FAE September 2012

notanocelot

I did core and audit elective for the first time this year and passed. Got RC in the continuous assessment and didn't let it get me down.

Exam Technique: I identified the indicators first thing and deliberately assigned more time to the more important areas. No point getting Cs in Finance if you're getting RCs in business leadership.

Study: For the first third or so of study leave I concentrated on practising the subjects individually. Derry Cotter for FR, Mgt Acc textbook, Tax textbook, etc. When the textbooks were useless I used class qs. Then I moved on to cases. I did plenty in full to get a good sense of how to approach them. Then I started identifying individual indicators and working on them, especially Business Leadership and IMP because the materials are so rubbish in them. I printed out the Competency Statement for those bits of the Super Six, made sure I had notes for my folder on every line and crossed them off as I went. I spent the last week or two practising exams, filling in bits and pieces on my weak areas, and making sure I had a fabulous and CONCISE folder.

I definitely recommend bringing all your materials into the exam in a suitcase. IMP was so weird I would have been lost without being able to find the exact page on data protection in the textbook. Similar with the loss of audit exemption for a company that has a subsidiary.

If you have access to a library, USE it. You can work for hours there without being tempted to take a break, which just doesn't work at home.

Elective Study: Every third or fourth day was devoted to Elective, and in the last week it was every second day.

Szewinska

would love to have got all. damn tax elective.

tomfoolery60

Anyone know when the Board Report for FAE 2012 is due to come out? I would be keen to look at it.

Nervous Nigel

tomfoolery60 wrote: »

Anyone know when the Board Report for FAE 2012 is due to come out? I would be keen to look at it.

I think about 2 weeks time...

chursy

I will be honest i dont think there is a set approach for these FAE's after endless studying for these you can easily fail these exams however you need to stay focussed. How i approached these exams were as follows

Core - Reporting - Derry Cotter Q&A Case study practiced them on a standard basis by following the grid. You forget the stff very quickly and hence needs to be done on a daily basis for atleast an hour or so.
- Concise notes uploaded by the guy who got placed on the boards are EXTREMELY good, these were my bible for alot of the stuff specially in Business leadership, HR, Ethics, Change management, etc.

- TAX - I read the TAX books but notes in the pack above were basically a summary of the book hence great. You do need to read the book though.
- The rest is pretty much from the Cases , practice these over and over and over again. I felt the 2012 cases are irrelevent, extremely vaque and very difficult. Too much management accounting focussed. 2010 and 2011 cases were brilliant, along with the passed papers and mocks ( Extremely difficult)

The whole nature of the exams is very common sense, after reading and doing these cases you must develop a sense of coming up with points which are specific to a case. There is no need to be looking over the notes in the exams and if you are then there is something wrong. They do act as a cushion but i would rather stay away from that. The revision notes max should be used as a reference point.

AUDIT ELECTIVE - GO THROUGH EACH AND EVERY LECTURE OF SEAN MURRAY ONLINE NOT IN THE CLASS. You need to follow these by the book and do everything that he says to do i.e look at para so n so . His notes are Brilliant. I watched the videos and made notes as he went along and did all the reading he said to do. He really knows what he is talking about in audit so listen to each and every word of his. I found it difficult to follow in class but at home in a room in front of the computer found it much easier. You dont need to learn any of the stuff, but need to know which ISA is applicable. I binded all his lecture notes and prepared an index to go in front, so i knew which ISA to look at straight away and then follow the paragraphs numbers from the slides to go the book if needed to. The rest is pretty much procedures/Risks , you must be in a position to come with it and practicing questions does help.

Did all the case studies, Past papers and mocks. Its not difficult if you take this approach and read his notes and study from the standards books. The FAE elective book is rubbish and Sean Murray doesnt even mention to ready any of the stuff even once. So focus for this needs to be his lectures!


The rest to be honest is very much Luck! there is nothing that will guarantee a pass, however by following a structured approach you have more chances to reach the finish line. The Actual day will still have element of uncertainly and if you are looking through your notes to find an answer, i think you have lost the plot! Good luck!

