pq magazine, june 2016

36
The AAT unveiled the final version of its new-look AQ2016 at the Training Providers’ conference in Birmingham recently. And there is generally good news, although there is one small sting in the tail. The resit rules for 16 to 19 year olds have been changed. Now in any 24-month period (it was 12) these AAT students will have just two attempts to pass an AAT assessment. This new rule does not, however, apply to overseas or Scottish students! The main reason for this change is the fact that the AAT’s Foundation and Advanced qualifications (level 2 and 3) are now approved for Key Stage 5 delivery and will be listed on the performance tables from 2018. All those AATs over 19 years old will be pleased to hear that the Department of Education (DfE) rules do not apply to them and therefore there will be no resit limits at all. Another change is with employer engagement plans. Centres will have to show AAT that they are involving employers in a meaningful way. AAT will be monitoring this for all those providers with 16-19 year old students in England, but good centres should, of course, be doing this already. Percentage marks for each assessment will also be given to students under AQ2016. This will be welcome news and the AAT has shown ‘it is listening’. Students will find these published in their statement of achievement on MyAAT. Feedback will still be provided, showing the areas where candidates did well and the areas they need to work on. PQ magazine was also able to establish what mark you will need to get a pass, merit and distinction. Remembering the pass mark of AAT assessments is 70%, it is hardly surprising that a pass is 70%. A merit will be 80% and a distinction 90%. Students will need to take a look at the weightings, for example at Level 4 the new synoptic assessment counts for 35% of the grade. When it comes to the synoptic assessment the AAT has also worked delivery out here too now. So for Level 2 the test will be on average available every three out of four weeks. When it comes to the Level 3 and 4 synoptic test there will be windows six times a year. The AAT’s Director of Education, Suzie Webb, explained that AAT will keep an open mind about the placement of these windows and re-evaluate how this is working on annual basis. One thing AAT PQs will have to get used to is the wait for results. The synoptics all have elements of human marking, more depending on the level of assessment, so results will take six weeks to process. Webb stressed that the synoptic assessments reflect the growing importance for the accountancy profession at all levels to be able to write coherently and effectively as well as deal with technical elements of accountancy. The plan is for the AAT to put lots more online to support PQs. On top of the popular Green Light Tests it plans to introduce a Lucky Dip Green Light Test, which will randomly select areas from across a level. This will be an invaluable revision tool for those sitting synoptic tests. AAT CLARIFIES RULES ON NEW RESIT LIMITS PQ magazine June 2016 www.pqmagazine.co.uk / www.pqjobs.co.uk All the top tips you need for the ACCA June exam sitting as our experts tell it as it is PwC trainee accountant with gambling addiction ‘died of shame’ Trainee accountant Joshua Jones (pictured), who jumped to his death last summer from the ninth floor of PwC’s London offices, ‘died of shame’ after being overwhelmed by his gambling addiction, his father told the recent inquest. His heartbroken father, Martin Jones, explained that his son, who was just 23, had led a double life. He revealed that when he went to Sussex University Josh blew all his student loans on gambling, and at the time of his death owed up to £40,000 to banks, loan firms, friends and family. He told the coroner Shanta Deonarine: “Josh begged us not to tell PwC about his gambling. With his hockey and music friends he was life and soul of the party. We and some close friends knew the truth.” PwC’s Chris Butter said: “Josh was a wonderful young man – bright and diligent, Those colleagues who were fortunate to have worked alongside him feel a great loss.” His father felt that more needed to be done to put pressure on the gambling industry to help addicts. In particular, he wants to see a shake-up of the online gambling industry so addicts can be permanently excluded from sites. The Coroner recorded a verdict of suicide. AAT’s Suzie Webb

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PQ is a free monthly magazine for student accountants, focusing on the ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA, ICAEW and AAT qualifications. It's packed full of study tips, advice and guidance on how to pass accountancy exams, plus careers advice from the experts. PQ is the UK's leading independent accountancy magazine.

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: PQ magazine, June 2016

The AAT unveiled the final version of itsnew-look AQ2016 at the Training Providers’conference in Birmingham recently. Andthere is generally good news, althoughthere is one small sting in the tail.

The resit rules for 16 to 19 year olds havebeen changed. Now in any 24-month period (itwas 12) these AAT students will have just twoattempts to pass an AAT assessment. This newrule does not, however, apply to overseas orScottish students! The main reason for thischange is the fact that the AAT’s Foundation andAdvanced qualifications (level 2 and 3) are nowapproved for Key Stage 5 delivery and will belisted on the performance tables from 2018.

All those AATs over 19 years old will bepleased to hear that the Department ofEducation (DfE) rules do not apply to them andtherefore there will be no resit limits at all.

Another change is with employer engagementplans. Centres will have to show AAT that theyare involving employers in a meaningful way.AAT will be monitoring this for all those providerswith 16-19 year old students in England, butgood centres should, of course, be doing thisalready.

Percentage marks for each assessment willalso be given to students under AQ2016. Thiswill be welcome news and the AAT has shown ‘itis listening’. Students will find these published intheir statement of achievement on MyAAT.

Feedback will still be provided, showing theareas where candidates did well and the areasthey need to work on.

PQ magazine was also able to establish whatmark you will need to get a pass, merit anddistinction. Remembering the pass mark of AATassessments is 70%, it is hardly surprising that

a pass is 70%. A merit will be 80% and adistinction 90%. Students will need to take alook at the weightings, for example at Level 4 thenew synoptic assessment counts for 35% of thegrade.

When it comes to the synoptic assessment theAAT has also worked delivery out here too now.So for Level 2 the test will be on averageavailable every three out of four weeks. When itcomes to the Level 3 and 4 synoptic test therewill be windows six times a year. The AAT’sDirector of Education, Suzie Webb, explainedthat AAT will keep an open mind about theplacement of these windows and re-evaluatehow this is working on annual basis.

One thing AAT PQs will have to get used to isthe wait for results. The synoptics all haveelements of human marking, more dependingon the level of assessment, so results will takesix weeks to process. Webb stressed that thesynoptic assessments reflect the growingimportance for the accountancy profession at alllevels to be able to write coherently andeffectively as well as deal with technicalelements of accountancy.

The plan is for the AAT to put lots more onlineto support PQs. On top of the popular Green LightTests it plans to introduce a Lucky Dip GreenLight Test, which will randomly select areas fromacross a level. This will be an invaluable revisiontool for those sitting synoptic tests.

AAT CLARIFIES RULESON NEW RESIT LIMITS

PQmagazineJune 2016 www.pqmagazine.co.uk / www.pqjobs.co.uk

All the top tips you need for theACCA June exam sitting as our

experts tell it as it is

PwC trainee accountant with gambling addiction ‘died of shame’Trainee accountant Joshua Jones (pictured), whojumped to his death last summer from the ninthfloor of PwC’s London offices, ‘died of shame’after being overwhelmed by his gamblingaddiction, his father told the recent inquest.

His heartbroken father, Martin Jones,explained that his son, who was just 23, had leda double life. He revealed that when he went toSussex University Josh blew all his studentloans on gambling, and at the time of his death

owed up to £40,000 to banks, loan firms,friends and family.

He told the coroner ShantaDeonarine: “Josh begged us notto tell PwC about hisgambling. With his hockey andmusic friends he was life andsoul of the party. We and someclose friends knew the truth.”

PwC’s Chris Butter said: “Josh was

a wonderful young man – bright and diligent,Those colleagues who were fortunate to have

worked alongside him feel a great loss.”His father felt that more needed to be

done to put pressure on the gamblingindustry to help addicts. In particular, hewants to see a shake-up of the online

gambling industry so addicts can bepermanently excluded from sites. The Coroner recorded a verdict of suicide.

AAT’s Suzie Webb

PQ June 16 p01 q9 CCM.qxp_pq feb 12 p01 04/05/2016 13:52 Page 1

Page 2: PQ magazine, June 2016

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Page 3: PQ magazine, June 2016

comment PQ

News 08ACCA optional papers PQs

‘terrified’ of final optional exams10CIMA exams Latest pass rates

are ‘consistent and fair’12CIMA pricing changes

Institute to introduce tieredpricing based on world regions

13ACCA P7 exam Students mustwork harder, says the examiner

Features, etc06Mind your Ps&Qs ACCA P5 –

my five attempts; why CBE examsare unfair to distance learners;and misgivings over CIMA tie-up

14Ethics Learning the lessons ofthe ‘Panama Papers’

17ACCA tips We’ve two pages ofthe hottest tips especially for you

19ACCA examiners’ reportsWhat the examiners had to sayabout the feared optional papers

21Let’s get technical We take alook at forecasting cashflows

22SMEs and LSBU How LondonSouth Bank University issupporting small businesses;plus ‘A quick look’ at dealingwith risk

24ICAEW spotlight Top tipsfrom lecturers attending thePartner in Learning conference

25CIMA E1 paper How tomanage the finance function,with particular reference tomanaging conflict

26CIMA P1 We focus on SectionA with some test questions

28CIPFA round-up Conferenceand other news from CIPFA

29Careers #1 How to deal with acounter job offer; and meet anACCA award-winning student

30Careers #2 Life at PwC; plusthe best of social media

34Fun time Accountancy’s lighterside; and more great giveaways

The columnistsRobert Bruce Why accountantsneed to communicate better 8Prem Sikka Weakening the taxmanis a false economy 10Carl Lygo New salary data showsthat some things never change 12

Subscribe to PQ magazineIt’s FREE – see page 33 or go to

www.pqmagazine.co.uk

ABC July 2014 – June 2015 32,233

Publisher’s statement: We send adigital issue of the magazine to anadditional 8,613 requested readers

Free to all accountancy studentsAnnual subscription: £35 (£50 overseas)

Gambling with lives The sad story of Joshua Jones is a stark reminder of the wayaddiction can take over your life. The PwC trainee really didlead a ‘double life’, and for anyone who has known a problem

gambler won’t be surprised to see how quickly Josh got into financialtrouble. I have personal experience of this terrible addiction, and knowsomeone who got hooked on what is called the ‘crack cocaine’ ofgambling – fruit machines. He managed to turn his life back aroundwith help and regular visits to GA! For Joshua the shame became toomuch and he jumped from the ninth floor of PwC’s offices

I noticed that The Times’ Rich List had a new group of high flyers, theonline gambling site millionaires. And it is here that I, like Joshua’sheartbroken father, have real concerns. Who is monitoring these sites?Betting firms need to have the option of permanent exclusion from theirwebsites. They must also all be working together so if you becomeexcluded from one site then that ban applies to all sites.

Gambling addition has to be taken very seriously. The GamblingCommission needs to be seen to be doing more. They did recently makeCoral pay back nearly £850,000 to the victims of a problem gamblerwho had lost a fortune. The betting industry regulator criticised thebookie’s anti-money laundering procedures and safeguards againstproblem gamblers. But this is just the tip of the iceberg.

First with the newsOur lead story this month takes a look at the AAT’s new-look AQ2016and it’s going to mean a big change for many students. It all seemspretty positive to me. The actual marks are so much better than justsaying ‘competent’. Students will also be awarded a pass, merit ordistinction, along with their mark. At the recent LATDG meeting theother professional bodies were not convinced about the merits of thissystem. Will employers deem you a failure if you don’t get a distinction?Will students keep taking the same test until they get one too?

Graham Hambly, PQ magazine editor – [email protected]

CONTENTS June 2016

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Page 4: PQ magazine, June 2016

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Page 5: PQ magazine, June 2016

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Page 6: PQ magazine, June 2016

seem unable to change it. I hopewhen I qualify I won’t forget those Ileft behind!Name and address supplied

Why no vote for us?I note that CIMA’s Andrew Hardingsays that the creation of a newassociation will mean us studentsare the main beneficiaries, yet westill have no vote in what could be

a massive change for CIMA andour future. The two bodies, CIMAand the AICPA, also seem verydifferent, and I personally can’t seethe synergies between the two.Aren’t the AICPA more auditfocused? CIMA also can lay claimto being the more truly global body.I think they get more from us thanwe do from them. John Williamson, by email

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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]

Published by PQ Publishing © PQ Publishing 2016

Try, try and try againI have finally passed my ACCA P5exam with a mark of 70 after failingfive times (marks in 40s) and amnow an Affiliate.

There’s been many timesthroughout my ACCA journey that Ihave wanted to give up – I feltincapable of passing P5 due to notunderstanding the requirements inthe questions. I feel that the Marchexam had a combination of AlexWatt’s confusing style and a moreunderstandable style.

I decided to study differently forthis last exam. For previous sittings

destroying) and found that Iwas exhausted the weekbefore the exam and havingto force myself to revise. Thistime I left my revision until 10days before the exam – Ididn’t do any past papersand felt more refreshed andable to tackle the exam onthe day. This approach is notrecommended to anyone whohasn’t failed as many timesas myself!

