- This topic has 16 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 6 years ago by
.
- Posts
hi volks, while wishing we all pass the june 2014 session exam, i just want to ask those who have attempted both P4 and P5 this question. which of the papers is more difficult. i intend to take one in december and i am thinking of going in for P4
thank youi havent done p4 but i ve passed p5,first attempt with thanks to opentuition materials.i didnt have mo books no other material not even a revision kit.i got 53 not a lot but was well pleased.
So i will advice p5
Hope it helps- Topics: 0
- Replies: 74
- ☆☆
@anjali18 pass P5 first attempt without even reading a book and not even technical ACCA articles ?? if this is true :
1. You had a BIG luck
2. You are naturally intelligent person who knows everything on earth.
@questforknowledge – you need to know ACCA technical articles, read book and do lots of past exam papers starting from 2010.Haven’t done P4 but struggling with P5.
- Topics: 0
- Replies: 14
- ☆
I’ve done both and I find P5 a lot easier than P4. Got through P5 in the first attempt but results pending second attempt for P4. It depends from one person to another. There are some who like P4 and simply hate P5.
Didn’t do P5. Have done P4 and P6
in my opinion, P4 far surpasses any other paper in the qualification in terms of expectation and knowledge. I wish I hadn’t done it, but I do feel the knowledge gained is also one of the most essential subjects
so if i understand u you i can conclude P5 is more difficult than P4 then. if that is the case i have chosen the wrong course then because i have already bought material for P4
p5 for me was really hard, BUT the knowledge is amazing and the skill of being able to analyse a business and identify KPI’s will stay with me for the rest of my life.
I failed one sitting BUT I am glad I took the exam over say P7 which is really a waste of time.
I haven’t sat P4
I think I will give my opinion on this since I passed P4 comfortably. Although I didnt do P5 I had access to all the lecture notes, lectures and revision notes as I borrowed from some friends to make a choice between the two.
As people have said, the choice will depend on whether you are strong with numbers (and prefer numeric papers) or wordy essay style questions (P5). It will also depend to an extent on how well you did at F9 the pre-cursor to P4.
Although there is a link between P5 and F5, it isnt as strong as F9 and P4 in my opinion.
I chose P4 personally as it plays to my strengths (i.e numbers more than words). The course material for P4 may be more tricky to understand but the exam is relatively straight forward.
P5 actually has one of the lowest pass rates for three very simple reasons:
i) the course content and syllabus is not that difficult to understand so conceptually easier so people underestimate the exam and dont put enough effort into it
ii) people think it is “F5 with some P3”. It isnt, although there a some overlaps its a complete different beast.
iii) the exam is difficult. Unlike P4 where it is very obvious what the examiner wants you do it, with P5 it is very difficult to know EXACTLY what the examiner wants. It is very open to interpretation. Unfortunately if you misinterpret, you basically get zero marks for that question and you cant bullsh*t your way through it.P4 is better in my opinion and I chose it for the following reasons.
i) you get lots of marks for methods even if the final answer isnt 100%
ii) you get marks for stating assumptions you took and justfying them even if its not always the case.
iii) you can practice for it, if you do ALL the past exam questions or go through a good Practice and Revision book such as BPP’s you should be able to pass the exams.
iv) you will know at least 45-50% of what will come up in the exam. This is because there is ALWAYS a hedging question worth 25marks, you can get a solid 15-20 marks there. There is ALWAYS a discounted cashflow question, you can get another solid 15-20 marks there, you can get the final 10-20 marks on miscell topics by studying the other areas really well.In summary:
P5: Easy course, difficult exam
P4: Difficult course, easy exam (if you practice enough questions and ask plenty of questions)Hope this helps.
I tried P5 by three times and finally when I passed it, I still did not know why i could pass.
When one has finished studying P4 what would they say the 3 main learning outcomes of module were?
- Topics: 0
- Replies: 16
- ☆
did p4 and passed after 3 attempts.not easy at all but passable all the same
Regarding learning outcomes, to be frank with you mate no one remembers any of the learning outcomes, at this stage it is all about passing your exams.
That said you should choose your options i.e (P4 to P7), based on what you do and what you may want to do in the future.
As an example I currently work in audit so had to take P7 (which is also a very nice paper by the way), and P4 as I hope in the future I will be working with DCF methods.
I disagree with @Elia-shar-ek with a few points:
“4. nothing comes out of syllabus ( unlike p5 )” – This isn’t true, there will always be something out of the syllabus. Case point: June 14 paper I did, Q1 Part 5 ii I think wanted you to talk about agency costs. Although that is in the syllabus it is very tiny. Also one of the options questions was about restructuring and I didn’t encounter a question like that before. That said, I still believe about 40% of the paper at least is predictable.
“2. extremely fluent in basic hedging techniques like swaps , currency swaps (even most difficult ones)” – I wouldn’t say this is extremely fluent, it is very good, and gives you an excellent idea of how things are hedged, but in reality hedging transactions are quite complicated in nature; but sure it gives you a good understanding.
In terms of learning outcomes, the main and biggest one is DCF and advanced DCF techniques and valuations of businesses (still DCF mostly) You would only take this paper if you prefer numbers instead of writing and/or you wanted to move into this area in the future. In my case it was for both reasons.
As I said for the options paper you need to be thinking to a little extent what you want to be doing in the future. If you want to move into tax at some point for example, you may actually want to consider P6 instead.
To highlight this, I have thrown away all my notes except for P2 (main accounting exam duh, lol), P4 (what I want to do in the future) and P7 (what I do now), and kept F6 (tax – just in case for reference in the future).
P5 supposedly is good for management accounting in the future, but based on what I’ve seen of the paper and my understanding of management accounting, the link isn’t that strong anyway. Most of management accounting to an extent still revolves around basic debits and credits, and creating budgets.
Some good posts guys and quite a thorough breakdown by Shaz and Ella.
I can speak on behalf of P5 – the overall feel of the outcome of the P5 syllabus is more of a consultant mindset. E.g why things aren’t working in an organisation and what can be done to fix them.
Some examples
Culture – how the decision making is made and what type of behvaiour does the company encourage.Setting targets and then evaluating why targets might not have been met OR how to meet those targets.
Evaluating the current setup of a company/performance measurement system.
A very good paper and very words based with minimal calculations. Which I took 3 times, it really strengthened my report writing and business evaluation. Something I will use for the result of my life.
In short P5 is more of an extension of P3, as P5 builds on the analysis of P3 and then you have to provide recommendations on how to rectify certain scenarios.
So overall I would recommend P5 to any aspiring accountant, although it’s not a walk in the park!
did p4 and pass in first attempt. I would take p4 if you are more of the calculations person.
I HAVE DONE P5 AND I PASSED IT THE THIRD TIME.IT’S THE MOST DIFFICULT PAPER IN LEVEL 3 COMPARED TO OTHERS.THE CONTENT IS A PROFESSIONAL ONE AND IS THE SAME LEVEL OF A MASTER.THERE ARE SOME CONTENTS WHICH ARE DIFFICULT TO APPLY LIKE TRANSFER PRICING.YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO APPLY IT IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME IN THE EXAM.P4 ON THE OTHER HAND IS DIFFICULT BUT MORE DIRECT TO APPLY AND WITH PRACTICE YOU PASS EASILY.BUT P5 EVEN IF YOU PRACTICE ALL THE PAST PAPERS YOU MAY FAIL THE EXAM.AS YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT THE EXAMINER WILL ASK IN THE EXAM AND HOW TO APPLY IT IN THE CASE STUDY.SO GOOD LUCK FOR THOSE WHO WILL TAKE P5 EXAM.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.