Live Chat with the ACCA AA Tutor – transcript

Here is the transcript of the chat which has just finished

14:25 Kim Smith: Good afternoon – welcome – let me start with Qs asked so far.
14:26 Kim Smith: Re “bridging document” – you will find an example here – referenced “add on” https://opentuition.com/acca/aa
14:28 Kim Smith: “Further materials” include ACCA’s resources – I do highlight with “sticky” starred posts some of the most essential resources.
14:29 Kim Smith: … at the top of the AA forums
14:29 Kim Smith: Do please ask your questions
14:30 nelsonn: Do I have to explicitly state the assertion when writing substantive procedures?
14:33 Kim Smith: Short answer is yes – the examiner expects this per examiner’s reports
14:33 Luna777: I plan to attend AA exam in March 2021, and I haven’t studied AA yet. When should I finish all the lectures and start revision?
14:33 Kim Smith: But obviously not necessary if the requirement specifies only ONE assertion in the requirement
14:35 AnnDec: Hi Kim, I was wondering if you can provide some tips on how to improve speed of reading the scenario and writing the answer for non-native English speakers, including tips to ensure I use the right verbs in my answer. (I have found this quite challenging during my exam practice.)
14:35 Kim Smith: Luna – I am just looking for a link for you on ACCA www
14:35 Kim Smith: Luna – ACCA provides “study planner templates” https://www.accaglobal.com/uk/en/student/exam-support-resources/fundamentals-exams-study-resources/f8/planning-your-study1.html
14:37 Kim Smith: Hi AnnDec – rather than speed of reading I think it’s more important to spend less time writing.
14:38 Kim Smith: If you look a “How to score marks in AA – essential guidance” (* on the top of the forum) and work through the marking examples there you will see that you don’t have to write much to earn each mark.
14:38 Kim Smith: All students could benefit from reading more slowly to digest information and think about relevant answer points before writing the first thing that comes to mind.
14:40 AnnDec: Thank you
14:40 Kim Smith: If after this chat Ann you would please write to me a post about verbs I’ll see if I can come up with a suitable list – for substantive procedures “inspect”, “agree”, “confirm” are a good start.
14:41 Kim Smith: The ones to avoid are “check” (how?) and “ensure” (how?)
14:41 Kim Smith: Next Q?
14:43 Olec: Let’s say it’s a Risk Assessment question and I correctly identify a risk and why it’s a risk, but my answer in the Auditor’s Response column doesn’t match the model answer provided by the examiner. Will a mark be awarded for my answer for the ‘Auditor’s Response’ part of the constructed response question?
14:43 Kim Smith: To Nelsonn – the examiner recommends this recent article for assertions https://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/student/exam-support-resources/fundamentals-exams-study-resources/f8/technical-articles/assertions.html
14:44 nelsonn: thanks
14:44 Luna777: Thanks Kim! I will use the template!
14:44 Kim Smith: Published answers are illustrative only – as long as the response is appropriate
14:44 Kim Smith: it will be credited
14:45 Kim Smith: by appropriate I mean it must be an AUDITOR’s response to the identified risk
14:45 Kim Smith: What management should be going about it will get no credit
14:47 Kim Smith: Olec – if you attempt the referenced Q17 in the “Read the Mind” article you should have a good idea of what does and what does not earn marks in the risk/response question
14:48 Kim Smith: Next Q/
14:48 Olec: Thank you, Kim! 🙂
14:52 Kim Smith: If any of you have not yet looked at it there is a recent exam technique article “You have a VESTED interest in good answers”
14:52 Kim Smith: There’s a link to it at the bottom of our AA resources page https://opentuition.com/acca/aa
14:53 Kim Smith: More questions please
14:58 Kim Smith: Maybe you would rather resume chatting with each other? 🙂
15:00 Kim Smith: Welcome Rav123 – do you have a question for me?
15:02 Rav123: Hi Kim, with less than 11 days to go till the exam I find myself forgetting a lot of the information I have covered. How do u think I should go about my revision for the next 10 and a half days?
15:03 Kim Smith: I was just going to remind about some of our resources here https://opentuition.com/acca/aa
15:03 Kim Smith: I think it’s a good idea to cover a plan of different topics each day with different resources – so you have a variety of activities.
15:05 Kim Smith: So you can take randomly generated revision tests here https://opentuition.com/acca/aa/acca-aa-revision-test
15:05 Kim Smith: And we have a Section A mock exam of exam style and standard that has full answer justifications
15:06 Rav123: Do you think I should focus more on questions rather than trying to memorise bits of the study material?