When you’ve sat the examthis many times it’s

impossible not to know the syllabus,it’s just about being able to thinkclearly on the day and apply that

knowledge in the exam hall.I have loved reading PQ

magazine, and seeing otherpeople’s comments regarding thisexam gave me the belief that I wascapable and that I wasn’t the onlyperson feeling this pain. I’d like tosay a great big thank-you to PQmagazine for helping me getthrough this and I now look forwardto reading NQ magazine.

Thanks again.Wendy Watkins, by emailThe editor says: Thanks Wendy,glad we could be of service andshare the pain and joy! It is reallyinteresting how you turned it allaround.

The writer of the star letter each month wins a fantastic PQ memory stick!

email [email protected]

Online prejudiceI have just read the story on thefront cover of PQ magazineheadlined ‘ACCA to phase in newCBE exams’ (PQ, May 2016). Whyare BPP and Kaplan the onlycolleges being allowed to offertuition for the CBE exams inLondon?

I am also told by the ACCAwebsite that I cannot study on myown and then opt to sit the CBEexams come September. It seemsstrange that the ACCA is taking itsexams online but isn’t allowingthose who study online to take thetest! That all seems a bit the wrongway round to me. I don’t liveanywhere near any big city, so even

when more centres are allowed tooffer CBE tuition in December Iwon’t be able to attend. Surely theACCA needs to ‘approve’ onlinelearning as one of the optionsduring the phased approach.Name and address supplied

I am terrified!Thanks you for tweeting out theMarch results. However, it doesmake me terrified about what liesahead.

The optional papers, which wesit after passing all the key papers,seem to be an incredible stumblingblock for so many PQs. I read theOpen Tuition noticeboards regularlyand there seems so muchnegativity and frustration frompeople who just don’t seem to be

able to pass these final two papers.With just one in three PQs passingthese papers at most sittings I amsurprised there isn’t more of anoutcry.

I saw that some students arecalling for a petition (PQ magazine,May 2016, page 12). I guess thiswill quickly be forgotten as theymove on to the June sitting, whichis just a month away.

The exam cycle just means weget sucked into the system and

DUE TO LACK OF SPACE OUR SOCIAL MEDIA

UPDATES HAVE BEEN MOVED TO PAGE 30

AndrewHarding

I had revised for such long periodsof time and gone through pastexams papers (which I found soul

PQ June 16 p6 q9 ccm.qxp_pq aprl08 p04 04/05/2016 12:38 Page 1

Page 7: PQ magazine, June 2016

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007_PQ 0616.indd 1 04/05/2016 10:14

Page 8: PQ magazine, June 2016

8 PQ Magazine June 2016

PQ news

Accountants always seem to skip theimportant stuff. They are so steeped ininformation and process that they failto think about how they could tell theworld about what they have done.

Take a recent report from EY. Theyconducted a review of 100 annualreports and accounts and found that42% of them hadn’t bothered toexplain how it had made its money.Doubtless a good accountant couldskim through the figures and reach asensible conclusion about where theprofits had come from. But that isn’tmuch use to anyone else. The samereview found that only 9% of the firmshad shown any link between strategy,KPIs, principal risks and pay. Again,an informed accountant could take aview, but no one else.

It is no wonder that there is a hugedisconnect between what companiesthink is a sensible level ofremuneration, for example, and whatthe public thinks. This is not just acomplaint about how accountantsneed to be better communicators. It isabout the way accountants see theirwork. They are not just, as auditors,the providers of assurance. They aresupposed to be the explainers, andthat requires them to stand back andthink themselves into other people’smindsets. It is simple. Like theinstructions that come with flatpackfurniture, if they were critiqued byordinary customers none of us wouldbe sitting there on a Saturdayafternoon with only half a shelf unitstanding up. It is the same withannual reports. Explain things, simply.

ROBERTBRUCE

Why it pays toexplain

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

ACCA’s are ‘terrified’ of the optional test

Take more care!ACCA F9 candidates must

take greater care when presentinganswers to numerical questions insection B, says the examiner. It isalso good exam technique to showall workings, but these need to belabelled. Remember, by showingyour workings you can gain marksbecause you applied the rightmethod even when numericalerrors have been made. For ourtake on what the optional paperexaminer’s said about the Marchsitting turn to page 17.

Don’t be 50 and in practice!ICAS has got into hot water

over an “ageist” letter it sent to itsmembers in practice. The letter,headed “The only constant ischange”, explains that there is atsunami forming on the horizon,which will hit the UK accountancyprofessional within the next fiveyears. Auto-enrolment, FRS102,and quarterly reporting will have aprofound effect on how practicesoperate. The letter says that forsome these challenges, especiallythe 58% of practitioners who are

over 50, it may all be too much!These members are told: “It maybe the impetus to handing on tothe next generation”.

GAAPweb offers placement GAAPweb, the UK’s top job

site for accountancy and financeprofessionals (and part of theTrinity Mirror Digital Recruitment),have launched a competition tohelp kick-start the career of oneundergraduate by offering a two-week work experience placementin their finance team. The

competition is open to all degreestudents studying accountancy/finance. Students need to submittheir CV and complete a shortonline application form. Deadlinefor entries is 30 May.

Record entry for tax exam Record numbers of students

have applied to sit the CIOT’sAdvanced Diploma in InternationalTaxation. Some 784 students haveentered for the June exams, a bigjump from the first sitting when 30students sat the exams in 2004.

In brief

‘Terrifying’ is how many studentssee the prospect of sitting theACCA’s final optional papers. Withjust one in three candidates passingthe March P5 sitting some PQs arewondering if the ACCA is makingthe exams “unnecessarily difficult topass”.

One PQ who passed his finalpaper took one look at the Marchpass rates and simply said: “Wow –they are getting lower”.

In fact, the first-ever March sittingwas a mixed bag. The pass rates ofsix papers rose when comparedwith the December sitting, fivedropped and one stayed the same.

The F7 examiner waspleased with the 51% passrate. Some 50% of thosewho sat P1 in March alsopassed. In fact, all coreP papers held steady.

It was not such goodnews for P7 sitters. Theexaminer has said in her report that

ACCA EXAM RESULTS MARCH 2016 – WORLDWIDE Mar 16 Dec 15 Sep 15F5 Performance Management 39% 41% 39%F6 Taxation 44% 53% 47%F7 Financial Reporting 51% 45% 44%F8 Audit & Assurance 41% 46% 42%F9 Financial Managem’t 41% 45% 35%P1 Professional Accountant 50% 47% 48%P2 Corporate Reporting 47% 47% 44%P3 Business Analysis 48% 47% 45%P4 Adv Financial Managem’t 38% 35% 36%P5 Adv Performance Managem’t 33% 29% 30%P6 Adv Taxation 44% 42% 45%P7 Adv Audit & Assurance 30% 39% 29%

overall performance was poor, andstressed: “There was a clear lack of

both auditing and financialreporting knowledge”.

Many PQs resitting theexam had claimed thatthe March test wasmuch harder than

December, and the 30%pass rate backs up their

case!

Dr Mary Bishop (pictured),ACCA’s Director of Learning, said:“Pass rates in most exams have atleast remained steady and we’repleased to see improvements inalmost all of the Professional levelexams.”

She felt it was clear that studentsare still adapting to the rigour of thecombined breadth and depth of theskills exam format.

Don’t ask, don’t get!Male accountants are more likely to push for a pay risethan their female colleagues, and are more likely to getone, says new research from the AAT.

More than one in four men working in finance (26%)had asked for a pay rise in the last year, compared withless than one in five women. Conversely, three in fivewomen (61%) have never asked for a pay rise.

And it was a question of don’t ask don’t get, asnearly half of men surveyed (47%) had received a payrise during the last year. This compares to 40% ofwomen.

The AAT’s chief HR officer, Olivia Hill, said: “Theselatest figures suggested men working in finance are farmore positive about their worth and value in theworkplace, and subsequently are more confident ofasking for a pay rise, which many are receiving.”

The Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT) recentlyreached 8,000 members – a new record. The 8,000thmember is Elizabeth Ashcroft, of Hartley Wintney,Hampshire, who works for Ashcroft Design &Construction

PQ June 16 p8 q9 ccm.qxp_pq sept 12 p08 04/05/2016 13:52 Page 10

Page 9: PQ magazine, June 2016

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Page 10: PQ magazine, June 2016

10 PQ Magazine June 2016

PQ news

The leak of the papers of Panama lawfirm Mossack Fonseca providesinsights into organised tax avoidance.The Panama Papers consist of 11.5million documents relating to 300,000companies. Behind a wall of secrecyprovided by anonymous shellcompanies and trusts, and with the aidof accountants and lawyers, wealthyelites were busy constructing complextransactions to avoid taxes.

The chances of mounting effectiveaction by HMRC are low. Investigatingtax avoidance/evasion is a labour andresource intensive task. HMRC hasbeen deprived of these. Staff levelshave fallen from 100,000 in 2004 to56,000 now, with more cuts planned.The result is all too predictable.

Despite considerable coverage, notest cases have been brought againstGoogle, Amazon, Starbucks or othermultinationals. In 2010, a whistle-blower gave HMRC documentsshowing 3,600 wealthy individualsand arms dealers may be dodgingtaxes through HSBC’s Swissoperations. Just one prosecutionfollowed. Since 2010, there have beenonly 11 prosecutions in relation tooffshore tax evasion. HMRC told thePublic Accounts Committee that it hasthe capacity to investigate only 35wealthy individuals for each year.

A poorly resourced HMRC can’tinvestigate tax avoidance/evasion orprosecute and thus can’t send out astrong deterrent message. The loss ofrevenues means prolonged austerityand higher bills for those unable tohire the so-called experts.

PREMSIKKA

Weakeningthe taxmanis a falseeconomy

n Prem Sikka is professor of accountancy at theUniversity of Essex

There are no surprises and no

shocks in the latest set of CIMA

pass rates, says the institute. It

believes these latest results show

qualifying with CIMA is “achievable,

fair and consistent”.

Steve Flatman,

the exams chief,

was pleased to

see all the OT

pass rates were

going in the right

direction. Only one first-time pass

rate has fallen – E2. This was a

healthy 85% and is now just 84%!

Flatman told PQ magazine in an

exclusive interview that pass rates

can also continue to rise and

revealed current data is showing

the rates are still going up. “We are

really encouraged with the way

students are getting to grips with

the syllabus and exam platforms,”

he said. Even the dreaded P1 and

P2 pass rates are creeping up. For

the future, Flatman is predicting

that P1 won’t necessarily have the

lowest pass rate. He also believes

OTs are really driving learning of

the whole syllabus.

Turning to the case study results,

Flatman revealed a slight drop in

the Strategic Level to 56%. He felt

this reflected the fact that it was a

fairly small cohort in February with

many resitting.

CIMA latest pass ratesare ‘consistent and fair’

Women top the ICAEW prize list

Top women employersThe Big 4 accountancy firms all made it

into The Times’ Top 50 Employers for

Women 2016 list. PwC was one of the first

organisations to publish its gender pay gap

(in 2014). It has strengthened its inclusion

strategy and work with the UN’s HeforShe. KPMG says it

works to equip all its leaders to be inclusive and has set

targets at all levels. The firm also focuses on its male

colleagues to engage around gender parity. It too is involved

in the HeforShe campaign and hopes this will be a catalyst for further change. EY

says 95% of its partners have taken its inclusive leadership programme and it has

reached its female partner target. It led the pledge for parity on International

Women’s Day. Deloitte said it was proud of its return to work programme, report on

the gender pay gap and programme for putting 1,500 leaders through inclusive

workshops. Other employers on the list include the Home Office, Procter & Gamble,

Unilever, Microsoft and EDF Energy.

Women dominate the ACA

Professional level results again,

winning four of the five prizes up

for grabs in March.

PwC’s Ahmad Ali Qasim was the

sole male prize winner for his

performance in the Audit and

Assurance paper. His firm also

picked up four out of the five

prizes, with only Alliotts Lisa Chen,

who took first place in the tax

compliance paper, managing to

prevent a clean sweep by the firm.

The other March prize winners

were Susan Aryee, Catherine Overy

and Heather Brown.

Top pass rate this time was

Business Strategy at 90.3%, closely

followed by Financial Accounting

and Reporting with a 87.4% pass

rate. The toughest paper was

Business Planning: Tax with a pass

rate of 76.2%.

