CAP2 Exams

r.dunne7 · 23-06-2010 06:58PM

Flange/Flanders wrote: »

Ill put it to you like this mr Dunne, I got an A1 in honours maths, a first class honours maths degree and passed finance and management accounting well last year and yet struggled with that exam today. The simple fact of the matter is that I was under too much time pressure for the case study which clouded my judgement for the section 2 questions, those parts that I recognised before. Granted I hadnt practised the Variance questions half enough but I was reasonally confident regarding hedging, then they throw up a question from completely left field.

struggled but yet no doubt you will proberly pass. All the exams are set in such a way that eveyone struggles with them but most good canditaes usually pass them am i not correct?

The ACA qualification is very prestigigous and respected throght out the world, much like degrees from oxofrd and cambridge are held in high esteem, if it wasnt for the extrmerly challenging nature of the exams, the prestige of the ACA qualifcation would be dimished.

For example have you seen an oxford economics final paper compared to a John moores university ecomnics paper, beleive me the standard is significant between the two! A first class honur student from John moores Uni would struggle to get a 2.2 from oxford!!

Just rememebr that ur doing the hardest exams of your life at the moment , and that after you will have a prestigious qualificaiton. When you finsh and get your ACA and look back , you will be glad that the ACA was set at such a hight standard and that you can be proud to have such a prestigiuous qualification!

So everyone heads up and lets get these exams!!

Sean Bateman · 23-06-2010 07:04PM

r.dunne7 wrote: »

Im sorry to be so blunt , but every year we get the same thing , the exams were so hard, the wording was so difficult, i have never seen that before, ... etc.

The reason i beleive its done like that is becasue if they didnt word things in that way, or didnt throw in any curve balls.. etc , what you would have it a pass rate of 90%+

It will be like college exams, that what exactly college exams test, if you study the material and get your head around it all you have to do is regurgatate it on the day and everyone passes.

I by no means condone the ICAI for setting such hard exams papers but in my opinon they have no other choice, as the pass mark is 50%.

If things came up a little tricky but the majority of the marks could be easily obtained most people would pass.

What if the ICAI upped the pass rate to 60% and made it an easier exam.

Taken into account the continous assement for the ICAI most people scored a 12 out of 15 , this is a perfect case of testing material that is relatively straight forward in a stright forward manner.. look what happens. Pass rate would be the equvalent of 7.5 marks, and i think nearly 95% of people got that!

At the end of the day the concepts and ides in SFMA are pretty easy to be honest, most people can get there head around variance, and company valuations and basic FX and intrest rates questions, they are not difficult. The only way to make realtively staight forward material into something challenging is to do what the ICAI have done.

In my opinion the ICAI shoudl really put up at least 6 sample papers covering many topics and put them up at the level they come up in exams.... however to ensure that no one can simply learn off answers and templates they must put some curve balls in that no one ahs ever seen before!

I've never read such rubbish in my life.

You have no idea what you're talking about.

Question 1 was as much a marketing question as it was an accounting/finance question.

The variance question was unlike anything I've seen. It isn't fair to include a question of a level far higher than anything that's in circulation.

And, as others have pointed out, people are being fired for failing these exams. Many people will have lost their jobs today. Think about that next time you feel like posting patronising nonsense.

"Bob's a big racing fan...John called him up and asked him to go to a race...comment on the ethical considerations." Eh, hello...there are none unless Bob gets lamped and starts yapping about company secrets.

The problem with these exams is the amount you have to write for 3 and 4 mark questions. They're the things you know 100% so you HAVE write 2/3 of a page. They spoof about sticking down a few bullet points but then they don't give you the full marks if you do. You should be given more time. It's become a handwriting competition.

prinz · 23-06-2010 07:10PM

r.dunne7 wrote: »

Just rememebr that ur doing the hardest exams of your life at the moment , and that after you will have a prestigious qualificaiton. When you finsh and get your ACA and look back , you will be glad that the ACA was set at such a hight standard and that you can be proud to have such a prestigiuous qualification!

Unless of course you are one of the many who get sacked and their contract cancelled before you ever get a chance to qualify.:rolleyes:

r.dunne7 · 23-06-2010 07:11PM

Sean Bateman wrote: »

I've never read such rubbish in my life.

You have no idea what you're talking about.

Question 1 was as much a marketing question as it was an accounting/finance question.