15:06 Kim Smith: You need to balance the OT Q practice with full “written” questions
15:07 Kim Smith: and you should aim to cover all the main transaction cycles – sales/purchases/payroll and a range of substantive procedures – so for PPE, receivables, payables, etc
15:08 Kim Smith: The important thing is to understand why tests/procedures are appropriate, so even if you were faced with something you hadn’t specifically revised – you could have a good stab at it from a “commonsense” perspective
15:08 Kim Smith: There are also the flashcards you could use for 30 mins of activity a day – say
15:09 Kim Smith: What you don’t want to be doing is simply reading
15:09 Rav123: I feel like I’ve spent too much time just reading and that’s why I feel I haven’t learnt as much
15:10 Kim Smith: Check out all my * posts at the top of the AA forum – these are really invaluable resources
15:10 Kim Smith: you need to practice with the CBE software too
15:11 Kim Smith: you should be able to plan answers and then expand on your ideas to develop into full answers
15:11 Rav123: Will I be able to practice the CBE software on the ACCA website?
15:12 Kim Smith: YES!
15:12 Dachu: Hi Kim, I have no questions for you, but wanted to use the opportunity and say “Thank you” for the lectures and other resources provided for AA! It is awesome! Keep fingers crossed for us in on 7.12! 🙂
I need to get back to studying. Have a nice day!
15:12 Kim Smith: Thank you Dachu!
15:12 Kim Smith: Rav – give me a moment to find a link for you
15:12 Rav123: Thanks Kim
15:14 Kim Smith: In ACCA’s articles https://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/student/exam-support-resources/fundamentals-exams-study-resources/f8/technical-articles.html there is a section “study support videos” and I think it is the “exam question 16” debrief that shows how to build up answer from a plan in CBE
15:14 Olec: Kim, I use Kaplan exam kit to practice answering constructed response questions. I always time myself, however, I find over and over again that I run out of the allocated time before answering questions fully. What advice would you give in this case apart from the obvious one ‘practice makes perfect’, as my speed doesn’t seem to improve the more I practice?
15:15 Kim Smith: This page https://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/student/exam-support-resources/fundamentals-exams-study-resources/f8/cbe-question-practice.html
15:15 Kim Smith: tells you all about the question practice platform which you should be using to practice CBE
15:16 Kim Smith: There is also a “blank workspace” feature at the bottom of the page
15:16 Kim Smith: Anyone who doesn’t practice CBE will disadvantage themselves because these resources are available to everyone
15:18 Kim Smith: In the past exams – https://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/student/exam-support-resources/fundamentals-exams-study-resources/f8/past-exam-papers.html – the M/J19 exam includes an entire Section A – not just Section B Qs
15:19 Kim Smith: Olec – you have to know when to “draw the line” – I just happen to be looking at M/J19 for example
15:20 Kim Smith: Q16(a) has parts (i) and (ii) for just 4 marks – and says for two methods
15:20 Kim Smith: so that’s 4 sentences
15:20 Kim Smith: Should need next to no thought to answer
15:21 Kim Smith: Part (b) is 18 marks – 3 parts
15:22 Kim Smith: 1 mark for each deficiency/control/test of control – 6 in total – so at first reading of the scenario you should highlight deficiencies
15:23 Kim Smith: if there are more than 6 – you need to narrow down the scope of your answer to those that you can think of recommendation/control
15:24 Kim Smith: you shouldn’t be trying to “force” a recommendation out of every possible deficiency
15:25 Kim Smith: It’s the same with risks and responses – you may initially think of more risks than is necessary for the marks – so you must focus on those for which you can think of a response
15:26 Kim Smith: When you “plan” – each idea should be a word or two ONLY – it should not be a “half sentence” – that is too much
15:26 Kim Smith: In fact – with the tools available in CBE you should be able to highlight the points in the scenario where the risks/deficiencies are leaping out at you
15:27 Kim Smith: Nicholas – did you have a question before we finish?
15:28 Kim Smith: Any more questions?
15:29 Olec: Thank you, Kim! I’ve found this Q & A live session very helpful! 🙂
15:29 Kim Smith: If not now then please do ask on the tutor forum – I answer posts every weekday and also at weekends in the lead up to the exams.
15:30 Kim Smith: Thank you all for participating!