Possible questions for June 2011

Well it would appear that the examiner has already full examined most of the issues in the health and safety issue - therefore study all the past questions on Q5, to ensure that whatever comes out - you can handle it.

I believe a previous question should repeat

One the other areas of the exam

Q1

- still lots of areas that have yet to be examined, I would consider the following in detail

Identify the authorities to whom businesses are

accountable in financial terms

(e) Identify what financial information businesses need to provide for government agencies

(f) Describe the role of external auditors

(g) Outline the role of accounting standards setting bodies

(h) Outline the role of corporate governance with respect to accountability

(i) Describe the overall role and purpose of employment, health and safety and data protection legislation within the business

Alternatively

Review the effectiveness of financial control procedures and identify potential weaknesses

Explain how the accounting department integrates and co-ordinates with other functional areas

Advantages and disadvantages of different structures including centralisation and decentralisation.

Weber on bureaucracy

Q2

The previous sitting saw the examiner ask a general question on internal controls, and before that it was the wages system.

This time I would consider something about the MIS chapter

(a) Describe the main features of a management information system

(b) Describe the information flows within the accounting system

(c) Draft examples of relevant management reports from an accounting system

I suppose the fraud chapter is also likely - look at the pilot paper question about fraud

Identify the scope for fraud using manual as against computer systems

Understand the role of the auditor in dealing with fraud

Identify the duty and responsibilities of management in the prevention and detection of fraud

Q3

The previous examination saw the repeat of BM model, this provides sufficient evidence that examiner may have "run-out of names".

There are still some of the names that are mentioned in the text that you should be paying attention to - mainly

Peter and Waterman

William Ouchi

Handy

Group think idea

Kanter

Maslow

Mintzberg on roles

Team building

Do all past year on NAMES that examiner has asked - repeats are possible

Q4

I suppose that last year saw the communications chapter coming out.

This time I suppose it is time for either the appraisal chapter

DEC 2010 results OUT

Well for the students that did get a pass on this paper - congratulations, you are on your way to becoming a certified accounting technician CAT. For those that did not get the pass, I think you know where it was that you got it messed up.

EFFORT

UNDERSTANDING

One can be helped by the lecturer, but both of it depends on the student.

I have one advice, it seems that everyone is doing their studies with only one intention - pass, getting to work and earning a living. I think it is time for students of a field of study to try to appreciate the subjects that they are being taught and try their best to use the materials learnt in real life.

Cramming for the paper last minute is an indication that students are not really appreciating the subject matter, it is just another paper to pass and forget. I believe that is a sad idea, the knowledge is learnt only to be forgotten, no thought has gone into whether it can be applied, why did I learn this, where can I use it, will I use it?

Hoping for the lecturer to get you a pass - seems to indicate that you are not interested in the subject, just the pass. This could explain why students do not like to attend the classes.

In my days of lecturing, I had most of my fun when I was teaching the Chartered Institute of Marketing - every thing that I taught was questioned and questioned again - I had to make sure it was really practical before the students accepted an idea, they knew when to take notes and when to ask questions.

This attitude is seriously lacking in the CAT students. Develop a sense of appreciation of the manner in which an accountant is suppose to be able to communicate and feel the financials and numbers churned out from the accounting system. UNDERSTAND, APPRECIATE AND APPLY.

What do you think is going to come out? your guess is as good as mine.

Another issue - behave yourself - you are a professional - never ever tarnish the image of the professional body ACCA by your statements - no matter who and where you are coming from. Once you had signed up to become a student of ACCA you are bound by the codes of ethics - confidentiality, professional behaviour, integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care.

When you open your mouth or even make a statement in the blog/facebook, remember that you are a professional first. Its like being a samurai in feudal Japan - they had a way of behaving that lead to the respect, it was not the qualification.

I always hate those students that belief that people owe them something. Were you objective? Tips may come out and may not come out, are you willing to bet everything on this tips?

There is a reason why I delay the tips, it should be areas that you focus but you should have covered all the past year papers - especially those from 2007/2008 papers.

Overall the key chapters that should be examined this time

1. Motivation

2. Appraisal

3. Health

4. Internal controls / MIS

5. Policies/procedures/stakeholders

Question 1

a) Describe 4 elements that will be included in the informal organisation

10 marks

b) Describe 4 sources of regulation on financial statements of an entity

10 marks

Question 2

a) Describe the main features of internal audit

4 marks

b) Ideally the internal auditor should be responsible to the highest executive level in the organisation. Give three reasons for this requirement

6 marks

c) Describe one positive and one negative implication of an integrated system on internal controls.

