PQ magazine December 2014

PQmagazineDecember 2014 www.pqmagazine.co.uk / www.pqjobs.co.uk

A question of supportMeet Neil and Joanne,founders of an onlinesupport group for AATs

ACCAEXAMTIPS

INSIDE

KPMG has ‘outed’ itself with theannouncement of detailed diversitytargets and the promise of greatertransparency.

In what is believed to be an industry first,KPMG has revealed the detailed diversityprofile of all its 11,500 UK staff.

At the same time, the firm hasannounced targets for the next three yearsacross the four areas of gender, ethnicity,disability and sexual orientation. This ithopes will create a benchmark againstwhich the firm will recruit and develop itsworkforce.

KPMG’s UK chairman, Simon Collins,said: “The diversity profile of the workforceacross the professional services industrydoes not reflect society or our client base.We need to change and I believe a crucialpart of achieving a meaningful shift isproviding more transparency on the make-up of our current staff against where wewould like to be.”

Collins said the firm did not under-estimate the scale of the challenge it hasset itself. For example, it will need todouble the number of female audit partnersto hit its gender target. He felt that KPMG’soverall numbers on ethnicity are good, butsaid the firm needs to do much more to

support black professionals as fewer than1% of its partners are black.

To reinforce its message, the firmrecently ended its £22,000-a-yearsponsorship deal with the London School ofEconomics sports clubs. Its men’s rugbyclub reportedly handed out leaflets inFresher’s Week which have been describedas sexist, homophobic’ and classist.

The rugby club has been disbanded. Ina statement KPMG said: “KPMG sponsorsa number of university sports teams as partof its support of university-level sport in theUK.

“KPMG in no way supports derogatorycomments made towards any individual orgroup and, after speaking to the club toraise our concerns over recent issues, weagreed to end the current arrangement.”

KPMG’s TARGETS & EXISTING DIVERSITY MIX Current 2018 target

Female Partners 15% 25%Female Directors 23% 36%Female Seniors 36% 46%Black Partners 7 (0.9%) 9 (2.2%)Black Directors 9 (1.2%) 14 (4.4%)Black Seniors 14 (2.0%) 18 (4.1%)Disability overall 1.4% 2.8% LGBT overall 3.0% 4.1%

See page 7

for more details.

CIMA is changing. So are we...

KPMG MAKES BOLDDIVERSITY PROMISE

Collins: not underestimating the size of the task

pq dec 14 p01 CCM_pq nov 11 p01,10 06/11/2014 12:23

kaplanfinancial.co.uk/pqaat

+44 (0)1908 540 067

[email protected]

Discover what makes our AATPassPlus course multi-award winning

of Kaplan students passed

their AAT exams**

97%

Our dedicated tutor

team offer continued

support until you pass

Personal Support

More interactive class

structure to identify and

adapt to your needs

Guaranteeĺ

Peace of mind in the

unlikely event you’re

unsuccessful in an exam

industry tutorsDelivering innovative study

methods helping you learn

and retain the knowledge

Case studies bring the syllabus

to life, making courses work

relevant and engaging

Develop key work skills

Personalised learning

Lifetime Pass

Experienced

Why study AAT with Kaplan? Choice of classroom courses available in 25 central locations across the UK

Flexible study options including Distance Learning and Live Online

Interest free* payment plans available

Tried and tested – Over 23,000 students have studied AAT with Kaplan

over the past 5 years

Extra London classes

starting thisNov & Dec on

all Levels!

ĺ�7KH�/LIHWLPH�3DVV�*XDUDQWHH�LV�DYDLODEOH�IRU�$$7�3DVV�3OXV�&ODVVURRP�DQG�/LYH�2QOLQH�FRXUVHV�RQO\��5HTXLUHV��FRXUVH�DWWHQGDQFH�

7&V�DSSO\��6HH�ZHEVLWH�IRU�GHWDLOV�� $35�� $$7�SDVV�UDWH�RI��EDVHG�RQ�OHYHO��%&67�.DSODQ�UHVXOWV�IRU�2FW��WR�'HF��

002_PQ 1214_PQ 1209 000 31/10/2014 15:29 Page 7

comment PQ

News08ACCA disciplinary How toguarantee a fail in the F5 paper 10ICAEW results Professionalpass rates ‘consistently high’12Where’s the mobility? UK atrisk of losing a generation ofyoung talent, says ACCA report

Features, etc06Mind your Ps&Qs Planningahead is just not that easy; indefence of the ACCA; and ourTwitter and LinkedIn updates14Tesco scandal Follow this story– it will help you embellish youranswers in the exam hall

16Let’s get technical How topass Level 2 ProcessingBookkeeping Transactions19Four pages of ACCA tips Toptips for you – but do still revise!

24AAT news Meet the teambehind a new support networkfor distance learners; and moreroutes to membership open up

26Flipping the classroom Anew approach to teaching ispaying off, says Clare Finch

27CIMA exams We spoke toCIMA education boss NoelTagoe about the resit results28Example technique Learningfrom your mistakes is vital30CIPFA focus Institute unveilstwo new qualifications to help inthe fight against fraud

31PQ Awards 2015 Don’t forgetto enter accountancy’s topawards – the 19 Decemberdeadline is looming large32ICAEW spotlight Taking theright approach will help you topass the Accountancy paper33PESTEL analysis Sometimes itreally helps to state the obvious34Careers How to take control ofyour career; life at NappPharmaceuticals; and our BookClub review38Fun time Accountant stars onThe Apprentice; win an iPad;and loads of great giveaways

The columnistsRobert Bruce The corporate sectorcan’t cope with the big egos 8Prem Sikka Why the bank stresstests are not fit for purpose 10Carl Lygo The ‘Great Recession’puts capitalism to the test 12

Subscribe to PQ magazineIt’s FREE – go to

www.pqmagazine.co.ukABC July 2013–June 2014

32,361

Publisher’s statement: We have adigital issue of the magazine whichis sent to 10,012 requested readers

Every little helpsAs Paul Merison says inside this issue, the Tesco accountingdebacle is a must-read for all you PQs out there (see page

14). It’s an almost perfect case study and he explains that looking at themess will give you great insight into revenue recognition, materiality,review reports, audit independence and corporate governance. One ofour favourite professors – Crawford Spence – has reiterated that withTesco’s being investigated for fraud by the SFO, the Financial ReportingCouncil has yet greater reason to start a probe into the auditor’s role ‘withregard to these irregularities’. He says: “Tesco have been losing marketshare to its competitors steadily in recent years and losing value quitedramatically in its share price in recent months, Rather than fix theunderlying problems, they have been playing around with their numbersto try to make things look better.” Merison has a more measuredresponse to this. The Tesco audit report materiality was set at £150m,and maybe the materiality assessment should have been lower to reflectthe high public profile of this leading UK company. The investigations forfraud are likely to be long and complicated, and could drag on for years.Top lawyers Pinsent Masons have said that the SFO could take anythingfrom three to seven years to conclude any investigation. So what sort ofcharges could arise? Pinsent Masons’ Laura Dunseath feels the mostobvious ones are conspiracy to defraud, issuing false or misleadingstatements to the market, false accounting and misleading auditors.These crimes can lead to unlimited fines and up to 10 years in prison.

A big thanks as always to all the tutors who helped us put together ourfour-page ACCA exam tips pull-out. These key examinable areas will helpthose who are beginning to go into panic mode.

Finally, don’t forget to stand up and be counted! We need your entriesfor the PQ awards – the deadline is 19 December. As if to complete thecircle, Paul Merison was the winner of one of our wonderful PQs – hewas Private Sector Lecturer of the Year in 2013.

Graham Hambly, PQ magazine editor ([email protected])

CONTENTS December 2014

* See website for T&Cs. ** Tutor support available Mon-Thurs 9am-10pm,

Fri 9am-5pm, Sat 10am-1pm.

Study CIMA with the only

Distance Learningcourse with CIMA approved

content and materials

Our NEW CIMA Distance Learning Premier is designed

to guide you through the 2015 syllabus and includes

CIMAstudy.com online content, plus official CIMA materials

alongside lots of other features.

Study with Distance Learning Premier to benefit from:

NEW CIMA Mobile Practice App coming soon*

Access to 120 hours CIMAstudy.com content

Official CIMA materials

Mock exams with feedback

Support from our team, even during evenings

and weekends**

+44 (0)113 243 0056 [email protected]

www.kaplanfinancial.co.uk/cimapremier

Find out more about Distance Learning Premier:

PQ dec 14 p3_pq aprl08 p04 06/11/2014 11:01 Page 1

www.LSBF.org.uk/PQAcca

020 3535 1111

^LSBF Pass 1st Time Guarantee™ ensures that if you do not successfully pass your paper on the first

sitting, you will be able to attend a free re-sit course. The nature of the free resit depends on the

preferred study mode. †Payments must be made on or before the specified date and failure to comply

will render the agreement null and void. *Full-time students: Applicants must hold a University Degree.

Offer applies when booking 9 or more papers. Students will be entitled to 25% off the course when

paying a deposit or 30% off when paying in full. Part-time students: Book 4 tuition papers and 2

revision papers and get 15% off and an MS Surface tablet. This promotion has not been endorsed by

Microsoft. Surface is a trademark of Microsoft, registered in the U.S. and other countries. Offer expires

15 December 2014. Please read full T&Cs for more information.

UNIVERSITY GRADUATE? START YOUR FESTIVE SEASON WITH UP TO 30% OFF* YOUR ACCA

Benefit from

Award-winning tutors

Live Online Lectures

ACCA Prep Centre

One-to-one coaching scheme

Flexible payments†

Pass 1st Time Guarantee™^

004-005_PQ 1214_PQ 1209 000 31/10/2014 14:39

ACHIEVE MORE. BECOME MORE.

GET YOUR FESTIVE

DISCOUNT BEFORE

15 DECEMBER

8-Time Winner

004-005_PQ 1214_PQ 1209 000 31/10/2014 14:39

PQ have your say

www.LSBF.org.uk/SHOP

PART-TIME SHOP

� Book ACCA & CIMA papers

in a few simple steps

� View timetables

� Claim offers

PQ Magazine Fourth floor, Central House, 142 Central Street, London EC1V 8AR | Phone: 020 7216 6444 | Email: [email protected]: www.pqmagazine.co.uk | Editor/publisher: Graham Hambly [email protected] | Advertising manager: Polly Thrasivoulou [email protected]

Associate editor: Adam Riches | Art editor: Tim Parker | Subscriptions: [email protected] | Contributors: Robert Bruce, Prem Sikka, Carl Lygo, Tony Kelly, Phil Gammon, Jo Daley | Origination and print services by Classified Central Media

If you have any problems with delivery, or if you want to change your delivery address, please email [email protected] by PQ Publishing © PQ Publishing 2014

Out of control?I totally understand last month’slead story, ‘Take control of yourfuture’, and know the onus is on usaccountancy students to plan forthe future – but how do we actuallydo that? I’m a PQ and have beenstudying, unsupported, for threeyears now. I am about to start afamily and I honestly no longer feeltotally in control of my journey!

Who knows what’s going tohappen in the future. I totallyunderstand why students just look

at the next set of hurdlesto jump and not too farin front of that. I think itwould be much more

helpful if tuition companies helpedprovide study plans for eachqualification and explained justhow much it will cost us to getqualified.

That said, I really want to getqualified – I know that being a‘permanent’ PQ will not help myjob prospects.

I am also concerned that theACCA is talking about changing the10-year rule as I think I my needthat time to get there.Name and address suppliedThe editor says: We know life iscomplicated but having apersonal study plan is a positivestep forward for PQs.

The writer of the star letter each month wins a fantastic ‘I ❤ PQ’ mug!

Hot & TweetWe have been outand about thismonth, and havebeen merrily tweeting as we go.First up was the impressive ICBSummit at London’s QueenElizabeth II Hall. We discoveredfrom HMRC’s Barbara Wilsonthat there is a differencebetween how it deals with‘provisional’ and estimate’ onreturns.

At CIMA’s President dinner,after the mic finally started towork (mild panic there), wefound out that the institute ismoving to Moorgate, London. Abit of an exclusive there.

PQ also ventured along to theICAEW’s London Women inAccountancy event (see photo,below). CA Hall was packed,and Colour Me Beautiful’s AnnaDe Vere gave some greatadvice. She explained if youdon’t feel at your ease at anetworking event look for a

group with an odd number ofpeople in it – you will havesomeone to talk to if peoplepair off. She also stressed theimportance of having a pictureon your LinkedIn page – if youdon’t have one people will thinkthere’s something wrong withyou!

Follow us @PQmagazine

email [email protected]

ACCA is supportiveWe would like to respond to theletter entitled ‘ACCA not playingfair’ (PQ, October 2014).

The ACCA provides acomprehensive range of learningsupport resources designed to helpstudents prepare for their examsand maximise their chances ofsuccess.

These include core resourcessuch as the syllabus and studyguide, past exam papers,examiners’ reports and technicalarticles, and also extra support inthe form of examiners’ interviewsand exam technique videos.

ACCA’s P5 Technical Advisorrecently produced a video focusingon what the P5 exam is about, theunderpinning knowledge required,and how to study and revise for it.We also held an online webinar atthe end of September which lookedat how students can succeed at theProfessional level.

We have also recently launchedthe ACCA Learning Community, anexciting online platform allowingyou to discover, connect and learnwith fellow ACCA students in asocial and professionalenvironment.

These resources are available onthe ACCA’s website and can alsobe accessed via the StudentAccountant hub page. Lali Sindi, CorporateCommunications Manager, ACCA

The ACCA StudentNews Group isone of thebiggest LinkedIngroups. One

recent post came from RichardClarke, and was about how to gainthe professional marks in theexams. These are awarded forlayout, logical flow andstyle/persuasiveness – so make

sure you get all of these. Clarkealso points out that they requirenothing but common sense, andthat it’s often the little things thatmake the difference. So, whenwriting a letter, the address goeson the top right-hand side and thedate on the left-hand side. Thenmake sure the ‘subject’ is in boldacross the centre. Start your letterwith ‘Dear…’ and have an opening

paragraph that basically reflectsthe requirement. Write in the firstperson; that is “I”, “we”, etc.Clake says you must keep referringto whom you are writing – egshareholders – as this keeps youranswer on track. Finally, concludeby thanking ‘whoever’ for theirtime. And it’s yours faithfully (ifaddressee is anonymous) or yourssincerely (if named). Top advice!

