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F3 EXAMINERS COMMENTS SUMMARY

This summary has been made to assist ACCA students around the world with their forthcoming exams. GTG has tried to summarise important points from discussions with examiners; exam paper analysis and examiners comments. We hope this will help you. Please feel free to email us at enquiries@GetThroughGuides.com or visit our website at www.GetThroughGuides.com. In addition our GTG forum provides FREE support to students on their ACCA studies have a look at www.GetThroughGuides.co.uk/forum

1. Format of paper:
Exam for F3 can be either taken as a computer based examination (CBE) or as a paper based examination. The question paper consists of 50 compulsory questions. Out of this 10 questions carry one mark each and 40 questions are worth 2 marks each. The examiner considers that since the knowledge papers are of a fundamental level only the candidates should have a sound grasp and technical proficiency in all subject areas. Therefore all the questions are compulsory. The time allotted is 2 hours. The pass mark is 45 out of 90 or 50%. F3 consists of objective questions only. Students must answer short questions by selecting the right option from a choice of two, three, or four alternatives. Multiple choice questions include true or false, and the CBE version also includes multiple response matching questions.

2. Examiner interview 2009 (general points):

Strong areas Topics where students did well: double entry bookkeeping documentation of accounting transactions preparation of control accounts non-current asset transactions recording and valuation of inventory accounting concepts / qualitative characteristics events after reporting date and basic provisions Weak areas Topics where students didnt do so well suspense accounts and errors partnerships statements of cash flows intangible assets provisions Students tend to overlook some accounting standards such as changes in accounting policy, recognition and amortisation of intangible assets, revaluation of non-current assets and provisions. Suggestions to improve weak areas For topics such as accounts preparation, partnerships and statements of cash flows, although a full question will not be asked, practice a full question in order to be able to deal with the subject in its entirety. pay attention to particular areas of the syllabus which are found to be difficult in order to deal with questions on these topics.

3. Focus Points:
Get Through Guides Pay attention to theoretical knowledge like the financial reporting framework since one mark questions are usually based on theory and logic. These are easy marks and hence do not lose them. Although double entry bookkeeping, recording basic transactions through to more complex items such as revaluation of non current assets, recording provisions or valuing inventory are important, dont study only these topics and exclude the others. Practice as many questions as possible. As discussed earlier, practice full questions along with the multiple choice questions. You can use pilot papers, materials of a reputed publication for exam standard questions. Although students should study the whole syllabus, they should allocate their revision time to the key areas and to the areas which they find difficult.

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4. Major pitfalls:
Lack of knowledge on all subject areas and the link between the different subject areas. Rushing through the paper for the fear that all 50 questions might not get solved in the allocated time. Finally, leaving the questions unanswered due to lack of time or understanding.

5. How to improve:
In the examination, read the questions carefully including all the alternative choices of answer to each question. Candidates should remember that the examiner puts in a lot of careful thought not only into each question and the correct answer but also into the distracters (the wrong answers to a multiple choice question). If the student does not know the answer, or is running out of time, he/she should guess and select one option rather than skipping any question as there is no negative marking. Do not leave any question unanswered. As there are no marks for workings, when you know that you can answer the question, do it carefully. Some students feel that they cannot complete the paper in the given time and rush through the paper from the beginning, and end up with lot of time in hand but without answering the questions with full concentration. Do not dwell for too long on any question that you are not sure about, dont understand or simply dont know the answer to. For each question try for a reasonable time and if you realise that you cannot do it, move on to the next question. When all questions are done, come back to the question which you left unsolved earlier and then try again or guess the answer. At the same time, remember that there is enough time and hence read the questions carefully and understand them well to arrive at the correct answers. Workings should be double checked wherever possible in the paper based exams since even a slight error will give you no marks.

QUESTION SPECIFIC EXAMINATION COMMENTS 1. Time planning

Although planning the time and using the given time effectively is very important, the students should note that there are some questions which can be answered quickly and others (containing statements and computation) where the students need to read, understand and apply before they can select their answer or answers. Therefore practice as many questions as you can so that you can identify those questions which need more time and those which can be answered instantly. This will help you in time planning as you cannot fix the time per question.

2. Examiners reports
The following table is based only on the 3 sample questions given in each years examiners reports from Dec 2007 to Dec 2008. These are the questions where a majority (more than 2/3rd) of the students failed to give the right answers. Examiners analysis for past three sittings (Dec 2007 to Dec 2008) Exam Dec 2008 Overall performance According to the examiner, the overall performance had improved as compared to June 2008 but was not up to the mark as the pass rate was only 50%. Questions where most students made mistakes Receivables control account reconciliation Why students cannot perform well in the questions In the question on receivables account, every option has to be evaluated before selecting the correct response. It is found that students do not pay much attention towards the topic. Students also do not understand the memorandum account and the flow of the transaction. Students should study the topic carefully. There are a number of issues to consider in the question related to the accounting treatment of irrecoverable debts and the

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The accounting treatment of irrecoverable debts and the allowance for receivables

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Considering the outflow on account of purchase of non-current asset

allowance for receivables such as the calculation of the closing allowance for receivables, the charge to the income statement and the debt that has been recovered in the current year. Students failed to consider all. Students should read the questions carefully, understand it and solve step by step. Recheck the calculations once again. Generally in such questions, information related to the noncurrent assets is given such as depreciation and carrying amounts at different dates. Students are expected to calculate the amount of purchases. Students are advised to prepare a T-form account to record the given information and to calculate the balancing figure. For this knowledge from incomplete records is also useful. The question includes cash as well as trade discount. It is found that the students cannot differentiate between the accounting treatments for different discounts. Understand the difference between the two types of discounts and their accounting treatment. Students failed to understand that the sale of goods to staff would be a cash receipt for petty cash. This may be because they did not read the question carefully. According to the examiners observation, students have a problem dealing with the effect of accruals and prepayments. It is very important to read the dates carefully to avoid unnecessary errors. This was a key area in this paper and questions will often go beyond the simple calculation of an accrual and prepayment to ask for the effect on profit or assets / liabilities so students must ensure they are prepared for this.

June 2008

A disappointing pass rate of only 48% compared with 67% in December 2007. Overall performance was very poor.

Accounting for discount

Petty cash account

Accrual and prepayment

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Dec 2007

According to the examiner, the overall performance had improved but there were still certain areas where students understanding was not thorough enough.

Partnership

The financial reporting framework

Suspense account

According to the examiner, students failed to read the requirements of the question properly. This is basic exam technique. It is imperative that candidates answer the question asked, not the one they presume will be asked, or the one they would have liked to answer. According to the examiners observation, students do not take the regulatory framework and the role of accounting bodies seriously and do not study. Students should study all the topics. The examiner found that in the question related to suspense account, students have a lack of understanding of error correction and double entry. This is an area which is tested in numerous questions in each examination, and should be mastered prior to attempting the F3 examination.

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