pq magazine, may 2016

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

Money laundering:do you understandyour responsibilitiesunder the MLR?

Expert advice on passing

the CIMA

CASE

ACCA TO PHASE INNEW CBE EXAMS

The UK accountancy now stands outglobally because of its open access,according to Stuart Pedley-Smith,co-author of the newly published‘Global Trends in ProfessionalAccountancy Education’.

Pedley-Smith, Kaplan’s head oflearning, said that the rise ofapprenticeships and drive by manycompanies (particularly the Big 4) toimprove their diversity has seenmore and more PQs starting their

accountancy journey at school leaverlevel. This is in stark contrast to theUS, Canada, China, India andAustralasia, where generally a degreeis needed to start studyingaccountancy.

The report also looks at thechanging methods of assessmentand how this is impacting on the wayaccountancy is taught. Pedley-Smithventures that new flexibile on-demand OT assesement could also

have a big impact on how quicklystudents get through the exams.Having a choice can lead toprocrastination, because studentscan keep delaying the exam untilthey are ready – and often theynever feel ready. The rise of the OTalso means that every item has anequal chance of coming up so tutorshave to teach more broadly. With alack of real exam papers learning willmove away from the exam-driven

process. The key to success ismastering the learning outcomes.

His research found the number ofpapers sat by students varies widely.In India, ICAI students have 19papers to pass. ICAEW PQs have 15exams, ACCA 14 and CIMA 12.Meanwhile, AICPA and CA Australiastudiers have just four to pass.

You can read the full report athttp://www.kaplan.co.uk/insights/global-accountancy-report

UK accountancy leads way on access

ACCA students should now havediscovered the ‘approved’ learningpartners for the first phase of theintroduction of CBE exams for papers F5to F9, due to begin this September.

Only certain learning providers will be offeringtuition for the CBE exams. So while students atsome colleges in London (BPP and Kaplan) canopt to study for CBEs, this option will not beavailable elsewhere, in Birmingham for example.

It appears the ACCA has decided to use bothSeptember and December for a phasedapproach to the introduction of CBEs, beforeopening them up more universally in March2017. Students will, of course, still be able to sitthe paper exams as normal during this time.

During their initial introduction the ACCA hassaid that the CBE questions will be exactly thesame as the paper ones to ensure ‘equivalency’,but they will use the CBE technology.

Interestingly, the ACCA has revealed that asthe CBE format introduces many time-savingefficiencies, compared with the paper-basedexams, so students will have three hours tocomplete session CBEs. For paper-based examsthis is three hours 15 minutes.

The ACCA’s move to CBEs may have beentempered by the problems of taking a ‘big bang’approach after the experiences of both the AATand CIMA.

Alan Hatfield, ACCA’s Executive Director –Strategy & Development, stressed that the roll-out of the CBEs has to be right for students,tuition providers and employers.

ACCA is still planning to release its CBE‘practice tools’ for students in early May. PQs willbe encouraged to use the blank spreadsheetand word processing sheets to get them familiarwith the new set-up.

In the first phase, CBE exams in September2016 will be offered in only certain cities inChina, the Czech Republic, Hungary, India,Ireland, Slovakia, Sri Lanka and the UK. Thesewill be extended in December to include 10cities in China, four in Ireland and 10 locationsin the UK.

ACCA also stressed that it will have tointroduce additional features to aid examsecurity. This will mean students sitting thesame subject may receive different questions.ACCA said it will apply industry standardpsychometric techniques to guarantee all itsexams are equivalent and fair. That meansintroducing seeded content in 2017. These arequestions that do not contribute towards astudent’s mark, but are used to ensure thatresults are fair and reliable. When the ACCAintroduces seeded content students will be givenmore time to complete the exams, which will beextended to three hours 20 minutes.

Hatfield: CBE roll out has to be right

PQ May 16 p01 q9_pq nov 11 p01,10 07/04/2016 11:53

The ACCA results for the March sitting are out on the 18th April,

so it’s a good time to start thinking about your next steps.

Take a look at our options below so you can decide which is the best route for you.

Srijana Gautam

ACCA Prizewinner

P1, June 2015

Start planning the next stepsin your ACCA studies.

01908 540 068 kaplanfinancial.co.uk/accaresults

Book your next course with Kaplan today:

Re-sit your exam in June

If your results don’t quite go to plan we advise

you use the June sitting to retake your exam.

You can increase your chance of success by

enrolling on a Kaplan revision course.

Start a new course in September

If you’re planning on sitting your next paper in

September, we’re running a variety of courses

for the September sitting in various classroom

locations, plus Live Online and Distance Learning.

“I chose Kaplan because they have good pass rates

and the best tutors.”

002_PQ 0516.indd 1 31/03/2016 12:46

comment PQ

News 08CIMA case Our experts tell youhow to pass the case study10NHS accountants Healthservice finance professionalsdon’t feel loved, says survey12ACCA P5 exam Students’ furyover paper at the March sitting13Ramadan dates Religious fastcoincides with busy exam period

Features, etc06Mind your Ps&Qs The ‘oldboys’ network’ is alive andkicking; real-life drama; and a bigthank-you to the ACCA!14Generation game Mum anddaughter are in the same AATclass – so how do they get on?16Learning tips Identifying howyou learn can help you developyour learning skills

18Let’s get technical Basisperiods is not the most excitingtopic, but this you must know

20CIMA roundtable Our panelof experts offer words of wisdomon passing the case study exam

24A star is born Meet ManuyFigueroa, recently crowned ourPQ of the Year 2016; plus,trouble ahead for the ‘sugar tax’

25Money laundering regs Allaccountants have a duty underthese regs. Do you know yours?

26Internal audit How to ensuregood governance is maintained

28Exam planning Check out ourchecklist on how to best preparefor that upcoming exam 30Careers #1 Take control ofyour career in six simple steps31Careers #2 Life at the TrainingPlace; our Book Club review;plus the best of social media34Fun time Meet Billy the circusaccountant; lose weight andearn more; a born survivor; andour great giveaways

The columnistsRobert Bruce Why others shouldfollow in Canada’s footsteps 8Prem Sikka Scrap the FRC – it isnot fit for purpose 10Carl Lygo Cambodian education isslowly turning the corner 12

Subscribe to PQ magazineIt’s FREE – see page 29 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 8,419 requested readers

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

Perils of social media Social media is evil, according to John Lydon (aka Mr JohnnyRotten). To quote him: “It is like your depriving yourself ofyour own existence.” Personally, I can’t remember what we all

did before mobile phones, the internet and social media. We probablytalked to each other more and actually met people face-to-face! So Iwasn’t surprised to hear that perhaps seven million people have beenleft depressed after using social media – that’s 20% of everyone whouses networks such as Twitter and Facebook. It’s all about peer envyand the pressure of keeping up appearances, apparently. The problemis people are now living their lives the whole time in the public domain,their own Truman Show. It means you have to create and look after ‘youthe brand’. As young professionals you really do need to manage whatgets out there. Employers and future employers will be looking. Manypeople I know just can’t relax if someone in their company takes theirphone out. I have seen people demand someone else’s phone so theycan delete any pictures taken ‘for a laugh’. And I don’t blame them.

But it can be a force for good, too. Look at the AAT StudentsIndependent Facebook Group. Over 4,500 people have signed up to thisgreat group (it won a PQ award). It is an independent, self-help groupthat allows AAT PQs to ask even the most stupid question in a safe andhelpful environment. The help will come from someone you will probablynever meet. Like all things the key here is moderation. You also have tobe picky and not allow yourself to get sucked intothe online neverworld.

Finally, I was truly saddened to hear about thesudden death of the lovely Colin Davis. He hadworked for the ACCA since 2000 and was the headof international comms. I know how much theteam there will miss him, and so will we at PQmagazine. A true gentleman, who was also a trueprofessional. He was a rare one.

Graham Hambly, PQ magazine editor – [email protected]

CONTENTS May 2016

Prepare for examsuccess with Kaplan’sCIMA DistanceLearning Premier

Our Distance Learning Premier course allows you to study at your

own pace for the Objective Tests and includes the official CIMA

study materials alongside lots of features to keep you on track.

Study with Distance Learning Premier to benefit from:

Access to 120 hours of CIMAstudy eLearning content

Mock exams with feedback

Tutor support, even during evenings and weekends**

Kaplan Mobile Practice Appì

Extra online questions to reinforce knowledge

** Tutor support available Mon–Thurs 9am–10pm, Fri 9am–5pm, Sat 10am–1pm.

ì� 6HH�ZHEVLWH�IRU�7&V�

0113 243 0056 www.kaplanfinancial.co.uk/pqpremier

To find out more visit:

Tess Wheatley

Kaplan CIMA Distance

Learning student

ColinDavis

PQ May 16 p03 q9_pq aprl08 p04 08/04/2016 11:26 Page 1

ACCA JUNE EXAMPREPARATION

TO HELP YOU MAKE THINGS

EASIER

JUST FOR YOU

WE’VE DESIGNED THE PERFECT

REVISION COURSES

Our courses are led

by award-winning

tutors who will recap

key ACCA syllabus

areas and use past

exam questions

to focus on the

techniques required

to maximise your

exam score.

You can choose

from Daytime (4

weekdays), Weekend

(an intensive 2-day

course) and Extended

weekend (a 3-4

day revision course,

available from Sat-

Tue). Classes start

4 May.

For last-minute

preparation we are

offering a 1 day

Question Based

mock exam to help

you hone skills before

your exams. Available

on weekdays from 25

May – 4 June.

004-005_PQ 0516.indd 2 04/04/2016 09:28

www.LSBF.org.uk/SHOP | 020 3535 1111BOOK ONLINE AT

004-005_PQ 0516.indd 3 04/04/2016 09:28

English is taught. But what will ituse in Bristol or Bradford for thatmatter? Am I right in assuming thatit will simply license universities toundertake the inviglation of exams?Will the private sector colleges alsobe allowed to offer themselves ascentres? It would be quite nice tosit my exams in a place I amfamiliar with, that might take someof the stress away.Name and address supplied

Real-life informationFinally, we have the answer – welldone PQ! I too like you have beenreading the CIMA noticeboarddiscussions about using real-lifebusiness examples in case studyanswers (PQ magazine, April ’16).But it is really easy to getsidetracked, spending too muchtime online looking at companiesthat are almost like the case studybeing put forward. Once you haveread the pre-seen you naturallywant to find out more and it is hardnot to do it! Your time is muchbetter spent doing practice papersand getting your exam techniqueright – take the word of someonewho took too many attempts at onecase study level.Name and address supplied

PQ have your say

Book your Professional courses online in a few simple steps.

• Filter courses by date, subject & study mode

• Select papers that suit your schedule

• Buy your papers online

straight away

NEW LSBF ONLINE SHOP

SHOP ONLINE AT www.LSBF.org.uk/shop

020 3535 1111

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

Old boys, old news...It was no surprise to me to readthat the ‘old boys club’ still exists – Iam working for them (PQmagazine, April 2016). My bossesseem to feel because there arewomen around they have donetheir job when it comes to equality.Oh, and we need to be gratefulthey have opened up the door, too.

The only surprise I have aboutAAT’s study is that only two-thirdsof women at the top hadexperienced discrimination at workbecause of their gender. Despite allthe progress we have made I feel

accountancy is still too much of amale-dominated profession. Toomany (nearly all male) accountantsstill seem too quick to hide behindthe numbers and accountancy-speak and lack real emotionalintelligence. But this is where thefuture lies if and when the robotstake over!

If women want to make it to thetop they still have to be too muchlike them (the old boys). But I don’tfeel I should have to work eight toeight to prove I am good at mywork. Increasingly, more of myyounger male colleagues think thesame.

I am really concerned that the

survey discovered that the genderpay gap could actually be widening.How can this be in 2016? Surely iffirms advertise for the role thesalary is the same for a man or awoman – how can a 23% gapexists at the senior levels?

I think women are just asambitious as men, but are notprepared to compromise as muchto get to the top. Perhaps thereshould be more women bosses!Name and address suppliedThe editor says: We’d like to hearfrom other readers about anydiscrimination they may havesuffered in the workplace. Emailsto the usual address please.

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

email [email protected]

Thank you, ACCACan I firstly thank ACCA executivedirector Alan Hatfield for trying toexplain why we can’t have an examdate (PQ magazine, April ’16).

I also have to congratulate themarking team for reducing the timeit takes to do their job, too. It is nomean feat to reduce the time weget results and six weeks is great.However, the cynic in me would

say that they had to do this orstudents would be in danger ofmissing the opportunity to re-sit theexams at the next sitting.

