Option Papers in ACCA P4-P7

Brad1234

Hi.

I sat P4 and P7 in December.. Worked hard enough for them with more of an emphasis on P4.. P7 exam i was happy with what i done to the extent you can never be happy with ACCA as they are often the times you fail.

However P4 was a disaster to the level of i hadn't a bulls notion after hours and hours of study and past papers.. Irrespective of people telling me its not that hard ive come to the conclusion i just dont get it.. Did the classes in independent colleges and i felt the lectures gave you an understanding how to do the questions without an underlying understanding or maybe its just me cause i had the lecturer for other subjects and he was fantastic..

Anyway after all that.. hopefully if i pass P7 ill have another option to take, so it leaves p5 and p6.. What i want is some advice on them.. I really need to get finished in June for personal reasons and i'm worried about the choice i will make..

Previously i enjoyed Tax but i hear horror stories about it.. I was going to sit it initially but i was told by doing it i get no exemptions from the irish tax institute as i want to sit that next... Rang them up personally, so as i enjoyed bonds and yields from previous studies i went with P4 out of bravado really as i felt from talking to people P5 wasn't all that hard and i felt p4 would give me a more rounded study base.. How foolish was i..

I'm pushing to do P5 as i've heard all the stories on how if you study you'll be fine but i want to know for sure.. Study motivation wont be in short supply as ive said i need to pass in june..

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated and sorry for long winded question

thelostboys23

Do P6 if you want exemptions in the Irish Tax Institute it saves you alot of exams even if you are not qualified. Planning on P7 and P2 (repeating it again I think its a shocking exam) in June so I'll be hitting the study trail myself soon.

http://taxinstitute.ie/Portals/0/Education/Prospective%20Area/AITI%20Chartered%20Tax%20Adviser%20(CTA)%20Student%20Handbook%202012_2013.pdf

Brad1234

Thanks for that.. Yeah i rang the institute and was told it gives me no exemptions but i guess with these types of places it depends who answers the phone.

Anyone give me advice on P5 please?

thefa

Waiting on my P5 results. Reasonable size syllabus. Some overlap with P3 so helpful if that was done recently. Would estimate about 30% of the exam goes for computations such as budgets/costings/performance appraisals but interpretation of questions and application is crucial. Question practice is as important for this as any I've done so far and I am hopefully one exam from completing also.

Brad1234

Again Thanks very much for your reply.. Sounds interesting enough.. Basically i want to pass in june and get finished.. my Mind is set to study as hard as i can i just wanted to see which one would be easier to do once i got my ass in gear and studied..

So by sounds of it P5 is a serious option once i put the work in..

niallu

Definitely, go for P5!

I hated tax & audit, so went with p4 & p5 as my options.

p5 was a handy little number and as mentioned above abit of overlap from p3.

I went to all the lectures for p4, and had about 12 days solid study for it and panicked in a big way. The day of the exam I didn't recognise a thing and somehow managed to get 51% so was delighted.