Dec 2011 Mr Jays Tips for ACCA F8 and ACCA P7

Apologies for the late tipping of matters.

Note - tips are not healthy within the study approach but at the last minute, it might be a good idea to focus a few of the following areas before going into the examination

The coming issues are possible for Dec 2011 ACCA Advance Audit & Assurance paper P7

Question 1 - mixed questions with ethics + ISQC1 + matters to consider + business risk / audit risk + procedures for intangibles / pension (IAS 19) - using experts (ISA 620)

Question 2 - PFI / Forensic auditing / engagement acceptance / Know - your - client + Money laundering

Question 3 - Matters to consider - Financial instruments + IAASB announcement on the complex transactions

Question 4 - Ethical consideration - focusing on confidentiality, fee matters and standard FASSI

Question 5 - Critical assessment of closing procedures + audit report + written representation

OTHER MATTERS THAT SHOULD BE COVERED

1. Materiality and ISA 450 

2. ISA 610 usage of internal auditor

3. ISA 402 - Usage of service organisation / ISAE 3402

4. Risk auditing - covering the article by P1 examiner

5. Confirmation issues - articles by IAASB

Hope that helps for students preparing for the ACCA P7 paper.

The following are the possible areas that are relevant for ACCA F8 Audit & Assurance paper for DEC 2011 ACCA examination.

Students that are preparing for the F8 Exam.

Please read the latest article by the examiner AUDIT RISK and the articles by the assessor for the F8 examiner AUDIT SAMPLING & SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

Areas that should be coming out this time -

AUDIT PROCEDURES - WAGES, INVENTORY, NCA, PURCHASES TRANSACTION, CASH (BANK BALANCE)

AUDIT RISK - AS PER PREVIOUS YEAR + AUDIT STRATEGY + ENGAGEMENT ACCEPTANCE MATTERS TO CONSIDER + ISA 610

AUDIT CLOSING - SUBSEQUENT EVENTS / GOING CONCERN / AUDIT REPORT (ISA 720 - OTHER INFORMATION), ISA 706 - EOMP AND OMP

CONTROLS - GENERIC QUESTION ON CONTROL OBJECTIVES / CONTROL LIMITATIONS. SPECIFIC QUESTION ON ICEQ/ICQ ON PURCHASES/WAGES/SALES.  [POSSIBLE FULL QUESTION ON MANAGEMENT LETTER FOR WAGES OR SALES SYSTEM]

ETHICS - STANDARD FASSI QUESTION / CONFIDENTIALITY 

Other smaller areas that can be examined:

Assertions for disclosure

Audit procedures for depreciation charges verification

Explanation of ISA 705 modification

Internal auditor ISA 610 specific procedures + generic procedures

Audit sampling ISA 530 theory question on audit sampling risk and factors that increase or decrease it, projection of errors.

Accounting standards IAS 2,8,10,16,36,37,38

Those that are preparing for the exam - do not take the writing of audit response / ethical safeguards lightly since most of the students usually mess up and gain very little marks in those areas.

Well that is just my thoughts about what is possible.  

For those that are planning to study ACCA P1 and P3 next semester - remember that JPro training slots will only start after the results are out in Feb 22 - Alternative Monday classes - 10 x 8 hours = 80 hours (which is more than enough), exclusive boutique training centre.  Book your spots early to avoid disappointment - since I will only cater for the max of 18 pax.

OBU TRAINING IS ON DEC 15 / 2011 FOR THE NEXT SUBMISSION. DO BOOK EARLY TO GET A PLACE FOR THE TRAINING

P7 IMPORTANT MATERIALS

Those taking the P7 ACCA DEC 2011 exams should ensure that you have covered the following materials before going to the exam hall, this could come out for 10 - 20 marks this semester
1. ISAE 3402 New assurance standard that can be examined together with ISA 402
2. XBRL Emerging landscape
3. Auditor consideration regarding significant unusual or highly complex transactions
4. Emerging practice with the use of confirmations
5. Challenges in auditing fair values
6. Audit consideration of going concern