I am, however, still confusedabout when exactly we will get ourexam results date back. With theintroduction of CBEs in Septemberit may be some time before wemove away from ‘weekcommencing’, maybe years even.Perhaps the ACCA should set itselfa target date and then we can holdthem properly to account.Name and address suppliedThe editor says: Interesting pointsraised here – over to you, ACCA.

How will it work?I read in PQ magazine recently(March 2016) that the ACCA plansto use the British Council as examcentres. How will this all work inthe UK? I have been on the BritishCouncil’s website and just can’tunderstand how it can suddenlyoffer secure venues with the ITsupport needed. I can see how itall works overseas; in Egypt, forexample, the Council has fiveteaching centres where learning

ACCA’s Helen Brand signingthe British Council deal

DUE TO LACK OF SPACE OUR SOCIAL MEDIA

UPDATES HAVE BEEN MOVED TO PAGE 31

PQ May 16 p6 q9_pq aprl08 p04 07/04/2016 14:50 Page 1

Find out more about BPP programmes and book today.

03300 291 676 bpp.com/tablet-competition

Study ACCA with BPP

*Terms and conditions apply bpp.com/terms/l/money-back

^Full terms and conditions apply see bpp.com/professional-education/terms/competition-promotions/starter-pack-10-offer 10% offer valid when you book within 14 days. No cash alternative is available.

**Terms and Conditions apply visit bpp.com/professional-education/terms/competition-promotions. This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. No cash alternative is available.

ACCA programmes for the June and September sitting available to book.

Receiving your March ACCA results? Whether you need to re-take, or you

want to progress quickly through your qualification, you can still study

towards the June exam sitting with BPP.

Plus save 10%^ and find out more about the benefits of BPP when you

register for our free online videos at start.bpp.com/acca

Pass. Or your money back!*

Win a Tablet

Competition closes

17 April Midnight!

Last chance to win a tablet!

Enter our competition to win a Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 10**.

Hurry, competition ends on the 17th April

- visit bpp.com/tablet-competition

007_PQ 0516.indd 1 01/04/2016 15:22

8 PQ Magazine May 2016

PQ news

I do like Canadians and Canada,although the country has a reputationfor being pleasant but unexciting.Personally, I think pleasant is good.And thoughtful, and enterprising. TheCanadian removal company is nowemblazoning its trucks with themessage: “F*** Trump. Move toCanada”, is a good example.

I was pleased to see similar sense,though expressed in quieter language,from Linda Mezon, the Chair of theAccounting Standards Board inCanada. She had been looking at thespeeches from the IASB about howmany jurisdictions now required IFRS.Her point was that this looked good,but the other side of the story wasthat 50% of the world’s capitalmarkets either ‘have not adoptedIFRS, or do not require an unreservedstatement of compliance with IFRSand may not imminently fully adopt’.Her answer was to suggest that theIASB stops measuring success bynumber of jurisdictions but instead byencouraging the comparability ofstandards globally. This would narrowdifferences, reduce barriers and allowadoption of IFRS long-term.

It is what they did in Canada enroute to IFRS becoming the norm.They worked towards comparabilityvia Canadian GAAP, US GAAP andIFRS. A no nonsense, common sense,and methodical pursuit of an answer.And having adopted IFRS investorscan easily compare Canadiancompanies to those in other countries,and as a result the cost of capital islower. How sensible.

ROBERTBRUCEWhy othersshouldfollow inCanada’sfootsteps

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

Get on acourse!

CIMA case study exam isnot a three-hour test

Donate your old textbooksThe charity Accounting for

International Development (AfID) islooking for your old accountancytextbooks. In particular, it wantsbusiness accounting books tosend to accountancy PQs inSierra Leone. Think‘Business Accounting’ byWood and Sangster, orsimilar. Contact LeahMcLaren on [email protected] orsend your donations to AfID,Britannia House, 11 GlenthorneRoad, Hammersmith, London, W6

0LH. The AfID won’t be able tocollect any donations.

Goodbye Adrian, hello GilesCIPFA has a new Director of

Learning Delivery andPartnerships – Giles Orr(pictured). After nearly 10years at CIPFA aseducation director Adrian

Pulham has left ‘to pursuenew interests’. He will,

however, continue to sit on theIFAC international accountingeducation standards board and see

through a CIPFA project in theUnited Arab Emirates.

ACCA first in Colombia ACCA has accredited

Universidad EAN in Bogota,Colombia, with its Future ApprovedLearning partner status. The ACCAsigned an MOU with the university(pictured) in August 2015,enabling students who enroll onEAN’s newvirtual publicaccountancyundergraduate

programme to be able to sit examsfor the ACCA qualification.

MA standard launched BSI, the British Standards

Institution, has published PAS1919 – the world’s firstmanagement accounting standard.Sponsored by CIMA, it is designedas a best-practice guide tomanagement accounting, definingwhat ‘good’ looks like. The newstandard provides a framework tosupport decision-making andsupports improved performance.

In brief

If you want to ensuresuccess at the CIMAcase study you muststop thinking of theexam as a three-hourtest, says Kaplan’sBecky Evans.

As you can’t jumpforward andbackwards betweentasks you need to plan for eachindividual task you are tackling(they are between 30 and 60minutes). It is also essential youanswer all the sub-requirements, asmissing just one competency could

mean a fail.It may seem obvious, but

you also have to know thepre-seen inside out, sheexplains. You won’t,however, have time to re-read it in the exam room, soyou must know who thepeople are and what theirroles are. Evans said that

PQs are meant to be working forthis organisation, so refer to peopleby name, not as ‘the HR manager’,for example.

CIMA PQs have to be proactivein ensuring they have no

knowledge gaps from theirexemptions, if they had them.Evans felt some students wouldbenefit from sitting an underpinningcourse. She said you should askyour tutor for advice here, that iswhat they are there for!

PQ brought Evans together withfour other experts to see what theythought were the challenges of theCIMA’s case study test. Along withCIMA’s Peter Stewart, our expertstake an in-depth look at how youcan ensure your success.• See pages 20-22 for the best wayto approach the case study.

Body beautifulCIPFA’s student network team

recently became cover stars of theirbody’s e-magazine, Spreadsheet.

The reason? They were the winnersof the PQ magazine Student Body ofthe Year award. Kathryn Long, VicePresident (second from left), said:

“The PQ awards was a fantasticevening so a big thank you to all the

team at PQ magazine. We will seeyou again next year!”

ACCA on move againACCA is on the move again. Thistime it is moving its Scottish-basedstaff into new office space incentral Glasgow.

The ACCA moved its London HQat the beginning of this year. It isnow consolidating its staff north ofthe border.

Currently, some 600 staff work atits Glasgow offices at 2 CentralQuay and 138 Hyde Park Street. Inlate autumn they will all be moving

into three floors at 110 QueenStreet.

CEO Helen Brand said thatACCA’s operations have a proudhistory in Scotland, going back tothe 1970s. Since then it has grownits workforce to create anoperational centre that covers examdelivery, HR, IT, finance andACCA’s 24/7 and 365 globalcustomer service centre (ACCAConnect).

BeckyEvans

ACCA says optional pass rates willimprove only when students sign upto a proper course

The ACCA reminded studentsrecently that signing up to a bonafide course is still the best way topass those ‘difficult’ optionalpapers.

Apparently, too many studentsare tackling the final level exams ontheir own, without any realguidance.

A senior ACCA figure told PQmagazine that these were ‘masterlevel’ exams, so it is vital studentsgo to a good learning provider to getproper support and guidance.These providers have the expertiseto get you though the exams.

The ACCA also remindedstudents that those who sign upwith a provider have a much betterchance of passing.

PQ MAy 16 p8 q9_pq sept 12 p08 07/04/2016 12:06 Page 10

With LSBF’s comprehensive 12 evening course, developed by CIMA specialists,

you will get the preparation you need to pass your assessment.

The Case Study course includes two mock exams with personalised feedback from our expert tutors. You will also learn how to integrate the knowledge from the Objective Tests into the Case Study and get tips on maximising your score.

CLASSES START APRIL.

CIMACASESTUDY COURSE

BOOK ONLINE AT

www.LSBF.org.uk/shop

020 3535 1111

009_PQ 0516.indd 1 04/04/2016 09:28


PQ news

Are accounting regulators antiquatedhistorians, or dedicated professionalswho speedily investigate failures andtake remedial action? The practices ofthe Financial Reporting Council (FRC)suggest it is the former.

In February, the FRC concluded itsinvestigation of audit failures atPresbyterian Mutual Society, whichbegan in August 2009. The proberelated to 2000–2008. In October2006, an investigation was launchedinto corporate governance andaccounting issues at iSoft. The mattersrelated to 2003-2005, and the finalreport was published in 2015.

The 2007-2008 banking crash laidbare the pretence of effective internalcontrols and sceptical audits as banksadmitted fraud. Despite critical reportsfrom parliamentary committees theFRC did not intervene. HBOS was amajor casualty of the crash andreceived £37 billion of governmentcash. In November 2015, a reportpublished by the Bank of England washighly critical of HBOS’s businessmodel and accounts. It called on theFRC to investigate, but still no action.In January, under pressure from theTreasury Committee, the FRCannounced that it would make‘preliminary enquiries’ into HBOS’s2007 financial statements.

The FRC’s inertia and poorenforcement sends a negativemessage. The eventual reports are nottimely and hardly enable effectiveremedial action. The FRC is too closeto the very interests that it should beregulating and needs to be replaced.

PREMSIKKASlow andineffectiveFRC must be replaced

n Prem Sikka is professor of accountancy at theUniversity of Essex

Just 5% of all NHS financeprofessionals feel valued by patientsand the public at large, says a newbriefing survey from the HFMA.

Luckily, faint praise is not whatmotivates accountants working inthe NHS. The latest ‘NHS FinanceFunction in 2015: England’ surveyfound for well over two-thirds(71%) of respondents it is publicsector values that keep them going.Improving patient care is amotivation for 60% of thosesurveyed.

Finance professionals working inthe NHS also feel their departmentsprovide real value for money – well89% think so. Despite thechallenges of grappling with tightfinancial statements and trying to

add value to patient care, sometwo-thirds of accountants say theywould like to spend the rest of theircareers working for it. Some 16,211finance professionals are currentlyworking in the NHS, that’s a 3%rise on 2013 figures.

Worryingly, the survey revealedthat there is still a large imbalancebetween the number of womenworking in finance roles and thosein the top jobs. Some 62% offinance staff are female, but only26% of FDs are women.

DO YOU FEEL VALUED?

PER CHANGESFROM ACCAACCA is pushing its new-look PERpolicy with the headline ‘We’velistened to your feedback!’ Whathasn’t changed is the need to gain36 months’ experience in a relevantaccounting or finance role. All yourexperience has now been transferredto the new set-up, as long as it isallocated to an employer.

The new PER policy requires youto achieve five elements, supportedby one statement of 200-300 wordsfor each performance objective. Theessentials performance objectiveshave been reduced from nine to five.Four technical objectives also haveto be achieved, from a list of 15.

There is a more user-friendlyonline recording tool ‘available’ aspart of the update, says ACCA, andyour achievements must still beconfirmed by a qualified accountantacting as a practical experiencesupervisor (workplace mentor).

Follow the money

EY wants 200apprenticeshipsEY has announced that it willtake on 200 apprenticesacross the UK fromSeptember 2016. Successful

applicants will worktowards a globallyrecognisedaccountancyqualification on astructured coursethat will offer on-the-job coaching and theopportunity to work with clients from day one.The full-time roles will have a starting salary ofup to £21,500 and the career path andexperience will be the same as for graduates.

Deloitte’s snapshot of its staffIn an effort to dismiss some of the mythsabout social mobile Deloitte's has become oneof the largest UK employers to publish data onthe socio-economic and educationalbackground of its partners and staff. A sample

of 1,000 staff shows 43% of Deloitteemployees attended a non-selective stateschool, 16% an academically selectivegrammar school and 20% an independentschool. The data also revealed 51% werethe first in their family to go to university,

while 9% received free school meals.

KPMG is mobility champion KPMG has been named by BIS as a SocialMobility Business Compact champion,

recognising the firm’s work to improve socialmobility in the business community. It is one ofjust 11 organisations in the UK to have beenawarded this new status. KPMG wasspecifically recognised as one of the firstbusinesses to pay the voluntary Living Wage in2005 and was also heavily involved in thedevelopment of Access Accountancy, ascheme that encourages non-traditionalapplicants into the profession. It remains a keysupporter of the City Academy, Hackney.KPMG’s vice chairman, Melaine Richards, said:“Improving social mobility is fundamentallygood for business and is one of the key tenetsof KPMG’s commercial strategy.”• The other champions include Deloitte, EYand Grant Thornton.

The latest Scandi-TVhit, Follow the Money(BBC4), proves thataccountancy canfeature in a show andstill be entertaining!The story is all aboutEvergreen, a windpower company tryingto make the world abetter and cleaner place, or is it!

