RAP - Topic 8

Hi
I am also doing topic 8.
Ask me if you want.
We can share notes....i am also facing some problems.
Chose a time if you want to discuss it sometime.

Try books on financial analysis. I am also following a CMA book on financial analysis. It does help alot.

Regards

thanks for your replies. I bought a book yesterday on analysis and interpretation of Financial Statements so hopefully this will point me in the right direction.
I have been reading loads of infomation about my choosen company and I think I just had a infomation overload and felt a bit overwhelmed.
I need to sit down and understand every item in the accounts before I being analysing them I think.

.

@leemce said:
thanks for your replies. I bought a book yesterday on analysis and interpretation of Financial Statements so hopefully this will point me in the right direction.
I have been reading loads of infomation about my choosen company and I think I just had a infomation overload and felt a bit overwhelmed.
I need to sit down and understand every item in the accounts before I being analysing them I think.

Yeah it happened with me too....got a lot of data..and am trying to structure my report now..
Can anyone tell me where i can get such a book?

Lucky you! I am doing Topic 1 and it seems most student are more comfortable with Topic 8. Is any one out there for Topic 1 Pls....

Sn0b01 -I had a quick look on Amazon and book depository online. Just did a search for analysing financial statement etc.. then went to a bookshop to have a better look before I bought anything. Paid more by going to the bookshop but at least I have it now.

@leemce said:
Sn0b01 -I had a quick look on Amazon and book depository online. Just did a search for analysing financial statement etc.. then went to a bookshop to have a better look before I bought anything. Paid more by going to the bookshop but at least I have it now.

Ok will do something like that...
thanks
stay in touch

@sn0b01 Can you telL me the name of the book you are using?
nd move over m struggling with which co. should I select nd wht sort of info wilL i require from them apart from Annual repots nd from whom should I get that info. finance director or sum1 else?
Plz help me out with this
Thankx :))

amnatariq - I choose a company listed on the stock exchange as all their reports are publically available.
I also checked out their website to make sure that it was easy to navigate and understand. I then looked for news on the company and industry over the past 3 years from various sites including their own press releases
I also am trying to find out info on it's competitors.
Hope this helps.

Thankx so muchfor your Reply.I'am definately planning to use alL this stuff but As I'am going to perform SWOT analysis nd Porter's 5 forces as welL so the information required for it; wilL that be publicially available or I'll need to meet them in person?

amnatariq - I never even thought of doing SWOT analysis etc.
Definitely will add that in to my project.
Proves it's good to share ideas on Open tuition!!

Hi Guys, may I please have a look at any sample Research Report pleass. I am doing Topic 8 and i need just some guidance on presentation..
My e-mail is [email protected]

Hi guys, I just did Topic 8 and was very surprised to get an A...thanks to a lot of good tips on Opentuition.
amnatariq - what leemce wrote was quite correct....you do not need to have any contact directly with the company in order to do Topic 8 RAP on them....provided you can get all their financial results/annual statements for the 3 year period, and have sufficient news reports etc to be able to analyse their business performance, then you can successfully complete the Topic 8 RAP (this is in fact the reason why so many people choose topic 8) .

I didn't use any books on financial analysis other than my old ACCA textbooks for past papers, in order to get the formulas correct and refresh my memory as to how to interpret the different ratios.

However, what I did find really useful was the technical articles on the ACCA website...there were loads of really good articles on different business models to use...and they went into just enough depth for me to be able to understand the different models without geting too bogged down (especially as in the end the word count means you can only write a limited amount on a couple of models...there just aren't enough words available to do loads of indepth business models, especially as you have to also do a decent amount of key financial ratios. So you have to be selective about which models you use...pick the ones that help your RAP the most, and just mention/refer to some of the others, rather than trying to apply them all in full).

Also, there is tonnes of information on the internet on financial analysis and on different business models...

One top tip which was always emphasised to me though was to remember to include in your reference list every website you use in your final RAP, and any books that you draw information from for the RAP (ACCA state that one of the top 4 reasons for why people fail the RAP is lack of proper referencing...so they obviously regard it as very important).

Hope that's helpful.
Good luck!

Hey congrats man on getting a 'A', they usually dont give it you must have done very well. I agree that the word limit restricts the no. of models we can use. Which models do you suggest for topic 8? which ones you did? Hope to hear from you soon..

Hi sn0b01,
The advice tanahteck79 gave in the other Topic 8 thread was spot on I'd say. Think about using some of the obvious models such as the SWOT, Pestal or Porters 5 Forces. Watch out for overlap between some of these, as a good SWOT will also cover a lot of stuff in some Pestal or Porter...you don't want to waste words repeating similar analysis of the same data.
I can't tell you which ones to plump for, as I think part of what OBU want you to do for the RAP show that you know how to pick the most appropriate models for your data. A good way to demonstrate that you know how to do this is to explain in your RAP WHY you chose the models you applied, and why you left out/didn't use some of the other models (ie. if you left out some because of overlap, then tell them that in your RAP; or if you felt that you had insufficient data to apply a particular model, then tell them that)....this will show the markers that you understand a range of different models and that you can selectively choose the most appropriate ones for your particular data/company. You want to show them that you know your stuff and that you are able to appropriately apply the best ones for your particular RAP.

