework, intangible/tangible assets and impairment, provisions and contingencies, revenue and grants, financial instruments discontinued operations/assets held for sale or earnings per share

Question 3

• 30 mark financial statement preparation question

• Could be for a single entity or a consolidation (statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income and/or statement of financial position)

• Will include adjustments on other syllabus areas

• May include a short separate part, e.g. with a statement of changes in equity, statement of cash flows extract, earnings per share calculation or linked written topic • A consolidation question would include one subsidiary and often an associate, with adjustments, e.g. fair values, deferred/contingent consideration, PUP on inventories/PPE, intragroup trading and balances, goods/cash in transit

• A single entity question could be preparation from a trial balance or restatement of given financial statements with the usual adjustments for depreciation, revaluation and current/deferred tax (including deferred tax on revaluations) plus a mixture of adjustments on other syllabus areas, e.g. leases, substance over form issues, financial instruments (change in fair value or amortised cost), share issues, government grants, inventory valuation, revenue recognition or construction contracts.

You can also visit ACCA's website for more information about F7 Financial Reporting

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F6 bpp exam tips December 2014 exams|ACCA

Hints & Tips for F6 Taxation | bpp | ACCA Global

General Advice

The exam will comprise five compulsory questions.

Question 1 will focus on income tax with

Question 2 focusing on corporation tax. These two questions will make up 55% of the marks.

Commonly examined income tax areas include the employed earner and the sole trader. Capital allowances is regularly examined within question 2 but we anticipate aspects of groups could also feature in this question.

Question 3 to 5 will total 15 marks each.

Question 3 will examine capital gains tax from either an individual and/or company perspective involving a number of disposals.
We favour a question on companies chargeable gains this time.

The other two questions will cover other areas of the syllabus. One of these questions will be more thought provoking testing candidates ability to think about the tax implications of a situation. VAT will be examined for at least 5 marks in either Question 1 or 2 but could form a separate question. Inheritance tax will also always be examined for between 5 to 15 marks within Question 3, 4 or 5.

The paper will be largely computational with a few written marks for explanations.

You can also visit ACCA's website for more information about F6 Taxation

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F5 bpp exam tips December 2014 exams|ACCA

Important areas to cover for the December exam include (but are not limited to):

Syllabus area A: ABC, Throughput Accounting, Target Costing and Lifecycle costing.

Syllabus area B: Techniques to assist decision making, including: linear programming, CVP analysis, relevant costing, pricing and incorporating risk and uncertainty
Syllabus area C: Approaches to and types of budgeting systems, variance analysis (both mix and yield and planning and operational variances) and forecasting techniques, especially learning curves Syllabus area D: Appraisal of performance of an entire company or a division, via financial performance measures including traditional ratio analysis, ROI and RI or transfer pricing often contrasted with non-financial performance measures including the Balanced Scorecard

General advice:

Section A of the exam will comprise 20 2 mark multiple choice questions – this will mean that you will need breadth of syllabus knowledge, whilst the 10 and 15 mark questions will require depth of knowledge combined with application. When studying syllabus areas A-C consider what implications of these techniques are for performance management. It is not possible to question spot, or predict what will be tested in the section B questions; therefore the best advice is to study broadly from all syllabus areas.

You can also visit ACCA's website for more information about F5 Performance Management

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