- This topic has 95 replies, 61 voices, and was last updated 7 years ago by
.
- Posts
What were we supposed to write in Q4 part c? Tell how structure, strategy.etc could be used to improve performance? To evaluate KPIs for structure, style.etc was very tough.
I wrote time to make a deal under structure as the second division was capitalizing on quicker purchases at low costs and thus its structure demanded flexibility. Is it right? For strategies I mentioned generic ones, Cost per building acquired as KPI.
- Topics: 0
- Replies: 1
- ☆
Very difficult paper, the first part of Q1 I adjusted the sales units since this was a planning variance, adjusted rev and cos to match and then left admin costs per the original budget, spoke about conducting more detailed variance analysis. The second part was ok but I wasn’t very clear on if they wanted us to add another quarter to the budget or not since it was rolling so I did and stated my calculations since it was a bit of a guessing game for some parts, the rest of Q1 I didn’t find too bad just tough for time.
Question 2, 11 marks for ROCE, quite sure my answers were wrong, wasn’t sure what to do with the defects in every 100, but tried to pick up marks for stating the usual textbook knowledge on the pros and cons of roce and how it could be manipulated Enjoyed the balanced scorecard piece, talked about introducing external, non financial indicators to encourage longer term views and tried to link all they’re measures back to whether they were aligned to the companies mission and overall objective (increasing shareholder value and delighting customers) although found it a little hard on the learning and innovation side.
Question 4 was a complete disaster. There was too much in the scenerio making it really hard to stay on track. I completely waffled in the first requirement and then using Pest as a model for performance pay, I was completely stumped! Having done some research I think he might have been looking for us to use pest how HR would use it, I.e. The political being the culture of the business or division, the economic being salary trends in sector or division, sociological being attitudes / living standards etc of each division, and technological being the recording of the data in order to calculate the reward. But that’s a guess and is from Google, no textbook or technical article, which seems very unfair if that is what he was looking for us to come up with, as for the McKinsey 7 I was completely stuck and didn’t write very much for that part.
Overall agree with everyone else, what does this examiner want!!!!! To read the paper alone in 15 minutes is impossible never mind to begin properly planning an answer.
- Topics: 0
- Replies: 6
- ☆
This exam was a complete and utter failure …the informantion provided was very difficult to understand which made even applying your knowledge to answer the question excruciating…I understood the requirements but not the details given in the scenarios …
@gdjay said:
I totally thought components required were the sales volumes, but meant by ROCE made no sense! I thought it was supposed to show a higher one for the old product, but mine didn’t!Now I’m thinking number of impressions needs to divide into this!? Is that right? It really didn’t seem to make sense to me.
I made this exact mistake. I though they sold 100000 moulds and that gave me ROCE in the thousands. I realised my mistake after 15 mins and quickly recalculated. I’m confident I got it right n the end but the rest of the paper was ridiculously time pressured as a result.
What I did was 100k was required. 6% got rejected so 100/ 94 × 100 gives the total number of impressions needed. Divide this number by the average life span which gives the number of moulds required which gives you your sales volume ( I think 11 but can’t remember)
I came out with a ROCE of 13.7% for P but as this was lower than M said that they wouldn’t go for it especially as it was very close to the bonus figure, they might not want to risk it.
All in all I probably wasted 25 mins on those 11 marks which put my on the back foot for the rest of the exam but hopefully I did enough to get 10 marks which is a nice dent to put in the paper.
4b using PEST For a reward system I mentioned.
Economics factors such as wage will help to determine what an acceptable level of bonus is to encourage motivation. In cf low wage so even a slight bonus would be motivationAl
Economic again wI’ll help determine whether gains on property sales are a result of management skill/effot or simply economic trends
Legal lots of legislation so could incorporate this into the bond schemo to encourage the correct behaviour.
Social – how people view CSR and could a reward scheme encourage this to help staff achieve corporate vision of social responsability
Complete guess and involved thinking on my feet a touch.
@dd92 said:
4b using PEST For a reward system I mentioned.Economics factors such as wage will help to determine what an acceptable level of bonus is to encourage motivation. In cf low wage so even a slight bonus would be motivationAl
Economic again wI’ll help determine whether gains on property sales are a result of management skill/effot or simply economic trends
Legal lots of legislation so could incorporate this into the bond schemo to encourage the correct behaviour.
Social – how people view CSR and could a reward scheme encourage this to help staff achieve corporate vision of social responsability
Complete guess and involved thinking on my feet a touch.
Economic could also be on the level of sales growth and market/demand growth and encouraging greater sales. Technology to make buildings up to date, Have better features there for which expenditure and tenant surveys could be used to measure also we know nothing stands still.