If you are like me then you probably are doubting your ability to do this...but have confidence in your ability. If you've come this far then you have already passed 9 exams (or got exemptions) and you obviously know your stuff.
And don't forget what tanahteck79 mentioned about horizontal/trend analysis....as well as some business models and the financial ratios, you also have to look at trends in the financial data.
And one big tip my mentor gave me, was that it is not sufficient to just say that a figure has gone up or down over the 3 years, you have to say WHY you think it has gone up/down as well....what factors made it change.

And also, absolutely crucial for topic 8 is that you use comparative data...either from another company, or from industry averages, as it is impossible to evaluate how well a company is doing if you have nothing to compare it to.

Hope that helps.

@techno said:
Hi sn0b01,
The advice tanahteck79 gave in the other Topic 8 thread was spot on I'd say. Think about using some of the obvious models such as the SWOT, Pestal or Porters 5 Forces. Watch out for overlap between some of these, as a good SWOT will also cover a lot of stuff in some Pestal or Porter...you don't want to waste words repeating similar analysis of the same data.
I can't tell you which ones to plump for, as I think part of what OBU want you to do for the RAP show that you know how to pick the most appropriate models for your data. A good way to demonstrate that you know how to do this is to explain in your RAP WHY you chose the models you applied, and why you left out/didn't use some of the other models (ie. if you left out some because of overlap, then tell them that in your RAP; or if you felt that you had insufficient data to apply a particular model, then tell them that)....this will show the markers that you understand a range of different models and that you can selectively choose the most appropriate ones for your particular data/company. You want to show them that you know your stuff and that you are able to appropriately apply the best ones for your particular RAP.

If you are like me then you probably are doubting your ability to do this...but have confidence in your ability. If you've come this far then you have already passed 9 exams (or got exemptions) and you obviously know your stuff.
And don't forget what tanahteck79 mentioned about horizontal/trend analysis....as well as some business models and the financial ratios, you also have to look at trends in the financial data.
And one big tip my mentor gave me, was that it is not sufficient to just say that a figure has gone up or down over the 3 years, you have to say WHY you think it has gone up/down as well....what factors made it change.

And also, absolutely crucial for topic 8 is that you use comparative data...either from another company, or from industry averages, as it is impossible to evaluate how well a company is doing if you have nothing to compare it to.

Hope that helps.

Hi techo

Yeah it helps a lot. thanks

I have 2 more question

Firstly what kind of interactions des the mentor have with obu? emails?

Secondly how should be send the report. i know it shd be bound as one. but how shd it be bound?

thanks
hope to hear from you soon.

Hi sn0b01,

With regards to the mentor....there is a section that the mentor fills on on your submission form (the form you download from ACCA website to accompany your RAP and fee). Mentors fill in their address and email and in theory OBU can contact them if they have any queries about your work or the RAP presentation.
I don't know how often OBU contact mentors...whether it is randomly or if there is a problem. My mentor gave the impression that they very rarely do contact them....but I don't know how true this is....

Binding.....I too had this problem, and emailed OBU. They said it was up to students how they bound their RAP/learning statements/slides together...but they suggested spiral comb binding, which is what I used (if you don't have a machine, you can get kits in big stationers for spiral comb binding).
(The info on ACCA website specifically said do not use ring-binders....I guess coz these are too bulky or risk popping open).

Hope that helps.

@techno: Congrats for ur results...;)
RAP and BSc degree results were supposed to be despatched on 30th March 2011, could you pls tell me around when u got confirmation of ur results on ur email and what precisely what the email is abt...? Thx in advance

Hi,
rafa2302.....I got my result by email on the evening of 29-3-11 (a day earlier than I was expecting it)....it just said I had passed my RAP and degree and that a letter was to follow.
Then a day or two later I got a letter in the post telling me my RAP grade and the class of degree etc.

sn0b01.....I also emailed OBU about how many slides per side....they said that the printout of the presentation slided should be attached to the end of the SLS, and they recommended that you print them out with 6 slides to a page. I'm sure that describing them is NOT good enough....you really must attach copies of the actual slides from your presentation....just print them out 6 slides per page and attach them at the end of your SLS, so that the RAP, SLS and slide printouts all get bound together as one document. I was really paranoid that I would forget to include my slide printouts, coz this is also a top 4 reason for why RAPs get failed (ie. forgetting to include presentation slide printouts).

Hope that helps.

Hi techo

It helps a lot, Thanks a lot, was really confused.about it.
6 slides a page is possible, though i think i may have to cram things a bit. but who is actually going to read the slides!?

