ACCAPaperF7FinancialReporting
發布時間：2014-02-26 共1頁
Notes to be taken by students who intend to undertake a course of self study for:
ACCA Paper F7 Financial Reporting
Introduction
I am pleased to know that there are a good number of students
who are willing to study diligently to obtain a well recognised international
qualification such as ACCA. However, undertaking a course of self study can
be a very challenging one particularly so when the recent December 2008
examination diet has less than 50% world pass rate for paper F7.
There is a recent trend of lower pass rates and only a well-prepared
candidate could readily attain a pass mark within the time
constraints of the examination (3 hours 15minutes including
15 minutes of reading and planning time).
I would like to highlight some pointers to be use by students
who intend to attempt the paper F7 in the near future especially
areas of poor examination technique and some common errors
made in attempting the paper. General information.
1. The structure of the paper is that of all compulsory questions,
with questions 1, 2 and 3 are 25 marks each, 來采集者退散
question 4 is 15 marks and question 5 is 10 marks.
2. There are many areas where students can improve further,
both in terms of application of their knowledge and examination technique.
Students basically are able to answer the computational
elements of the paper well, but sadly the analysis and discursive
areas of the paper were generally much weaker.
3. Students MUSTNOT omit the analysis and discursive areas of the paper,
as not attempting these sections will account for losing more than 30 marks.
Therefore it must be stressed that it is highly unlikely that a student
will pass this paper by relying entirely on the computational aspect.
4. Sensible time allocation and the avoidance of time wasting activities is
an important part of examination technique to avoid not being able to complete
all the questions required in the paper. Example of wasting time are:
• Over-elaborate workings, unnecessary journals and needless written
explanatory comments. It is important that complex figures need referencing
and clear workings, but students should not take this to an extreme and
waste time producing workings for almost every figure.
For instance if the question required the calculation of ratios, students
may often produced an unnecessary summary of the ratios after they
had calculated them. Then in the comparative analysis, the ratios are
repeated immediately again before the commentary. Marks for the ratios
can only be given once, so repeatedly writing them down will not gain
any marks and therefore a wasting of precious time. • Do not give a blank
pro-forma answer (to say the income statement and statement of financial
position (balance sheet) in question 2). Such an answer would gain little if
any marks and as such is a waste of time. It would be far better to complete
the numerical elements of only part of a required statement than to produce a
complete statement with no figures. 5. Another important issue students should take note is your handwriting must
not be illegible. If the markers of the scripts could not read any part of a script they cannot be given any marks.
6. In answering the questions students should use an organised approach
with well presented workings so as to ensure markers are able to award marks on all the work done.
7. Have an organise time table to plan your study and make sure you discipline
yourself to adhere to the plan. Have a checklist to ensure all topics are covered
and identify which topics are more important so that more time will be spent on
those topics. Common errors that can be made by students.
1. In a consolidation question proportionally
consolidating partly owned subsidiary.
Time apportioned in consolidating subsidiary in
the statement of financial position.
And failure to time apportioned the results of the subsidiary to include
only its post-acquisition results in the consolidated income statement.
These are fundamental errors which display a lack of understanding of the principle involved.
The main areas where students made more routine errors:
· Revaluation adjustment on acquisition of subsidiary or associate’s net
assets and further adjustment on depreciation affected by the revaluation of the assets.
· The changes introduced by the IFRS 3 revised particularly on the additional
approach in measuring non controlling
interest and the valuation of intangibles at the date of acquisition.
Intra group adjustment on unrealised profit, debt etc.
2. In a question requiring the preparation of an income statement,
a statement of financial position and a statement of changes in equity
(SOCIE) after accounting for a series of adjustments.
Technical issues relating to a particular accounting standard such as IAS 16 PPE,
the adjustment in equity to reflect the transfer of realised profit for the revaluation reserve in respect of the revalued property.
Students need to have a strong knowledge and ability to apply the relevant accounting standard.
3. In a question on ratio analysis, the analysis is just a matter of simply
reiterating what the ratios were or that one company’s ratio was higher (or lower) than
4.the other’s. This is certainly not an analysis as such will gain little mark.
Often the information given in the scenario were ignored
reflecting that students are weak in the aspect of analysis.
ConclusionStudents should not try to pass by just learning the
main topics or relying on numerical skills alone.
It is important that students should master the understanding and techniques in each accounting standard at F7 level.