CIMA CASE STUDY EXAMS – 2015Feb 16 Nov 15 Aug 15 May 15

Operational 62% 61% 34% 67%Management 64% 78% 77% 62%Strategic 56% 62% 67% 70%

CIMA OT pass ratesOverall First time Total

E1 87% 79% 76%P1 65% 45% 42%F1 83% 74% 71%E2 92% 84% 82%P2 68% 46% 42%F2 69% 47% 45%E3 77% 62% 59%P3 72% 51% 48%F3 71% 50% 44%

ICAEW PROFESSIONAL EXAM RESULTSMar 16 Dec 15

Audit & Assurance 80.9% 74.9%FA & Reporting 87.4% 74.2%Tax Compliance 82.8% 73.4%Business Planning Tax 76.2% 77.3%Business Strategy 90.3% 88.4%Financial Management 84.9% 78.8%

Generation Z (16-24 year olds) job hunters have

become the savviest when it comes to controlling their

online identity, according to new research from CV-

library.

Some four out of five (83%) of this group are more

careful about the pictures they post on social media, in

case they are found by an employer (the national

average is 71%).

Three quarters of Generation Z’s also expect to be

‘goggled’ by a potential employer.

Interestingly, they are less concerned when it comes

to the use of their picture in the recruitment process.

Some 32% felt it was fine to use a picture on a CV or

application form.

Generation Z are savviest online

ACCA-X is one year oldThe ACCA’s innovative online learning programme, ACCA-X,

is close to signing up 100,000 students as its first-year

anniversary approaches.

ACCA-X offers digital courses to help open access to the

accountancy profession. Its two free courses – Introduction &

Intermediate Financial and Management Accounting – have

had 92,000 enrolments. Both these courses form part of the

ACCA’s Diploma in Accounting and Business.

There are now five ACCA-X courses that run four times a

year. The paid-for courses are Accountant in Business,

Management Accounting and Financial Accounting.

• ACCA-X recently picked up the Best eLearning and Online

Education award at the International and European

Association awards night in Berlin.

PQ June 16 p10 q9_pq sept 12 p08 03/05/2016 16:44 Page 10

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12 PQ Magazine June 2016

PQ news

The rich get richer and equal pay forwomen is still not a reality. These arethe two conclusions I drew from newground-breaking research on graduatesalaries. The Institute for FiscalStudies (IFS) has issued a study of UKgraduate salaries 10 years on fromgraduation, based on student loanrecords of 260,000 individuals over a10-year period. Student loans werefirst introduced in 1999-2000 in theUK and the repayment history of thosefirst graduates is now producing someinteresting data. The headlinesfocused on the fact that graduatesfrom the London School of Economicsearn more than those from any otherUK university. Medicine andeconomics degrees deliver thehighest average salaries 10 years outfor graduates. Beneath theseheadlines was the revelation thatstudents from the richest 20% ofhomes earn more in the workplacethan the other 80% of students, withan average earnings gap 10 yearsafter graduation of £8,000 a year formen and £5,300 for women.

The data also clearly showed thelarge pay divide between men andwomen. Ten years after graduationmale medical students earned amedian wage of £55,000 comparedwith £45,000 for women.

In fact, in the top 10 most lucrativedegrees to study, only in Europeanlanguages and literature degrees didthe average women’s salary exceed ormatch the average male salary(women earned £26,400 compared tomen £25,000).

CARLLYGO

Salary datashows somethings neverchange

n Professor Carl Lygo ischief executive of BPP

New tier pricingfor CIMA exams

CIMA is introducing a tiered pricingsystem for its exams, based onthree new regions.

A spokesman told PQ magazinethat the purchasing power of somecurrencies in Africa have fallen by50%, and CIMA had becameconcerned that if it did not actstudents would no longer be able tostudy with the accountancy body.

The world according to CIMA hasbeen split into three: WesternEurope, Rest of the World andAfrica. The Western Europe regionincludes Turkey, Australia,Singapore, the US and Canada.

CIMA has said that for studentsin Western Europe regions the cost

of exams will go up on average5.5% (or £6.20).

The institute promised thechanges, which take effect on 1July 2016, were ‘net neutral’ forCIMA. Any student who has alreadybooked an exam after this datewon’t be asked for more money.However, if you now book an examafter 1 July you will pay the tieredprice.

The spokesman stressed thatCIMA wants to help businessessucceed everywhere, and to do thisit needed to reflect exchange rateanomalies. The move meansstudents fees in sub-Saharan Africawill go down by 16–17%.

As part of a broad review CIMAalso revealed students will soon beable to pay CIMA via PayPal. Theinstitute apparently still receivesbank drafts from some students,which have a big hidden cost forthese PQs. “We have to makeCIMA easier to do business with,”explained the spokesman, “and thisis one way of doing this.”

Specimen papers releasedCIMA has released specimen case study

answers, using a real student script, to showwhat a pass looks like. PQ magazine, along withmany leading tutors, has been campaigning forthe institute to publish students’ papers so PQscan understand the standard expected. CIMA’sscripts will be anonymous and should show astudent who achieved a mark of around 95.CIMA’s Peter Stewart explained that this shouldbecome an invaluable resource to all studentsstudying the case study.

Parking fines not tax deductibleSecurity firm G4S cannot set its parking

fines against its tax bill, the tax tribunal hasruled. G4S Cash Solutions aimed to reduce itscorporation tax bill by around £580,000, butthe first-tier tribunal has ruled in HMRC’s favourin rejecting the bid. G4S incurred parking finesusually while delivering consignments of cashover the pavement. The firm claimed these

were a business expense and so could be usedto reduce its profits for tax purposes.

CIPFA student conference dateCIPFA students need to put Wednesday 13

July in their diary, the date of the annual CIPFAstudent conference. Part of CIPFA’s annualconference, which takes place in Manchester,PQs can dip in and out of the main conferencetoo, all for no charge! It’s a great chance tonetwork and understand the dynamics ofchange in the profession. The CIPFA StudentNetwork will also be out in force, explainingwhat it has planned for the year ahead. To signup go to www.cipfaannualconference.org.uk

In brief

One way to helping universitystudents learn the valuable skill ofmanaging their finances would beto introduce monthly maintenancepayments, says ACCA’s CEO HelenBrand (pictured).

She felt that this would be betterthan paying one-third of the annualamount at the beginning of eachterm, as is currently the case.

This already happens inScotland, she explained, andmirrors how payment is received in

the working world much moreclosely.

Another initiative she would like

to see is the introduction of asavings account with incentives.The government could offer under-18s a match savings accountbased on an ISA incentive. So, ifthe student saves £1,000 thegovernment would match thisamount once the person entersfurther/higher education.

Brand pointed out that some40% of students leave educationwith an overdraft, the average debtbeing £894.

Helping higher education students

IASB amends IFRS 15 revenue standard The International accountingStandards Board (IASB) has issuedamendments to IFRS 15 Revenuefrom Contracts with Customers, tohelp clarify some requirements andprovide more transitional relief.

The amendments should clarifyhow to identify a performance

obligation (the promise to transfer agood/service to a customer) in acontract. They should also help theunderstanding of when a companyis a principal (the provider of agood/service) or an agent(arranging for good/service to beprovided).

Finally, the changes proposedwill help determine whether therevenue from granting a licenseshould be recognised at a point intime or over time.

The amendments have the sameeffective date as the standard – 1January 2018.

PQ June 16 p12 q9_pq sept 12 p08 03/05/2016 16:45 Page 8

Page 13: PQ magazine, June 2016

13PQ Magazine June 2016

news PQ

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ACCA P7 March sitters have comeunder fire for being unprepared forthe exam and simply not putting inenough effort into learning many ofthe basics. This assessment of theMarch sitting comes from the P7examiner who is not a happy woman.

With a 30% pass rate this timearound, the examiner said that theoverall performance of sitters is poor.She said many candidates were “notproperly prepared for this wide-ranging exam and were unable toadequately apply their knowledge toanswer the questions set”. Theexaminer felt too many studentsfocus on the minutiae of a point andproduce a list of everything they knewabout a topic. This is irrespective ofwhether it is relevant or not. Another

worry is the clear lack of bothauditing and financial reportingknowledge, which isn’t helpful if youare sitting an advanced audit andassurance paper!

Another concern for the examinerwas the candidate’s inability todifferentiate between business riskand audit risk in Question 1. Therewas also confusion betweenoutsourcing and the use of an auditexpert. So, do you know your Type 1or Type 2 reports as detailed in ISA402 ‘Audit Considerations Relating toan Entity Using a ServiceOrganisation’?• See page 19 for more on the P7examiner’s report, and to find outwhat the other optional examinershad to say.

Are you working hard enough?P7 examiner doesn’t think so!

Billionaire transporttycoon Brian Souter isliving proof you can besuccessful and anaccountant without amaths O-level! The sonof a bus driver hadwanted to be anaccountant but couldn’tgo to university at first because hedidn’t have that maths O-level.

So Souter went to DundeeCollege and studied for a diplomain economics and accounts, beforeeventually getting in to university.All through higher education heworked as a bus conductor and inthe week he sat his exams he

reportedly worked 77hours on the buses!

He qualified just as MrsThatcher became PrimeMinster and that’s whenhe saw a gap when coachroutes were deregulated.Investing his savings ofsome £12,000, he went

into business with his sister, anurse, who put her house up ascollateral, and £25,000 from theirdad. Stagecoach was born whenthey bought two second-handbuses, offering routes from Dundeeto London and Aberdeen toGlasgow. The company now has14,000 buses and sales of £3.2bn.

The ICAEW has confirmed thatdigital watches will not bepermitted in any ICAEW examfrom June 2016. This includesthe certificate, professional andadvanced level exams. Thisaction has been taken in orderto protect the integrity of theexam, said a spokesman. He

believed it will also prevent theaccidental breach of the ICAEWassessment regulations byindividuals wearing smartwatches as their normaltimepiece. Analogue watcheswill still be permitted in theexam hall, but may be subjectto inspection.

ICAEW bans digital watchs from exams

PQ June 16 p13 q9_pq sept 12 p08 03/05/2016 16:47 Page 8

Page 14: PQ magazine, June 2016

14 PQ Magazine June 2016

PQ ethics

Let’s start with a little quiz. Heregoes: Who – or what – isMossack Fonseca? Is it:

A. A rather pleasant Chilean white wine?B. A Uruguayan centre-forward whoplays for Barcelona?C. A Panamanian legal firm at the heartof a ‘leak’ which indicates it was involvedin activities facilitating money launderingand tax evasion on a global scale?

The answer is, of course, C – althoughyou would have been forgiven for neverhaving heard of it until a few weeks ago,when over 11 million documents fromthe company were leaked (the ‘PanamaPapers’). These papers reveal, amongother things, vast numbers of individualsand companies using ‘off-shore’companies, many of which are based inUK crown dependencies and overseasterritories such as the Cayman Islandsand the British Virgin Islands.

Mossack Fonseca deny they havedone anything wrong, and claim theiractivities have been misrepresented. Solet’s have a look at the key issues in astory that is likely to run and run.

Big corporations and wealthyindividuals generally like to minimise theamount of tax they pay – and there isnothing wrong with avoiding tax. Taxavoidance means the use of legal taxplanning to reduce a tax liability – asimple example is the use of anindividual’s annual investment allowancein an ISA. This is simply sensible taxplanning – it is perfectly legal and makessound financial sense.

Tax evasion, on the other hand, is theillegal avoidance of tax; it could be byunderstating income, overstatingexpenses or simply not declaring incomethat would otherwise be taxed. Theseactivities are, of course, both unethicaland illegal.

However, there is a huge area whichfalls somewhere between tax avoidanceand tax evasion. The release of thePanama Papers probably only confirmedwhat most people have known for a longtime – that the bigger the corporation orthe wealthier the individual, the ‘murkier’their finances become.

It is not illegal to form, or be a directoror shareholder of an offshore company –one that has its base in one of the so-called tax havens. It has been estimatedthat $7.6 trillion (a trillion is a 1 followedby twelve zeroes!) – or 8% of the world’swealth – is safely tucked away in taxhavens, with extremely low (or zero) taxrates. The effect of this is that around$200 billion a year of tax revenue ispotentially lost. To put this into context,this is approximately the same as thegross domestic product (GDP) of SouthAfrica!

By ‘hiding’ the ‘true’ nature of business

structures, by ensuring that profits areonly made in countries with low tax rateswhile losses are recorded where the taxrelief is highest, and by investingpersonal wealth in ‘shell’ companies thatoperate under a veil of secrecy, thewealthy are able to avoid paying tax – butthis of course relies on having access toexpert advice on how to establish theseextremely complex arrangements. This iswhere ‘specialists’ such as MossackFonseca come in, and in addition tosolicitors there are also accountants whooffer such advice and support.

While there is nothing wrong – legallyor ethically – with helping clients avoidtax, there is perhaps a greater issue here.It has emerged that many of MossackFonseca’s clients were of ‘dubious’integrity, including individuals againstwhom economic sanctions were alreadyin place. One of these was Alaa Mubarek,the son of former Egyptian presidentHosni Mubarek. In 2011, the EU hadimposed economic sanctions on bothfather and son, freezing all their assets.Yet in 2013, just two years later, MossackFonseca incorporated a company by thename of Pan World Investments – thebeneficial owner of which was none otherthan Alaa Mubarek.

