General Queries Topic 8

i wanted to ask about duplication. lets say i have mentioned why sales have decreased in gross profit margin ratio in depth then do i need to explain again in net profit margin why sales have decreased in as much detail or doing it just once is sufficient ?

Hi Everyone!!!! I need help for the point that the comparator has different financial year and the main company being analysed had different financial year e.g. Main company has year ending 31st March 2014 but comparator has 31st December 2013. In that case what do we need to do?

@Sameed You should not mention this again in NP margin section rather you can write "as explained above in GP margin section".... Your main focus in NP margin should be discussion on movement of indirect costs and you must provide some reasons for such fluctuation. thanks.

@Wasimbaig... This aspect has already discussed in detail somewhere in this forum. Please search it and you will find the answer. PS: Search always before posting any question. Thanks.

I would like help with Presentation on MS Power Point. OBU info pack has a vague and open ended direction towards it. Anyone who has ideas on how to produce an effective 15 min presentation is welcome to share his thoughts. Specifically issues on maximum number of slides, How many Ratios should we target to cover Can SWOT analysis be presented via ART file stating major points within a single slide? @trephena your help is always appreciated buddy.

@Soban - OBU will not prescribe the number of slides but stress you must be capable of delivering the whole presentation and slides in 15 mins. However I would say about 15-18 quality slides that are in accordance with my guidance and tips below should be about right. - NEVER copy and past chunks of text from your report - use bullet points wherever possible instead - The Presentation is about Part 3 Findings so you do NOT need to include anything about aims, objectives information gathering, etc - You may copy the same graphs and charts that you used in your report - there is no need to re-do them especially for the presentation (make sure that both in the Presentation and in the report all of your graphs have a title, axes are labelled,and colour coding is used to distinguish the main company and its comparator (T8) ) - be consistent with the colour coding if the main company is red and comparator is blue stick to these colours in all of the graphs and don't swap them about - do not jam more than 2 graphs in per slide - try to make your Presentation interesting - avoid just doing everything in monochrome as it will come over as dull and boring -PowerPoint enables you to use and bring in drawing tools and Excel, so graphs should be used to illustrate the main points and try to vary the way you present the data to maintain interest - there are various ways you can use for bar charts for example so explore a little - do not overload your slides with text - remember you should be presenting and delivering commentary at the same time and the slides should just be the information distilled down to the key points so when it comes to the SWOT bullet points work best.

Hi all. I m doing work on Verizon Communications Inc. operates as a holding company, which provides broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to consumer, business, and government and wholesale customers can i use carry out analysis of the holding company? Regards,

any body there to answer plz.

@mozan - Normally you would do the whole group as represented in the group consolidated financial statements and use a comparator that operates in a similar market -possibly a company like Virgin Media (although the latter offers cable Tv) or Talk Talk - and use their group accounts too.

Hi @Trephena I have a little question on the format of the conclusions and recommendations section. The BSc pack says ''Your conclusions and any appropriate recommendations must answer the specific research questions and meet the project objectives you set.'' 1. Now through my conclusions, I generally answered the research questions ...like an overall approach....since sometimes the conclusions overlap. I did not separate out the conclusions and classify them under each of the 3 research questions I had. Is my overall approach acceptable or do I have to put conclusions referring to each of these questions? 2. And do we have to reference the points made in conclusions again? I mostly said something like ''based on analysis in SWOT'' or ''concluding from analysis of ratios...''. Would you please confirm if this is ok or is referencing (again!) needed? Thanks so much!

@avian will 1. Yes - you don't have to do it point by point 2. No Now hurry up and press that submit button :-)

@Trephena Hehe... yes almost there to the submit button except... umm I did not include formulas into my main research report (not in part 2 or 3). In part 2 while discussing accounting techniques I only mentioned the ratios I will use and included a statement saying 'Formula given in Appendix 1)... is this acceptable? Or must we show full formula in the main report itself? :(

Hi @Trephena Sorry to be bugging you again but just bear with me for a day please. Kindly address the following: 1. I did not include formulas into my main research report (not in part 2 or 3). In part 2 while discussing accounting techniques I only mentioned the ratios I will use saying what they measure/ or mean and included a statement in the end of paragraph saying '‘Formula given in Appendix 1''… is this acceptable? Or must we show full formula in the main report itself in part 2?

@avian will - the appendices are the correct place for formulas. It is appropriate to have a brief definition in the main report but nothing that involves numerators and denominators and multiplication signs or actual calculations!!! You don't need to say the formulas are in the appendices - if the marker is that desperate to find out how you calculated the GP margin etc they would know that it is likely to be in the Appendices (this is the norm for any report)

Thanks so much @Trephena for assuring... I owe you one! :)

@avian will - if you are in the UK donate it to 'Children in Need' :-)

@Trephena Wow! That's kindness flowing through you... I'm impressed ;)

Just for my peace of mind and clarification, In excel when examiner say that he would check our formulas, 1. Does he means that ratios need to be calculated with formula in each cell? [N.P margin result of 10% is calculated by applying formula in cell at MS Excel] OR 2. Display of each ratio formula is needed. such as N.P margin shown as = net profit/sales @trephena BTW I have done both 1 and 2.