PQ dec 14 p6_pq aprl08 p04 06/11/2014 11:03 Page 1

CIMA is changing. So are we.

...with your success in mind.

Be the first to know.

Register now for updates at

BPP.com/Launch

007_PQ 1214 05/11/2014 11:01

8 PQ Magazine December 2014

PQ news

Public sector qualificationThe Institute of Certified

Public Accountants in Ireland (CPAIreland) has launched an onlineCPA certificate in IPSAS FinancialReporting for accountants workingin public sector organisationsaround the world. The new onlinecertificate was launched at therecent World Congress ofAccountants in Rome.

Lengthy investigationThe Serious Fraud Office’s

investigation into Tesco’s £263m

accounting black hole could takeanything from three to seven years,claims leading law firm PinsentMason. Eight executives have beensuspended and Warwick BusinessSchool ProfessorCrawford Spenceis calling for theFinancialReporting Councilto start aninvestigation intothe auditor’s role.• Read LSBF’s Paul Merison’s takeon the Tesco story, page 14.

ACCA chooses iVentThe ACCA has appointed

iVent to deliver two recruitmentevents. It recently hosted theACCA’s 2014 graduate recruitment

event online,showcasingplacements fromamong othersBaker Tilley,Deloitte and Boots.The iVent platformalso includes

pioneering features such as one-to-one video interview rooms and

video CVs for users built into thesystem.

Reports are getting longerAnnual reports are getting

longer, with the average length now132 pages, says research fromDeloitte. That’s an increase year-on-year of 10 pages! Despite thegrowing length and increasedregulatory emphasis, 71% of firmsare not showing upfront how theylink matters such as strategy, KPIs,business model, remuneration andfinancial statements.

In brief

AAT grows offeringThe AAT is introducing a range ofnew qualifications, which it hopesfits more closely to the needs oftoday’s prospective trainees and,perhaps more importantly, theiremployers.

The AAT has added two newBookkeeping qualifications to itsoffering. A new Advanced Level 3Certificate in Bookkeeping andEthics covers double-entrybookkeeping, financial statements,intermediate spreadsheets softwareuse and professional ethics.

The creation of a three-paper

Bookkeeping qualification will meanstudents will be able to usedesignatory letters when they havecompleted the exams. PQ believesthis might be BAAT.

Two new computerisedaccounting qualifications have alsobeen added to the portfolio.

Other qualifications now offeredby the AAT are:• Level 1 Certificate in Accounting.• Level 2 Award in AccountingSkills to Run Your Business.• Level 4 Certificate in Taxation andEthics.

The problem that brings companiesdown and creates the sort of scandalsthat reverberate around the economyare usually down to one underlyingreason. It is the way that oneoverwhelming ego has been allowedto run free, trampling over all thesafeguards that are supposedly inplace. It was to address this thatcorporate governance, the CadburyCode, and the efforts of the FRC, havebeen devoted. Reams of guidancenow exist, all well-intentioned, muchof it effective. But there are signs thatthe tide is turning and the reason isthe inevitable one. Unintendedconsequences and an insistence oncovering all the bases are bringingthe process to a grinding halt.

There has been much fuss aboutindependent directors, chairs of auditcommittees, and all those who aresupposed to fearlessly hold boards toaccount. There is now an offence ofbehaving recklessly which, if proved,could result in directors going to jail.And this is where it all breaks down.Prison, on a vague and undefinedpremise as ‘reckless’, does focus themind. But it does not mean that non-executive directors are going to befearless in holding someone else’sego to account. Instead, it means thatlawyers insist on non-executivesbeing anodyne in their comments. Oneold friend tells me that his boardmeetings now have a lawyer sittingbehind each director to take notes onexactly what each said so, shoulddisaster occur, they can argue that itwasn’t them who stepped out of line.This is not a way to hold crazed chiefexecutives to account.

ROBERTBRUCE

No way todeal withcorporatebig egos

■ Robert Bruce is an award-winning writer onaccountancy for The Times

How to fail F5!A now former ACCA student, AsadBabar, has been removed from thestudent register after threatening tokill “all the Britishers and Jews andnon Muslims” in his F5 paper.

The ACCA disciplinary committeefound Babar guilty of misconductby reason of writing offensivestatements in his script, when healso wrote among other things: “Iwill attack India…”. “Then I willattack the west and Europe – WorldWar III will be started by me just asHitler started World War II.”

The ruling is still subject to anappeal, and Karachi-based Babarhas claimed that someone elsemust have used his identity to sitthe exam as he was ill. He alsoasked for the handwriting to be

checked against his. However, thecommittee did not find theseexcuses ‘remotely credible’, and hewas removed from the register withimmediate effect and ordered topay costs of £2,256.50.

Another student, RobertoSimeone, has also been removedfrom the register. He failed to bringto the attention of the ACCA thefact that he had been convicted ofassault, contrary to bye-law 10(b).The charge relates to an allegationthat he spat into the face of ‘PersonA’, a fellow female student. Again,the ACCA wanted it noted that thiscase may be subject to appeal. • For better-behaved students wehave four pages of tips for theDecember sitting – go to page 19.

NEW SALARYCALCULATORFROM CIMACIMA has created an online‘earnings calculator’, which allowsPQs to work out their average salaryaccording to different career factors.The calculator uses data from therecently published CIMA salarysurvey 2014, and you can find it atwww.cimaglobal.com/salary.

CIMA’s latest survey found theaverage PQ earns £32,294 in basicsalary plus £1,433 in bonuspayments. And, according tomembers and students, the futurealso looks bright. Some 90% of bothare anticipating a salary increaseover the next 12 months, with mostexpecting it to rise by up to 3.9%.

CIMA salary survey – average salary

Operational – £30,735Management – £31,904Strategic – £34,436T4 – £39,546ACMA/CGMA – £64,891FCMA/CGMA – £110,073

• In April, CIMA is relocating its HQfrom London’s Victoria to SouthPlace, a prime location in the City.CIMA CFO John Windle said themove would allow CIMA to benefitfrom improved technology, moreagile working and greaterorganisational effectiveness. CIMAhas signed a 10-year lease.

PQ dec 14 p8_pq sept 12 p08 05/11/2014 15:31 Page 10


UKBA HIGHLY TRUSTED

SPONSOR

LONDON SCHOOL

OF BUSINESS & FINANCE

Study your ACCA part-timewith LSBF

START JANUARY ‘15

� Live Online lectures available 3 times a day

� Updated ACCA Prep Centre via Facebook

� Free Practical Skills Certificates*

� Pass 1st Time Guarantee™^

� Flexible payment plan†

� One-to-one coaching

*When you book 6 or more tuition papers.

^LSBF Pass 1st Time Guarantee™ ensures that if you do not

successfully pass your paper on the first sitting, you will be able to

attend a free re-sit course. The nature of the free resit depends on

the preferred study mode. †Payments must be made on or before

the specified date and failure to comply will render the agreement

null and void. Please read full T&Cs for more information.

www.LSBF.org.uk/ACCA

020 3535 1111

009_PQ 1214_PQ 1209 000 31/10/2014 14:40 Page 7


PQ news

The European Banking Authority (EBA)has published the results of stresstests for banks at the end of 2013.These cover 123 banking groups from23 countries, including euro zone andnon-euro countries. The results showthat 25 banks, none of which is in theUK, failed the stress tests. The banksneeded about £20.5bn in additionalcapital to stabilise themselves.

The EBA focused on a bank’s abilityto withstand a 14% drop in houseprices, a 19% drop in equity pricesand a 7% decline in GDP across theEU. However, the tests ignored theimpact of deflation, a spike incommodity prices and the dominoeffect originating from other countries,all of which can erode bank capital.The tests also assumed some assetsare less risky than others, but the2007–08 crash did not respect anysuch classification. So the calculationof ideal equity and leverage ratios areproblematical. A key issue is that theEBA has relied on – somewhatmodified – bank financial statements,primarily prepared for investors. Thus,the EBA calculations are muddied bydebates about the appropriateness offair value accounting, goodwill,transfer pricing issues, and expected-loss versus incurred-loss model. A2013 report by the UK ParliamentaryCommission on Banking Standardssaid that “flaws in IFRS mean that thecurrent system is not fit for regulators’purposes”. It called for a separate setof accounts for regulators.

The EBA stress tests are unlikely tobe the last word about bank solvency.

PREMSIKKABank stresstests fail tosolve thesolvencyconundrum

■ Prem Sikka is professor of accountancy at theUniversity of Essex

IFA and IPA to merge?The UK-based Institute of

Financial Accountants is proposingto ‘amalgamate’ with Australia’sInstitute of Public Accountants(IPA). The 9,000 member-and-student IFA would join the 26,000-strong Australian organisation. PQhas been told the IFA brand willcontinue to operate as part of theIPA Group. IFA chairman CatherineChamberlain said: “This agreementwill bring three key benefits:greater efficiency, greatereffectiveness and greater value for

members.” The proposal will nowbe put to the vote of IFA members.

New CIMA qualificationCIMA has launched a new

qualification for shared servicesemployers. The qualificationdevelops the skills and broaderknowledge of shared servicescentre professionals, to helpemployers attract, develop andretain talent. Candidatesundertaking the training will gainknowledge of shared service bestpractice, including principles, tools

and techniques, along witheffective governance and controls.The certificate also providesgrounding in the key sharedservices functions of finance, IT,HR and procurement.

Women in accountancyThe ICAEW has just

completed a series of hugelysuccessful roadshows toencourage women intoaccountancy. During theroundtable discussion in London,the all-female audience was told

that confidence was an allimportant attribute to have. Onesenior accountant pleaded that younever start a sentence with “I amnot sure if I’m right but…”

HQ jobs to go at EEMobile phone operator EE is

planning to cut some 350 jobs atits HQ in Hatfield. Among theteams it is looking to ‘slim down’are marketing, legal and finance.Meanwhile, CEO Olaf Swantee saidEE will bring 1,000 call centre jobsback to the UK by 2016.

In brief

Love people, love the jobIf you don’t like people don’tbecome an accountant, says RonaO’Brien, Dean of the GSM LondonBusiness Management School.

Opening a careers week at thecollege she said accountants canno longer live with their calculatorin a darkened office.

Despite the hard work of theprofessional bodies, CIMA-qualifiedO’Brien felt there was a needcounter the perception of what acareer in accountancy really is like.

She said a good accountantworks with everyone in everyfunction in their organisation and isprepared to negotiate.

O’Brien also said you have to beprepared for people to lie to you ‘all

the time’, and while she was notsaying the whole world was bad youhave to act like a detective.

A good accountant also loves

Sleep and learnat the same timeListening to revision tapes while yousleep may actually work! A newstudy has discovered that thehuman brain is able to process themeaning of words while we sleep,suggesting that that it might bepossible to train the mind to learnas we slumber.

There is a problem. Scientistsbelieve that tobe effective asa revisiontechnique aperson wouldprobably haveto fall asleep doing the task –although that shouldn’t be hard formost accounting PQs!

Another possible problem is thatby learning as you sleep you couldinterfere with the normal‘consolidating’ process that helps usremember what we did when wewere awake.

So there is no magic formula forrevision just yet.

ICAEWresultsICAEW Professional levelSeptember pass rates remained‘consistently high’ despite the factthat this was the first sitting whereall students sat the evolved papers.Some 90.4% of ACA PQs passedthe Business Strategy paper. Thepass rate was even higher for thispaper among first timers – 92.8%.Meanwhile, the lowest paper passrate for September was FinancialManagement paper – 74.9%.

The paper prize-winners list wasdominated by PwC and Deloitte.Students from these two firmspicked up three paper prizes each.One student, Mark Rickerby, stoodout. The London-based Deloittetrainee came first in the FinancialManagement and BusinessStrategy (joint) papers – no meanfeat.

business. She ventured thataccountancy itself is ‘rubbish’ if itdoesn’t help businesses grow. And,while business is easy, theaccountancy exams are ‘horrible’.

And another thing – you have tobe excellent at making thingssimple.

Here are O’Brien’s top tips for asuccessful accountancy career:• Love people – they are aroundyou from nine to five.• Like organisations – you have todeal with all the differentdepartments, so understand them.• You have to be prepared to dig tofind out the truth, so be curious.• Reduce everything to basicprinciples and work from there.

ICAEW PROFESSIONAL RESULTS SEPTEMBER 2014

Audit & Assurance: 84.4%Financial Accounting & Reporting: 86.7%Tax Compliance: 81.5%Business Planning Taxation: 86.8%Business Strategy: 90.4%Financial Management: 74.9%

Rona O’Brien

PQ dec 14 p prem_pq sept 12 p08 06/11/2014 12:00

GET 12% OFF* OURLIVE REVISION PACKAGE

Fine-tune your knowledge through

a series of intensive live revision

sessions and HD quality lectures led

by InterActive’s award winning tutors.

GLOBAL LIVE ONLINE REVISION SESSIONS + RECORDINGS

Includes 4 x 2.5-hour live sessions

which cover all key revision material

and matching Global Live Online

revision notes.