There are the usual problems.We have a sexy lawyer, but moremarkedly there doesn’t appear tobe an honest accountant to befound in the whole of Denmark.

Evergreen’s CFO (Ulrik Skov) hasa shady past and there is even avaping accountant (Eric) who helps

facilitate money laundering andblackmail.

As Evergreen try to get theinvestment to float we even meet aUK company with a lot of poshboys called Waterson and Price.Are you thinking PwC here?• Don’t forget there are more funstories on page 34.

Shady: Ulrik, left, part ofthe Evergreen float team

Five ACCA five-year scholarships up for grabs Five lucky ACCA students have the chance to win a five-year scholarship.To be eligible for the Simpson Scholarship applicants need to meet aqualification criteria and submit a 1,000 words essay. You will need to be aregistered student with no outstanding fees and achieved 80% or more onyour F1-F3 exams. The closing date for entry is Friday 29 April.

PQ May 16 p10 q9 _pq sept 12 p08 07/04/2016 12:08

www.studyinteractive.org/accasep

ACCA enrolmentfor September 2016 starts now!

Don't miss our

2016 EARLY BIRD OFFER!

Register this May to sit your exam in

September with 20% off all online ACCA

packages*

With 4 annual exam sittings,

you can spread your papers

throughout the year. Plus, should you

need to resit, the next exam slot will

be just around the corner.

ACCESS ONLINE STUDY RESOURCES 24/7 INCLUDING SUPPORT FROM AWARD-WINNING

ACCA TUTORS

DON'T MISS YOUR CHANCE TO STUDY

ACCA FOR LESS. APPLY TODAY!

REGISTER THIS MAY TO RECEIVE EXCLUSIVE ACCA OFFERS

011_PQ 0516.indd 1 04/04/2016 09:29


PQ news

This month I have been in PhnomPenh, Cambodia, working on a projectto help with the developingeducational infrastructure in thecountry. Cambodia lost some 21% ofits population during the genocide of1975-1979 and now has a totalpopulation of just over 15 millionpeople. Less than 4% of thepopulation is over 65 years of ageand there is a large appetite fordeveloping private investment in thecountry. I was a guest of theInternational Monetary Fund, which isencouraging the government inCambodia to attract more privateinvestment in to the country. Key tothis is improving the financial literacyof business and raising accountancyeducation in the country. Cambodiahas 21 public universities and 34private ones, with some specialisingin accountancy education. Cambodiahas seen major growth in garmentexport sales (increasing almost 20%per year) and sits from a GDPperspective at 117th on the IMFscale. In the region only China, Koreaand Vietnam can boast strongergrowth in recent years since theworldwide recession. The Genocide ofthe 1970s claimed the lives of all but50 university lecturers in the country,90% of all secondary school teacherswere killed and 85% of all primaryschool teachers. These are startlingfacts and I was moved by the hardwork of this new generation ofeducators still continuing to work inpolitical circumstances that arechallenging.

CARLLYGOCambodiacontinues torise to thechallenge

n Professor Carl Lygo ischief executive of BPP

Angry PQs want to petitionACCA over ‘crystal meth’ P5

Quest for future leaders

CIMA members to vote on merger

ACCA P5 exam sitters were‘steaming’ after the March sitting.Students found the spring testextremely time pressured and manystruggled to read and deliver whatwas being asked for in the allottedtime.

One PQ ventured it would takesix hours to provide the examinerwith the quality of answer hewanted. Another sitter claimed hisanswer booklet “looks like it waswritten by someone on crystalmeth”.

Some students are saying

enough is enough, and one sitterfelt the time was right to petitionthe ACCA with their concerns aboutthis paper.

Many PQs seem to have gotpermanently stuck on the paper.The approach of tuition providers isalso being questioned, as they toodon’t seem to comprehend justhow difficult this final level paperhas become.

Meanwhile, the feedback fromP1 sitters was that the exams were‘OK’. Although time pressured,some students felt the paper was

just ‘a bit boring’. There was lots ofoptimism out there for the passrates this time come results time –the week commencing 18 April.

F5 sitters found the exam prettyhard, with no written questions onABC, throughput accounting ortransfer pricing. With tricky MCQs,many students said they would behappy to scrape a pass. Anothertoughie was F9, where even theMCQs were difficult. Why was theexam so much harder than thepractice tests was a question manysitters asked.

AAT AQ2016AAT PQs will have until 31 December

2017 to complete their qualification if theyremain on AQ2013. But be aware that in somecases units in AQ2013 qualifications cannot betransferred to AQ2016, so additionalassessments may be required. If you transfer toa qualification with a synopticassessment this will also need tobe taken.

Hoogervorst reappointedThe International Accounting

Standards Board has announcedthe reappointment of Hans

Hoogervorst (pictured) as IASB chairman for asecond five-year term. Under his leadership theBoard has finalised IFRS 9 FinancialInstruments, IFRS 15 Revenue from Contractswith Customers and, most recently, IFRS 16Leases. The IASB is undertaking a review of itsstructure and effectiveness. Changes to thecomposition and size of the Board and its workare all possibilities.

AIA guidance on Revenue IFRS 15The AIA has told its students studying

papers 11, 13 and 15 that they must familiarisethemselves with the AIA Guidance on revenueIFRS 15, which has been produced specifically

to help students pass the exams. You can findthe guidance via the AIA’s online securedocument library.

Beta testers wantedKnowYourSubject, an

ACCA and CIMA study appprovider, is looking for freebeta testers to try out itsnew portfolio of appsbefore launch. The userswill get to keep the appwhen finished and all updatesin the future. Email [email protected] you are interested.

In brief

CIMA and AICPA members are tobe asked to vote on the plans tojoin forces to create a newaccounting association (‘theAssociation’). The ballot opens on18 April and runs until 16 June.

CIMA has told members theinstitute must evolve to continueadvancing the profession,expanding opportunities andkeeping its designations at theforefront of market demand.

It has stressed that it has no

plans to move into publicaccounting and CIMA members willcontinue to beACMAs/FCMAs, and beable to use the CGMAdesignation.

CIMA hasconfirmed that thereare no plans to increasestudent or memberssubscription fees to support theproposals. The 2015 CIMA syllabuswill also be unaffected.

PQ magazine broke the newsthat CIMA and the AICPA planned

to take their relationship to thenext level in our December2015 issue. CIMA MDAndrew Harding (pictured)said a new association of600,000 current and next-

generation professionals wouldimprove PQs’ employability andcareer prospects. He said:“Students will be one of the mainbeneficiaries of the move.”

ICAS is looking for the youngpeople who will be the leaders oftomorrow. The ICAS One Young CAcompetition is seeking nominationsfor the Top 35 Under 35 fromacross its membership. ICASbelieves these young people caninspire others in their professionallives. The overall winner of theaward will be crowned this year’s‘One Young CA’ and will represent

ICAS at the One Young WorldSummit in Canada.

Last year’s winner was IndyHothi, a consultant at EY inLondon. Aged just 27, Indy helpedestablish a number of key diversityinitiatives, including a successfulGraduate Insight Day at EY forblack and ethnic minority PQs. • Nominations for One Young CAclose on 27 May.

Indy Hothi

PQ May 16 p12 q9_pq sept 12 p08 07/04/2016 12:09 Page 8

13PQ Magazine May 2016

news PQ

EY wants you to answer this:what will you be famous for?

Ramadan starts on 6 June thisyear, right at the begining of ICAEWand ACCA exams. The ACCAsummer sittings take place over theweek beginning 6 June, at the startof the Islamic holy month.

The ICAEW professional examsalso begin on 6 June and run overthree days.

The government-funded EqualityChallenge Unit, which adviseshigher education, supports achange in exam timetables atuniversities. The website says:“Institutions should be prepared toconsider significant adjustments totheir exam schedules and thinkcreatively about assessment

methods in order to eliminatedisadvantage to particular groups.”

It also acknowledges that formany institutions altering dates ofmajor exam periods may not be aproportionate response, especiallyas there are lots of other examdates available. Both the ACCA andICAEW offer three other sittings ayear for the exams affected.

One university, however,indicated that it would allow Muslimstudents to submit ‘extenuatingcircumstances’ if they felt fastinghad affected their performance.

The problem won’t be going away– Ramadan will coincide with themain exam period until 2018.

Ramadan clash with exams forboth ACA and ACCA students

EY has managed to getitself on a new list, of the10 toughest interviewquestions of 2016, with:“What will you befamous for?”

Meanwhile, BT’s toughinterview question isapparently: “How manypeople born in 2013 were namedGary?” PQ magazine muchpreferred Topshop’s question:“Which magic power would you like

to have?” The answer herewould be simple – tobalance the books, ofcourse.

So why are employersasking these questions?Glassdoor’s SusanUnderwood, who compiledthe list, said they want to

test job hunters’ critical thinkingskills to see how they problem-solveon the spot, and gauge how theyapproach difficult situations.

The number of ICAEW studentscontacting the CharteredAccountants BenevolentAssociation (CABA) withemotional concerns doubled in2015, according to its newlyreleased annual impact report.

This meant the number ofstudents accessing the charity’scounselling services increasedby 35% during the year.

As well as providing personalsupport, CABA also delivered arange of workshops, seminars

and webinars directly tostudents and within firms aspart of their inductionprogrammes. It also continuedto work with the ICAEW on ajoint student wellbeing week.

The number of ACA studentsaccessing CABA’s financialassistance also grew.

In all, more than 13,000ICAEW accountants, bothstudents and members, werehelped by the charity in 2015,a record.

Demand for CABA’s services on the rise

PQ May 16 p13 q9_pq sept 12 p08 07/04/2016 16:40 Page 8


PQ AAT spotlight

PQ apprenticeships

Kathy Moore (mum) and Jemma (daughter) are both studying AAT at HTFT. How does this play out at home?

You are both studying AAT level 2, why

did you choose to study accountancy

together?

Jemma: I was given the opportunity to

study through work. When I mentioned to

mum about who I was studying with, and

the fact that HTFT had the facility to

study from home and do classes online,

she was keen to join as well. I thought if

we both did it we would be able to help

each other if one of us didn’t understand

something and the other one did.

Kathy: Jemma was asked to study AAT

as part of her training for her job with

Listers. I have worked for my father in

accounts for the past 24 years but have

no formal qualification. So I thought I

would see if I could get one with HTFT!

Are you competitive when it comes to

the assessments/exams?

Jemma: I wouldn’t say I was competitive

– I just want us both to do our best, and

cross my fingers that we both pass each

topic! Mum gets very nervous when it

comes to the exams, so as long as she

passes I am happy and can relax a bit.

Kathy: I don’t think either of us is

competitive when it comes to exams. I’d

like to think we are supportive and

encourage each other just like when we

play in a netball match together!

Who is the more natural accountant?

Jemma: Definitely my mum. She has

been doing accounts since 1992, where

as I have been doing it just under a year,

so she has the upper hand on that one!

Hopefully, it will come naturally to me

one day.

Kathy: Jemma is most definitely the more

natural accountant. She is so much

better at maths than me and more

meticulous. I am sure it’s harder to

remember all the information you need to

as you get older!

What is your favourite subject?

Jemma: Probably Errors and Control

Accounts.

Kathy: Not sure that I have a favourite!

Who studies the hardest, and what

advice would you give to fellow

students?

Jemma: Although we both work hard

together and try our best, I’d probably

say mum studies the hardest. She works

really hard to try to understand

everything, and won’t give up until she

gets it. My advice would be not to panic

if you don’t understand a topic straight

away; it will come with time and practice.

I don’t usually fully understand a topic

until I have completed several practice

questions.

Kathy: I think we both have the

determination to work hard – we like to

do the best we can in all things that we

do. My advice to fellow students would

GENERATIONGAMEbe to work hard, try your best and not to

be embarrassed or afraid to ask for help

when you need it.

Do you plan to go on after AAT to study

with one of the other accountancy

bodies?

Jemma: I haven’t got any plans in place

yet for when I finish AAT. My reasons for

studying AAT were so that I would

understand my job more thoroughly and

to be able to progress at work. So I think

I am going to just see how the next levels

of AAT go, and if I feel like I could

manage the step up to CIMA it might be

the next stage for me.

Kathy: At this moment in time, I am not

sure what my plans after AAT are. PQ

And away from all the studying…What was the last music you bought/downloaded?

Jemma: Eyes Shut by Years & Years

Kathy: Adele’s 25

What is the last book you read?

Jemma: One Day by David Nicholls

Kathy: Blue Moon by Pam Weaver

Pub or club?

Jemma: Pub

Kathy: I’m more of a pub person!

Favourite tipple?

