pass1sttime.com acca essential exam report

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The Quick Start Guide for Passing Your Accountancy &

Finance Exams 1st Time

Pass1stTime.com ACCA - Essential ExamReport

By Soul Patelhttp://www.pass1sttime.com

Copyright © Soul Patel 2009 – All rights reserved.

No part of this report may be reproduced or transmitted in any formwithout the written permission of the author, except for the inclusion of

brief quotations in a review.

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Table of Contents

.................................................................................................ABOUT SOUL PATEL 3

..........................................................................................................INTRODUCTION 4

..............................................................................................THE AIDE PRINCIPLES 5

...............................................................................ACCA STUDENT CHALLENGES 5

..............................................................................................................A - ATTITUDE 5

..........................................ATTITUDE DETERMINES 80-85% OF YOUR SUCCESS 5

......................................................................................................DEFINE SUCCESS 6

......................................................................................CREATE ACCOUNTABILITY 6

............................................................CONTROL OF RESULT VERSUS PROCESS 6

......................................................................................I - INTELLIGENT LEARNING 7

.......................................................................THE EMOTIONAL CYCLE OF EXAMS 7

..................................................................................ASK POWERFUL QUESTIONS 7

..............................................................................................DO THE SCARY STUFF 8

.................................................................................................................MINDMAPS 8

................................................................THE 3 STEPS TO EFFECTIVE LEARNING 8

......................................................................................D - DEVELOPING ABILITIES 9

......................................................................................THE COMPETENCE CURVE 9

.............................................................NEVER SECOND GUESS THE EXAMINER 10

..............................................................INTEGRATE QUESTIONS EVERYWHERE 10

.............................................................................................E - EXAM EXECUTION 10

...................................................................................TALK LITTLE, LISTEN LESS 10

...................................................................................EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED 11

............................................................................THE 2 “SECRETS” TO PASSING 11

.................................................................................................HELP THE MARKER 11

......................................................................................AVOID EXAM DISSECTION 12

..............................................................................................................FINAL NOTE 12

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About Soul Patel

I took my first professional finance

exam in June 2003. Since then my lifehas changed A LOT.

At the time I had hardly any money,no career, and I was 18,000 in debt. Ihad to borrow money from my mum topay for the books and exam, and onthe day of the exam, my father wasbarely out of intensive care afteralmost passing away during a heartoperation a few days before.

Now I am what you could call a financial expert. I’m both a CharteredAccountant (ACA) and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder.In 2009, at the age of 30, I became financially free through propertyinvesting, and in the same year set up www.pass1sttime.com

www.pass1sttime.com is a blog, website, and set of products thateducates readers about the psychology, strategies, and techniques thatare needed to pass accountancy and financial exams 1st time round - andsurvive!

Why www.Pass1stTime.com?

I set up the site because I’m the only person who has taken the ACA andCFA exams at the same time, completing 6 years worth of study in only 3years whilst working full-time. I passed each exam 1st time.

In contrast, friends of mine were taking just one of those qualificationsand they were failing exams. However, as much as I wanted to believethat I was some kind of financial genius (and inflate my head to ten timesit's current size) I soon realised that the difference wasn't because I was agenius, it was because I had marched to a distinctly different beat,following principles that others had not.

I’ve given lectures at the London School of Economics, CASS BusinessSchool, and at both consultancy and accounting firms about the principlesthat I explain in this report.

The key difference between me and other teachers is that I finished myexams recently so I have a current view on the pressures thataccountancy and finance students face. Other teachers may cover similarinformation, but they’re doing so retrospectively. They didn’t applymodern studying techniques when they took their own exams. I did. Also,there’s information here that you won't find anywhere else! So I speakfrom direct, relevant and recent experience.

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Introduction

Thank you for downloading the www.pass1sttime.com Essential ExamReport. You made a great decision. I’m going to show you how to be moreeffective with your exam preparation. When you apply my techniques,

you can expect:

· Better results· More free time· Less stress

Some of my advice may seem obvious and some of it may seem new, butall of it is simple and practical enough to implement straight away. Even if you only implement a few of the ideas, you’ll likely see a difference fairlyquickly.

