[techno]

Hi amcterna,
Thanks for the info. That is a real eye-opener for me.
I agree….no way is Balham SE. It is definitely SW London (I used to live in Streatham).

Unfortunately, I am currently based way over near Welling (very much South East)….so Brixton and Balham would be a bonkers journey on exam day.

So I have plumped for a totally different (non-London) centre instead.
Just to be on the safe side.
I decided I’d rather have a bit more control over where I’m gonna end up on exam day…..rather than leave it to pot-luck.

Thanks for your info….it really helped clarify my decision for me.

[techno]

Hi rafa2302 ,
What tanahteck79 said is quite right…you must be satisfied that the info you use is accurate and reliable….otherwise you should not use it…and therefore you have to be extra vigilant with data from websites and do all your checks before you use it.

And as tanahteck79 said, a reference list with a variety of sources shows you did a bit of reading around…..however, remember that any “articles”, newspapers and journals which have been accessed online (as opposed to paper versions) have to referenced slightly differently to the paper versions….as per the ACCA OBU instructions.

I also was under the impression that a bibliography is not required (unlike a reference list…which is essential). However, in the end I did have a very short bibliography of about 5 articles/books i’d read but not actually used/quoted in the final report.
You may well find that there are books/articles that you used in your decision making or research, but which did not make it into the final RAP, so these could be included in a bibliography.

Hope that helps.

[techno]

Hi rafa2302,
You MUST reference every single source of info that you use…this includes webpages, books, articles etc. The BSc guide on the ACCA website has a whole section on referencing and lists in precise detail how each type of source must be referenced…ie the way you reference a webpage is slightly different from how you reference a book, and this in turn is slightly different from how you must reference an article, and so on….
I found referencing extremely tricky, as i had never had to do it before…but OBU regard it as so important that they fail candidates who don’t reference their sources.
All I can suggest is that you follow the referencing guide on the ACCA website to the letter…reference each of your sources exactly how they ask you to do it, and then you can’t go wrong.

As to how reliable the websites are….well, this is where you’re gonna have to use your judgement. Some websites are abviously reliable and fine to use…eg ACCAglobal. You may also feel sites like BBC, or well known newspapers or periodicals such as Telegraph or Guardian are also reliable sources for news/info. Other sites you may not be so sure of, in which case you’re gonna have to try to verify their info from a second/third source, to be doubly sure it is realiable.
This is all part of the reasearch process and you can refer to this process of elimination/verification/selection in Part 2 of your RAP when you talk about sources of info, the methods used to collect the info, and the limitations of the data….it shows you’ve thought about the realiablility of info on websites and it shows the steps you took to verify/check your data sources.

Hope that answers your query.

[techno]

Hi guys,

rafa2302….in their email OBU said it was up to students how many slides they used for their presentation….so there is a bit of discretion there….however, bear in mind that you only have 15 mins to do the presentation….so you really won’t have time to go through tonnes of slides…if you did 12-18 slides you would have around 1 minute (more/less) per slide….so you need to decide how much time you need to present each slide to your mentor. Also, don’t forget that OBU are looking to ensure that the content of your slides is related to/reflects the content of your report…

sn0b01….I can’t seem to locate the info on the ACCA website…but I’m sure I read somewhere that they recommend you print one sided only….this is what I did.
They do say it must be wordprocessed in black print on white A4 paper and they recommend you use a standard font like Ariel, font size 11 or 12.

Hope that helps.

[techno]

Hi,
rafa2302…..I got my result by email on the evening of 29-3-11 (a day earlier than I was expecting it)….it just said I had passed my RAP and degree and that a letter was to follow.
Then a day or two later I got a letter in the post telling me my RAP grade and the class of degree etc.

sn0b01…..I also emailed OBU about how many slides per side….they said that the printout of the presentation slided should be attached to the end of the SLS, and they recommended that you print them out with 6 slides to a page. I’m sure that describing them is NOT good enough….you really must attach copies of the actual slides from your presentation….just print them out 6 slides per page and attach them at the end of your SLS, so that the RAP, SLS and slide printouts all get bound together as one document. I was really paranoid that I would forget to include my slide printouts, coz this is also a top 4 reason for why RAPs get failed (ie. forgetting to include presentation slide printouts).

Hope that helps.

[techno]

Hi sn0b01,

With regards to the mentor….there is a section that the mentor fills on on your submission form (the form you download from ACCA website to accompany your RAP and fee). Mentors fill in their address and email and in theory OBU can contact them if they have any queries about your work or the RAP presentation.
I don’t know how often OBU contact mentors…whether it is randomly or if there is a problem. My mentor gave the impression that they very rarely do contact them….but I don’t know how true this is….

