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First-time pass with 70%, now an affiliate! Woohoo!!
My biggest piece of advice for those sitting SBL in March is to take a common-sense approach. Theories are useful but I didn’t reference a single one in my exam, and if anything they can hamper you as you’re trying to fit one into your answer. Pretend you’re actually in the role prescribed in the exam, do a number of practice papers and you’ll be on your way. More than anything, make sure your time management is good and attempt every part of the exam, even if it’s just light-touch. Do not be fooled by the 4-hour exam length!
So happy to put ACCA behind me now, thank you Opentuition for all of your resources.
I actually found AAA to be the best professional paper for me – I was dreading it because of the pass rate/ reputation, but I got into it a lot and scored my highest mark there (including F papers!) I think it better suited my studying style of internalising information and taking on a role.
I found SBR the most difficult strategic paper, mainly due to the sheer volume of the syllabus. Not only is it huge, the questions that were asked were so in-depth that you can easily trip on a number of areas. I think I made the mistake of focusing too much on the theory and knowledge side, when I should have spent more time on past papers and exam technique. It was my first professional paper so perhaps I was still in the mindset of more rote learning.
My biggest piece of advice for non-affiliates would be not to fear the professional papers. In a way they’re harder as the content is more advanced, but they also give you a real opportunity to prove you know what you’re talking about in a way that MCQs don’t allow.
kashtigu wrote:I have the notification on the qualification, in Red and last time this happened it was sad news . I guess its the same i cant give up as it is my last paper but surely this is very unprofessional from ACCA
I had the red ‘1’ when waiting for my September exam and passed. It literally means the result has been uploaded and nothing more.
It’s very unfair to share such negative speculation as though it’s fact so close to results day, when people (including myself) are understandably anxious about their results. Even worse when said speculation is completely untrue.
rishitesh wrote:Hi Kim – I have got the below email and I sat for my last exam in December
I am an SBL finalist and received the same message
Hi, I actually found reading the material in depth and fully internalising everything the most useful approach. I didn’t mention any specific theories or models in my exam answers, but I did refer to their content when thinking about the best responses. I think the key is really understanding the company you’re working for/ with in the exam – it’s better to go in thinking of it more as a job then an exam, where you have 4 hours to do your job as well as possible. That way you’re using more common sense and are not just trying to second guess what the examiner is looking for.
The ACCA Pakistan Practice to Pass videos were very useful too (I found them on YouTube). They help to break down the best exam techniques as well as study content, from number of points needed per question to timings. Even though it’s a 4-hour exam it’s still very time-constrained, I spent the first hour reading and planning so that I understood the company as well as possible and then spent the final 3 hours putting my answers together. I was very strict with time, as soon as I had used up my time on one question I moved onto the next one.
Hope this helps – as I said before I don’t know how I’ve done yet, but I just found these points helped me when preparing for SBL!
I’m waiting for my SBL result, I’m a first-time finalist and it’s a very strange feeling! Not studying for the next exam in the meantime, trying not to check the date too often as it’ll drag…I just want to know at this point, I feel ok about how the exam went but SBL seems so subjective that it’s hard to feel confident.
Passed with 76%, that was a stressful weekend of waiting! Final exam is in December, I feel ready for the last push (assuming nothing changes with the sitting).
I think the key to this paper is lots of question practice and revision of the entire syllabus, including the small areas. This exam had lots of little topics that could easily be overlooked during studies but would have hit you hard in the exam. Don’t scrimp on any areas! 🙂Ah I’m really happy to hear that!! Time management is so key with AAA isn’t it…
I couldn’t sit SBL with tax in the end as they were at the same time 🙁 but will be sitting it in December, my last one (all being well with ATX yesterday!)
I think I got 61% as it was 28% Dorian + father (5% + 23%), 8% for any 4 of the remaining 2% shareholders, and then 25% for any number of directors (which were 5 at 5% each)
I thought the exam was ok, quite time-pressurised and I left myself only 2-3 minutes to answer the Q4 6-mark question on CGT/ IT implications of warehouse sales. Annoying but not the end of the world…
Q1 was VERY focused on overseas components of tax (well actually I felt a lot of the paper was). CFC charges, I wrote about them not being relevant if REP Ltd chooses 20% shareholding as the minimum % is 25%. Permanent establishment implications (no loss relief if overseas sub etc). Also discussed consortium relief as the two companies owned 5-74.99% of JAY Ltd. Ethics question on how to use knowledge gained from previous work, I wrote about confidentiality and professional competence and due care (legislation in the overseas country may have changed since a few years ago and we need to be up to date). Found it weird that we were required to write in note form when Q1 includes the 4 professional marks…would be interested to know how others prepared their layout?
Q2 I think was about Freya and her residence status, put some bits about her being a temporary resident as she plans to return to the UK in 5 years so CGT would be payable on her return. Incorporation relief came in and I discussed how she would be seen to be ceasing trading so we need to use the closing year basis for her final tax year (overlap profits etc). Can’t remember the rest, it was all such a blur! I think there was an IHT liability requirement, where you had to include the previous gift to trust and PET that used up the NRB. Was a fairly straightforward requirement, but difficult when you’re under a lot of time pressure!