Political factors were alot in both companies and they could measure breaches made, For Social they could have measures negative publicity to evaluate how they are doing with respect to their social responsibility, Possibly expenditure on welfare as well and then rewarding the employees and divisions as well as putting up fines/deduction as per breaches and negative publicity made.
- Topics: 0
- Replies: 1
- ☆
I ran out of time also, it was very wordy and you waste so much time trying to almost guess what the examiner is asking you. Surely if the questions were more specific, the markers would have clearer and better quality answers from students. When revising using past papers I was constantly having to look at the answers to start me off, otherwise I would not know where to begin.
@zahra1003 said:
The paper was a complete disaster
Acca is money minded
How can a paper be like this
Q1 i) was on revised budgeting for q1 by using incremental budegeting (6 m)
ii) prepare rolling budget for a division (6m)
iii) was on how the 4 division has been performinng and recommend (19m)
IV) non executive directors comment (6m)
V) cant remember the question was on 12m and i left this part out ofq2 was on performance management calculation of roce and part was
on balance scorecardq3 was on current performance issues and how to add (10m)
Use of lean information for new proposed measures (6m)
Use of lean 5s for the proposed measures (11m)Q4 a company was about to acquire another company and both compagnies info was given… benefits and consequences of use of employees bonus scheme to assess if can be used in both business(8m)… use of pest for employees bonus scheme in both business(6m) and last was on mckinsey 7s model by using structure strategy style and value base for both businesses and recommend kpi to be appropriate (11)
Overall was not expecting budegeting and others questions was lengthy and very time consuming. Very disappointed with the paper setting
V) cant remember the question was on 12m and i left this part out of – was about changing role of accountant.
Why didnt Q3? I did Q3 this was easy, it was very common with F8 the waste in MIS. Also comment on KPIs for 5S measures and lean principles. Q2, Q4 and part 1,2, and NEDs of Q1 was disaster:)
Yes changing role of the accountant, there are literally 2 pages devoted to this in the study book, and no meaningful reference to burns and scapel, talked about how accountants were purely financial due to taking longer to do reporting. How it and integrated systems have improved information choice allowing then to become operationally focused and business partners. Also access to big data allowing boards access to more information to judge performance. Seemed like waffle!
Q4, I have read the McKinsey stuff after and still think I would not have answered the q differently as the study text only states the obvious I.e. strategy is how should the company operate. Hopefully answered this correctly it was guess work!
Question 1a apart from seemingly lack of information, did anyone else see that in the case study it said to refer to appendix 1 and 2 and in the question it said to use 2 and 3…was this just me or was something wrong in the writing of the Question???
This was my 4th attempt and pretty sure I’ll be sitting it again. I felt confident on my third attempt and got 45% but don’t feel as confident this time so god knows what score I’ll get. I concur with all the comments here – Q1 was ok and the optional questions had too much information and were challenging. Who would ever in the real world use PEST to determine a bonus scheme? I think the requirements are so badly worded it’s so easy for the examiner to say every time that students didn’t answer the question being asked but why does he have to word them the way he does? I’m sure it could be worded in a way to make it clear what he is after. I’ve been over the syllabus many times, read the articles, watched the videos, practised many past papers and still not successful if I don’t pass this one I seriously will consider choosing a different option paper. It’s my last paper I just want to get it done!!!!
Was my last exam and the only one I never completed. Ridiculously time pressured – bad enough the scenarios being hard enough to digest but why not just ask a straight question?
I’m wondering what the examiner is really trying to test here. Can’t see how being able to read at 100 miles an hour and digest ambiguous questions will set you apart in the real world.
Anyway, we shall put it to bed until results come.
- Topics: 0
- Replies: 1
- ☆
I’m very disappointed with that paper it was my 3rd attempt and probably my worst. Q4 I spent over an hour on and got very confused had to keep rereading the question, went over time on section b and then hadn’t a hope when got to Q1 as it was so time consuming. I think the examiner is just trying to catch you out instead of allowing you to use the knowledge you have learned studying for P5. I really don’t know what I could do differently time to improve my chances of passing… Acca is a money racquet
Overan my time again on question 1 so didn’t have enough time to finish off question 4 and some bits of question 3 so I don’t know what to expect.
Hi there – good luck for your results !!! – I found it a bit difficult and some question s were confusing. Q1 was very long with a lot of narrative and the budget calculation – I moved to Q3 after about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Q3 was ok – the 5s were listed but a lot of mental work to relate them to the scenario. Moved to Q2 30 minutes before the end of the exams and tried to answer as much as I could. This was my first attempt but I was already expecting something difficult after practicing with last exams papers.