Revise online

with InterActive

www.studyinteractive.org/PQ 020 3535 1274

*T&Cs apply. Visit website for full terms and conditions www.studyinteractive.org/terms-and-conditions

Award-winning tutors

Award-winning platform

24/7 access to full syllabus in HD lectures

Marked mock exam with video debrief

011_PQ 1214_PQ 1209 000 31/10/2014 14:41 Page 7


PQ news

It is official: the world recession thathit in 2008 is now labelled the ‘GreatRecession’. We are going to hear a lotabout it in the run up to next year’sgeneral election. I was in Amman,Jordan, listening to world-renownedeconomists explaining research onthe impact of the Great Recession.Pew Research reported that “mostparents in richer nations think thatchildren in their country will be worseoff financially than their parents incontrast to the views in developingnations”. Some 60% of parents felt agood education was vital to successand 50% felt hard work was the key.Nothing earth shattering in that, butwhat did surprise me was that 5% ofparents who felt “giving bribes” wasthe key to success and theresearchers presented the top 10countries were this was a factor (withratio being importance out of 10)1. China 5.52. Jordan 5.03. Russia 4.54. Poland 4.35. Tunisia 4.16. Italy 4.17. Turkey 4.08. Mexico 4.09. Greece 3.910. Ukraine 3.7

The Great Recession has also ledto some questions about capitalismitself. At least 70% of people in SouthKorea, Germany and the US say mostpeople are better off under capitalism,but fewer than half in Greece, Japanand Spain agree. Lower income andeducation levels lead to a lack ofsupport for free market capitalism asthe gap between rich and poor is verywide, said the researchers. ‘The costof living crisis’ is echoing around theworld.

CARLLYGO

The ‘GreatRecession’is shakingfoundationsof capitalism

■ Professor Carl Lygo ischief executive of BPP

Transitional assessments:time running out for AATs

Mobility woe Total exam timeCGSM London recently

hosted a careers ‘help week’. PQmagazine was there for apresentation by CIMA, CIPFA andthe ICAEW. CIMA now has themost professional exams, with 17,but it was quick to point out thetotal exam time for the differentexams – CIMA 32.5 hours; ACCA39 hours; ICAEW 35 hours; andCIPFA 37.5 hours. Would thatinformation have helped youchoose which body to join?

New MA principlesCIMA and the AICPA have

released new Global ManagementAccounting Principles. CIMA’sCharles Tilley felt that these newPrinciples will help CEOs and theirteams achieve better decision-making across their organisations.He said that managementaccounting has lacked the samelevel of guidance as financialaccounting to ensure consistentpractice worldwide. He said: “ThePrinciples help fill the gap.”

In brief

Time is running out for AATsaffected by the transitionalassessments, warns First Intuition’sCrystal Haygreen.

She stressed that in order topreserve achievements from theassessments you have passed youneed to complete any requiredtransitional assessments (TAs) by31 December 2014.

Those who havefully completed levelswill not be affected.However, you will beaffected by TAs if youare mid-way through alevel. Haygreenpointed out that it alsodepends on when youstarted your currentlevel, so let’s have alook at the differentscenarios.

If you started your current levelafter 1 August 2013 and you arestudying under the AQ2013syllabus no TAs are required. Justcontinue to complete your studiesunder AQ2013.

You may be affected by TAs ifyou started your current level underAQ2010. If you are not going tocomplete all your assessments by

31 December 2014 you need toensure you have completed anyTAs by that date. Anyone on theAQ2010 syllabus will automaticallymove over to the AQ2013 syllabuswhen the deadline passes. You willreceive transferrable achievementsfor units you have completed – but

some units don’tcover the newstandards in full,meaning that a TAshould becompleted for thatunit to close thegap between thetwo standards.

If you beganyour studiesbefore 2010 andhave completed

assessments under the2003 standards you must completeall assessments for your currentlevel under the AQ2010 syllabus bythe set date. There are notransitional arrangements ortransferrable achievement forcompleted units if you aretransferred over to AQ2013 mid-level. This means that although youwill have had your achievementsunder the 2003 standards

transferred over to AQ2010 theycannot be further transferred toAQ2013.

Which units are affected by TAs?• Level 2 requires TAs for BasicCosting and Working Effectively inAccounting and Finance. • Level 3 requires a TA forProfessional Ethics. • Level 4 requires a TA for theInternal Controls and AccountingSystems project.

If you don’t complete the TA for aunit and you are converted acrossfrom AQ2010 to AQ2013 you willnot receive the transferrableachievement for that unit and youwill need to resit the unit under thenew syllabus.

The biggest challenge is at level4 as you may be sitting yourassessment through November andDecember and waiting six weeksfor results. If you have completedICAS and are waiting for results foranother unit you may want toconsider completing the ISYS TA toavoid the risk of having to completea new project if you are notsuccessful in your last exam.• For information or specific adviceemail [email protected].

The government is not doing enoughto support social mobility, says theACCA in its latest report, ‘Whoaccounts for social mobility? Isenough being done?’

What really disappoints the ACCAis that none of therecommendations ofthe Social Mobilityand Child PovertyCommission havebeen implemented.For example, theACCA wants to seean end to unpaidinternships. TheACCA’s SarahHathaway said: “We risk losing atalented generation if we do not endunpaid internships, and there is alsoan issue around how internships areadvertised.”

There are worries about thewithdrawal of investment in careersadvice, too. ACCA research foundjust 9.5% of its students/membersreceived information about

accountancy from their school and7.1% from their university, indicatingmuch more can be done to improveawareness of the profession and itsentry routes.

Hathaway explained: “A lot ofyoung people simplyaren’t aware that you donot need a degree tobecome an accountant.Career advice and rolemodels will be integral tochildren realising there isno glass ceiling.”

Social mobility is ‘veryimportant’ to 64.5% ofACCA students and

members. And a massive 76% ofthose surveyed also felt theircompany should pay a living wage.

On top of an end to unpaidinternships, the ACCA reports callsfor the appointment of a socialmobility minister and introduction ofa mandatory social mobility toolkit,which requires businesses to trackemployees throughout their career.

Thinking about achange of direction?

Then go straight towww.pqjobs.co.ukfor the very best

part qualified jobs!www.pqjobs.co.uk

Haygreen: warning for AATs

Hathaway: worried about internships

PQ dec 14 p12_pq sept 12 p08 05/11/2014 15:06 Page 8

013_PQ 1214_PQ 1209 000 30/10/2014 15:33 Page 7


PQ using the media

The accounting scandal at Tesco made headlines, and Paul Merison explains why you must follow this story

WINDOW DRESSINGAccountancy students are forever

being told that they should readthe business pages, but often

might not know how to spot relevantstories. On behalf of accounting studentsworldwide, I would like to thank Tesco fora beautifully timed disaster story.

For those who have been living onJupiter in recent weeks, the basic story isthat Tesco have overstated their profits by£263m. Just under half of this (£118m)is in the current accounting year,meaning first half profits were overstated(until Tesco corrected them). It has nowemerged that £145m of the error is fromprior years, meaning several years ofaccounts have been wrong.

So, what should students learn fromthe Tesco mess?

Revenue recognition .The accounting issue is mostly aboutrecording revenue too early. Deals donewith suppliers that cause payments backto Tesco over a multi-year period seem tohave resulted in too much of this revenuebeing front-loaded rather than spreadover the life of the deal. I suppose onesilver lining to the cloud is that thisrevenue is mostly not fake – it will find itsway back into profits in the next year ortwo.

Materiality .How did the auditors not spot such ahuge mistake? Well, according to the lastTesco audit report materiality was £150m,and with no mistake in a single year ofmore than £118m maybe the auditorsare not to blame for not detecting this.On the other hand, the reaction to thisstory (share price has fallen dramatically)suggests shareholders do find it material– suggesting that the materialityassessment should have been lower toreflect the high public profile of thisleading UK company?

Talking of the auditors…

Review reports .As audit students will know, only full yearfinancial statements are subject to anaudit. The half-year figures are subjectedto a lower detail of testing called a‘review’ assignment, on which ‘negativeassurance’ is given.

In other words, less detailed testingmeans less likelihood that the auditorsPwC would have spotted the errors.

Auditor independence .PwC has audited Tesco since 1983.Familiarity threat springs to mind after30-plus years, so one wonders if the

audit team might have lacked a littleprofessional scepticism and failed tocheck the numbers as much as maybethey should have.

Audit committees are a useful aid toauditor independence – except that theChairman of the Tesco audit committeeused to work at… PwC! So much for theindependence of the audit committee.

I imagine that the audit committeechairman might be changing rather soon– as, perhaps, will the auditors.

Corporate governance .Well, where do I start? Some havealready criticised the Tesco board forfailing to have non-executives who haveany relevant experience of thesupermarket sector.

Then there is the company’s failure tohave a finance director for several weeks;when the previous CFO retired hissuccessor was not ready to join – poorsuccession planning, surely.

Audit students will spot that having noCFO must surely weaken the internalcontrol system over the financialstatements, given the CFO is meant tolead this part of the business.

A couple of positives coming out ofthis story, in terms of good governance:• The Chairman of the Board hasannounced he will resign, as he feels heshould be held accountable for this mess(well done, because many in his positionwould stay put).• Pay-outs to the recently departed CEO

and CFO, both of whom left before thisstory occurred, have been stopped untila fuller investigation has been completed,showing the new trend in clawing backpayments to executives where there isthe hint of poor performance. It is alsoworth noting that the chairman will delayhis resignation a little, to allow the newCEO and CFO to get settled. Replacingthe three most important directors on aboard in one go is hardly the beststrategy for any business.

Foresnic investigation .For ACCA P7 students, what a niceexample of a forensic investigation.Deloitte, assisted by lawyers Freshfields,have investigated the problems andissued their report. Several key Tescoexecutives were suspended from workwhile this happened – presumablybecause the forensic investigation wentbeyond looking at paperwork andrequired going through the emailaccounts of management.

Conclusion .If you are studying accountancy, readevery article on this story – and it’s alsoworth reading the Tesco audit report(new format!) for February 2014 yearend, where we can at least consoleourselves that the auditors had spottedthat revenue recognition was a key risk ofmaterial misstatement. • Paul Merison, London director ofACCA, LSBF

PQ

pq dec 14 p 14 Tesco_Layout 1 06/11/2014 12:01 Page 23

December 2014 Exam

Revision Classes will commence on

Saturday 8th November 2014

Lecture Timings: 9:30am to 4:30pm

Quality, Affordability, Employability

LCA Business School London, 19 Charterhouse Street, London EC1N 6RA

Tel: 020 7400 6772 enrol with us on-line www.lca.anglia.ac.uk

OU

R R

EV

ISIO

N C

OU

RS

ES Exam focused course

ACCA - Revision Kit

Practice Questions

Advice on Exam Techniques

Past Exam Evaluation

Emphasis on Key Topics

P1 Rev

P1 Rev

F7-F9 P1-P3 P5-P7F4-F6

F4 Rev

F4 Rev

F6 Rev

F6 Rev

F5 Rev

F5 Rev

F7 Rev

F7 Rev

F9 Rev

F9 Rev

F8 Rev

F8 Rev

P3 Rev

P3 Rev

P2 Rev

P2 Rev

P7 Rev

P7 Rev

P5 Rev

P5 Rev

P6 Rev

P6 Rev

DateDay

Saturday

Saturday

Saturday

Sunday

Sunday

Sunday

08 November 2014

15 November 2014

22 November 2014

09 November 2014

16 November 2014

23 November 2014

Saturday

Sunday

29 November 2014

30 November 2014

015_PQ 1214_PQ 1209 000 30/10/2014 15:34 Page 7

To achieve competence in the PBKT assessment you need to make sure thatyou can have a constructive attempt at each of the 10 tasks that you will face.This short quiz will help you to identify if there are any technical areas you still

need to work on before sitting your real assessment.Health warning: This quiz does not cover every aspect of the PBKT assessment andthe tasks are not in the same style (for reasons of space) so make sure you also havea go at the sample assessments on the AAT website, as these will give you a very goodidea of what to expect!

Task 1If the net value of a sales invoice is £450 what will the gross value be?

If the gross value of a purchase invoice is £756, what is the amount of VATcontained in this invoice?

Task 2A business has two transactions in their purchases returns day book for the lastperiod; one with A Ltd for £100 (net) and one with B Ltd for £240 (gross).

What entry needs to be made in the purchases ledger accountof A Ltd? What is the double entry that needs to be entered intothe main ledger?

Task 3A business has made a cash payment to D Ltd of £360 for cashpurchases that included VAT, and a cheque payment for £350 to E Ltd, a creditsupplier who they received a £50 discount from.

Enter these transactions onto the credit side of the cash book and total eachcolumn.

Cash book – credit side

Task 4The totals on the credit side of the cash book are shown below.

If the cash book is not part of the double entry bookkeeping system what will be thedouble entry posted to the main ledger?

Task 5A business has set the Imprest level at £150 and at the start of March the petty cashbox was replenished to this level. During March, the business paid for two amountsout of petty cash: £45 (net) for repairs to a salesman’s car and £36 (gross) forstationery. When the petty cash box is replenished at the start of April, how much willneed to be withdrawn from the bank?

Task 6On which side of the trial balance will the following ledger account balances appear?

a) Salesb) Purchasesc) Motor vehiclesd) Motor expensese) Sales returnsf) Purchases returnsg) Discounts allowedh) Discounts received


PQ international standards

Gareth John enquires: are you ready to sit AAT Level 2 Processing Bookkeeping Transactions (AQ2013)?

Task 7A business is about to invoice a customerfor goods with a list price of £1,500. Thecustomer receives a 5% trade discountand has been offered a 4% earlysettlement discount. VAT is 20%. Whatshould the total gross value of the invoicebe to the nearest penny?

Task 8It is 30 June and a business has justreceived a cheque from a creditcustomer, F Ltd, for £1,900 in fullsettlement of their outstanding accountbalance.

Here is the account for F Ltd in thesales ledger of the business:

Is the cheque for £1,900 an overpaymentor an underpayment?

Which transaction does thediscrepancy appear to relate to?

Task 9Complete the ledger account shownbelow and identify what the balancebrought down on 1st February would be.• SEE TABLE BOTTOM OF PAGE

Task 10If the total value of assets of a business is£65,000 and the total value of capitalcapital is £20,000, what is the total valueof liabilities?

