[mimojo]

I thought the same, the average payroll was so odd! I did average of 260 + 300/2 & cal based on prior Yr figure.

I know my payroll totally was wrong, just couldn’t figure it. The payrise was only half a year which I cal, but couldn’t figure what to do with tax increase, I think I picked 3rd ansdown

Strange questions for an audit paper!!

[mimojo]

Great thanks, that’s what I put on, hope it’s right!!

I’m sure bullets are fine, I used tables but again just space out my answers

As long as the points are clearly made I’m sure you will get the marks

[mimojo]

Same, really not sure what I will have gotten in Sec A, I feel it won’t be great. But hopefully did enough in SBlec B for a pass.
Same as that time ran out, I answered everything but feel that time flew by, in previous mocks I had plenty of time at the end for review, but today the time went by so quickly, I had less than 10 mins at the end to have a look at flagged Q from Sec A and a very quick look back at Sec B to make sure I had enough points in each Q. Fingers Crossed!

[mimojo]

There is generally 2 versions AFAIK

[mimojo]

I had the same paper and totally agree

Section A was tough, a lot of tricky questions. What did you get for the payroll Q, with 2% increase (half Yr only) and 5% to 6% tax increase? I couldn’t get any of answers out.

For SB agree very similar Q to previous, had seen most examples before. For 30 marker there were plenty of control and control deficiencies to choose from.

For Audit Risk and Response found straightforward, again had seen a lot do similar examples before, and references the margins calculated.

For the auditor report part of SB, the over stated of inventory was material, but not persuasive, so Modified and Qualified with except for paragraph , I hope that is correct.

[mimojo]

What did people thing of the paper?

I found Section A tougher than expected.

Section B went well & felt it was as expected.

The 30 marker was strange that it had controls/test of controls for 10, then a separate control deficiency/recommendation for 14? marks, I did both Q together as I went through the Q and just flicked back and forth between the answers

[mimojo]

This is my second sitting of FM, I had put in a lot of work to revision as I got 47 last sitting and really wanted to pass this time around. I found the paper a lot tougher than last time, some of the questions I had never seen the topics being asked in that way. I thought Section C was ok, sensitivity was tough and factoring/working capital was doable.

Second B was a disaster, really tough questions and took a guess at a lot of them. I really struggled with Section B at the last sitting and put a lot of work into revising it, but don’t think I did any better this time around.

Section A was ok, a lot of theory questions, and felt like large sections of the course didn’t even feature. Some really tricky calculations too, don’t think I have ever flagged as many questions as I did this time around.

I really really hope to pass, but Im not sure I answered enough correctly. The 6 week wait is a killer, wish they could get the results back quicker so that you could make a plan for the next exam. I find it really hard to get stuck into a new subject while waiting for results.

For Section C I got the Sensitivity Analysis question and Factoring Question.

Sensitivity Analysis

2a & 2b: For Sensitivity Analysis I wasn’t sure on how to calculate the sensitivity of tax, so using the NPV I adjusted the rate until I got a NPV = 0 results.

I used contribution/NPV to calculate sensitivity but I didn’t remove tax so likely have done it wrong, but I didn’t get the IRR bit so will get minimal marks in this section I fear.

2c. For the theory on the thoughts of the CEO, I tried to explain that S.A. used in conjunction with NPV can give the company a better understanding of the project etc, and tried to outline the pros of S.A. and then mentioned a few of the weakness too that its variables in isolation etc.

2d. For the limitations on accessing finance I outlined generic comments on this as there as very little information in the question, I tried to build on the fact that the market was volatile, hard to price future interest rate hikes etc, and the company could be highly geared etc, and SH might not want additional equity raised, that kind of thing. It was very generic, but there was so little to work off! I also commented on hard and soft rationing, in a general way.

Factoring

For the second question in Factoring, I worked out that the factoring would be more costing than the current situation with bad debts so not to go with the factoring company (question stated non-recourse). Given the sales amount and the 1.5% fee from the factor, it was more costly that the bad debts calculated at 0.5%. As part of this section I worked out the actual receivables days, and also the WACC for the factoring company cost of capital.

For second section I worked out the actual days and then the days saved. Then using the difference in days worked out the cost saving in terms of finance costs. I think I got 73 days like some others here.

Then the theory section of working capital financing and investing (cant remember exactly), I pointed out the difference between financing and investing, the use of LT and ST funding, and aggressive and conservative policy.

Section B
No. 1
Sisters owing an unlisted company -Brother wanted to invest and difference scenarios

For 1st question on preference shares, I just answered 8%, really not sure if that is right but I couldn’t figure it out. Pref shares are non tax deductible, and it was the only answer there that made any sense to me.

No. 2
Fx question. Found this incredibly tough, might have got first one right and maybe theory at end, but was really unsure about the others. Esp the difference in Monkey market v forward.

Section A
Cant remember all the questions but ones of note:

Re-Gearing
They gave the asset beta of a proxy company, so there was no need to de-gear, just re-gear using the proxy asset beta and our companies debt (less tax) and equity. I must have spend 10 minutes on this question as I had really revised it as its my second sitting and I didn’t know it at all the first time around. But that answer I got just wasn’t listed, and I was sure I was applying the formula correctly. I must have missed something. I took a guess at the end but was gutted as I spend a long time revising this topic.

Effective Exchange rate
Compare costs between forward and money market hedge. I did the calculation and was surprised that what I got was on the drop down list, but really unsure if I calculated it correctly. I thought it was a lot of work for a 2 marker

Fintech
Options were that it uses AI, big data and something else, cant quite remember.

Stakeholders
Was confused by this, it said bankers and if they were connected, internal or external. I thought connected, but the word bankers rather than banks confused me and I wonder if it was a distractor.

[mimojo]

Passed with 55%, I am over the moon!

[mimojo]

Hi there, I am hoping to sit Tax in June, what study material did people use? And did anyone find suitable online lectures available they could recommend? Thank you

[mimojo]

Hi there
Just looking for some information on this too. I was hoping to sit Tax next, but it seems its only available during the June & December sittings, is this correct?
What books should be used for this? How did people find the content in comparison to the usual bpp/kaplan formats?

All going well I will sit FR in March, and then do Tax in June

Any advice gratefully received!

[mimojo]

I also got this question

What did you work out the transfer price to be?

[mimojo]

Hi Mike

Many thanks for your swift response. I am going to take your advice & use your method, I’m delighted I found Open Tuition, it is an invaluable resource! If I come up against anything I don’t understand I will be sure to post here, thank you very much for your help and advice, its much appreciated!

[mimojo]

On the above comment, why do you suggest not purchasing the study text? Do you feel that the Open Tuition notes are enough to pass the exam?

I ask as I have just started to study for this exam, and I am reading through the study text and finding it really hard going, it is very dense and detailed, and very time consuming to get through.

[mimojo]

Hi Kim

Thanks very much for your prompt reply, much appreciated. On the LW module I would much prefer to sit the CBE rather than paper based so I think I will try to find a location in Ireland to site the ENG version.

Thanks also for confirming on the best order to sit the exams, that makes a lot of sense. I agree, one exam at a time is likely the best option for the next few exams, trying to balance work life and study can be difficult so at least I would be putting all my efforts into one subject only.

Thank you

[mimojo]

I bought the 3 exams & they are well worth it, the difficult level is similar to exam. Dont think I would have passed without them to be honest
A friend of mine went through the exam and screen-shotted each question, then at least you can go back through them in your own time & work out the solutions etc, that is also very handy

[Author]

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