@techno
Thx a lot for reply and for ur help...;)
In fact i`m planning to submit mine in Period 23.. Have already started the work though..
As u were pointing out, 6 slides per page....but around how many pages for the slides should we include for the power point?
Thx a lot again for ur precious help..;)

Hi

I am confused on whether to print both sides of the page or just 1 of each page.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Hi guys,

rafa2302....in their email OBU said it was up to students how many slides they used for their presentation....so there is a bit of discretion there....however, bear in mind that you only have 15 mins to do the presentation....so you really won't have time to go through tonnes of slides...if you did 12-18 slides you would have around 1 minute (more/less) per slide....so you need to decide how much time you need to present each slide to your mentor. Also, don't forget that OBU are looking to ensure that the content of your slides is related to/reflects the content of your report...

sn0b01....I can't seem to locate the info on the ACCA website...but I'm sure I read somewhere that they recommend you print one sided only....this is what I did.
They do say it must be wordprocessed in black print on white A4 paper and they recommend you use a standard font like Ariel, font size 11 or 12.

Hope that helps.

@techno said:
Hi guys,

rafa2302....in their email OBU said it was up to students how many slides they used for their presentation....so there is a bit of discretion there....however, bear in mind that you only have 15 mins to do the presentation....so you really won't have time to go through tonnes of slides...if you did 12-18 slides you would have around 1 minute (more/less) per slide....so you need to decide how much time you need to present each slide to your mentor. Also, don't forget that OBU are looking to ensure that the content of your slides is related to/reflects the content of your report...

sn0b01....I can't seem to locate the info on the ACCA website...but I'm sure I read somewhere that they recommend you print one sided only....this is what I did.
They do say it must be wordprocessed in black print on white A4 paper and they recommend you use a standard font like Ariel, font size 11 or 12.

Hope that helps.

To add on, I did read that sentence before but cannot remember from which website or part of the package. Well as for me, the lecturer did told us to print it out one-sided for easy reading. Although it might not be very environmental friendly with the amount of paper used, that is still part of the requirement.

In my opinion, it is best not to have too many slides. Too many slides would means more time needed to present and guess nobody can sit there for a long period of time esp. you're the no. 10th or 20th presentor. Furthermore, rushing through the slides would cause the presentation to go unfruitful, main objective not met and that's to communicate information.

Great
Thanks both of you

Thx a lot for ur responses guys...Finding it really helpful...;)

@techno: What abt websites we visited to gain info for our RAP? Do we have to include them coz according to the requirements i read "Information included in internet sources may not be reliable from an academic perspective and may not be appropriate for use in your Research Report" (https://www.accaglobal.com/students/bsc/rap/gathering)..
Are we allowed to use the websites we accessed to and put in our referencing?
Thx for ur help...;)

Hi rafa2302,
You MUST reference every single source of info that you use...this includes webpages, books, articles etc. The BSc guide on the ACCA website has a whole section on referencing and lists in precise detail how each type of source must be referenced...ie the way you reference a webpage is slightly different from how you reference a book, and this in turn is slightly different from how you must reference an article, and so on....
I found referencing extremely tricky, as i had never had to do it before...but OBU regard it as so important that they fail candidates who don't reference their sources.
All I can suggest is that you follow the referencing guide on the ACCA website to the letter...reference each of your sources exactly how they ask you to do it, and then you can't go wrong.

As to how reliable the websites are....well, this is where you're gonna have to use your judgement. Some websites are abviously reliable and fine to use...eg ACCAglobal. You may also feel sites like BBC, or well known newspapers or periodicals such as Telegraph or Guardian are also reliable sources for news/info. Other sites you may not be so sure of, in which case you're gonna have to try to verify their info from a second/third source, to be doubly sure it is realiable.
This is all part of the reasearch process and you can refer to this process of elimination/verification/selection in Part 2 of your RAP when you talk about sources of info, the methods used to collect the info, and the limitations of the data....it shows you've thought about the realiablility of info on websites and it shows the steps you took to verify/check your data sources.

Hope that answers your query.

Thx a lot..;) If i have any other questions i`ll revert back to u...

To add on, my mentor previously did talk about referencing from website. And of course reliability is one of the problem. If you're unsure about the reliability of a certain piece of information, either check the reliability or simply don't use it and look for another. Don't you think logical? Better to change it than risk it.

Do remember there is more than one source f referencing. You can always make reference to journals, published books, articles or newspapers. Therefore a combination of all these sources will impress the marker about you're well read.

One question flash through my mind and that's : How long should the list be?

My mentor did talk about having a list of 1.5 page (minimum) which i think quite logical for a 6,500 words report. Try to avoid to have a full list of internet websites as you might fall into risk of reliability and a very long list of referencing say 3 full pages.

Thx a lot guys...;) Btw think we gonna show only a list of references...bibliography not required from what i read.. Could you pls confirm it?
Thx in advance