ACCA Exam tips for Paper P3

Q1: Pestel, 5 forces, Ansoff. Activity based costing

Q2: 6Is of e-business
Q3: Project initiation document: scope, cost, time quality considerations.
Q4: Outsourcing pros and cons including marginal costing

ACCA Exam tips for Paper P7

4 SA technical articles

Internal auditors

Ethics

Forensic accounting

Accounting issues

Also:

Integrated reporting (new to syllabus)

IAS 41 Agriculture (new to syllabus)

Open tuition

q1 reply to an email from a partner about a new audit assignment /

assurance engagement planning exercise maybe where there was a suspicion
of fraud last year and a change in management
q2 an ethical problem with conflict of interest implications
q3 roles and contrast of internal / external auditors, the need for and
justification of an internal audit function

q4 criticise an audit report

Make sure to read Lisas article from October 2011 student Accountant about Completing
the audit
possible question comment on the matters and identify the evidence you
would expect to find in the review process of an audit file
BPP
There are a number of areas that candidates can expect to see in their exam, such as:
A risk-based planning scenario in the compulsory section
Questions based on articles published in Student Accountant (although not necessarily
from the last six months)
A number of requirements asking for audit procedures and required evidence in respect of
specific financial reporting issues and ISAs
A practice-based scenario looking at professional, ethical and quality control issues
A reporting scenario of some sort probably testing candidates knowledge of either the
various modifications to the standard audit report or other forms of communication available
to the external auditor.
We would also recommend that candidates read the examiners report from the June 2011
exam (in the context of the June 2011 exam paper) and keep the following additional issues
in mind as part of their revision:
Dont forget key brought-forward knowledge from Paper F8 which candidates have
traditionally struggled with at P7(audit risk, audit procedures and audit reports).
Candidates should also not forget about practice-related issues (such as the terms of audit
engagements, sampling and documentation) where topics such as quality control
procedures, ACCA firm practising requirements and the ethical implications of one firm
providing both internal and external audit services could be discussed.
The correct accounting treatment of complex issues, such as IAS 19 Employee benefits or a
newcomer for 2011 IAS 21 The effects of changes in foreign exchange rates or even the
associated issues of disclosure (such as IFRS 8 Operating segments or IAS 33
Kaplan tips
Engagement planning and risk assessment
Ethics and professional issues
Engagement reporting (ISAs 700, 705, 706 in particular)
Unmodified audit reports (ISA 700)
ISA 540 Audit of Accounting Estimates
Auditing in a Computer Based Environment
First Intuition
Business risk in a scenario
Identifying ethical and other professional issues in a scenario
Audit reports
Group audits
Money laundering
Forensic audits
Icount
Audit opinion
Evidence

Transnational audits
Business and financial statement risk
Ethics
Quality control
ATC
History shows that the well prepared candidate stands by far the highest probability of
passing examinations.
Exam Tip
BE WELL PREPARED.
Being well prepared means, at the very least:
* Working through all of the sessions within your study system (on the basis that a good
study system covers the whole syllabus and not just a best guess 70%).
* Working through all past examination questions and completing all
monitoring/progress tests and mock examinations under full examination conditions.
* Reading all of the examiners and other subject articles they do not write for fun.
Note that examiners no longer write articles for the forthcoming examination so articles
that are at least six months old could be very relevant.
* Being fully aware of current issues (e.g. review the PQ magazine, ACCA and IFAC websites
for many current issues)
* Having an awareness of key real world issues (e.g. review the IFAC, ACCA, FRC websites)
* Careful study of the examiners reports on past examinations. These contain excellent tips
of what students should NOT be doing.
* Ignoring Exam Tips that are just a list of somebodys favourite topics.
* Regularly visiting http://www.accaglobal.com/students
At the 2011 ACCA Teachers Conference ALL examiners, whilst understanding the
desperation of students for examination tips, clearly stated that such tips were a danger to
a students ability to pass and MUST be ignored. Giving such tips should be outlawed.
So, blindly following exam tips is a danger to your health, wealth and sanity.
Liz Weaver
Liz Weaver, the examiner, is now well into her style. Do not expect any changes in her
examination approach BUT be aware that question requirements may now be phrased in a
different way to what you have experienced in past examinations. This does not mean that
the answer will be different, but does give you broader scope for how you answer. If you
have no idea what I am talking about READ LIZS ARTICLES ON THE CHANGES and review
the June 2011 examination.
Remember that P7 is a required examination on the road to becoming a registered auditor
so expect the hurdle to be high and tough.
Read all of her past examiners reports and articles as well as the articles of her
predecessor, Kim Smith (you may need to go to the 3.1 archive on the P7 web pages).
Students continually make the same mistakes, so it is very clear that the majority do not
read these reports and article make sure you are in the minority and PASS!
AREAS TO CONCENTRATE ON:
New audits, tendering
Planning, materiality, sampling, analytical review
Audit, business or financial statement risk
Group audits, joint ventures, goodwill, joint audit

 Assurance services, PFI, KPI, due diligence, forensic audit, reviews, insolvency (UK and
Ireland students only)
Ethics, practice management and other professional issues
Any audit matter covering IFRS (IAS 1 to 41 and IFRS 1 to 9 see P2 syllabus)
Close down procedures, opening balances, comparatives, other information, going
concern, subsequent events, representation letter, emphasis of matter, audit reports
Outsourcing, service providers, use of an expert
Corporate governance, internal audit (relating to ethics, outsourcing), audit committees
Current issues
Or, in other words, the whole syllabus.
Exam Technique
At this high level there is no excuse for not having read the examiners articles covering
examination technique nor past examiners reports. It is critical that you fully understand
how the examiner thinks and what she expects to see in your answers.
Understand the requirements of the question before reading through the detail of any
scenario. Having done so PLAN your answer before writing it. Does your plan cover all of
the requirements? Are you answering the question set? Have you used the scenario?
Are you demonstrating the higher level skills expected, e.g. critical analysis and appropriate
extrapolation?
As with any examination, question practice under examination conditions is critical. Ensure
you do at least the last two papers under examination conditions and a further two papers
planning each question. If your plan ties in with the suggested solution, you are thinking in
the right direction.
Lastly, download the examiners September 2009 SA article on examination technique, as
well as all her articles over the last two years (and relevant articles from the 3.1 archive).
You may also find the two recent articles on how to tackle exams and passing the
professional level papers useful. Fail to read them at your peril.
EXP
Outsourcing of the accounting function and its impact on the audit
Going concern issue and its impact on the financial statements
Ethical issues tendering and lowballingto get business
Forensic audit
A group audit question