As a moderator of the OBU Forum let me assure anyone who has found us for the first time that you are now within easy access of lots of great, reliable and sound advice about the OBU BSc Degree in Applied Accounting.
Spend a bit of time browsing our home page and see for yourself the FREE advice and service we offer and don't forget to read our FAQs which I compiled with help from an actual experienced OBU marker :
www.opentuition.com/obu
And the news gets even better - our poll of Open Tuition students' results for submissions regularly shows that our students achieved a pass rate of at least 79% compared with the average OBU pass rate of 57% (we say at least because it is highly likely that many more who had passed did not bother to come back to vote so it was probably over 80%). In addition students who have submitted Topic 17 (Corporate governance) and used our advice on our T17 forum have reported some great results in spite of having little real mentoring guidance (both alfred [P29] and eminathsana [P30] passed at the first attempt and achieved B grades) and confirmed our help was invaluable in their success.
We also provide a specific forum thread with helpful suggestions for tackling the Airline sector for Topic 8 so could be useful if you find yourself having to resubmit a previously failed RAP on this topic.
NOTE prescribed industry sectors are changing and airlines will not be allowed from P35 onwards so no one submitting their first attempt or changing topic or company for P35 may choose an airline - and only previously failed students who submitted between P32 and P34 can use an airline based on their previous work.
To solve problems first look using our search facility -just a few keywords will bring up relevant posts (remember a degree is about finding and researching for yourself!). Please try to select the most appropriate forum topic if you need to ask a question as it helps everyone to find it should they subsequently have a similar query. When you post a query it automatically will bring it to the top of the 'white' forum list so it can easily be found by everyone. However if you really can't find anything about your particular query then please post it on 'PLEASE HELP KEEP OUR FORUMS TIDY!!!!' where I will answer it and then post it to the appropriate topic.
Many of our contributors including our Moderator, Ehsan, have done the RAP for themselves so can offer help from their own experience and I have more than 13 years experience of reviewing RAPS and advising students so what we DON'T know about the OBU RAP on this Forum could be written on the back of a postage stamp!!!
Tired of being pushed to do Topic 8 by your mentor? Take a look at the Topic 17 Corporate Governance Forum - you may be surprised at how dynamic and interesting T17 can be! Our students achieved great success with this topic pre P35 often getting at least B grades. (The topic title changed then so it is still early days to judge the current position) but we still offer lots of good advice if you choose this topic (personal favourite of mine)
One word of warning on the subject of mentors: we advise that you do not respond to any posts from individuals plugging their 'mentoring' services as from P31 all mentors must be OBU registered mentors so you must select one from the OBU list. (There is provision for any ACCA members to do the online mentoring course and become registered and this also counts towards CPD so you may be able to persuade a potential mentor such as a supervisor to become a listed mentor). We also advise all students to register on the OBU Mentoring website EVEN if you already have a mentor as OBU is putting a lot of useful resources on this site to help students like you!
It is vital you do your work yourself and resist any mentor who offers you samples. OBU is actively targeting both mentors and students engaged in this practice. Several students have been stripped of the degree for this, mentors banned and at best you can be given at least GBP 600 penalty resubmission fee (it is set at double the normal fee) and at worst excluded completely from getting the degree and your case referred to ACCA for potential disciplinary proceedings. And do your spreadsheet yourself - again using one given out by the mentor can lead to misconduct issues if a marker detects you have based your work on a common spreadsheet.
.. and on this subject please do not solicit actual work from another student -this is not just against OBU rules but could end up in ACCA disciplinary proceedings being brought against you too - besides there us no need to as the OBU Information Pack and Mentoring website and this Forum can provide you with much better advice.
If you can't decide on a mentor (the OBU site merely lists mentors but does NOT recommend anyone in particular), then take a look at 'Advancing the Quality of the OpenTuition-OBU Experience' as we are able to approve one organisation that offers mentoring services based on their track record (details of them and comments made by their students can be found on that Forum). So if you are struggling to find a reputable mentor take a look- but you are under no obligation to use their services -we just offer it as an endorsement of assured quality.
One final piece of advice - as well as many students choosng Topic 8 because they mistakenly believe they do not have many options, many more who don't have a local suitable company often go for Topic 6 on Motivation. The problem with this choice is it depends on a survey and the surveys are often very badly done (T6 consequently has a very low pass rate and very few students actually pass at the first attempt). If you have internet access then you may choose ANY company wherever they are in the world subject to the current RAP rules so T8 may be viable (as well as T17 of course) provided you
select a company from the prescribed industry sector. My advice is: don't rush into doing any topic think carefully about it and other topics and the various requirements needed to pass. Also remember if you really want to do T6 you MUST spend a lot of time in preparing your questionnaire and planning your work otherwise your efforts will be misdirected and time wasted. However on the plus side we do have at least one contributor, Batala, who himself did Topic 6 successfully so between us he and I will try to help where we can if you do want to choose this topic.
