[unfazed]

Passed at 50%, first attempt, that was a close call.

One piece of advice I’d like to share is make sure your AA knowledge is up to scratch as this exam had a lot of basic accounting standards tested in FR or AA eg PPE, component depreciation, Revenue etc, don’t neglect these for the more trickier ones you’ll find in AAA such as forex, group accounts etc

Exam technique is very essential, use all the exam tech resources on the ACCA AAA page

[unfazed]

Well, this may be wishful thinking, but,

They have said that email go out in tranches,

And it may also have been sent as per reg number in ascending order.

And they’ve also said not having received the email doesn’t necessarily means you’ve failed.

So maybe just maybe. One can only hope.

Let’s forget about it and stop worrying for the time being, and to the people who did receive the email, congratulations!!

[unfazed]

I was careful not to mention same issue in the same question, but I felt my answers contained some overlap, they had references to staff management and economic conditions

[unfazed]

Can someone tell me are we only not allowed to repeat the same issue in the same question or the whole exam?

[unfazed]

I put culture change was needed at BCO, current management team was incompetent in retaining or motivating staff

[unfazed]

Yes I am in a country where AFM will be remote CBE for this september.

I was having a go at the CBE practice platform on the ACCA wesbite but came unstuck at the MM2 equation

I was just wondering if there was a way to solve for unknown variable x in the spreadsheet itself?, because I tried doing on the scratch pad and it proved difficult trying to re-arrange the equation to solve for x (Kei).

For eg I’ve learned that there is a built in function/formula for
1) NPV discouting at any df
2) MIRR
3) IRR
4) BSOP model normal distribution (no need to refer to sheet)

There might be more

[unfazed]

Hello sir,

As per normal circumstances, before undertaking any swap, and both Arnbrook and the CP take out a loan on their best rates, the cost is L + 7.5
And after the swap the total cost is L+8

I fail to see where the benefit with a swap lies? As we would save money if we don’t swap?

[unfazed]

@nwoa said:
My exam in Dublin was cancelled due to technical issues. Not impressed at all! I understand that issues arise but there was no contingency in place. We were told to apply for a refund and resit in June….another three months to wait now 🙁 Hope the exam went well for everybody that was able to sit it.

My exams got cancelled too, albeit out of their control (coronavirus in kuwait), I was quite prepared as well and judging by the comments, it doesnt seem overly difficult too, oh well, roll on june!

[unfazed]

As in,

Can I get away with using only one ceiling?
As opposed to examiners method of comparing every ceiling

[unfazed]

Thank you Mr Moffat,

I did watch the lectures, but unfortunately did not review the notes on a timely basis, so my concepts have become hazy, but I’ve done done a full summary tonight and I’m done with my initial practice phase,

So going to be doing 1 question each on each of the core topics everyday( advanced appraisal, valuation, risk mgmt, options & reconstruction all the way till the exam day hopefully this keeps me sharp come what may, this seem good?

Appreciate your feedback

[unfazed]

Thank you, I guess we have to look out for banks best interest everywhere lol

[unfazed]

Thank you, John for your helpful insight, and yes, I watch them before I navigate my way around the kit, although, some I haven’t as of yet as I’m not on Risk management, this exam seems more exam technique focused, a huge step up from f-levels, so, i’m trying to perfect my technique in the short time left, any other tips on exam technique would be highly appreciated or if you could point me in the right direction
for example if im stuck on WACC calculation, I can just stop and state an assumed reasonable WACC figure for the for discounting the next part of the working
thanks again

[unfazed]

I believe I wasn’t able to explain what I meant,

I meant, is it possible for me to
Utilise my initial time available for question 1 on writing ALL the discursive elements only of both the report and other parts, (about 40mins?) and then spend the rest of the time available completely on calculations. ( as I’m yet to be able to finish calculations in the time available so far)
(Q1 would be the last one I attempt)
I’d like to know how to go about writing the report independently of the calculations

[unfazed]

Hi Cathal;

You’re not wrong in assuming you’d be better off playing to your strengths,
I’ve taken up AAA and AFM due to the fact I find auditing interesting in general even though I scored a marginal pass in AA, and AFM as I’m planning on doing CFA after which is a long term goal of mine

For career options, check out https://www.accaglobal.com/sg/en/qualifications/why-acca/competency-framework/job-profiles.html

I don’t think you’re necessarily obliged to APM for lot of jobs that involve financial planning, it helps but I believe you could always engineer interviews in your favour, as in, if you explain your misfortunes or say you’ve effectively studied for APM through SBL and PM?

