TARC ACCA 2005

CIMA tips from the website

CIMA exam tips...right here 07/10/2005



You can rely on Pass to come up with comprehensive exam tips from some of the best lecturers in the business




We have teamed up with our chums at BPP, FTC, LVMT and Reed Business School to bring you the hottest CIMA tips in town for the second sitting of the new syllabus.
WARNING: HANDLE WITH CARE
A quick guide to using our tips
• Revise well before use
• Revise further after use
• Keep out of reach of those without good syllabus coverage
• Keep away from question spotting
• Contains great tips

For the November 2005 exam it is a little easier than in May to try and predict likely topics due to the fact it is now the second sitting.
Examiners try to avoid question spotting. Just because a question featured under the old syllabus or in May, it doesn’t mean it won’t feature this time. Use our tips to guide your revision but remember other than the examiner nobody knows for sure what will appear in the exam.



Paper 1
Management Accounting Performance Evaluation – BPP
Section A
• Costing systems
• Modern business environment and costing
• Standard costing and variance analysis
• Budgeting
• Forecasting techniques
• Performance appraisal
• Transfer pricing


Section B

The questions in section B may include the following areas:
• Modern costing systems - ABC is the most likely (make sure you know the advantages and disadvantages as well as being able to get through calculations fairly quickly)
• Budgeting systems eg traditional/incremental budgeting v zero-based budgeting
• Responsibility centres - ratio analysis, ROI and RI
• Transfer pricing

Section C
• Activity based costing and other aspects of world class manufacturing
• Budgeting




Paper 2
Management Accounting Decision Management – BPP
Section A
* Learning curves
* Optimal pricing


Section B
* Modern management accounting techniques (possibly in section C)
* Pricing
* Investment appraisal
* Uncertainty

Section C
* Pricing
* NPV calculations with sensitivity



Paper 3
Management Accounting Risk and Control Strategy – FTC
Due to the integrated nature of the compulsory question, and the diverse balance of topics covered in the Pilot paper and the May 2005 exam, these tips should be taken with much caution.
• Risk - measuring/internal controls and Turnbull/risk management strategy
• Audit -audit types, eg VFM
• Control systems - systems theory/feedback control/modern developments
• Financial risk - computations on currency risk/discussion regarding prediction of exchange rates (PPPT/IRPT)
• Information strategy - ERPS/basic theory


Paper 4
Organisational Management and Information Systems – LVMT
Section A
* Design documentation techniques (the data flow diagrams, the entity relationship model and the entity life history
* Systems analysis (functional and physical requirement for a new system, invitation to tender, in-house verses purchased systems
* Product life cycle and the 4Ps
* Human resource management aspects (planning human resources and human resource cycle)

Section B
* Operations management. Emphases should be placed on (the supply chain management and quality in organisation).
* Management theories (especially the classical theorist, and the human relations movement)
* Change management.

Section C
• Change management
• * Operations management (with particular reference to JIT, MRPOPT)
• Marketing aspects


Paper 5
Integrated Management - Reed Business School
Section A:
* A thorough knowledge of short definitions is essential

Section B:
• Process of strategy formulation and
• The tools used for strategic analysis
• Project life cycle
• The skills required of a project manager
• The disciplinary section of the learning outcomes

Candidates will also need to be familiar with and identify structural and leadership issues that will be faced in managing a project team; and evaluate through selected review and audit, the learning outcomes from a pr

Section C:
• The purpose and principles of good corporate governance
• Evaluation of competitive situations (and application of this knowledge to an organisation)
• The importance of national cultures on management style (globalization)
• Methods of conducting research and gathering data as part of the managerial process



Paper 6
Management Accounting Business Strategy – LVMT
Section A
* Aspects of the role of mission statement and shareholder value analysis
* Strategic Options areas
* The calculation of NPV

Section B
• Porter’s Diamond
• Value chain analysis or M’s model
• McFarlan guide
* IT impact on strategies


Paper 7
Financial Accounting and Tax Principles – FTC
The nature of this paper you must have a good basic understanding of all topics. This is because 80% of the paper (section A and B) is compulsory.
Section A
All areas of the syllabus, but principles of business taxation are likely to be tested here.

Section B
All areas of the syllabus.
* Individual accounting standards, including NCA, PBSE, provisions, leases, deferred tax, construction contracts
* Working capital

Section C
* Preparation of all financial statements, particularly the balance sheet, the income statement and the cash flow statement

Paper 8
Financial Analysis – BPP

Section A
The questions will be broad syllabus coverage
• Profit on disposal
* Cash received from associates
* Goodwill
* Fair values


Section B
• Short consolidated income statement or balance sheet
• Goodwill/retained earnings calculation for a group including adjustments
• Inflation accounting/ asset valuation explanation/ comparison
• Pensions accounting
• Substance over form scenarios, such as debt factoring or sale and repurchase agreements
• Explanation of a US GAAP reconciliation
• Recognition, measurement and/or classification of financial instruments
• Earnings per share calculation and explanation (basic and/or diluted)
• Ratio calculation and interpretation


Section C

• Group financial statements eg complex group balance sheet and/or income statement, group income statement with disposal, group cash flow statement, foreign subsidiary
• Ratio calculations, perhaps in the context of segment analysis


Paper 9
Management Accounting Financial Strategy – FTC
• WACC
• CAPM
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Objectives
• Dividend policy
• NPV
• Treasury

Please note the very latest CIMA tips will be made available online at www.passmagazine so make sure you keep checking our website over the coming days


For further exam advice visit –

FTC --> www.financial-training.com or www.FTC4Success.com

BPP --> www.bpp.com/virtualcampus/cima.
For BPP practice and revision kits, visit www.bpp.com/cima/products

Reed Business School --> www.reed.com

LVMT -->www.lvmt.com

the above are adopted from the article available from pass magazine.

posted by Unknown @ 11:49 PM