[groovykikko]

So I haven’t had loads of time to listen to the radio again but I found the press release which shows I’m not making up.

https://economia.icaew.com/news/october-2015/icaew-launches-advertising-campaign

I definitely think this is misleading as it is saying only their members are qualified.

[groovykikko]

Yeah. And I rang ACCA up for clarity on the chartered thing and they said they prefer for you to say chartered certified just to ensure it’s clear what route was taken but as long as you put ACCA after your statement you can just say chartered.

She also said ACCA are undertaking advertising to make people aware of their brand, but dunno what that is.

I’m sat listening for the advert breaks now so I can see if I can hear it again before I hit send on a quick email to the advertising standards agency 😉

[groovykikko]

I did F6 online (recorded lectures, not live) and P6 in the classroom.

If you have taken F6 relatively recently (I.e it included inheritance tax) the syllabus is mostly overlap but the questions are different format (more advice on what to do rather than straight forward tax computations, a list of numbers and no advice on which tax rules to apply, how much money to borrow after tax efficiency is carried out to fund a project).

I therefore found the classes boring as we covered tax rules I knew and could remember whereas if I had been studying online I could’ve just done questions to make sure I wasn’t missing anything and move onto the areas that were new.

If you have a good grasp of F6 then I wouldn’t worry about doing P6 online. The only reason you would want to do P6 in the classroom is if you need to dedicate the time to study (I was 6+ months pregnant at the time and found it hard to concentrate hence choosing the classroom but even then I wish I’d have done it online)

Hope that helps

[groovykikko]

As long as you’re ok with the main concepts (DCF, NPV, IRR) you should be ok to not worry too much about F9. If you find these bits difficult I would review the F9 module before you start on P4.

Have a look through both the F9 and P4 syllabuses to see what overlaps and what you may have forgotten.

The Opentuition lectures cover everything that is bought forward from F9 but briefly so if you are confused by something you can always go back and do the F9 lecture on the same topic.

It might be worth investing in a text book which covers everything in detail too so you have a good reference point.

I had 2 years between F9 and P4 and coped fine.

[groovykikko]

If I’ve read it right it’s a good 3 or 4 grand isn’t it?

After a quick check on Wikipedia (don’t know how correct it is) but the ACCA qualification is considered to be the equivalent of a Masters degree.

Therefore I would suggest this is for those who want to have the letters MSc after their name or their work will pay for it.

I can understand the BSc program as some people will undertake ACCA without a degree and some jobs require degrees. The MSc thing seems a bit vanity driven.

I also think that as it’s not a Russell Group uni qualification it would get scoffed at by a certain class of people.

So in my opinion it’s not worth it. However, if there’s a reason to hold a MSc then it probably is.

[groovykikko]

I don’t know the answer but the ACCA website has that online chat thingy so can ask them how the exam booking works.

Or you can ring them but you need to be able to understand the Glasweigan accent 😉

[groovykikko]

P3 is strongly related to P5 too so that should come into consideration. I hated P3 so that drove my decision not to do P5.

I would personally go with what you enjoy as that will be easier to pass. Has anyone ever been asked in an interview what modules they studied?

P4 isn’t just treasury but profitability. Whether or not you have a treasury dept a company is going to need to analyse whether investing in something is worthwhile (unless they don’t want to grow). It also concerns how to fund growth and mitigate risk – again very few companies are going to be able to fund growth through retained earnings and cash.

A tutor once said that P5 was the module that has stuff that didn’t fit in any of the other P papers and that’s why it’s a mish mash.

I’d also take note of the pass rates of P5 compared to the other papers.

Obviously take P5 if you like the syllabus content, but I think a lot of people fall into the trap of thinking they’re a management accountant (or rather not an auditor and not a treasurer) and take P5 because of this but don’t actually get on with the content. I think this gets mentioned in PQ quite a lot.

I haven’t looked at the P5 syllabus in full so the above could be complete bull 🙂

[groovykikko]

I’m genuinely shocked that my theory didn’t hold true. Don’t tell my husband I was wrong about something though 😉

And another exam sitting that makes me think why do people bother with P5?

[groovykikko]

Passed and affiliated 🙂 Still waiting for it to actually sink in

[groovykikko]

@gabriel2 said:
its normal….just start playing fifa15 you will be well

Maybe that should be the new subject – what are you doing to distract yourself?

I’m making chilli whilst watching strictly 🙂

[groovykikko]

I’ve always got the impression that pass rates are manipulated a bit so if not enough people passed ACCA would bump up a few people (I think that’s what my college tutors have said anyway). So perhaps rather than pass rates being loads higher there’ll just be less bumping up.

I think locations of where people could sit September exams will have an impact too. I’m sure I read somewhere that the UK pass rates are much higher than world pass rates so I would expect this to have an impact if there are less rest of the world sitters.

