2013 CAP2 Discussion Group

ljc2013

Has anyone got any hints on how to approach the audit assessment study/prep now that the topics are released? Have any of the Big 4 firms given good advice or tips to students?

ljc2013

emmetkenny wrote: »

Does anybody know when the auditing assessment will be released ?

its released now. do u need a copy?

bigmc23

ljc2013 wrote: »

Has anyone got any hints on how to approach the audit assessment study/prep now that the topics are released? Have any of the Big 4 firms given good advice or tips to students?

no. Were all too busy working!

TitianGerm

ljc2013 wrote: »

its released now. do u need a copy?

Would you mind ?

y0ssar1an22

here are the files that came with the email...

TitianGerm

y0ssar1an22 wrote: »

here are the files that came with the email...

Thank you !!

jus_tin4

been going over the mid term, investments and bank and cash haven't come up to much

jenniferm86

Would anyone have any idea where I could find additional questions on Investments and Bank and Cash that are not from Past Papers/Assessments,

Many Thanks.

prettyrestless

jenniferm86 wrote: »

Would anyone have any idea where I could find additional questions on Investments and Bank and Cash that are not from Past Papers/Assessments,

Many Thanks.

Anyone can access CPA exam papers online. I'm not sure what they are like, but it might be work a look.

jenniferm86

prettyrestless wrote: »

Anyone can access CPA exam papers online. I'm not sure what they are like, but it might be work a look.

Great idea thanks for the feedback

Santi101

So, view on the audit CA?

Thought it went ok, thought i would do better though. Bit short on time towards the end.

mocks next week should be a disaster, shame its sfma/fr first as i could have used a few weeks to tip away on those.

jus_tin4

Same really! Was nearly looking for more complicated stuff than what was being asked so sorta confused myself a bit tbh! Was an easy enough paper just disappointed in how it went for me! I'll be happy with a 40 truthfully! Only doing audit and tax but it's all very tight for prep, going to give it my best shot tho and try just to make sure my timing is right for the exam at the very least

Santi101

Do you get much study leave? I'd have thought Audit/Tax would be slightly nicer than SFMA/FR which seem to be tough on time, huge amount of material.

Wonder if any previous CAP2 students read this thread - would be nice to get some hints for each subject?

I'm gonna get my SFMA folders in order tonight for the mocks - but will only get a chance to cover a couple of areas this week - maybe variances and something else.

FR I'm thinking to try a few Consol q's and then try and get thru some of the standards that make up Q1 IAS1 Adjustments - wont get thru them all but want to have a stab at the question anyway.

Feeling slightly overwhelmed at the minute- even at this early stage!.....:eek:

Santi101

conor1979 wrote: »

Even though it is an open book exam you will/should not spend to much time looking at your books/notes. If you practice the questions and and get into the mindset of the examiner then you will not need to be looking into the book to much.

Plus you wont have too much time to be looking through your notes, you will spend all your time writing.

Hey Conor,

Any tips for this years cap2 students - how to get a grip on each subject, study method?

cheers....:)

conor1979

Santi101 wrote: »

Wonder if any previous CAP2 students read this thread - would be nice to get some hints for each subject?

I'm gonna get my SFMA folders in order tonight for the mocks - but will only get a chance to cover a couple of areas this week - maybe variances and something else.

FR I'm thinking to try a few Consol q's and then try and get thru some of the standards that make up Q1 IAS1 Adjustments - wont get thru them all but want to have a stab at the question anyway.

Feeling slightly overwhelmed at the minute- even at this early stage!.....:eek:

There is no need to feel overwhelmed, especially about the mocks. They are just practice, to get your timing right for the main exam.

Even the best prepared fail one or two. I failed all four. My highest mark was 30%!!! But I passed all the four main exams because after the mocks I followed my study plan and did what I needed to do.

Make sure that you cover all topics in each subject, especially SFMA. Yes it takes a lot of time but you never know what will come up.

Dont depend on an open book. If you have things tabbed perfectly and know where everything is then fine, but dont waste time searching through a book for something you think you saw 6 months ago that might only get you a mark or two!

Any questions just fire away.

Santi101

Thanks.

I think the first two mocks will be a disaster really - hoping to do a little better in Audit/Tax mocks in 3 weeks with more time to prepare and the nature of the exams.

Could you give us a rough idea about your study techniques for the different subjects and which ones you spent most time on?

Also, what was your study timetable like early on in study leave? Studying work hours, weekends? Want to get a plan in order but also dont want to burn out or peak too early. I know it will be different for everybody but good to hear what worked for others.!

conor1979

Santi101 wrote: »

Thanks.

I think the first two mocks will be a disaster really - hoping to do a little better in Audit/Tax mocks in 3 weeks with more time to prepare and the nature of the exams.

Could you give us a rough idea about your study techniques for the different subjects and which ones you spent most time on?

Also, what was your study timetable like early on in study leave? Studying work hours, weekends? Want to get a plan in order but also dont want to burn out or peak too early. I know it will be different for everybody but good to hear what worked for others.!

I must have been writing my last post at the same time as you were writing yours!!!