WeeDeee

chursy wrote: »

I will be honest i dont think there is a set approach for these FAE's after endless studying for these you can easily fail these exams however you need to stay focussed. How i approached these exams were as follows

Core - Reporting - Derry Cotter Q&A Case study practiced them on a standard basis by following the grid. You forget the stff very quickly and hence needs to be done on a daily basis for atleast an hour or so.
- Concise notes uploaded by the guy who got placed on the boards are EXTREMELY good, these were my bible for alot of the stuff specially in Business leadership, HR, Ethics, Change management, etc.

- TAX - I read the TAX books but notes in the pack above were basically a summary of the book hence great. You do need to read the book though.
- The rest is pretty much from the Cases , practice these over and over and over again. I felt the 2012 cases are irrelevent, extremely vaque and very difficult. Too much management accounting focussed. 2010 and 2011 cases were brilliant, along with the passed papers and mocks ( Extremely difficult)

The whole nature of the exams is very common sense, after reading and doing these cases you must develop a sense of coming up with points which are specific to a case. There is no need to be looking over the notes in the exams and if you are then there is something wrong. They do act as a cushion but i would rather stay away from that. The revision notes max should be used as a reference point.

AUDIT ELECTIVE - GO THROUGH EACH AND EVERY LECTURE OF SEAN MURRAY ONLINE NOT IN THE CLASS. You need to follow these by the book and do everything that he says to do i.e look at para so n so . His notes are Brilliant. I watched the videos and made notes as he went along and did all the reading he said to do. He really knows what he is talking about in audit so listen to each and every word of his. I found it difficult to follow in class but at home in a room in front of the computer found it much easier. You dont need to learn any of the stuff, but need to know which ISA is applicable. I binded all his lecture notes and prepared an index to go in front, so i knew which ISA to look at straight away and then follow the paragraphs numbers from the slides to go the book if needed to. The rest is pretty much procedures/Risks , you must be in a position to come with it and practicing questions does help.

Did all the case studies, Past papers and mocks. Its not difficult if you take this approach and read his notes and study from the standards books. The FAE elective book is rubbish and Sean Murray doesnt even mention to ready any of the stuff even once. So focus for this needs to be his lectures!


The rest to be honest is very much Luck! there is nothing that will guarantee a pass, however by following a structured approach you have more chances to reach the finish line. The Actual day will still have element of uncertainly and if you are looking through your notes to find an answer, i think you have lost the plot! Good luck!

Have you any tips on what to study for IMP?

chursy

WeeDeee wrote: »

Have you any tips on what to study for IMP?

I got a green in IMP and all i did was i read the notes of the guy who got placed. Went through the Book briefly like in 4-5 hours or so reading the chapters i wanted to, just so i know where the stuff is if needed. IMP Questions are to be honest very common sense for example the one that came in our exam was about choosing an appropriate system, there are plenty of examples like that which were covered in the cases. You have to use your judgement to how to go about it in the exam.

I am saying this again and again, this exam is a very judgemental exam, there is no one way of addressing this. Everyone analyses things different but the core theme would be the same. If you are stuggling with you approach of developing this skill then you need to focus on the cases in terms of geting the process right. Hence i feel that by wasting time trying to make your answers perfect from cases is a complete waste, your full attention needs to be on the case in front of you and by the end of practicing 40 - 50 cases you develop the mindset to be able to tackle any case that is put in front of you. The Entire FAE Core exam i am sure alot of people will agree was not technically challenging at all. There was nothing in the paper that was difficult, it was vaque no doubt! not black and white! but simple concepts.

Paul Monohans speach on staying up to date with the ICT may be helpful too. but the reality is you have to come up with stuff on the day, it cant and wont be specific, like the stuff he threw in the mocks, i mean Comon!! but knowing the board , they are capable of doing that too.

chursy

SJay wrote: »

Thanks for this, and thanks ferike also. Did either of you do the fae revision course offered by the institute? I was just looking at it there its quite expensive, should i register for it or would i be better off doing the CGS course in July?

