PQ magazine, April 2016

PQ magazine April 2016

www.pqmagazine.co.uk / www.pqjobs.co.uk

S R E N IN W E H T T E E M : 16 0 PQ AWARDS 2

“The tutors will go the extra mile to help you pass the exams.”

Hashem Sherif Kaplan CIMA student

Develop your confidence.

Achieve exam success.

Our courses are structured to ensure you feel confident and prepared in time for your optimum exam date set by our tutors. Students who follow our recommended approach are 38%† more likely to pass.

No matter where you are with your studies, we have a course to suit you:

Objective Test

Case Study

Our Objective Tests courses cover 100% of the syllabus. We have split them into separate Tuition and Revision elements to test your exam readiness with over 500 practice questions and marked mock exams.

Get detailed analysis of your live case study, including practice tests, 3 mock exams with personalised feedback and tutor guidance to help build exam confidence.

Find out more about our CIMA courses: 01908 540 069

kaplanfinancial.co.uk/cimaconfidence

† Based on Kaplan students sitting an exam 1-2 weeks after completing their final course vs those that waited 4 weeks or longer (April to September 2015).

comment PQ

CONTENTS

News 08ACCA reading time Changes to add 15 minutes to each exam 10The workplace Women are still not getting a fair deal 12Corporate Governance Code No change for three years Features, etc 06Mind your Ps&Qs ACCA wants to know your thoughts; Alan Hatfield explains all; and in defence of south London’s estates 14Mental wellbeing CABA can help; and how to get the extra four ACCA Professional marks 16PQ Awards 2016 So who were the winners at Café de Paris?

Loads of great pictures from accountancy’s best-loved event

18Let’s get technical Comparing and contrasting the various methods of costing – vital stuff

20ICAEW spotlight Financial

statement analysis is a key skill when it comes to the case study

April 2016 28Learning tips We all learn in

different ways, and it’s important you know how your mind works 30Careers #1 Improving your workplace communication skills will boost your prospects; and win a free study course 31Careers #2 Life at the ICAEW; our Book Club review; plus the best of social media 34Fun time When exams are pants; and our great giveaways The columnists Robert Bruce Why are accounting standards so confusing?

8 Prem Sikka Profession must rise to to human rights challenges 10 Carl Lygo Colombia looks forward to a brighter future 12 Subscribe to PQ magazine It’s FREE – see page 33 or go to www.pqmagazine.co.uk ABC July 2014 – June 2015

22Back to basics We explain

32,233

how salary journals work

23Ethics Tread carefully when it comes to accepting hospitality

24CIOT winners list All the

winners plus the paper results

26Exam planning Educators

Publisher’s statement: We send a digital issue of the magazine to an additional 8,090 requested readers

27CIMA case study Integration

Free to all accountancy students Annual subscription: £35 (£50 overseas)

must empower students to think flexibly and take control is the key to success

“Kaplan made it easy for me to study AAT and my tutor was available at all times to help with any of my queries.”

Hannah Clarke Kaplan AAT student

It’s what we’re here for Our lead letter this month is encouraging PQs to feedback their real feelings, good and bad, to the ACCA. If you don’t complete the student survey then the ACCA really doesn’t know how you feel! One thing we do know is the top brass at the ACCA is definitely reading PQ magazine. Our letters page this month also has a detailed explanation from executive director Alan Hatfield about the reasons why the ACCA doesn’t have an ‘official’ exam day as such. The promise is that once things have bedded down with the new four exam sitting it will go back to a fixed date rather than ‘week commencing…’.

Talking of the ACCA, we were recently given a tour of the new offices at the Adelphi. They have a real wow factor, and are much more in keeping with the modern, vibrant organisation that is the ACCA. And I can confirm we were not influenced by the wonderful cream tea that was laid on!

The ACCA has now announced it will be selling its properties at numbers 10 and 29 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, and is expecting this will add a whopping £20m to its coffers.

We also contacted CIMA this month about integration marks and the use of real-life business examples in the case study exams. We now have definitive answers on both these questions (see pages 10 and 27).

We have been on our travels as well. We have been to Manchester, Birmingham and even south London! We had to go to south London to meet up with our PQ of the Year. Manuy Figueroa is the first-ever PQ not to make it to our awards! He missed a great night but his mum apparently wouldn’t let him out as he had chickenpox. We discovered our winner also has another passion apart from accountancy – Latin music (check out Manzana Tropical). To find out who all the winners were for 2016 turn to page 16.