You can see this on the forums with the number and geographical spread of people posting about September results being so different to other exam sittings.

It was so nice being in a quieter exam hall in September, maybe I’ll leave resitting my exam until March.

12 hours to go! Hope your day goes quickly 🙂

[groovykikko]

@zildjian said:
Is this correct?

I have checked mine and get this:

P5 Advanced Performance Management Entered

Anybody get anything different for exams just sat in sep?

No it’s not true. You won’t be able to enter for what you took in Sep until exam results are out. No clues that way I’m afraid

[groovykikko]

@seanan said:
Just check if you can enter for same paper you did in September…if so then the wait is finally over look for where your books are….

Oooh you’re a harsh realist!

[groovykikko]

@suitcase said:
Still baffled by the fact ACCA are saying results will be released week commencing… they are usually released on a Friday…

They’re normally released on 8th Aug/Feb (or have been since I started studying). I think the last few times it’s just so happened that that day fell on a Friday.

I reckon the week commencing thing might be a safety net for themselves in case something goes wrong and they’re not ready to release on Monday.

I’m a finalist waiting on P4 too. Though I haven’t completed any PER yet so presumably won’t see affiliate until I do all that.

I don’t think I passed P4 though. I know it’s petty but I’d never come across the term “free cash flow to organisation” (swear it’s not in the BPP text book) so did indirect vs direct rather than including/excluding debt which messed me up completely for the rest of the question. Also couldn’t do Macaulay duration properly and got all messed up with the interest rate futures option 🙁 Such a shame as there were so many easy marks too.

And then to be really controversial but I reckon if it was a normal exam sitting I might’ve stood a chance of passing, but because it’s only Brits and resitters/self studiers taking the exam the competition will be much higher and therefore need a higher mark to pass.

[groovykikko]

Sorry. Think that’s just you. Before I saw a date for results (when they first said about there being a September sitting) I definitely remember reading 6 weeks for results (which would be next week) and the only date I’ve ever seen is 19th October.

Maybe if we all wish for it hard enough next week will come along a lot quicker 😉

[groovykikko]

@pickett said:
Ahh, that makes sense. I have now re-read the statement. Do you think exam results will be emailed/text at midnight? I wish they would pick a more sensible time of day, like early morning/afternoon.

Oh no, I prefer the midnight to the 5am results. At least you can get a decent nights sleep after they’ve come rather than staying up all night worrying about it.

[groovykikko]

@seanan said:
So the results may not be released on the 19th Oct if you go by the message appearing on myACCA – Results will be available week beginning Monday 19 October….but in the course of that week. Someone correct me if am wrong.

That’s what I had noticed. I posted this a couple of weeks ago on another post and got a very firm reply from the board admin that they’re all out 19th October. Here’s hoping 🙂

[groovykikko]

@iansalzburg said:
One long week to go. Funny to think we normally have to wait 8-9 weeks, and 5 still weeks still seems like forever. Just glad I’ll be busy in work.

I feel like the first few weeks went by quickly but the week before wait is still a drag 🙁

I’m on maternity so a loooooong week of baby babble for me. Not as distracting 🙁

[groovykikko]

@opentuition_team said:
19 October 2015 Results are OUT,

that’s all there is to it folks 🙂

Fab, thanks!

[groovykikko]

https://www.accaglobal.com/uk/en/student/exam-entry-and-administration/exam-results.html

I think I read somewhere that results were 6 weeks. So my assumption was if you did exam on Monday, results Monday, exam Tues, results Tues etc.

Obviously much better if all results are Monday though 😀

[groovykikko]

The ACCA website says “week commencing” – does anyone know if that bit is significant?

[groovykikko]

I disagree I think this paper was terrible!!!

Question 1 was only clearly environmental analysis with the Porters Diamond. I took part a to be advantages and disadvantages of the 3 options presented and how they had worked for MachineShop so far. Part B was analysing the SAF of the acquisition so again there wasn’t really any environmental analysis but how the solution was appropriate to the goals and strategy of the board of directors.

I didn’t even look at question 2. For something where we’ve been told numbers are at most 10% of the paper this question just didn’t look right to me.

Q3 did not provide enough information considering there weren’t any obvious models to generate options with. We’re not marketing experts – we’re accountants. We’re never going to be asked to provide solutions with such little information.

Q4 wasn’t so bad, but again didn’t provide us with enough information to work with. The first two paragraphs just set the scene rather than any specific information in relation to e-business. I find it very difficult not to generalise an answer when there’s no information to relate to in the question.

I appreciate I’ve probably took a different approach to everyone else but this was nothing like any of the past papers I’ve attempted and I also fail to see the relevance of any recent articles released by the ACCA.

In fact the only redeeming feature to me is that due to the lack of information it seemed like a blaggable exam. Unfortunately for me I don’t have blagging skills 🙁

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