“As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. Theman who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who

tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Philosopher

This guide focuses mostly on principles rather than techniques. ormethods. My products at www.pass1sttime.com/my-products teach thetechniques, but before you can use those techniques you must have thecorrect principles in place.

The driving idea behind this report and my other products is the question:

“Would you rather pass each exam 1st time, or pass with high marks insome and fail others?”

The key distinction that this question leads us to is:

It is more important to pass 1st time.*

Passing 1st time leads to huge benefits, particularly for your career. Forexample, when you apply for a job they rarely ask about your marks, butthey almost certainly ask, “Did you pass 1st time?”

And in order to pass 1st time you must stick to the AIDE Principles...

*Please note: If you are a university student reading this then it d oes matter what marks

you get! The distinction applies to professional accountancy and finance exams. However you can still apply all of the principles described here to help you pass your uni exams.

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Define Success

What is success for you? If you haven’t defined it, how will you knowwhen you reach it? It’s like setting off on a journey by car with a map andnot knowing your destination - you won’t know when you’re heading in

the wrong direction.

Define what success is for you. It could be to pass all of your exams by acertain date, or pass with certain marks. Or, it could be to pass eachexam 1st time (– just a suggestion!). Once you’ve defined it write it downsomewhere and refer to it frequently. It will help you stay on track towardyour goal.

Create Accountability

Most of the challenges that we take on as individuals we keep to ourselves- we don’t tell anyone about them. Why? Usually we’re worried that wemight not succeed and we’ll look like failures to the people that we told.

The truth is that telling people about what we’re aiming to achieve canhelp us massively. They can hold us accountable for the things that wesaid that we would do – just like holding up a mirror to us as if to say “Areyou really doing what you said you would?”

Sometimes having the truth reflected back to you isn’t easy, but it’s very

effective. Choose supportive people you know and make the promise tothem so they can help you achieve what you want to achieve.

Control of Result versus Process

Imagine Tiger Woods about to take a golf shot. He’s focussed on hisbreathing, his posture, how he holds the club, how he swings the club,how he is thinking, etc. - the process. After he hits the ball, he no longerhas control of where it will land - if a gust of wind will blow it off course

etc. - the result.

The same is true for exams. The result, the actual pass or fail, isn’t withinyour control, but everything up to that point is. If you ever feel nervousabout passing your exams, focus on what you can control: the process toprepare for them.

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I - Intelligent Learning

The Emotional Cycle of Exams

Any individual or team taking on a new challenge will go through

emotional as well as mental and physical challenges. The emotionalchallenges are just as important, if not more important, than the others.

Understand that you’ll go through what I call the Emotional Cycle of Exams.

Stage 1: Uninformed Optimism: You will start off very optimistic at thestart yet you won’t really understanding the challenges you face

Stage 2: Informed Pessimism: You will start to feel pessimistic and downwhen you realise how much work you actually have to do and how difficult

it is.

Stage 3: Crisis Point: This is where the pressure comes together and youliterally feel like you’re at the edge of a cliff and thinking of jumping off!From here you can either move to Stage 4 or Stage 5

(Stage 4: Defeat: Let’s not talk about this one too much. This is givingup.)

Stage 5: Informed Optimism: After your crisis you have continued to workhard and can now see “the light at the end of the tunnel”. There’s still alot to do but you understand what needs to be done, and can see how youcould get through your exams.

Stage 6 - Rewarding Completion: Exams are over, you’re relieved andhappy!

Think of anything new that you had to learn in your life and you’ll see thatyou went through this cycle.

The key is to understand where you are and be ok with being in that place– particularly at the Crisis Point. For more detail on what to do at eachstage please see www.pass1sttime.com/resources

Ask Powerful Questions

Your brain is a mechanism that is driven to find answers. Ask it a questionand it will find an answer for you, even if that answer isn’t true. In themiddle of a frustrating time you might ask yourself, "Why can't I get this?What’s wrong with me?" and your brain will dutifully find an answer like,"Because you're an idiot!" or something along those lines!

