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Many thanks for your advice John, I was not aware of the subscription situation if I rejoin!
It is a shame that I am having to consider leaving ACCA – I worked damb hard in my own time and at my own expense to achieve it, its just a shame that even after 24 years in accounts and with the same employer I have to “obtain” 2-3 years post membership experience with an ACCA approved employer.Without blowing my own trumpet so as to speak, I work in a small high street practice dealing with your everyday sort of client, such as small roofing contractors, or the local corner shop etc etc. I would wager that I have probably forgotten more about real life accountancy than the sort of experience that ACCA is wanting me to gain in order to practice, and I feel quite a lot let down by them.
Many thanks again.
Hi again,
I have come across a stumbling block.
Apparently, even though I have worked for the same accountancy practice for over 20 years I have to gain 36 months practical experience – of which 24 months must be post membership! And fill in a dirty great experience records and have it signed off by a partner!Is the PCTR fairly easy to complete?
Anyone offer any advice?
Seems a little unfair. You have to have experience to become a member (PER) and then when you do you have to have experience to practise!
Some students (especially those not in work) could potentially be waiting years to become a member and practise after qualifying.
I am losing patience fast with ACCA and wonder if it has all been worth it.
Hi,
Have you tried registering with the usual agencies and business social media sites?
Create a profile and upload your CV etc – they will then contact you!Hi again,
Thanks for the info.
I did actually contact ACCA last week and they have clarified things.
I can actually apply for a general practicing certificate now. They said the forfeit of exam exemptions only applies if you are wanting a practice certificate and if you were wanting to carry out audit work, and the exemptions apparently have to be forfeited at the start of your training. At least thats how I understood it!
So for my circumstances this is great – I am not wanting to carry out audit work so it looks like I can apply anyime (subject to the other conditions/experience etc).
Hi there,
It depends on what you are strongest at.
I work in practice, so I was naturally strong at F6 tax, so I thought the obvious route later would be P6 Advanced Tax. I was wrong!!
P6 is a very difficult paper, it is more a tax planning paper than a tax calculation paper like F6.
I worked extremely hard, and failed P6, so I figured the best strategy was to switch to P5.
P5 is more (I felt) of a cross between P3 and F5. The calculations were pretty straight forward, it is the commentary and interpretation that scores the points.
If you are good at learning and applying theory, this could be the best option for you.Very best of luck
Hi Folks, just an update.
Im still desparately trying to leave my current employers, even more so after today.
I had my appraisal today, and said I wanted to discuss my salary level now that I am qualified and a member of ACCA.
The partners, who were appraising me, shot me straight down, and said “Appraisals are not the time to discuss salaries, and just because I have a fancy certificate now does’nt entitle me to a payrise, your still doing the same work as before”.
I thought appraisal would be the ideal opportunity to discuss salary? It is with most other firms?
I felt totally and utterly deflated, and this almost confirms to me now that I have completely wasted 4 years of my own time and money studying ACCA.
Any thoughts?
Hello Renate.
Create yourself a study plan and above all be strict and stick to it.
I completed ACCA in just under 4 years. I sat 2 papers in June and 1 in December each year.
The way I did it was 2 to 2.5 hours per evening Monday to Thursday. I never (ever) studied on Friday evening, that was my night off.
I revised theory for around half hour in my lunch break.Nearer the time, say 4 to 6 weeks before the exams I also gave up my weekends to study on afternoons.
Go through all of the Opentuition lectures.
Get as many Exam papers as possible and summarise them into brief notes.An average student will fail some exams along the way and have to resit (I failed 3). Stay focused and dont get downbeat. You will pass them next time!
Be strict with yourself – but above all else – keep your sense of humour and have fun!
Very best of luck with your studies
Ok guys there’s some confusion here – me too!
I got email 12th Feb 2015 confirming my membership application was approved.
In “myAcca”, my application status says Admission to Membership was 13th February 2015 and that correspondance has been posted to me.
Also says my certificate will be sealed at the next meeting in March.Do I have to wait until I receive certificate to use the ACCA letters after my name.
Its not very clear.
@amcterna above:
Some suggestions – try logging in again – your PER status may have had a glitch. Secondly – how long ago did you complete the PER? I may be wrong – but is it time dated?
And finally – there is also an online PER challenge test – have you completed this?
Failing that I would contact ACCA asap and get clarification.
Best of luck.Passed 51% on first attempt – I’m now an affiliate 🙂
Congrats to all who passed, comisserations to those who failed hope you have better luck next time.
Thanks to mike, John and the opentuition team.Question 1 was as expected – a report with measures and lots of discussion. I too think the second half of the paper was a bit daunting. To the person above who thought that info was missing on question 4 – my opinion is that the question was more evaluation and suitability, not commenting on results and workings of the model so I think your question was not missing information.
I can honestly say this is the first exam I have come out of not knowing if I have done enough to pass or not, so all I can do is keep all fingers crossed for 50 marks!Anyway, my study notes are already packed away not to be touched again until Feb if necessary!!
Best of luck everyone, and Merry Christmas
Marky
Hello MRSM,
I can advise you here as I am in exactly the same position.
