Accounting Technician students

bulmersgal

Hi everyone

I'm currently in second year and doing exams in May. Just wondering if anybody else wants to start discussion about exam tips or areas where we can help each other out.

I know in FA2 we got told to know formulas but other from that its know everything.

smcgiff

bulmersgal wrote: »

but other from that its know everything.

That might not be what you want to hear - but it's good advice!

SAexpat

bulmersgal wrote: »

Hi everyone

I'm currently in second year and doing exams in May. Just wondering if anybody else wants to start discussion about exam tips or areas where we can help each other out.

I know in FA2 we got told to know formulas but other from that its know everything.

I am also doing 2nd year, only advice I can give is look at what they are concentrating on in the workshops... might be a clue as to what will come up.

mad_shopaholic

I'm in second year as well. What formula in FA2 do you mean management accounting? I think seperation/death in marriage for tax will be a question is in nearly all sample papers in some form.

bulmersgal

Sorry I meant ratio's not formulas.

I'm starting to feel overwhelmed going through papers don't no what subject to study as such. Started just doing full exams and doing questions 1-6 as I found I was just picking all the questions I liked otherwise.

Trying to improve on comp's as even though I know I will pass I want the best result I can get.

Aurellia

Hi guys i too am in second year and our lecturer gave us handouts on key areas to be examined in 2013 following the "in-service" days. One big one is Corportion tax and losses both with CT & Income Tax. If you'd like i can post the key ones from the subjects.
Has our IAS exam yest so only getting to concentrate on revision of others now !!

bulmersgal

Aurellia wrote: »

Hi guys i too am in second year and our lecturer gave us handouts on key areas to be examined in 2013 following the "in-service" days. One big one is Corportion tax and losses both with CT & Income Tax. If you'd like i can post the key ones from the subjects.
Has our IAS exam yest so only getting to concentrate on revision of others now !!

Yes please that would be a great help, my Ias exam is 2mo I'm alright at that subject done a fake mock this morning and should pass by a good bit. So studying tax now. Starting to get over my hump and I'm able to do more questions without looking at solution so happy with that

SAexpat

Aurellia wrote: »

Hi guys i too am in second year and our lecturer gave us handouts on key areas to be examined in 2013 following the "in-service" days. One big one is Corportion tax and losses both with CT & Income Tax. If you'd like i can post the key ones from the subjects.
Has our IAS exam yest so only getting to concentrate on revision of others now !!

Thanks, that would be great. You are lucky to be finished with IAS, we have it on Friday, my concern with it is getting finished on time, I never seem to get it done in the required time. I am also hoping that they stick to a similar type of format, transactions etc that they have in the sample one. I have done the "gardens" a few times, so hope they dont throw in any curved balls!

Regarding the others, I think theory is a definite in the Financial accounting, question 1 which is compulsory has been on the FRamework or internal audit etc for the last few papers and the examiners comments that it is always badly answered makes me feel sure it will be in again!

Aurellia

There was nothing in the IAS if you knew gardens, we got standard payroll- Bik, bonus, pension, and In Tas a Loan, contra entry with SL, UK invoice, create sales order print and post, errors with lodgements, etc, and the excel was a three month budget from Septs Figures for Dec to Feb and do a chart. Hope that helps !

Ok these are ATI notes we have : FA: Weak area likely to be re-examined:
*Theory- Compulsory, too much reliance on prepared ans; some students ignoring Q
*Inventory Valuation
*Finance Lease
*Prepaid Insurance - no excuse for not getting it right
*Journals- has seen improvement
*Grants- computational style

TAX: Areas 2013
*VAT- Posb compulsory Q
*CT- Students having major probs with this tax
*Inc Tax_ Commenc & Cessation ,Trade Losses, COvenants. CA's - disposal of a car, Losses & how to use them, Charter of Rights
*CGT- Part disposal of shares, Theory

MA: I can't find it ! I'll post tomorrow

bulmersgal

Aurellia wrote: »

There was nothing in the IAS if you knew gardens, we got standard payroll- Bik, bonus, pension, and In Tas a Loan, contra entry with SL, UK invoice, create sales order print and post, errors with lodgements, etc, and the excel was a three month budget from Septs Figures for Dec to Feb and do a chart. Hope that helps !