Q3 Close company questions were ok, although I got confused about 6 participants being needed to reach >50% so said any number of directors could be included (this is probably wrong but oh well). Loan penalty tax and implications on repayment date using 9 month 1 day, not too taxing (pun intended). I said that the penalty for filing 4 months late was £200, hope this is right?!
Q4 I just tried to get as much down as I could in the remaining time. VAT deregistration at £83k, CGT/ IT implications of carrying back loss against trading profits or using it against current year gains. Said you need to elect for the latter.
Overall it’s a doable paper but I found it difficult timewise. Also, I took the exam in London Oval and there were major delays to the start of the exam which were extremely unhelpful. Very noisy generator throughout the exam, desks crammed into foyer hallways, cables everywhere, we weren’t even asked to put our bags away so they just stayed with us at our desk…and to top it all off, my keyboard had no pound sign! Would not recommend to a friend.
Hi Kim and Beth, thanks for your responses. I was thinking that it may technically be possible as there are options between AM vs PM slots, but I see your point Beth. Particularly as SBL is a 4-hour exam, I’m not sure I’d get through the day! It’s a shame as I was really hopeful I’d complete ACCA in September, I’m getting married in the third week of September and didn’t want to enter married life with ACCA still on my plate!
Ah well, I’ll play the long game and will take SBL in December. It’ll be worth it in the end I’m sure 🙂
Thanks again.
@claudia123 said:
Hi, I posted yesterday with my tips for this paper (although annoyingly it seems to have cut off the first part of my message!)My main tips are:
– Time management – I let go of Question 1a after 55 mins as I knew continuing would prevent me from getting ‘easier’ marks elsewhere. This meant I was able to finish the paper without sacrificing too much in Q1
– Keeping everything relevant to the scenario – I did past papers but only really for the purpose of understanding if I was on the right idea track, rather than to gain knowledge for the exam. The AAA exam is super case-specific and examiners have said that one of the key reasons candidates fail is due to trying to include rote-learnt answers instead of being specific to the case in front of them. I went in pretending that I was an audit partner and only focused on the cases right in front of me.
Hope this helps!
Oh wow, looks like my comments are being edited and references to external materials are being removed :-/ slightly awkward as I believe this was key to my success, but hey ho!
@ginetta86 said:
Claudia Well done.
I am doing Audit in September. Can you please share how you prepared please.
It would really be appreciated as I need that type of score in auditHi, I posted yesterday with my tips for this paper (although annoyingly it seems to have cut off the first part of my message!)
My main tips are:
– Time management – I let go of Question 1a after 55 mins as I knew continuing would prevent me from getting ‘easier’ marks elsewhere. This meant I was able to finish the paper without sacrificing too much in Q1
– Keeping everything relevant to the scenario – I did past papers but only really for the purpose of understanding if I was on the right idea track, rather than to gain knowledge for the exam. The AAA exam is super case-specific and examiners have said that one of the key reasons candidates fail is due to trying to include rote-learnt answers instead of being specific to the case in front of them. I went in pretending that I was an audit partner and only focused on the cases right in front of me.
Hope this helps!
@tasnimrxo said:
Hi all, congratulations to all that’s passed, please can you explain what methods you used for study? It’ll be a great help!I also had to be SO strict with myself on timing. I competed all of the paper but had to sacrifice some points in Question 1a (I could have gone on for an extra hour on that 24-marker!) But there’s literally no point in doing that at the risk of the rest of the exam – you’ve probably already scored the bulk of ‘easy marks’ and the hard ones are going to take time at the expense of easy ones elsewhere. So about 55 mins in I said goodbye to 1a and carried on with the rest of the paper. Many people on here said timing was a struggle, I believe probably due to 1a. Be really strict on yourself and you’ll pick up more points elsewhere.
Finally I tried not to dwell too much on past papers. They were useful in giving me a steer as to what I should be looking for, but this exam is effectively a case study and the examiner can tell pre-learnt answers a mile off. I went into the exam believing I was an audit partner, and had to focus solely on the case in front of me. By doing that you keep all answers relevant to the case and we likely to pick up more marks.
Hope these tips are useful to you! And all the best for future exams 🙂
Passed first attempt with 79%, so happy! Just ATX and SBL to go, probably both in September – bring it on!
@mp93 said:
Hi ClaudiaNot having done the professional level yet I can’t comment on the level of work needed. However given that you have five months and tuition booked, I would say as long you keep to a schedule and keep on top of the questions I would say you could smash it 🙂
Thanks for the advice! I’m very tempted to do it – just need to work out how to move my June exam session to September! When I try to amend my booking it doesn’t give me September as an option, but the COVID-19 update said that booked June places will be credited back to our account?
I’m going to wait it out for now, at least until the results come out. Perhaps it’s because of high demand at the moment.