Basically, what it means (as I understand it from my correspondance with ACCA);
If you choose to accept the Exemptions (which incidentally I have), you still will gain the full ACCA qualification and be fully entitled to use the designatory letters after your name (subject to ACCA’s usual terms & PER requirements etc).
The only thing you will * NOT * be able to is set up on your own in Practice, unless of course you wish to forfeit the exemption (within 5yrs) and retake the exams.
If this is something you are wanting to do then maybe consider forfeiting the exemptions.My own circumstances, I dont intend to run my own practice or become a partner, so the exemptions were fine for me.
Hope this clarifies thing for you.
Marky
Hi,
I have done some research as I am due to sit my final exam in December 14.
If I qualify I will be negotiating 31k to 35k as this seems to be the norm in my area.
I am already liasing with recruitment firms who agree this level is appropriate, however my situation is different. I have 23years of Accounts Practice & Audit experience and have just studied ACCA in the last 3 years.
The reason I took up ACCA is my current firm pay me nowhere near this level and I feel I am worth a lot more.
If I pass and they dont budge then its bye bye!!
Marky
Ok thanks Gromit.
Im kind of hoping that Q1 will have at least part of it to do with EVA as I seem to be doing ok with that!!
Marky
Hi,
The exam format has changed – there used to be 2 compulsory questions, now there is only one and 2 optionals.
As for major syllabus changes I’m not altogether sure, but Im pretty happy that Opentuition will have covered all areas.
Best of luck
Hi,
I am doing self-study.
The chapters that are missing are basically just text with no calculations, and if they do have calculations they are relatively easy to follow.
You can cover these chapters by reading only.
Some of them are also covered by the P5 articles that are available to download and print on the ACCA website.
I recommend that you download and study all of these.
Best of luck
Marky
Hi there,
Speaking from my own personal experience – P6 is horrific! – I would regard it as the hardest exam Ive ever attempted – and I failed! All of the rest I have achieved passes on 1st attempt (other than P1 which took me 1 re-sit).
I have now switched to P5 for December 2014.
Its a matter of personal opinion – you may be very good at tax and find it easier than me 🙂
As for the review – I wouldnt go for it – theexam wont be re-marked and its very rare have I heard of anyone who had their marks altered after an admin review. Use the money for your next exam.
Best of luck
Hi,
I have just started to study P5. and am in a similar situation to yourself – last exam/working full time etc etc.
It is quite an interesting subject and there is a bit of crossover with P3.
Perhaps you could combine your P3 & P5 study together and give P5 a shot?
Best of luck
Thank you for your input Ashish.
I have actually made the choice to switch to P5 and I am actually finding it a lot easier to study than P6 tax. I think it is probably because P5 is a lot more interesting than tax. However, that said, I am in no way suggesting the P5 is easy – far from it lol!! 🙂
I dont think the issue in tax was not knowing the difference between Personal/Corporation Tax, (I already know that from my work in tax and back to AAT days!) it was more in my case of being presented with a minefield scenario and being asked to plough through it and “plan” and give reasons etc. I also found it a very difficult exam to practice past exam questions.
P5 seems to have a lot more question banks I can access and practice, plus a lot of overlap with P3 that I can relate to, and the added bonus of Opentuition Lectures, which sadly are not provided for P6.
The results in February will confirm (!), but I do feel a lot more happy studying P5 than I did with P6.
Best of luck with your studies & December exams.
Marky
Thank you Gromit.
Ive taken your advice and the advice of others on the forum and made the decision to ditch P6 and move to P5.
I dont want to jinx it for myself – but Im actually finding P5 very interesting!
Im doing the same – no college only home study, the only difference I have used Kaplan on some subjects.
Up to now Ive only had 2 resits in 3 years (P1 & P6) and I’m on my last exam now.
So to conclude – I cant see why not! 🙂
Incidently – P3 – I used nothing but Opentuition and I got 64 at the first attempt!
Gromit advised me on one of these posts that P5 is sort or a cross between F5 & P3, and by what Ive seen so far into my P5 studies (about 10hrs worth!) this is quite true.
Best of luck
Just to add a spanner to the works to this thread –
I sat P6(UK) in June and failed – and I work in taxation!
The P6 exam (in my opinion) is very, very hard, and tends to focus more on advising and planning taxation as opposed to the F6 level “number crunching” calculations.
You have to know the tax rules (in the syllabus) inside out.
I only have one exam left to do so I have made the decision and just switched to P5 for December and although I have only done at present about 10hrs of study on P5, I am finding it a lot less stressful than P6, however, I only have one exam to concentrate on now. In the past I have always sat 2….
Best of luck for whichever route you decide on….
Marky
I have just passed P7 but failed P6.
I work in taxation but found P6 very very difficult even with real life experience.
I am in a similar situation – I have one exam left.Do I ditch P6 and go for P5?
I know P4 is a no no for me because I struggled with F9, however I thought I had a problem with F5 and passed with a respectable 64.
I am going to Scotland for a weeks holiday on Monday then I will make my decision – my head is all over the place today!
Any advice would be very greatly appreciated.
Thanks