As you say everyone is different and I got a bit sick of everyone telling me how to study properly! A big difference for people is the amount of time that they have to study. I'm not married and have no kids so I had all the time in the world.

Because of this I did as much study as I could handle from day 1. With the 2 CA's after Xmas I decided my time would be better spent studying than drinking over the Xmas break. By the time the mocks came around I had covered a lot of the material that came up in the exams, but getting it down on paper in exam format and with time pressure was different. But I did recognize nearly everything on the papers to some degree.

Through out the year I would be in college every second weekend and the other weekends were spent studying. Not every study weekend went to plan. Some days I might get 6 hours done, some maybe 2 hours. Sometimes I would get frustrated on the Sat, do no study then go out on the Sat night and blow off a bit of steam. You will have to do this at some stage. You might not need to go drinking but you will need a break of some sort.

I went to the Chartered Grind School weekends. If you can afford them go. If you cant afford them, beg, borrow and steal so you can go to them. They were fast and intense weekends, but I was able to focus in on what I needed to do and didn't need to do after them.

I then had two weeks study leave before the exams. I knew what I had left to go over so I just picked a subject each day and did exam questions for that subject. As I said I had most topics covered to some degree at this stage.

In the exams there is very little you should be searching through for in your books notes. The few things that I feel that you will need to bring in are such things like a consolidation template, pick one of the older exams that has loads of different adjustments on it so that when doing your consol you can check the template to make sure that everything in the question you are doing you have entered in your consol.

For SFMA make sure you have templates of things like variances, swaps, options and anything else that you are not comfortable with. in my exam a question came up on variances that was virtually the exact same as one I had in my notes. I recognized the type of question as soon as I saw it and was literally able to just change the numbers. I got 55% in SFMA and without that template I would have been repeating.

Sorry if this is a bit long winded for a Sunday! Hopefully some it will help but if you have any more questions feel free to ask.

I'm doing my FAE's this year so still in study mode!!!!

Santi101

Good stuff.

What is included in the Chartered Grind School price? Do you get notes etc given to you on the day?

Think i'll try and go for FR and SFMA.

conor1979

Santi101 wrote: »

Good stuff.

What is included in the Chartered Grind School price? Do you get notes etc given to you on the day?

Think i'll try and go for FR and SFMA.

You get a book in each subject that will have all the topics in them. They were great for studying after as I found that trying to go through the books we got in college was tough as there was so much in them. The CGS books had everything condensed.

The lecturers were quality too. They go through a lot and for me it comes across a lot more understandable than in college.

The days move fairly quick and can be intense but for me they were worth every penny and I am doing them again this year.

jus_tin4

This the place http://www.charteredgrindschool.com?

conor1979

jus_tin4 wrote: »

This the place http://www.charteredgrindschool.com?

That's them. They are not cheap but for me they are worth it. I would have failed a couple of exams with out them.

Good solid days of lectures with great notes to back it all up.

prettyrestless

I found the audit assessment to be fair enough. The questions were less complex than I had anticipated and I may have overthought my answers a bit.

I'm using the mocks as a chance to get my folders up to date, have my notes organised and labelled so that they're ready to be used as open book material, and practice timing. I'm fairly certain that I will fail most/all of them but I'm just ignoring the grade and using it as a kick up the bum to prepare myself for study leave next month.

Santi101

Yeah, I'm certain to fail the mocks this saturday - not too concerned really, trying to cover a couple of topics that might stand to me for June, get folders in order etc.

Hope to make a good stab at Tax/Audit in a few weeks time though.

bigmc23

http://www.acarevisions.ie/?page_id=187 or the grind school? Aca revisions is over 150e cheaper I think when you factor in the discount. Hmm

jus_tin4

any experience on aca revision tho?

bigmc23

jus_tin4 wrote: »

any experience on aca revision tho?

went to the sfma CA, thought it was quite good! Must be a few people on here that went to the sfma, fr or audit interim revision class too?

prettyrestless

bigmc23 wrote: »

went to the sfma CA, thought it was quite good! Must be a few people on here that went to the sfma, fr or audit interim revision class too?

I haven't gone to any of the actual revision courses but I know quite a few people that have. They found them really good and great for motivating them to study. I've also had the notes passed onto me after a few courses, and the notes are excellent - concise and succinct with all relevant material but no waffle.

coolroe27

I am looking for CAP2 SFMA past exam papers.

I am studying for my Honours Accounting degree and our lecturer keeps telling us that our exam will be at the standard of CAP2 SFMA.

If I could get the past few years past papers to practice, it would be of great benefit.

Thanks

Diarmuid

TitianGerm

coolroe27 wrote: »

I am looking for CAP2 SFMA past exam papers.

I am studying for my Honours Accounting degree and our lecturer keeps telling us that our exam will be at the standard of CAP2 SFMA.

If I could get the past few years past papers to practice, it would be of great benefit.

Thanks

Diarmuid

PM me your email and I'll send them to you tomorrow evening. Won't get a chance until then.

jus_tin4

could someone have a look at summer 12 q1 part a, can't see why they aint claiming s396 b relief when there is funds avail to do so.... and there seem to meet the requirements...