Once you have completed the quiz youcan watch me work through the answersat www.firstintuition.co.uk/blog/AAT-blog.html

• Gareth John is atutor/director withFirst Intuition andhelps to manage theirAAT distance learningprogramme. He wasPQ MagazineAccountancy Lecturerof the Year in 2011

Task 9 – Sales ledger control account

PQ

LET’S GET TECHNICAL

Details Discounts Cash Bank VAT Purchases ledger Cash purchases£ £ £ £ £ £

Bal b/d 1,000

Total

Details Cash Bank VAT Trade payables Cash purchases Office expenses £ £ £ £ £ £

Total 2,400 9,600 400 9,600 1,500 500

Date Details Amount Date Details Amount£ £

01 June Bal b/d 4,500 5 June Credit note 26 30015 June Sales invoice 245 2,300 13 June Bank 4,20021 June Sales invoice 273 3,500 20 June Credit note 32 400

Date Details Amount Date Details Amount£ £

01 January Bal b/d 43,290 18 January Bank 28,54615 January Sales 32,476

Total Total

pq dec 14 p Gareth CCM_Layout 1 06/11/2014 12:03 Page 23

Study CIMA with HTFT in 2015 |CIMA is changing, and so are we|

tĞ�ĂƌĞ��&ůŝƉƉŝŶŐ�ƚŚĞ��ůĂƐƐƌŽŽŵ� to help you master the papers you are sitting,

and achieve the higher pass rates required.

HTFT is pleased to announce the launch of it's 'Flipped

Classroom' for CIMA 2015.

dŚƌŽƵŐŚ�ŽƵƌ��&ůŝƉƉĞĚ��ŵŽĚĞů�ǁĞ�ĂƐƐŝŐŶ�ŽƵƌ�tuition as homework,

and what would be homework is covered in our masterclasses.

A 70% pass rate means you need to master your

subject.

A flipped classroom was introduced by the Khan

Academy as a proven approach to mastering technical

subjects. Mastering

Live masterclasses which focus on

application of knowledge

Syllabus recorded into 'bite size'

chunks: you learn at your own pace

,d&d�Ɛ�ŵŽĐŬƐ�- a complete suite of online practice

questions developed to mirror the exam style

The complete CIMA offer

Personal tutor from the day you book to

the day you pass the exam

[email protected] 0121 745 8842

CIMA special offer: 10 FREE* places on our P3 2015 course. For more information email [email protected] quoting CIMAP32015

*Terms and Conditions apply

017_PQ 1214_PQ 1209 000 03/11/2014 10:50 Page 7

018_PQ 1214_PQ 1209 000 31/10/2014 10:35 Page 7

PQ Magazine December 2014 19

ACCA exam tips PQ

Kaplan Financial.F5 • Specialist cost and managementaccounting techniques: – Target costing. – Lifecycle costing. – Environmental accounting. • Decision making techniques: – Relevant costs.– Limiting factors. – Shut down decisions. – Payoff tables. – The value of perfect information. • Budgeting: – Different types of budgetarysystems. – Quantitative analysis. – Behavioural aspects of budgeting. • Standard costing and varianceanalysis: – Different types of standard costsused in budgets. – Mix and yield variances. – Behavioural aspects of standardcosting. • Performance managementsystems, measurements andcontrol: – Transfer pricing. – ROI and RI. – The scope of performancemeasurement. F6 • Income tax:– Personal allowancereduction/personal age allowance. – Husband and wife/civil partners. – Employed vs. self-employed. – Losses (choice of relief/tax saving/maximum deduction restriction). • Corporation tax:– Possibly a straddling period. – Long period of account. – Chargeable gains to calculate. • VAT: – Separate part of question 1 or 2or whole question 4/5. – Discounts. – Impaired debts. – Invoices/simplified invoicing. • Capital gains tax: – Husband and wife makingdisposals. – Wasting assets or chattels. – Exempt assets. • Inheritance tax: – Transfer of unused NRB betweenspouses.• Sundry topics for Q4 and Q5:– Comparative scenario or othernew style question. – Self assessment. – Ethics (including general anti-abuse rule). F7 Tips are no longer relevant for F7,due to the paper now consisting of40% OTs. However, it is essential toknow the wide variety of accountingstandards and concepts, as well asbeing able to construct sets offinancial statements.

F8 • Audit Framework: ethics/confidentiality/audit committees. • Internal audit: direct assistance byinternal audit for external audit. • Planning and risk: audit risks andresponses. • Internal control: cash, inventory,purchases (including tests ofcontrol). • Audit evidence: purchases,revenue, inventory. • Completion and reporting: writtenrepresentations (ISA 580),subsequent events (ISA 560), andauditor’s reports. • Specific standards/topics: – Limited assurance engagements.– Expectation gap. – Auditor rights and duties. – Engagement letters (ISA 210). – Laws and regulations (ISA 250). – Components of an internal controlsystem (ISA 315). – Risk assessment procedures (ISA315). – Auditing accounting estimates(ISA 540). – Financial statement assertions. F9 • Investment appraisal: NPV withinflation and taxation/IRR has notbeen tested for over three years somay pop up. • Working capital management:cash operating cycle andreceivables management/payablesmanagement or inventorymanagement/funding strategies is akey discursive element. • Valuations: PE ratio and dividendvaluation methods/cash flow-based

values/efficient market hypothesis.• Business finance: the impact offinancing on ratios/the impact thatdifferent policies may have on acompany/being able to bothcalculate and interpret financialratios/sources of finance.• Cost of capital.• Risk management: foreignexchange risk/interest rate risk. • The financial managementfunction and the financialmanagement environment.P1• Corporate governance comparisonof approaches – public v privatesector. • Conflict of interest andindependence. •Stakeholders and stakeholderclaims. • Function and importance ofinternal audit. • Risk correlation and strategies formanagement of such risks.• Corporate codes of ethics critiqueand improvements. • Tucker’s ethical decision makingmodel.• CSR – comparison of approach(profit and not for profitorganisations). • Integrated reporting.P2 • Q1 Groups and ethics: Q1 is soimportant to passing P2 thatstudents must practice a widerange of consolidation questions.However, after a break of twosittings, it would not be a surprise tosee a consolidated statement offinancial position examined.

Here are our key examinable areas for the Decembersitting. They come with our usual warning!

Continued on page 20

• Q2 and Q3: revenue, provisionsand non-current assets held forsale. • IAS 41 Agriculture is new to thesyllabus and should be consideredhighly examinable. • Some areas that have not beentested recently, or in less detail thanexpected, include: – IFRS 10 and control. – Share-based payments (IFRS 2). – Impairment (IAS 36). – Deferred tax (IAS 12). • Q4 – Essay-style question:integrated reporting/extantaccounting standards anddocuments. IAS 36 Impairment ofAssets or the Framework. P3• Project management and benefitsmanagement. • The POPIT model. • Strategy evaluation. • Managing strategic change andculture. • Decision making techniques. • Strategic analysis. P4• Currency hedging and interestrate hedging – read the two recentarticles published on the ACCAwebsite. • Black Scholes option pricingmodel. • Business valuation, especiallyusing the free cash flow to firmmethodology. • Cost of capital calculations(including asset and equity betas)and adjusted present value. P5 • Benchmarking. • CSFs and KPIs. • Modern role of managementaccountant. • Rewards and evaluation of aperformance management system. • Evaluation of a performancemeasurement system. • Divisional performance appraisal. • Corporate failure. • Performance Prism or buildingblock. • NFPOs. • EMA. P6 • Corporation tax: consortiumrelief/overseas aspects, CFCs/anti-avoidance, pre entry capital lossesand trading losses. • Capital gains: reliefs – rollover,gift, disincorporation. • Inheritance tax: BPR andAPR/deed of variation.• Income tax: income tax comps atmarginal rates/benefits – car. • Personal financial planning: VCTand seed EIS.• Trusts: description and income taxaspects.• VAT: registration/pre-registration

pq dec 14 p19-22_Layout 1 05/11/2014 15:14 Page 21


PQ ACCA exam tips

input VAT. • Scenarios: employed vs. self-employed/sole trader vs. company.• Stamp duty and SDLT. P7 Core areas (as per examiner’sapproach article) likely to beexamined in every paper: • Engagement planning and riskassessment (business risk andrisk of material misstatement). • Engagement procedures (orevidence).• Ethics and professional issues. • Completion (matters toconsider/evidence on file) andengagement reporting. • Current topics. Subjects of recent articles: • IAASB developments. • Reporting on audited financialstatements – significant changesproposed. Significant topics not examined forat least 18 months: • Understanding the entity. • Relying on the work of othersincluding experts. • Review of interim FS. • Joint audits. • Opening balances. • Internal audit.

BPP.F5• Area A: ABC, throughputaccounting, target costing andlifestyle costing.• Area B: techniques to assistdecision making, including linearprogramming, CVP analysis,relevant costing, pricing andincorporating risk and uncertainty.• Area C: budgeting systems,variance analysis, learning curves.• Area D: performance appraisal –traditional ratio analysis. Non-financial performance measures –balanced scorecard.F6• Income tax: employed earner andthe sole trader.• Capital allowances: aspects ofgroups.• CGT: individual or companyperspective with a number ofdisposals. We favour companieschargeable gains this time.F7Section A• Expect a few questions on non-core areas – inflation, specializedentities.• Q1 & 2: interpretation/statementof cash flows – or consolidation ifQ3 not a consolidation. Otherpossibilities are conceptualframework, intangible/tangibleassets and impairment, provisionsand contingencies, revenue andgrants, financial instruments

• Personal service company.• Company purchase of ownshares.• Enterprise investment schemes/venture capital trusts.• Change in accounting date.• Takeover.• Patent box, research anddevelopment expenditure.• Pension contributions.• Disincorporation relief.• Transfer of trade v sale ofsubsidiary.

First Intuition.F5 • MCQs on the whole syllabus.• Target costing. • Pricing. • Relevant costing. • Flexed budget and planningvariances. • Financial and non-financialperformance.F6• Employment/self-employment. • PAYE. • Opening years and change ofyear end for sole traders. • Capital allowances. • Corporation tax losses. • VAT default surcharge and VATinvoice content and annualaccounting. • CGT: Principal private residenceand entrepreneur’s relief, chattels. • IHT lifetime and death transfers.F7 • MCQs on the whole syllabus. • Q1: review of companyperformance and position. • Q2: extracts from consolidatedSFP, with associate, Pups and fairvalue adjustment. • Q3: single company accountsquestion (profit or loss account andSFP), including taxation, lease, andintangible assets.F8 • MCQs on the whole syllabus. • Ethics. • Audit risk and auditor response(including ratio calculations). • Internal control – deficiencies,implications and recommendations(purchases and payables cycle). • Audit evidence and substantivetesting. • Subsequent events. • Modified auditors reports.F9 • Discussion of the economicenvironment and the impact oninterest and exchange rates. • Working capital management. • Investment appraisal and cost ofcapital. • Business valuations. P1 • 50-mark scenario question, toinclude: ethics, AAA model, rules vprinciples governance also

corporate social responsibility. • Optional questions to include:importance of internal controls,NEDs and remuneration committeeand structure of directorsremuneration, business risks, GrayOwens and Adams. P2 • Q1: group question on foreignsubsidiary. Will contain a variety ofnon-group topics too. • Ethics. • Revenue recognition or leases –current issue. • Deferred tax. • Share-based payments. • Pensions. P3 Section A • Environmental analysis, peoplewith financial analysis. Section B • Project management. • Strategic action. • Information technology – pricingstrategy. P4 • International investment appraisaltechniques focusing on riskmanagement tools such as value atrisk. • Impact on WACC followinghedging of interest rate risk. • Company valuation basedscenario, possible MBO finance tostructure. • Adjusted present value with linkto real options and Black Scholesoption pricing model.P5 • Critique an existing performancemanagement system. • Transfer pricing. • ROI, RI and EVA. • Activity based principles. • Corporate failure prediction. • Performance managementmodels. • Assess performance againstfinancial and non-financial (inclenvironmental) targets. • Value based approaches toperformance management.P6 • Business property relief. • Use of second spouse nil rateband. • Related property. • Groups of companies, trading andcapital losses. • Double tax relief for companies. • De-grouping charges. • Incorporation relief. • Furnished holiday lets. • VAT partial exemption. • Appeals and the four tracktribunal system. • Benefits in kind or extra salary,income tax and national insuranceimplications. P7 • Business risks in a scenario.

Continued from page 19discounted operations/assets heldfor sales or earnings per share.• Q3: single entity or consolidation,will include adjustments on othersyllabus areas.F8• Internal control.• Audit planning.• Audit evidence and auditprocedures (both substantiveprocedures and tests of control).• Ethical threats and safeguards.• Audit finalisation.• Corporate governance andinternal control.F9• Investment appraisal with an NPVcalculation.• Know your IRR, ROCE andpayback.• Working capital – receivables. • WACC calculation – are youcomfortable with costs of financeand their market value?P1• Public sector governance.• Integrated reporting.• Ethical and CSR theories –applied to scenarios.P3• Value chain.• Critical success factors and KPIs.• Role of the corporate parentincluding BCG matrix/Ashridge.• Integrated reporting.• Change management frameworks(POPIT and the business changelifecycle).• Organisational configuration – newdefinitions.P4• Discounted cash flow.• Business valuations.• Risk management – interest rate.• Business re-organisation.• Cost of capital calculations – costof debt and credit spreadsP5• Analysis performance v budgetarytargets – read the Benchmarkingfeature (September 2012).• Beyond budgeting.• Key strategic, tactical andoperational; informationrequirements of a business.• Expected values and probabilities.• PEST and Porter.• Transfer pricing.• Effect of reward systems onperformance management.• Balanced scorecard, buildingblocks and the performancepyramid.• NPV and profit analysis.P6• Groups, involving overseasaspects.• Unincorporated business – lossrelief or involving a partnership.• CGT v inheritance tax.• Overseas aspects – new rules ofresidence.



ACCA exam tips PQ

• Identifying ethical and otherprofessional issues in a scenario. • Matters to be considered andaudit evidence for a couple of coreaccounting issues. • Audit reports. • Money laundering.

