ACCA AA exam technique

How the AA exam is built

Audit and Assurance is a three-hour computer-based exam worth 100 marks, with a pass mark of 50%. Section A has three ten-mark objective-test cases (30 marks). Section B has one 30-mark and two 20-mark constructed-response questions (70 marks). The syllabus and study guide says Section B predominantly examines planning and risk assessment, internal control or audit evidence, and that you get an extra ten minutes before the start to read the exam instructions.

The biggest single block is the 30-mark Section B question: at 1.8 minutes a mark, about 54 minutes including reading, planning and checking. Each 20-mark question is worth about 36 minutes and each Section A case about 18. Seventy of the 100 marks are in constructed responses, so how you structure a point matters as much as what you know.

Where AA candidates lose marks

ACCA's technical articles for AA, written for candidates, describe the recurring weaknesses.

• Generic procedures. On going concern, the article warns candidates "not to produce a list of generic audit procedures" but to identify the factors in the scenario first and generate procedures from them, "to demonstrate application skills".
• Relying on enquiry. Discussion with management is a valid procedure, but "inquiry on its own will not generate sufficient appropriate audit evidence". "Discuss the inventory with management" without saying what evidence to inspect earns little.
• Procedures not tied to an assertion. For a requirement such as "Describe substantive procedures… in relation to the VALUATION of X Co's inventory", the article says candidates "must be able to link relevant procedures to the specific assertion required", and should understand why each test gives assurance rather than memorising lists.
• Confusing tests of control with substantive procedures. The article notes that students often find it difficult to explain the difference and to give examples of both.
• Identifying a deficiency and stopping. The wages article is written to help candidates not only identify significant deficiencies but "explain the implications of the deficiencies and recommend appropriate controls".

The AA technique that works

1. Audit risk: fact, risk, response. The study guide asks you to describe the audit risks in the financial statements and explain the auditor's response. For each risk, take one fact from the scenario, explain which balance or assertion could be misstated and in which direction, then give a specific response. Two columns in the word processor, risk and response, keep each pair together.
2. Control deficiencies: deficiency, implication, recommendation. The syllabus describes this as identifying and communicating control risks and their potential consequences, "making appropriate recommendations". State the weakness as the scenario shows it, explain what could go wrong for the business, then recommend a control that someone could actually carry out. A three-column table works well here.
3. Procedures: action, source, purpose. A well-described procedure has a precise action (inspect, recalculate, confirm, observe), a named document or record, and the assertion it tests. As our own illustration, "Obtain the aged inventory listing and compare the cost of items over six months old with post year-end selling prices to confirm valuation" specifies evidence and a purpose; "check inventory" does neither.
4. Read the verb and the object. "Describe" procedures is not "explain" why they are needed; "substantive procedures" excludes tests of controls. As general exam craft, underline the verb, the area and the assertion before you write.
5. Budget the Section B questions. Give the 30-mark question its 54 minutes and no more. When a list runs dry, reread the scenario paragraph by paragraph and ask whether each one signals a risk, a weakness or a balance needing evidence.
6. Use Section A to bank marks quickly. Each case is five two-mark questions on a shared scenario. Read the scenario once with all five questions in mind, then answer.

Check your AA technique

The interactive check below takes the structures in this guide and asks you to use them: choosing a procedure that tests the right assertion, completing a deficiency with its implication, deciding how long to stay on the 30-mark question. It scores each habit separately and saves your latest result on this device and to your account when you are signed in. A good first run reflects how you answer now. Read the debrief, rework the weakest structure, and retake.

Before the exam

In the last week, sit a full Section B question on the ACCA Practice Platform and check every procedure you wrote: does it name an action, a document and an assertion? On the day, check your exam docket, use the instruction-reading time to settle, and set clock times for each Section B question before you begin.