Graham Hambly, PQ magazine editor – graham@pqaccountant.com

AAT PassPlus Supporting you on your journey to AQ2016

Our award winning PassPlus courses are designed to help you pass your exams first time, offering you the perfect combination of technical knowledge with maximum tutor support. Plus, with pass rates of 94%,* they’re ideal to help you to transition quickly and smoothly onto the AQ2016 syllabus.

Experienced industry tutors

Personal support

20 key employability skills

Lifetime Pass Guaranteeĺ

To find out more visit: 01908 540 067

www.kaplanfinancial.co.uk/aatpassplus

* AAT pass rate of 94% based on overall Level 2 pass rates from Sept 14 - Aug 15. ĺ 7KH /LIHWLPH 3DVV *XDUDQWHH LV DYDLODEOH IRU $$7 3DVV3OXV &ODVVURRP DQG /LYH 2QOLQH FRXUVHV RQO\ 5HTXLUHV FRXUVH DWWHQGDQFH 7 &V DSSO\ 6HH ZHEVLWH IRU GHWDLOV

ACCA JUNE EXAM PREPARATION TO HELP YOU MAKE THINGS

EASIER

WE’VE DESIGNED THE PERFECT

REVISION COURSES

JUST FOR YOU

Our courses are led by award-winning tutors who will recap key ACCA syllabus areas and use past exam questions to focus on the techniques required to maximise your exam score.

You can choose from Weekend (an intensive 2-day course) and Extended weekend (a 3-4 day revision course, available from Sat-Tue). Classes start 21 May.

For last-minute preparation we are offering a 1 day Question Based mock exam to help you hone skills before your exams. Available on weekdays from 25 May – 4 June.

BOOK ONLINE AT

www.LSBF.org.uk/SHOP | 020 3535 1111

PQ have your say

email graham@pqaccountant.com Listen to PQs, ACCA...

engage in the appeals process as it stands), and its persistence at not entertaining a student council to allow constructive feedback. You can add to that list the poor Student Learning Hub. I just want to take this opportunity to encourage as many students as possible to complete the survey and provide their feedback (either positive or negative) in the hope action might be taken by ACCA. Sadly, thousands of comments on websites (and published articles in PQ) are yet to engage ACCA on these matters, so I’m desperately hoping this will work.

Name and address supplied

I recently received an email from the ACCA requesting their feedback on a number of matters – I assume thousands of fellow students have received the same. Overall, I rated ACCA poorly owing to its lack of transparency over its arbitrary decision not to publish full past papers, its lack of transparency through the re-marking process (why on earth shouldn’t a student who has paid for ACCA to remark their paper not receive a full breakdown – I’ve been fortunate to pass all papers to date but certainly wouldn’t

The writer of the star letter each month wins a fantastic ‘I ❤ PQ’ mug!

And ACCA writes…

I’d like to explain to PQ readers about ACCA’s exam results dates.

As we continue to implement our new four exam session a year model we are currently advising that results will be issued on a ‘week commencing date’ and we’re asking for patience from our students while we introduce a number of improvements.

In addition to providing the opportunity for students to sit exams Alan Hatfield every three months, we also want to publish results faster and we’re aiming to reduce this from eight weeks to six weeks. We did that successfully in the September and December 2015 sessions where we were able to publish results on the Monday of the week-commencing date.

This will be our first March session and we’re delighted that thousands of students are taking advantage of it, as was also the case with our pilot in September.

So we now know how much students love the flexibility of our new exam model. We’re also confident students will appreciate getting their results earlier, and other benefits such as our dual exam session booking feature.

NEW LSBF ONLINE SHOP

Book your Professional courses online in a few simple steps.

• Filter courses by date, subject, study mode • Select papers that suit your schedule • Buy your papers online straight away

We appreciate that students and learning providers would prefer to have a fixed results publication date. It is our intention to go back to a fixed date once we have embedded this new and innovative exam model.

Also, once it becomes clear during the marking period when results will be published, we will advise students of the exact date. It is a new process for all involved, and we’re asking students to come

SHOP ONLINE AT

www.LSBF.org.uk/shop 020 3535 1111

with us on this journey, with the new exam sessions being just the first of many exciting exam developments we will be sharing with you in the future. So, with an eye to the future – Think Ahead is our strapline after all – we are confident we will be able to offer fixed exam dates later this year and we promise to keep you in the loop on this.