This are the latest issues facing the auditing profession and should have a high level of probability in coming out in this semester

MESSED UP AUDITS

The latest scandals in the world of audit - OLYMPUS & MF GLOBAL
In both of the companies you have 3 of the BIG 4 which are involved.  In MF case, it is PWC - whether they had issued an appropriate emphasis of matter paragraph in the audit report regarding the material uncertainty (ISA 570) that existed in MF Global financial statements.  This should have been done given the fact that IAASB had already issued a guidance note regarding the matter and how to manage through such a scenario.  They should have also increased audit risk profile for the client given the amount of financial instruments that MF was involved in, the company was already not used to this type of investments (past understanding of the client).

On the other corner, we have KPMG which may have failed to detect material misstatement caused by fraud - ISA 240 that existed within the giant OLYMPUS.  Whether there is a failure or not, we have to wait for the investigators and regulators to go through the audit firms approach.  The worst part would the one holding the ball when the shit hit the ceiling EY, which has been the auditor since the removal of KPMG. In this case the CEO said that he "believed" that auditors involved were professional.  Whether there is a poor quality audit done or not, again we will have to wait - but one thing for sure, it will be really messy in the audit world of Japan.

This brings us to Malaysian audit scenario - students that are studying for ACCA qualification, please ensure that you act professionally all the time, else we have the scandals that brought down PWC Japan in 2006/2007 - Reuters (2011)

Make sure if you are being pressure to act unethically or forgo an issue - do not just accept it, know your ethical grounds and stand up against it - contact ACCA via email for help.

This would also increase the need for ethical questions to be increased in the coming term say Dec 2012/June 2013 papers of P7 and F8 ACCA.

F8 IRC IN SUNWAY IPOH

There will be a 2 day training for F8 in Sunway Ipoh, so for those that are staying in Ipoh, you can consider making the necessary enquiries with them, this would be highly focused only on the possible areas for the coming examination.

The dates are in Dec 1 & 2 2011, which means most of you have already prepared for the examination and this would be a fast recap and focused IRC on getting the MARKS!

F8 AND P7 IRC FOR J PRO

SORRY, THIS TIME THE SLOTS HAVE BEEN FULLY BOOKED, AND THE IRC WAS NOT OPENED SINCE I HAVE ALREADY REACHED MAXIMUM CAPACITY OF 18 PAX FROM THE BEGINNING.

YOU COULD TRY OUT MR.JOEY OR MR.GOH AS AN ALTERNATIVE FOR P7 REVISION, WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THE OTHERS SINCE YOU WILL NEED TO BE FAMILIAR WITH THEIR ACRONYMS TO FULLY GRASP THEIR METHODOLOGY.

F8 AGAIN - MR.JOEY SHOULD BE OK, OTHERS WOULD BE PHILIP.

YOU MAY BE WONDERING ABOUT SHEILA, I SUPPOSE FOR THOSE THAT ARE USED TO HER ACRONYMS IT WOULD BE OK, BUT IF YOU ARE NEW, IT MIGHT BE A BIT HARD, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE TRYING ONLY FOR REVISION.

CLASS SIZE IS THE OTHER FACTOR TO CONSIDER, I SUPPOSE YOU WOULD WANT TO CLARIFY YOUR DOUBTS DURING REVISION, LARGE CLASSES ARE NOT THE PLACE TO DO THIS! - THAT IS WHY I LIMIT TO A MAXIMUM OF 18, SO THERE IS LESS INTIMIDATION FROM THE CROWD FOR CLARIFICATION.

GOOD LUCK ON THE REVISIONS.

REMEMBER - IT IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA TO SWITCH YOUR LECTURERS ONCE YOU HAVE TRIED OUT ONE STYLE, IT COULD BE THAT YOUR MIND NEEDS A NEW APPROACH FOR THE SAME PROBLEM - GOING BACK TO THE SAME PLACE, YOU GET THE SAME APPROACH AGAIN.