All the best

[unfazed]

@jetavi, @johnmoffat I’m planning on sitting 3 papers in march, AFM, AAA and SBL of which SBL is a resit

I feel confident taking on three papers as I’m a full time student, and have a structured allocation of time for each subject,

I’m not concerned about AAA as I feel I’ve half prepared for it inadvertently as I sat SBR in January, and I’m getting through the questions in the kit no problem

SBL again not worried due to the fact I merely need to work on my exam technique (points creation etc, so just practicing case studies all the way)

I’m only concerned about AFM, as I’m practicing the kit, and the questions especially the 50mark case studies seem very tricky, a very structured analytical ‘top down’ approach is required,

I’m hoping once i’m through all the questions (about 45) in the kaplan revision plan, it’ll get easier when I do revisit, I’m scheduled to sit a mock on 21st (2 weeks before) and then plan on doing another 40 questions (a case study+2 25mk questions/day) to the run up to the exam

I hope ive made sense, is there anything you can suggest to help me ace this exam? any gaps i might need plugging?

regards

[unfazed]

Got it, it was the MM model 2

For the subsidy benefit and tax relief calculation
I’m not clear on why did we multiply investment with (.05-.022) and then with 3.546
Same goes for tax relief lost

Kind regards

[unfazed]

@laurra said:
Very good post, dedicatedurk.

I used to always strive to be the best, to gain best marks and if I failed, at what I was aiming for, I used to be completely devastated. The exam/test score was everything to me. I felt I had to gain the best mark to prove that I was smart and if I failed, by default, I felt stupid. Which is complete nonsense. This is typical fixed-minded person’s approach to failing. They think that the grades and achievements define them.

Now, I studied hard and yet I failed. Yes, I could have put more time in and some people try to comfort me by saying that I expect too much from myself because I study on my own (I don’t attend classes in order to save some money as I am self-funded student), I have 2 kids, full time job and a little home business on the side.
However, I refuse to use any of these things/situations as an excuse. Instead of looking for an excuse as a way ‘to feel better’ after the failure, it’s better to get up, dust yourself off and carry on.

Last night I was waiting for exam results. I didn’t know what to expect. I was, of course, hoping for a Pass. However, it wasn’t a Pass.

But… what I was surprised about is my reaction to the Fail result. To my complete astonishment, instead of feeling sorry for myself and starting to come up with various excuses, I just had one thought, ‘OK, you want to play tough?’. Maybe it sounds funny, but that was my first reaction. I saw ‘Fail’ as a challenge. Challenge which I must overcome. Challenge from which I will come out as a stronger person. Yes, I will have to study hard again. But maybe this time, take different study approach? Maybe learn better exam technique? Or maybe spare those few hundred pounds and take the face-to-face tuition so I have access to a teacher who could guide me, advise me and give me some tips. Failing helps you to look for different ways of doing things which in turn makes you more innovative.

Every time we fail, we learn something new. So how can anybody ever say that failing is bad?! It is GOOD TO FAIL. I am happy I Failed. Why? Because I saw the other side of me which I didn’t know I had. I didn’t realise that failing will make me more determined. I thought I will be devastated.

Of course, I am annoyed that I will have to miss time with my family again (my children really miss their mum) and that I will have to sit 4 hours exam again but that is part of life. You have to go through tough parts in order achieve something.

So for those who passed, well done, good for you.

For those who failed, don’t give up, be happy that now you have an opportunity to become stronger and learn something from the experience.

All of us have determination in ourselves. This is in our DNA. If you weren’t determined, you wouldn’t have learned how to walk or talk or so anything else. Look at babies. They walk, they fall, they get up and they carry on. ‘Giving up’ is not even an option for them. So why do we, as adults (with much more experience than babies) are so sensitive to falling?

Fail, get up, learn from the experience, move on and… be happy!!!

X

This is a moving and such an honest post; thank you, I think I needed this

[unfazed]

passed 52%, massive shout out to Sir Chris and the open tuition team

[unfazed]

40%, first time

[unfazed]

Passed first time, 52%

[unfazed]

I got control too as ibex had power to direct the use of Pompex‘s resources and affect the return on them through its level of involvement?