Q1) Heading, introduction, conclusion and style 4 marks as usual.
i) I don’t remember exactly, only a lot of narrative about incremental but honestly don’t remember the requirements.
ii) I calculated a budget inflating the actual results Q: by 2% sales and cost of sales and reducing Distribution cost for 5% from Q3 – wrote assumptions that admin and fixed cost did not change because of the sales growth.iii) If I remember correctly this part asked to evaluate the current budgetary systems in each of the 4 divisions and recommend an appropriate budgetary system to enable to meet the goals. I analysed the 4 divisions demands and cost patterns eg. Basic was in non growing market with a stable price > incremental ok – KIDS was a very volatile price due to popularity of the snacks > rolling budget and PD (product development) being shared between divisions I recommended ZBB
iv) What was the comment of the NED??? (getting confused with Q2 that NEDS comments on short termism)
V) If I remember correctly this part was about the study of Burns and Scapens (changes in the role of management accountant – hybrid accountant) and it was required an explanation of the results of their work AND to discuss how the hybrid accountant can contribute to achieve these 3 goals set in the strategy. If you want check it out: page 27 kaplan text book.
Kaplan in few words “new technologies and globalized markets – several employees can book financial information and do reports – accountant must be able to elaborate the information from the IS and able to give strategic advice to mngmt – accountant must have knowledge outside pure accounting e.g. IT, Sales, maybe production process – key role of the accountant providing information ” (I liked these section and I discussed about 1 months ago with a friend and I could remember well at the exams)
Q2)
i) Calculation of ROCE – left Roce as a last because looked time consuming for only 5-6 points. Went directly to the pro and cons of ROCE, short termism and suggested better model to evaluate shareholders wealth growth (which was the mission)
ii) Discussed ROCE, NEDS comment on short-termism and managers not investing (training and material assets ) to keep capital employed low and therefore maintain ROCE and bonus
iii) – how the Balance score card can help to focus on the long term and assess the proposed CSF/KPI for Financial – customer – innovation (I listed BSC elements and gave example how setting KPI for customers perspective, innovation and learning helps adopting a long-term view . for the second part: EVA is good for shareholder wealth, KPI for customer was ok but only consider 1 fault of the mould not quality / cust. satisfaction – KPI for innovation I suggested patents and investment in training and R&DQ3)
i ) don’t remember. Anyone remember this part ????
ii) probably “how lean production reduce the waste” (I think I forgot to refer to waste in each line..probably I went out of topic… damn!) – Anybody remember this one ???iii) Something like: are the actions implemented by the CEO useful for a lean production according to the 5s (daily tidiness check > sanitize – sorting the goods in alphabetical order > ok for Structure but what about if the most demanded products start with Z: they are far from dispatch areas – don‘t remember the other measure suggested by the CEO )
Q4) I did not try these one – check the question and realized I could have got stuck but not sure if it was the right decision
I felt like I did OK. On Q1:
i. Struggled to understand the revision until I realized it needed to be flexed, as the variance analysis was otherwise useless.
ii. Rolled the budget and hoped for the best. I used Q1 actual’s ratio of distribution to sales to calculate Q2’s initial distribution, then dropped it by 5%.
iii. As the poster above — I did ABC for Basic (it’s a cost-conscious division — they should analyze cost drivers and stop riding off management’s ancient cost control attempts), rolling for Kids, and ZBB for PD. I kept rolling for Healthy.
iv. Tried to use the BPP flashcard on the evils of budgeting here (adds slack, all that good stuff), but also blamed corporate HQ for not enforcing more of a value culture and letting the divisions manage the numbers instead of manage the business.
v. Fortunately, I had a big flashcard on this topic and was able to elaborate a lot. It seems like the new CEO was right on board with this hybrid accountant stuff; easy references to the company.On Q3:
a. I hope this was the easy mark question. It simply asked if the WIS is supporting reduction of waste/meeting their goals right now, and the answer is obviously, resoundingly, NO, with examples of how they’re failing their basic mission to be responsive as a supplier.
b. I used the WITDOOM wastes (waiting, inspection, transfer, defects, overprocessing, overproduction, movement/NVAs) to structure this. As follows:
i. Close down additional warehouse — yes, provided they’re ready to implement the other suggestions
ii. Put high volume items near dispatch point — hell yes, great idea
iii. Can’t rememberc. As follows:
i. Manager’s 1-10 tidiness rating — I said it’s an OK quantitative surrogate, but needs other measures, since it solely dependson the manager and his/her idea of tidiness may not actually correspond to performance improvement. Links to sanitization, but I referenced all the other Ses except self-discipline too.
ii. Alphabetization — Referenced systemization but argued against this as it’s stupid. Items should be grouped by demand or likeness (soccer vs. baseball etc.)