I HAD ONE STUDENT THAT HAD TRIED OUT 1 LECTURER 5 TIMES AND KEPT FAILING, FINALLY TRIED OUT A DIFFERENT APPROACH BY TRYING OUT MY METHODOLOGY OF ANSWERING AND THINKING - PASS.  I SUPPOSE THAT ALL SHE NEEDED WAS A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE IN ANSWERING THE QUESTION.

THE POINTS ABOVE ARE JUST MY OPINION.

The P7 class is already full and there will be no places for revision

There is 2 more seats available for F8

You can consider Sheila (Elite Jaya) or Joey (KDU) or Goh (Sunway) as an alternative lecturers for P7.  There are others out there, but this is who I would consider recommending for now

P7 and F8 Class schedule

For those that passed the papers last sitting - Congratulation!

But for those that are unfortunate to fail this paper, well there is still hope. The timing for P7 and F8 are provided below for those that want to be better prepared for the paper.

The F8 slot is currently at Wednesday and only 10 more seats are available. The revival class for those that did not pass the paper last sitting will be starting on 29/8/2011 (8.30 am to 5.30 pm) followed by a class on 1/9/2011 (8.30 to 5.30 pm)

P7 will only start on the following dates - registration for this is now open (8.30am - 5.30pm)

Sept 10/11/18

Oct 1/2/22/23/30

Total 8 x 8 hours = 64 hours for training time

Plus the revision timing - November 6/12/13 (8.30 - 6.30pm)

SMS or Call 0178786074 for booking and registration

UPDATE - F8 ACCA Progress Test

The following will the specific issues that will be examined on Thursday - note the areas and prepare for it well

1. Internal auditing from Chapter 3

2. Corporate governance from Chapter 3

3. Ethics from Chapter 5

There is only 2 chapters being examined for total of 60 marks. See you at the MPH for the class.

Malaysian Audit salaries / firms

The analysis of employment within the Big4 done from a survey of auditing and taxation staffs involved seems to indicate the following results. Those that are already in the BIG 4 can try to provide some additional feedback to improve this information so as to enable the others to make a more informed decision about which firm to join. In the market there is only the BIG 4 and not as claimed by some as the BIG 5......that would be false advertising / misleading. The measurement of BIG is related to gross fee income, which is very clear within the audit market. Anyone claiming that they are the BIG 5 have to be accepted by the audit industry as the 5th player.

Recent findings in Australia has cast significant doubt about the quality of audit scepticism within the industry with 17% of the audit reports being faulty (Imagine the levels within Malaysia) Recent conversations with some finance directors and managers seems to indicate that audit managers and partner are accommodating their clients since they are concerned abut the fee that would be earned. There are incidents where firms resign rather than give a qualified audit report (fear of damaging their reputation)

The incidents reported by the SUN paper on 7th of July 2011 indicates that there is significant audit failures within the China, resulting in many of the US and Canadian listed companies being de-listed and failing. This has already cast significant doubt about the quality control practiced by the "overseas firms", damaging the reputation of auditor further.

Given the current economic climate, with significant uncertainties within the global financial markets, 3F would be re-appearing faster now - Financial fraud, Financial instruments manipulation and Fair value manipulation. Auditors should be bold to question and be sceptical of the financial instruments and fair values used by management - question the assumptions and the basis on which values are derived.

New students for F8 and P7 - note

The audit paper is one of the most challenging paper in Malaysia - since it requires the student to understand the accounting system in detail as well as the accounting standards that support them before getting into auditing issues.

Overall paper F8 is much more harder to pass compared to P7, mainly because it has more auditing specific questions whereas P7 has more accounting specific question (which the Malaysian students fair better).

Studying for this paper would require significant effort by yourself to make sure that you understand auditing concepts and evidence gathering methods clearly.

As a student studying for auditing - make sure that your effort starts from the first day of the class rather than the days before the exam. In this case - reviewing materials learnt after the class is a good idea.