Alan Hatfield, Executive Director – Strategy & Development, ACCA

‘Rough’ justice?

Just read your Editorial where you refer to “…a rough south London estate” (PQ, February 2016). I think it’s great that you commented on the differences in earnings and its relationship to class, but I just wonder about describing an unspecified south London estate as “rough”. As you can probably guess, I grew up on a south London (council) estate and mine has been referred to in such a way too (one book infamously called it the worst estate in London, which I took up with the author face to face). Where I grew up it wasn’t actually what I would call “rough”, and I just wonder that using the term in your article might not reinforce a view about such estates which could be challenged.

If Patrick Okogwu, who you mentioned, said it was rough I have no problem whatsoever, as an opinion or an experience is very individual and I fully respect that.

But as I read it it isn’t clear where the adjective “rough” has come from. Your editorial is clearly supportive of a meritocratic approach, and I support that too, so I’m a bit concerned that it might inadvertently make achieving that harder if it implies particular estates/postcodes are rough.

Or am I just being a bit too sensitive? Should I just go and have a cup of tea and move on?

Dave Knight, Faculty of Business and Law, Leeds Beckett University

Exams must be hard

March’s star letter writer should be thankful, not disgruntled, that we’re studying for a qualification (ACCA) that is actually worth the paper it’s written on. The upside is that the letter communicated this to employers. And blaming low pass rates on the difficulty of the paper or the harsh marking – seriously?

Stan Cullerne-Bown, ACCA PQ, Nottingham

DUE TO LACK OF SPACE OUR SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATES HAVE BEEN MOVED TO PAGE 31

PQ Magazine Fourth floor, Central House, 142 Central Street, London EC1V 8AR | Phone: 020 7216 6444 | Email: graham@pqaccountant.com Website: www.pqmagazine.co.uk | Editor/publisher: Graham Hambly graham@pqaccountant.com | Advertising manager: Polly Thrasivoulou polly@pqaccountant.com Associate editor: Adam Riches | Art editor: Tim Parker | Subscriptions: dom@pqaccountant.com | Contributors: Robert Bruce, Prem Sikka, Carl Lygo, Tony Kelly, Phil Gammon, Jo Daley | Origination and print services by Classified Central Media If you have any problems with delivery, or if you want to change your delivery address, please email dom@pqaccountant.com

Published by PQ Publishing © PQ Publishing 2016

Win a Tablet With BPP To celebrate BPP Professional Education being crowned Online College of the Year and Study Resource of the Year at the 2016 PQ Magazine Awards we are giving you the chance to WIN a LENOVO YOGA Tab 3 10.

Online Classroom Live was voted Online College of the Year for its dynamic and interactive platform and BPP Momentum was awarded Study Resource of the Year for providing students with the best chance for exam success through consistent development and knowledge building.

For your chance to find out more about how BPP could benefit your journey and the chance to win a LENOVO YOGA Tab 3 10*. All you have to do is enter your details and answer the following question; What does ACCA stand for?

1. Association of Chartered Certified Accountants 2. Association of Certified Chartered Accountants 3. Academy of Charismatic Cheerful Accountants To be in with a chance visit bpp.com/tablet-competition

Find out more about BPP programmes and book today.

J 03333 319 449 v bpp.com/tablet-competition *Terms and Conditions apply visit bpp.com/professional-education/terms/competition-promotions.

This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. No cash alternative is available

V

Win a Tablet

PQ news

ROBERT BRUCE Accounting standards: is there life on Mars?

You could be forgiven for thinking you were listening to a conversation conducted by martians. Arrangements to sort out the mismatch of timings over when various accounting standards come into force has created a scramble to sort everything out. The forthcoming standard on insurance contracts and the existing one on financial instruments were not finished at the same time. So they will not come into force at the same time.

But some elements of each connect, so a form of interim ‘what-goeswhere-and-when’ arrangement has to be introduced. This is hugely confusing and employs principles, ideas and practical short-term practices. You couldn’t make it up.