@Soban - 1. Some markers seem to check the calculations more than others but they all expect to see HOW you have calculated them 2. Is fine and best put in the appendix as it doesn't really belong in the main report. So if you have put this in your Excel spreadsheet this is what they prefer. :-) Some ratios have variations (such as what is considered to be long term capital) so occasionally they might wonder what basis you have used. By doing 1 & 2 you seem to have supplied all the information they need.

Hi Can I start to write and complete the research by myself ? If so what would be and where could i find the best guidance and sources to do this.? For example my research is Topic 8 , financial position of 3 years of a big pharmaceuticals company . How can I start ? Where do I start? Wikipedia? Many thanks Barbara

Hi Anna I cannot open the link Thanks Barbara

@barbara2012 This is the latest link to the exemplars https://business.brookes.ac.uk/undergraduate/2015/acca/files/rr-exemplars.pdf Could you please either post any future questions to an existing forum (use the a key words in the search facility to find them) or to my Forum 'PLEASE HELP KEEP OUR FORUMS TIDY!!! rather than opening a new forum (I have posted your other query to Inquiries - Topic 8 for example)? In response to your question I suggest that you start reading the lastest Information Pack from the OBU site and then use the search facility on our forums to find further information. You MUST have a mentor for any submission from now onwards (this is an OBU condition for P30 onwards). We approve the Learning Luminarium https://learningluminarium.com/ as they have both a good track record and have student recommendations (see the Forum 'Advancing the Quality of the OBU-OT Experience') so you may like to consider them - however you are under NO obligation to do so, this is merely a suggestion of assuring you of guaranteed quality evidenced by high student pass rate and a previous RAP prizewinner Otherwise I suggest you look at the OBU mentor list as all registered mentors are on the this list. You cannot submit a RAP now unless you have used a mentor from this list..

Thank you Can I start to write my rap now on Microsoft word even if i don't know the result of my last exam Fundamental papers which i sat in December 2014?

@barbara2012 - You may start the RAP whenever you wish but you will only be able to submit it if you have met all the requirements that are laid down (see the latest Information Pack). If that means that you need to pass certain papers first, then obviously you will not be allowed to submit until those papers are cleared. One other thing students often overlook is that they MUST have completed the online ACCA Ethics Module by 31st March if they wish to submit in P30. As the ethics module pass lasts indefinitely you might like to get this out of the way sooner rather than later so that you are not hindered by this requirement. Regarding mentors: You may find that mentors are only prepared to take you on for the next session (unless you are able to negotiate this upfront and they agree to this) so that is also something that you may like to take on board. Alternatively if you really want to 'go it alone' if you can persuade an ACCA graduate to complete the online mentoring course and therefore technically become a listed mentor, there is no reason why you cannot use such a person as your mentor (the course is fairly basic, costs £85 and counts as 6 CPD hours). The main role of a mentor is to certify that you have done the work yourself and that you have done the Presentation to them. Some mentors will do little more than this but other more experienced ones offer a service much more tailored to their students' needs including a read through service where, because they have been in the business for many years they can more or less assess it on a similar basis to the actual markers and suggest very constructive improvements prior to submission that can save you the hassle of a fail and subsequent resubmission. Anyone who goes for this needs to ensure that the mentor has an excellent track record otherwise they are wasting their money (as of course no mentor can guarantee that your work will pass). (Our approved mentors The Learning Luminarium are sufficiently experienced and qualified to understand the marking requirements well and offer this service as part of their Platinum Package).

Many thanks for the clarification. I will start now, I am assuming the most logical source for the start will be Wikipedia and or the company website? Also, sorry for the stupid question, do I have to write the rap in words? Many thanks Barbara

@barbara2012 - You really need to ensure that you are fully familiar with the Information Pack as it provides advice and guidance as well as the rules and regulations. Also consult articles in Student Accountant that have been produced by OBU markers, moderators and examiners. These articles often offer invaluable advice on how to approach topics and areas of the RAP and as they are straight from the ‘horse’s mouth’ you should pay particular attention to them. You should try to source your RAP from reputable articles and reliable information. As well as the annual report , so look for articles in the business press e.g. the finance pages of the Times, Daily Telegraph, BBC website etc. As you are using a US company then you need to seek out the US equivalents e.g. Bloomberg https://www.bloomberg.com/news/ ; the Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/ and any other industry relevant journals. You may use Wikipedia to find sources (see the references at the bottom of the Wikipedia page) but you are advised not to cite it unless this is unavoidable as it is not considered to be a valid and reliable source from an academic point of view. The same applies to other anonymous sources e.g. blogs and the like. The RAP and SLS must be written in Microsoft Word or similar, spreadsheets produced in Excel and the Presentation in PowerPoint (or equivalent). All work is submitted electronically

Hi, I just have two question if u can clarify please: 1. I have chosen two groups each having subsidiaries and investments in at least 10 countries. In Pestel and swot, I shall focus in which country? 2. I am resubmitting with a pass in SLS, shall I re-submit it again? Thank you

Anwers: 1. You need to focus on the country in which your company resides. In multinational companies, they have operations globally but we need to focus on one entity (either parent, subsidiary or associate). 2. No , you don't need to resubmit your SLS again even you change topic and company in re-submission. I confirmed this from OBU.

Thank you for reply Re first question : the problem I face that financial statements and annual reports are available for consolidated results and not for every entity. It is a telecom company whose headquarter in my country but has subsidiaries, joint ventures elsewhere

@trephena