from F8 to P7

Do you know something – I’m not at all convinced that practical experience in auditing counts for much in the P7 exam. It actually counts for more in F8.

P7 is the application of common sense to accounting problems INCLUDING a knowledge and understanding of IFRS and an ability to communicate in a clear and persuasive way.

Practical experience in the subject is possibly one of the major causes of such a low pass rate (31%) because students who work in audit / accountancy firms could well be saying to themselves “I do auditing every day – I should have enough practical experience to sail through this exam” and they consequently underestimate the requirements.

On the other hand, those with little or no practical experience appreciate more fully the requirements and deal with the paper with greater respect.

When I was a trainee I was assigned to a group within the firm. At the top of the group pyramid was a group manager (not qualified) and two audit managers (only one of whom was qualified) Three years after I qualified, I joined a well-known training company on December 1. Courses had finished on the previous Friday and, on those courses were my unqualified group and audit managers. When the results were announced, I cannot honestly say that I was disappointed to learn that my erstwhile audit manager had failed – we hardly had a civil word for each other by the time I was qualified and leaving the firm. That was on the back of at least 12 years audit experience including at least 8 as a manager

Do not worry about your lack of audit experience!

Another contributory factor is the willingness of non-auditors to write down every conceivable relevant point whereas the auditors will fail to write down obvious points because …… they are so obvious!