BPP Blog

A typical scenario that appears regularly in the ACCA P6 exam is that of an individual planning to set up a business. This individual is unsure whether to form their business as a company or as a sole trader. To add to this dilemma the business is also expected to make trading losses therefore a clear knowledge of the different types of trading loss relief is essential at ACCA P6. more

Tutors of ACCA P2 have heard all the excuses before from our students: “I’m not very good at essays” “I couldn’t think of anything to write” “My first language is not English so I can’t do written questions” “I ran out of time and couldn’t do that question” Sound familiar?  Is that you?  Well there’s more

The ACCA P7 Advanced Audit and Assurance exam paper tests, among other things, candidates’ knowledge of auditors’ responsibilities as explained by International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) – among them ISA 250 Consideration of Laws and Regulations in an audit of financial statements. As organisations across the world continue to struggle in the current financial climate, a warning has come from both sides of the Atlantic that actions which ignore relevant laws and regulations could have serious financial consequences. more

For these questions you should be aware that 7 of the 10 marks are available for your knowledge of the law and only 3 marks for your advice. This means that you should focus most of your answer on explaining the area of law that is relevant to the question. more

There are a number of frameworks that are regularly tested in the ACCA P5 exam – including the balanced scorecard, the performance pyramid, the building blocks model and the performance prism. I have recently been working with the ACCA on an exam technique presentation to ensure that we are able to communicate the examiner’s main concerns more

Real options are a common topic in the ACCA P4 exam. I have recently been working with the ACCA on an exam technique presentation to ensure that we able to communicate the examiner’s main concerns in this commonly tested area. It is well worth viewing this 20 minute presentation. It is based around a question more

From your F4 studies you will recall that directors have a duty to act in a way that will promote the success of the company for its members. Section 172 of the 2006 UK Companies Act specifically talks about considering the long term. However, institutional investors, who also have a fiduciary duty (which you recall is a duty to act in good faith) have increasingly been advised that their duty is for short term profits in their investments rather than long term gain. Those institutional investors then create pressure on companies to seek short term gain. more

Calculations will need to be practiced to time - 36 minutes to do and about 15 mins to debrief as a rule of thumb, meaning that you can realistically expect to do two questions in an evening session. Remember that workings and clear presentation are essential so that you can get follow through marks if you make a mistake in your calculations. more

The ACCA F4 exam is likely to include the following: Q5 Capital structures including the NEW TOPIC of treasury shares Q6 Company directors, maybe including some insider dealing or the NEW TOPIC of market abuse Q7 Employment law focusing on either employment contracts or distinguishing between employees and self-employed workers more

The key to passing these questions is to put everything you have learnt about the audit risk model to one side and think from a practical point of view. Just think about whether something could be wrong with the financial statements. more

The ACCA F4 exam is likely to include the following: Q1 The English Legal System. Likely focus is on the court structures or differences between criminal and civil law Q2 Contract Formation covering offer / acceptance / consideration / intention Q3 Negligence (but not auditors) covering duty of care, breach of duty, causation or defences more

You’re too young for all that surely? Well, leaving aside your own financial planning, you need to be interested in pension schemes for the ACCA P7 Advanced Audit and Assurance exam – IAS 19 Employee Benefits is one of around 25 international financial reporting standards that the P7 examiner may use to test your knowledge of how to audit certain elements of an entity’s financial statements. more

How much should we charge one division of the company for goods being transferred from another division? This is question posed in many organisations and a topic from section E Performance Measurement and control of the ACCA F5 syllabus. I am going to be looking at the reasons and the logic behind setting a transfer price. more

An odd question on first viewing but it is amazing how few students know when a particular tax needs to be paid or when to submit a return. more

When the UK corporate governance code got its most recent update the change that probably attracted the most comment was the requirement to demonstrate greater diversity on boards. The idea is that boards should be more representative of their stakeholders. more

Did you know that the approach to Questions 1-3 is exactly the same? 'What an earth are you saying?' I hear you ask. First, let's remind ourselves about the content of Questions 1-3 in the Paper F7 exam. more

One of the most misunderstood aspects of ACCA P3 is the use of models and theories within the paper. All tutors will tell you that this paper is about application of knowledge, rather than knowledge itself, but what does “application of knowledge” actually mean? more

How football can help us understand the difference between principles and rules for ACCA professional topics such as governance and ethics. more

In our revision courses we try to set as many past exam questions on key syllabus areas as we can. One of the key things we consider when choosing which past exam questions to cover is how students have coped with particular questions in recent exam sittings. The best place to learn this information is by reading the Examiner’s Reports which are issued on the ACCA’s website after each exam sitting. more

When I bought a sofa from DFS a few years ago, they offered me interest free credit for 4 years. I, like many of their other customers found this attractive and it was one of the reasons that I bought from DFS as opposed to one of their competitors. As of April 2012 they still more