I would suggest you share the costs with three or four people and one person enrolls. You will have access to new cases that is all. But then you may be able to get them from this forum as well. This year it was great, all cases were uploaded and any missing ones everyone contributed. Still i would pool in with three or four people . I am sure if all of you attended the lectures , they wouldnt know, no need to sign the sheets of-course!

notanocelot

WeeDeee wrote: »

Have you any tips on what to study for IMP?

As was said above, use the notes of the guy who got placed for reference. Cover every IMP indicator you can in the case studies since that is the only way you'll be able to practise. Consider writing extra IMP notes for yourself based on the case study answers.

costacurta

Anyone know of the timing of things if i was to appeal? How long do they take to comeback?

Also when i apply to resit the exams, what do i get? Do i get access to online notes for lectures etc? Or is it literally just the fee to resit the exams?

Also where have people seen the costs for the revision courses?

WeeDeee

costacurta wrote: »

Anyone know of the timing of things if i was to appeal? How long do they take to comeback?

Also when i apply to resit the exams, what do i get? Do i get access to online notes for lectures etc? Or is it literally just the fee to resit the exams?

Also where have people seen the costs for the revision courses?

I think it is six weeks for the appeal. It says on the application form information booklet that was posted out to us that it takes six weeks from the date of publication of results, so I am assuming that means six weeks from Friday 23rd.

I don't think we get access to notes or lectures you just pay for the cost of resitting the exam, In relation to the revision course, I'm not sure of the cost, but you get to sit the mock exams if you register on it. Can anyone back me up on this as I wouldn't be 100%.

R0N BURGUNDY

How much is it to appeal again?

lamhnse

Looking for a bit of advice off people...Passed core first time but failed the tax elective for the 3rd time this year...should I apply for a 4th attempt? and if so is it possible to switch to APM since the Tax is obviously not working..just want to get some qualification at this stage!

hooch-85

lamhnse wrote: »

Looking for a bit of advice off people...Passed core first time but failed the tax elective for the 3rd time this year...should I apply for a 4th attempt? and if so is it possible to switch to APM since the Tax is obviously not working..just want to get some qualification at this stage!

Was in a similar situation myself, passed core first time in 2010 and failed the audit elective twice. I studied much more comprehensively for the auditing second time round and actually ended up in a worse decile ranking to the first time. I decided to change to APM, found it much more interesting than the auditing and easier to study as well. Did 3 good weeks of study this summer and passed APM.

It's ultimately your choice but I would definitely advise people who have failed their original elective choice more than once to consider APM.

cookieincork

I have been trying to pass FAE since 2010..I failed Core and Audit elective in 2010.. for 2011 exam i changed to tax elective...Managed to pass the Core,which was a huge shock, and i failed the elective...
Friday gone, almost killed me...Failed Elective Again...Utterly gutted, and disheartened at this stage..I have had a really tough road with this, started this back in 2005...
My boss wants me to consider resitting the elective AGAIN next Sept, if it can be done...Totally torn,and would love advice...I have been studying for about 12 years at this stage, as i did 2 other things in college prior to going down this road..I am 32!!!
Feel its time to MOVE on!!!

Well done to all who passed...
Any one who failed, hard luck..Its soul destroying

kitten_k

Cookie it has been a long road for me too.

I had to repeat a year in my degree which means my degree took 4 years instead of 3.

I then started my training contract in 2006. Got all my Prof 2's first sitting. The for the Prof 3's I passed 2 (tax & auditing) out of the 4 on the first sitting. On the repeats I got the FR but failed MABF. It took me 6 sitting to pass MABF/SFMA but I stuck it out.

I then sat the FAE's and passed the Core and failed the Audit Elective. I pass the Audit Elective this year.

I know exactly how you feel, it is very disheartening. But the way I looked at it was that if I gave up now, then the years I have spent previously on these exams would have been for nothing at all! I was prepared to just take each year at a time instead of throwing the previous years away.

cookieincork

well done Kitten.
Fair play to u!!!
I never failed an exam in my life until i started this..
I passed all exams in both my diploma, and then in my degree...on the first go...
I passed all the Prof 2's first time round too..
Since then its been a balls...
Cant even remember which ones i passed and failed in Prof 3, only that it took 4 attempts to FINALLy get the MABF...