You should look at the links at the side, I have provided some links that are could be helpful for students that are getting ready for the class. In terms of learning - the best source of reading up for the paper is the ISA itself (which is the logo given by the side)

Offer for F8 beginning WED 6/6/11

F8 and P7 exams June 2011

The papers for the JUNE 2011 ACCA exams are already out for viewing - so students that have just completed the exams should probably consider re-writing the answers and getting it reviewed by their lecturer - this should allow you to gauge your expected marks.

By gauging your expected marks - you can plan your next semester better.

Overall the papers for P7 was not that bad - it did have the new format to deal with - which was addressed by the article that was written by Lisa Weaver recently. The paper tested Financial statement risk, PFI (mixed with going concern), usual ethics question, due diligence, ISA 550, ISA 510, Consolidation process, Audit report.

This paper is considered a doable paper for students that had prepared well - reviewed all previous papers and considered studying up their P2 before going in - since it tested both IAS 11 and 37 in some detail.

On the other hand, paper F8 had the following issues to be considered - Q1 - sales system test of control, internal controls to reduce fraud, substantive procedures for revenue and AR balances.

(Well designed question that covered the essential elements that should be known by all auditing students)

Q2 - Theory question that brought in ISA 210 and Narrative notes advantage and disadvantages

Q3 - Balance question asking for audit procedures AEIOU for purchases and risk based question

Q4 - Ethical question + Internal audit outsourcing question

Q5 - An excellent question that tested ISA 450 (new standard), ISA 620 Experts and ISA 705 Modification of audit reports.

Overall the paper has a better feel compared to the previous paper and should provide a more favourable pass rate. If you had failed this paper - it would indicate that you did not do your basic work sufficiently and waited to the last minute to get the work done.

THIS SEMESTER JULY 2011 I WILL BE OFFERING THE FOLLOWING CLASSES

P7 ACCA - SUNWAY JB

F8 ACCA - SUNWAY JB

F8 ACCA - J PRO - EVERY WEDNESDAY 1.30 PM TO 5.00 PM (STARTS ON 6TH JULY)

P7 ACCA - JPRO - STARTS ON SUNDAY 17 JULY 8.30 AM TO 5.30PM (8 HOURS) , NEXT ON IS ON 28/8, 3 & 4/9, 23 & 30/10 MAIN CLASSES. QUESTION PRACTICE SLOTS WILL BE DISCUSSED DURING THE CLASS.

CONTACT ME ON FACEBOOK - J@ACCAMAIL.COM OR CALL MY 012 NO. (DO INFORM THE REST ABOUT THE CLASS TIMING - MAX IS 20 ONLY)

Audit procedures

The diagram above does provide some idea about audit procedures that are done during the interim and final audit, not at the planning and review stage.

The basic idea is to understand that audit procedures are done to gather audit evidence.

Evidence that needs to be gathered can be about the reliability of the internal control system is achieved using test of control (as the audit procedure) - this means that control risk assessment is low

You will need to identify the control then write up the procedures to confirm if the control is working as designed. Good questions to look at includes Seelay and B-Star, which provides an idea about control testing and whether control testing is appropriate sufficient evidence.

Evidence that need to be gathered about the reliability of the accounting system (whether the audit assertions are being met) is achieved using substantive procedures - which includes test of detail and substantive analytical procedures.

This can be focused on the balance - Seelay part c and d + Westra part b, transaction - ASG part b + Westra part a or sometimes on a disclosure - not done yet.

The evidence can be gathered by using documentation - like Westra and ASG or it can be done using analytical procedure - like B-Star and Blake.

So far your examiner has not really asked questions that test audit procedures like the previous examiner, she focuses more on balance testing and control testing. There was a limited amount of emphasis on the transaction part in June 2010 and Dec 2010. This could indicate that either she does not like those areas or that it might hit you in June 2011. If nothing comes out this time, it would be a sign that she does not favour transaction testing (probably too easy).

She also has not asked questions for audit procedures that require a reason for the test (awarding 2 marks per point, rather than more reduce 1 mark per procedure approach)

On that note the other thing that has also been seen in the last two sitting is an over-emphasis in internal controls (some questions are more that unusual - it is good but it could be better question as seen in Bluesberry Dec 2010). I would expect that it would be possible for more unusual questions set within the context of internal controls.