Binding…..I too had this problem, and emailed OBU. They said it was up to students how they bound their RAP/learning statements/slides together…but they suggested spiral comb binding, which is what I used (if you don’t have a machine, you can get kits in big stationers for spiral comb binding).
(The info on ACCA website specifically said do not use ring-binders….I guess coz these are too bulky or risk popping open).

Hope that helps.

[techno]

Hi sn0b01,
The advice tanahteck79 gave in the other Topic 8 thread was spot on I’d say. Think about using some of the obvious models such as the SWOT, Pestal or Porters 5 Forces. Watch out for overlap between some of these, as a good SWOT will also cover a lot of stuff in some Pestal or Porter…you don’t want to waste words repeating similar analysis of the same data.
I can’t tell you which ones to plump for, as I think part of what OBU want you to do for the RAP show that you know how to pick the most appropriate models for your data. A good way to demonstrate that you know how to do this is to explain in your RAP WHY you chose the models you applied, and why you left out/didn’t use some of the other models (ie. if you left out some because of overlap, then tell them that in your RAP; or if you felt that you had insufficient data to apply a particular model, then tell them that)….this will show the markers that you understand a range of different models and that you can selectively choose the most appropriate ones for your particular data/company. You want to show them that you know your stuff and that you are able to appropriately apply the best ones for your particular RAP.

If you are like me then you probably are doubting your ability to do this…but have confidence in your ability. If you’ve come this far then you have already passed 9 exams (or got exemptions) and you obviously know your stuff.
And don’t forget what tanahteck79 mentioned about horizontal/trend analysis….as well as some business models and the financial ratios, you also have to look at trends in the financial data.
And one big tip my mentor gave me, was that it is not sufficient to just say that a figure has gone up or down over the 3 years, you have to say WHY you think it has gone up/down as well….what factors made it change.

And also, absolutely crucial for topic 8 is that you use comparative data…either from another company, or from industry averages, as it is impossible to evaluate how well a company is doing if you have nothing to compare it to.

Hope that helps.

[techno]

Hi guys, I just did Topic 8 and was very surprised to get an A…thanks to a lot of good tips on Opentuition.
amnatariq – what leemce wrote was quite correct….you do not need to have any contact directly with the company in order to do Topic 8 RAP on them….provided you can get all their financial results/annual statements for the 3 year period, and have sufficient news reports etc to be able to analyse their business performance, then you can successfully complete the Topic 8 RAP (this is in fact the reason why so many people choose topic 8) .

I didn’t use any books on financial analysis other than my old ACCA textbooks for past papers, in order to get the formulas correct and refresh my memory as to how to interpret the different ratios.

However, what I did find really useful was the technical articles on the ACCA website…there were loads of really good articles on different business models to use…and they went into just enough depth for me to be able to understand the different models without geting too bogged down (especially as in the end the word count means you can only write a limited amount on a couple of models…there just aren’t enough words available to do loads of indepth business models, especially as you have to also do a decent amount of key financial ratios. So you have to be selective about which models you use…pick the ones that help your RAP the most, and just mention/refer to some of the others, rather than trying to apply them all in full).

Also, there is tonnes of information on the internet on financial analysis and on different business models…

One top tip which was always emphasised to me though was to remember to include in your reference list every website you use in your final RAP, and any books that you draw information from for the RAP (ACCA state that one of the top 4 reasons for why people fail the RAP is lack of proper referencing…so they obviously regard it as very important).

Hope that’s helpful.
Good luck!

[techno]

Many thanks for that Gromit.
I was confused over which way these 2 letters/reports flowed (auditor-BOD or BOD-audtior) so that’s really helped clear that up for me. Thank you.

[techno]

Thanks very much for that excellent explanation Gromit…all this time I thought it was just utilities & expenses, when it actually could be any “purchase” as long as it’s not yet been invoiced & gone into the purchases ledger.
You made that really clear to understand. Thanks so much.

[techno]

Many thanks for your helpful reply Gromit, that’s really cleared up a lot of confusion for me. Thank you.

[techno]

Dec 08, question 4 was a charity.
In the latest BPP kit (published Jan 2010) Q36 – Burton Housing is about a charity.
Q29 Ajio is a charity.
Q59 FireFly is about auditing a club.
Also, in back of the BPP latest Study Text is Q22 Tap!…also a charity.
I’ve not done all these questions myself, so can’t say which are the most useful or not.

[techno]

Many thanks Baluacca…you’re a lifesaver!

[techno]

Hi,
Thanks for your explanation. It’s really helpful.
So can I clarify…if fees are low, but can be justified as reasonable with labour costs, and backed up with sufficient documentation, then the argument is that it is not truly lowballing, and is therefore OK?
But if it is excessively low, and does not cover labour costs, then it is unacceptable (as too much of a threat to independence)?
Have I got that right?
Many thanks for your help.

[Author]

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