Well, exams over, and here I am, back from the land of the dead. Alright, alright, kidding, I'm not implying that ACCA people are 'dead'. WAIT A MINUTE... Actually that's quite true, isn't it? Hahahaha, I guess now that I'm hopefully over, and out of the programme named ACCA, I can thereby insult as much as I like. Anyway, on summary, now that my college life is pretty much over *sighs*, I can slowly think how I'm gonna spend my days.

Or more appropriately, how I am going to rot over the next 2 months. XD

Anyway, at the request of a fellow MSN-er, I will hereby review my ACCA examinations.

The first paper was P7, advanced audit and assurance. It was a little more manageable than the other 3 papers, admittedly. Not much of a surprise and when I talked to Mr Goh, he said it's not too difficult, so I guess that's a plus point. However, as ACCA is, we know that when the paper is easy, the marking scheme gets screwed up. So.. hahaha I really don't know what to say.

Mr Marcus and Mr Goh were cute together, especially when they both speak cantonese, wahahaha..


Anyway, then there's P4, Advanced Financial Management. I swear to god something is rather messed up with our new examiner, this bloody idiot. Why? All you need to do is watch the Pilot paper, the Dec2007 and June2008 papers to get a reason. WHY? Study the whole topic, and the finals end up putting you on your wits end. There was quite a general feeling that it's quite a retarded paper, and even pros find it difficult. Honestly, I thought it was hard too, but I thought it's more due to a lack of practice and question-drumming than actual lack of knowledge.

But then again it might be a shift in the way the exams itself will be tested, as there's a general gut feeling inside as if it'll be very different from this semester onwards, as if the emphasis is slowly shifting from knowledge, and more towards a emphasis on great levels of understanding and ability to manipulate existing processes. It felt as if they wanted to train us to be able to deal with a lack of information and require us to respond accordingly. Thus P4, I must say, is at the forefront of this change. They are shifting away from actual calculation, towards an expectation that we really know what's going on in the case.

I guess after a few sittings they realized that the students are wholly depending on the past year questions and answers as a 'guide' for their future answers, and not actually 'responding' to the question. I guess they began to feel as if questions are getting a tad to predictable.

P1.

The first scenario, was loosely based on the Three Gorges Dam issue in China that began a few years ago. It was a major issue back then, and for those who actually knew what the scenario was based on, would actually be able to relate better to the case and therefore answer accordingly. I was grateful for once that all that extra reading I do on Times or Newsweek is actually useful for once.

Yet there were certain complications with the question, mainly the chairman's statement, that seemed oddly familiar with the annual reports. On review it was quite a manageable paper, but the complication is about making a significant issue out of something seemingly unimportant. I guess on this, nitpicky ladies with a talent of whipping up a huge fuss will do well.

P2.

First question, on first glance I felt the question seemed poorly made, as if there weren't any detailed reviews on the questions, and I believe this issue will soon be raised on the examiner's report. However, it was generally quite manageable, requiring understanding of IAS21, IAS19, and the typical intra-group issues.

Q2, on the other hand was IFRS8, with a twist. They wanted us to apply it, and to do so we needed to know what needs breaking up, and we need consideration whether it is correct or not. Otherwise it wasn't very very tough. It was a part that with preparation you'd be able to asnwer.

Q3, was on a variety of issues. Part (a) was on the definition of a liability and equity and clearly it required an assessment of whether the B shares constituted a liability, and whether the payment can be classified as a dividend payment out of shares, or whether the substance of it suggest towards a remuneration expense, and thus I felt it was a question of the framework and substance over form.

(b) The annuity paid to directors echoed of the defined benefit scheme, as it appeared to be the closest match for the issue, and thinking back, IAS19 really was the appropriate standard to apply, as the issue of PV of annuity is not covered anywhere else.

Part c and part d were slightly tricky, but part c was oddly familiar, with a deferred consideration to be considered whether it's part of cost of investment, or a normal remuneration expense. Part d on the other hand, was an issue with classification of whether it can be set as a current liability. So I approached it whether there was certainty and evidence to support such a treatment.. I'm not sure though, Part d by far was something I've never seen in my life.

Q4, on the issue of first time adoption of IFRS, governed by IFRS1 and also the issues pertaining to selective adoption of IFRS. It somewhat echoes the issue in the SME standards, of allowing alternatives to SMEs on their accounts, and also the issue of ethics and corporate governance, on how entities will apply standards that portray a positive figure. On rethinking it was a question I could crap on, but clearly not worth the 17 marks they allocate to it, thus not taking question was in my opinion a smart move.


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Summary.

I spoke to Mr Jay today, when I was at Sunway Resort. It turns out he seemed to have the odd gut feeling as if ACCA will just get harder from this semester onwards and from experiencing the questions first hand, I couldn't but agree. Papers where the issues have such a wide scope will find itself suddenly expecting students to come up with models and issues that are perhaps a tad to practical for the students.

I guess if that is true, I suspect it would spell the end of people going on suicide missions, taking 4 papers at one go. Of course, I hope not.

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Yeah, so much of a summary. Anyway, MGS4 launch later. Hopefully a karaoke session soon. XD