The variance question was unlike anything I've seen. It isn't fair to include a question of a level far higher than anything that's in circulation.

And, as others have pointed out, people are being fired for failing these exams. Many people will have lost their jobs today. Think about that next time you feel like posting patronising nonsense.

I feel very offended that your accsuing me of being patronising.

People lose their jobs when they fail the resits in Autumn not for first time fails.

And by the way i do know what im talking about i completed the exams last year and passed them.

But it was the same.. eveyone was giving out about this and that, the SFMA question pack, the wording, the ethics question in Finanical Accounting, the jump in stadard, but unlike msot i jsut gave it my best shot, what consoled me was the fact that i was doing a professional qualification that was very prestigious and knew it was gonno be very hard.

Im not being patronsing but trying to illustrate why things have to be the way they are! There is a standard and that standard is very high!

R0N BURGUNDY · 23-06-2010 07:21PM

i can see what you are trying to say = that we will feel smug when we get there in the end. but believe me = the questions in this paper were absolutely ridiculous. honestly = last years were piss easy compared to it. wheres the consistency? there is none. there was a new examiner for sfma this year and he has ripped the arse clean out of it. and ruined the remainder of my summer: a) because il have it on my mind b) because il have to do the exam again. never failed an exam before in my life and pretty sure thats 2 in a row. what a result

mountcarmel · 23-06-2010 07:24PM

+1

Extremely patronising Mr Dunne

FYI many small firms let people go when they fail the summer exam

If you feel offended go elsewhere, ask yourself why would we come on here to listen to what you have to say when you have not got a clue what you're talking about?

Good day to you.

Best of luck to everyone for the rest of the week, keep the heads up tomorrow is a new day

Sean Bateman · 23-06-2010 07:25PM

R0N BURGUNDY wrote: »

i can see what you are trying to say = that we will feel smug when we get there in the end. but believe me = the questions in this paper were absolutely ridiculous. honestly = last years were piss easy compared to it. wheres the consistency? there is none. there was a new examiner for sfma this year and he has ripped the arse clean out of it. and ruined the remainder of my summer: a) because il have it on my mind b) because il have to do the exam again. never failed an exam before in my life and pretty sure thats 2 in a row. what a result

The lecturers throw out some awful spoof too...our Audit lecturer claimed that the examiner said "audit reports have a 17-20% weighting in the syllabus, ergo that should be replicated in the exam".

Surprise surprise, virtually nothing on the paper.

Same with SFMA - Transfer pricing etc etc.

That case study today was as much about spoofing as it was anything we ever did during lectures.

Altaglusgan Lad · 23-06-2010 07:55PM

Mr Dunne, Please read this attached question 3 and give me some feedback as to what you think of it... without being patronising.

ananlin · 23-06-2010 08:18PM

r.dunne7 wrote: »

And by the way i do know what im talking about i completed the exams last year and passed them.

!

SO I guess you did FAE last year , and did Prof III back to 2008? if thats the case , you dont know what you r talking about, went through all those PRO III papers they are = CAP 1, so useless.
i guess you passed all the FAE, i think you should go back and enjoy that instead say like" hey , see i v a QA now, i guess the economic doesnt need so much accountant,so it is VERY fair you got such paper''.

julio arca · 23-06-2010 08:31PM

It's safe to say the exams have been harder than expected so far. Looking towards FR tomorro

what are people cramming at this late stage? I have totally left out cash flows, i hope that doesnt come back to haunt me

MrMatisse · 23-06-2010 08:34PM

r.dunne7 wrote: »

I feel very offended that your accsuing me of being patronising.

People lose their jobs when they fail the resits in Autumn not for first time fails.

And by the way i do know what im talking about i completed the exams last year and passed them.

But it was the same.. eveyone was giving out about this and that, the SFMA question pack, the wording, the ethics question in Finanical Accounting, the jump in stadard, but unlike msot i jsut gave it my best shot, what consoled me was the fact that i was doing a professional qualification that was very prestigious and knew it was gonno be very hard.

Im not being patronsing but trying to illustrate why things have to be the way they are! There is a standard and that standard is very high!

If someone who is semi literate can pass them then there is a problem.

I wouldnt be surprised if this was someone who was banned from boards under another user name. I have a funny feeling it is .