The OT team, our moderators and contributors welcome you to the OBU Forum and we wish you every success with your Research and Analysis Project
Trephena - OT OBU Forum Moderator
PS Although Open Tuition is completely free to use at point of use it does depend for survival on advertising revenue -we would therefore ask that you do NOT use an ad blocker. If you do but still want to benefit from our advice it would be good if instead you made a donation so that we can be around to continue helping future students just like we hope we have helped you! Thanks.
Other Accountancy Qualifications
Archived - Welcome to all newcomers and returners to the OBU Forum
There is no problem in using these companies as they are both food producers
@moomi - the main purpose of any model (business analysis) is that it should help guide the financial analysis as genuine strengths and opportunities will influence strategies and management decisions, which in turn affect performance. A threat may also influence these but it's impact on financial performance will usually be less obvious. If you are repeating threats it is therefore a minor detail.
The markers look for evidence that the student has used information gleaned from the models when explaining the underlying factors for what has driven performance. It therefore makes sense to do a good application of the models to understand strategic direction before attempting the financial analysis
1. Please read my article on evaluation on our homepage www.opentuition.com/obu as there are examples in that.
2. No the points can come from any research however the linkage between SWOT and PEST factors and financial performance are part of what happens in the real world of business as they influence strategic direction and decisions.
3. Read my comments in (2) - the models and financial analysis are inter-related so points will often be relevant in both places
8y ago#124Hello @Trephena
Please guide on my above query regarding resubmission.
In my examiner's feedback, I have passed Self Reflection however, I was marked as fail in communication skills. The examiner's feedback on this was "Reasons for fail and advice for improvement:
Your PowerPoint presentation is not of a pass standard. It is too long; 23 some quite detailed slides could not be delivered in the required 15 minutes. Secondly, the graphical presentation does not show the comparator company and hence is less useful. The use of different graph styles is also confusing for the audience."
Please advise whether I have to submit just the presentation or SLS as well?
You will probably find that you have to submit a file for the statement as you technically have not cleared this part but as it was passed you do not need to re-write it unless you change your topic.
With the Presentation comply with the feedback
@moomi said: are 5 threats,5 opportunities, 4 weakness and 7 strengths sufficient. I know quality matters but still please guide trephena and others as wellIf you have enough words to explain each items SUFFICIENTLY then it is enough! Or else 3-5 items is enough for each head.
@moomi said: thanx Ehsan. Secondly are 7 ratios sufficient for financial analysis?I had 7 and I passed, so it must be, but make sure it is industry related.
which is your industry?
Try to find food related KPIs, it will give higher grade. You can calculate your own KPIs.
As Dairy is food manufacturer, if you can get information on their Machine effectiveness it will be great. You can calculate reject ratio ( waste produced by machines - as waste will reduce profits). Similarly rate of machine production, slow will harm sales, while too fast will decrease quality. Similar IDLE time of machine can be KPI.
It can be hard to find these statistics, but deep search can reveal good information.
Yes, some link between Financial analysis and Business analysis is important.
For KPIs that can't be expressed as ratio, use it to explain other normal ratios. For example Idle time can be used to explain fall/increase in operating profit ratio. I used 2 KPIs to explain ordinary ratios in my research.
I got B.
For linkage, if machine is IDLE for long periods then no production will take place so no sales and no profit.
For such information you have to dig and search very much on internet. It's not only IDLE time, you can include other such stuff if you get.
I used 4,
Yes, this will make strong base for ratios and business analysis.
not necessarily, it depends on materiality of the information and things happening in the year.
Hi,
I just want to know other than online and newspapers, where else can I find information about a company? For instance, where can I find data analyst reports?
Also what is the best way to find out the most direct competitor?
It really depends on the context and topic and which part of the report you are referring to. To be honest it is not something that you should worry about unduly - it is the actual content that a marker will be more concerned about
Normally we will use past tense like - "The revenue of company A fell in 2015", because the year has ended and it was past event. "The fall in revenue was due to recession in the economy", again past tense. This was for part-3. For other parts you can choose mix of tenses, like "I chose this topic because it will help me in my future studies".
But never use Could or Would, conditional tense, when explaining the reasons for the company performance is part 3. For example, "The revenue of company A fell in 2015, this could be because of recession in the economy", this will give you fail, because the markers want definite reasons not guesses. "The revenue of company A fell in 2015, this was because of recession in the economy", is correct.
Yes, anything below 7,000 or 1,800 can decrease your chances of passing.
See latest infopack, and search for format, you will see what they require in each part. If you have covered that elements then no need to add anything else in part 2.
Regards,
Ehsan
@moomi said: Is there any minimum word limit of SLS and RAP? Secondly are Bloomberg and euromoniter reliable sites?No minimum limited but as stated anything below 7000 for RAP and 1800 for SLS will decrease your passing chances. Yes, ofcourse they are.