Good luck in the exam

F8 Possible exam scenarios this time

Well the examiner has had a love for the internal controls and balance testing, which indicates that this time around it will ........

1. Audit risk question with issues to be considered before accepting a new client

2. Internal controls - sales system or wages system

3. Balance testing - AR, Share Capital, NCA - PPE

4. Experts - ISA 620

5. Audit of subsequent events - refer to the article that came out in April

6. Audit report - OMP and EOMP

7. Internal audit - outsourcing / using internal audit work

8. Audit sampling - ISA 530

9. Audit for

• Comparatives
• Opening balances
• Outsource services - ISA 402
• ISA 505 - Confirmation

Limitations of internal controls

Objectives of internal controls

ICEQ and ICQ for sales, wages and purchases system

You should also know the following

IAS 8,10,16,36,37,38

Note for students that are planning for the next semester, I am starting J Pro - P1 and P3 papers earlier - July 4th. Those that are interested can book now, since I will only have limited seat.

F8 Possible exam scenarios this time

Well the examiner has had a love for the internal controls and balance testing, which indicates that this time around it will ........

1. Audit risk question with issues to be considered before accepting a new client

2. Internal controls - sales system or wages system

3. Balance testing - AR, Share Capital, NCA - PPE

4. Experts - ISA 620

5. Audit of subsequent events - refer to the article that came out in April

6. Audit report - OMP and EOMP

7. Internal audit - outsourcing / using internal audit work

8. Audit sampling - ISA 530

9. Audit for

• Comparatives
• Opening balances
• Outsource services - ISA 402
• ISA 505 - Confirmation

Limitations of internal controls

Objectives of internal controls

ICEQ and ICQ for sales, wages and purchases system

You should also know the following

IAS 8,10,16,36,37,38

Note for students that are planning for the next semester, I am starting J Pro - P1 and P3 papers earlier - July 4th. Those that are interested can book now, since I will only have limited seat.

Answers for mock

P7 ACCA Exam areas

Based on the past analysis of the P7 paper, it would appear that what is indicated above are the core area of knowledge that should be known by Advance auditing students that are sitting for the international variant paper.

A review of what is the most like issues to be examined in the coming paper will be done later, but for now, if you are preparing for the paper - you should be know the areas highlighted above.

If you are planning to study for the P7 paper this round - from what I know about the market in Klang valley - this are the best lecturers that can handle the paper:

• Jay (Available in J Pro only)
• Joey Wong (Available in KDU and Inti
• Jackson Chan (Kasturi only)
• Goh Hong Lim (Available in Sunway PJ only)
• Sheila (Available in McOrange)

That is a summary of the lecturers in Klang valley that are involved in the paper, but there could be others - if I had missed out any, please do inform me using the comments

Auditing job kills - whose mistake is it?

Recent news about an auditor in China working for the Big 4 audit firms dying due to possible overworking during the peak periods have highlighted the lack of awareness of the professional regarding simple professional behaviour.

http://english.cri.cn/6909/2011/04/14/2021s631992.htm

One of the fundamental rules for accountants is the need to ensure that you are professionally capable of handling the job, by accepting too much on the plate and not requesting for additional time or additional support does indicate a failure in application of professional principles.

I would have to blame 3 parties for this incident - the staff, the firm and the government.

Firms

- Lack of risk assessment, since this is a basic risk factor to be considered. Over-working a staff will significantly increase their health risk. European regulations regarding working hours have already addressed this issue - overworking the staff increases the social cost to the society significantly, hence the need for regulation to reduce the risk of this happening.

- Unfortunately, for countries in the Asian hemisphere, this is a slow and steady process, since they want to use "cheap labour" as a source of competitive advantage

- Firms should adopt a more globalised approach in managing risk, but once again the geographic divisionalisation would allow each groups to have different manner in which they approach risk and ethics.