Mossack Fonseca claim that theyundertake client due diligence (CDD) onall new clients, yet this was clearlylacking in rigour as they either failed toidentify Mubarek as the beneficial owner– or conveniently ignored the fact.Remember, the main purpose of CDD isto investigate the true nature of apotential client to identify if there are anyethical or other reasons not to acceptthem as a client. There are a number ofexamples of this process failing that haveemerged from the leaked records.

There are a number of clear messagesthat the Mossack Fonseca case highlightsfor accountants with regard to theirprofessional ethics. We all studyprofessional ethics – and are subject toour professional body’s code of ethics –yet here is a real-life situation where theyappear to have been ignored and it hastaken an anonymous whistleblower tobring them to light.

Anyway, enough of such unethicalbehaviour... did someone mention a niceglass of Chilean white wine? • Neil Arnott is a course tutor atPremier Training

PQ

Lessons of thePanama PapersAccountants need to remember to take an ethical approach, says Neil Arnott

Perhaps it’s not a Panama hat day…

pq june 16 p14 q9 ccm.qxp_Layout 1 03/05/2016 16:50 Page 2

Page 15: PQ magazine, June 2016

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Page 16: PQ magazine, June 2016

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Page 17: PQ magazine, June 2016

ACCA exam tips PQ

PQ Magazine June 2016 17

(statement of profit or loss andother comprehensive income or/andstatement of financial position).• Statement of changes in equity,statement of cash flows extract,earnings per share calculation orlinked written topic.• Consolidation including onesubsidiary and often an associate,with adjustments, eg fair values,deferred/contingent consideration,PUP on inventories/PPE, intragrouptrading and balances, goods/cash intransit.• Single entity preparation from atrail balance or restatement of givenfinancial statement with usualadjustments for depreciation,revaluation and current/deferredtax.F8Q1-4• Ethical threats and safeguards.• Corporate governance andinternal audit.• Audit planning, materiality, auditprocedures (especially substantiveprocedures), audit finalisation andaudit reports.Q5-6• Audit risk.• Internal controls• Audit procedures – substantiveprocedures and tests of control.F9• Calculations on improvements toreceivable management – earlysettlement discounts and factoring.• Weighted average cost of capitalcalculations – components.• Ratio analysis to support financingdecisions.• NPV calculations, possiblycorrecting an incorrect NPV givenby the examiner, which includesincorrect tax and inflationcalculations. P1• Read any new articles recentlypublished by the examiner.• Use of stakeholder.• Ethical and other CSR theoriesapplied to scenarios• Use of risk and governance –board directors, remuneration andreporting.P2 Section A• Preparation of a statement offinancial position and/or a groupstatement of profit of loss, and othercomprehensive income orstatement of cash flows. • Accounting adjustment andsocial/ethical/moral aspects ofcorporate reporting.Section B, Q2-3• Deferred tax, foreign currencytransactions, financial instruments,pensions, share-based payment,non-current assets (recognition

• Ethics. • Revenue recognition. • 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. • Capital structure; traditional debtfinance and Islamic finance –Sukuk Bonds. • Financial restructuring. P5 • Critique an existing performancemanagement system and theperformance hierarchy. • Quality as a critical successfactor. • Value based approaches toperformance management. • Effective use of informationsystems. • Environmental performance/analysis. • Balanced scorecard orPerformance Prism. P6 • Group relief and consortium relieffor companies. • Incorporation relief. • IHT planning. • Patent box.

• Share schemes. P7 • Business risks in a scenario. • Identifying ethical and otherprofessional issues in a scenario. • Matters to be considered andaudit evidence for a couple of coreaccounting issues. • Money laundering.• Insolvency issues. • Discussion on audit reports.

BPP.F5• Q1-3: All areas of the syllabus.• Q4: Planning and operationalvariances, mix and yield variances,and evaluation of companyperformance.F6• Employment benefits. • Property income.• Relief for pension contributions.• Adjustments to profit to arrive attrading income for both companiesand sole traders.• Capital allowance computations.• Likely 10-mark questions on VAT,IHT and CGT.F7Q1-2• Interpretation or statement ofcash flows.• Consolidation (if Q3 is not aconsolidation).• Other possibilities – conceptualframework, intangible/tangibleassets and impairment, provisionsand contingencies, revenue andgrants, financial instruments,discontinued operations/assets heldfor sale, or earnings per share.Q3• Financial statement preparation(30-marker).• Single entity or a consolidation Continued on page 18

The exams are comingthick and fast, so here areour tips for June’s papers

First Intuition.F5 • MCQs on the whole syllabus. • ABC. • Environmental accounting. • Limiting factors. • Relevant costing. • Flexed budget and budgetingdiscussion. • Transfer pricing. • Mix and yield variances. F6 • Employment benefits. • Basis periods. • Partnerships. • Pensions. • Loss relief for individuals andcompanies. • Groups of companies. • PAYE. • Administration of tax. • VAT small company schemes. • CGT: Entrepreneur’s relief, PPR,share disposals. F7 • MCQs on the whole syllabus. • Interpretation of accounts,including ratio calculations andwritten analysis.• Preparation of consolidated SFPand/or SPL with associate, PUP andfair value adjustments. • Preparation of single companyaccounts including tangible non-current assets, intangible assets,taxation and IFRS 15. Possiblewritten element or EPS calculation. F8 • MCQs on the whole syllabus. • Ethics. • Audit risk and auditor response. • Internal control – deficiencies,implications and recommendations. • Audit evidence and substantivetesting. • Subsequent events, writtenrepresentations and going concern. Modified auditor’s reports. F9 • Discussion of the economicenvironment and the impact oninterest and exchange rates. • Working capital management –receivables and payables plusoperating cycle.• Investment appraisal & cost ofcapital. • Business valuations. • Risk management (currency riskcalculations). P1 • 50-mark scenario question, toinclude ethics, governance and riskmanagement.P2 • Q1: Group question on disposalsor cash flows.

PQ Jun 16 p17-18 q9_Layout 1 05/05/2016 11:57 Page 1

Page 18: PQ magazine, June 2016

These tips should only be used in conjunctionwith proper study. We cannotguarantee that these topics

will appear in the actualexam as we have not seen

the exam papers. Examinersare not predictable so it isvital that all core syllabus

areas are revised fully.

HEALTHWARNING

18 PQ Magazine June 2016

PQ ACCA exam tips

reporting issues.• Practice management, includingethics and quality control.• Reporting issues, includingcompletion and communication.

LSBF.F5Section B• ABC and target costing.• Relevant costing.• Budgeting theory with flexedbudgets.• All advanced variances.• Divisional performance andtransfer pricing.F6• Chargeable gains – companymaking disposals with rollover andholdover relief.• IHT – calculating IHT on lifetimegifts into a trust when the donor isstill alive.• VAT – due date for registration,calculation of VAT payable.• Income tax – adjustment of profitfor a sole trader/partnership,including capital allowances, for asole trader in the beginning ormiddle of the trading cycle.• Corporation tax – calculatingcorporation tax, large company andinstalment payments.F7• Section A: MCQs can cover anytopic in the syllabus, but at leasthalf will be on standards.

EVA, transfer pricing, financialreporting measures, analysis ofquality related costs, ABC.• Performance managementframeworks – building blocks modelor balanced scorecard.• Know the difference betweenevaluating a performance reportand evaluating the underlyingperformance of the organisation.Q2-4• Quality management – Six Sigma.• Information reporting – CSFs andKPIs, non-financial performanceindicators. • HR frameworks – reward andappraisal systems.• Risk management andenvironmental managementaccounting.• Performance managementframeworks – building blocks,performance pyramid, balancedscorecard.P6• Groups of companies withoverseas aspects.• Unincorporated businessparticularly loss relief or involving apartnership.• Capital gains tax versusinheritance tax.• Overseas aspects particularly thenew rules on residence.• Personal service company.• Company purchase of ownshares.• Enterprise investmentschemes/venture capital trusts.• Change in accounting date.• Takeover.• VAT partial exemption.• Transfer of trade versus sale ofsubsidiary.• Disincorporation relief.• Pension contributions.• Patent box, research anddevelopment expenditure.P7Section A• Planning, risk assessment,evidence gathering and practicemanagement issues.• Non-audit engagement, with theprospective financial information(PFI) or due diligence.• Audit completion or consolidatedgroups.Section B• Audit evidence and financial

and/or impairment of tangible andintangible assets), borrowing costs,the effect of accounting treatmentson earnings per share or ratios. • Industry-based testing range ofstandards such as accountingpolicies and the framework, leases,grants, IFRS for SMEs,reorganisations, provisions, eventsafter reporting period and relatedparties.Q4• Current development in corporatereporting and problems with existingstandards – revision of theconceptual framework, regulatoryissues over adoption and consistentapplication of IFRSs,implementation issues, applicationof the definition of control andsignificant influence (equityaccounting), improvement inperformance measurement,classification in profit or loss vs OCI,integrated reporting, revenuerecognition. • Group accounting.P3• Integrated reporting willincreasingly feature in P3.• Project management.• Times series, relevant costing,decision trees and decision makingtechniques.• Role of corporate parent,including BCG matric/Ashridge.• Business process change,including the POPIT model andHarmon’s process-strategy matrix.• E-business, e-marketing, and theimpact of Big Data on areas like the7Ps and CRM. P4Q1• Project appraisal – domestic andoverseas.• Business valuations – cost ofcapital calculations.• Risk management (hedging).Q2-4• Risk management – currency orinterest rate.• Business re-organisation.• Real options.• Ethics and general financingissues – dividend policy.P5Q1• Numerical techniques – KPIs,

• Section B: Consolidations/published accounts will be a 15/30marker, or vice versa; the remaining15 marker will probably be oninterpretation with adjustmentsneeded beforehand. If you are registered for the examand feel reasonably prepared give ita go: September sees the biggestexpansion to the F7 syllabus for atleast 15 years.P2• Q1: CFS or BS or PL, in thatorder.• Q2/3: Usual suspects drawnwidely from the syllabus.• Q4: Maybe financial assetimpairment, equity accounting,SMEs, sustainability, leases.P3• Strategic analysis.• Strategic choice.• Management accountingtechniques to support decisionmaking (possibly close or continue).• Process re-engineering and theneed for IT controls.• Project management.P4 • Hedging interest rate risk usingforward rate agreement, interestrate futures, options on interest ratefutures and collars. • Real options – to abandon,expand or delay using the Black-Scholes option pricing model.• Investment appraisal usingadjusted present values, modifiedinternal rate of return and internalrate of return.• Cost of capital using the principlesof Modigliani and Miller prepositionsor geared and ungeared betas. • Calculation of project specificWACC or WACC of combinedactivities.• Valuation of business using freecash flows and price-earnings ratiomethods. Best mode of payment –cash offer or share exchange.P5• EVA.• Appraising performance metrics.• Balanced scorecard.• Impact on performancemanagement.• Corporate failure. Go to pqmagazine.co.uk for F8and P6 tips from LSBF – andloads more great study advice

PQ

Continued from page 17

PQ Jun 16 p17-18 q9_Layout 1 05/05/2016 11:59 Page 22

Page 19: PQ magazine, June 2016

19PQ Magazine June 2016

ACCA exams PQ

We take a look at theexaminers’ reports for theMarch sitting of the dreadedACCA optional papers

P4 .Students should understand that this isan advanced level paper that builds onthe knowledge and skills examined in F9.The examiner wants you to take on therole of a senior financial professional whois able to recommend and make financialmanagement decisions that are likely toaffect the entire business. You also haveto be able to demonstrate your ability toread and digest quickly comprehensiveand detailed questions. The importantword here is ‘quickly’! As a seniormanager you need to be able to workunder scheduled deadlines and theexaminer believes that to be successfulin this exam you need to be able todemonstrate the ability to prioritise andmanage your time. Business reports andproposals are expected to be succinct,professionally written and easy to readwith clear headings and conclusion. Thatis what you need to produce in the exam.

Sustained study over a long period oftime (we aren’t told how long here) isalso a key to success in this paper.

Q1 looked at how exchange ratefluctuations are influenced by inflation.Students were then asked to look at theimpact of a capital investment project onthe value of the company and look at itseffect on dividends.

Q2 asked candidates to apply theadjusted present value technique to aproposed investment project.

For Q3 sitters had to demonstrate theirunderstanding of a partnership mergerand how such mergers can be valued.

Q4 wanted to test how knowledge ofreal options strategy using the BlackScholes pricing model can add toinvestment appraisal decisions. Riskfactors in option theory was also there,along with government funding.

P5 .The examiner is worried that no one isreading the reports, as previous adviceseems to have been ignored. The Marchreport reiterates that good candidatesdistinguish themselves by being awarethat if they come to this exam expectingto repeat memorised material they willprobably only score between 20-30%.