Jemma: Prosecco

Kathy: Vodka and coke

Favourite TV programme?

Jemma: Hollyoaks or Police Interceptors

Kathy: I have loads! Silent Witness is my favourite,

followed by Happy Valley and Downton Abbey

Who is your hero?

Jemma: My mum, she’s the best

Kathy: I think this would have to be Sasha Corbin or

Serena Guthrie. These ladies play netball for

England and are just awesome!

A new employer-led higher

apprenticeship is now available. So

what is it and how does it work?

Leading employers, professional bodies

and training providers have come

together to develop a new

apprenticeship standard for the audit,

accountancy and tax professions.

The standard has been developed to provide

school leavers with a further route into the

accountancy sector and develop the skills,

knowledge and behaviours that they need to

build a successful career.

Key to the move is the fact that the new

standard has been designed to enable

apprentices to study towards a professional

qualification.

The Professional Accountancy/Tax Technician

standard qualifies as a Higher Apprenticeship

with the Government’s Trailblazer initiative.

Bodies such as the AAT and ATT have

welcomed the opportunity to work alongside

employers and other professional bodies to

develop this new employer-led standard.

KPMG is one of the employers that will be

adopting the Accountancy/Tax Technician

standard for its innovative apprenticeship

programme KPMG360, which was launched in

autumn 2015.

KPMG’s Michael Walby said: “As chair of the

employer group that developed the standard I

feel privileged to have worked alongside a

diverse group of employers, professional bodies

and training providers.”

He added: “Individual competitive advantage

has been put aside in the interests of

collaboration to improve access to opportunities

for young people.”

This news came just before a new ACCA

study found nearly a third of 16-18 year olds

have received no careers advice relating to

apprentices, putting the success of the

Government’s flagship programme under threat.

The ACCA is now calling on the government to

dramatically improve the consistency of careers

advice that young people are receiving. PQ

The Professional Accountancy/Tax Technician apprenticeship is here

pq may 16 p14 q9_Layout 1 06/04/2016 12:40 Page 2

Courses

• BA (Hons) Accounting and Finance• FdA Foundation Degree: Accounting• Top-up BA (Hons) Accounting and Entrepreneurship

AAT level 3 will guarantee direct entry into undergraduate year 1AAT level 4 will guarantee direct entry into undergraduate year 2

No 1 London University for ‘Teaching Quality’ and ‘Student Experience’ in the area of Accounting and Finance(Guardian league table 2016)

No 1 London Modern University for graduate starting salaries(Sunday Times University Guide 2016)

• Guaranteed halls accommodation during your first year*• Free gym membership• Free Microsoft Office 365 and SPSS software

*Southwark Campus only. Conditions apply, check online.

London South Bank University90 London RoadLondon, SE1 6LN

0800 923 88 88 | [email protected]

• BA (Hons) Accounting and Finance

• ACCA, ICAEW and CIMA Accredited

• Two year completion route for AAT Level 4 or ACCA F1-F3 holders

• Central London Location

Bring it on.

Up to 9 exemptions from professional body examinations* *9 for ACCA, 7 for ICAEW and 5 for CIMA

015_PQ 0516.indd 1 31/03/2016 12:47


PQ learning tips

Style + effort =SUBSTANCEHow do you exploit your

learning style to your best

advantage? James Taylor

explains all

In last month’s PQ magazine I wrote

about how identifying and

embracing your ‘learning style’ can

make you more effective and help you

get more out of your study time.

In this issue I want to build on that by

providing you with a selection of study

and revision tips (for each learning style)

that you might like to adopt to help you

be more productive.

Visual learning style: Individuals with a

visual learning style prefer the use of

pictures, charts and graphs to

understand and absorb new information.

Mind maps and flowcharts tend to be

very effective tools for visual learners. A

mind map is a graphical representation

of concepts and ideas, which are often

used to break down big topics into handy

chunks. Mind maps tend to work for

visual learners as they encourage the use

of colour and images.

Flowcharts often work best for

process-driven subjects such as audit

(sales systems, accounting systems),

where one action leads to another with

specific outputs and outcomes.

Mindmaps and flowcharts, when

completed, should be photographed (and

kept in your smartphone’s photo library),

then stuck on the wall in your study area.

The use of different colour pens as you

create your study notes or topic

summaries aides visual learners.

Auditory learning style: Students with a

strong auditory learning style best learn

through listening and speaking.

One technique that we advise our

students to adopt, if they recognise

themselves as an auditory learner, is ‘talk

to the wall’. When you have been through

a topic or chapter (ideally reading out

loud) stand in front of a wall and try and

recall what you have just covered by

talking out loud. Granted, if somebody

sees you doing it they may give you a

funny look, but the advantage for

auditory learners is that you will be

hearing the content over and over again.

Read and write learning style: Students

with this learning style learn best through

words, and tend to be avid note-takers

and readers of textbooks.

Students with a read and write

preference tend to benefit from topic

summaries and memory notes.

• Ideally using only one page of A4 (or

A3) students should create a summary

for each topic/learning outcome and

place this in their folders. These should

be handwritten.

• Memory notes focuses on getting

students to read and then summarise a

specific subject, before asking them to

turn over the summary and re-write it.

The more often this method is applied

(with checking to ensure completeness)

the better for individuals with a read and

write preference.

Kinesthetic learning style: Individuals

who are kinesthetic learners best develop

their understanding through doing – that

is, they best learn through trying and

figuring things out.

We recommend that kinaesthetic

learners dive into question practice as

soon as possible, and we have a method

that we find is very effective for MCQs.

• Start by selecting two sets of between

five and 10 questions on a specific topic.

• Do the first set of questions to time

under exam conditions and then check

your answers to the first set of questions.

Make sure you take time to understand

any mistakes you have made (going back

to content if required). Move on to do the

second set of questions to time, under

exam conditions; again, checking your

answers to the second set of questions

(and taking time to understand any

mistakes you made).

• Make a cup of tea or coffee and watch

TV for 20 minutes.

• Come back and do the first set of

questions again, to time and under exam

conditions and check your answers. Once

checked, do the second set of questions

again, to time and under exam

conditions, remembering the check your

answers.

• During long-form question practice only

work for 45 minutes at a time – after 45

minutes give yourself a 15-minute break.

It is important to remember that

practice makes permanent. The more

you do (checking your answers as you go

along) the more likely it is to stick.

Adopting the right technique for you

(and it may be a combination of the

above) is all about working smart, getting

the most out of the time you invest in

your studying. It may take a little time,

but understanding what makes you tick

and what works for you will, in the long

run, means you should get the results

you want.

• James Taylor is a director at HTFT

Partnership

PQ

“Students

with a

strong auditory

learning style need

to shout more!

PQ May 16 p16 q9.qxp_Layout 1 06/04/2016 13:01 Page 2

Premier Training: You ask. We listen.

“I couldn’t ask for a better tutor." Methodia Mathias MAAT

ENROL NOW!

AAT Level 2 Certificate in Accounting £699

AAT Level 3 Diploma in Accounting £749

AAT Level 4 Diploma in Accounting £799

For more bookkeeping and payroll courses, visit our website

Price MatchFind another provider that

offers personal tutor support, marked assignments, mock exams and e-learning tools, and we'll match their price.

Award-winning e-learning

Benefit from interactive videos and

our innovative individual learning programme.

Personal tutor support

Instant access to ACCA, FCA and AAT qualified tutors via phone, email, Skype, Twitter

and our mobile app.

Pass PromiseWe will tutor you until you pass. (Students must be actively and continuously studying. Please see our

T&Cs for more information.)

P

Sign up now

01469 515444 [email protected] www.premiertraining.co.uk

WINNER

AWARDS

2014

PQmagazine

Study Resource of the Year

Training Provider

Awards 2014

Winner

Best Use of E-learning

BKN

AWARDS 2014Accounting Training Provider

of the Year

BKN Training Provider

Winner

Training Provider

AWARDS 2015

Best Use of E-learning

017_PQ 0516.indd 1 31/03/2016 12:50

Iusually like to begin these articleswith a witty, related anecdote. Butthere is nothing funny about basis

periods; students find them difficult, donot like them and they frequently trip AATbusiness tax students up.

However, there is no reason whystudents should find them difficult. If theyunderstand the rules then they cannotget them wrong.

Basis periods are a way of calculatinghow much profit should be taxed whensomeone sets up as self-employed (orjoins a partnership).

So what are the rules?In the first year, profits from the

commencement of trade until thefollowing 5 April are taxed. So, forexample, Tony Adams prepared his firstyear’s accounts up to the year ended 31 December 2016, where he made aprofit of £120,000. As this is a 12-monthperiod he must have commenced tradeon 1 January 2016. In the first tax year,we tax from the commencement of tradeto the following 5 April, which will be 5 April 2016. We will therefore tax threemonths (we ignore the five days in April)of the 12 months’ accounting period,resulting in the amount of profits whichwill be taxable being 3/12 x £120,000 = £30,000.

So that’s year one. In year two, the ruleis that we tax 12 months of profits, nomatter what.

In year two, we ask ourselves: do wehave a 12-month period ending in thesecond tax year, which is 6 April to thefollowing 5 April? In Tony’s case, thesecond tax year is 6 April 2016 until 5 April 2017, and his 12-month periodended 31 December 2016 does fall intothis period. Therefore, in the second year,the profits which will be taxed will be thefull £120,000.

The sharp ones among you will notethat Tony has made profits of £120,000but has paid tax on profits of £150,000.The £30,000 of profits which have beentaxed twice are known as ‘overlap profits’.These will be deducted from his profitswhen he ceases trading. At the end of hisworking life, his profits will have onlybeen taxed once, but this might not befor a number of years. This highlights thefact that a bit of planning always helpswhen choosing your year end.

However, we will not always have a 12-month period ending in the secondyear; but we do have to tax a 12-monthperiod in the second year. So what do we


PQ AAT exams

NIck Craggs explains all aboutbasis periods – you’re goonerlove his analysis (sorry!)

LET’S GET TECHNICAL

18-month accounting period that ends 30 June 2017. His taxable profits are£90,000. For the year 2016/17, we donot have an accounting period that endsin the tax year, so we will just take 12months of profit, from 6 April 2016 to 5 April 2017. This will be 12/18 x £90,000 = £60,000.

So that is the second year; whathappens in the third year?

In the third tax year, the odds are thatyou will have a 12-month period thatends in the third tax year, so you will justtax that. However, if you do not, you justfollow the rules from year two.

So that’s it – learn the rules and youcannot go wrong!

Why don’t you have a go at thefollowing scenario. You can watch mecalculate the answers at http://www.firstintuition.co.uk/category/aat/

Ray Parlour has the following accounting periodsand profits:• six-month period ended 30 June 2016 withprofits of £30,000• 12-month period ended 30 June 2017 withprofits of £120,000

What are the taxable profits in the following taxyears?• 2015/16• 2016/17• 2017/18

• Nick Craggs, AAT DistanceLearning Manager, FirstIntuition

PQ

do? Well, we make one!If we have a six-month period ending

30 June 2016, where the profits were£60,000, we need to ‘borrow’ six monthsof profit from the following period. Forexample, if the following period was theyear ended 30 June 2017, where taxableprofits were £180,000, we will take6/12th of the profit of £180,000 and addthis to the £60,000, to equate to taxableprofits for the tax year of 16/17 of£150,000. This consists of £60,000 fromthe period ended 30 June 16, and£90,000 from six months that we haveborrowed from the year ended June2017.

You may be faced with a longaccounting period in the second year. Westill need to tax a 12-month period in thesecond year, so we just take the last 12 months of the long accounting period.For example, Steve Bould had a 15-month accounting period ending 31 December 2016 where his taxableprofits were £300,000. He would only betaxed on the past 12 months, so histaxable profits would be 12/15 x£300,000 = £240,000.

If the examiner is feeling really nastythey might not give you an accountingperiod that ends in the second tax year;you may have an accounting periodwhich spans the entire tax year. Eitherway, we will make a 12-month period aswe tax from 6 April at the beginning ofthe tax year to the following 5 April.

For example, John Jensen has an


5 Reasons to Choose FI

www.fi.co.uk

Free Refreshments

Freshly ground

coffee, fruit and

snacks on every

classroom course

C LLEGE F THE YEAR

24/7 Support

Call your tutor

anytime you have a

question, with no

restrictions

Small Class Sizes

We get to know

you and treat

you as an

individual.

Trusted

See what our

students say!

Google 'First

Intuition reviews'

Award Winners

First Intuition has

won PQ's College of

the Year award 4

times in 7 years!