Staffs

- When there is a clear signal that your body is tired - listen to it, there is no point pushing it further

- Jobs and the career is just one aspect of material gains, there are many other ways to financial freedom

- Gaining an experience should not be done at the expense of the health.

Government

Overall at the end of the day, we can only blame the government, who are appointed to take care of their citizen (all of them) not only from external threats (foreign occupation) but also internal threats from companies that exploit the citizens. Lack of understanding of the human resource department regarding the pressures that companies exert on their intellectual capital may be the source of this problem.

This is just my opinion on the matter - since there is significant buzz about this matter in facebook.

About the audit industry

This post was originally published at Going Concern.com on August 19, 2009.

The Top Ten Reasons You Still Want To Work for the Big Audit Firms:

10. “A career in Tax at KPMG is dynamic and intellectually demanding. Could you take the pace?” Perhaps… Unfortunately, the pace has slowed considerably for everyone cut yesterday.

9. “[At Deloitte] audit isn’t what it used to be. Our clients expect more of us. And our risk-based approach, experienced professionals, comprehensive methodologies and technical resources deliver.” Yes, at least 50 billable hours a week, meaning you’re on the clock at least 80, managing the risk of falling asleep, your face landing in leftover stuffed pizza scattered all over the conference table.

8. “PricewaterhouseCoopers is all about you. Your personal and professional development, your achievement, your life long learning, your individuality and your choices. “ Actually, PwC is all about PwC.

7. “I’m going to Disney World!” I think we’ve seen the last of first year training blowouts at Disney World. Prepare yourself for Houston in August.

6. “[At EY] your base salary compensates you for the value you bring to the firm and for meeting our everyday high expectations. Our goal is to make base pay externally competitive, internally equitable and related to performance.” If only you knew what your salary was going to be. Job offers made with no start dates, no salary info. Previous salary commitments retroactively “adjusted for market conditions.” Or is it the inevitable overtime pay requirements? Sign up, forsake all others. Don’t call us, we’ll call you with the details.

5. “At PricewaterhouseCoopers, we are committed to ensuring women have the opportunity to build a rewarding career. Not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it’s a business issue that affects our bottom line.” Yes, ladies, you are a business issue. You can make us money or cost us money. Especially when you’re a whore.

4. “BDO Seidman offers a distinctly different option for talented professionals as they evolve their careers.” Unless or until they shrink enough to cry “too poor to pay” the pending $571 million judgment.

There are some Tax positions open, however.

But don’t expect to make partner soon in the UK.

3. PwC is blogging! Yea! They embrace social media! Well…Yes… If you’re interested in the “Gender Agenda.” Because gender issues are a business issue. Just don’t try to make it a real conversation or you’ll get banned.

2. Deloitte Wants You! “For U.S. junior military officers transitioning to the business world, Deloitte offers an unparalleled opportunity to create a challenging and rewarding career.”

Unfortunately, the BearingPoint professionals just acquired may not have as easy of a time fitting in. Some of them actually started at KPMG!

1. You want to work with the best. “The people of KPMG are committed to corporate citizenship; they want to lead change and be involved in dynamic solutions that improve the societies in which they live and work,” says Tim Flynn, Chairman, KPMG. Yes, at clients such as Citigroup, New Century, Countrywide, Fortis, Fannie Mae, Rentokil, HSBC…

Sourced from re: auditor

Well it seems that the industry itself is suffering from a weird form of self delusion

Recent issues about bus drivers in Malaysia that have been over worked resulting in accidents that cause lives would have highlighted the risk for audit firms in Malaysia regarding staffs working long hours (just because the partner did it, therefore all the others have to do it)

In my opinion I think the partners are just taking revenge on the staffs by maintaining a culture that they had endured - legacy in the firms.

The long hours of work increases the risk that audit staffs will do the following:

- doing the job to get it complete rather than be through

- missing out on items that should be investigated because they were too sleepy or just too tired

- increasing the stress levels significantly - leading to poorer health conditions later on

When a firm talks about their staff as their assets and then has a very high level of staff turnover (which they are willing to accept) it seems to indicate that the staffs are just a disposable diaper that is to be used and discarded after that.

