Forums › ACCA Forums › ACCA AAA Advanced Audit and Assurance Forums › *** ACCA Paper AAA September 2018 Exam was.. Instant Poll and comments ***
- This topic has 174 replies, 66 voices, and was last updated 6 years ago by aiman1.
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- September 3, 2018 at 8:05 pm #471124
It was unfair paper at all and ridiculously long exam. I would really wonder if anybody could finish off everything in 3h15minutes. It wasn’t tough in terms of knowledge and I would score 90 if I can answer verbally. I took 40 minutes only reading and trying to understand how to approach Q1!!
September 3, 2018 at 8:10 pm #471125@robertoh said:
Sat the UK variant.Q1 agree very lengthy but plenty to go at so not overly concerned I didnt get everything that you guys have validly flagged, I think 10 or so solid points will be decent enough.
Other elements of part 1, being procedures on acq goodwill (good q), the component auditor (so so for me) and ethical points (usual rush to stick to exam technique plan I set myself!)
Q2 I got the same as Billy – lease issue my tech was rusty but think other bits were ok.
Q3 part a was great and part b was fantastic as i’m a qualified insolvency practitioner and work doing pfi reviews and insolvency.
Paper overall was fair from difficulty perspective imo but time was ridiculous for volume of info in 1.
I agree to a certain extent. Volume of info mean there was plenty to chose from which is better than looking a scenario then having to imagine answers. time management is of the essence. you just have to stop!! you cant write endlessly . aim for at least 3/4 of the marks a if you are running out of time then you can fall back to 50 %. if you go for all the marks in question 1 you will definitely lose out on easier marks.
September 3, 2018 at 8:28 pm #471127Agree – you have to be disciplined and think exam technique. You get 4 marks for setting it out neatly and like briefing notes so you start with that before even reading the question (or at least I do). I spend first 5 mins annotating time at which I stop writing about each part of the question and leave half a page minimum after each part so then can go back if my knowledge is weak in some areas compared to others.
I don’t understand why people insist on spending a disproportionate amount of time on q1 in the exam? All the kaplan/lse/bpp tutors tell us this day 1!
Suppose exam pressure sometimes throws people off but i’ll stick to the plan for APM on Weds
September 3, 2018 at 8:42 pm #471130It is more of how you deal with volume than knowledge.And for people with poor handwriting like me….May God help us.
September 3, 2018 at 8:46 pm #471132Such a joke of an exam. How on earth can we be expected to finish such a lengthy paper in 3.15hrs? I believe even the examiners cannot achieve such a feat. It is simply ridiculous.
I could hardly think straight/digest the information in question 1 before rushing to write down my answer, no time to process the complex information. This is not a true test of students’ knowledge at all, with the way the exam is always time pressured.
Any way we can petition/lay an effective complaint about this? Who or what body regulates ACCA anyways?
September 3, 2018 at 9:16 pm #471136@dumonde said:
Exam was very similar to the pilot paper on the website as you’d expect but my goodness it was longer….Examiner must think it is a four hour exam with the amount of read time required.
I don’t understand, ACCA are looking for professional people giving professional answers but then you’re expected to respond well to that, it’s just incredible.
Where was the mark allocation for question 1. Was it just make it up as you go along.
Wow, wow, wow
More like ridiculous..ACCA seem to be looking for professional speed writers rather because I do not understand how they expect students to process so much information in so little time, with exam nerves and still produce decent answers. In the real world, professionals are definitely not giving advice under such conditions.
September 4, 2018 at 12:30 am #471153I see that it says Auditor was appointed to audit group…
September 4, 2018 at 12:47 am #471154@jmmyjimmy said:
Regarding case 2, I have put pervasive as the misstatement represents 50% of pbt. Do you think it is a mistake?What I learn is that if the misstatement is more than 60% of PBT, it should be adverse. So less than 60%, I think still Qualified.
September 4, 2018 at 2:16 am #471161Dear jdealy same is the case here when a survey email come from Acca mention in it two things that paper was tough and long
September 4, 2018 at 2:21 am #471163Q1.a.24 marks and audit risk
September 4, 2018 at 2:23 am #471164Why emphasis paragraph he didn’t record anything it may be KAM if I am not wrong
September 4, 2018 at 2:28 am #471165Not a new client. Same is the case only two questions attempt .
In Acca survey Email please mention that paper was tough and lengthy as it will have effect on marking.00923159350593September 4, 2018 at 2:34 am #471166Based on 18% I calculated it.
00923159350593September 4, 2018 at 2:37 am #471167@vikar said:
Not a new client. Same is the case only two questions attempt .
In Acca survey Email please mention that paper was tough and lengthy as it will have effect on marking.00923159350593September 4, 2018 at 7:18 am #471184It seems like no one talks about Analytical Procedures?