LSBF.F5• Target costing with learningcurve.• CVP analysis and decision tree.• Written budgeting.• Mix and yield, planning andoperational variances.• Non financial performance ortransfer pricing.F6• Question 1:– Employment income includingthe evaluation of benefits.– Savings income and dividendincome. – Introducing a partner into thepartnership with opening yearrules.– Computing the income taxpayable.– computing national insurance.• Q2: corporation tax computation -adjustment of a trading lossincluding capital allowances forplant and machinery and relief forthe trading loss. VAT or maybe aseparate question.• Q3: capital gains for companiesor individuals a mixed bag.• Q4: property business incomeand trading losses for a sole trader.• Q5: The residency position of anumber of individuals and the IHTimplications of a making gifts into atrust.F7• The 40 marks of MCQs will bemainly on the standards/publishedaccounts, and some oninterpretation/cash flows. Watch outalso for brief consolidationcalculations or principles.• The 30 marker will probably be aconsolidation or publishedaccounts exercise.• One of the 15 markers will be thetopic not examined as the 30marker.• The second 15-marker will be astatement of cash flow/with someinterpretation, or on standards.• The well-prepared student hasnothing to fear with MCQs, but thestudent who has not covered thebreadth of the syllabus will find itdifficult to pass.F8• MCQ – likely to be a mix ofknowledge and practical, soknowledge of ISAs, corporategovernance etc will be important.• Substantive testing: tangible non-current assets, trade payables,

provisions, bank and cash.• Controls: reporting tomanagement and tests of controlson purchases (including assetpurchases), bank and cash.• Planning: audit risk andresponse, with ratios.• Ethics: threats to objectivity,confidentiality.• Finalisation/reports: subsequentevents, other Information.• Internal audit: reliance byexternal auditors (ISA 610).• Other: roles of audit committees,CAATS, levels of assurance, ISA240, 250, 260, 402.F9• Investment appraisals: calculationof NPV. Discussion question on riskand uncertainty (example:sensitivity analysis and probabilitydistribution).• Working capital management:quantity discount (EOQ) orfactoring calculations. Discussion ofworking capital financing and/orinvestment policies.• Cost of capital: WACC –calculating cost of equity usingCAPM or dividend valuation model,cost of redeemable debt and bankloan/preference shares. Discussionof circumstances under whichWACC can be used.• Business valuation: valuation ofequity using; DVM, P/E ratio andasset basis. Explanation ofweak/semi-strong and strong formof efficient market.• Sources of finance: the effect ofdifferent financing options on keyratios like EPS, debt/equity ratioand interest cover, includingcalculation of TERP. Discussion offactors to consider in raisingshort/long-term capital orequity/debt capital.• Risk management: hedgingcurrency risk using forwardcontract and money market hedge.Using purchasing power parity andinterest rate parity theories toestimate future spot rate andforward rate respectively.• Dividend policy: factors toconsider in formulating dividendpolicy or the effect of a change individend policy on share price.P1• Governance:– Role of Board.– Unitary/two tier.– Chair role/CEO chair split.– Induction/performance appraisal.– Reward systems.– Family based structure.– Global standards in governance.- Stakeholder classifications.• Control:– Objectives of a sound system.– COSO failures.– Reasons for internal audit.

– Internal control disclosure.• Risk management:– Risk committee or risk manager.– Strategic/op/static and dynamicrisk.– Risk diversification. – ALARP.• Ethics:– Absolute/relative, consequential.– Grey, Owen and Adams.– Professionalism.– AAA model or Tucker.P2• Q1: consolidated positionstatement with adjustments. • Q2 and Q3: two mix questionswith a host of issues includingmaybe revenue, pensions andfinancial instruments. • Q4: current issues of integratedreporting or transparency or equityaccounting or maybe SMEs. P3• External analysis.• Strategic choice.• Corporate social responsibility/integrated reporting.• Marginal costing for decision-making.• Improving business processes.• Project teams.• POPIT approach to changemanagement.P4• Hedging exchange rate andinterest rate risk using futures,options and swaps.• Option pricing theory. Realoptions, example, option toabandon, expand and delay.Valuation of company using theBlack-Schole option pricing model.• Investment appraisal usingadjusted present values/net presentvalues or modified internal rate ofreturn.• Cost of capital using theprinciples of Modigliani and Millerprepositions or geared andungeared bias.• Mergers and acquisitions –valuation using free cash flows,defensive tactics/regulations oftakeovers and cash offer or shareexchange.• Capital reconstruction schemes -designing a capital reconstructionscheme or assessing the successof a given scheme.P5• Corporate failure.• Environmental managementaccounting.• Human resources management,including reward systems.• Quality:– TQM, Kaizen, JIT and targetcosting.– Quality related costs.– Six Sigma.• Transfer pricing.• Performance Measurement

Systems:– The balanced scorecard.– The building blocks model.– The performance prism.– The BCG matrix.• Benchmarking.P6• IHT with the death estate. • Changing the will after a person isdead, using a deed of variation toapply the reduced rate of IHT whena charitable legacy is made. • Company selling shares and thesubstantial share exemption or acompany selling its trade andassets.• Research and developmentexpenditure for large companies.• Controlled foreign companies. • Badges of trade, partnership witha partner joining/leaving withopening year rules, choice ofaccounting date, conditions tochange the accounting date.• Trading losses at the beginning ormiddle of the trading cycle maybein a partnership.• Personal pension schemes.• Capital gains tax includingentrepreneurs’ relief, sharesmatching rules.• Opting to tax a building,electronic filing of the VAT return.• The capital goods scheme.P7• Business risk and risk of materialmisstatement.• KPIs and evidence to audit/reviewthem for social/environmental andpublic sector operational.• Forensic audit.• Matters and evidence – IAS 10,11, 12, 23, 36, 37, 38, IFRS 2, 5.• Ethics and professional issues –threats to objectivity.• Practice management –advertising, tendering.• Finalisation and report –subsequent events, otherinformation.• Current issues – ISA 610, newformat audit report/extending theauditor’s role.

Manchester Met Uni.F4• English legal system: types of law,court vs tribunal, Human RightsAct.• Contract law: offer, acceptance,exclusion clauses and remedies.• Negligence: duty of care,remedies.• Employment law: common lawduties, dismissal, redundancies.• Agency/partnership: essentials ofagency, rights and duties ofpartners, termination ofpartnership.• Company law: separatepersonality, lifting veil, articles of

Continued on page 22


association, dividends, shares,class rights, charges, directors,auditors, corporate governance.• Money laundering, bribery,fraudulent and wrongful trading.F7• MCQs – financial instruments,leases, substance over form,agriculture, deferred tax.• Consolidated statement offinancial position, including agoodwill and NCI calculation. • Consolidated statement of profitor loss and other comprehensiveincome. F9• Practice as many multiple choicequestions as you can before theexam, these will likely be moretricky than you think and willcomprise 40% of your overall mark.• We know that the two 15-markquestions will cover working capitalmanagement, investment appraisaland business finance. Make sureyou can calculate an NPV underinflation and taxation. You will alsoneed to be familiar with all workingcapital models, e.g. EOQ, Miller-Orretc and be able to calculate theleast cost options.• The three 10-mark questions willcover key topics such as businessvaluations, cost of capital (WACC)and risk management (interest andForex).P1• COSOs Enterprise RiskManagement Framework – ACCAarticle but has not previously beenexamined. • Public sector corporategovernance is new to the syllabusand has 2 ACCA articles.• Increasing responsibilities of nonexecutive directors with regard torisk.• An holistic approach to corporategovernance (stakeholders).• Environmental and socialaccounting.P4• Foreign project appraisal, eitherNPV or APV.• Company reorganisation, either astruggling company and a plan forreconstruction, or a divestment.• Interest rate risk, perhapsincluding interest rate collars.• Mergers and acquisitions,including how to pay for the targetcompany.• Foreign exchange rate risk,perhaps including determination ofexchange rates.P5 • Strategy, mission, CSFs and KPIs,bench marking.• Budgeting (rolling budgets, ABCand ABM, learning curve).Financial performance measures

(NPV, IRR and MIRR, sensitivityanalysis).• Divisional performance appraisal(ROI, RI, annuity depreciation)including BCG and transfer pricing.• Non-financial performancemeasures – performance prism(and stakeholders), performancepyramid and perhaps balancedscorecard/building block model.Performance measures for not-for-profit organisations.• Quality (JIT, 6 Sigma, TQM,Kaizen Costing), EMA, ethics/CSR,corporate failure.P6 • Make sure you know your basics– the F6 syllabus is assumedknowledge.• Read the requirements within themain body of the question as therequirements are embedded in thequestion.• Think before you start writing.• What is the ‘story’? – it is easier toplan an answer when you fullyunderstand the scenario given.• Answer the question set and donot go off on a tangent.• State the obvious – the marker isnot a mind reader. Write it down oryou will not get the mark.• Think about the order you answerthe questions – you could attemptpart B first as the questions aresmaller.• Watch you timing – you mustattempt four questions. Remember,1.8 minutes per mark (excludingthe 15 minutes’ reading time). P7• Audit planning: business risk and

audit risk.• Audit evidence: procedures,matters to consider and evidencerequired.• Reporting: form and content.• Social and environmental audit.• Code of ethics.• Public sector organisations.

Becker.F6• Taxation of benefits and of motorcars.• Combination of employmentincome & different types ofproperty income, maybe rent-a-room or personal income taxcomputation.• Employment income – benefitswith NICs.• Partnerships – opening andclosing year issues.• Relief for a trading loss of self-employed persons.• A 12-month accounting period,with adjustments for profit.• Long period of account rules.• Capital gains in a group.• Principal private residence.• Entrepreneurs’ relief.• VAT treatment of overseas trading(EU and non-EU sales andpurchases).• Class 1 and Class 1A NIC –benefits and PAYE.• Unused nil rate bands from apredecessor spouse.F7Common areas that feature on aregular basis in the exam are asfollows:• Construction contracts.• Revenue recognition.• Substance vs form.• Convertible instruments (IAS32/IFRS 9).• Accounting for taxation, as part offinal accounts question.• Accounting for assets, particularlyIAS 16.• Provisions and contingencies.F9Section A• Read the examiner’s articles –Capital Asset Pricing Model. Take alook at recent Myopic managementfeature.• Read other key articles –Business Valuation (February2012), advanced investmentappraisal (October 2010), foreignexchange risk and its management(July 2010).Section B• IRR.• Debt factoring.• Dividend policy.• Bond valuation (includingconvertibles).P1• Corporate governance (CG)concepts, underlying fundamentals

and arrangements.• CG in other organisations (e.g.public sector, NGOs).• Types and forms of CG (e.g. rulesbased, principles based, insider,outsider systems, UK CorporateGovernance Code, SoX).• Agency theory, stakeholders,Mendelow.• Board structures, CEO/chairman,directors, NEDs, committees.• Internal control and business risk,Turnbull.• Ethical theories and businesscodes – Kohlberg, Gray, Owen andAdams, Tucker, AAA.• Professions and the publicinterest.• Corporate social responsibility,corporate citizen, footprints andsustainability.•Integrated reporting, social andenvironmental auditing.P2• Consolidations in Q1.• Disposals and complex groups(June 2010).• Disposals (December 2009).• Step acquisitions (December2011).• Cash flow (Dec 2013).• Foreign sub (June 2010).• Complex group (Dec 2012 andJune 2013).• Consolidated profit or loss wasexamined for the first time in overthree years in the June 2014 paper.• Foreign subsidiaries have notbeen examined for a few exams.• Financial instruments (IAS39/IFRS 9) to include hedgeaccounting, questions on this topictend to appear in most exams• Employee benefits (IAS 19), thisstandard was amended by IASB in2011 and is now examinable underthe new standard.• Standards: Leases (IAS 17),share-based payments (IFRS 2),impairment of assets (IAS 36),deferred tax (IAS 12).P3• Strategic choice.• Stakeholders.• Organisational structure. • Finance – possibly sources offinance or working capitalmanagement.• Business process change.P5• Corporate failure.• Quality – possibly six sigma.• The Performance Prism.• Reward schemes. PQ


PQ ACCA exam tips

These tips should only be used in conjunction with properstudy. We cannot guarantee

that these topics will appear inthe actual exam as we have not

seen the exam papers.Examiners are not predictable

so it is vital that all coresyllabus areas are revised fully.

The tips are based on ourexperts experience and

understanding of the ACCAexams and will help focus your

last-minute revision. Pleasealso read all the examiners’

articles – they are available onthe ACCA website

HEALTHWARNING

Continued from page 21

There’s loadsmore ACCAtips online –go to the PQ

website


023_PQ 1214_PQ 1209 000 03/11/2014 16:05 Page 7

No one can doubt the huge success ofthe AAT Distance Learning Group – ithad 1,643 Facebook members last

time we looked, and has become much morethan a site purely for distance learning AATs.

What is interesting is that this group grew upalmost by mistake! A small band of AAT studentswere studying with a top college and usingtheir ‘interactive’board when it wasclosed for anupgrade. At almostthe same time theAAT’s main site alsowent down.

The AAT PQs whoused these boards forhelp and support gotlonely very quickly, andso set up their owngroup on Facebook –and the AAT DistanceLearning Group wasborn.

Since then, it has justgrown and grown asfellow students seek outthe support andguidance of their peers.

A key figure in all thisis Joanne Parry. She has been there since the

beginning, and explainedthat distance learningstudents don’t have thesame banter as thoseattending classroomcourses so become relianton the interaction they getonline. She also stressedthat most of thosestudying AAT live withpeople who soon getbored talking about theminutiae of bookkeeping!That is, of course, nottrue in her case, becauseher husband Peter isvery understanding!

The group started withjust six AATs, and it hasremained a group forstudents run by theirfellow students.

PQ magazine meet up with Joanne and thegroup’s Neil Cancannon just before they were

due to meet the AAT. Interestingly, it was the firsttime they had met each other in the flesh! Theyboth believe the group works because responsesare instant. Neil is a tutor at Premier Training, sohe can answer any technical issues and ensurethat responses aren’t leading members down thewrong path.

Joanne emphasised that they are also happyfor users to have opinions, but they don’ttolerate rudeness. She revealed just onestudents had been asked to leave the groupsince it started and there has been just oneofficial complaint to the AAT about them. Neilstressed: “We are members of a professionalorganisation and people mostly understand howto behave.”

That said, Joanne and Neil want interaction tobe both fun and to improve what students areoffered by the AAT and associated colleges. Shealso believes their independence means theycan offer unbiased opinion and advice.

