ACCA F2 Key to success

ACCA F2 – Nature of the paper

Paper F2 – Management Accounting –is concerned with managing the business so as to achieve better performance. It includes topics such as how to calculate the cost of producing items in a manufacturing company, the preparation of budgets, and the calculation of variances as a way of trying to control costs.

Structure of the ACCA F2 paper

The exam consists of two sections:

• Section A will contain 35 two mark objective questions.
• Section B will contain 3 ten mark multi-task questions – one will be on Budgeting, one will be on Standard costing, and one will be on Performance measurement.

Emphasis of the F2 exam

Although most of the arithmetic involved is not difficult in itself,

there is a lot of time pressure – it is difficult to complete all of the questions in two hours. Additionally, there often small ‘tricks’ in the wording of the questions which (especially under time pressure) lead to it being easy to choose the wrong answer even if you are happy with the particular topic.

Although all the questions in Section A carry equal marks, they are not all of equal difficulty. You will find some of the questions very quick and easy, whereas others will take much longer.

Although the majority of questions involve arithmetic, there will be some questions asking you to choose between several written statements.

How to pass ACCA F2 Exam

Use the OpenTuition ACCA F2 lectures along with the F2 Course Notes. Make sure that you are happy with the arithmetic, but also listen carefully to the lectures and check that you really do understand the techniques.

When you are confident of a topic then practise as many past exam questions as you can. Watch also ACCA F2 revision lectures available on line.

Of great importance if that you then start trying tests of mixed questions (from one of the revision/exam kits available). You should practice determining which topic each question is examining quickly, and you should practice under strict time pressure. If you do take as long as you want then you will get most of the answers correct, but it is under time pressure that you are more likely to misread questions and make silly mistakes.

See also:

F2 Forum Support – post your questions to get help from other students
Paper F2 Syllabus & Study Guide
F2 Pilot Paper – Questions and Answers
F2 examiner’s approach interview
F2 examiner’s analysis interview
ACCA F2 Demo CBE Exam