SF BESS Mgmt 2 exam- help!

Magnusd

Hi SF Bess People- hope you all found the Mgmt 1 paper OK. I thought it was fairly predictable from the samples we were given....

Anyway- Im worried about failing Accountacy as its my worst subject and I cant even do a Balance Sheet or Profit and Loss statement!

Can anyone give me advice on what areas to study? What are the essential basics i should learn to try and pass?

What chapters of the book should I study?

Will it be similar to papers from previous years?


Many thanks in advance for the help!

Pat teaches that.. he will have given out all good hints in the last couple of classes os if you didn't go to them, find someone who did

Magnusd

Hi - Yes ive got those hint sheets, thanks. Just looking for any more info that can help.... How to go about preparing from scratch...

Also, is there compensation between subjects in BESS eg. if I fail Accounting can i pass the year with good grades in other subjects?

Thanks again

Not sure.. myth or someone can confirm but I think that yes, if you get an F1 and a 2:1 (assume all others are 2;2s for simplification) then that 2;1 will 'cancel out' the f1 and you can proceed without repeats.

Only works for a F1 i think though and you will need to get someone to confirm this.

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

hey there:

Exam paper should be fairly similar to last year. With the exception that it has multiple choice questions instead of consolidated accounts.

For profit and loss and balance sheet, i think that at this stage you just need to work through the summer exam from last year and the year before. Be familiar with the layout of a standard P&L/Balance Sheet, and know how to do the adjustments.

For the interpretation of accounts question, have a look through the Kerry Group and IAWS accounts from the last two years and see how you would apply the ratios from the book to them. Remember that you don't get any marks for doing the ratios, per se, but more for your interpretation of the ratios (group the ratio analysis into three groups - (1) efficiency, profitability, investment, (2) liquidity, gearing, (3) cash flow).

I think the multiple choice questions arise from the principles of accounting (e.g. periodicity, historic basis etc), sources of finance for a firm, those two chapters that Svitlana gave you for reading, and consolidated accounts.

I don't actually do the subject, but gave grinds in it (don't have any free time to give you grinds though), so i may not be fully accurate on all these details.

Hope this helps.

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

I know at least one student who had to repeat the year after failing a subject. Don't know the precise details, so there may be other reasons. Contact the BESS office for accurate details. And, there's no point letting things like that bother you at the moment. Just concentrate on getting a good mark in the exam!

Moorsy

Roundtower post is pretty concise. The most marks are going for the ratios so learn them of perfectly and it generally easy to see a trend either downwards (generally bad) or upwards (generally good). After that learn the layout of P + L Account and Balance sheet. Then if you have time look over the chapters he outlined the most important ones for the MCQ esp. the two chapters Svitlana gave out.

Magnusd

Hi Round tower + Moorsy: Thanks for the help.. It's much appriciated..

Roundtower: When you say Kerry Group and IAWS accounts from the last two years do you mean from the exam papers?

Moorsy + Roundtower: When pat says in the hand out that we have to anaylise 1) Profitabitility + Efficency
2) Liquidity + Gearing
3) Cash flow,
What are the specific ratios i must do for each one? eg do i have to do all the ratios in the book?

When it comes to discussion of the ratio's whan is the "big picture" I should try to identify? How do i identify trends?
Is the intrepetion from a share holders perspective?

Many thanks again for the help guys and taking the time to answer my questions!

Moorsy

Magnusd wrote:

Moorsy + Roundtower: When pat says in the hand out that we have to anaylise 1) Profitabitility + Efficency
2) Liquidity + Gearing
3) Cash flow,
What are the specific ratios i must do for each one? eg do i have to do all the ratios in the book?

Three of each ratio should be grand. Four for Profitability (ROCE, ROSF, Net Margin and Gross Margin) Efficieny (Average stock turnover, Creditor and Deb turnover.)
Liquidity (Acid Test, Current Ratio) Gearing (Gearing and Interest Cover).

Cash flow well look at what went up and what went down and explain the likely reasons and affects.

Magnusd

Thanks moorsy- thats what i needed to know.... Was kind of hoping i only needed the 6 basic ratios!

He has a new document on the intranet today about ratios actually.

Cheers...

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

re IAWS and Kerry: Yes, from previous year's accounts. Maybe have a look at something like Tesco's accounts as well.

For the ratios, i would also include some of the cash flow ratios - e.g. cash flow generated to maturing obligations.

Magnusd

Thanks again Round tower.

Regarding the short questions: Any inportant sections of chapters 8 and 9 I should focus on?

I have the chapter on Financing the busiiness from Dr Voronkova but i dont have the chapter on Managing Working capital- is there anything about working capital in the text book?

Magnusd

Sorry just 1 more question!

Im looking at Q2 from 2006 paper-

When construsting the profit + loss statement, at what slage do i deduct "sales returns" and "purchases returns"?

Before or after Gross Profit?

Moorsy

Dont think sale returns etc will come up since we didn't cover them but you take sale returns out of sales and take purchase returns out of purchases

Magnusd

OK great, thanks,

Any tips for the short questions?

Magnusd

Thanks for the help both of you........ I think i just about passed it.

Good Luck

Running Bing

Magnusd wrote:

Thanks for the help both of you........ I think i just about passed it.

Good Luck

Pat's a very fair lecturer, I wouldnt worry about it at all if you feel like that. Well done.

Moorsy

Moorsy wrote:

Dont think sale returns etc will come up since we didn't cover them but you take sale returns out of sales and take purchase returns out of purchases

Well that did come up!!! It was ok, I would have done much better if RTE Radio and TV weren't covering the bleeding General Election, it may be sad but I had to study with the tv on, just on really really low volume so I would be able to hear if they were announcing any results.
I also would have done better if I went to the last couple of weeks of lectures or whenever he covered the IAWS Accounts, so tricky trying to work out which profit to use etc..