Neil and Joanne are part of the team of fouradministrators policing the site. You get thesense that these two spend a lot of timeensuring the site really works for studiers.

The group is also now evolving into somethingneither Neil or Joanne ever imagined. There istalk of roadshows, and it is looking to focus morehelp for students who are struggling with certainsubjects.

This is group worth joining! PQ


PQ AAT spotlight

PQ recently met two of the peoplebehind the AAT Distance LearningGroup on Facebook – Joanne Parry

and Neil Concannon

PEER GROUP SUPPORT

Dynamic duo:Neil and Joanneat the AAT HQ

The AAT believes that everyperson working in accounting orfinance should be supported and

regulated by a professional body. That’swhy we reward the achievements of partqualified students from other bodies whoare looking to gain recognition andprofessional membership status whilethey are working towards their next goal.

Using the designatory letters MAATafter your name, while working towardschartered status, can visibly demonstrateyour commitment to the profession, yourcolleagues, clients and employers.

AAT offers full membership to financeprofessionals who are part qualified, fullyqualified and full members with otherprofessional accounting bodies. And tosupport those that are working towardsbecoming chartered or gaining anotheraccounting qualification, we offer 50% offour membership fee while you arestudying.

AAT full members are part of acommunity of over 50,000 and enjoyaccess to a wide range of career support

tools and resources as well asinteractive study support tokeep practical skills up-to-date.

And you don’t have to bechartered to offer self-employedservices. Over 4,000 full andfellow members are regulatedby AAT to run their ownpractice providing accountancy,taxation and consultancyservices to the public. AAT isalso a supervisory authority inthe UK for anti-moneylaundering.

We recognise that somestudents may postpone ordiscontinue their charteredtraining but remain working inan accounting or finance role. ExtendingAAT membership to part-qualifiedstudents allows you to join a professionalmembership body where we can supportyou in gaining the experience andconfidence you need until such time youmay choose to renew your studies at thenext level.

We have mapped the syllabi of otherUK accountancy and financequalifications to create a route forprospective members who havecompleted the equivalent learning to that

More doors open to AAT membership

of the AAT Level 4 Diploma inAccounting. Part-qualified charteredstudents applying for AAT fullmembership will need to demonstrate thesame level of education and experienceas all AAT full members. This includesrelevant work experience, a professionalrecommendation and an additional test ofprofessional competency. • For more information about eligibilityand how to become an AAT memberfrom another accounting professionalbody, visit aat.org.uk/alternativeroutes

PQ

The AAT explains why it isputting out the welcome matto students of other bodies

pq dec 14 p AAT•_Layout 1 05/11/2014 14:50 Page 23

Our new and improved professional accountancy qualification for 2015

the public services experts

I’m proud to have a qualification that

represents integrity, professionalism

and above all, dedication

to public finance.

The public services environment we operate within is changing, as a result

our Professional Qualification is too. It will:

� Increase the focus on the wide range of commercial skills needed

by UK public finance practitioners.

� Deliver greater portability between the public and private sectors.

� Provide more entry routes for holders from other qualifications

and experienced professionals.

� Enhance the Practical Experience Portfolio (PEP) by placing

greater emphasis on the role of the employer.

� Enable greater flexibility around blended and online

learning options.

This will put our students in the best position to build a successful

career in public finance.

To find out more visit www.cipfa.org/newPQ

or email [email protected]

Judith Savage CPFA

Finance Partner,

Newcastle City Council

Find us on:

025_PQ 1214_PQ 1209 000 30/10/2014 15:40 Page 7

PQ Magazine December 201426

PQ learning techniques

Clare Finch explains how you canflip the classroom by using videoto reinvent accountancy educationItrained my first accountants back in 1992.

I was given a textbook and two whiteboardmarkers and thus my passion for training

began. I quickly introduced the use of the‘acetate roll’ and the overhead projector to mylocal college and smile when I think of how‘leading edge’ I was considered!

Technology has moved a long way since then(although the overhead projector is rememberedfondly). The use of desktop sharing, tablets withstylus and the capture facility are just some ofthe serious enhancements to the studentexperience.

Course structures in accountancy training,however, have remained largely unchangedsince the 1990s, with little attempt to match thestructure to the capability of the technology.Block, weekend or evening tuition – repeat forrevision – are very much operating a 1990s’structure, with the technology simply being an‘add on’.

And yet technology can bring so much more.A TED talk from Salman Khan really opened myeyes to the potential and I knew it was exactlywhat we need in accountancy training. I couldn’t

recommend this talk more highly – seehttp://www.ted.com/talks/salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education?language=en

When Khan said that “the very first time youtry to get your brain around a new concept thelast thing you need is another human beingsaying ‘do you understand this?’’’ I found myselfnodding in agreement.

So at HTFT, as a new training organising thatwas formed in 2013, we started to introduce theflipped classroom. I have just received a textfrom the 26th student to have taken the CIMAC02 exam with me, using my flipped classroom– and that is 26/26 first time passes.

The ‘one-size-fits-all’ lecture is not relevant tothe modern training environment. With the‘flipped classroom’ we assign lectures forhomework and what is traditionally set ashomework we do together during our masterclasses.

I received a typical e-mail from an ACCA F7student this week: “Ahhhhhhh. I’m loving cashflows… super exciting… thanks!”

This is because they can review the content attheir own pace. They can pause and repeat meas often as they want (and send any questionsbefore the masterclass by text, Whatsapp, emailor in real time on our online learningcommunity).

The new CIMA 2015 syllaus is a radical and

brave change. Technology is fully embraced bythe professional body, with the end of the paper-based exam. The 70% pass mark means thetraditional approach to study is no longer fit forpurpose. Students will need to master thesubjects. The interactive case study is based onthe three underpinning subjects – again, thestudents need to have ‘mastered the syllabus.The traditional approach to course structuresand lecture plans does not encourage or expectmastering. You move on, along with the rest ofthe class, because the tutor has a lot to getthrough.

I’d like to encourage allCIMA 2015 tutors toconsidering ‘flipping theirclassrooms’. It really isflipping amazing. • Clare Finch is a tutorat HTFT

PQ

The University of South Wales is a registered charity. Registration No. 1140312

We ofer innovative foundation, undergraduate and specialist Masters degrees, full tuition for the

professional qualifcations of ICAEW, ACCA and CIMA, plus CPD training post-qualifcation. All of our

professional courses are designed with an exam focus to maximise your success. We are:

• ACCA Platinum (Newport City Campus) and Gold (Pontypridd Campus) Approved Learning Partner

• CIMA Learning Quality Partner

• ICAEW Partner in Learning

Our accounting courses are delivered in south Wales, as well as our new London Centre.

For more information, book a place at our next Open Evening. To fnd out more:

03455 760 599www.southwales.ac.uk/accounting

Accounting and Finance Qualifications

Flip the classroom

Bart won’t – but Clare will

pq dec 14 p26_Layout 1 06/11/2014 12:07 Page 31

PQ magazine recently caught up withCIMA’s executive director of education,Noel Tagoe, to talk about the recent

resit results. First up we discussed the P2 exam.It had a 27% pass rate this time around, amassive drop in the success rate. Tagoe stressedthat it was usual for resit papers to have passrates lower than the main exam sittings.However, in February the resit pass rate was67%. Tagoe admits he thought the institute hadturned a corner here, but now says that perhapsit hasn’t! He emphasised that preparation is thekey to P2 success – PQs have to ensure theyhave covered the whole syllabus. There is alsoan issue of progression from P1 to P2, andsome PQs are obviously struggling with that.

Tagoe has asked his team for details of thedemographics of those who failed, to try to helpunderstand what went wrong.

The E3 result (40%) was also ‘not expected’,as pass rates are normally in the 50s. Tagoe isagain worried about the ‘rushed preparation’ ofstudents. He did point out that in both exams weare talking much smaller numbers, and aboutstudents who had failed before.

He said many resit students struggle with the

discursive elements of the question, and this iswhere important marks can be picked up. Toomany are given a scenario and then just goahead and write what they know.

Tagoe also emphasised that students must notbegin with the notion that if they are a marginalfail then a little bit of revision will see themthrough. You can’t just plug the gaps – it doesn’twork like that. “Preparation for resits should bethe same as the main sittings,” he said.

He revealed that he, personally, looks at everyexam paper set, and has taught most of thesubjects himself. The first thing he looks at isthe language used, to make sure that sitters canunderstand the requirements. He doesn’t likeobscure questions and he has no time forexaminers’ egos. For CIMA exams, the averagestudents should be able to write an answer inthe time specified and pass. “We are not lookingto pass only bright students,” he promised.

His team cross-references exams with thematerial produced for students – that’s theofficial study texts produced in conjunction withKaplan, but also BPP and other publishers.“Anywhere we expect them to get answersfrom,” he explained.

Finally, Tagoe said that resits are not an easyoption; the exam papers are as robust as themain sittings. CIMA students, take it from theman who knows. PQ

27PQ Magazine December 2014

CIMA exams PQ

94%ACCAPASS RATE*

UP TO

Go further...Increase your chances of passing with BPP

© 2014 BPP Holdings - BPP Professional Education - Part of the Apollo Global Education Network.

*The 94% is based on part time F6 students sitting in December 2013 at our Milton Keynes centre. **To qualify for ten Professional Development Courses as part of the Career Development Guarantee with BPP Professional Education Limited (“BPP PE”) free of charge, two ACCA or CIMA papers must be booked at the same time. This ofer does not apply to our Basics courses. Only certain online Professional Development Courses apply, the list is available at http://www.bpp.com/terms/l/bpp-career-development-guarantee. To qualify for a further online Professional Devel-opment Course with BPP PE of up to £500 in value; two years must have lapsed since you attended the tenth free PD course, all ten PD courses must have been attended, you must have passed the two CIMA or ACCA papers purchased as part of the ofer within that 2 year period and you will be required to demonstrate that your career has not developed in that 2 year period. Further conditions apply. The ACCA and CIMA Career Development Guarantee ofer will be available between 08.00am on 2 June 2014 and midnight of 31 December 2014. See http://www.bpp.com/terms/l/bpp-career-development-guarantee for full terms and conditions. ˆCalls will be charged at a local rate.

I chose BPP because of the high success rates

Chloe Burton, BPP Student

Go further and call...

03332 207 261 www.bpp.com/accagofurther

ˆ

Increase your chances of passing your ACCA exam by adding a BPP Exam

Practice Course to your studies. These focus on the skills and techniques

required to pass your exam as well as giving you the chance to put them

into practice.

It’s important to develop exam skills for your paper. BPP’s exam practice

course will demonstrate how to impress the examiner and score well,

giving you that extra confidence going into the exam.

BPP’s Career Development

Guarantee**

Platinum Approved

Study tips and exam support

World class study materials

Flexible ways to study

We guarantee to Go further:

RESITS: LEARNING LESSONSWe spoke in-depth to CIMA’s Noel Tagoe about the recent resit exams.He reads every exam set, so it’s important to listen to what he has to say

Tagoe: ‘We arenot looking topass onlybrightstudents’

pq dec 14 p-27_Layout 1 05/11/2014 14:53 Page 23


PQ exam technique

A little while back I took time outto think about the one piece ofadvice I could give to BPP

students in terms of something thatmight make the biggest differencebetween them passing and failing aCIMA exam. Not the sort of thing thatgets an extra mark or two if a particularquestion comes up, but something thatcould gain anyone an extra 10 or 15marks across a whole exam.

I pretty much knew all along what itwould be, but needed to find a way tobest describe it, so…

EXPECT TO GET STUCKAND/OR GO WRONG!I sent an email based on this tothousands of BPP students studying forthe May 2014 exams, and of all thecontact I have with our students thisemail probably generated the most ‘thankyou Steve!’ responses I can remember,both before and after the exams. Here’san extract of what I wrote: “I can prettymuch guarantee that at some point (andprobably more than once) every singleone of you will get stuck or realise you’vemade a mistake during your exam, as willevery other student in the exam hall.Every… single… one.

“The critical thing here is how you dealwith it. If you are expecting it, then whenit does happen it will be less of asurprise, and the impact it has will bereduced. If you can smile and say toyourself, ‘I knew this was going tohappen – so now I’m just going to dealwith it and keep going’, you are muchmore likely to pass than a differentstudent who is taken by surprise, lets itcompletely knock them off track, andloses their confidence and concentrationand a whole lot of exam time.”

By “deal with it and keep going” Imean:• Not being surprised when a questionyou liked the look of turned out to bequite tricky (as so often happens).• If it’s a working you can’t do, and youneed the answer for the next part of thequestion, make up something sensibleand keep going. If you can’t seem towork out the profit per unit, just write“assuming it is 20% of the selling priceof $100, so $20” and keep going.• If you can’t do a working and you don’tthe need answer for the next bit, then

just miss it out and get the marks for thenext one instead.• If it’s a theory or specific model youcan’t recall in detail, then read throughthe scenario again, and the requirement,and see if you can structure an answerbased on a nice combination of commonsense and business sense (after all,that’s what most theories and modelsare!). You must directly relate it to thescenario though.• If you think you’ve made a mistake andcan correct it very quickly, then do so asneatly as possible. Do not correct it if itsone of those you made early on in a longnumerical question and now impactsevery calculation you’ve done since. Justwrite a note to the marker saying, “I now

realise this should have been X not Y”,and show the correct working for it ifpossible. I repeat, do not go through youranswer crossing everything out, anddefinitely do not cross through the wholething and start again.• Finally, be positive when you move onto the next question by forgetting allabout the last one. The questions aretricky enough without trying to answerone while thinking about another.

Remember, everybody will get stuck atdifferent times throughout each exam –and promise yourself you’ll be one ofthose who expects it, deals with itsensibly, and keeps going. • Steve Malpass, CIMA Head ofProgramme, BPP

PQ

Learn from yourMISTAKESSteve Malpass wants to share with you the best advice he has ever given PQs

PQMAGAZINEGOESGLOBALSign up for the Emagazine and read PQmagazine

nomatter where you are –online. Go to

www.pqmagazine.co.uk and sign up for FREE today

online. Go to

pq dec 14 p28 Malpass_Layout 1 05/11/2014 15:50 Page 23

To get the recognition you deserve now, visit aat.org.uk/alternativeroutes or contact our

Customer Service team at [email protected] or +44 (0)20 3735 2401.