Knowledge based organisation treasure their staffs by trying their best to retain them, but in the audit industry it seems that most of them are trying to get you out faster by increasing the pressure. Keeping partners money growing or people working constantly or just eeeh yuck about the work seems to be focused in partners income ability.

I have heard of audit partners and managers making statements like this

- if I can work during Hari Raya, that means you can work during CNY or vice versa. Now is that the most lame excuse given to justify asking the staff to work. The partner reaps the profits which increases with the work, the staff gets nothing (only negative remarks from other family members).

What is wrong with the CULTURE? I suppose that clients and audit committee should actually review the work plan prepared by the firms to identify the possibility of this happening - since it is their duty to safeguard the profession. Alternatively it would be MIA, the regulators that should own up to this task, since a failure due to human error would lead to negative reputation not only for the profession but also the regulators.

If you want to know about the so called best firm around in Malaysia and the level of greed that is involved by them to get to the top irrespective of consequences : visit

http://zarinahtakesapaycut.blogspot.com/2011_03_01_archive.html

I suppose that the most important thing for you to do as a student of accounting

Select the path that will result in the best possible outcome for you, the firm should be seen as a tool for you to get your required experience and exposure to reach your destination - don't get too emotionally attached to the firm, don't get blinded by the pay - stay focus on your career goals and get there.

This means that you should possibly try your best to get the most experience and select the line that best suits you - which is very hard for many.

Good luck in planning your career.

P7 Update

The major issue for the coming exam

- new format being adopted for P7 Case materials

- if you want to practice in UK, you must do the UK variant paper (which now has an additional element of insolvency)

- examiner clarified that you cannot expect to get more than 1-2 marks from the ISA/IAS name dropping, principles are more important

- current issues - will be current issues, which means that you will now have to read up the new materials that have been popping up in the Business Times or any other relevant news

The new syllabus has dropped some elements of Internal audit but has retained most of the other elements.

If you have failed this paper from the previous attempt - examiner said that there was quite a number that was in the 44 - 49 range (it means that you have to put in a bit more effort only) but any lower means that you have a serious problem with the examination or did not prepare sufficiently.

As one examiner said - "It seems people were walking out of the road and taking the paper" meaning that there was Zero preparation.

The biggest problem the examiner noted was that most of the answers were repeating materials from the previous papers - memorized answers.

This is quite an easy option for the students that have studied all the past papers, but then again it is very dangerous for you to try to recall past answers to help you answer new papers.

Overall - No major changes in the paper

F8 Good News

Meeting up the F8 examiner recently in UK I had a chance to clarify some issues

1. The F8 paper is still about the same as the previous sitting, there is not that much changes

2. Accounting standards that you must know for this paper are:

IAS 2

IAS 7

IAS 8

IAS 10

IAS 16

IAS 36

IAS 37

IAS 38

So that reduces you stress level a bit for the students. On the other hand, students are expected to prepare for this paper with some additional effort, especially for those that are not actually in the audit world - you will need to learn with all your might and ability to grasp the world of accounting in reality.

I have just come across a new book that seems to be easy reading and extremely suitable for the students who are about to sit for the F8 paper. trying to get the publisher to release the books here.

Overall the emphasis of the paper is the same, calculations are expected in every paper, either for ratio, materiality or sample errors.

It would appear that there will not be a 20 mark question focusing on audit report after all, it will be part of something else (Subsequent event, going concern, errors or lack of evidence)

Good luck for those that are preparing for the coming JUNE 2011 ACCA F8 Exams

JPro Classes for P7 and F8

The following is the class schedule for P7 and F8. Students that are taking F8 - there is 2 slots currently which I will be observing

F8 Classes and P7 classes will only start in March since I will have to go down to UK for ACCA train the trainer (meeting up the examiners).