4 marks

d) Describe 3 main steps in applying controls over cash payments

6 marks

Question 3

a) Identify 6 situation that would result in a disciplinary action

3 marks

b) Describe the approach that should be taken to when there is a disciplinary situation according to Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) UK

5 marks

c) Identify and explain the difference between a leader and a manager

12 marks

Question 4

a) Identify and describe the factors that impact the work methods, practises and procedures in the organisation

8 marks

b) Describe the 2 main type of feedback that are given to enhance the individual working in the organisation

4 marks

c) Identify and describe the benefits of providing feedback in the context of performance appraisal

8 marks

Question 5

a) Identify the main causes of fire in the workplace

5 marks

b) Describe the requirements of Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulation 1997 on the employers

5 marks

c) Explain the importance of security to the organisation

4 marks

Mock exam paper 5

Question 1

a) Briefly describe 4 ways technological changes effects an organization

4 marks

b) State 2 advantage and disadvantage of geographic organization structure

4 marks

c) Briefly describe the structure of the finance department in a large organization

12 marks

Question 2

a) Describe 4 aims of internal checks 4 marks

b) Identify the main indicators of fraud at a personnel level

6 marks

c) Describe the 4 areas that require control in the wages system and give 2 controls for each area 10 marks

Question 3

a) Identify 2 the potential drawback of using teamwork 2 marks

b) Identify 2 characteristic that a team must have for team rewards to be effective

4 marks

c) Explain Herzberg Hygiene factor and Motivator factors 4 marks

d) Describe the limitations of Herzberg’s model 4 mark

e) Describe with examples the meaning of “job enrichment’’, ‘’job enlargement’’ and ‘’job rotation’’. 6 marks

Question 4

a) Describe the resources that are typically used by a staff and their responsibility towards them 6 marks

b) Describe how a manager can use non-verbal behavior in oral communication

8 marks

c) Differentiate between passive and aggressive behavior in communications

6 marks

Question 5

a) Describe the factors that contribute towards work place stress 5 marks

b) Describe the areas in which Data Protection Act 1998 is trying to protect 4 marks

c) Describe those responsible for security in the organization and their specific areas of responsibility 6 marks

d) Describe why security is important in an organization 5 marks

Managing People and Systems

Question 1

a. Describe systems and procedures to discover and prevent fraud in the organization 10 marks

b. Describe the main controls that can be used by an organization to control cash receipts from the accounts receivable in the mail. 5 marks

c. Explain the qualities of good management information 5 marks

Question 2

All managers and supervisors need to understand the concept of motivation in the workplace. There are two basic theories of motivation: content theory and process theory.

a. Describe the main ways of rewarding the team 5 marks

b. Explain what is the “content-theory” of motivation 8 marks

c. Explain what is the “process-theory” of motivation 7 marks

Question 3

Training programmes play an important part in improving employee skills and organization performance.

a. Explain the importance of staff appraisal

6 marks

b. Explain the methods that can be used to assess the value of appraisal for the organisation

c. Briefly explain the main barriers in an effective staff appraisal 10 marks

Question 4

a. Identify the means of physical intrusion that creates a security breach and outline measures for preventing this security breach 10 marks

b. Identify the potential fire hazards in the organization and appropriate preventative as well as protective measures that can be adopted by the management 10 marks

Question 5

a. Outline the role of corporate governance with respect to accountability of the management to shareholders 5 marks

b. Describe the role of external auditors in an organization 5 marks

c. Identify the financial information that business needs to provide government agencies and state the purpose

d. Outline the role of the accounting standards setting board

e. Training methods - on the job and off the job - advantages and disadvantages

g. Explain the indicators that can be used to assess the effectiveness of the clerical systems in the company

Names that are possible this time

1. Handy for motivation / culture / management styles

2. Trompenaars for culture defined

3. Kanter

4. JS Adams

I had already stated what could come out - did you cover the following areas.

BASED ON THE ABOVE IT WOULD APPEAR THAT

ALMOST ALL THE AREAS HAVE BEEN ASKED - SOME WERE REPEAT QUESTIONS LIKE Q4 AND Q3, THOUGH BOTH QUESTIONS ARE USING NAMES (UNUSUAL)

BELBIN + HONEY AND MUMFORD

WHICH BRINGS US TO OTHER NAMES

MOTIVATION CHAPTER HAS A LOT OF NAMES STILL NOT EXAMINED

MANAGEMENT CHAPTER HAS SOME NAMES STILL RUNNING AROUND

LEADERSHIP - YES THERE IS STILL SOME NAMES LEFT OVER

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL LOOKS LIKE A TARGET THIS TIME, BUT THERE IS LOT TO COVER IN THAT CHAPTER

COMMUNICATION IS ALSO LIKELY BUT YOU WILL HAVE TO PERFORM THE FILTERING PROCESS AS INDICATED ABOVE

ORGANISATION STRUCTURE - MAYBE ADV/DISADV OF CERTAIN STRUCTURE

PROCEDURES, POLICIES AND SYSTEMS - IT IS A LIKELY AREA FOR A QUESTION.