Ok these are ATI notes we have : FA: Weak area likely to be re-examined:
*Theory- Compulsory, too much reliance on prepared ans; some students ignoring Q
*Inventory Valuation
*Finance Lease
*Prepaid Insurance - no excuse for not getting it right
*Journals- has seen improvement
*Grants- computational style

TAX: Areas 2013
*VAT- Posb compulsory Q
*CT- Students having major probs with this tax
*Inc Tax_ Commenc & Cessation ,Trade Losses, COvenants. CA's - disposal of a car, Losses & how to use them, Charter of Rights
*CGT- Part disposal of shares, Theory

MA: I can't find it ! I'll post tomorrow

Thanks for that, it's a great help.

I must of had different Ias paper today we had cash flow as excel, no contra either the rest was straight forward like the gardens

Aurellia

Fiend of mine, her sister in Mayo had my IAS and guy in Cork who was with us last year had ur one !
They are over now! YAAAAAYYYYY

Apparently in Sept there was a free online tutorial in Management accounts as this is an area they are going to ask this year as they are very happy with SOCI & SOFP

MA: our teacher said that Costing systems and decisions are important and the theory - must get the invigilator notes FOR MA from her as mislaid mine. I can scan the others for FA & Tax mine and email you if you PM me ur email address .

bulmersgal

Uh I t hunk I hate my man acc teacher all year long I was great at MA we where doing past papers from 04 to 11. But now when I try to do more recent papers from 10-12 I'm stuck, some years I'm able to do 5 questions other years only 2/3.

My lowest grade last year was 76% I really want to do better than that, starting to stress which isn't helping. Studying so much at the moment so hopefully it pays off

Howjoe1

Has anyone got any tips or advice for 1st Year exam? concentrating on past papers. didn't get to any workshops. Any advice/tips appreciated.

Mickiemcfist

Howjoe1 wrote: »

Has anyone got any tips or advice for 1st Year exam? concentrating on past papers. didn't get to any workshops. Any advice/tips appreciated.

Only advice I could offer is: Do exam Q's constantly, as many as possible (particularly for Tax & FA) under strict time constraints.

There is nothing worse than playing catch-up in an exam, its a gut-wrenching feeling knowing the clock is counting down & your gonna run out of time, so be strict & move on to the next question once you've hit your time limit for that question. I found this out to my detriment in FA last yr & was so stressed I was messing up the Bank rec! Just scraped by with like 56%.

with law & management, just summarise & make little notes on each chapter & keep them with you until you walk into the exam hall.

Howjoe1

Mickiemcfist wrote: »

Only advice I could offer is: Do exam Q's constantly, as many as possible (particularly for Tax & FA) under strict time constraints.

There is nothing worse than playing catch-up in an exam, its a gut-wrenching feeling knowing the clock is counting down & your gonna run out of time, so be strict & move on to the next question once you've hit your time limit for that question. I found this out to my detriment in FA last yr & was so stressed I was messing up the Bank rec! Just scraped by with like 56%.

with law & management, just summarise & make little notes on each chapter & keep them with you until you walk into the exam hall.

Thanks for that. I'm stuck into the FA & TAX Qs and I'm getting comfortable with them (esp TAx).

It's the Bus Mang & Law that are worrying me the most. Bus Mang especially, trying to remember all the theories etc. I'm going to try nail the IT & Finance part and hope I have enough from the rest with choice of questions to get tru.

bulmersgal

Marketing plays a big part in Bus management so try get stuck into that. That's all I done that IT and finance also make sure you know ethics in law as its 20 mark questions.

Follow Mickie's advice especially regarding time, Never ever go over time trying to make things balance. I didn't get my accounts to balance last year only the bank req and I got 76%.

Regarding theory if you know it say it, even if its stupid. Pretend your explaining something to a 3 year old and they keep saying why. I found this help also don't get bogged down with big word keep it too how you speak normally. Obviously you change some words but try make it easy on yourself.


Now to follow my own advice

Edit don't worry to much about the theories stuff I only knew swot and pestle and a few others and I got between 76-80% last year for the 4 subjects

Howjoe1

bulmersgal wrote: »

Marketing plays a big part in Bus management so try get stuck into that. That's all I done that IT and finance also make sure you know ethics in law as its 20 mark questions.

Follow Mickie's advice especially regarding time, Never ever go over time trying to make things balance. I didn't get my accounts to balance last year only the bank req and I got 76%.

Regarding theory if you know it say it, even if its stupid. Pretend your explaining something to a 3 year old and they keep saying why. I found this help also don't get bogged down with big word keep it too how you speak normally. Obviously you change some words but try make it easy on yourself.