I need to think long and hard about this decision..

Thanks for ur input..and well done again

kitten_k

Thank you.

If I can be any assistance just let me know.

EveT

cookieincork wrote: »

well done Kitten.
Fair play to u!!!
I never failed an exam in my life until i started this..
I passed all exams in both my diploma, and then in my degree...on the first go...
I passed all the Prof 2's first time round too..
Since then its been a balls...
Cant even remember which ones i passed and failed in Prof 3, only that it took 4 attempts to FINALLy get the MABF...

I need to think long and hard about this decision..

Thanks for ur input..and well done again

if I was you I would DEFINITELY sit elective again. Which elective have you been sitting? I thought I aced tax elective and messed up core, got decile 1 in core and 5 in tax! is so hard to judge with these. If I had failed I would have without doubt changed to APM this year

aca101

Luckily I passed on Friday, I'm out of contract and no longer with my training firm and I'm heading away travelling soon for a year or so. I know there has been talk of us needing to register and pay €450 for admission as members but I'm wondering could I/should I just hold off until this time next year given I won't be working while I'm travelling? Any advice?

I know we need to register within 1 year of being eligible for admission so I'll obviously need to register before 23 November 2013, but wouldn't mind holding off til then....the extra €450 could come in handy!

kitten_k

I personally would hold out until you came back, as you said the extra money will come in handy.

cookieincork

The first year i did Auditing
Last year and this year Tax...........

jj99

thought you can only do FAE's 3 times max? Is this not true?

cookieincork

EveT wrote: »

if I was you I would DEFINITELY sit elective again. Which elective have you been sitting? I thought I aced tax elective and messed up core, got decile 1 in core and 5 in tax! is so hard to judge with these. If I had failed I would have without doubt changed to APM this year

first year-auditing
last year and this year-tax

BESman

jj99 wrote: »

thought you can only do FAE's 3 times max? Is this not true?

I also thought this but there seem to be a lot of people here going well over this limit. Is it just a scare tactic from the Institute?

cookieincork

jj99 wrote: »

thought you can only do FAE's 3 times max? Is this not true?

As far as i know its 3 attempts only.........

But my boss thinks/hopes otherwise, and wants to check it out

Diddlydoubt

aca101 wrote: »

Luckily I passed on Friday, I'm out of contract and no longer with my training firm and I'm heading away travelling soon for a year or so. I know there has been talk of us needing to register and pay €450 for admission as members but I'm wondering could I/should I just hold off until this time next year given I won't be working while I'm travelling? Any advice?

I know we need to register within 1 year of being eligible for admission so I'll obviously need to register before 23 November 2013, but wouldn't mind holding off til then....the extra €450 could come in handy!

I am in a similar scenario as the above, except that I plan to work in Australia preferably in an accountancy based role if possible.

I too could do with holding onto the cash for travelling, that I would need to pay to the Institute for the Admission to Membership.

Could I work in Oz and still be classified as a fully qualified ACA Chartered Accountant without registering for membership and submitting my CA Diary/Paying the fees etc?

Or would I need to pay the fees to classify as ACA Qualified?

Nervous Nigel

You'd have pay your fees.

It's an offence to pass oneself off as a CA without having been admitted.

R0N BURGUNDY

Has anyone ever had their result changed due to a clerical recheck? What is that anyway?

I think I'm going to go mental and pay the £145 for the tutorial report. Serious money and sh1t time of year to be losing that!! I reckon every little helps in these things and it might be a good help for next year.

notanocelot

R0N BURGUNDY wrote: »

Has anyone ever had their result changed due to a clerical recheck? What is that anyway?

I think I'm going to go mental and pay the £145 for the tutorial report. Serious money and sh1t time of year to be losing that!! I reckon every little helps in these things and it might be a good help for next year.

Clerical recheck: if there is an error totting your marks.

CAP 2 tutorial reports were a COMPLETE waste of time. e.g. "1.b.i: didn't calculate NCI correctly. 1.b.ii: good."

Ron, if I recall correctly you only failed because you got a red in tax? Most of the report would be a waste of time for you then. I wouldn't bother.