When you’re frustrated or nervous ask more powerful questions such as

"How could I prepare better for my exams?" You'll be surprised at thequality of answers that your brain gives you. Try it now.

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Do the Scary Stuff

There’s a great phrase that I once read up which says

“What you fear most, is what you most need to do”.

Usually it’s the difficult topics that are the scariest because within thoseareas there is a feeling of failure, or the fear that you won’t be goodenough. Let’s face it; it doesn’t exactly feel great when you’re trying tolearn something that you just can’t “get”. However, as you’ve probablyalready figured out, avoiding things that you find difficult or scary justmakes the problem worse.

For me, this was learning about tax! I hated learning all of the detailed

rules. It bored me completely! But I also knew that if I was going toachieve my goals, I had to focus on studying tax, so I spent hourslearning and doing question practice. So to repeat – do the scary ordifficult work because your success lies there.

Mindmaps

Mindmaps are a proven learning technique - one of the most effectiveones in existence. They’re based on how the brain collects, stores andrecalls information. They’re a great tool to use when you prepare for yourexams.

By Mindmapping you give your brain a framework for attaching andsorting all of the information that you’re taking in. Instead of a tangledmess of rules, techniques, and tips, your brain will be able to put newinformation into the relevant buckets. This will help you with both learningand recall. Start by mindmapping your whole qualification on a large sheetof paper and then work down.

The 3 Steps to Effective Learning

There are three proven steps to effective learning.

Immersion

Human beings learn best when immersed, or fully involved. It’s better tolearn one new skill with full focus instead of learning five different thingsat once. Use this when studying - only focus on one topic or area for anextended period of time.

Spaced Repetition

When you learned something new and then didn’t look at it again for aweek, what happened? Yes, you forgot most of it. The human brain works

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on the principle of spaced repetition, which means that you have toreview what you learned at regular intervals to fully remember it. If youmake sure that you keep the intervals short at the beginning, you’ll beable to space them further apart as time goes on.

Peer Group

The final step to effective learning is to have a peer group, or group of friends, around you for support. Successful teams work on this principle –team members support each other during difficult times and challengeeach other to be their best when necessary. Find a group of people whohave the same aims that you do so you can help each other achieve whatall of you want to achieve.

For a powerful peer group of people who understand the principles in thisreport come to www.pass1sttime.com/mastermind and join thecommunity.

D - Developing Abilities

The Competence Curve

Think of learning to drive a car (even if you don’t know how to yet).

When you first get into the car you won’t know that you can’t drive a car– “Unconscious Incompetence”.

Very quickly you’ll understand all of the things that you need to do todrive the car and you’ll be very aware of how useless you are at driving! –“Conscious Incompetence”.

However, after some time you’ll be able to drive but you’ll have toconcentrate very hard to do so – “Conscious Competence”.

And once you’ve been driving for a while you’ll reach a point when youcan get into a car, drive from one place to another, and not even thinkabout it – “Unconscious Competence”

When preparing for your exams, you’ll go through the same cycle. Thekey is to understand where you are and be ok with being in that place –particularly at the Conscious Incompetence phase. For more detail onwhat to do at each stage please see www.pass1sttime.com/resources

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Never Second Guess The Examiner

This is one of the best tips that I can give you for your exams … STOPlooking for tips on what might come up in the exam!

Many students seek advice and tips from other students, tutors, andexaminers about specific questions that are likely to come up in theexams. Not the general topic, the kind of tip that says, “this specificquestion hasn’t come up in the last three exams so it’s very likely toappear in the next exam”.

The danger in seeking that kind of tip is that you risk not preparing forother questions as well as you should. You’ll also have the psychologicalfear “What if this doesn’t appear in the exam?!”

A better way is to approach exams is thinking that you have to know as

much as possible … or even ALL of it! That way, it doesn’t matter whatquestions come up, you’ll be able to deal with all of them.

Integrate Questions Everywhere

Practice questions are one of the most effective ways to prepare. They’realso the least pleasant because we come face-to-face with the fact thatwe don’t know what we thought we did!