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM HAS NOT BEEN ASKED FOR QUITE A LONG TIME

THE FINAL CHAPTER - HEALTH RISK / SAFETY RISK EVALUATION AND POSSIBLE SAFEGUARDS TO RISK

EVACUATION PLAN AND ITS IMPORTANCE

FIRE EMERGENCY AND RELATED ISSUES WITH FIRE RISK

T5 Tips for DEC 2010

I have yet to perform my analysis for the T5, still busy with revisions and mentoring work for the OBU project submission. I will be posting it soon - so stay tuned.

For those that are preparing for this paper - review the past year papers in detail, something is bound to repeat.

This is going to be the last sitting for this paper to be examined in its current format, it will be changing its name soon.

The coming semester students doing the CAT module need not do the T1 to T4 unless they feel it is necessary for them to have a good foundation, if you already have some accounting basics and sufficient knowledge, you can opt to do the ACCA Diploma programme - 3 papers which exempts you from ACCA Knowledge F1 to F3.

This is faster than the previous route of studying but I belief that you should really assess yourself before jumping into this aspect.

The benefit for students - study it but you may only need to pay for 3 exams as compared to 7 exams in the past.

This is a saving in terms of cost, but you should use your judgement about skipping the knowledge part of the studies.

I have no idea how the industry is going to re-act to this, the colleges have yet to state their approach to this. Options that may be taken by the college

1. Ask the students to do an internal qualification rather than external one like T1 - T4

2. Make the students sit for the exams and pay the tuition fee

3. Incorporate the fee as a single amount and still make you study it but no requirement for the exams

4. Just offer the 3 papers and forget about the charging part of it (highly unlikely)

What ever the response, I will be glad to give advice for the students that require it.

Tips for T5 DEC 2010 will be appearing very soon. FOR NOW THE BEST WAY TO PREPARE FOR THIS PAPER IS TO

1. GET THE STUDY GUIDE

2. GET A BPP TEXT BOOK

3. GET THE PAST YEAR PAPERS

4. REVIEW WHAT HAS BEEN ASKED IN THE STUDY GUIDE VS WHAT HAS NOT BEEN ASKED

5. REVIEW ALL AREAS NOT ASKED YET FROM STUDY GUIDE

6. REVIEW AREAS THAT HAVE BEEN ASKED A LONG TIME AGO FROM STUDY GUIDE

7. REVIEW THE AREAS THAT HAVE BEEN ALWAYS ASKED [NAMES]

JUNE 2010

1 (a) Define the term human resource planning. (2 marks)

(b) Identify and describe the four key stages of a human resource plan. (12 marks)

(14 marks)

2 (a) Identify four types of control procedures that can be used to control weekly wages paid in cash, giving one example for each procedure. (8 marks)

(b) Explain three control procedures that can be used to control monthly salaries paid by bank transfer. (6 marks)

(14 marks)

3 (a) List any six of the team roles referred to in the work of Belbin. (6 marks)

(b) Describe the characteristics of any four of the team roles listed in part (a). (8 marks)

(14 marks)

4 (a) Explain the four different learning styles classifi ed by Honey and Mumford. (8 marks)

(b) Outline three potential barriers to effective adult learning. (6 marks)

(14 marks)

5 (a) Describe four different controls to help prevent computer hacking. (8 marks)

(b) In addition to hacking, identify and explain three further risks to computerised systems and explain how they can be prevented. (12 marks)

(20 marks)

BASED ON THE ABOVE IT WOULD APPEAR THAT

ALMOST ALL THE AREAS HAVE BEEN ASKED - SOME WERE REPEAT QUESTIONS LIKE Q4 AND Q3, THOUGH BOTH QUESTIONS ARE USING NAMES (UNUSUAL)

BELBIN + HONEY AND MUMFORD

WHICH BRINGS US TO OTHER NAMES

MOTIVATION CHAPTER HAS A LOT OF NAMES STILL NOT EXAMINED

MANAGEMENT CHAPTER HAS SOME NAMES STILL RUNNING AROUND

LEADERSHIP - YES THERE IS STILL SOME NAMES LEFT OVER

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL LOOKS LIKE A TARGET THIS TIME, BUT THERE IS LOT TO COVER IN THAT CHAPTER

COMMUNICATION IS ALSO LIKELY BUT YOU WILL HAVE TO PERFORM THE FILTERING PROCESS AS INDICATED ABOVE

ORGANISATION STRUCTURE - MAYBE ADV/DISADV OF CERTAIN STRUCTURE

PROCEDURES, POLICIES AND SYSTEMS - IT IS A LIKELY AREA FOR A QUESTION.