MAKE YOUR HARD WORK PAY OFF WITH AAT PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Working towards chartered status or taking a break from your studies?

Get professional membership and recognition now for the hard work you’ve put in so far.

MAATUse the letters MAAT after your name while you work towards

completing your chartered studies.

SELF-EMPLOYEDYou don’t have to be chartered to be in practice. Over 4,000

AAT self-employed members run their own practice, regulated

by AAT.

NETWORK OF 50,000Join 50,000 AAT professional members working at all levels

in fi nance and accounting roles.

300 FREE EVENTSWiden your professional reach with AAT’s branch network;

providing over 300 free local events across 46 UK branches.

FREE SUPPORTGain peace of mind with the free technical and ethical

advice lines.

E-LEARNING Support your further studies with AAT’s CPD events, resources

and award winning interactive e-learning.

SAVE 50%Save 50% on AAT membership while you are still studying

for chartered.

“ AAT will help boost your career and it is a world recognised

status to possess for a long term career in accountancy.

AAT membership has increased my confi dence, raised

my profi le and elevated me to a more senior position.”

Annie-Lee Cox MAAT

Corporate Tax Assistant, Arnold Hill & Co LLP

AAT is a registered charity. No. 1050724

029_PQ 1214_PQ 1209 000 30/10/2014 15:40 Page 7

With public services under everincreasing pressure to makesavings, it’s never been more

important to address the estimated £21 billion itloses to fraud each year. In this context, workingin counter fraud is a rewarding career path forthose wanting to make a difference throughprotecting taxpayers’ money from misuse. CIPFAis at the heart of this effort and its Counter FraudCentre is launching two new professionalqualifications that will equip students with theright tools to succeed in tackling fraud.

The two qualifications will appeal to people atdifferent stages of their career. The CIPFAAccredited Counter Fraud Specialist, CACFS, isaimed at specialists or field investigators alreadyworking in public services. The CIPFAAccredited Counter Fraud Technician, CACFT, isan ideal introduction for those who are startingout in the industry.

The CACFS looks at the whole spectrum ofcounter fraud and aims to give practitioners theconfidence, skills and knowledge to manage anytype of investigation. The syllabus ranges fromlearning about counter fraud legislation,investigation processes and case managementto investigative skills and courtroom processes.

Meanwhile, the CACFT gives a comprehensivestarting block for those at the beginning of theircareer in counter fraud. It analyses the impactfraud has in the UK and what civil and criminaland justice systems are in place to deal with thewidespread issue.

Both qualifications are run by the CIPFACounter Fraud Centre (CCFC), the UK’s firstnational centre of excellence in counter fraud,which leads and co-ordinates the fight againstfraud across the public services. As well astraining, the CCFC will give its subscribers inpublic services organisations access to theresources and tools they need to combat fraud.

To find out more about the new qualificationsvisit www.cipfa.org/counterfraudcentre. PQ


PQ CIPFA spotlight

Fraudsters beware! With two newqualifications, CIPFA is on the case

Over 500 Bookkeepers under one roof. Fifteen top industry speakers

including Minister of Pensions. Twenty exhibitors. And we gave away

a free Smart car. Wow!!

But don’t despair

You can still change your career path and use your existing AAT,

CIMA, ACCA or ICAEW qualifications to become a Certified

Bookkeeper by exemption, start your own practice, serve Britain’s

small businesses and start a career that really makes you count.

The Institute of Certified Bookkeepers

Proud sponsors of a PQ Award

www.bookkeepers.org.uk

Sorry you missed it

BIGGEST GATHERING OF CERTIFIED BOOKKEEPERS EVER

FIGHTING FRAUD CIPFA EXPLORESISLAMIC FINANCECIPFA is examining how local authorities andother public bodies could make better use ofIslamic finance as a source of borrowing. Theinstitute believes that local authorities andpublic bodies should explore potentialborrowing options in order to diversify thefunding options available to them.

The move comes after CIPFA held aroundtable event to assess the use of Islamicfinance with a broad range of stakeholdersfrom local government, the banking sector,specialist Islamic finance legal advisers and aSharia scholar. Following the roundtable,CIPFA has committed to facilitate work withIslamic finance providers to explore productsthat could be tailored to meet the needs ofpublic service bodies.

This initiative comes after the Governmentlaunched the UK’s first sovereign Sukuk bondin June 2014, worth £200 million, in a bid toestablish the UK as a global hub for Islamicfinance. The issue was more than ten timesover-subscribed, demonstrating the appetite forIslamic finance products in the UK.

CIPFA’s Alan Edwards said: “Islamic financeis a growing source of funding around theworld. CIPFA is committed to ensuring UK localauthorities and public bodies get the chance toexplore all funding options. Islamic financemay become an ethical and reliable source offunding.”



Awards 2015 PQBE COUNTED!

OUR PQs OF THE YEAR

Time is moving on and we need yournominations for the PQ Awards 2015.There are 15 categories up for grabs

this year – one must have your name on it,surely!

Our awards could be all about you – or theycould be your opportunity to nominatesomeone who never receives the plaudits theydeserve.

Last year we gave an award to RotherhamCollege’s top lecturer Samantha Hannigan. Herstudents said she had made studying AAT bothfun and very easy. She was thrilled to benominated, and the win on the night was a realsurprise. Hannigan was still chuffed at the AATannual conference three months later when wemet her again!

As we always say, our awards are totallyindependent, which means those used to

winning don’t get an automatic prize from us –you have to earn that win.

So, this is your chance to shine. And youmust know someone who hides their hard workunder a bushel and needs recognition – itcould even be your training manager!

But we can’t give you a night to remember ifyou don’t spend a bit of time on younomination. All we want is 250 words on whyyou think your nominee should win. Pleasestate clearly which category you are entering.

You can download an application form fromour website and send your nomination direct [email protected].

Or you could just put your entry in anenvelope and send it to PQ magazine, 4thFloor, Central House, 142 Central Street,London EC1V 8AR. This year’s deadline isFriday 19 December 2014. PQ

CATEGORIES■ PQ OF THE YEAR

■ NQ OF THE YEAR

■ DISTANCE LEARNING STUDENT OF THE YEAR

■ STUDENT BODY OF THE YEAR

■ TRAINING MANAGER OF THE YEAR

■ ACCOUNTANCY COLLEGE OF THEYEAR – PUBLIC SECTOR

■ ACCOUNTANCY COLLEGE OF THE YEAR – PRIVATE SECTOR

■ LECTURER OF THE YEAR – PUBLICSECTOR

■ LECTURER OF THE YEAR – PRIVATESECTOR

■ ACCOUNTANCY TEAM OF THE YEAR

■ INNOVATION IN ACCOUNTANCY

■ STUDY RESOURCE OF THE YEAR

■ ACCOUNTANCY BODY OF THE YEAR

■ ACCOUNTANCY PERSONALITY OFTHE YEAR

■ LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

OUR SPONSORSNo award ceremony is possible without the sponsors. And we have only the best...

Make your CV shine with a PQ short-listing. We want yournominations for the only worthwhile PQ awards around!

2012 winner Ria-Jaine Sarrington

Last time out, James Field of building contractorsCheesmur won through. The now ACCA qualifiedaccountant was dropped in the deep end when hejoined the firm, but proved he was up to the task.One day this man will be an FD! Field is a greatrole model to anyone starting a new career –especially one in accountancy – later in life

2013 winner Liina Pukk

Ronnie David,Personality ofthe Year 2013



PQ ICAEW spotlight

ONE GIANT LEAPIt’s considered the most challenging

e-assessment, and it’s the first oneyou’ll sit as an ACA student. But the

Accounting paper is easy to handle if youapproach it in the right way.

Accounting is different to the other fivee-assessments at the Certificate Level. Itis one of the most time-pressured so theonus is on you to manage your time well.There will be 24 objective test questions,worth 60% of the exam and a case-studystyle question making up the other 40%.Obvious as it sounds, remember on theday to attempt the objective testquestions first and keep an eye on theclock so you don’t run out of time on thecase study-style question.

Objective test questions .The objective test questions cover thewhole syllabus, so you need to knowwhere you are strong and where youstruggle. Start with a question you areconfident with and flag any questions youwant to come back to. Don’t leavequestions unanswered – you can alwayshave a guess at objective test questions.

You need to process the informationquickly but carefully. Ensuring youanswer the question the examiner isasking, not the one you think they areasking, is crucial. Reading therequirement twice is good practice.Where dates are given in questions, youneed to pick these out and carefullycount the number of months or yearsrequired.

Case study question .The long question can either be apreparation of Statement of FinancialPosition and Income Statement or aStatement of Cashflows. There is achance of either coming up, so youcannot neglect one in favour of the other.I repeat, you absolutely need to practiseboth questions. If you are given a trialbalance, you should work methodicallythrough it. Every number will need to gosomewhere and you will need to fill asmany boxes as possible. When working

carefully through the additionalinformation, do the easier adjustmentsfirst, remembering that every adjustmentaffects two balances. Always think indouble entry.

Watch out for a suspense account.This should never appear in the financialstatements. The additional informationgiven in the question will allow you toclear the account.

For cashflows, most of the marks areallocated to the cash generated fromoperations calculation so you shouldwork through this systematically.Property, plant and equipment is also akey working as it impacts on both theoperating activities and investingactivities sections; practise this.

Accounting is likely to be very differentto previous exams you have sat. The style

of questioning may be unfamiliar andtherefore it can take students some timeto get used to. The more questions youlook at, the more prepared you are goingto be. Practising computer-based examsis essential too. There are two samplepapers available via the ICAEW website –make sure you attempt these before yousit the real thing.

Rewriting your notes might make themlook pretty, but the best way to find out ifyou really know your stuff is to testyourself. When practising questions,memorising the answer is no good. It’s allabout whether you know how to applythe theory, since you won’t see the samequestion in the exam. Analyse theanswers to the questions you find tricky.And don’t be afraid of making mistakes;it’s the best way to learn. • Kirsty Jones is a tutor with BPPProfessional Education. For moreinformation about the Accountancy e-assessment, visit www.icaew.com/examresources

PQ

Kirsty Jones explains how taking the rightapproach at the outset will make the task ofpassing the Accounting paper so much easier

NEED HELP?

Our professional tutors provide individual answers to

all your questions, online and free of charge!

http://opentuition.com/askthetutor

pq dec 14 pICAEW spotlight_Layout 1 06/11/2014 12:07 Page 26

PESTEL is one of those businessenvironment analysis tools thatis regularly examined. Students

often think it easy to get the marks andare then surprised when the marker doesnot reward their efforts with top marks.

So why is there such an issue? Thetrick is to assume that the marker knowsvery little, if anything at all. With thismindset, you are forced to stateeverything that is necessary to gain themarks available.

The key word is ‘application’. Asuccessful student will explicitly state howthe business environment issue relates tothe actual business described in thescenario. For example, if the business,let’s call them A Ltd, is an exporter to theFar East, then the political/businessagreements being formed by the UK andChinese governments will encouragefurther exports to China from the UK. It isnot enough, however, to state the‘political’ issue as “there has beenbusiness agreements between the UKand Chinese Governments recently”.

This simply states the issue, but doesnot specifically apply to the business. Thestudent is expecting the marker tointerpret what the impact of this will befor A Ltd. Beware of asking markers tothink! Never leave a marker asking 'sowhat?’

The student must explicitly state whatthe impact of the issue is – even if the

33PQ Magazine December 2014

PESTEL analysis PQ

BOOST YOUR ACCOUNTING CAREER WITH

WORK PLACEMENT

GUARANTEED

Practical Short Courses: Ÿ Sage Line 50Ÿ Sage PayrollŸ Excel SpreadsheetŸ Value Added Tax (VAT)Ÿ Management Accounts

and others

Daytime/Evening Courses:Ÿ AAT Level 2 Ÿ AAT Level 3 Ÿ AAT Level 4

Speak to a course Adviser:Call: 020 7252 9331

Email: [email protected]: www.thetrainingplace.org

16-24? FREE Apprenticeships: Ÿ AccountingŸ Business AdministrationŸ Customer Service

PESTEL controlnations. A Ltd could seize thisopportunity and increase its exportrevenue to China.”

So rather than scrabbling around forhalf a mark, make sure of a full mark.The student knows the point and therelevance of it – they just have to makesure it’s down on paper.

The next key skill is for a student to bein control of their script and so helpthemselves complete the exam.Subheadings remain essential – themessage from the examiners hasn’tchanged. Use sub-headings andstructure the script. Also, for a nine-markPESTEL question, you need nine explicitlystated points spread over the six areas.That’s two points for, say, political,economic and social, and one point fortechnological, ecological and legal (orwhatever combination suits the scenario).

In summary, be explicit (think issueand implication) and stay in control. Evenif you could come up with more points,get in, get the marks available and getout. PESTEL should be as easy as youthink it is. • Matt Holden, Reed Business School

PQ

Stating the obvious will help you score the necessary marks, says Matt Holden

point is obvious. A successful student willalways write ‘fact’ (the issue from thescenario) and ‘implication’ (thus applyingthe issue to the business explicitly).

For example: “There has beenbusiness agreements between the UKand Chinese Governments recently. Thiswill encourage trade between the two

pq dec 14 p 33 v2_Layout 1 06/11/2014 10:58 Page 23


PQ careers

The workplace: take control of your careerHays’ Tony Stevens gives advice onhow to develop your career plan andhighlights the importance of takingcontrol of your career

Decisions made during the early stages of anaccounting career do have an impact on the seniorroles available to professionals later on. This is why itis crucial for those professionalsaiming high to invest theirtime in creating a clear careerplan and manage thiseffectively, to ensure they stayon track to reach the top bygaining the relevant skills andexperience needed.