019_PQ 0516.indd 1 31/03/2016 12:48


PQ CIMA roundtable

We spoke to Kaplan’s CIMAexperts about how PQs shouldbest approach the case studies

Q: The challenge for many CIMA case studysitters is that there is no real syllabus. What isthe best way to approach ‘studying’ for thecase study? Becky: Think about the topics you founddifficult, didn’t like or didn’t really understandfrom the OT subjects. Look for clues in the pre-seen; for example, if a company uses absorptioncosting, ABC could come up. Be very carefulthough! Five variants makes topic pickingdangerous. The examiners are brilliant at movingthe organisations forward rapidly. In OCSNovember ’15, Flores Rosa had no technologybut the examiner managed to bring in big datato variant 2. Practising questions and gettingfeedback is a great way to find out where youneed to put in the extra work.Sue: The level of technical detail that you needto demonstrate differs depending on the levelyou are attempting (more required at operationallevel), so it’s a good idea to review past variantsto get a feel for how topics are tested. Thenreview the OT paper syllabuses to identify areasyou need to work on. While the pre-seen cansuggest some issues, across five variants CIMAcan examine a wide range of content and so youneed to be prepared for as much as possible –not all of it is predictable as CIMA can introducenew issues in the exam.Stuart: One of the reasons for the case study isto try to get students to think more broadlyacross all of the subjects, hence there being nosyllabus. This gives you a clue as to how youshould approach the case, especially at thestrategic level. Yes, you need know the technicalcontent but it’s more about application – justthink about the industry and what you would do

if this was a work problem. Be practical. Helen: It is essential that when you are reviewingthe technical papers you are constantly thinkingabout how a particular topic would apply to theparticular pre-seen you are studying. There is nopoint trying to learn something in great detail ifyou aren’t thinking about how you would discussit in the exam. So for each topic think about howit relates to the pre-seen. For particulartechniques and strategies that are not currentlyutilised by the company in question, it is worththinking about the potential benefits andproblems if they were to be implemented.Peter: When reviewing the topics from the E, Fand P subjects it would be useful to review howthe syllabus topics were tested in the oldsyllabus when there were longer questions,many of which assessed application as well asthe calculations. The case study exams will notre-test any areas of calculation but you will beexpected to explain the consequences ofcalculations and syllabus knowledge beingapplied. It’s also useful to review the past casestudy exams to see how the E, F and P topicscan interact.

Q: Do students need to approach the casestudies at the various levels differently?Becky: Operational level is the most technicalwith 64% of the marks for technical knowledge.It is much more important at this level to makesure you know the accounting standards andpros and cons of various techniques than you doas you progress to the higher levels. At all levelsknowledge of the pre-seen, so you can applyyour answers to the organisation, is essential.Sue: I would say so. Operational requires themost technical knowledge, whereas at themanagerial and strategic levels it’s not so muchabout the detail but about how you would applyyour knowledge to practical situations. Certainlyat managerial level (which I teach) a commonsense approach can go a long way, particularly

with E related tasks. I would say this is moreimportant than being able to quote theoreticalmodels, which alone would be unlikely to answerthe requirement adequately.Helen: Absolutely. You are taking on a differentrole in the organisation. The response expectedby a finance assistant will be very different tothat of a senior manager and your answersshould reflect this. This is something to beparticularly careful of when topics cross over intodifferent levels. So a student studying strategicmanagement at the strategic level will beexpected to approach a question in a differentway to how they dealt with it at managementlevel.

Five heads are bett

Stuart Pedley-Smith is Kaplan’sHead of Learning and a former PQmagazine Tutor of the Year. Hewrites a regular blog onexaminations and learning. Stuartis the author of books on examskills and writing business reports,and he specialises in financialstrategy and the strategic case.

Becky Evans is Kaplan’s Head ofACCA and CIMA. She joined Kaplanas a tutor in 2006, having trainedand worked as a managementaccountant in the car industry. In

the past 10 years she has taught arange of subjects across the ACCA,CIMA and ICAEW qualifications andnow specialises in businessstrategy and case study papers.She was appointed Head of ACCAand CIMA in 2014.

Sue Thistlethwaite is CIMA CourseManager in the Kaplan Live Onlineteam and is based in Leeds. Shejoined Kaplan as a tutor in 2005,specialising in financial andcorporate reporting and teachesacross the CIMA, ACCA and ICAEW

qualifications. Within the CIMAsyllabus, she teaches F2 advancedfinancial reporting and manageriallevel case study.

Helen Crofts is Kaplan’s SocialLearning Manager. Helen has spentthe past 15 years working inaccountancy education, and for thelast 10 has specialised in businessstrategy, with a particular focus oncase study style papers. Sherecently completed a two-yearsecondment to Kaplan Publishingwhere, working alongside the CIMAexamining team, she hadresponsibility for designing andwriting the official CIMA textbookfor the management case study and

designing the official CIMAtextbook for strategic case study.

Peter Stewart has been the Directorof Learning at CIMA since 2013.He is responsible for thesuccessful progression of CIMAstudents through the exams,including working closely withlearning partners such as Kaplan.He is also responsible for ensuringCIMA members have access toprofessional development learning.Peter has spent over 25 yearsworking in roles to supportstudents through their professionalqualifications, and was PQmagazine’s AccountancyPersonality of the Year in 2012.

MEET OUR PANEL

STUART PEDLEY-SMITH BECKY E

PQ May 16 p20-22 q9 cm.qxp_Layout 1 08/04/2016 11:50 Page 2

PQ Magazine May 2016 21

CIMA roundtable PQ

Peter: Absolutely. Although there are manycommon features (appreciating the pre-seen;communicating clearly, etc.) the case studiessimulate different job roles at the three differentlevels. At Strategic you’re communicating withyour senior leadership team; at the operationallevels you’re dealing with peers and businessmanagers. It’s important that you ‘get incharacter’ for the persona described in thesyllabus document.Stuart: Yes, you are communicating with peopleat different levels within the organisation. Atstrategic you are a senior manager so what youare asked is slightly different, and the way youneed to answer far more commercial and lesstechnical. As I said, this is not a test of what youknow but what you can do, often to solve theproblem or offer advice.

Q: How should students use the pre-seen(which is published seven weeks prior to theexam) so they are ready for what happens onexam day?Becky: Know it inside out and back to front.Although you don’t need to remember every factand figure you should know where to find theimportant facts in the pre-seen. In the examthere is no time for students to spend re-readingchunks of the pre-seen. Make sure you knowwho the people are and what their roles are. Youare meant to be working for this organisation, soreferring to people by name demonstrates moreapplication to the pre-seen than ‘the HRmanager’. After all, you wouldn’t do that at work. Sue: You can use the pre-seen to identifypotential issues (threats facing the company,

potential opportunities that they may want topursue, relevant accountingstandards/treatments) and think about the typeof tasks you may get as a result of these.However, as previously mentioned, it isimportant not to focus too much on what youidentify here as previous sittings have includedissues that weren’t particularly predictable. Makesure you have a good understanding of thecompany and industry so you can reflect this inyour answers.Stuart: Reading on its own is not a particularlygood way of absorbing the information in thecase, so that you can manipulate it whenrequired to do so on the day of the exam. Iwould recommend students produce a summarydocument, taking each paragraph andhighlighting what is important. Then at the endsummarise it using a SWOT. Not only will youlearn from this, but you will end up with a greatset of notes from which to revise. Helen: The important thing is to get intocharacter as this will make your responses morenatural and focused. It is often helpful to try tonarrow down the pre-seen into a list of keythings the company needs to consider(opportunities and problems). Imagine you aredoing a brief presentation on the company –what key points would you be making?Becoming familiar with this list will help toensure all your answers are applied to thescenario.Peter: I sometimes think of the case study assimilar to a job interview. The pre-seen is theresearch pack I would create ahead of theinterview. The case study is not testing my

knowledge of the pre-seen, but the exam shouldnot introduce information about the organisationthat comes as a surprise to me. I might have toflick the pre-seen open during the exam just tomake sure I remember one or two specific factscorrectly but I’ll do a lot better if I have all thekey issues (products, competitors, opportunities,threats, strengths, weaknesses, etc) at myfingertips.

Q: Is there a problem for students who havebeen exempt earlier papers? How do studentsensure they have no knowledge gaps?Becky: I have seen this in some of the groups Ihave taught. Students need to be proactive inensuring they have no knowledge gaps fromexemptions. This could be as simple asreviewing the syllabus for the subjects wherethey have been awarded an exemption, althoughsome students may benefit from sitting theunderpinning course. Ask your tutor for help andguidance. That’s what we are here for!Sue: In a word yes! I’ve experienced this atmanagerial level with students entering thequalification via the Gateway route and they findit incredibly challenging. We run specificGateway courses, providing students withresources for the three underpinning papers sothat they can identify their knowledge gaps andprepare accordingly. The one advantage thatthese candidates often do have is plenty ofpractical business experience, which can reallyhelp in answering some tasks.Stuart: At strategic it’s normally not so much aproblem. That is probably for two reasons: thereare not many exceptions that get you directly tothe strategic level, and the more applicationbased nature of the questions means it’s moreabout how you say something rather than whatyou know. Helen: The main problem is not so much gapsin knowledge but the point at which studentsbegin to address these gaps. If a studentmentions to me two weeks before the exam thatthey had two exemptions at the level there is alot less time to cover these gaps. It sounds soobvious but it is a common occurrence!Knowledge gaps are never insurmountable asthere are plenty of resources available, but giveyourself plenty of time to fill the gaps.Peter: Both for exemptions and for studentstransferring from the previous syllabus. The casestudy tasks often refer to very specific syllabuscontent. I advise all students to review thesyllabus documents for all three subjects andmake sure that you could come up with someexplanation of the topic, its application, itsbenefits and any drawbacks.

Q: There has been lots of chatter aboutintegration marks and real-life businessexamples. What is your advice on these areas?Becky: Don’t worry about them. All thecommunications we have had with CIMAsuggest that there are no specific marks for real-life examples. The integration marks are builtinto the questions, so if you answer the questionthat has been set the integration marks will lookafter themselves.Sue: It’s not possible to identify specifically whatthe integration marks are for in a particular task,

tter than one

Continued on page 22

CKY EVANSHELEN CROFTS SUE

THISTLETHWAITE PETER STEWART

“Although you don’t need to remember every factand figure you should know where to find the

important facts in the pre-seen

PQ May 16 p20-22 q9 cm.qxp_Layout 1 08/04/2016 11:51 Page 3


PQ CIMA roundtable

Five heads are better than one

The May pre-seens

so the best thing to do is not worry about them.CIMA’s guidance is that if you are answering thespecific requirement that has been set in anappropriate manner then you should beautomatically picking these marks up.Helen: There are no direct marks for real-lifebusiness examples and so it is a waste of timetrying to rote learn any. Having said that, havingan awareness of how real companies react tocertain industry problems can help you get intocharacter so would not be a waste of time – justdon’t get obsessed with industry research. Aswith all sections of the marking guide integrationis important, but a sensible student whoaddresses all parts of the requirement usingappropriate knowledge from across all thesyllabus should achieve good marks here. Justanswer the question!Stuart: I agree with my colleagues – if you thinkin a practical way about what you have beenasked, know the pre seen and can explain whatyou mean, you will get these automatically Peter: Candidates should not be looking forspecific marks for any of the five areas beingassessed (four competencies plus integration)when they’re doing the exam. We’ve highlighted‘integration’ as an important feature toencourage students to think broadly and deeplywhen providing a response. So instead ofthinking “this is X topic from F2” you want toprovide a clear response that helps the reader

make a decision or plan some action. It maybring in ideas from other subjects; it may bringin topics from elsewhere in that subject.

Q: Time management is a key on the day, asthe exam tries to simulate a working day. Whatadvice can you give students that would givethem an edge?Becky: Don’t think about the exam as beingthree hours long but as individual questions 30-60 minutes in length (depending on the level).As you can’t jump forward and backwardsbetween tasks it is how you plan your time perquestion that is key. Make sure you split yourtime across the whole question so you don’tleave yourself short of time to finish – if the finalpart of a task all comes from one competencyyou could find yourself in position where you‘fail’ a competency and therefore fail the exam.Sue: Time management should bestraightforward. In each task, look at how manyrequirements there are and allocate your timeevenly between each requirement. The markingguides to date demonstrate that requirementswithin a task will be reasonably evenly weighted.It is very important that you dedicate sufficienttime to each sub-requirement as it will be linkedto a particular skill. Failing to demonstrateminimum competence in one skill means failurein the exam, regardless of how well you do inthe others.Stuart: Comparing this with the previous T4

case, it is so much better from a timemanagement perspective. At strategic, you willusually be faced by three 60-minute sessionsand that helps. Within the 60 minutes there areoften two tasks so divide your time equally; thismay not be how it’s marked, but unless there isa clue in the question it’s the simplest thing todo. Helen: My advice about time management is notto get so panicked about writing enough that youdon’t do sufficient preparation. A well-thought-through, concise answer is likely to score betterthan a long, rambling stream of consciousness.Good planning is essential and will take moststudents between 20-30% of the time available.I suggest for a 45-minute task 10 minutes isabout right. You can then allocate about 1.4minutes per mark to writing up your answer,which should be plenty if you know what you aregoing to say.Peter: I would advise that around 25% of theallowed time for each task is used for thoroughplanning. You should jot down your ideas in theanswering space (not the scratch pad), makingsure that you have something to address each ofthe issues raised in the task. By using theanswer space you can then cut and paste yourplan into your main answer. Start typing theanswer above your plan, perhaps leaving a boldheading saying ‘ANSWER PLAN’ so that markersdon’t think that your jottings are an attempt atan integrated answer. PQ

Continued from page 21

The three case study pre-seens are now out there.Here we look at two of them

Dreempark .Strategic case study students are beingasked to transform themselves into thesenior financial manger forDreempark, a global theme parkoperator.

