ACCA December 2009 Exam Tips from PQ Magazine

What do our experts think is coming up in December’s exams? Here are top tips. More help coming here soon, promise

Paper F4

• Contract law: exclusion clauses or intention to create legal relations.
• Employment law: wrongful and unfair dismissal .
• Partnership law: ostensible authority.
• Company law: alteration of articles, or formation.
• Combined Code on Corporate Governance: application and purpose.
• Types/structure of court – the English Legal System.
• Civil and criminal law – the differences.
• Offer and acceptance – the agreement.
• Directors’ duties.
• Company formation.
• Fraudulent behaviour.

Paper F5

• Interpreting financial and non-financial performance measures.
• Throughput accounting techniques.
• Short-term decision-making techniques.
• Divisional performance measures .
• Standard costing – variance analysis and operating statements.
• Comparing the merits of different budgetary control systems.
• ABC.
• Forecasting - linear regression, or time series.
• Transfer pricing.
• Backflush costing discussion.
• Limiting factors.

Paper F6

• Taxation of employment income.
• Dealing with trading losses – loss reliefs for sole traders and companies.
• Computing corporation tax liabilities.
• Computing chargeable gains.
• Self-assessment and payment of tax by companies.
• Badges of trade.
• Adjusted profit computation and capital allowances for sole trader.
• CGT – principle private residence relief.
• Personal tax: benefits, adjustment to profits, capital allowances, opening year rules.
• Corporation tax: long period of account, capital allowance, property lease, gains of shares, VAT annual accounting.

Paper F7

• Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income – possible transactions to include depreciation, revaluation, investment property, IFRS 5.
• Consolidated I/S and SFP for either 2/3 company groups..
• Published accounts.
• Cashflow question with report on company performance.
• Financial statement interpretation.
• Intangible non-current assets including research and development.
• Liabilities including deferred tax.
• Leasing – both numbers and written aspects.
• IASB framework – elements or qualitative characteristics.

Paper F8

• Payables – validation of period end balances and cut-off.
• Acceptance of appointment – ethical and practical issues.
• System evaluation and management letter extracts.
• Audit of estimates including provisions and contingencies.
• Understanding unmodified audit reports and modified opinions.
• Closing review, subsequent events and threats to going concern status.
• Payroll audit procedures.
• Not for profit organisations.
• Internal control weakness.
• IAS 570 going concern.
• Analytical review as a planning tool.
• Threats to an auditors independence.
• Inventories or non-current assets.

Paper F9

• Economic environment and the impact on interest and exchange rates.
• Working capital management – EOQ with discounts and lead time buffer stock.
• Management of trade receivables, including settlement discounts and factoring.
• Asset replacement cycles and capital rationing.
• Risk management of foreign currency using internal and external hedging techniques.
• Weighted average and marginal costs of capital and the CAPM.
• Business valuations using geared betas and earnings based valuations.
• Inventory management.
• Complex NPV or IRR with tax.

Paper P1

• Corporate Governance – risk management, director’s remuneration and non-executive director’s responsibilities.
• Internal controls.
• TARA risk model, ethics absolutist v relativism, separation of CEO and chairman powers (think M&S), ISO 14001.
• Ethical dilemma – American Accounting Association decision model.
• Stakeholder management Mendelow’s Matrix.
• Risk audit - in house versus external provision. The need for internal audit.
• The contents and process of a social/environment audit; the environmental footprint.
• Enterprise risk management models

Paper P2

• Complex group statement of comprehensive income incorporating a part disposal or stepped acquisition.
• IFRS 3 revised aspects.
• Principles and accounting treatment multi-scenario incorporating intangible non-current assets and impairment.
• Deferred tax.
• Management responsibilities for ensuring transparency of financial statements.
• Impact of accounting policies on a financial covenant.
• Accounting for environmental issues including provisioning.
• Convergence of IFRS and US GAAP.
• Discount activities.
• Group topics – disposal of subsidiary and complex group. Other topics provisions, impairments, deferred tax.

Paper P3

• The balance between controlling and encouraging emergent strategy.
• E-business and supply chain management.
• Scanning the macro-environment and competitive environment.
• Project management and the capability maturity model.
• Marketing techniques and customer relationship management.
• Stakeholder analysis and corporate social responsibility.
• Business analysis in not-for-profit organisation.

Paper P4

• Corporate failure.
• WACC/financing.
• Business Valuation.
• Black Scholes.

Paper P5

• Impact of world, national and market trends on performance.
• Current issues and trends in performance management.
• The performance hierarchy, pyramid.
• Behavioural aspects of performance management, forecasting.
• Strategic management accounting and limitations of traditional management accounting techniques.
• Learning curves.

Paper P6

• Taxation aspects of property and investment income.
• Self-assessment for individuals and partnerships.
• Taxation of group companies and consortia.
• Computing trading losses.
• Ethics and tax planning.
• Rollover relief.
• Lease vs buy for assets.
• VAT capital goods scheme.
• IHT death estate.

Paper P7

• Prospective financial information linked to applications for debt funding.
• Audit procedures looking at impairment of financial instruments and fair value.
• Ethical scenarios/professional issues.
• Auditor liability and good practice management.
• Issues associated with the control weaknesses and collection of evidence for a not-for-profit organisation.
• Audit challenges of determining going concern status and the impact on audit opinions.
• The clarity prject.
• ISA 700 engagement reporting.
• ISA 540 accounting estimates.