We have a dedicated Forum topic thread for T19. I suggest you read through that as it contains both advice and ideas (and because of my day job commitments, I don't have the time to repeat everything).
If you are completely new you should familiarise yourself with content requirements as set out in the latest Information Pack and also look at our articles on our homepage www.opentuition.com/obu
In particular those on Evaluation and Analysis and Referencing as these continue to be the most common reasons for failure.
Please post any future queries on Topic 19 the T19 thread it helps everyone find things easily and keeps our forum tidy.
Take a look at this old thread as it deals with your query
https://opentuition.com/topic/words-for-criteria-of-the-structure-of-the-research-and-analysis-project/
The Research Objectives are what you are,setting out to achieve and the research questions are a subset of those. In other words they break down the research objectives into specific questions you need to answer. Therefore the two sets of questions are related but not identical as the mentors in the recommended post discuss.
The SLS is about setting out evidence of adequate self-reflection about your learning and development experience for 4 questions. I cannot say that a particular number of words is sufficient as it depends on how much they say in terms of self-reflection.
hello guys, grateful if you could advice upon the work limit.
My RAP project file has amounted to 7846 words. Is that ok or should I reduce it further.
You may have some serious editing to do (unless you have included the ref list which needs to be loaded as a separate file). Markers stop marking at 7,500 words (say 7,570 max) after that if your conclusion falls outside that it will fail as you must produce a conclusion within the word limit.
Trim out all the unnecessary detail in Parts 1 &2. Usually there is a lot of stuff in that is not needed (and I bet the markers don't bother reading anyway). Part 3 is the important bit so only take out bits that repeat information (like lots of figures in the text that are already obvious from the graphs)
@trephena said: You may have some serious editing to do (unless you have included the ref list which needs to be loaded as a separate file). Markers stop marking at 7,500 words (say 7,570 max) after that if your conclusion falls outside that it will fail as you must produce a conclusion within the word limit. Trim out all the unnecessary detail in Parts 1 &2. Usually there is a lot of stuff in that is not needed (and I bet the markers don't bother reading anyway). Part 3 is the important bit so only take out bits that repeat information (like lots of figures in the text that are already obvious from the graphs)thank you for the advice. I have tried reducing the word but counting the cover page, table of content, Part 1,2+3, the total now amounts to 7610 words. Part 1 with cover page+table of content=1137 Part 2=1956 Part 3=4517 Is it ok?
Well hopefully - but there is a chance your last 50 words won't be counted. If your last 50 words are recommendations then that's fine, if it is your conclusions there is more of a potential problem (as explained previously)
Dear trephena,I am new to all this please how do i get started.
I am writing on Topic 8.
what are the step by step procedure
thank you.
Happy new year
Happy New Year to you @profdire
We always recommend starting with the Information Pack to get an overall picture of what is required.
You seem to have already decided on Topic 8 - is this a mentor influenced decision? I ask because the new list of restricted industry sectors for this are very limiting. P35 was the first submission period for these but I suspect the pass rates to be down and very few high grades to be awarded for T8s.
Personally I would never choose this topic - in the past that was because I felt it was boring and unimaginative - however I genuinely feel other topics are not only more interesting but offer a better chance of securing a higher grade.
So for most people starting out I would recommend they at least look at our forum threads on NEW Topic 17 (corporate governance), Topic 18 (marketing) or Topic 20 (CSR) [all of these can be found by using a few key words in our forum search facility].
If your mind is already made up and you are content to just get a C then fine but definitely if you are looking for a higher grade pass I think you are unlikely to achieve it with Topic 8. This is because as I have said it is 'unimaginative' and offers fewer opportunities and scope for critical thought and developing arguments (unlike the other 3 topics I have mentioned). If you consult the assessment criteria you will see that critical thought and evaluation are needed for both B & A grades.
Log into your OBU account (the one you use to upload your submission work ) after 21 March. You willl get one of three alternatives: a pass grade or full feedback sheet if you have failed. Or if your work has been referred there will be a message informing you that the result is deferred and that you will be contacted by the Academic Conduct Office
Hi Trephena.My results just came out and i have not passed.I choose topic 6.I actually dont know the way forward,kindly help
Sorry for the day in responding- I have been away for a few weeks and only just noticed your post. I suggest you post your feedback on the OBU Marker-speak thread then I can see what was wrong.
With Topic 6 it is usually a poor questionnaire and/ or inappropriate or insufficient analysis in terms of relating the results back to theory
8y ago#150Dear Trephena
Hope you are doing well.
I am planning to submit my RAP for the P37 Nov.2018.
I am struggling to choose the topic.
My mentor suggest me to choose topic 8 but I saw the new industry sectors for P37 and P38 which are not very easy I would say.
For T17 I don't know much about it, I currently have't pass P1 yet, the material that I have for P1 also out of date (Version 2014).
Could you please kindly give me some advice about how and where to start to choose the topic?
Many thanks!
Topic lockedNew replies are closed.