The vision of founder BurlStanton is key here. He openedthe first park in the UK in 1962and Dreempark prides itself onoffering family entertainment. Itsmajor parks also don’t sellalcohol or tobacco!

Dreempark concentrates onthe complex itself, leaving it to thirdparties to build and operate hotels thatsurround the parks. There is a new parkbeing built in the Far East and thewebsite is already receiving thousands ofhits a day, even though tickets are not yeton sale.

The accounts show revenues andprofits are up, as are visitor numbers.

Dreempark also has an excellent healthand safety record. It has never had a fatalaccident. However, we are told there isalways the risk that accidents can occur,which could be serious. The last page of

the case is a TV news flash abouttrapped visitors on a ride in the Far East,but we knew that was coming.

Animal welfare is also important as ithas dolphins, sea lions and other seacreatures. There is also a petting zoo.One of the press clippings is all about theproblems of dolphins in captivity.

Weather can have a big effect onattendance and covering its parks isbeing explored.

Having parks in many differentcountries means the company is exposedto foreign exchange risk. We discover itutilises financial instruments to hedgeagainst adverse currency movements.

Then we meet Happyworld, the park’sclosest competitor. Could we looking at a

takeover/merger? There is also anMOU with a engineeringconsultancy MIMC, which designstheme parks.

IC Optical .Here management case studiers area financial manager employed by ICOptical, a company that sells glassesand contact lenses though a chain

of high street opticians. You have toprepare the annual budget and help withcosting and pricing.

The company is now listed, but itstarted life as a wife-and-husband team.Its rivals are Newspecs (IC has double itsprofits) and Zimchem.

Interestingly, every citizen in Ceeland isentitled to a free eye test once every twoyears. The government then pays theoptician C$100. If there was a change ingovernment policy this might effect themarket, as in a SWOT analysis wediscover there is little brand loyalty fromcustomers. It also appears competitorsare spending a lot more on marketing.Franchising models, which Newpecsused to grow quickly, and internetsuppliers are other threats.

The company is doing some excitingR&D. One project is developing variablelenses. The second project involvesintegrating glasses with other devices(such as your car).

Store budgeting and control looks setto be a key part of the case. At the tailend of the case you get a typical store’sannual budget. PQ

PQ May 16 p20-22 q9_Layout 1 07/04/2016 13:49 Page 4

The Institute of Certified Bookkeepers

“I was a serving helicopter pilot

with the Army, but changed my

career and I am now an award

winning Certifi ed Bookkeeper”

Natalie Phillips MICB. CB. Dip

HRH Prince Michael of Kent GCVO

I am an award-winning Certifi ed Bookkeeper”

“

To fi nd out if you could become a bookkeeper call

0845 060 2345www.bookkeepers.org.uk/PQ

Becker’s Interactive eBook

Becker’s Interactive eBook is one of the most technically

advanced ACCA preparation tools available. The interactive eBook

is an online resource that merges on page content, video presentation,

tutor notes and audio instruction.

Becker’s Interactive eBook brings topics to life

by combining syllabus learning points with interactive technology

to take advantage of approximately 15 hours of audio and video lectures

per paper from our expert authors and tutors,

including interactive question practise,

video introductions and tutor annotations.

Becker’s interactive eBook provides students the flexibility

and freedom to study whenever and wherever

it’s convenient for them.

eptermber 2016 editions now avalble

for a 25% discount on all ACCA products

Visit:

Becker-atc.com

023_PQ 0516.indd 1 06/04/2016 12:23


PQ awards 2016

PQ tax and health

Meet our PQ of the Year

Sugar tax may leave a bitter taste

Say hello and a very well doneto Manuy Figueroa – musician,AAT and our PQ of the Year2016Manuy Figueroa isn’t your typical

PQ. Well, he’s the PQmagazine’s PQ of the Year

2016 for a start. What a lot of people don’tknow, however, is how much he loves hisnumbers. And he also loves salsa just asmuch!

During the week Manuy works for StMary’s Services Chartered CertifiedAccountants, but at the weekend he playsbass and percussion for Latin Americanmusic makers Manzana Tropical.

Our PQ of the Year couldn’t make theawards night. Unfortunately, he was athome getting over a bout of chickenpox.When he was back at work we travelled tosouth London to see what the future holdsfor him.

Manuy said accountancy was an obviouschoice for him. It provides job security andchance to travel the world and still do hismusic. With so many SMEs in the UK theneed for accountants just keeps ongrowing, he says.

Manuy started his accountancy life onan AAT apprenticeship programme. He isnow AAT qualified and is working as anaccounts co-ordinator. But his life willchange drastically come September, whenhe starts his accounting and financedegree at Leeds Beckett University. Thatmeans he is taking the summer off from

studying. He has been at it since January2013, when he started AAT, and did it allquickly, qualifying at the end of 2015.

At St Mary’s Services he helps with self-assessment tax and VAT returns and thefinancial accounts for limited and soletraders. He also manages a number ofapprentices. Then there are the monthlymanagement accounts. It’s full on – he’sthe only accountant working there at themoment.

Manuy did look at starting his ACCAstudies, but discovered he got nineexemptions on the Leeds Beckett courseand he could go straight into the secondyear. When asked what his favourite AATsubject was, he says he loved the whole ofLevel 4. “It 100% related to my work, everysingle assessment made sense,” he said.

Surprisingly, he disliked Level 3professional ethics the most, mainlybecause it involved a lot of writing and heis a numbers man.

When it came to study and revision,Manuy tried to do something on a weeklybasis. He stressed that it doesn’t matterwhat you do as long as it is something!Even if you are reading a page a day youare doing something, he said.

Manuy found the Osborne books“fantastic” and the Training Place material“was also really good”.

Winning the PQ of the Year has been afantastic boost to his confidence, he said.The staff at St Mary’s are very proud oftheir man, there was a lot of screamingand jumping around when he came intothe office, he said. Manuy still had a bigsmile on his face when PQ visited. PQ

Perfect pitch: ManuyFigueroa hit all theright notes with thePQ Awards judges

Soft drink manufacturers could takethe UK Government to theEuropean court over what has

been described as the ‘discriminatory’sugar tax. The new sugar tax, put forwardin George Osborne’s eighth Budget, maynever see the light of day, as Coca-Colaand other drink makers put together alegal challenge to the proposals.

The soft-drink manufactures look set toargue in court that the tax, due to leviedfrom 2018, is discriminatory because itwill not hit other beverages with highsugar content. This is not an idle threat.There have been successful challenges tosimilar tax moves in Denmark andFinland. Late last year the EuropeanCourt of Justice also blocked Scotland’splan to enforce minimum alcohol pricing.

Chancellor Osborne was hoping the24p a litre tax on high sugar products

would help raise £520m a year. Peter Dylewski, chair of the CIOT’s

indirect taxes sub-committee said:“There had been wide speculation aboutthe sugar tax, but these measures justtarget the soft drink industry.” He saidthe long lead-time has to be welcomed,along with consultation on how the levywill operate.

He explained that this tax is the latestin a long list of taxes designed toinfluence behaviour. The Landfill Tax andAggregates Levy are two other examples.The challenge with all such levies, hestressed, is that if they are successful inachieving their aim the tax take falls.Dylewski said: “While the tax starts withthe soft drinks industry, clearly if it isjudged a success it could be extended.Other sectors will now know theGovernment’s warnings over obesity have

teeth and, if they felt not to be pullingtheir weight, the tax could be extended toswallow them too.”

Many fruit juice and smoothies cancontain more sugar than the traditionalcans of fizz, and should be included inthe new sugar tax, according to someexperts. “It’s a no-brainer to include fruitjuices and smoothies in the levy,” saysUniversity of Liverpool’s Simon Capewell.

Among the drinks that would beexempt, for example, is a Krispy KremeStrawberry Kreme milkshake, whichcontains 21.8g of sugar per 100g. That isdouble the amount of sugar found inCoke (10.6g per 100ml). A McDonald’slarge strawberry milkshake contains 74gof sugar, 50g of which is added. That’s12 teaspoonfuls of sugar and is 160% ofthe recommended daily dose for peopleaged 11 and over. PQ

Will theChancellor’ssugar tax everget off theground?

PQ May 16 p24 q9_Layout 1 07/04/2016 12:10 Page 2

money laundering PQI’m sure many of you will have beenavid viewers of Breaking Bad, the hitUS TV series. If you haven’t seen it,

it is the story of Walter White, a chemistryteacher who is diagnosed with terminalcancer. He decides to use his scientificknowledge for nefarious means,manufacturing the illegal drug crystalmeth to pay for his medical care.

One of the many problems faced byWalter throughout the six series of‘Breaking Bad’ is how to account for themillions of dollars his drug manufacturing‘business’ earns. The main issue is thatmoney earned from drugs is illegal, andthe quantities of cash earned could noteasily be explained to the tax or criminalauthorities. In one scene, an entiregarage is filled with money, stackedalmost from floor to ceiling!

The series demonstrated a number ofways in which these illegal earnings couldbe ‘laundered’ – that is, processed throughfinancial transactions to make it appear‘clean’. Let’s look briefly at how Walter andhis wife Skyler, aided by their corruptlawyer Saul, attempt to launder the moneymade from his drugs operation:• A website was set up by Walter’s son,with the aim of raising money for hisfather’s care. Saul made regularcontributions to the appeal using thedrug money, with the aid of a computerhacker accomplice.• Skylar bought a car washing businessas a way to launder money. The businesswas purchased using drugs money, butWalt and Skylar tell their family he wonthe money playing blackjack. As a cash-driven business it provided a believablereason why Skylar would be able to banklarge deposits of cash on a regular basis.• Walter blackmails a former businesscolleague (who is a multi-millionaire) totake drug money and then to make adonation in trust for his family.

You should see that the commondenominator in all of these schemes wastrying to hide the true origins of themoney – creating a ‘trail’ of transactions(which also often involve off-shore bankaccounts) to make the illegal moneyappear to be legitimate.

Accountants need to be watchful –they deal with a wide range of clients,and may encounter situations in whichthey become aware, or suspect, a clientto be involved in criminal activities. Thereis a legal obligation to report any

Neil Arnott explains the responsibilities accountants all have under the MoneyLaundering Regulations – wide-ranging legislation that you ignore at your peril

levels of cash or overseas accounts), newbusiness ventures that are not typical ofthe core business, or involvement offamily members in the business wherethis would not normally be expected.

Of course, this ‘risk-based’ approach isnot bullet-proof, and accountants mustbe aware that any client who is involvedin illegal activities – typically includingdrugs, smuggling, trafficking, fraud andtax evasion – will be taking steps toensure their criminal deeds remainundiscovered. Accountants must beparticularly aware of the threats offamiliarity and intimidation here; it can bedifficult to remain objective when dealingwith a long-standing client with apreviously unblemished record, and theclients may even try to persuade theaccountant to become intrinsicallyinvolved in the money laundering – eitherby using threats or offering financialinducements.

And one final tip – avoid having anyclients like Walter White! • Neil Arnott is a course tutor atPremier Training

PQ

instances that they know, or believe, tobe money laundering without notifyingtheir client. In an accounting practice thisis most commonly done by completing anInternal Report and submitting this to thefirm’s Money Laundering ReportingOfficer (MLRO), who will then make ajudgement on whether to report this tothe National Crime Agency (NCA). Solepractitioners must complete a SuspiciousActivity Report (SAR) and submit this tothe NCA. Failure to do so – simply‘turning a blind eye’ – could see theaccountant charged with moneylaundering themselves, which carries amaximum sentence of up to 14 yearsimprisonment and an unlimited fine.