iii. Number of failures — yes, but it does’nt really hit operational 5 Ses. I referenced self-discipline as, provided the other Ses are taken care of, they WILL see fewer failures and this is the point of the entire change.Q4 messed with my mind because it was obvious that LORE had made a mistake in acquiring CF, which was radically different from LORE’s culture and values. As follows:
i. Talked about performance measures and renumeration helping motivate and retain staff, especially in CF’s low-wage economy. I then went on a diatribe about how CF was in danger of incentivizing short-termism and unethical behavior, using examples, as the huge bonuses provided too much incentive to flip properties without due care that LORE would otherwise provide.
ii. PEST for employees — the contrast between cultures helped me here. Politically, CF poses a huge reputational risk to LORE, which could lead to an economic risk too. Socially, CF is much less a multiple-stakholder beast, as a further contrast. For technology, I completely forgot what I said, other than that the two might offer amenities to tenants or something like that.
iii. KPIs were:Shared values — assumed this meant LORE’s social interaction — “number of volunteer initiatives undertaken”
Strategy — assumed this meant for CF to transition to LORE’s way of doing things — “% revenue from tenant leases over 1 year term”, since CF is flipping properties and needs to hold
Structure — wasn’t completely sure; forgot the KPI.
Style — really unsure here. Went with something like, CF’s style is run and gun, managers close deals, while LORE’s is very slow-burning with multiple levels of review. So I went with “% of acquisitions that have gone through one level of review”, saying LORE must choose the reviewer for CF’s acquisitions in the future.Question 4 is really where I feel I may have lost marks. It was just so jarring — why would LORE acquire CF in the first place? Seemed totally misguided, and I kept hammering that point.
I like everyone else it seems struggled with this paper. I was sure I passed last time, however got 48. This time I know it’s a fail.
I can’t believe ACCA approved the examiner to issue this exam paper. I am so angry with it all. Completely different to past papers and questions were huge marks for topics that were so brief in study material for both BBP and Kaplan ( the biggest providers).
What was question 1a) all about? Should the question have been prepare Q2 budget, typo maybe?, why would you re-create Q1 when actuals have already occurred.
Generally far too much reading in the time allocated with trick questions – for example I seen PEST and thought perform PEST analysis but no the question was why use a PEST and for something like 8 marks?Very unfair paper and I hope someone from ACCA reads this forum. They just want our money (yet again)
The exam was just OK.
Question 1 – Was ok but 1a no idea.. revise a budget that is already revised and simple enough?? Even my grandma would understand it, did he just want us to copy and paste it onto the answer sheet
Question 2 – what has the examiner been drinking, what a shambolic question but I gave it ago. Probably got around 10 marks.
Question 3 – What on earth was this, only he knows the answers
Question 4 – waffled i think i wrote 4 pages
I was literally tearing my hair out in Q2 part A. I mean we are supposed to calculate ROCE for an entity, Why are you making us calculate contribution using another company (manufacturer’s utilization) and not providing revenues of the company for which we are supposed to calculate ROCE.
@sa1pw said:
I was literally tearing my hair out in Q2 part A. I mean we are supposed to calculate ROCE for an entity, Why are you making us calculate contribution using another company (manufacturer’s utilization) and not providing revenues of the company for which we are supposed to calculate ROCE.That too for 11 mark or something. I just couldn’t get that part. Very frustrating
@Minaa said:
That too for 11 mark or something. I just couldn’t get that part. Very frustratingThis is shambolic. Like seriously, Which company doesn’t record it’s revenues and calculates it’s ROCE by it’s customer’s utilization figures.
Second attempt, but it was worse than the first one. Am I trying to break the theory of the learning curve? Didn’t finish Q4 due to lack of time, needed to reread several times the questions in order to understand what they meant… I’ve chosen Q2 and Q4 because there was less to read, but I don’t think I understood the details around the moulds at all. I am starting to question my English skills as well…Maybe I need to go to a speed-reading class instead of attempting P5 for the third time.
Glad I’m not the only one who thought this exam was a joke. Where was everything that is covered in class? Spent 18 hours last week doing past exam questions which didn’t help me at all in this exam.
I encountered time pressure which was due to long scenarios and volume of information to process. In real life there will be similar situations relevant to those in the question however there will be adequate time to make decent assessments contrasting with the time management issues within questions. Questions 1 D was not clear as to what requirement was also. Overall I am hoping for pass given the many hours preparing for topics such as VBM, EVA, Prism, pyramid, ABM, Transfer Pricing, Building Blocks,TQM, EMA etc.
Prior to choosing which option question to proceed it meant having to read and understand the requirements first which in itself took time as this required second read to extract points. I found this problem in option #2 and therefore had to move unto option #3 then # 4 rather than simply committing without any rational planning .
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.