[maxseed]

Still waiting for mine
Heard they only issues them 4x a year

[maxseed]

Hi,

YES, OT is enough to pass the exams. I used just OT for all papers (F4-P5) and I passed all exams within 20 months

My study tips are…
1. Use the notes and lectures, as well as the forums to ask any questions you have
2. Create notes with all the topic headings and taking this every where with you and familiarising yourself as and when you can. Then you can read up on the detail until you know them all

3. Then practice exams. As many as you can as many times as you can

4. Read past examiner reports to understand what examiners look for

[maxseed]

Passed P4 (60%) and P5 (69%)!!!!!! Now affiliate! So happy

Massive thank you to Open Tuition. John, Mike, Ken, Chris and the team, your resources are second to none!
I’d recommend OT to anyone and as long as you put the hours in and can get over a stumble along the way you can do it!

(P.s Before the results, I couldn’t log in with the link theory, but my e-business account said member@…)

[maxseed]

* when I say “can’t access” I mean I get the error message

[maxseed]

No change for me..
I can’t access the original link theory
but I see member@… when I log onto the ecommerce

Need this weekend to be over (never thought I’d say that)

[maxseed]

The e-business link now shows member@
…but I still cant log in using the original link theory (https://portal.accaglobal.com/portal/page/portal/ACCA_PORTAL_PAGES/ACCA_STUDENTS#)

These guessing games are not doing me any good.

[maxseed]

I’m still getting the error page. Not looking good! Trying not to loose hope just yet

[maxseed]

what is the ebusiness theory please?

[maxseed]

I don’t think the link theory is valid

Even if it is it will only work once ACCA have uploaded the results which I heard doesn’t happen until the Thursday before results day

Good luck… I’m a finalist too and this wait is the longest and worse ever!

[maxseed]

@quynhcmt said:
What is the link theory you’re talking about 😀

If your a finalist (sat last exam results) the theory is you use the below link to sign in to ACCA. If you get an error screen you are still a student and if you get a white screen you have passed.

Supposedly it’s an old login screen for affiliates ACCA used to use

(I’m not saying this is correct, just what I have read myself over a few threads)

https://portal.accaglobal.com/portal/page/portal/ACCA_PORTAL_PAGES/ACCA_STUDENTS#

[maxseed]

@trae57 said:
Is it too early to try the link theory?

trae57 – I think it is too early. I heard ACCA don’t upload the results until the Thursday before results day, so I guess the theory applies from then (if at all)

[maxseed]

Hi artp,

I’m a finalist, waiting on final results from Sept’17. I gained excemptons from F1-3 and have sat the rest over the last 21 months. I’ve tried to answer your queries as best I can below.

First – I did AAT before ACCA which seems quite standard as far as exemptions go. However, my understanding is that ACCA considers many types of previous qualifications and exemptions awarded are often decided on an individual basis. My advice,
– Apply for exceptions and see what you are awarded. If your not happy with the outcome and want to do another qualification then you have lost the ACCA registration fee only.
– Or call ACCA and discuss with them prior to registering
– either way I think you can appeal with ACCA if any exemptions are not accepted.

Second – I am currently waiting on my final exam result, sat in September’17, and I have done all exam with Open tuition and ACCA’s free resources only (although I did purchase a couple of Becker revision note books, which start at £8). As long as you are motivated and willing to put the hours in this is a great way to study. The lectures and notes are fully comprehensive and the ‘Ask tutor forums’ and peer forums are great for answering any specific questions. The total cost for me has been (exam fee entry’s + membership + c.£50 for additional books and resources).
In terms of hours study I think it’s more of a personal thing, but I have been working full time and managed to do 2 exams almost every sitting. So yes 1 every 3 months is manageable, but you must put the hours in!!!

Third – I’d say don’t worry about CPD until you are qualified. However there are many ways to gain CPD. Lectures and events provided by ACCA, as well as top-up courses to update you on latest developments. There is plenty of opportunities so don’t let this put you off.
I’ve had two employers in my 6 year career so far and neither have been approved employers. Despite this I have found all the PER requirements straight forward and easy enough to achieve so I expect CPD to be the similar.

Hope this helps

Max

[maxseed]

begins with “mission statement” – end with “Bayes’ Theorem”

[maxseed]

Hi,

I think the below is a good starting point at least… I had pictures in for some of the headings and they don’t seem to show here but it gives you an idea. Anyone’s input on it is appreciated:

Mission statement
– A purpose
– A strategy
– Policies, behaviours
– Values
CSFs
‘Those product features that are particularly valued by a group of customers, and, therefore, where the org must excel to outperform competition’ JSW
‘Where an org must perform well if it is to succeed’
JSW – 6 steps for developing CSFS
1. Identify the success factors that are critical for profitability
2. Identify what is necessary (the ‘critical competencies’) in order to achieve a superior performance in the critical success factors.
3. Develop the level of critical competence so that a competitive advantage is obtained.
4. Identify appropriate key performance indicators for each critical competence.
5. Give emphasis to developing critical competencies that competitors will find it difficult to match.
6. Monitor the firm’s and competitors’ achievement.

