FM*** December 2021 ACCA FM exam – Instant Poll and comments ***

Fair

Exam was a lot easier this time but weird at the same time. Since I did PM 2 days ago it wasn't so bad for me but Section C tested an analysis of 2 projects with different life cycles, then part b was questioning on the Efficiency (One of the 3 Es), the 2nd section C was cash flows

Pretty good! Thanks Opentuition.

I think it was ok, but that scare me as I have never had an ACCA exam easy. Lets see what happen!!

Oh I had the same exam than you. Yes some questions were easy, some were weird...

for one of the qs cost of equity i got like 11.3% other option was 11.2% anyone else?.and for the section c npv calculation part a i got initial investment 1m-pv of like 1.4m to get npv 413,000 or something,working capital days 50 too?anyone remember more answers

The section C cash flow question was a ton of work for 8 marks!

Surprising how easy it was. Section À and B were quite a breeze. Got stuck at a current ratio calculation in section B. (yes… a current ratio) I couldn’t figure out the revised payables so I had to take a guess there. Section C was ridiculous. It was 10 marks for a MV WACC calculation and then WACC theories for another 10 marks. The other question was a divisible or non divisible question. 4 and 3 marks respectively. The other marks were NPV calculation for 7 marks and another 6 for risk and uncertainty and connection sensitivity analysis to the question. Nothing felt out of the ordinary it was all from directly from the study text and kits.

I had the same questions. Did you take into account project Z when evaluating the maximum NPV? As it was said that project Z has to be taken no matter what due to the government request, I wasn't sure what is the correct approach.

Yes, I took project Z into consideration. If memory serves me right it was 12.6 for divisible and 11.6 for non divisible. And the NPV calculation for Project Z in the next requirement showed NPV was positive by just a small number. 0.34 something.

exactly! this ton of work about cash flow in section C took almost 50 minutes :/ and for only 8 marks.

I didn't take that project Z ,but other calculations are okay will they consider whole answer wrong?

About project Z calculation.i took cost of electricity 30m from year 0 and for further 5 years.Also initial investment 25m i took as year 0.Theni got CF and discounted.After this i applied tax to CF then calculated NPV .without taking tax benefit of initial investment as in requirement it says not tax allowable.And there was also information that 27% decrease in emmision.But I didn't know in which I should use it.Is there anyone calculated like I did?

@ulviyyatg if you shown rankings etc, you will get some marks

Section A and B were an absolute nightmare for me. Disappointing as I felt pretty good about section C questions

I don’t know what to think! So much of the syllabus just wasn’t tested. I had cash flow and replacement cycles for section C. Was expecting WACC. Feel like the cash flow question took up so much time that I’ve wiped all section A and B from memory. We will see what happens!

I dont remember doing a type of question like the one that came up in Section C, regarding Porject Z NPV. It was all cash outflows. There was a savings involved but I got a negative NPV. Dont know if it is right or wrong but i wasted a lot of time on it.

Mzabbas wrote:Section A and B were an absolute nightmare for me. Disappointing as I felt pretty good about section C questions

I feel the same! Section C seemed not so hard compared to A/B and I was expecting the opposite.

Sec A & B were sort of hard disguised in easy... I got to calculate mv of loan notes of 7% 6mths pre tax cost of debt redemption and 3.5% loan notes pre-tax 8% yet there was corporation tax=20%.. Don't know if i mess up Sec C.. Any1 got? 1. Bulk purchase or early payment, WC- conflicts btw liquidity & profitability 2.NPV- calculation, Fisher effect theory Blank in mcqs ques.. Dnt remember.. ?

Hey I got the same Sec C @Shivvy... Really got confused with that sec B MV of loan notes 7%, paid halfyearly. My typing was reallly slow and this was my first applied skills paper. I got positive NPV in Sec C couldnt remember the amount though. As I was calculating NPV in ($000's), I forgot to type the answer in full amount, i.e. to include the last three zeroes in my final answer, will that be a problem? I pray to god, that everyone who did alot of hardwork on this FM paper and also other ACCA papers will pass the exam! Let's hope for the best...

I took the exam remotely and was disconnected for about 30 seconds. The OnVue app just quit and asked me to relaunch. Will this have any consequences? This was the most unstable my exam has been. I’ve taken 5 exams remotely over the year in the same conditions but this was the only session where I’ve faced problems. I tried reaching out to the proctors in the middle of the exam explaining how the screen kept loading forever between the questions but they would just close the chat box on me. I had no issues with time whatsoever, but I don’t know what to expect for being disconnected. This is the happiest I’ve been with my performance and I don’t want my connectivity issues to have an effect on my final score?

Totally agree with you. I thought it was at least a 12 marker

I got in section C Capital rationing question divisible and indivisible for which maximum Npv is required I got answers 12.6 for divisible and 12.1 for indivisible and there was I project Z i was unsure that I got correct Npv or not and also in sec C I got Wacc question I got answer 11.63% and capital structure theories and Section A was quite easy but Section B was very difficult.

mariya2311 wrote:I had the same questions. Did you take into account project Z when evaluating the maximum NPV? As it was said that project Z has to be taken no matter what due to the government request, I wasn’t sure what is the correct approach.

Didn't the question say to assume that NPV of project Z is zero?? :O

I had such a hard time with Section A & B. I felt like I had questions that were too random and nothing like past papers. Section C was replacement cycles and Cashflow. This was actually fine. That Cashflow was a lot of work for only 8 marks!!

Hi Bella, Sounds like I had a really similar paper. I got really frustrated with one of the section B questions as I know hedging vs futures like the back of my hand, but they had to throw in those interest rate things that really got me stuck, spent too much time on that one for a section B question- hadn't seen a past paper hedging question like this before which included the interest rate changes. For section C I spent about 45/50 minutes on that cashflow question, was a bit stunned at how much work was required for only 8 marks, kept thinking I must be doing too much work here... Luckily with working capital management I could try bash out a quick written answer to catch up (I had a really stiff keyboard which slowed down everything- I reckon the ACCA should allow you to bring in your own keyboards!!) Left me with very little time to complete the replacement cycle question. Managed to only complete the annual cashflows and initial outlay parts for years 0-6 in the two different time period column and then work out the present values, I didn't had time to incorporate the extra costs listed in the detail (every two years advanced maintenance) but when I realised I only had 6 minutes left I wrote a sentence out to explain that I would then use the total present value for each replacement period and divide by the appropriate annuity factor to get the EAC and the lowest EAC would be the winning replacement period. The next question I think was for four marks and was asking how the previous working was good for comparing time periods. I wrote about four words before being kicked out. Does anyone remember how many marks were for the working management cycle question? I thought I did well with what I did complete- section B notoriously tricky for this exam! Section C was time pressured, if I did it again I would do section C before B. Was a bit gutted as when I saw section C questions I realised how many marks I could've gained in comparison to B if I had done it the other way around. As it stands, I will be gutted if I haven't achieve 55% or above really. Will be leaving a comment in the ACCA survey about not enough points being awarded for the time needed on some of the questions.

Section A & B I could not remember alot of the DVM calculations properly (which parts to insert in to the formula). I found A & B the hardest. Section C I had the cash flow question and the EAC NPV 2 lease projects. Unsure if I will pass this unless I flooked alot of the A & B questions. Section C I preferred to the first sections as I felt I knew more about them. Good luck to everyone x

Does anyone knows can I use the FM Exam kit (Kaplan) which is valid for up to June 2021 for exams in 2022? Thank you

I Agree 100%. We will just have to wait and see now!

Hi can anyone please let me know the topics of Section B where you find it challenging also the type of questions.. It would be of great help.. thanks again.