September 4, 2018 at 8:03 am #471189Last sitting I got 49 Marks. I think I would have performed little better than last sitting but everything is depending on the examiner and the marking team. Severe time pressured paper. We have to read a very lengthy paragraph for question 1. For me the question 1 ,I have spent more than 1 hour and 55 minutes. For the second question I have spent 45 minutes and for the last question I have left with less than 35 minutes. In order to answer the last 10 marks question I had only 12 minutes left and again I have to read another lengthy paragraph. I had no alternative other than reading one or two sentences every time picking up an issue and writing in the answer booklet , again reading two more sentences & so on….. . The real difficulty is it may take more than one hour & 15 minutes to read and grasp the question paper and only 2 hours left to answer.
September 4, 2018 at 8:07 am #471190AnonymousInactive- Topics: 0
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The leases should be capitalized or expensed as less than of 6 months and with no purchase option. Or it is compulsory that amount should not be material. The client capitalized 2 and 1 did not, what was the right treatment.
September 4, 2018 at 8:15 am #471191//What I learn is that if the misstatement is more than 60% of PBT, it should be adverse. So less than 60%, I think still Qualified.// Yes. I also agree and in my answer I have stated it is not pervasive.
September 4, 2018 at 8:15 am #471192I did a table at start of answer with 5/6 APs in there – talked about revenue changes in light or Lynx acq and the fact profit hadnt moved directionally as expected – mgt bias etc – linking in the Lynx acq.
Most other APs I commented on tended to be SOFP related – ie goodwill going up 30m if you strip out Lynx acq etc.
September 4, 2018 at 9:40 am #471232I calculated only 5 ratio like: OPM, ROCE, Interest cover, Tax rate, Current ratio. But I talked only about OPM and ROCE together, Tax rate, and Current ratio. But m not sure if I talked about Current ratio right or not.
I am also prepared for Analytical Procedures question, but when in exam, I feel so nervous that I almost forgot what I need to do. Really pressurised.
Any idea?
September 4, 2018 at 9:54 am #471238joking aside, i am slightly concerned about my poor handwriting, because i was writing so quickly.. do you think, this could be an issue ?
@guzejoel said:
It is more of how you deal with volume than knowledge.And for people with poor handwriting like me….May God help us.September 4, 2018 at 9:55 am #471239Agree with all of you. Paper was ridiculously long. Had more points to write for Qu 1 part a but was already well pass the time that I should have taken for this part.As someone said above it was more about testing your ability to read and understand and write fast more than anything else. I wonder if we would be given this amount of time to address planning and risk assessment and write on them in real life. ACCA is taking us for a joke! My second attempt and need a miracle to pass!
September 4, 2018 at 9:57 am #471240@raoul7370 said:
most exchange differences on retranslating a sub go to P or L, not OCI. But these harder accounting issues are not what fails people so are best not worrying about.The moment you see a new sub acquired, that is overseas, even if story says same year end, they use IFRS and have same acc policies, and even with story saying ignore disclosure risks (I did not do the exam but am told it said that?), you have at least 4 audit risks (initial GW, impaired GW at y/e, forex retranslation, pre v post acqn reserves calc). That is 8 marks if well explained. Add on 6 for ratios, 3 for Prof Marks, and surely there are 4 standard goodwill tests on any company and you have 21 already having barely touched the scenario (if at all). No controls testing, and use of IA staff, must be worth at least 2 easy marks? That’s 23 and still haven’t read the story that everyone will always say is too long.
Pass the question on easy to get marks first. Read 3-4 paragraphs of scenario to find another 3-4 accounting areas for audit risks, then ditch Q1 completely, or alternatively tell yourself you are safe, stop Q1 after 97.5 mins, and job done.
But if you have fallen foul to overrunning due to a failure to do the above, worry not (well not too much). So many people will have done the same, and surely ACCA want a pass rate no worse than 30%? If you have written answers in a decent technique then even if you haven’t finished I am sure you will be safely through 🙂
Per Stow Group in December 2013, it also talks about exchange difference arises from translating Subsi that gain/loss goes to OCI, not P/L. I think you should check it.
September 4, 2018 at 9:57 am #471156@jmmyjimmy said:
Regarding case 2, I have put pervasive as the misstatement represents 50% of pbt. Do you think it is a mistake?What I learn is that if the misstatement isnore than 60% of PBT, it should be adverse. So less than 60%, I think still Qualified.
@reazdusmahomed said:
There is a question on lease which state that the lease agreement do not permit the firm to purchase the asset. that implies it will never be in control on the equipment. As fat as i know it is an operating lease, but in the question it had been classified as finance?anyone can clear this pls>?
No more operating or finance lease for Lessee. All are accounted the same for Lessee if it is a lease.
September 4, 2018 at 10:00 am #471243Did not think about this but the more I do the more I think you’re right! Would be nice to know their agenda as they said that the no choice was to allow for more time to answer, but it was the same situations as all the other P papers I took. Always scrambling for survival. ACCA is like a warzone!
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