MrMatisse · 23-06-2010 08:37PM

Also says this on another thread

Its crazy how hard the new Cap 2 exams are compared to the Prof 3,

everything else has remined pretty on par but the Finanical Accounting exam is a lot ahrder, i wonder why that is?/

Seems a bit unfair does anyone agree with me.

I think you are a wind up merchant tbh

SL10 · 23-06-2010 08:44PM

Ugh I am going over FR at the mo and my brain has completly forgotten everything I have learned before now- so annoying! Its so difficult to switch from subject to subject in such a short space of time.

Dick Turnip · 23-06-2010 08:51PM

R0N BURGUNDY wrote: »

wee question here for financial reporting:

p54 in the toolkit reverses a share issue expense from operating expenses:

Cr 5000 (w6)

then in w6 it says:
share issue expenses - option to write off against share premium.

i thought costs incurred in acquisition under the new rules are supposed to be expensed in the period they occur in accordance with IFRS. P433 in the text book says as much.

is the toolkit wrong here or is share issue expenses allowed to be written off against share premium>?

i thought the reason the shares were issued was to acquire the 2nd company.

cheers in advance

yeah i thought ifrs3 says to expenses these costs, i dont know this example but is it something to do with the fact the ifrs was amended from 1 July 09 so there's an option there?

R0N BURGUNDY · 23-06-2010 08:51PM

totally. i really hope i can remember what im doing tomorrow. simple mistakes in consolidation are an absolute killer.

Altaglusgan Lad · 23-06-2010 08:51PM

SL10 wrote: »

Ugh I am going over FR at the mo and my brain has completly forgotten everything I have learned before now- so annoying! Its so difficult to switch from subject to subject in such a short space of time.

i know how you feel, during todays SFMA i think i was writting FR theory answers for it.

R0N BURGUNDY · 23-06-2010 08:52PM

dick = must be cheers.

UpAgainToday · 23-06-2010 09:57PM

r.dunne7 wrote: »

struggled but yet no doubt you will proberly pass. All the exams are set in such a way that eveyone struggles with them but most good canditaes usually pass them am i not correct?

The ACA qualification is very prestigigous and respected throght out the world, much like degrees from oxofrd and cambridge are held in high esteem, if it wasnt for the extrmerly challenging nature of the exams, the prestige of the ACA qualifcation would be dimished.

For example have you seen an oxford economics final paper compared to a John moores university ecomnics paper, beleive me the standard is significant between the two! A first class honur student from John moores Uni would struggle to get a 2.2 from oxford!!

Just rememebr that ur doing the hardest exams of your life at the moment , and that after you will have a prestigious qualificaiton. When you finsh and get your ACA and look back , you will be glad that the ACA was set at such a hight standard and that you can be proud to have such a prestigiuous qualification!

So everyone heads up and lets get these exams!!

After a long tough day on the stock exchange I often come to the accounting forums to have a laugh and it looks like dunne provided me with some comedy this evening

I just highlighted 2 points - the first one where you talk about respect and prestige for an ACA qualification, im not sure how to say this but are you dumb? When people out of the likes of Harvards MBA program join investment banks their MBA is worth sh*t and your saying your little qualification is respected? HA yeah maybe respected by people with 30k jobs

The second point I highlighted about the hardest exams people are doing I have one friend doing his CFA at the same time as his ACA (im trying to convince him hes wasting his time) and ive also done the CFA and he said the CFA qualification is at least 5-10 times tougher than ACA depending on the persons intellect of course.

Tbh you sound like a little brain washed trainee accountant who has been told by his boss hes making a difference in the world - your cute

prinz · 23-06-2010 09:59PM

UpAgainToday wrote: »

After a long tough day on the stock exchange I often come to the accounting forums to have a laugh and it looks like dunne provided me with some comedy this evening

How sad for you. You have my sympathies.

GirlWithBrain · 23-06-2010 10:00PM

Hey all!

I'm a fellow accountant and sat the CAP2s last year so I've been following this thread all week, hoping to God that the Institute have been kinder on ye this year than on us guinea pigs last year. Somehow, given the vehemence of the postings and abundance of angry emoticons I don't think that's quite how the cookie crumbled. Ye've got my sympathy coz I've been there and it's not a nice place to be but just want to reiterate a point made in an earlier thread about following up on the exams.