The current time schedule for F8 is 2 slots

Tuesday Evening slots from 6.15 pm to 9.15 pm starting from 15 March 2011

AND the

Wednesday slot from which starts from 9 March (9 am to 5pm)

The P7 will start on 12th of March

The timing for the rest of the class will be provided on that day

Regarding the

Results are coming out for DEC 2010 Exam

Well for the students that attempted the F8 and P7 papers in Dec 2010, the current period will be stressful - results are coming out - Feb 21.

It is time for you to reflect back on what was your strong points during the last sitting and what was the weak points, this should help you learn about your own abilities and use them better for the coming examination.

In terms of pass rates, Malaysian students are inherently weak in written papers and stronger in the calculation papers, hence that is why students love to studying for F5, F6, F7 and F9 and dislike the F4 and F8 papers. The historical pass rates for Malaysia has always been lower than the average pass rate for the world for theory papers.

I suppose that the only way for the students to perform better is to accept this facts and find a way to overcome this inherent perception of theory papers. A simple shift in your mind about the papers can make a significant difference in the manner in which you acquire knowledge.

The other reason for poor performance in students - cramming everything in the last minute. Well it is possible to do this, but then you will never appreciate the subject matter that is being studied and studied only to pass the exam. Appreciation of the subject matter and understanding the variability of contextual application would allow for improved overall performance in professional papers.

Depending too much on question spotting is a bad idea, since it narrows down your scope and may impair you ability to fully appreciate a situation that draws on other areas of knowledge.

Overall a review of the past papers for P7 and F8 seems to indicate that you need to approach the audit paper with an integrated approach (using knowledge studied in F7, P1 and P2) to support your answers. In my opinion, both the papers were set at a fairly reasonable intellectual level for ACCA students.

If you did not get a pass - decide the reasons for failure

1. Lack of understanding

2. Lack of reading and review of studied material

3. Lazy

4. Distracted

5. Last minute studies = High risk of fundamental error (since you will answer what you have studied last minute rather than what the question was asking for)

Students that are interested in improving your chances for the papers F8 and P7, you can attend the classes for them in Jpro training

Good luck on the results

F8 & P7 for JUNE 2011

The new year has already started and the everyone is busy getting their classes in order. This year ACCA brings some changes for the syllabus for F8 - the introduction of F7 standards into the audit paper, which makes the paper even more testing.

In the past, this paper only had F3 moving into the F8 paper, but the new examined Pam Bahl has decided to ensure that accounting standards are examined in the audit paper, this doubles the effect of the accounting standards.

It can be seen that this paper also has some flow over from F4 Law paper, which means that having a sound legal knowledge should improve your understanding of audit.

Well whats the impact in terms of amount of knowledge in the paper - actually there was some reduction in the new syllabus

Reduction in some issues about internal audit reporting and operational audits that cover marketing, HR and treasury

There is also a removal of the IT aspect of the audit issues that was initially increased due to the previous syllabus change but was never ever examined properly- so that is good news.

The increase is the implication of the accounting standards on risk

such as IAS 2 - Risk that inventory may be valued wrongly (higher of cost or NRV), but now you have to go into the exam with all the standards in F7, hopefully with the exception of group based standards (which is only examinable in P7)

I am currently only teaching this paper in KDU, Sunway JB.

The DATE F8 will be held for JPro is provided below:

Those that are staying near to Shah Alam and Klang can consider my centre for easy of access (since there is a new exit that links the Kesas direct to my centre)

The classes for my centre is usually 7 hours per week on Wednesday, classes will start after results are out from (9 - 5 pm)

24 Feb x 7

2 Mar x 7

16 Mar x 7

30 Mar x 7

13 Apr x 7

27 Apr x 7

(9 - 6 pm)

25 May x 8

26 May x 8

27 May x 8

Complete coverage of the paper + revision will be RM1,000 - SMS your name to 0178786074 to confirm your seats.

For the P7 Paper - I will only be teaching in Sunway JB and my centre.

DATE P7 for Jpro is as follows [8hours per day (8.30 - 5.30)]

19 & 20 Feb

12, 13 & 19 March

2, 9, 10 April

Revision - 28,29,30, 31 May