Now to follow my own advice



edit don't worry to much about the theories stuff I only knew swot and pestle and a few others and I got between 76-80% last year for the 4 subjects

Thanks for all the advice. Would I be right in thinking that the stuff covered in the workshops, that you pay extra for, is a likely indicator of what will come up in the exam?

bulmersgal

hows every1 getting on, i'm fed up studying but not long to go. Just doing accounts till monday then tax till thurs then man till following monday.

Was thinking of trying to do cap1's exam in Sept but thinking of just doing Acca instead. Its hard trying to decide what to do after this

valf

Hi did you manage to find the invigilator notes for management accounting? thanks

Miss_diagnosis

no. what they cover in the workshops is not an indicator of what is going to come up. I did them all last year and the FA paper was completly diffferent from what was covered.Good Luck to everyone today!

Howjoe1

Miss_diagnosis wrote: »

no. what they cover in the workshops is not an indicator of what is going to come up. I did them all last year and the FA paper was completly diffferent from what was covered.Good Luck to everyone today!

Thanks . FA Yr 1. was tough enough i thought today. the first question taking so long to complete, puts you under time pressure.

bulmersgal

Howjoe1 wrote: »

Thanks . FA Yr 1. was tough enough i thought today. the first question taking so long to complete, puts you under time pressure.

.

You prob no but u dont have to do questions in order like 1,2,3. Always do the quickest and your best questions first. Then if you have time come back to harder one.


What did every1 think of AFA yest, it suited me got the cash flow to balance so should pass it

Sephiroth_dude

I've an interview on Monday for this course *gulps* best of luck with your exams.

Emma1980

Hi!
I'm doing Y1 at the moment. Made a mess on Tuesday with FA - had a complete mind blank so reckon i'll be repeating that one in August, didn't even get the paper finished as question one ran away on me - there was a 12 mark question i didn't get to do so not much hope of passing

Bus Man i found went well - surprised myself as theory and processes are not my strong point!

Really panicking about Law & Ethics at the moment - didn't really find the lecturer much use so now struggling to play catch up! Using the online workshops but don't know which ones to be doing - have done Disciplinary and Code of Ethics....

Howjoe1

Emma1980 wrote: »

Hi!
I'm doing Y1 at the moment. Made a mess on Tuesday with FA - had a complete mind blank so reckon i'll be repeating that one in August, didn't even get the paper finished as question one ran away on me - there was a 12 mark question i didn't get to do so not much hope of passing

Bus Man i found went well - surprised myself as theory and processes are not my strong point!

Really panicking about Law & Ethics at the moment - didn't really find the lecturer much use so now struggling to play catch up! Using the online workshops but don't know which ones to be doing - have done Disciplinary and Code of Ethics....

Question 1 in Financial Accounting is unfairly long and time consuming. Found the Bus Mang & Taxation papers to be fair.

A bit worried about Law, lots to revise. Good luck to all.

bulmersgal

Woohoo second years are finished so happy.

Management was nice enough paper

Emma1980

can anyone tell me if a dictionary is allowed into the law and ethics exam?? i'm sure i've seen some people taking them in and with some of the words in the exam being a bit big for my brain at times i'm wondering if its allowed? i see on the exam rules that a thesaurus is allowed....

Howjoe1

Emma1980 wrote: »

can anyone tell me if a dictionary is allowed into the law and ethics exam?? i'm sure i've seen some people taking them in and with some of the words in the exam being a bit big for my brain at times i'm wondering if its allowed? i see on the exam rules that a thesaurus is allowed....

From website:

"8.9 Permitted Materials

o An English to English Oxford paperback thesaurus or the
Collins thesaurus A to Z only. Such a thesaurus may not be
written on in any way. "

Emma1980

so that would be a no for a dictionary!

Howjoe1

Emma1980 wrote: »

so that would be a no for a dictionary!

not sure . maybe bring one with you and ask when you get there, think it might be ok personally.