I think it's the DCASS that all the emails go to but you should definitely consider dropping them a review of the exams for their feedback report. It's grand to vent here or at family/anyone who happens to stop and look at you but letting the Institute know how they were received by students is worth a 5 minute email. The report submitted by the student society last year was very good as far as I remember and while it may not impact on next year's exams (as it doesn't appear to have so far!) it can affect the marking scheme, where they decide to reweigh some answers if it was found to be grossly unfair (ahem, financial 09!) or if it was found to be too difficult (all of SFMA 10 maybe?!!). Whether it's 5 lines or 5 pages I'd encourage everyone to do it - it's in exams like these that every mark counts and at if your review is the one to push you over the 50% it'd be worth it.

Sorry if I sound preachy - not exactly what ye all need right now! I just get all mother hen-ish with CAP2s - I want ye all to pass!!

Best of luck with the rest of the week!

R0N BURGUNDY · 23-06-2010 10:15PM

UpAgainToday wrote: »

After a long tough day on the stock exchange...

and he said the CFA qualification is at least 5-10 times tougher than ACA depending on the persons intellect of course.

Tbh you sound like a little brain washed trainee accountant who has been told by his boss hes making a difference in the world - your cute

these cap2 exams arent testing intelligence. i dont think so anyway.

people that get "your" mixed up with "you're" are complete mongos.

prinz · 23-06-2010 10:16PM

R0N BURGUNDY wrote: »

these cap2 exams arent testing intelligence. i dont think so anyway.
people that get "your" mixed up with "you're" are complete mongos.

Another spoofer, don't bother yourself.

Sofa King Great · 23-06-2010 10:59PM

UpAgainToday wrote: »

After a long tough day on the stock exchange I often come to the accounting forums to have a laugh and it looks like dunne provided me with some comedy this evening

I just highlighted 2 points - the first one where you talk about respect and prestige for an ACA qualification, im not sure how to say this but are you dumb? When people out of the likes of Harvards MBA program join investment banks their MBA is worth sh*t and your saying your little qualification is respected? HA yeah maybe respected by people with 30k jobs

The second point I highlighted about the hardest exams people are doing I have one friend doing his CFA at the same time as his ACA (im trying to convince him hes wasting his time) and ive also done the CFA and he said the CFA qualification is at least 5-10 times tougher than ACA depending on the persons intellect of course.

Tbh you sound like a little brain washed trainee accountant who has been told by his boss hes making a difference in the world - your cute

Someone should warn you and your stock exchange buddies that the head of the Irish Stock Exchange is a Chartered Accountant!

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=32729562

:eek::eek::eek::eek:

Hackysack · 23-06-2010 11:11PM

UpAgainToday wrote: »

I have one friend doing his CFA at the same time as his ACA

Does your mate also fit in a bit of crimefighting in his spare time too?

costacurta · 24-06-2010 12:11AM

Hackysack wrote: »

Does your mate also fit in a bit of crimefighting in his spare time too?

Are the stamp duty rates given in the tax refererence material in the exam?

UpAgainToday · 24-06-2010 12:17AM

prinz wrote: »

How sad for you. You have my sympathies.

Awh man thanks somedays its just so tough when contracts go the wrong way ugh

UpAgainToday · 24-06-2010 12:20AM

R0N BURGUNDY wrote: »

these cap2 exams arent testing intelligence. i dont think so anyway.

people that get "your" mixed up with "you're" are complete mongos.

I trade? im not an english teacher? Id rather use your every single time then be stuck debating with a client why the depreciation policy they used may be incorrect

As Alan Greenspan said ''fraud is fine since the markets will correct it'' so the ex chairman of the fed loves ye auditors aswell

figrolls · 24-06-2010 12:20AM

With regard to cgt relief under participation exemption, is there any such relief for stamp duty or is it chargeable at 1% in shares?

Getting really sick of the mistakes and inconsistencies in the tax answers....

UpAgainToday · 24-06-2010 12:21AM

Sofa King Great wrote: »

Someone should warn you and your stock exchange buddies that the head of the Irish Stock Exchange is a Chartered Accountant!

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=32729562

:eek::eek::eek::eek:

Sorry I do not trade anything that is placed on the Irish Stock Exchange sorry

UpAgainToday · 24-06-2010 12:22AM

Hackysack wrote: »

Does your mate also fit in a bit of crimefighting in his spare time too?

Em man hes doing his CFA exams......how much spare time do you think he has jeeez?

CAP2 Exams

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