Congratulation for those who passed all their papers sat in June 2011 and for those who do not pass all, don't keep it in mind and start thinking forward, failure is part and parcel of success and it is very common in ACCA exams.
Now we are moving into second term and this indicates that December 2011 is coming soon! Therefore, don't wait, start to revise what you had learnt in first term now because you will learn many more new things in second term. Don't do last minute study because the cumulative unrevised topics cannot be revised in a short time.
Remember ACCA is not an academic exam, to pass ACCA paper, the first condition is to cover the whole syllabus, the second condition is to practice enough questions to get the skill of attempting questions and the third condition is to revise in a continuing basis. If you have passed these 3 conditions, it is very likely that you will pass the exam.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
Result time is decided
ACCA has decided to release the result at 22nd of August, 0500 BST (British Summer Time). This information can be found when you click on "myacca" at ACCA website. 0500 BST is equal to 12.00pm Malaysia time so take note of this, it is not 1.00pm :)
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
5 days to go for result
Result will be out in just 5 days away from this date, ie. release at 22nd of August 2011. The time of release is most likely 0500 GMT, ie. 1.00pm Malaysia time. If you had not registered to receive your result through email, the only choice for you is to try and log in to "myacca" at 1.00pm (best time) as many will start to log in and after a while you may not be able to log in due to high traffic. It is not possible to register to receive result through email now as I think the option is not there anymore in "myacca".
I wish you all the best in the result and hope to see you guys in second term ;)
I wish you all the best in the result and hope to see you guys in second term ;)
Sunday, August 7, 2011
When we inject capital, why we credit capital instead of debit capital?
Have you ever thought that when the owner invests money into the business, why does the double entry shows as debit cash, credit capital? Some of you may think that it is because of double entry principle that one entry must be debit and another must be credit. There is actually a reason behind it.
If you are unawared, to obtain a right (asset) there must be an obligation (liability). Therefore, applying this to the above case, image yourself as the business and one guy puts money into your pocket, you get the rights of using money but at the same time you will also have an obligation toward the guy who puts his money into your pocket.
Therefore, we credit capital account when it increases because it shows the obligation of the business to its owner, that means the amount that business owes to the owner.
Those who are studying ACCA P level papers should have such detailed understanding of something and not just learning something without knowing the reason. This is an example of the bigger picture of something :)
If you are unawared, to obtain a right (asset) there must be an obligation (liability). Therefore, applying this to the above case, image yourself as the business and one guy puts money into your pocket, you get the rights of using money but at the same time you will also have an obligation toward the guy who puts his money into your pocket.
Therefore, we credit capital account when it increases because it shows the obligation of the business to its owner, that means the amount that business owes to the owner.
Those who are studying ACCA P level papers should have such detailed understanding of something and not just learning something without knowing the reason. This is an example of the bigger picture of something :)
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Tackle paper F5
Here are some guidance on how to pass this paper. This paper is more special and you can't be sure that you can pass by just practising a lot of questions. Generally, you need to have good understanding in each and every topics, and think out of the box when you are attempting a question. Guidance is given for each syllabus area:
A: Specialist cost and management accounting techniques
This is an easy area but don't underestimate it, questions will not just focus on calculations, the theories part of each technique must be understood. For example, question could ask "suggest ways to account for environmental cost for this business", in this case you have to look at the nature of the business and also the size of the business to determine whether the business can afford to install an activity-based costing (ABC) system for example. Other ways include input/outflow analysis, flow cost accounting and life cycle costing. An ability to keep an eye on the information given for the company is essential.
B: Decision-making techniques
Difficult questions will require you to think outside the box while the easy one tests your ability to apply your knowledge such as CVP analysis, identifying relevant cost etc. This area is big and a good understanding is essential to keep you safe.
C: Budgeting
This is probably the easiest area. Learn different budgetary systems, the ability to do simple forecasting and understand learning curve will get you through questions on this area.
D: Standard costing and variance analysis
Try to understand what you are calculating and be able to link variances when evaluating performance will be enough. Normally people are good at calculating variances but not evaluating management performance.
E: Performance measurement and control
This area is probably the hardest in F5. What you need is the overall knowledge and common sense. Calculating ratios are the key skills to learn, also understand them. Tools such as balanced scorecard and building block model must not be ignored. The ability to link your calculated information to the given information is an essential skill.
F5 is a 50% numerical and 50% discursive paper, although most of the time more marks are given for discursive part. People who ignored the theories part of the paper will fail and those who learn will pass confidently. Do not try to predict topics because new examiner knows what you think.
A: Specialist cost and management accounting techniques
This is an easy area but don't underestimate it, questions will not just focus on calculations, the theories part of each technique must be understood. For example, question could ask "suggest ways to account for environmental cost for this business", in this case you have to look at the nature of the business and also the size of the business to determine whether the business can afford to install an activity-based costing (ABC) system for example. Other ways include input/outflow analysis, flow cost accounting and life cycle costing. An ability to keep an eye on the information given for the company is essential.
B: Decision-making techniques
Difficult questions will require you to think outside the box while the easy one tests your ability to apply your knowledge such as CVP analysis, identifying relevant cost etc. This area is big and a good understanding is essential to keep you safe.
C: Budgeting
This is probably the easiest area. Learn different budgetary systems, the ability to do simple forecasting and understand learning curve will get you through questions on this area.