Many people only think abouttheir career goals when theystart looking for a new job, or attheir annual appraisal, butongoing career planning andmanagement is important to yourlong-term career progression.While almost every company willclaim to support careerdevelopment, it is unreasonable tothink that anyone will care aboutyour career as much as you do soinvest time in your career.

Regardless of how well you thinkthings are going in your currentorganisation to get the career you want you will needto take charge of it – have a clear idea of where youwant to be long-term. Think about your skills, whatyou enjoy doing, and where you want to be. Do aSWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities,threats) analysis. Whether you measure success bypromotion opportunities, contribution to society oraddressing your work/life balance, the first step is toidentify your goals and motivations.

Once you know where you want to be, it’s much

easier to figure out how to get there. Breaking yourlong-term aspirations down into short to medium-term goals makes them more manageable, andenables you to take first steps towards reachingthem. You might realise you need to take a trainingcourse to learn new skills or refresh old ones, ordevelop your IT or language skills through onlinelearning.

Talking to people in the know, whether they arefinancial directors or expertrecruiters, can help you highlightthe skills you might be missingand they will know whatexperience is currently indemand. Once you know whatskills, knowledge andexperience you need todevelop, the next stage is todevise a plan to build them.For the majority ofaccountancy professionals,career planning will be a mixof setting formal objectivesthrough appraisals andcontinuing professionaldevelopment, and moreinformal thought anddiscussion around yourcareer plans.

While it is essential todevelop the right skills,don’t underestimate the

importance of continuing to network. Buildingand maintaining relationships with relevant industrycontacts and expert recruiters may mean that youare approached about an exciting role before youstart even the process of applying.

For more information and job opportunities visitwww.hays.co.uk/accountancy • Tony Stevens, Senior Managerfor Hays Senior Finance inSheffield

34

The PQ Book ClubEVERY MONTH WE REVIEW THEBOOKS YOU SHOULD BE READING

Awaken the Genius Within by SamuelA Malone (Glasnevin Publishing, £25)

This book bills itself as one for“college students who want toimprove their grades, adults whohave returned to college… employeesand professionals who want toprogress…”. But, really, its foreveryone who wants to improve,regardles of age, role or motivation.The initial chapter examines the

working of thetypical humanbrain which,incredibly, hasmore capacitythan theinternet. Itoutlines fiveways you canstimulate thebrain, while

chapter 2 is one of the mostimportant for PQs, dealing as it doeswith concentration. If you’ve not timeto read the whole thing, then dodelve into chapter 7, which is evenmore pertinent – it deals withmemory and learning, and explainshow to develop you memory skillsthrough acronyms, rhyme and othersimilar techniques. A great book,albeit one with a hefty price tag.PQ rating: 4/5 If your intellect cannotbe improved, then this is not for you.Otherwise…

Most sought-after roleBusiness partnering is now the

most sought after role in theaccounting and finance sector, says anew study. This reflects the need tobuild commercial growth rather thanjust focusing on ‘bean counting’ orregulatory risk management. However,finance professionals need to now‘have it all’ to secure the best roles.That means strong communicationand analytical skills alongside soundtechnical competence.

Children connundrumNew research from the AAT has

found that half of women believe thathaving a baby poses such a risk totheir career that they would considerremaining childless. In addition two-thirds of women are concerned aboutthe impact that having children mighthave on their career. AAT careercoach Aimee Bateman said: “A lot ofwomen worry about balancing theircare and career commitments [whileothers] have decided to retrain as theircurrent role provides little flexibility.”

In brief

Ruth Enge, 28, is a PQ accountant based in Cambridge. She has worked there for oneyear. A CIMA prize winner, Ruth has a degree in Humanities from the OU. Her claim tofame is that she appeared on 50/50, a children’s TV game show, while at school

Life at Napp Pharmaceuticals Limited

What time does your alarmclock go off on a workingday? 6.10am.What the first thing you dowhen you get to your desk?Check my emails.What’s on yourdesk? Bottle ofwater, fruit and a cupof tea.What’s the bestthing about whereyou work? Mycolleagues – they arereally friendly and helpful.Where’s your fav place to goto lunch? The deli at work.What or who can you seewhen you sit at your desk?The A14.

Which websites are yourfavourites and why? Ethicalsuperstore, Natural collection,Howies.Which websites do you use

for work?None.How manyhours a weekdo you spendin meetings?One to twohours.What time do

you leave the office? 4.30pm.How do you relax? Mountainbiking, sailing and walking thefamily dog.What’s your favourite tipple?A cup of tea.

How often do you take workhome with you? At year end.What is your favourite TVprogramme? The Great BritishBake Off.Summer or winter? Summer.Pub or club? Pub.Who is your hero? DonkeySanctuary – it takes in donkeys inthe UK and gives them a home forlife.If you had a time machine,where would you go? Forwardin time to when I am qualified andliving by the sea in Devon with myhusband.If you hadn't chosenaccountancy, where mightyou be right now? Fundraisingfor a local charity.

pq dec 14 p34_pq oct07-p31 05/11/2014 15:34 Page 31

NOT SURE WHERE YOU’RE HEADING WITH YOUR JOB?

Need a change?

Contact your nearest Reed Accountancy branch.

We’ll help guide you in the right direction.

reedglobal.com/accountancyjobs

Reed Specialist Recruitment Reed Accountancy

@ReedAccountancy

035_PQ 1214_PQ 1209 000 30/10/2014 15:41 Page 7

Farnham office: 01252 718777

[email protected]

Weybridge office: 01932 901900

[email protected]

aim your career sights higher

www.howett-thorpe.co.uk

036_PQ 1214_PQ 1209 000 30/10/2014 15:43 Page 7

WE’RE BIG IN FINANCE YOU CAN BE TOO

© Copyright Hays Specialist Recruitment Limited 2014. HAYS, the Corporate and Sector H devices, Recruiting experts worldwide, the HAYS Recruiting experts worldwide logo and Powering the World of Work are trade marks of Hays plc. The Corporate and Sector H devices are original designs protected by registration in many countries. All rights are reserved.

hays.co.uk/pq

Hays specialises in part-qualified recruitment, working with leading organisations

to ofer you access to a wide range of jobs across the UK. With many years’

experience of recruiting for accountancy and finance jobs, we currently have

over 700 vacancies for part qualified accountants in the commercial and public

sectors as well as professional accountancy practices.

If you are studying towards your professional qualifications, whether that be

management, financial or commercial accounting or tax, we can find you the

most suitable jobs to advance your career. So whether you’re an enterprising

management accountant, an expert financial analyst or an aspiring tax

professional, we can help you to achieve your ambitions.

To find out about our latest roles, or discuss the opportunities we can ofer you,

contact Shahid Nawaz on 020 3465 0017 or email [email protected].

Sorted, thanks topqjobs.co.uk

PQ jobs pqjobs.co.uk

037_PQ 1214_PQ 1209 000 30/10/2014 15:45 Page 7


PQ got a story, funny or serious, you want to share? Email [email protected]

W E V E G O T T H E L O T’

Terms and conditions: One entry per giveaway please. You must send your name and address to be entered for the draw. All giveaway entries must bereceived by Monday 1 December. The main draw will take place on Tuesday 2 December 2014.

TO ENTER THESE GIVEAWAYS EMAIL [email protected]

So are you a morning person?So what do most successful people do beforebreakfast? We are all busy – but we all waste time.Laura Vanderkam’s book inspires you to rethink yourmorning routine and helps jump-start your day.Remember, if you use your mornings wisely you canbuild habits that will lead to a happier and moreproductive life. We have three copies of ‘What themost successful people do before breakfast’ togiveaway this month.

All you have to do is email [email protected], headed ‘Breakfast’, and wewill do the rest. Don’t forget we need your address.

PuzzleheavenWe have not one but three fun pocket-sized puzzle books to give away this month. First there isSudoku 100 Puzzles, Volume 2. Thenwe have the Bumper Word Search andJumble Crosswords books. We knowhow much you love a Suduko – some of

you have never forgiven us for dropping it from the fun page! Wehave five sets of the Puzzle books up for grabs. All we need from you is your name and address so we knowwhere to send these books. Email [email protected]– head up your email ‘Puzzle’ and we’ll do the rest.

A nice (Nook) TouchWe have one more Nook Simple Touch to giveaway and then that’s really it – our drawers will be bare! The Nook, with its 6” touchscreen, is an easy-to-use reader and one

could be winging its way to you very soon.Remember, you don’t have to worryabout the glare of bright sunlightand its long battery life shouldmean you only have torecharge it every two months. Built-in

wi-fi means you can download your ebooks in just seconds. To enter this giveaway email [email protected]. Head

up your email ‘Nook’ and please include your name and address so wecan post your prize straight after the draw!

Revision kitjust for youOur revision kit giveaway proved so popularin our last issue with have joined forceswith HTFT Partnership to offer five luckyreaders a very neat little revision pencilcase full of great stuff. As always we willthrow in an ‘I love PQ’ mug.All you need to do is send your name andaddress to [email protected] up you email ‘HTFT giveaway’ andleave the rest to us.

A CALCULATED RISK TAKERThe Apprentice started on 14 October, with one self-confessedaccountant, Roisin Hogan from Dublin, among the 20 candidates.She claims to be a calculated risk taker, listens to her instincts anddoesn’t jump into big decisions lightly. Hopefully, then, she thoughtcarefully before applying for the tenth series of The Apprentice (shewas still in it when PQ went to press). Her factfile reveals she is notspontaneous and she admits to being a control freak. In her auditionshe explained she will always be an accountant. We also discovershe has packed in her job and has set up in business on her own.Lord Sugar’s £250,000 will come in handy should she win.

THE ACCOUNTANTBen Affleck seems to have found his nextbig role as… an accountant! The star ofGone Girl and Batman vSuperman is in negotiations tostar in Warner Brother’s actionthriller The Accountant. Thefilm is based on an originalscript by Bill Dubuque andcentres on a mild-manneredaccountant who moonlights as alethal assassin. When Variety announcedthe news a real-life accountant said:“…because working 90-plus hours week asan accountant during busy season leavesplenty of time to moonlight as an assassin!”

WE ARE ONLY TINYU2’s Bono recentlydefended Ireland’scontroversial tax laws,which help global giantssuch as Apple and

Facebook avoid billions in taxes. He saidthat Ireland was still a tiny country and “wedon’t have scale, and our version of scale isto be innovative and to be clever, and taxcompetitiveness has brought our country theonly prosperity we’ve known”.

WIN AN iPAD!Premier Trainingwants your selfie/photobomb pictures– and one luckywinner will be sentan iPad 4 for theirpains. You have toupload a picture ofyourself and yourAAT certificate on tothe Premier Training

website by 7 December to be in with achance to win the prize. The competition isopen to all current AAT students andmembers.

PAY MORE TAXBeing a tax avoiding boss is as bad asbeing a slave owner, according to thelatest report from Christian Aid. In fact,the theologians claim in ‘Tax For theCommon Good’ that good companiesshould pay more tax than the lawdictates. This will be an uncomfortableconclusion for many defenders of taxavoidance, who often imply that whatis legal is also morally sound. DrRitchie, the director of the Centre forTheology and Community, said:“Businesses are parasitic if they make

use of the resources and infrastructure of a countrywithout contributing to it through taxation.”

pq dec 14 p38_pq aug 13 fun 05/11/2014 15:33 Page 42

M A N C H E S T E R

GOT A DEGREE? CELEBRATE THIS FESTIVE SEASON WITH UP TO 30% OFF* YOUR ACCA

BENEFIT FROM:

• Expert tutors

• Flexible study modes

• Free Live Online Sessions

• Pass 1st Time Guarantee™ˆ

• Free practical skills certificates◊

• Funded MBA/MA in Finance and Investment**

GET YOUR FESTIVE DISCOUNT

BEFORE 15 DECEMBER

◊When you book 6 or more tuition papers. ^LSBF Manchester Pass 1st Time Guarantee™ ensures that if

you do not successfully pass your paper on the first sitting, you will be able to attend a free re-sit course.

The nature of the free resit depends on the preferred study mode. **To complete the MBA/MA course

students must pass 14 ACCA papers (i.e.: F1–P5). Students may be admitted onto the MBA/MA course prior

to passing their final three ACCA Papers. *Full-time students: Applicants must hold a University Degree.

Offer applies when booking 9 or more papers. Students will be entitled to 25% off the course when paying

a deposit or 30% off when paying in full. Part-time students: Book 4 tuition papers and 2 revision papers

and get 15% off and an MS Surface tablet. This promotion has not been endorsed by Microsoft. Surface

is a trademark of Microsoft, registered in the U.S. and other countries. Offer expires 15 December 2014.

Please read full T&Cs for more information.


UKBA HIGHLY TRUSTED

SPONSOR

LONDON SCHOOLOF BUSINESS & FINANCE

www.LSBFmanchester.com/PQ

0161 669 4272

039_PQ 1214_PQ 1209 000 31/10/2014 14:42 Page 7

ENJOY GREAT SAVINGS THIS FESTIVE SEASON WITH FBT

GET UP TO 30% OFF* YOUR ACCALIMITED TIME ONLY

Key facts

Next intake: January 2015

Fees: From £300 per paper

Location: Centre City, 5-7 Hill

Street, Birmingham, B5 4UA

�

�

�

Why choose FBT?

Expert tutors

Free Live Online Sessions

One-to-one coaching scheme

Flexible Payment Plan†

�

�

�

�

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

0121 616 33702nd floor 5-7 Hill Street, Birmingham, B5 4UA

www.fbt-global.com/PQ

*Full-time students: Ofer applies when booking 9 or more papers. Students will be entitled to 25% of the course when paying a deposit or 30% of when paying in full.

Part-time students: Book 4 tuition papers and 2 revision papers and get 15% of and an MS Surface tablet. This promotion has not been endorsed by Microsoft. Surface

is a trademark of Microsoft, registered in the U.S. and other countries. Ofer expires 15 December 2014. †Payments must be made on or before the specifed date and

failure to comply will render the agreement null and void. Please read full T&Cs for more information.

040_PQ 1214_PQ 1209 000 31/10/2014 14:42 Page 7

PQ magazine December 2014

Documents

Transcript of PQ magazine December 2014