Emma1980

how are u getting on with ur law and ethics study?? i'm dreading this....can't keep the info in my head!!

j@utis

hey no more exams! well, for this year at least. I've finished my yr1 and I'm very hopeful that I've done just enough to pass Law&Ethics. I thought the law was the hardest subject and I wished it was the first exam instead of being the last - at that point I was a nerve wreck and feeling rundown and it was just too much of info to contain in my melting brain...
FA was my favorite subject but it was the first exam and I was soooo nervous, too nervous. I got the first Q right, balanced and all, 2nd went grand too and then bang! I completely flopped on q3 - never had problems with prepayments and accruals but those nerves you know, I just couldn't do it. after doing 5 qs I still had 25mins to go over the paper but q3 wouldn't give in and that was it... I walked out very disappointed with myself and my motivation to do well in the rest of the exams was gone too.
I was surprised with the business paper also - I knew next to nothing on the all theorists, leadership, motivation, hr - that was almost half of the book I'd say, and yet I could answer required number of questions fully, woohoo! happy days. really really hated this subject. textbook is ugly written, it's all very undefined, vague waffle, just awful stuff.
Tax went ok. I'd expect to loose about 4-5 points on each question because there was few bits I just didn't know how to deal with. and of course there're stupid mistakes. no major issues with tax though...
I did poorly in L&E. although I studied quite a bit of it during the year I only managed to look at it again for one day only just before the exam. I think I've answered two questions fully, that's about 20marks, and the rest will have to come from somewhere... I can't wait for the results. cmon july 8th!

Howjoe1

well happy enough with results from year 1.

In relation to Part 2, does anyone know if it is possible to sit without attending night classes?

i.e.

Pay registration, buy course material, pay exam fees, maybe attend a few work shops...but avoid cost of college.

Personally, I think I would have got tru yr 1 just as well doing "self-study" and loads of past paper questions.

Miss_diagnosis

Howjoe1 wrote: »

well happy enough with results from year 1.

In relation to Part 2, does anyone know if it is possible to sit without attending night classes?

i.e.

Pay registration, buy course material, pay exam fees, maybe attend a few work shops...but avoid cost of college.

Personally, I think I would have got tru yr 1 just as well doing "self-study" and loads of past paper questions.

Id strongly advise against it. 2nd year is a lot more intensive then 1st year.in first year you could probably study the likes of bus mang and law on your own but in 2nd year,tax in paticular gets a lot more complicated..and management accounting definatly needs a lecturer to explain it to you.

bulmersgal

I don't think you can even if you want to,you have to sign up for distance learning.

Passed second year yesterday with a distinction woohoo

Howjoe1

bulmersgal wrote: »

I don't think you can even if you want to,you have to sign up for distance learning.

Passed second year yesterday with a distinction woohoo

Well done with Part 2. I presume the study level required for year 2 is significantly higher?

I'll check out the distance learning option.

j@utis

I've passed my year 1 with the distinction too. I was surprised by my law&ethics result where I scored better than in business management - just after exams I felt I did much better in business than law - but the result is the opposite

I have a question about tax exam, multiple choice question in particular which is Q4 on the paper, part 5, why the answer is "(d)"? could anyone reference page in the textbook or somewhere else that explains it.

Part (5) Betty lives with her father Bill, who is aged 80 years. Bill’s only source of income is the old age pension. In the 2012 tax year Betty paid the following amounts on behalf of her father:
€4,000 in respect of a four week stay in a nursing home.
€500 in respect of doctor’s visits and prescription costs.

Betty can claim relief for medical expenses for 2012
(a) as a tax credit for the total cost of €4,500
(b) as a tax credit for the cost of €500
(c) at the marginal tax rate for the total cost of €4,500
(d) at the marginal tax rate for the cost of €4,000 and a tax credit for the cost of €500

Howjoe1

j@utis wrote: »

I've passed my year 1 with the distinction too. I was surprised by my law&ethics result where I scored better than in business management - just after exams I felt I did much better in business than law - but the result is the opposite

I have a question about tax exam, multiple choice question in particular which is Q4 on the paper, part 5, why the answer is "(d)"? could anyone reference page in the textbook or somewhere else that explains it.

Part (5) Betty lives with her father Bill, who is aged 80 years. Bill’s only source of income is the old age pension. In the 2012 tax year Betty paid the following amounts on behalf of her father:
€4,000 in respect of a four week stay in a nursing home.
€500 in respect of doctor’s visits and prescription costs.

Betty can claim relief for medical expenses for 2012
(a) as a tax credit for the total cost of €4,500
(b) as a tax credit for the cost of €500
(c) at the marginal tax rate for the total cost of €4,500
(d) at the marginal tax rate for the cost of €4,000 and a tax credit for the cost of €500

Tax relief for nursing homes fees is still allowed at top rate of tax, i.e. 20% or 41%, where as other health expenses are given as a tax credit at 20% only.

DaffodilDaisy

Hi everyone, just wondering if anyone here is repeating advanced taxation on Thursday? Am finding it really difficult to remember all the rules, anyone got any advice for last minute study? Feel like everything I studied for May exams is gone from my mind.
Thanks