PQs also need to ensure they havefilled in the gaps in basic knowledge(models and techniques), and this might

actually mean they need to refresh yourF5 knowledge.

Q1 started by asking students toexplain the performance pyramid. It thenwent on to the evaluation of operationalperformance indicators and theirreliability. Then we moved to activity-based budgeting and an evaluation oftwo budgeting methods.

The Building Block model was key toQ2. Sitters were then asked to providethe benefits of a real-time unifieddatabase.

Q3 was all about decision-makingunder risk and uncertainty.

Q4 looked at performancemeasurements in the public sector. The3Es’ structure helped in part (a).

P6 (UK) .The examiner felt the standard at theMarch exam was ‘fairly satisfactory’.When you go into this exam you need tospend sufficient time carefully readingthe question and thinking before youstart writing. Another key to success inP6 is to answer every part of the fourquestions. Finally, you need goodknowledge of the tax rules, particularlysome of the more fundamental rulesbrought forward from the F6 syllabus.

Q1 looked at the acquisition ofoverseas businesses as branches orsubsidiaries. You also had to consider theVAT treatment of purchasing goods andservices. Finally, you were required toexplain the tax implications of a transferof trade and assets.

Q2 required you to correct a numberof errors relating to income tax, CGT andIHT liabilities for a married couple.HMRC’s penalty regime also came intoplay and the action you would need totake before becoming their tax adviser.

Q3 was on CGT implication of twodisposals, the IHT reliefs on the death ofa taxpayer and application of IR35.

Q4 concerned the tax treatment of an

NOTHINGOPTIONAL

individual shareholder of the sale ofshares back to the company, withcorporation tax and VAT thrown in.

Q5 was about business partnershipsand calculation of income tax liability fora tax year, including a redundancypackage.

P7 .The overall performance in this sittingwas ‘poor’, with it being fairly obvious thatmany candidates had not properlyprepared for this wide-ranging exam. Toomany candidates focused on theminutiae of a point and missed the widerimplications of the issue in hand. Therewas also a clear lack of both auditing andfinancial reporting knowledge.

Q1 centred on business risk. Theexaminer is worried that many candidateswere unable to differentiate betweenbusiness and audit risk. Candidatesneeded to identify and discuss four risksof material misstatement. The examinerfelt this should have been straightforwardstuff.

Sitters were then required to considerhow outsourcing the credit controlfunction should be audited. Here therewas confusion between outsourcing andusing an audit expert. Students need toknow their IAS 402.

Q2 looked at three financial reportingissues. Candidates needed to provideexam procedures in relation toprospective financial information. Youwere faced here with a deferred tax, aconvertible bond and an operating lease.

Q3 was not a popular option. Thislooked at the risk of fraud in revenuerecognition.

Q4 was the most popular optionalquestion and focused on ethics andpractice management.

Q5 set out four potential auditadjustments and required candidates toconsider their impact on the audit report. PQ

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Ilove the festive season and eventhough it is still only May I amalready looking forward to my

favourite meal of the year: Christmasdinner with all the trimmings. Among mymany talents I am pretty handy in thekitchen so I tend to take control of thecooking on the big day. Something that inthe past I was never quite sure about wasexactly how to cook the turkey – thereseemed to be as many different ways asthere are cooks. But what I have learnedin recent years is that while there isindeed more than one way to cook aturkey they all taste great with cranberrysauce and sprouts… mmm!

A few months ago I wrote an article oncashflow forecasting (seewww.firstintuition.co.uk/pq-article-on-cash-flow-forecasting/), a key topic in thelevel 4 cash management paper and alsoa critical part of running a successful(and solvent) business. That articlefocused on what is sometimes known asthe ‘receipts and payments method’ offorecasting cashflows. This methodinvolves: • Identifying the various cash receipts thebusiness expects: cash from customers,proceeds from asset disposals, issues ofshares, etc.• Identifying the various cash paymentsthe business will need to make:payments to suppliers, wages andsalaries, rent payments, etc.• Comparing receipts to the payments ineach month to predict whether the cashbalance will increase or decrease

However, there is more than one wayto cook a turkey! Another important waythat we can forecast cashflow is the‘statement of profit or loss account andbalance sheet method’. In this method(as the name may suggest) we useinformation contained in the P&L andbalance sheet to predict the overallcashflow in a period.

The starting pointIf we have a forecast statement of profitor loss we can identify the expectedoperating profit for the period we areforecasting. This operating profit figure isa good starting point as it will include allof the transactions for the period (such assales, purchases and other expenses).However, we will need to make a fewadjustments.

Dealing with non-cash items that areincluded in operating profit

The first thing that we need to recogniseis that the operating profit figure includescertain transactions that are not actualcashflows. A good example would bedepreciation. Depreciation is an

21PQ Magazine June 2016

AAT exams PQ

Gareth John serves up somemouth-watering advice onforecasting cashflows

LET’S GET TECHNICAL

the cash balance would have increasedby the same £100? Well, what if the salewas on credit and the customer has notpaid us yet? This would mean that tradereceivables had increased by £100 andthat there was no increase in cash at all.The profit earned on the sale has been‘soaked up’ by the increase in tradereceivables.

Another way to think about this is thatan increase in trade receivables is ‘badfor cash’ as it means we haven’t beenpaid yet so we would deduct the increasefrom our operating profit whenreconciling to actual cashflow. If tradereceivables were to decrease in a periodthis is ‘good for cash’ as it means creditcustomers are paying faster so we addthe decrease to operating profit.

Similarly:• We deduct increases in inventory asthese are ‘bad for cash’ as we have topay for the stock.• We add increases in trade payables asthis is ‘good for cash’ as we are payingsuppliers slower and keeping the money.• We deduct increases in non-currentassets (when we have made acquisitions)as this is ‘bad for cash’.• We add any proceeds from assetdisposals as this is ‘good for cash’.

So we end up with a reconciliation thatmight look something like:

£Operating profit (our starting point) 50,000Add back depreciation +4,000Deduct profit on disposal of NCAs (2,000)Deduct tax paid (12,000)Deduct increase in trade receivables (3,500)Add decrease in inventories +1,000Add increase in trade payables +4,000Deduct acquisition of NCAs (6,500)Add proceeds from disposals of NCAs +5,000Net change in cash position +40,000

• Gareth John is a tutor/director withFirst Intuition and helps to managetheir AAT distance learning programme.He was PQ’s Accountancy Lecturer ofthe Year in 2011

PQ

accounting journal that recognises anexpense in the period (so reducingoperating profit), but there is no actualpayment of cash (so cash doesn’tactually fall). This means that simplyusing operating profit would understatethe actual cash position of the business.To remove the impact of depreciation weneed to add the expense back tooperating profit to restate it to a moreaccurate ‘cash profit’.

Another non-cash item that wouldneed to be adjusted for is any profit orloss on disposal of non-current assets asthese affect operating profit but aren’tactual cash movements. To remove theirimpact on operating profit we would:• Add back any loss on disposal.• Deduct any profit on disposal.

Dealing with cash items that are notincluded in operating profit

As well as adjusting for non-cash itemsthat are included in operating profit, wealso need to adjust for cash items thatare not included in operating profit. Thistends to relate to items on the balancesheet but would also include paymentsfor tax (as operating profit is the profitbefore tax is dealt with). One thing towatch for with tax is that we must deductthe tax actually paid in the period whichmay not be the same as the tax charge inthe P&L for the period.

Movements in balance sheet itemsThe other significant adjustmentsrequired are for movements in balancesof assets and liabilities on the balancesheet.

Consider a simple example: imaginethat we made one sale for £100 in theperiod and that there was no cost ofmaking the sale. This would give a profitfigure of £100. But does this mean that

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22 PQ Magazine June 2016

PQ small business

London South Bank UniversitySchool of Business has won theprestigious Small Business CharterAward. So why is this sector of theeconomy important for PQs?

Small businesses accounted for 99.3% ofall private sector businesses at the startof 2015 and 99.9% were small or

medium-sized (SMEs). Total employment inSMEs was 15.6 million; 60% of all private sectoremployment in the UK. And SMEs’ combinedannual turnover of £1.8 trillion represents 47%of all private sector turnover in the UK.

This sector is thriving and with a record 5.4million private sector businesses at the start of2015, an increase of 146,000 since 2014 and1.9 million more since 2000, there is a massiveopportunity for accountants to work to supportthe exciting growth in this area.

However, to be effective players within thissector accountancy training needs to be appliedand focused as much on mind-set and thedevelopment of attributes such as resilience andrisk taking as it is on the application of UKGAAP and other guidance published by the UK’sFinancial Reporting Council (FRC). At LondonSouth Bank University (LSBU) this is exactlywhat’s happening.

Having been presented with the Bronze Awardin recognition of support for SMEs by the SmallBusiness Charter, London South Bank Universityjoins an elite group of top business schoolscountrywide.

LSBU and its School of Business are locatedin a dynamic, diverse and rising area of Londonjust south of the Thames. Recognising andembracing the fact that the majority ofundergraduates supplement student loans byworking enables close contact with many localSMEs. LSBU helps its students to see this as agreat opportunity to design personalised futures,

mutually beneficial to all parties while creatinglinks with the local community.

Anne Kiem, Interim Executive Director of theSmall Business Charter (SBC) and ChiefExecutive of the Chartered Association ofBusiness Schools, said: “It is fantastic to seethat the business school has helped many localbusinesses grow and have a focus on how theycan help SMEs. LSBU has demonstrated highquality business support, engagement andresearch and the enterprise linking support tostudents particularly stands out.”

Over the past academic year, LSBU hassupported 53 student and graduate start-upsand 130 business ideas. LSBU’sEntrepreneurship and Innovation Institute alsooffers students start-up schemes, workshops,competitions and internship placements at anumber of SMEs.

Receiving the SBC award Professor MikeMolan, Dean of LSBU’s School of Business,commented: “At LSBU our philosophy is verymuch to use the expertise in the School ofBusiness to support the enterprise aspirations ofour students as well as the growth andexpansion of start-ups and SMEs in our local

community. This awardrecognises our efforts to bringbusinesses, students andentrepreneurs together, todrive local economic growth.”

More than 70 SME tenantsare based within LSBU’sClarence Centre for Enterpriseand Innovation, and hot-desking is also provided forstudents and graduatesreceiving support through theSPARK, ROCKET andGraduate EntrepreneurScheme (GES)entrepreneurshipprogrammes. LSBU placesemphasis on stimulating,

augmenting and developing future businessbased talents.

To enhance social mobility, networkingopportunities, work experience and mentoringprogrammes for students LSBU works closelywith a number of external bodies such as theInstitute of Financial Accountants (IFA). Of theassociation with the IFA, the SBC Assessorssaid: “The area of work with the IFA is an area ofbest practice. The Institute itself comprisesmainly sole traders and SME operators; it wasapparent how much they value the relationshipwith the school.” Another strong relationship theLSBU School of Business has is with theInstitute of Directors (IoD): “The closerelationship with the IoD is a model for otherbusiness schools. The endowment is substantialand of great symbolic value,” said the SBCAssessor recently.

Potential employer, prospective student orthose simply intrigued can find out more aboutenterprise opportunities at LSBU athttp://www.lsbu.ac.uk/student-life/student-enterprise. • Danusia Wysocki and Sarah Moore-Williams,LSBU School of Business

PQ

SMEs stealing a march

Risk analysis in capital investments is one of themost controversial areas in finance. There areseveral methods available to access the risk of aproject such as sensitivity analysis and simulationanalysis. Sensitivity analysis (“what-if” analysis)examines such questions as “what if sales are20% lower than predicted” for the project. Variouspermutations and combinations can be easilyexamined using spreadsheets. Simulationanalysis, as applied to risk in capital investmentprojects, attempts to generate a simulatedprobability distribution of the net present value orother significant criterion. It is considered to be aflexible and versatile tool for examining risk incapital projects.

Neither sensitivity analysis nor simulationprovide a clear-cut decision rule on whether or not

a particular project should be undertaken,although they provide a rich seam of informationwhich may be applied to the decision.

On the other hand, assuming that informationabout the risk characteristics of a project areavailable various methods exist which arespecifically designed to help decide if the projectshould be accepted or rejected.

Under the risk profile method the probabilitydistribution of the net present value (which is anabsolute measure) is converted into the probabilitydistribution of a profitability index (which is arelative measure) and is then compared with themaximum risk profile acceptable to themanagement for the expected profitability index ofthe project.

A simpler method is to use a risk-adjusted

discount rate to access the project – in otherwords, to use a higher discount rate if the projectis considered more risky. The difficulty is, ofcourse, to decide how much higher the discountrate needs to be depending on thecircumstances.

