Deciding optionals for ACCA

Ms Inquisitive

How do people decide which of the optional papers to do?

I was basing them on the previous corresponding subject, eg P5 - F5 and P4 - F9 but is tax etc. more sensible as it would be more numerical based?

Thanks for any help.

gaoife

Hi

For me i decided to take advanced audit and tax simply because it was one theory and one numerical. I found tax easy but it took me 2 tries to get audit and i've heard from a lot of people that it's very hard to pass. But for study it was nice to be able to switch from one type of study to the other and kept my mind fresh each night.
Good luck with whatever you decide

Climber

I think its helpful to reflect on the past Fundamental level papers and decide which ones you thought were easier...

I decided to do P5 and P7, failed both first time around and passed both second time around. I still only got 50% in P7 (Adv audit) it's a really hard paper IMHO, stay well away!!

Maybe do P5 (theory/waffle) and P6 (tax/numbers)?

Good luck anyhow

dearg lady

I'd imagine they're all of a similiar standard, I went for the ones I thought I'd enjoy most, I'd suggest that and/or what is most useful to you in your career.

nearlythereacca

I would say P5 is the easiest to pass, none of the course content is too difficullt and a lot of it is revisiting earlier studies.

P4 is really tough, I mean really tough!

dearg lady

nearlythereacca wrote: »

I would say P5 is the easiest to pass, none of the course content is too difficullt and a lot of it is revisiting earlier studies.

P4 is really tough, I mean really tough!

I'm not so sure about P5 being the easiest, the actual course content is reasonably handy, but I think the papers they set are very tough!

I am just about to decide which optional papers to take. Yes, I heard P4 is the toughest by a mile, but honestly looking at pass rates it's not that obvious.
Average pass rates (Dec 07 - Jun 09) are:
P4 33.25
P5 38.5
P6 35.5
P7 35.5
So as you see guys, there is really nothing between exams. Just figure out which ones are more bearable ;]

Btw. Im going with P4 and P5

busybe

All I can say is that none of them is easy! A lot of people say P5 is the easiest but when you look at the pass rates, it's one of the lowest.
I was going to do tax, went to the first class and got a smack. I love tax but you have to dedicate 10hrs a week if you really want to succeed and there is so much to know, so I switched to P4 Adv financial Management because I like numerical papers and did well in F9 and enjoyed the subject thought it would easy. Well, first few weeks seemed easy but then it gets tough but I still think it's easier than tax, in a way. I definitely studied less than 10hrs a week for it. I was repeating P2 as well and passed both there in Dec 09.
The problem with P4 is the examiner, he's nasty. came up with some things this session, that I've never seen before and I've done lots of passed exam paper! He likes twisting things.
Now, I know P7 is very tough and even our Audit lecturer discouraged us doing it unless we want to work in practice!
So if you want to work in practice, you'll have to do tax and audit, if not, go for something you like, and be prepared, it's much harder than previous level.
I'm doing P5 as I've been told it's "easier" at least the content..
Good luck with your choices, I did struggle deciding myself.