ACCA JUNE 2011 EXAM TIPS

ACCA JUNE 2011 EXAM TIPS

Another round of ACCA Examination is here. Once again I gather the exam guidelines from all sources (as far as I can found) for Professional Level ONLY. I also exclude P6 as the tips are for UK only (Sorry, here is Malaysian variant). Here you go:

Paper P1: Governance, Risk and Ethics

No.	Source	Particulars
1.	BPP	Various aspects of risk were examined widely in December 2010 but risk remains a key area. You may be asked to identify and categorise some key risks in a scenario. Over the last few months the role of the board of directors has remained at the forefront of the news. There have been changes to the code of corporate governance in the UK with diversity at board level receiving much attention. Make sure that you are comfortable applying the principles of good corporate governance to non-corporate organisations such as schools and hospitals. You should make sure that you can discuss and apply ethical theories. Don’t neglect the less glamorous areas of the syllabus, corporate governance or risk and control disclosure could always be tested. The topic of stakeholders is important with wide application.
2.	Kaplan	Risk appetite and ALARP. Ethics – moral development. CSR. Audit committees.
3.	First Institution	Kohlberg, Risk assessment and TARA risk framework. Role of audit committee, chairman, CEO. Corporate social responsibility. Gray, Owen and Adams, normative, and Instrumentalists view of stakeholders. Risk quantification
4.	ATC	Corporate governance (CG) concepts, underlying fundamentals and arrangements CG in other organisations, e.g. public services, NGOs Types and forms of CG, e.g. rules based, principles based, insider, outsider systems, UK Corporate Governance Code, Sox Agency theory, stakeholders, Mendelow Board structures, CEO/chairman, directors, NEDs, committees Internal control and business risk, Turnbull Ethical theories and business codes – Kohlberg, Gray, Owen and Adams, Tucker, AAA Professions and the public interest Corporate social responsibility, corporate citizen, footprints and sustainability Social and environmental auditing

Paper P2: Corporate Reporting (International)

No.	Source	Particulars
1.	BPP	Q1: group SOFP and/or SOCI including discontinued activities, acquisitions and disposals or foreign subsidiary, plus adjustments on other syllabus areas such as financial instruments, pensions, share-based payment and impairments. Written part on a linked accounting adjustment and social/ethical/moral aspects of corporate reporting. Q2 & Q3: 2 case study questions, one following a theme such as non-current assets, deferred tax, related parties, foreign currency, financial instruments, the other an industry-based question testing a range of standards such as accounting policies and the framework, leases, grants, IFRS for SMEs, reorganisations, provisions and events after the reporting period. Q4: discussion question e.g. revenue recognition, first time adoption of IFRSs, fair values, management commentary, improvements in performance measurement, including an application part with some computations.
2.	Kaplan	Section A Group statement of financial position: mistreatment and/or misclassification of items to be included within the statement. IAS 16, IAS 17, IAS 36, IAS 38, IAS 37, IAS 12, IAS 39 & IFRS 9. Section B IAS GAAP/US GAAP convergence. Non-current assets held for sale and discontinued activities. Impairments provisions. Tax employee benefits. Share-based payment. Leases. Intangibles. Financial instruments.
3.	First Institution	Qn 1 = Group question on foreign subsidiaries Ethics Revenue Recognition – current issue IFRS 9 Financial Instruments Deferred Tax Share based payments Related parties
4.	ATC	It is possible that the consolidation issue in the June exam could either be a complex group or a foreign subsidiary. Financial Instruments (IAS 39/IFRS 9) to include hedge accounting, questions on this topic tend to appear in most exams Employee benefits (IAS 19) Leases (IAS 17) Share-based Payments (IFRS 2) Impairment of assets (IAS 36) Deferred Tax (IAS 12) At the 2011 teacher’s conference the examiner did state that he expects to examine IFRS 1 First-time Adoption on a more regular basis, so it is possible that this question may feature as topical Q4 in 2011, but students should also be aware of other topical issues such as the financial crisis, Fair Value accounting and accounting for Financial Instruments.

Paper P3: Business Analysis

No.	Source	Particulars
1.	BPP	Strategy models Analysis of the environment or internal factors has featured in most exams. Key models include PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces and the value chain. Forecasting has come into the syllabus and may well be tested, including the interpretation of numbers. Evaluation of strategic options is usually tested one way or another, SAF can be a useful framework to generate ideas but don’t feel you need to follow it slavishly. Strategic action (largely change management and organisational configuration) is often overlooked, but was heavily tested in the compulsory question in the last paper. Take this as a warning that you need to cover the whole syllabus! Business Process Change A popular area, which may be based around models such as Harmon, or completely unstructured, describing a process and asking for improvements. Expect to see some numbers coming in to questions in this area to help with decisions such as automation and outsourcing. Information Technology A pervasive theme in many questions. Make sure you are comfortable with some of the more important recent concepts in technology such as cloud computing, viral marketing and how technology can be used in customer relationship management. Project Management This was already a major topic and has expanded in the new syllabus. I would expect to see this tested in every sitting. Questions may well focus on analysis and realisation of benefits and again are likely to include a numerical element. Financial Analysis Lots of management accounting knowledge from F5 is now assumed knowledge here, including budgeting, variance analysis and relevant costing. You may need to do calculations, but remember the focus in this paper is on using the calculations for decision-making, not the calculations themselves. Ratio analysis is still examinable and often provides opportunities for easy marks. People Less important than it was in the previous syllabus. Most likely to be tested in conjunction with one of the other topics. Most importantly... Knowledge alone will not get you close to a pass on this paper. You need to be able to apply your knowledge to specific situations. Practice this using past questions and stories in the press or on the web as often as you can and you will be ready for whatever the exam throws at you!
2.	Kaplan	Process redesign. Financial and strategic analysis. Strategy evaluation. Project management – possibly focusing on the new area of benefits management. Marketing.
3.	First Institution	Section A Environmental Analysis, People with Financial Analysis Section B Project Management Strategic Action Information Technology – Pricing Strategy
4.	ATC	Supply chain and E-business and Kotler & Armstrong’s 7 P’s Ken Garrett recently published an article on the strategic use of IT and its relation to upstream and downstream supply chain as well as Customer Relationship Management. This article has some similarities to the “Happy Shopper” in an earlier examination. In this article he refers to the use of the value chain, the 6i model of E-marketing, Porters Generic Strategies as well as Earl’s theory on E-business. Please read this article. It is also possible that the examiner links this article to Camp’s Benchmarking theories and asks for methodologies to arrive at any solution to an issue in the case. http://www.accaglobal.com/pubs/students/publications/student_accountant/archive/sa_oct 10_p3_IT.pdf Change Management This topic has been examined in two past examinations. In one of the earlier exams, the examiner looked at the types of change (i.e. evolution, adaption, transformation and revolution). In the other exam he wanted candidates to analyse the influence of “contextual factors” and main elements of strategic change. The models and theories of Lewin may come up; however it is more probable to be the barrier to effective change and the strategies to overcome resistance to change. Project Management Possible questions on the stages of project management, the role and aspects of good project management software and the varied roles/positions in project management are always a reasonable “bet”. Furthermore, under the new syllabus, you must be able to appraise an investment and give a valid opinion whether a project will be cost-beneficial or not. Stakeholders’ types and ethical stances A question asking you to plot stakeholders and devise strategy to minimise the effect of negative power is possible. Corporate Governance/ethics/mergers Possible question similar to that of the WAMC case Q3d in the Revision Question Bank.