Another option is to use the certainty equivalentmethod under which the expected cash flows aretransformed into their certainty equivalent byapplying suitable equivalent coefficients. Theresulting cash flows are then discounted at therisk-free rate of interest.• Gerard Long is an AIA Achieve e-tutor. The AIAAchieve team is producing a series of ‘A QuickLook at….’ articles and more can be found onthe AIA website: www.aiaworldwide.com/a-quick-look-at.

A QUICK LOOK AT... Dealing with risk in capital investment appraisals

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24 PQ Magazine June 2016

PQ ICAEW spotlight

Advanced level .Case study: You must undertake yourown research and analysis of theAdvance Information (AI), and be able toexplain it in your own words. You won’thave time to refer to large volumes ofadditional information in the exam – youmust have a thorough understanding ofthe business described in the AI beforethe exam.

Number your pages correctly (1, 2, 3,etc) and use headings and sub-headings.Consider whether you’re writing aninternal or external report and always uselanguage that is appropriate for theaudience.

Ethical issues may occur in any of thethree requirements.

Be careful about trying to predict whatthe requirements will be. This creates therisk of using pre-prepared material whichdoes not address the question in theexam, particularly for Requirement 3.

Watch the time: equal marks areavailable for each requirement.

Strategic Business Management• Apply professional scepticism.• Apply realism – what would you advisein the real world?• Answer requirements in order.

Corporate Reporting‘Why’ and ‘because’ are important wordswhen answering a question. If you findyourself not explaining ‘why’ or writing‘because’, you may not be accessing thehigher level marks.

If you are asked for the key audit risksor financial reporting matter you need toselect the most significant issues. So notsetting out generic points or procedures– only those relating to the scenario.

The application of knowledge isimportant rather than copying largesections of definitions from thestandards. Sometimes it can be helpfulto identify the accounting standard andto write out definitions, but this should bedone in an applied manner.

If you are asked to adjust the financialstatements before performing financialstatement analysis, it is so your analysiscan tell a more interesting story.

Professional level .Business Strategy• Think beyond legality, transparency,effect and fairness.• Use given performance measures inwritten analysis, as well as calculationsmade.• Widen your scope to other ethicalprinciples: honesty, integrity andaccountability.• Use methodical approach toimplication of data.

Business Planning: TaxationA good, brief plan often shows in a wellworked answer.

Credit is given for applying knowledgeto the facts/scenario in the question andfor demonstrating skills, such as drawingconclusions and providingrecommendations.

Business Planning: BankingThis is not a general banking exam. Thefocus is on ICAEW chartered accountantsin the banking industry or working inaudit and assurance for banking clients.

It is useful for candidates to review theannual reports of different banks beforethe exam. In particular, the managementreport located at the beginning of theannual report is helpful as it providesinformation on the bank’s performance,risk analysis and strategy. It is also usefulto read the extended auditor’s reportwhich identifies key risks affecting theaudit strategy.

Business Planning: InsuranceThis is not a general insurance exam.The focus is on ICAEW charteredaccountants who work in the insuranceindustry.

Exam questions can be set around keysectors of the insurance industry.Questions are likely to focus on audit andassurance engagements, businessplanning and risk management.

It is useful to review the annual reportsof different insurance firms. In particular,the management report and theextended audit report, paying particularattention to the auditor’s areas ofconcern and responses.

Financial ManagementLeave a note next to your answer if yourecognise it is wrong and do not havetime to amend it.

Examiners will award follow throughmarks and these are easier to gain if anote is written for the examiner.

Being able to do calculations in reverseis a good test of your understanding.

Refer to industry averages and showindustry average calculations whilstrelating it to the company you havementioned in your answer.

Make sure you explain what thenumbers mean when the question asksyou to.

Tax ComplianceDuring the exam, all the information youneed is in the question. For example, ifthe question doesn’t state whether anindividual is married then you shouldassume they are single.

When you are answering a question oninheritance tax, you should showworkings that relate to nil rate bands.Show the starting nil rate band and theamount used up.

Financial Accounting and ReportingAs a guide, if there are, say, more thanthree figures in a working, a separateworking should be produced rather thanincluding a bracketed working on theface of the pro forma financialstatements.

Always read the requirement, if it says‘prepare’ or ‘calculate’ then noexplanation is required and no marks areavailable for any such explanation given –it simply wastes time.

Only prepare proformas and workingsneeded for the question’s specificrequirements rather than all proformasthat you have learned for that topic area.Tailor your answer to the question.

Label workings, show totals and carrytotals through to proforma financialstatements if appropriate (eg, PPEworkings) – provide a clear audit trail.

Complete extracts or financialstatements including showing correctinflows/(outflows) for a statement of cashflows – one-sided brackets gain nomarks.

Audit and AssuranceAs organisations are developingtechniques to examine large volumes ofdata, you are expected to have anunderstanding of data.

You need to be aware of the role of theFRC, including both the regulation andresearch aspects.

If a scenario has been given, ensureyour answer explains the requirement inthe context of the scenario.

In the exam, read the requirementcarefully to ensure you have capturedeverything and have answered allrequirements. • Thanks to the ICAEW for this article

Top tips fromTOP TUTORSACA tutors and examiners attended this year’s ICAEW Partner in LearningACA conference. 2016 was the biggest conference so far, with over 185delegates at the two-day event. Here are the top exam tips from the event

For examresources,webinars, studyarticles, pastpapers, markschemes andexaminers’ tipsvisit icaew.com/examresources

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25PQ Magazine June 2016

CIMA E1 paper PQ

Managing the finance function makesup 15% of the CIMA E1 syllabuswith two lead learning outcomes.

B1 .• Discuss the purpose of the finance functionand its relationship with other parts of theorganisation.• Demonstrate the contribution the financefunction makes to the sustainable delivery of theorganisation’s strategies in a range of contexts.• Analyse the components of the financefunction.• Discuss the potential for conflict within the roleof the finance function.

B2 .• Explain how the finance function supports theorganisation’s strategies and operations.• Explain the activities fundamental to the role ofthe finance function.• Explain the contemporary transformation of thefinance function.

Not only is an understanding of this syllabusarea important for E1, but it’s also key for theoperational case study. Managing the financefunction has been examined twice in recentexam diets, firstly in Variant 2 May 2015, wherestudents were asked to discuss the contents andbenefits of a SLA, and secondly in NovemberVariant 4, in the context of considering theimpact a new customer would have on thefinance function.

At the CIMA conference, managing thefinance function was identified by the CIMAexaminations team as the area where studentsdemonstrate the weakest level of performance.This is often because trainee accountants thinkthey can answer the questions using theirexperience from the workplace and as a resultdon’t give it the attention it needs when they arestudying.

Unfortunately for them, although much of thesyllabus does cover content that PQs would pickup from their everyday work life, there are areasthat could, and clearly are, catching studentsout. One such area is the potential for conflictwithin the finance function.

Conflict within the finance function Conflict is a disagreement between people orgroups with opposing opinions, views orprinciples. Within organisations conflict can taketwo forms: destructive conflict that is harmful toan organisation or individual, that can often leadto individuals or groups becoming alienated anddemoralised; and constructive conflict, whichcan be viewed more positively as it encourageschange and innovation alongside bringingproblems to the surface so they can beidentified and addressed.

In the E1 syllabus we are asked to considerconflict arising as result of three key factors:

• Interdependencies and independence.• Short term versus long term.• Capital versus revenue expenditure.

Interdependencies occur as individuals,groups or departments rely on others. In thecontext of the finance function this could be areliance on information or resources, forexample. A member of the finance team mayrely on another person (either within, or externalto, the finance function) for information to beable to complete a task. For the accountant, thisis a high priority and they need the informationnow, but the person providing the informationmay have different priorities and as a result isslow to respond to the request. This differencein priorities and the dependence the accountanthas on the work of another member of theorganisation could cause conflict. The conflictwould be exacerbated if the delay hadconsequences such as on the achievement ofthe accountant’s objectives or remuneration.

Independence is not relying on others for aidor support; not depending upon something elsefor existence or operation. Within the financefunctions different individuals or groups mayoperate independently and as a result createconflict. For example, management accountantsproduce information with a focus on internalstakeholders, with few rules in terms of how it ispresented or the method of calculation.Financial accountants, however, produceinformation mainly for external stakeholders, inaccordance with accounting standards andcompany law. In many cases, the informationproduced by the two teams doesn’t reconcile asa result of it being produced in two separateways. Conflict could well arise over the validity ofeach department’s figures.

Equally, independence could create conflictbetween finance and another department. Inorder for the internal auditors to remain impartial

and objective they must remain independent –that is not influenced or controlled by others.However, this can make the auditors appeardetached, so when they carry out the audit theycan be perceived as interfering or as overlymonitoring other functions. This canunderstandably create tension and conflictparticularly when it comes to reportinganomalies or potential fraud.

Conflict could be as a result of different timehorizons. For example, a research anddevelopment team will have a long-term focus asit may take many years for their ideas to result invalue for shareholders. The finance team, whenhaving to meet short-term profit targets, maypropose a cut in the R&D budget to save money.This inevitably creates conflict – short-termprofits or long-term potential value.

Capital versus revenue expenditure decisionscan also be a source of conflict. For example,whether to invest in a new machine which ismore efficient or whether to continue spendinghigh levels on maintaining old, potentiallyinefficient machines. Different stakeholders willhave differing views which could lead todisagreement.

Equally, there may be conflict over how totreat expenditure. When applying accountingstandards, the financial accountant mayconclude that a particular transaction is revenuebased, whereas the management accountantmay view the transaction as being capital based.

Conflict is a problem for all organisations. Asfinance professionals we can help avoiddestructive conflict by identifying the potentialsources of such conflict and using ourcommunication skills to explain an alternativeinterpretation or put forward a differentperspective. • Rebecca Evans, Head of ACCA and CIMA,Kaplan Financial

PQ

CONFLICTRESOLUTIONRebecca Evans on how conflict can arise within the finance function, and why this may be both good and bad

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PQ Magazine June 201626

PQ CIMA P1

PAINTING A PICTUREKate Williams focuses on section A of the P1 paper, setting you some questions to test your knowledge

As accountants the only art we can achieve is painting by numbers– right? And if we use CIMA P1 pass rates I am afraid the pictureis not a pretty one! But fear not, your P1 pass is within your

reach: just follow my three top tips:1. It is not enough to crunch the numbers. A fair student can numbercrunch but an excellent student will understand why we are doing so.2. Your exam technique must be on point. Time management, good use ofshorthand proformas, confidence in your own ability.3. Question practice is extremely important. However, this must beteamed with complete syllabus coverage. You must break down each andevery syllabus area and learning outcome within your question practice.

Section A: Proficiency .This article focuses on ensuring you are proficient at Section A: CostAccounting Systems. This area covers 30% of your exam and on the dayyou will face 18 questions. These will cover the concepts of absorptionand marginal costing, merits and use of activity based costing, the realmsof variances and their interpretations, also looking at quality costing andenvironmental costing. Bear in mind that half of these are likely to betheory based questions.

I am sure you’ll agree that this section’s syllabus is extremely wide andvaried and this is where question focus and strong syllabus coverage iskey. It would be all too easy to stick to one area of revision here; thinkLeonardo de Vinci, who clearly loved painting hair but was not so keen onsmiles – hence the Mona Lisa.

Below you will find six questions that look at different areas of Section A.You can get the answers by emailing [email protected].

I have also prepared six questions on Section B: Budgeting. Again,these can be obtained by email.

THE QUESTIONS1. Which of the following would be considered an appraisal cost underEnvironmental Accounting principles:

A: Medical costs of local people following health concerns.B: Site survey costs pre and post production.C: Compensation payments to employees following illness caused by

work process.D: Staff health and safety training costs.

2. A company produces three products and has the following informationavailable.

A B CSelling Price 40 50 70Variable Cost 20 16 40Overhead Cos 24 22 14Profit/(loss) (4) 12 16

The company has now switched from absorption costing to activity basedcosting and has identified overheads costs to be allocated as $4, $16,$40.

Which of the following statement is correct?

A: Selling price for product C is currently set too high.B: Activity based costing reduces the overall overhead cost.C: Product A is profit making using activity based costing.D: Product B is indifferent to the costing technique used.

3. Identify which of the following statements refer to absorption costing,marginal costing, both techniques or neither technique (you may useeach option more than once):

Fixed costs are charged in period incurredClosing inventory is based on a value of direct materials onlyClosing inventory reduces over the period and leads to a higher profitOverhead absorption rate is used

Options:

Absorption Marginal Neither marginal Both marginal andcosting costing nor absorption costing absorption costing

4. Which of the following statements would justify a favourable labourrate variance? Select ALL apply.

1: An increase in the hourly labour rate due to imposed minimum wagelimits by the government.

2: Improved processing methods meant that the actual number of hoursper unit was less than planned.