So how can accountants minimise therisk of becoming embroiled in a moneylaundering investigation? The mostimportant safeguard is to ‘know yourclient’, by carrying out robust CustomerDue Diligence (CDD) with any newclients, and closely monitoring currentclients’ business to identify any indicativeevents. These could include ‘unusual’transactions (particularly involving high

How to spot a client who is

BREAKING BAD

PQMAGAZINEGOESGLOBALSign up for the Emagazine and read PQmagazine

nomatter where you are –online. Go to

www.pqmagazine.co.uk and sign up for FREE today

online. Go to



PQ internal audit

The latest AAT Professional Diploma in Accounting at Level 4includes a Unit External Auditing. Section 3 is headed ‘Evaluatethe audited entity’s system of internal control’ and there is

reference in 3.1 of the monitoring of controls by management and/or aninternal audit function.

This article therefore will be of interest to those studying this unit and toboth ICB members and students who need an awareness of the internalaudit function, together with ACCA students preparing for F8.

The global Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) defines internal auditing asan independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed toadd value and improve on operations. It helps an organisation accomplishits objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluateand improve the effectiveness of risk management, control andgovernance processes.

This definition is simply a statement of the fundamental purpose, natureand scope of internal auditing. It is an authoritative guidance for theinternal auditing profession and is part of their International ProfessionalPractices Framework (IPPF).

With corporate scandals in the latter decade of the 20th century both inthe US and Europe, there has been greater focus and a more disciplinedapproach to corporate governance.

Developments such as the Cadbury Combined Code UK (1992) andSabanes-Oxley US Legislation (2002), together with the recent FinancialReporting Council’s Corporate Governance Code express the need for strictinternal controls and directors’ responsibility for such controls, as well asthe establishment of audit committees. Directors should review annuallythe internal audit function, and the board should review its scope of work,its authority and resources.

What, then, are the principal activities of an internal audit department?• Examination and evaluation of both financial and operating information.• Review of compliance with legislation and regulations.• Review of internal policies with emphasis on the authorisation oftransactions.• Assessment of internal risk.• Review of the cost effectiveness, efficiency and value for money audits(public sector).

There are, therefore, both differences and similarities between theinternal audit and external audit function.

This can be summarised as:

INTERNAL AUDIT EXTERNAL AUDITScope The scope of the work This is determined by is determined the requirements of by senior management statutory audit

Approach Ensure that the accounting systems To form an opinion are efficient and provide relevant whether the financial and accurate information on which statements present a management decisions can be taken true and fair view

Responsibility To senior management to advise To the shareholders on internal control and governance

There needs to be a professional relationship between the external auditorsand the internal audit department. The external auditors need a clearunderstanding of the internal audit function, so that an effective auditapproach can be planned and whether it is possible or desirable to rely onthe work of the internal audit team. They would need to be assured of thetechnical competence and professional due care of those assigned withthe internal audit responsibility.

It is essential that internal audit should operate in an environment whereit can:• Plan and carry out its work as required.• Have full access to the senior management team through the board andwhere appropriate the audit committee.• To be able to communicate openly with the external auditors.• Be free from operating responsibility.

It is desirable that internal and external auditors meet periodically toshare experiences, benefit from their individual skills expertise andperspectives and thus increase the economy and efficiency of the entireaudit process.

It is often the case within the public sector – for example the NHS,police authorities and district, borough and county councils – that internalauditors conduct value for money (VFM) audits. With the increasedpressure on public sector funding and the need for the provision of qualityservices such exercises have become an integral part of the internal auditfunction.

As we move globally towards the integration of corporate governanceethics and principles in the conduct of business activity it is clear that therole of the internal auditor will gain further prominence.

In conclusion one could ask the question: would the recent Tescoscandal have been avoided with more strict internal controls? • Dr Philip E Dunn, Assessor and Freelance Writer, Kaplan Financial

PQ

AWATCHFULEYEPhilip Dunn outlines therole of the internal audit

function in ensuring goodgovernance is

maintained

pq may 16 p26 q9.qxp_Layout 1 08/04/2016 11:45 Page 2

To Register TodayCall: 020 7252 9331

Visit: www.thetrainingplace.orgEmail: [email protected]

Practical Training Courses: Ÿ Sage Line 50Ÿ Sage PayrollŸ Excel SpreadsheetŸ Value Added Tax (VAT)Ÿ Management Accounts Ÿ and othersŸ

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

FREE Apprenticeships: Ÿ AccountingŸ Business Admin Ÿ Customer Service

TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR CAREER WITH PRACTICAL TRAINING AND GUARANTEED

WORK PLACEMENT

Age 16-23?

Two choices

for tax!

“Tax is a really good career choice because it gives you the opportunity to be involved at the highest

levels of business in a way that isn’t off ered by all careers” – Glynis Moore, Head of Group Tax at Fujitsu

A well-paid and secure career in taxati on stands on being tax qualifi ed and gaining the experience.

Find out more about tax compliance at: www.att .org.uk/workingintax

Find out more about tax advisers at: www.tax.org.uk/workingintax

027_PQ 0516.indd 1 31/03/2016 15:52


PQ ICAEW spotlight

Check our exam checklistYou’ve done the revision, but are

you prepared for the day of the

exam? Tutor Harvey Kennett offers

some tips on getting it right

The day before .

Check your admission details on

icaew.com/exams. This will have your candidate

number and the exam centre address. Make

sure you arrive 30 minutes before the start of

your exam.

What you can bring .

Check what permitted texts you should have Ð

visit icaew.com/permittedtexts

Make sure you have… .

¥ Two forms of ID.

¥ Your own black ballpoint pen. Other pens

donÕt scan as well and the markers can only give

marks for what they can see.

Don’t panic! .

Good preparation with lots of exam practise will

improve your confidence Ð thereby decreasing

your stress on the day. A positive mental attitude

goes a long way to making sure you pass.

Read the question .

It sounds simple, but you must read the

question fully and then answer that question.

Stay on topic and remember not to deviate away

from what the question is asking.

Question practice .

Whether you are sitting one of the knowledge or

skills-based exams, you will need to know the

technical content so learn the syllabus. The

question bank, sample papers and past papers

show you how you will be tested, and show you

what to expect in your exam. They are essential

to your exam prep; find them at

icaew.com/examresources

Consider your layout .

¥ Consider the format that you expect to see in

the exam paper and use in your answers and

learn it.

¥ Always show your workings. The marker can

only give you credit for your method if they can

see it.

¥ For discursive exams make each point clear

and separate. Put every point in a separate

paragraph.

Timing is everything .

The simplest way to manage your time is to look

at how many marks each requirement has and

allocate your time accordingly. You can even

note down when you should move on to the next

question if it helps.

During the exam .

¥ Follow the instructions on the front sheet of

the exam paper. You may sign, date and print

your name on the answer booklet before the

start of the exam but that is all.

¥ Stay within the lines. Anything written outside

of the answer booklet grid will not be scanned,

so will not be marked.

¥ Make sure you start answering each question

on a new page.

¥ Use both sides of the answer booklet.

¥ DonÕt use corrector fluid or tape as it can

affect what the marker sees (and marks). If you

make an error cross it out neatly and carry on.

Time’s up .

When time is up you must stop writing

immediately. Any further writing will be classed

as misconduct and your details passed on to the

ICAEW Assessment Committee.

This includes: filling in your candidate details,

numbering pages, crossing out or signing your

name.

For a comprehensive list of dos and donÕts for

your exam read through the Instructions to

Candidates guidelines at icaew.com/exams

• Harvey Kennett is a tutor at First Intuition

PQ

Documentation is an important tool to

understand how systems work. A system

interacts with various business processes in an

organisation and its inputs, processes and

outputs. Documentation covers who, what,

when, where, why and how of data entry,

processing, output and controls.

Accountants need

documentation to understand how

processes work in a systemic

context, it helps accountants in

evaluating the strengths and

weaknesses of an entityÕs internal

controls. Accountants pursue

documentation to determine if a

proposed system meets the needs

of its users in the organisation.

Documentation includes various

types of tools, mainly narratives,

flowcharts, and data flow diagrams.

The greatest amount of skill is

needed to prepare documentation.

If you are a member of a team that is

developing a new system then you must

prepare documentation to show how both the

existing and the proposed systems operate.

Data Flow Diagrams (DFDs) are the most

common documentation tool for accountants to

show the data flow. DFDs are graphical

descriptions of sources and destinations of data

and shows where data comes from and how it

flows, the processes performed on it and,

ultimately, where the data goes. Data flow

diagram consists of four basic elements,

namely, data courses and destinations depicted

in squares represents organisations and

individuals sends and receive data used or

produced by the system.

Data flows are represented by arrows

showing the flow of data between sources and

destinations, transformation processes are

depicted as circles showing transformation of

data. Lastly, data stores are

represented by two horizontal lines

showing temporary or permanent

depositary of data as presented in

the diagram (left).

The highest level of DFD is called

a context diagram and it shows a

summary level view of the system, it

depicts a data processing system

and the external entities that are

sources of inputs and destinations

of its output.

• Chitharanjandas Chinnapaka is an

AIA Achieve e-tutor. The AIA Achieve

team is producing a series of ‘A

Quick Look at….’ articles and more can be

found on the AIA website:

www.aiaworldwide.com/a-quick-look-at

A QUICK LOOK AT... Documentation techniques for accountants:Data flow diagrams

FIGURE 1: Data flow diagram of

the customer payment process

Customer

Bank

Accounts

Receivable

Credit

Manager

1.0 Process

Payment

2.0

Update

A/R

Customer

payment

Remittance

data

Deposit

Receivables

information


About you

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

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

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

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

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

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

Full postal address Home ▫ Work ▫

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

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

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

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

029_PQ 0516.indd 1 31/03/2016 12:50

Shouting 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. Our latest

research, the Hays Global Gender Diversity

Report 2016, found that 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. Here are six ways to

raise your profile in the workplace to help you

with your career progression:

1. Meet your targets First things first – perform

well and meet your targets. This shows your

employer your future potential. If you want to be

recognised professionally it needs to be for the

right reasons.

2. Shout about your successes and show your

enthusiasm Don’t be afraid to shout about your

successes to others. If you are working hard and

performing well don’t be embarrassed to share

your success with your boss and colleagues. Be

sure to shout about the success of peers and

colleagues too, as it helps show you thrive in a

high performance culture.

Be open about your enthusiasm to learn and

take on new responsibilities, whether this is

through shadowing a colleague, becoming a

designated IT expert or volunteering to learn new

skills and take on projects that go above and

beyond your job description.

3. Invest in your own development Nothing

shows you are keen to progress like investing in

continued development of your own skills. You

will be learning technical accounting skills as

you study for your exams, but think about any

additional training you might need to develop

your IT or communication skills. Put yourself

forward for training opportunities or request

opportunities to shadow your colleague in

another department for example.

4. Find yourself a mentor To get noticed you

need to be pushing yourself outside your comfort

zone. Find yourself a mentor, someone whose

career path you admire and who can give you

regular guidance on what skills you need to

30

PQ careers

PQ Magazine May 2016

Six steps to heavendevelop to progress. The benefits of a mentor are

two-fold. Not only can they offer you guidance

and support, they can also be a positive

advocate for you to other people in the

organisation, or potential employers in their

network in the future.

5. It’s about your attitude as much as your

aptitude Nothing will affect your reputation like a

good attitude on top of your aptitude! Get

yourself into a positive frame of mind. When you

see a problem or challenge take a solution to

your boss, not just a problem. When your boss

gives you feedback take it on board and act on it

in a tangible way. This will demonstrate that you

are serious about your development and respect

their views.

6. Stand out and speak up in meetings This

means preparing well for meetings by getting

sight of the agenda and delegates in advance.

Start to formulate your views, ideas and relevant

action points beforehand so that you are fully

armed to stand out in that all important meeting.

Above all, it’s about taking ownership of your

career, being proactive and taking the initiative

without being afraid or embarrassed to

communicate your successes and raise your

profile in the workplace. If you don’t take control

and take steps to self-promote and push ahead

in your career, no one will do this for you.

Find out more about ambition in the workplace

at http://gender-diversity.haysplc.com

• Karen Young, Director, Hays Accountancy

and Finance

PQ

Speak up for yourself and you can take control of your career, says

Karen Young, who offers six suggestions to help you do just that



careers PQ

31

Brainhack – tips and tricks tounleash your brain’s fullpotential, by Neil Pavitt(Capstone, £10.99)

Stories about computer hackingperpetually make the newsheadlines and this book showsyou how to hack into the world’smost sophisticated computer –your brain. And, as the authorexplains, unlocking the potentialof your brain really can changehow you think and act.