Here is how to integrate questions at every point of your learning: afteryou’ve learned a new area, find the questions that relate to that area, notthe full exam questions - the short examples that usually follow in yourtextbooks. Do them. You’ll realise that you don’t know the topic as well asyou thought, but that’s ok - better now than in the exams. Review and re-learn.

E - Exam Execution

Talk Little, Listen Less

On the day of the exam, talk little before the actual exam. The worstpeople to talk to are people who are discussing the content of the exams“Have you learned this?” “Do you know how this works?” Those kinds of conversations are only going to make you more nervous and lessfocussed.

The best thing that you can do is to talk to loved ones, your peer group,and/or your close friends for good luck wishes and supportive comments -nothing more. That way you can go into the exam knowing that you havethe full support of your friends and family.

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Expect the Unexpected

I often see letters in accountancy magazines talking about less thanperfect exam conditions. For example: the room was noisy, too hot, toocold, the desks were too small.

The person complaining may have a point, but here’s the thing – it won’tmake a difference in the outcome of their exam. It’s highly unlikely thatthe exam body will change a mark based on such factors.

So what can you do about it? Expect such things to happen and bementally prepared to cope with them. That way it won’t matter whathappens – you’ll have a plan and be able to execute in the exam

The 2 “Secrets” to Passing

There are two secrets to passing your exams (“only two?!” I hear yousay!): ATFQ and AAQ.

ATFQ – Answer The F****** Question!

Excuse my language, but this is a major complaint from examiners – thatstudents didn’t answer the question asked, instead they answered thequestion that they hoped to get. Instead of understanding what theexaminer wanted, the student dumped all of the information they knew on

the topic and hoped to get a good mark. This approach is not only likely toget you a bad mark for that question, it will also lower the examiner’simpression of you. Remember – ATFQ!!

AAQ – Answer All Questions

The easiest marks to achieve are the first few marks in a question. E.g.it’s easier to get the first 5 marks of a 20-mark question than the last 5marks. This means that when you’re in the exam you must be very strictwith your time management. It’s better to leave a question when yourtime for that question is up and move on, than try to get the last fewdifficult marks. Leaving any question unanswered is a big factor in making

you fail.

Help the Marker

I’ll let you in on a secret: the marker is not the examiner. What do I meanby that? I mean that it’s unlikely that the person marking your exam isthe person who set the exam.

Markers are people who take on marking work as an extra source of

income. They usually have a full-time job so often they’ll be marking yourpapers in the evening, late at night, or on weekends.

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Imagine what it must be like for them to come home after a hard day’swork to a huge pile of exams scripts on their desk. Yours might even be atthe bottom of this pile. After 3-4 hours of marking late into the night, theyget a dirty, messy exam paper with text that they can hardly read. If this

was you, would you make an extra effort to search through all of it to findthe bits of information that will help that person pass? I wouldn’t either.

Keep your answers clear and readable. Use tables and diagrams wherepossible. Make it easy for them to give you the marks you deserve.

Avoid Exam Dissection

Final tip for this report: Avoid analysing the exam after you’ve taken it.

This is one of the worst things that you can do.

The reality is that you can’t do anything about it. The exam paper hasbeen handed in. Talking about it and possibly realising what you gotwrong will affect you for the next exam that you have to take. It will alsoruin your celebration when you’ve finished all of your exams. Once you’reout of that exam room, it’s over – you’re done with that exam so it’s timeto move on to whatever you have to do next.

Final Note

I hope that the information in this report helps you to prepare for yourexams. Starting now, implement as many of the principles I’ve describedand see how they work for you.

If you appreciate the information I’ve shared, please refer to theresources at www.pass1sttime.com/resources for further explanation of the AIDE Principles, and more in-depth techniques that you can use topass 1st time.

To your success,

Soul Pa tl

PS: Congratulations on completing this report. To reward youplease click on the link for your FREE BONUS Report!

http://www.pass1sttime.com/report-bonus

Plus an EXCLUSIVE SPECIAL OFFER just for you... Watch the

video!

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