D: Standard costing and variance analysis
Try to understand what you are calculating and be able to link variances when evaluating performance will be enough. Normally people are good at calculating variances but not evaluating management performance.
E: Performance measurement and control
This area is probably the hardest in F5. What you need is the overall knowledge and common sense. Calculating ratios are the key skills to learn, also understand them. Tools such as balanced scorecard and building block model must not be ignored. The ability to link your calculated information to the given information is an essential skill.
F5 is a 50% numerical and 50% discursive paper, although most of the time more marks are given for discursive part. People who ignored the theories part of the paper will fail and those who learn will pass confidently. Do not try to predict topics because new examiner knows what you think.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Flexible examination entry service
ACCA has a new service which encourages us to register early for exam, you can find about this in your myACCA and click "exam entry". ACCA has announced the exam fees of December 2011 and June 2012 (which increase again), but to avoid paying the standard fee, pay early to get discounted exam fees!
For December 2011 exam fees (pounds):
1. Pay by 8/9/2011, knowledge - 55, skill - 69, professional - 81 :)
2. Pay within 9/9/2011-8/10/2011, knowledge - 61, skill - 76, professional - 89
3. Pay within 9/10/2011-8/11/2011, knowledge - 183, skill - 198, professional - 211
For June 2012 exam fees (pounds):
1. Pay by 8/3/2012, knowledge - 55. skill - 69, professional - 81 :)
2. Pay within 9/3/2012-8/4/2012, knowledge - 64, skill - 80, professional - 94
3. Pay within 9/4/2012-8/5/2012, knowledge - 192, skill - 208, professional - 222
For December 2011 exam fees (pounds):
1. Pay by 8/9/2011, knowledge - 55, skill - 69, professional - 81 :)
2. Pay within 9/9/2011-8/10/2011, knowledge - 61, skill - 76, professional - 89
3. Pay within 9/10/2011-8/11/2011, knowledge - 183, skill - 198, professional - 211
For June 2012 exam fees (pounds):
1. Pay by 8/3/2012, knowledge - 55. skill - 69, professional - 81 :)
2. Pay within 9/3/2012-8/4/2012, knowledge - 64, skill - 80, professional - 94
3. Pay within 9/4/2012-8/5/2012, knowledge - 192, skill - 208, professional - 222
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Categorising stakeholders
Stakeholder is any group or individual who can affect or be affected by the achievement of an organisation's objectives (by Freeman). CIMA official terminology defines stakeholder as those persons and organisations that have an interest in the strategy of an organisation. We can categorise stakeholders into eight types:
1. Internal or external - internal stakeholders are normally inside organisation and external stakeholders are outside the organisation. However, we have some stakeholders who have internal and external membership (connected), for example shareholders, customers, trade unions and so on.
2. Primary or secondary - company needs primary stakeholders to be going concern and the existence of secondary stakeholders is not a matter to going concern.
3. Narrow or wide - narrow stakeholders are most affected by organisation's policy and wide stakeholders are less affected by organisation's policy.
4. Active or passive - there are active stakeholders who actively participate in organisation's activity and passive stakeholders do not.
5. Voluntary or involuntary - voluntary stakeholders are those who engage with the organisation voluntarily and involuntary stakeholders get involved without choice.
6. Legitimate or illegitimate - legitimate stakeholders' claims are valid (normally those having economic relationship with the organisation) and illegitimate stakeholders' claims are not valid (eg. terrorists).
7. Recognised or unrecognised - this relates to the legitimacy of stakeholders' claims, if the claim is considered legitimate, then the stakeholder is recognised, otherwise not.
8. Known or unknown - examples of unknown stakeholders are undiscovered species and nameless sea creatures, they can be affected by, for example oil spill. The main difficulty lies on whether the claims of unknown stakeholders are legitimate or not. Normally stakeholders are known.
The above are relevant to P1 and it is important to remember them, subject of stakeholders featured in several areas of P1 syllabus.
1. Internal or external - internal stakeholders are normally inside organisation and external stakeholders are outside the organisation. However, we have some stakeholders who have internal and external membership (connected), for example shareholders, customers, trade unions and so on.
2. Primary or secondary - company needs primary stakeholders to be going concern and the existence of secondary stakeholders is not a matter to going concern.
3. Narrow or wide - narrow stakeholders are most affected by organisation's policy and wide stakeholders are less affected by organisation's policy.
4. Active or passive - there are active stakeholders who actively participate in organisation's activity and passive stakeholders do not.
5. Voluntary or involuntary - voluntary stakeholders are those who engage with the organisation voluntarily and involuntary stakeholders get involved without choice.
6. Legitimate or illegitimate - legitimate stakeholders' claims are valid (normally those having economic relationship with the organisation) and illegitimate stakeholders' claims are not valid (eg. terrorists).
7. Recognised or unrecognised - this relates to the legitimacy of stakeholders' claims, if the claim is considered legitimate, then the stakeholder is recognised, otherwise not.
8. Known or unknown - examples of unknown stakeholders are undiscovered species and nameless sea creatures, they can be affected by, for example oil spill. The main difficulty lies on whether the claims of unknown stakeholders are legitimate or not. Normally stakeholders are known.
The above are relevant to P1 and it is important to remember them, subject of stakeholders featured in several areas of P1 syllabus.
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