3: The labour used was as a lower grade than standard.4: A decision to reduce the number of faulty goods produced, led to a

higher grade of staff being used whose hourly rate was $3 per hourmore than the standard labour hourly rate.

5. A company has identified the following details for its production ofproduct F.

Material A 6kg $12Material B 4kg $16

The actual number of units produced were 1,000 which used 5,900kg ofmaterial A and 4,200kg of material B.

Identify the Adverse Mix variance to the nearest whole $

6. A company has identified the following details for its production ofproduct F.

Material A 6kg $12Material B 4kg $16

The actual number of units produced were 1,000 which used 5,900kg ofmaterial A and 4,200kg of material B.

Identify the Adverse Yield variance to the nearest whole $

• Kate Williams is a tutor at HTFT Partnership and is CIMA’s Ask aTutor for the Management Integrated Case Study, May 2016. Nextmonth she will focus on Section C, with extra Section D questions

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Daytime, Evening and Distance Courses:Ÿ AAT Level 2 Certificate in AccountsŸ AAT Level 3 Diploma in AccountsŸ AAT Level 4 Diploma in AccountsŸ

FREE Apprenticeships: Ÿ AccountingŸ Business Admin Ÿ Customer Service

MAKE REJECTION A THING OF THE PAST WITH PRACTICAL TRAINING AND

GUARANTEED WORK PLACEMENT

Age 16-23?

Apply NowFor AAT

May/JuneStart Dates

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28 PQ Magazine June 2016

PQ CIPFA round-up

This month Kaplan is giving lucky PQ readers the chance to win free tuition for anACCA module of their choice (either Knowledge, Skills, Essentials or Options), plusthree runners-up prizes for a paper of their choice*! As ACCA’s chosen ApprovedContent & Platinum Tuition Provider we work closely with ACCA to deliver someof the best courses on the market. Enter now for your chance to experience themfor yourself at www.kaplan.co.uk/accacomp

(*Choose from Knowledge, Skills, Essentials or Options Live Online tuition courses only. Terms & Conditions apply. See website for details.)

Following the introduction of CIPFA’s flexibleonline examinations, the Institute hasannounced a new exam sitting in Septemberthis year.

The additional sitting is designed so thatstudents can re-sit their June exams and willhelp alleviate pressure for those students notachieving a pass.

All UK and international online exams willbe offered with exception of strategic stageexams, which will be available in June andNovember 2016 only. The re-sits run from

5 – 9 September.CIPFA has reminded students that they

should continue to take scheduled exams inJune or November 2016 as originallyassumed.

Full tuition is not available for theSeptember re-sit exams, although revisionpackages are under development.

Further information is available atwww.cipfa.org or direct from CIPFA by email –[email protected]. Or telephone020 7543 5600.

NEW RE-SIT EXAMS FOR PQs IN 2016

CIPFA’s scheme to nurture toptalent in the public sector throughaccountancy apprenticeshipscontinues to build momentum afterits launch two years ago.

The CIPFA programme offers onthe job training in financialmanagement for those individualsqualified to AAT Level 3 orequivalent, through itsapprenticeships in public serviceorganisations and globalaccountancy firms.

During a one-year placementapprentices work with CIPFA’spartner employers while studyingthe AAT level 4 Diploma one day aweek.

The scheme aims to make a realdifference to the employmentopportunities of talented youngpeople in local communities. Theprogramme is ideal for those whoare looking for an alternative routeinto a career in finance withoutbeing saddled with the long-termdebt of a university degree. It’s alsoopen to mature applicants who maybe looking for a new opportunity orchange in career.

CIPFA’s next apprenticeshipintake starts in October 2016. Moredetails about the scheme, entryrequirements and currentvacancies can be found atcipfa.org/apprenticeships.

Popular CIPFA AccountancyApprenticeships programmerecruiting for the third year

After three years in London, CIPFA’s Annual Student Conference andExhibition will be held in Manchester from 13 to 14 July.

As the sector heads into the seventh year of fiscal consolidation, nowunder a majority Conservative government, attention is turning to thefuture of the finance profession.

Students are invited to join the event on Wednesday 13 July to accessexpert industry insight on how public services are evolving to ensurelong-term growth and regeneration.

The dedicated student conference is free to attend for CIPFA studentmembers.

A special offer two-day conference ticket for students is also availablefor £90 + VAT. The discounted ticket allows students to benefit from thefull conference experience with recommendations from CIPFA on keysessions of interest to students. Visit www.cipfaannualconference.org.ukfor further information and book your ticket.

CIPFA 2016 StudentConference set forManchester in July

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29PQ Magazine June 2016

careers PQ

award winner PQ

Meet top ACCA studier HimaniSingla, a record-breaking distancelearning PQ with First Intuition

Himani Singla, now a NQ, has an examrecord that is hard to beat. She camefirst in India for her F5, F6, F7, F8,

P1, P2, P3 and P6 exams. What went wrongwith F9 and the other optional paper is all wehave to say! We asked Singla some questionsthat might help you in your journey:

How did you prepare for your ACCA exams?Proper planning, hard work and timemanagement enabled me to succeed in myACCA exams. My primary focus was tounderstand the concept and then practice asmany questions I could to make myselfcomfortable with the topic.

In your opinion, what is the secret to becomingan ACCA prizewinner?

If you have a bit of dedication and a strong willyou too can become a prizewinner. I managed toearn a rank in almost every paper and I am sureyou too can do the same if you put the work in.

What was it like studying with First Intuition?Initially I was scared of this whole onlineconcept, especially as these were professionalexams, but the whole experience enabled me tounderstand that we don’t always need aclassroom. Online tutors are very helpful andready to answer your queries, but you too shouldtake the initiative and mail them on a regularbasis. You don’t want a big list of things youdon’t know piling up!

How will your ACCA qualification help you inyour career?I work for KPMG and studying ACCA helped meunderstand a lot of concepts that were just aterm to me earlier. ACCA will, I am sure, be agateway of global opportunities, enabling me toprosper in my career in future. PQ

Top tips from a record breaker

After your job applications, interviews andthen the excitement of accepting a newjob offer, you will of course need to

approach your employer and hand in yournotice. It is at this point that your employer maymake you a counter-offer to try to change yourmind and get you to stay. This could take manyforms: a straight increase in basic salary,additional company benefits, a sought-afterpromotion or new job title, additionalresponsibility, a change in role, moreinvolvement in projects that interest you – or anycombination of these, and it may catch you offguard. It can be a difficult dilemma and upsetthe plans you have in place when you hand yournotice in, but it doesn’t need to be.

Here’s how to handle a counter-offer.

Be clear in your resignation letter: Firstly, try toavoid being put in the position of having to dealwith the awkward situation of a counter-offer. Beclear in the detail of your resignation letter andthat you are intent on leaving, and not interestedin receiving any counter-offer scenario.

Don’t act in haste: Next, if you receive acounter-offer, don’t accept in haste in a momentof flattery. If you have planned to leave and areconfronted with something that could upset yourplans, don’t let anyone persuade you into doingsomething you really don’t want to do.

Be honest with yourself: Be honest withyourself about your reason for leaving your job.Think about the reasons that you wanted toleave in the first place and why you started anew job search. Our research, the Hays UKSalary & Recruiting Trends 2016 report, foundthat the top reason stated by financeprofessionals for leaving their current role (29%)was a lack of future opportunities. Therefore,think carefully if a change in benefits or

increased salary will truly satisfy you in the longterm.

Consider the longer term impact: Consider howaccepting a counter-offer will make you appearto your employer and organisation. Once you’vestated your intentions to leave your loyalty willalways be in question. You’ve made it clear thatyou don’t necessarily see your long-term careerprogressing within this organisation, so you’vegot to think about whether this will affect your

employer’s decision-making when consideringfuture promotions.

Will you still want to stay? If you are tempted toconsider a counter-offer, will you get itchy feet toleave again shortly? It is telling that the Hays UKSalary & Recruiting Trends 2016 research foundthat 58% of employers said they counter-offeredemployees, but that only half of these employeeswere still with their organisation a year afterreceiving the counter offer.

Do the job you want to do: We all spend asignificant part of our day – and lives – in theoffice, so make sure that you are happy doingthe job that you want to do. Do not let anunexpected counter-offer stop you in yourtracks. Thank your employer for the opportunityand politely reaffirm your intention to leave,unless the counter-offer sufficiently meets yourdesires.

If you receive a counter offer you will need toconsider your original reasons for leaving – if thecons still outweigh the pros your decision toresign was right. Being absolutely sure you aredoing the right thing for your own career iscrucial.

Compare your salary and benefits with theHays UK Salary & Recruiting Trends 2016 reportat salaryguide.hays.co.uk • Karen Young, Director, Hays Accountancyand Finance

PQ

How to deal withthat counter offer

It’s a nice position to bein, but how do you dealwith it, asks Karen Young

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PQ Magazine June 2016

PQ careers

30

The Little Black Book of Changeby Paul Adams and Mike Straw(Capstone, £12.99)

This book is subtitled ‘The 7fundamentals for changemanagement that delivers’,which rather neatly sums it allup. With this tome the authors –both with more than 20 years’experience of seniormanagement in blue chipcorporations – want to changethe stat that says 60-70% oforganisation change projects aredoomed to failure. Their‘magnificent seven shifts’ are:Letting go of the past;Developing breakthroughambition; Creating a bold newvision of the future; Engagingthe players in the bold newfuture; Cutting through theDNA; Keeping the organisational

future-focused; and Gainingenergy from setbacks. These,the authors say, will enableleaders to “predictably andconsistently make extraordinarythings happen by design”.

Adams and Straw highlightthe myriad impediments tochange, then suggest waysthese hurdles can be overcome;for example organisationalculture, self-limiting beliefs andeven fear of change itself.

One of the many strengths ofthis book is that these ‘hurdles’to organisation change areclearly and concisely explained,illustrated with helpful casestudies. The solution is thenoutlined, also using real-lifeexamples, and at the end ofeach chapter is a neat boxcontaining ‘Key takeawaypractices’ – the key points the

reader should takeaway from thatparticular chapter.

The buddingaccountant canlearn a lot fromthese pages. The book is just144 pages long, and easily readin an afternoon. Once digested,an interesting exercise is togauge how many of the ‘issues’outlined by the author yourecognise. This will help yougauge the ‘culture’ within yourfirm.

Transformation is key to thesuccess of any organisation. Asthe authors say: “It’s fun! It’s acreative journey. where youcontinually adapt and carve yourway through uncharteredterritory.”PQ rating 5/5 There’s muchwisdom in these short chapters

SMEs are driving growthDespite a degree of

uncertainty in the financialmarkets the latest job index fromRobert Walters shows vacanciesfor accounting and financeprofessionals rose by 24% in thefirst quarter. In particular, it hasbeen small to medium sizedbusinesses that are looking torecruit. The worry is there hasbeen a move away from demandfor more junior, newly qualified

level roles to mid and senior levelprofessionals.

You can go all the wayIf your goal is to become a

CEO at a FTSE 100 companythen getting an accountancyqualification is still the best wayof getting there, according to newfigures. Almost one in four (23%)of CEOs are a qualified charteredaccountant. The research alsodiscovered that the average

tenure of the UK’s top bosses isfive years and three months.

Bonus not big enough?New research has suggested

young professionals are set toturn their backs on the financialsector because the bonusesaren’t big enough. The Big 4firms were included in the study,which discovered 83% of peoplewith one to two years’ experiencewere dissatisfied with their bonus.

In brief

The PQ Book Club: books you should read

Shabbir Merali, 24, has worked as a Senior Associate in Banking & Capital Markets inLondon for two-and-a-half years. An ACA studier, he studied economics at UniversityCollege London. He scored the highest mark in the world at the ICAEW Advanced Level

Life at PwC

What time does your alarmclock go off on a workingday? First alarm goes off at6.45am. But that promptly gets‘snoozed’ a few times before Iactually get out of bed at about7.10am.What’s the first thing you dowhen you get to your desk?Check my emails.What’s on your desk? We havea hot-desking system so nothing. What’s the best thing aboutwhere you work? The people –we’ve got a strong team at theclient site and I joined with a greatbunch of people in my intake.Where’s your favourite placeto go for lunch? Assenheims 56.What (or who) can you seewhen you sit at your desk?

I sit with my team so can usuallysee a bunch of smiling faces…Which websites are yourfavourites and why? BBCSport, Netflix and The EconomistWhich websites do you usefor work? The FT for widerindustry research and CompaniesHouse/HMRC to search forregulatory questions.How manyhours a weekdo you spendin meetings?Probably about10–15.What time doyou leave the office? It variesdepending on time of year, but onaverage 7pm.How do you relax? Playing

sports, especially football.How often do you take workhome with you? I try to stay lateat the office rather take workhome when I’m busy, so not thatfrequently.What is your favourite TVshow? House of Cards.Summer or winter? Summer.