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM HAS NOT BEEN ASKED FOR QUITE A LONG TIME

THE FINAL CHAPTER - HEALTH RISK / SAFETY RISK EVALUATION AND POSSIBLE SAFEGUARDS TO RISK

EVACUATION PLAN AND ITS IMPORTANCE

FIRE EMERGENCY AND RELATED ISSUES WITH FIRE RISK

REMEMBER THIS IS JUST THE PRELIMINARY AREAS OF FOCUS, I will be doing a more detailed analysis later on when I become free.

Hope that helps

J Pro update

The interest for P3 and F8 was sufficient for me to initiate a class for the 2 papers

The current schedule for p3 and f8 class is as follows:

P3 - Monday and Tuesday (10.00am - 1.00 pm)- RM1,000 (includes revision)

F8 - Wednesday (10.00 - 2.00 pm)- RM800 (includes revision)

The class will start on 6 th of September for P3 and F8 will start on 8th of September.

Both classes will cater for students that have some background in the paper, studied before but need some form of clarity in handling the exam questions. I will still do a re-cap of the theories and models for each paper, higher emphasis will be on exam techniques.

Please make your registration by sending an sms with your name and paper to my number. The class size is limited to 18 only (maximum that I want to tutor), confirm early.

P7 classes will be starting this Saturday 28th, those that have confirmed your seats please take note, there is still some room for others to join in (8 more seats only)

Paper T5 Easier than before

Well I told you that you must cover the internal controls section - students that did my T8 audit class must have felt a lot easier in handling the T5 Wages system controls question. The other questions that were spotted included the Belbin (name question) Honey & Mumford - learning styles which is a repeat question from the past . The HRM planning question is also considered to be a repeat question from the past and finally a new question - which I believe was also a partial repeat question - data security from hacking (firewall, regular updates, not visiting illegal sites)

Overall the paper was a doable paper, only hard question in there was the hacking and wages controls question, but hacking is common sense question for current age students.

So if you had failed the paper this time - it means that you did not do sufficient work in preparing the papers knowledge or spotted to narrowly.

Looking forward from this incident Organisation structure is hot, System and procedures are hot, General internal controls is hot, computer systems are hot, appraisal is hot, communications is hot, leadership is hot and finally health matter is hot again.

Happy holidays

On that notes for Malaysian students - I need your comment on the idea of studying say 11 days for a paper - 4 days + 4 days + 3 days (8 hours per day). Is it ok for you and what are the issues that you think you would want to raise in this format of classes.

This format is designed for those who failed and want to crash the studying part to the last 2-3 months.

Your feedback on this matter is greatly appreciated since it will help me understand your views better

Names that you should be fully aware of

Organisational structure theorist

1. Burns & Stalker

2. Woodward

3. Fayol

4. Weber (bureaucracy)

Leadership theorist

1.Peters

2. Kanter

3. Drucker

4. Fayol

5. Mintzberg (roles)

6. Weber

7. Blake & Mouton

8. Hersey & Blanchard

9. Likert

10. Ouchi

Cultural theorist

1. Anthony

2. Handy

Team management theorist

1. Belbin

2. Tuckman

3. Peters & Waterman

4. Woodcock

Motivational theorist

1.Maslow

2.Herzberg

3.McLelland

4. Vroom

5. Argyris

6. McGregor

7. Handy

Make sure you know all the names and what was their main idea, as you can already see a pattern of names being questioned, its best to go in the hall with the names and what they said.

Like for example - Mintzberg - 5 structures + 3 roles (10 sub-roles) of leader

What is the 5 structures? - Came out in Dec 2009

What is the 3 main roles and 10 sub-roles? could come out for June 2010

Or it could be weber - what is the characteristics of bureaucracy - SHIP RUST

Handy has a lot of things to say -ranging from the gods of culture, to motivational "E" factors and leadership styles - that is 3 things to remember about Handy.

Make short notes and try to recall what was the main ideas that was proposed, T5 is not an application paper yet, it is more of memory paper.

Mr. Jay FCCA