Mendelow’s Matrix

Hierarchy of management
– Strategic
– Tactical
– Operational

Forces for change (Burns & Scapen)
– Technology
– Management structure
– Competition
PESTEL
– Political
– Economic
– Social
– Technological
– Environmental/Ecological
– Legal

Porters Five Forces
– New entrants
– Substitute products
– Buyers
– Suppliers
– Rivalry

Resources
– Money
– Manpower
– Manufacturing/machinery
– Material
– Methods (knowhow/processes)
– Management
– MIS (IT)
– Make (brand)
– Markets & Marketing

Product Lifecycle
• Introduction
• Growth
• Maturity
• Decline
• Senility

BCG Matrix

SWOT

Gap Analysis

Ansoffs Matrix

Benchmarking
• Historical
• Industry/sector
• Best-in-class

Budgeting

Budget Types
Fixed
Flexed
Rolling

Methods of budgeting
• Incremental
• Zero-based
• Activity Based

Participation
• Top-down budgeting
• Bottom-up Budgeting

Hopwood’s use of budgets
• Budget constrained style
• Profit conscious style
• Non-accounting style

Beyond Budgeting

Structures

Types of change
• Automation
• Rationalisation
• BPE

McKinsey’s 6S model

Value Chain

Big Data (definitions)
• Volume
• Variety
• Velocity
• Veracity (is it true?)

Porter’s government effect on Ind structure
1. Capacity expansion (encourage business)
2. Demand (gov spending)
3. Divestment
4. Emerging Ind control
5. Entry barriers
6. Competition policy
7. New product adaption (approavls etc)

Fiscal
Expenditure
Income
Borrowing

Monetary
‘Supply of money’
• Interest rates
• Pronitng
• Reserve req
• Credit controls (lending)

Customer profitability (CPA)
‘ABC for customers’
Identifies profitable ‘types’ of cust

Dedicated cells

Contingency Theory

Institutional Theory

Risk
• Expected Value
• Maximin
• Maximax
• Minimax regret

Good Information
ACCURATE
• Accurate
• Complete
• Cost-beneficial
• User-targeted
• Relevant
• Authoritative
• Timely
• Easy to Use

PAIL (report quality)
Purpose
Audience
Information
Layout

EBITDA
• Relative new Financial measure
• Focuses on what is under control
• Ignores non-cash so reflects cashflow
• However ignores cost of asset renewal

Problems with Divisions

Benefits of Divisions

ROI
‘Controllable profits as % of investment’

RI

Economic Value Added
EVA = Net operating profit after tax – WACC x book value of capital employed

Kaplan & Norton – Balanced Scorecard

Fitzgerald and Moon – Building Blocks

Performance Pyramid

Non-profit
Problems with performance measurement
• Multiple objectives
• Difficult measuring outputs
• Financial Constraints
• Political, social, legal considerations
• Little competition
• No profit motive.

Value for money
• Efficiency
• Effectiveness
• Economy

League Tables

Transfer Pricing

Goal Congruence

Multinational Transfer Pricing
• Taxation
• Import Tariffs
• FX
• Anti-dumping legislation

Corporate Failure Models
Quantitative models
Beaver
• Cash flow / total debt

Altman’s Z score
Z = 1.2 X1 + 1.4 X2 + 3.3 X3 + 0.6 X4 + 0.999 X5
X1 = working capital/total assets
X2 = RE/total assets
X3 = PBIT/total assets
X4 = MVEquity/ BVDebt
X5 = sales/total assets

<1.8 = strong potential for failure
1.8 – 2.99 = ‘grey’ (warning zone)
>2.99 = ‘safe’ zone

Qualitative models
Argenti’s A-Score

Avoiding Failure
Ross & Kami – 10 commandments
• Have a strategy
• Have controls
• Board must participate
• Avoid one-man rule
• Management in depth
• Keep informed of, and react to, change
• Customer is king
• Do not misuse computers
• Do not manipulate accounts
• Organise to meet employees needs

Discounted CF techniques
• NPV
• IRR
• MIRR

Behavioural problems
• Tunnel vision
• Sub-optimisation
• Myopia
• Measure fixation
• Misrepresentation
• Gaming
• Ossification

Changing role of accountants

Quality
• Total Quality Management (TQM)
• Six Sigma
• Life-cycle costing
• Just in time (JIT)
• Target Costing
• Kaizen Costing

Environmental Accounting
• Input / output analysis
• Flow cost accounting
• Environmental ABC
• Life cycle costing

Sampling

Data presentation

Bayes’ Theorem

[maxseed]

Hi,

I think the below is most of the topics covered. I’d appreciate anyone’s input into the list

[maxseed]

passed with 75%. Thanks once again to OT!

[maxseed]

Thanks Mike!

Hi Aloeryy
Yep, lectures and notes and the practice test (many times) on this site, and the flash cards (writing down any I did not know and reading over and over again)
also used the 3 practice tests provided by ACCA (costs £18) …. Good Luck!

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