Cap 2 SFMA Assessment Study Group

ASOT2012 wrote: »

Pity we can't bring in colourful little diagrams to tax ha!

Haha I know! Such a shame!! I'd have had a load done out :-)

littlemiss123 wrote: »

Ya, I agree! A good start to kick the week off because if it goes wrong it'll knock the confidence for the rest of them!

Exactly I was wondering all along why they leave SFMA and Fin Report till last now I know!!

How are you fixed for Audit I just about passed the interim and thought I had done really well where as I thought I had done ****e in Fin Report and got on well

littlemiss123 wrote: »

Haha I know! Such a shame!! I'd have had a load done out :-)

It's a test of memory more than anything else. I don't think tax will be the worst exam. Hopefully

Did anyone do the Mock Paper just had a quick look there seems like there was a lot of theory too

thumbelinda wrote: »

Hi guys, does anyone have the grid approach done out for the planning and operation variances. I am actually so upset, went to do the mock paper in SFMA, thought I had variances nailed and it seems my formulas are wrong for planning and operational variances (well according to the results they are!!), so just wondering do anyone have a grid done or can someone even clarify the formulas they are using for Material price and usage, labour price and usage - loosing my mind here!

You're not alone! I can't get planning and operating variances right either. However, my understanding of it is, for any variance, say materials price, you are using the budgeted figures vs the actual figures. A planning variance occurs when there is a change in the budget, and an operational variance occurs as a result of actually producing the product.

Therefore, for a planning variance you compare the budget figures vs the revised budget figures, so you substitute your 'actual' figures in the formula for the revised budget figures and keep the budget figured as per normal.

And for an operating you compare the revised budged with the actual, so you substitute your 'budget' figures in the formula with your revised budget figures and keep your actual as per normal.

Does that help? I still get them wrong though :-/

m1ck007 wrote: »

I feel like im going to cry...

I don't think your the only one with that feeling!

littlemiss123 wrote: »

You're not alone! I can't get planning and operating variances right either. However, my understanding of it is, for any variance, say materials price, you are using the budgeted figures vs the actual figures. A planning variance occurs when there is a change in the budget, and an operational variance occurs as a result of actually producing the product.

Therefore, for a planning variance you compare the budget figures vs the revised budget figures, so you substitute your 'actual' figures in the formula for the revised budget figures and keep the budget figured as per normal.

And for an operating you compare the revised budged with the actual, so you substitute your 'budget' figures in the formula with your revised budget figures and keep your actual as per normal.

Does that help? I still get them wrong though :-/

Hi I did the Mock SFMA the other day I have variances nailed, have done all the past papers without looking at the solutions and got all the right answers. Did the Mock the other day same as Ritchie Hoare does them and I got the planning Variance wrong!!!!

The solution uses the budgeted sleaves to be produced for planning ie, 1ooooo, but Ritchie Hoare always used actual produced x std -actual produced by new std

I know this is not our exam but it does explain the planning and operation variance pretty well! Also think the mock solution might be a bit funky as it doesn't use the revised usage in the price planning variance as the summer 2010 solution did and this article does. Hope to helps!

http://www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/acca/global/pdf/sa_apr09_cordwell.pdf

thumbelinda wrote: »

Thank you guys, I thought my whole method was wrong and spent an hour last night trying to figure it out. I had copped that they hadnt used the actual units but the solutions are very hard to follow. Can I just ask one more question;

In the mock for the planning material variance, the formula I use is

Revised Standard Quantity - Original standard quantity x Original standard price

But in the mock solution, they use Revised Standard Quantity - Original Standard Quantity x Revised Standard Price

Can someone check what formula you use?

I think the best thing to do is leave the planning var till last in the exam

Set up reconciliation on page with all other variances

Then do out planning both ways and slot in the figures which reconcile the budgeted to actual, say it doesnt reconcile you should have most var right anyway and most marks

This is so frustrating! I had variances completely nailed, and then went to do mock and planning variances were all wrong!! The worst thing is, you either get the marks for getting the right answer or you get zero for getting the wrong answer so I think it is a risky question to do if its an optional q. I thought I would be delighted seeing variances on exam but now am not so sure, as you could do all the work but only come out with a few marks cause you didn't get the exact answer. Maybe we should stay clear of it!

Does anyone have Ritchie Hoares email?

littlemiss123 wrote: »

That's exactly my problem!! I did a question (Ashcroft I think it was), spent ages finding out where the figures derived from and working out the formulas, then did the mock questions and it was completely wrong? They took completely different figures?!

I feel a strongly worded letter to the institute coming on......proves how hard our paper is if they can't get it right themselves :P

I agree! There is a few ways of doing planning variances, but if you look at my post a few minutes ago I have the variances form the mock done the way the previous exam questions are done and in the end the revised contribution is the same. It took me a good few hours to get the formulas right but they have got me to the right answer on questions since!

PhilipLuke wrote: »

But thats the thing they are still coming up with reconciling budgets where as we are not!!! (while using the formula that has reconciled other variance questions)

What confuses me is I use Ritchies method and it throws up the correct answer like 98per cent of the time

Ritchies method doesnt reconcile the Ashcroft q either

Does Richie's method reconcile the mock?

I devised formulas from Ashcroft and they agree to the same formulas that are in that ACCA document that was just put up on the thread. However, if you apply those formulas to the mock they don't work.

CW1989 wrote: »

I got mine to reconcile and work using those formulas!:

Original budgeted contribution 510,000
Material price planning variance:
(Original price - revised price)* revised usage for budget = (10-12) * (.8*100,000) = -160,000
Material usage planning variance:
(Original quantity for budget - revised quantity for budget) * budgeted price = (.6*100,000)-(.8*100,000)*10= -200,000
Revised budget contribution 150,000 (that's what is in the mock)

When you say reconcile you mean you got the budgeted to reconcile to the actual. But did you planning variance equal what they had and your operating variance?

Sorry for all questions, don't have it in front of me as I'm doing tax at the moment!

CW1989 wrote: »

Yup, once I had the planning the operational ones worked out perfectly using the formulas. See below.

I'm doing tax too but my notes are all in the same place so handy enough to get them out.

Oh I have to go through variances for the night after audit