Who is your hero?Nassim Taleb.If you had a timemachine, wherewould you go?The Renaissanceperiod.

If you hadn’t chosenaccountancy, where mightyou be right now? Probably stillin finance, or perhaps banking. Orstarting my own business.

social mediaROUND-UP

We have just launched a new LinkedInGroup just for ACCA PQs everywhere –it’s called ACCA Study Zone. With somany changes on the horizon in 2016for ACCA PQs we thought the time wasright to create a truly independent andauthoritative forum where students andtutors can talk freely. So please do jointhe group and help us get the messageout there about the ACCA Study Zone.

You will also see PQ magazine gettingmore involved on social media, and onFacebook in particular. Someonerecently moaned to us that we have allthis great insight and we weren’t lettingeveryone know about it. We will makesure that we disseminate what we haveeverywhere to give you the inside track.But remember it is here in themagazine too, and its totally free to allPQs worldwide. The e-magazine can beread anywhere!

What’s more, we will soon be rollingout the CIMA Study Zone and AAT StudyZone, too.

We have been tweeting away to our2,850 followers. They were the first tosee the ACCA and CIMA pass rates.ACCA students were shocked by theMarch pass rates – as one student said:“Only 1 in 3 candidates pass P5 paper,so terrifying.” Another PQ wanted toknow: “Is this being looked at by ACCA,exams unnecessarily difficult to pass,takes an hour to read the paperproperly.” On seeing the pass rates JaeLambert said: “Oh gosh! F5 didn’t looktoo good!” Then there was: “P7 30%JEEEE????” and lots of emojis inevidence.

It was great to read how AAT PQs areusing us as a ‘reward’. Mel Scrivintweeted: “Revision for @YourAAT L4

BDGT goingwell.Rewardingmyself with abreak…andreading@PQMagazine !:/ @StudyAAT”. There was alsoan interesting

tweet recently from Richard Clarke inanswer to a moan about MCQs. “wellmcqs are always tough but not helpedby them being set by a team and notthe examiner #noconsistency.”

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investing in people

Business Analyst

Entertainment, Berkshire

Salary on application

•Part-qualifiedaccountant.

•Acareerdefiningmoveforanambitious,dynamicand

intelligentindividualtojoinaglobalvideogamesdeveloper

andpublisherresponsibleformanyAAAtitles.

•Providingdetailedandinsightfulanalysistotheupper

managementteamincludingtheDirectorofBusiness

Analysis.

•Assistinginpreparingregularbudgetprocessesand

monthlyrollingforecasts,whichwillincludethecreationof

physicalanddigitalforecastsfornewreleases.

•Varianceanalysisandcommentaryofproductsales

performance.

•Developinginsightfulreportsandanalysisofmarkettrends.

•Contributiontothepriceprotectionandallowances

provisionsprocess.

Assistant Accountant

Manufacturing, Middlesex

£25,000

•Part-qualifiedaccountant.

•Afantasticopportunityforadrivenindividualtojoinan

internationallyrecognizedmanufacturerwithprogression

opportunities.

•Toassist/supporttheFinancialControllerinpreparingall

monthly,corporateandadhocreporting.

•ToassisttheFinancialAccountantwithmonthendtasksto

ensurethatalllocalandkeyEuropeancorporatefinancial

reportingdeadlinesaremet.

•PreparingandreconcilingwiththeFinancialAccountantall

inter-companyandEuropeanaccounts.

•AssistingtheFinancialAccountantwithallaspectsofthe

balancesheet.

•AdministeringtheUK-widetreasurycashpool.

•ExperiencewithSAPandmulticurrencypreferable.

T+44(0)[email protected]

redefining financialrecruitment

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Page 32: PQ magazine, June 2016

MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTANT

Champions students to shape the future of education – and create a better world

As the Management Accountant you will support the preparation of financial information for departments and nations and improving collaboration

across the business in order to provide financial expertise and business partnering to the wider business.

Ideally you will be working towards your CIMA/ACCA qualification and able to produce monthly management reporting packs supporting the Commercial

Accountants with their analysis and able to work to tight deadlines with excellent attention to detail. You will need to be someone who is a proactive

thinker and be a confident user of excel, and have the ability to identify errors and coach and support non-financial colleagues with their understanding

of financial awareness and analysis.

This role offers a competitive salary and generous benefits package, which includes:

l 27 days holiday (plus 1 extra day each year to a maximum of 30) plus 4 days over the Christmas period as well as public holidays

l Childcare voucher scheme with a further childcare allowance to support parents

l Flexible working options

l An individual health cash plan

l Employee assistance scheme including a GP advice line, virtual doctor, counselling, medical information and legal advice

l A generous pension scheme (employer matched up to a maximum of 6% of basic salary)

l Access to learning and development opportunities

For more information and to apply for the role please go to http://www.nus.org.uk/jobs

Deadline for applications is 31st May 2016 at 5pm

NUS is committed to being an inclusive employer and having a diverse workforce. We particularly welcome and encourage applications from Black,

Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

Salary: £24,328

Location: Macclesfield

Sorted, thanks topqjobs.co.uk

PQ jobs pqjobs.co.uk

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About you

Title......................................................

First name............................................

Surname..............................................

Company name ..................................

............................................................

Department..........................................

Full postal address Home ▫ Work ▫

............................................................

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............................................................

Postcode ............................................

Phone ..................................................

* Email ................................................

............................................................

Study please tick a box in 1A or 1B

1A Please indicate accountancy body you belong to and tick the box of the next set of exams

you are hoping to sit

ACCA ▫ CAT ▫ F1-3 ▫ F4-F9 ▫ P Papers

CIMA ▫ Certificate ▫ Operations ▫ Management ▫ Strategic ▫ T4

CIPFA ▫ Certificate ▫ Diploma ▫ Strategic

ICAEW ▫ CFAB ▫ Professional ▫ Advanced

ICAS ▫ TC ▫ TPS ▫ TPE

Tax ▫ ATT ▫ CTA

AAT ▫ Level 2 ▫ Level 3 ▫ Level 4 ▫ Member

1B Studying for an accountancy degree/MBA/MSc ▫ Year 1 ▫ Year 2 ▫ Year 3

Do you work in accountancy and finance ▫ Yes ▫ No

If yes, what is your job title? ..........................................................................................................

* How do you want to receive your PQ magazine?

Please tick your preferred mode of delivery for your free monthly magazine.

▫ Online (please supply email address) ▫ By post (UK only)

Sign below to receive your monthly PQmagazine totally free

Sign here............................................................................Date...........................................................

▫ Please tick here if you do not wish to receive direct marketing promotions from other companies.PQ magazine reserves the right to refuse a free copy of the magazine if the applicant does not comply with the terms andconditions of circulation.We will use your details to send you a copy of the magazine and any further information we feelwould be of use.

PQmagazineThe easiest way to get your free monthly copy is to go online at

www.pqmagazine.co.uk, or you can fill in the form below and send it to:

PQ Magazine, 4th Floor, Central House, 142 Central Street, London, EC1V 8AR

TAKE OWNERSHIP OF YOUR CAREERShouting about your successes and career ambitions

can feel uncomfortable for many people, but this skill

is important if you want to get ahead in your career.

According to our Hays Global Gender Diversity Report 2016,

both men (32%) and women (44%) do not feel they have

the opportunity to communicate their ambition and

self-promote in the workplace.

Making sure other people know what your goals are will

help make sure you’re considered for future opportunities,

and give you greater control of your career path.

To find out how we can help you get ahead in your

finance career, email [email protected] or call

07834 260029. Alternatively, you can visit us online.

hays.co.uk/pq

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PQ Magazine June 2016

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 Friday 27 May. The main draw will take place on Tuesday 31 May 2016.

TO ENTER THESE GIVEAWAYS EMAIL [email protected]

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

WHICH EXAMS ARETHE HARDEST?The London Accountants TrainingDiscussion Group (LATDG) recentlyheld a great ‘Institute Question Time’,where all the bodies answeredquestions from the training providers.The AAT, ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA,ICAEW and ICAS all turned out.PQ magazine’s Graham Hamblyasked the first question on thenight: “Which accountancybody has the hardest exams?”After much discussion aboutlearning outcomes, CIPFA’sDaniel Cutts said: “Ours!” But asthe discussion continued in thebar afterwards it was perhaps felt the right answer to the question is: “The ones I took!”

FORTUNEIN THE STARS The Sunday TimesRich List waspublishedrecently. Top ofthe pile wereproperty andinternet gurusDavid and SimonReuben – worth£13.1bn. Born inMumbai, theycame to Britain inthe 1950s andwent to stateschools. Wealways like to seethe star signs ofthe richest 1,000.Top of the RichList by some wayare Geminis,followed by Leosand those bornunder the

Sagittariussign. Andbottom?Well, againby some

distance isScorpio,

followed by Libraand Cancer.

CREEPY OCCUPATIONS – YOU AREN’T ONE!Accountants can breath a sigh of relief – they are not onthe latest ‘creepiness’ ratings of occupations. The recentlypublished list has clowns and taxidermists at one and tworespectively. Then comes sex shop owners, funeraldirectors and taxi drivers. And the least creepy? Apparentlyit is meteorologists and teachers.

SWINGINGACCOUNTANTS Accountant Roy Maggs hit the headlines recentlyafter he decided to sue a swingers’ festival that hadrefused him entry. Apparently Maggs did not providethe two references and photos needed to attend‘Swingfields’, a three-day event held each year at asecret location. Maggs wanted his money back (the£127.85 he paid for an Earlybird Gentleman’s ticket)but was refused, so he took his case to court.Unfortunately he lost, although Swingfields’ ownershave suggested with his new-found references he willbe allowed to attend the next event.

NOT THE WHOLE BOOK, PLEASEUniversity students can’t read whole books any morebecause they find them too challenging, academics haveclaimed. Due to shorter attention spans and an inability toconcentrate on nuanced arguments professors felt manyof their students found the thought of reading books to theend too daunting. The worry is that just using the internetwon’t allow students to make more considered argumentsand controversies in their coursework and exams.

SHOW ME YOUR SHOESICAS members get a top magazine calledCA. It has some great adverts too forhigh-end watches from the likes of PatekPhilippe and Christopher Ward. But youcan never get away from the fact thereaders are accountants because thereare also ads for work shoes that cost just£32.50 a pair (we ordered ourselves apair of penny loafers).

EVERYONE NEEDS ACHARTERED ACCOUNTANT There was a great story from VictoriaWood’s accountant David Gill in TheTimes after her untimely death. In 1970he was rung by Wood, who wanted to seehim because “I believe I need achartered accountant”. Whatshe really wanted was taxrelief for her grand piano.And she once told Gill shewas a apprehensive aboutgoing on tour with JasperCarrott. Don’t worry, he told her –one day you’ll be bigger than him. Itmade her laugh!

THE EUROS EXPLAINEDExams exams everywhere, what is there to look forward to?Well, for football fans there are the Euro 2016 championshipin France, of course! Some 24 teams will be competing forthe big prize, with England, Wales, Northern Ireland and theRepublic of Ireland to cheer on. And we have three copies ofthe official tournament manual to give away. Email [email protected] along with your nameand address to be in with a chance of this giveaway. Headup your email ‘the euros’.

LUCKY NUMBERSHere’s your chance to win an ICAEW calculator – aCasio FX83 GT PLUS, perfect to help you studytowards an upcoming ACA Certificate Level exam.This is the actual calculator that you will be providedwith on exam day and we have five to give away.To be in with a chance of winning this greatgiveaway send your name and address [email protected]. Head up your email‘Calculator’.

pq june 16 p34 q9_pq aug 13 fun 03/05/2016 17:10 Page 42

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• Postgraduate Certificate in Accounting and Financial Management

• Postgraduate Certificate in Global Marketing

• Postgraduate Certificate in Project Management

• Postgraduate Certificate in Consulting Management

• miniMBA

London School of Business & Finance (LSBF) has now joined forces with

Manhattan Institute of Management (MIM), giving you the opportunity

to study LSBF’s Executive Education courses in the heart of New York.

Internship opportunities available in New York.

Find out more: www.LSBF.org.uk/pq-new-york | 020 3005 6236

EXECUTIVE EDUCATION COURSES IN NEW YORK

035_PQ 0616.indd 1 29/04/2016 11:07

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This year you could be eligible for a UK government loan

of up to £10,000, as well as a range of other funding options.

Choose from postgraduate courses in:

Finance | Marketing | Management | Human Resources

T: 0800 107 6766

E: [email protected]

W: debroc.ac.uk

Now there’s nothing

standing in your wayAt De Broc School of Business you can

expect leading-edge practical business education

with a focus on your employability.

036_PQ 0616.indd 1 29/04/2016 11:10