I have two exams left to complete – ATX and SBL. I booked my June ATX exam but will need to move it to September, it’s disappointing as I was always hoping to finish in September but understandable given the severity of COVID-19.
I’m now considering taking both ATX and SBL in September…I’m currently studying ATX with BPP and will be done in a few weeks, so I could carry on studying and revising ATX until July, and then start SBL classes and keep up with ATX refresher sessions. I’m waiting for AAA results but feel cautiously optimistic about it, so am thinking if I can balance my time properly I can still take both exams in September and complete ACCA within my expected timeframe.
Is this completely foolish? I’ve never done more than one exam at a time but haven’t struggled with the exams too much so far, and will be taking the same amount of time to study each paper (it’ll just be the joint revision time that brings added pressure).
I would second the recommendation of Kashif Kamran’s videos. I started watching them about 6 weeks before the exam through a suggestion on the OT forum, I feel like I learnt so much about exam technique through them. They made me feel a lot more prepared for time management, answer structures and marking allocations for different requirements.
I thought the exam was very fair. The time pressure was always going to be there, I sat the paper exam and didn’t even have time to run to the toilet!
I had to be harsh with myself and sacrifice a bit of Q1a (the 24-marker on audit risks), as I knew I would be getting into the difficult marks and would have cost time in the rest of the exam. Could have stayed on that question for at least another 20 minutes, the dataset was huge! Stupidly started writing about pros and cons of joint audit as if they were a component auditor, noticed half way and corrected myself but probably cost some precious time…
Question 2 was fair, I always scramble around a bit for procedures but at least they’re quick enough to write down! For the fraud implications I mentioned the possibility of collusion as the FD didn’t want us to investigate further, and how we should communicate the limitation of scope, fraud and internal control deficiencies re: segregation of duties to TCWG, but I don’t know if I was going down the wrong track? I was very happy to see the critical appraisal question come up, it had pretty much the same errors as previous questions so hopefully I clawed some points through that one.
Question 3 had me scratching my head a little bit, although I think I applied the usual matters to consider before an engagement except with a focus on the fact that the figures are forecasts, limited assurance only, potential going concern issue (will we get paid?), auditor liability re: bankers relying on our report. Was running out of time toward the end so did the usual procedure scramble for the 9-mark question, trying to focus on different ways get proof that the estimates were reasonable. The ethics and professional issues question was fine, just a shame that I was running out of time so probably didn’t write as much as I would have liked to.
Overall I think the exam was very similar to past papers so I can’t complain. This is my first attempt and I’m hoping not to have to resit, but if I do need to then I think my procedures could probably do with some work…!
At least we can all relax a bit 🙂 (for now!)
Ah I see! Yes I was just looking at whether the gain had been allocated correctly, but should also have considered the overall classification of the investment property (in which case I would use $353k).
Thanks!
Passed first time with 67%, so happy! Studied with BPP but used the OT YouTube videos too, which were really useful.
This was my first professional level paper and I feel like I’ve learnt a lot re: exam technique, time management, practice questions etc…it’s a very different beast to the F-papers!
Onward to AAA 🙂
https://www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/acca/global/PDF-students/acca/SBR/sbr-examreport-d19.pdf
Examiners’ report is out, I’ve read it and am in no better position to say whether or not I’ve passed! It always scares me to be fair…
I’m coming into it from the other way…I took all of the fundamental papers (F4-F9) via CBE from June 2018-September 2019. I enjoyed the CBE aspect – being able to jot notes down and then expand on them later without the examiner being any the wiser, automatic formula calculations etc.
I took SBR in the December 2019 sitting, my first paper-based exam and to be honest I was dreading it. I must say though, I quite enjoyed it (to the extent that you can enjoy an exam!) I felt more empowered to plan my answers out and manage my time than I did in CBE exams, and liked having all questions set out for me in one document rather than flicking between screens.
Saying that, I think it makes complete sense for all exams to move to CBE and I wouldn’t worry about making the change. As someone said above, you get used to whatever format you’re working in, so the navigation of CBE screens will become second-nature. Also, I found it hard to go back to questions with my final 5 minutes in the SBR paper-based exam as it felt like I was diving into a pool of scribbles. I think the CBE format will make it easier to add bits here and there in order to grab those vital extra marks.
I’m taking AAA in March (paper-based), and then ATX in June which I thought would be CBE but apparently not? Either way, I think as long as you’re pragmatic and play to the strengths of the exam format you’ll be fine 🙂
@mast said:
Why would you use 40% if NCI were holding 52%? Share and control are two separate things. The company can have less than 50% but still having control. That was the case here. At this point option wasn’t exercised therefore NCI was 52%.This is what I thought? Also, I’m sure it said that they would make an additional payment if the option was exercised, but didn’t disclose the figure, so the consideration transferred (18%) + FV of original holding (30%) meant that NCI had to be 52%? It felt very strange, but I thought that by not doing 52% NCI I would be comparing 88% with 100% of net assets, which is wrong?
Anyway I might be wrong, and there were plenty of other bigger areas in the paper so not the end of the world if so!