This book has plenty of strongpoints, one of which is itsdivision into 45 ‘bite-sized’chunks. These are split into fivesections: Thinking Smarter;Getting Started; ProblemSolving; Idea Generation; andBreaking Through andInnovating. Another is that it issimply full of surprises. Take

the concept of ‘power posing’(or preening yourself in front ofa mirror). It seems ridiculous tothink that power posing beforean important meeting andacting out like Superman orWonder Woman could help. Butresearch shows that it does – itincreases confidence andbanishes nerves. Just don’t letanyone see you doing it!

This book is full of goodnews, too. Like it’s good towatch cat videos online and eatchocolate. Dark chocolate is aproven stress-buster, whilelaughing (at anything) really isthe best medicine, accoding tothe author, who cites plentifulresearch to back his thesis.

A lot of the advice is plaincommon sense – point 14 isentitled simply ‘Stop moaning’.Pavitt explains that while a

small moan canhelp us deal withmore minorstressful situations(like being stuck onthe bus), too muchmoaning can be really bad forus. Apparently, moaning createsthe stress hormone cortisol, toomuch of which can damage thebrain’s ability to functionproperly and even lead tomemory loss.

The author kicks off this bookby explaining that 95% of allour brain activity is unconsious,meaning that we are only incontrol of 5% of our brain.Reading this book can help youtake back control and makemore use of the old grey matter.PQ rating 5/5 Easy to read andhighly informative, there’splenty of food for thought here.

Women earn £17k lessNew research has shown

that women in accountancy earn£17,000 less than men. Totalremuneration for women stands atan average of £67,680, while menearn £84,970. Men also did betterwhen it comes to their bonus. Theaverage bonus for men was equalto 18.2% of their basic salary; it is13.9% for women. The only good

news, if there is any, is the factthat the gender pay gap isshrinking.

New boss at HMRCHMRC has turned to

senior Whitehall civilservant and accountantJon Thompson toreplace former boss LinHomer. He has become

the new permanent secretary atHMRC. Previously, Thompson(pictured) was doing the samejob at the Ministry of Defence,where he worked for seven years.Thompson started his

accountancy career as an AATand is now a qualified memberof CIPFA. He is also a formerhead of the Government

Finance Profession.

In brief

The PQ Book Club: books you should read

Daphne Sanya (“let’s just pretend I’m 21”) is a resourcing and marketing executivebased in London. She he has a degree in Applied Social Science from Goldsmithsuniversity. She was named Training Manager of the Year at the PQ Awards 2016

Life at The Training Place

What time does your alarmgo off on a working day?5.30am, but I tend to wake up afew minutes before that.What’s the first thing you dowhen you get to your desk?Switch on my computer. I have ascreensaver of a beautiful ship –written on it is “Ships are safe inharbour… but that’s not whatships are made for”.What’s on your desk? My PQAward, and all my pink officesupplies.What’s the best thing aboutwhere your work? The people Icome across – they all havesomething worth sharing and Ilove listening/talking.Where’s your favourite placeto go for lunch? I tend to eat ahomemade lunch, then go to the

car dealership next door to stareat the luxury cars and talk to theteam. It keeps me motivated.What (or who) can you seewhen you sit at your desk? Pretty much everything going onin our open plan office.What are your favouritewebsites and why? Google – ithas everything I want.Which websites do you usefor work? Google again.How many hours a week doyou spend in meetings? Itvaries – five hours roughly. What time do you leave theoffice? 5.30pm, unless I need tobuy something online – then I stayto indulge in some retail therapy.How do you relax? Watching aMarilyn Monroe movie with a glassof Argentinean Malbec.

What’s your favorite tipple?Rose champagne.How often do you take workhome? I don’t. I would rathercome to work early to get it done.What is your favourite TVshow? I love Frasier, and DoctorFoster, Luther and some cartoons.Summer or winter? Both.Pub or club? I prefer bars – Ican dance, socialise and stay tilllate if needed.Who is your hero? My sisterTiffany Sanya – she is thedefinition of a go-getter. If you hadn’t chosenaccountancy, where mightyou be right now? Working withpeople in any field as a mentor orcareers adviser, as I enjoyencouraging, supporting andproviding advice and guidance.

social mediaROUND-UP

Our tweets on #PanamaPapers havebeen busily retweeted this month. Weexplained that RSM’s George Bullthought that PanamaLeaks was biggerthan WikiLeaks. We still have to beconvinced about that even thoughHMRC apparently wrote to theInternational Consortium ofInvestigative Journalists (who they?)asking for a copy of the 11million-plusdocuments which cover 40 years of‘stuff’. @PQmagazine wondered ifanyone could think of three legitimatereasons why individuals need to havetheir money offshore in Panama?Russell Hague wondered if anybodycould give one reason, and CainSquires agreed: “No! Sorry!”. WilliamPaterson, however, gave it a try: “Niceexcuse for a holiday there. Convenientfor a stop-off on a cruise on thePanama Canal. Finally, you could keepyour spending money there to pay for asalsa course.”

Another popular tweet was ourhomage to Ronnie Corbett. One of hisbest ‘newsreader’ gags was: “Therewas a fire at the main Inland Revenueoffice in London today, but it was put

out before any serious good was done.”As we said last month, someone you

should ‘friend’ on Facebook if you arean ACCA P2 student is Tom Clendon,our former PQ Lecturer of the Year. Heis now offering a P2 exam markingservice where you get his mock exam,which he then marks and givesvaluable feedback. You also get a fullanswer and some extra revisionmaterial – all for £25 (you have toprivate message him).

We have to thank LinkedIn for givingus a head’s up for the CIMA and AICPAjoint venture ballot. We knew thatvarious dignitaries were touring thecountry to explain the proposals, but wedidn’t know the voting was starting on18 April! The two bodies started theirjoint venture in 2012 – this is a ‘we-should- live-together-but-it-isn’t-a-full-blown- marriage-proposal-just-yet-where-I-take-your-name-and-everything’arrangement.

PQ May 16 p31 q9_pq oct07-p31 07/04/2016 13:53

opening doors

Financial Accountant

Manufacturing, Surrey

To £35,000

•Part-qualifiedaccountant

•Acareerdefiningmovetoaprestigiousinternationally

recognisedmanufacturingcompany

•Providingsupportforthefinancialplanning,analysisand

reportingprocess

•WorkingwiththeAreaSalesManagertosupportdecision

making

•Responsiblefor3entitiesinmarketsinUK,ROI,EMEA

•OrdertoCash;responsiblefortheaccuraterecordingof

volume,revenueandCOGS

•ProcuretoPay;creationofPurchaseRequisitionsand

GoodReceipting

•KnowledgeofSAPorsimilarsystem

•Opportunitytotravel

•Ref:50925

Senior Financial Planning AnalystHealthcare, Surrey

To £40,000

•ReportingtotheFinanceDirector

•Experiencedaccountantwithprovenworkexperiencein

afastpacedenvironment

•Becomingakeymemberofagrowingandexciting

businesswithopportunityforprogression

•Heavilyinvolvedwiththebudgetsandforecasting

•Takingeventualownershipofregularmergersand

acquisitions

•Workinginateamresponsibleforthefinancialfunctionof

a£68mplusturnovermulti-sitebusiness

•Significantexposuretotheseniormanagementteam

•Agenuineopportunitytobecomeapivotaldrivingforcein

thefutureofthebrandinamanagementposition

•KnowledgeofTM1orsimilarsystem

•Ref:50885

T+44(0)[email protected]

redefining financialrecruitment

032_PQ 0516.indd 1 31/03/2016 12:46

I need to findpqjobs.co.uk now!

PQ jobs pqjobs.co.uk

Your jobs board

033_PQ 0516.indd 1 01/04/2016 15:19


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

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 be

received by Friday 13 May. The main draw will take place on Monday 16 May 2016.

TO ENTER THESE GIVEAWAYS EMAIL [email protected]

Stuck in a dead-end job as a trainee ledger

clerk? Are you, like Billy Bailey, dreaming of

running away to become a circus

accountant? This is only a storyline you

would find in Viz (no. 253)! ‘Big Top Billy’

finally gets the chance to run away to the

circus and even meets the Great Wallendo,

the most famous circus accountant there has

ever been! He is the man who once did a

triple entry audit. After a series of disastrous

events trainee accountant Billy gets the

chance to prepare the books for the VAT man

who is due to visit the following day. Viz

dedicates a double-paged spread to the story

about sundry purchases and we find circus

accounting is harder than it looks!

TIME TO RUN AWAY TO THE CIRCUS

Colour yourself calmThe exams are on the way, so we thought you might

need our help to keep calm. Up for grabs are three

‘Colour Yourself Mindfulness’ books, with 100

mandalas and motifs to colour in to help you reduce

those stress levels. It really is a chance to find inner

calm by colouring in the beautiful artworks by

Melissa Launay.

Email [email protected] with your name

and address to be in with a chance of winning this

giveaway. Head up your email ‘Colour Yourself’.

Backing up with PQPQ magazine has put together a handy

little pack to help you on your way. We

have a PQ memory stick to give away

(2GB of memory) along with an HTFT ‘£’

stress reliever and an AIA water bottle

and shoulder bag. We will also throw in

pack of Accountancy Plus’s ‘Double Entry dominoes to aid revision.

To be in with a chance of being sent this great giveaway send your name

and address to [email protected]. Head up your email ‘PQ

stress relief’.

Chartered accountant

Shaney is one of 16

‘volunteers’ for the

third series of ‘The

Island with Bear

Grylls’. She says she

applied for the

survival show because

she feels she hasn’t

challenged herself

physically or

emotionally so far.

Her life up to this

point has been all

about studying and

the job. Shaney wants

to prove she is more

than just the

qualification she has

worked for. The last

time she did anything

outdoors was a

caravan holiday when

she was 10! In

episode one she

backed up Doctor

Alice on the fact that

it is fine to drink

dank, stagnant water

– cue the throwing

up…

THE RIGHT EQUATIONIn a bold move the Romania football squad

changed its squad numbers to mathematical

equations ahead of a recent game against

Spain. The unusual alteration was part of a

national initiative to awaken Romanian

children’s interest in maths! At 18%, the

Romanian school drop-out rate is one of the

highest in the EU.

THEGREAT OUTDOORS

CIPFA Student

Network’s Chris

Roberts

Inbetweeners’

Will McKenzie

(Simon Bird)

SEPARATED AT BIRTHI’M JAMMING US police have

charged accountant Dennis Nicholl with jamming fellow

rail travellers’ mobile phones. Using a hand-held device,

Nicholl effectively created his own quiet carriage – he was

dubbed by the judge a member of the “cellphone police”.

But creating some peace and quiet could come at a high

price as he could face prison for unlawfully interfering with

a public utility. This isn’t Nicholl first offence – he was

charged with a similar one in 2009.

WHAT IS THE HOURLYRATE AGAIN, COBBER?A Pakistani accountancy student employed by

an Australian 7-Eleven is taking the chain to

court, claiming he was paid just 47

cents an hour to work there. His

lawyers said the student was paid

$325 for 695 hours of work at a

Sydney store. The student,

identified only as Sohail, was in

Australia on a student visa while

completing a diploma in

accounting. 7-Eleven have said they

have now implemented a range of measures to

prevent any similar happenings. These include a

centralised payroll for all stores and franchises,

more frequent audits and the rolling out of an

electric time-sheet system.

LOSE WEIGHT AND EARN MOREPeople who are genetically fat and short can now blame

their parents for the fact that they aren’t earning as

much as their taller, slimmer colleagues. Scientists are

claiming that men who are short and women who are

overweight lose out financially, irrespective of any social

disadvantage. The University of Exeter study found a

man three inches shorter than a colleague will earn

£1,500 a year less. Women who are a stone heavier

than a colleague earn £1,500 a year less, too.

Researcher Professor Tim Frayling felt that the results

show a world still obsessed with body image.

PQ BYNUMBERS

• 23,846 the number

of non-existent ‘ghost

workers’ the Nigeria

government removed

from its February

payroll, saving $11.5m

• 2098 the year when

more people will be

dead than alive on

Facebook, a statistician

has calculated. Needs

to get out more…

pq may 16 p34 q9.qxp_pq aug 13 fun 06/04/2016 13:14 Page 42

Choose LSBF today and invest in your future.

We provide bespoke learning solutions to individuals and organisations.

LSBF Executive Education will boost your career in accounting or

finance, bringing you out on top.

Find out more: www.lsbf.org.uk/pq-executive | +44 (0) 20 3005 6236

• Postgraduate Certificate in Finance

• Postgraduate Certificate in Finance and Management

• Postgraduate Certificate in Accounting and Financial Management

• Financial Management Programme

• Advanced Certificate in Financial Planning and Analysis

THE SKYIS THE LIMIT

035_PQ 0516.indd 1 04/04/2016 09:29

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 0516.indd 1 04/04/2016 09:29

pq magazine, may 2016

Documents