[unfazed]

@micksymooresy16 said:
Did you not use full goodwill method in Q1??

I got negative goodwill..

The question said proportionate method so that means partial method yes? I got negative goodwill too

[unfazed]

@bg12321 said:
I’ve tried to remember what I can here, along with some answers/thoughts I had during the exam:

Q1 on a step acquisition from associate to subsidiary. Talked about the differences between significant influence and control and how equity accounting to be used up to the point of control assumed. Relatively simple goodwill calculation if you remembered to bring in the FV of the existing investment held. Talked about how associate was to be accounted for and then moved onto NCI being at proportionate value in GW calc. There were also some FV adjustments to make in respect of revaluation (including the arising of deferred tax as a result). I think from what I remember, good will was around $1.4m in my answer (though may be way out!)

Q2 was really quite straight forward in my opinion. There was a whole host of ethical issues and dilemmas being faced of which I addressed using PIPCO. I then talked about the chain of command when it comes to resolving these issues (i.e. not just resigning in the first instance without speaking to person themselves, another key member of management personnel, the audit committee and finally, the ACCA).

I also talked about what the principles and threats were not in relation to the scenario to try and obtain close to the full 11 marks (however, this caused me issue with timing in hindsight).

The treatment of the accounting for ships and containers was wrong on several levels (aggregating separate material items on the balance sheet), depreciating all as one and changing the depreciation policy without the end result being more relevant/reliable measurement. Finally, IAS 16 specifies that if you are to hold the assets under the revaluation model, you must hold the entire class of these assets in the same way (and not cherrypick), which is not what the accountant was doing.

Q3 & 4 is where I really struggled. 4 in particular seemed particularly tricky and I found it difficult to pinpoint exactly what the examiners were after. I made some scarce remarks about the business combination hitting the P&L through goodwill impairment and in turn, hitting the EPS figure. I also mentioned that in an asset acquisition, dep’n and amortisation would hurt the profit in the first year.

I also talked briefly about the contingent consideration, which would need to be allocated across the assets obtained and so if the significantly higher figure was used, we would give rise to an inflated balance sheet and skewing any ROCE calculations, putting us in a position whereby impairment may be significant in a future period. I also recall stating the revenue recognition criteria somewhere in Q4 for the non refundable fee paid. I just said that it should be held as a contract asset and the transaction price written down accordingly upon full recognition.

Finally, question 3 again seemed quite a tough question to deal with (related to the Joint Venture). It asked us whether the JV should have been classified as a sub by one of the JV participants, which really messed with my head. For another of the sub-requirements, I just threw a load of standards based on impairment somewhere here via bullet points as time was of the essence. I stated the definitions of an asset under the conceptual framework and then went onto IAS 38’s PIRATE criteria for recognising internally generated intangible assets for the production costs being capitalised or not. Not sure if this was the right approach but was really clutching at straws!!

All in all, think i’ll come out with between 40-50% and will be resitting in March due to Q3 & Q4 and the missing out of 8 marks in Q1 (related to assets) due to bad timing planning!

Well, if that constitutes a 40-50 i don’t know what I should be expecting!
I applied IFRS 15 to recognise the costs as contract asset if there was a performance obligation satisfied over a period of time?
Along with probability criterion of IAS 37
Did I go wrong?

Question 4 I said due to goodwill being impaired and the subsequent effect on net assets meant the entity is less likely to acquire source of finance due its inability to offer assets as security and this might cast doubt for future investments? Is this reasonable?

[unfazed]

@inverter said:
Can anyone tell me what ethical issues they addressed on Mr Toppers Profit warning?

Well, I wrote Mr Topper was abusing his position as accountants are privy to sensitive information due to nature of their work, and him seeking to capitalise on private info is a breach of ACCA code of conduct.

[unfazed]

Paper was ok, but I overran my time on the first question, had to leave the goodwill calculation
and it was a uphill battle from there on,
relatively simple way standards were examined, nothing complicated which was surprising

I attempted most of the paper, I had a really good time on the Ethics question (20marks!),
I imagine they’ll be a bit strict with marking,

Q 3, had a range of standards applying to its requirements and for little mark allocation each so wasn’t quite sure what level of detail were the examiners looking for

Q 4 looked confusing but once I got going it got easier, although still not sure if I answered it correctly as it was very unfamiliar, was more common sense than technical
All in all expecting a pass fingers crossed

[Author]

Posts