By 2020 everything may be in equilibrium – or not. Meanwhile, the brightest brains in technical accounting have to unravel it and then explain it. This is where the martians come in. It is highly technical. The language grows ever more dense. I can remember back in the day going to an Accounting Standards Board seminar on the infamous IAS 39, the standard on financial instruments. Afterwards, the then Financial Editor of The Times turned to me: “For the next 15 minutes we will be experts in this.

After that we will not have a clue.” So it was; so it is. Accounting has once again parted company with its ability to describe complex things in terms that your granny would understand.

And that means it will start losing its support in the wider business world. n Robert Bruce is an award-winning writer on accountancy for The Times

ACCA exams: 15 minutes added via RAPT changes The ACCA is removing the exam restrictions relating to the 15 minutes’ reading and planning time. In effect, this makes all F5 to P7 exams 195 minutes long!

From September, candidates will be able to use this time however they choose. The ACCA said nothing really changes, as the total exam time remains the same at three hours and 15 minutes.

But some tutors are worried that it will be quickly forgotten that that time was to encourage students to take their time at the beginning of the exam to read the questions carefully and to properly plan their answers.

“Students will start writing straight away and others will worry they too should follow suit,” explained one tutor.

ACCA says candidates had told them that completing the candidate answer grid for the MC sections for F5 to F9 was taking up a lot of time. The pressure to write legibly was also a struggle, and it was suggested that extra time might help here, too.

Interestingly, the ACCA also point out that as young professionals candidates have to take responsibility for managing their time See what the ACCA says in full: www.accaglobal. com/gb/en/student/sa/study-skills/rapt-2016

CIPFA PASS RATES RISE Twitchy AATs

Now that’s what you call a final winter diet was 66%, for the level pass rate! Candidates sitting Company Financial Reporting paper the final two CIPFA papers in at the certificate level.

December achieved pass rates of Many pass rates will be looked at 92% for Strategic Leadership and by other accountancy students with 75% of the Strategic Financial envy. December had four paper Management paper. pass rates over 90% and a further The 92% was the highest-ever three above 80%. achieved at Strategic CIPFA DECEMBER 2015 RESULTS Leadership, which has in the past been as low Dec ’15 Jun ’15 as 55% (June 2013).

Financial Accounting 93% 83% Overall the pass Management Accounting 92% 97% rates in all 12 papers Financial Reporting 66% 79% look really good, apart Audit & Assurance 70% 62% from the Public Sector Business Management 92% 93% Financial Reporting Business Strategy 83% 92% paper, which saw a Financial Management 78% 57% drop to 44% in Governance, Public Policy 81% 61% December. In June this Public Finance & tax 87% 94% paper had a pass rate Public Sector FR 44% 54% of 54%.

Strategic Financial M’ment 75% 66% The next lowest Strategic Leadership 92% 87% paper pass rate in the

AAT PQs are starting to get twitchy about changes coming to the syllabus and assessment – in the form of AQ2016.

New Department for Education rules will mean students only have one re-sit assessment opportunity in each 12-month window. They will, of course, be allowed more resits once they are in a new registration period. It means PQs have to be much more in control of planning their sittings and study patterns.

PQ magazine understands that the AAT is also introducing grading and synoptic assessments. Grading uses a three-point scale – pass, merit and distinction. You can, of course, also fail! Synoptic tests will be introduced at each level, drawing on the knowledge obtained from the whole level.

The changes come into effect from the end of the summer.

6,975 students signed up to courses in 2015, 21% more than chose to study accountancy in 2007. The number of women opting for accountancy is also up.

articles, comments and publications giving all the information you’ll ever need to know about public finance. See www.cipfa.org/cipfa-thinks

In brief Great Leeds giveaway PQ magazine has joined forces with First Intuition Leeds to offer 10 free courses to readers.

First Intuition has opened up next to the station at 1 Aire Street, Leeds LS1 4PR, and to celebrate is giving away 10 free courses. To enter this giveaway see page 30.

Degrees more popular The number of students choosing to study accountancy at UK universities is touching 7,000, according to UCAS figures. In total, 8

Ethical dilemma Teachers need a code of ethics to help them resist the pressures to play the system, says the UK’s outgoing exams regulator, Dame Glenys Stacey. Ofqual CEO Stacey is worried about the grey areas; Ofqual research found that teachers thought it acceptable to

discuss what might come up in exams and not teach the whole syllabus. What is clearly unacceptable behaviour is to encourage pupils to rote-learn likely answers.

CIPFA Thinks CIPFA specialises in all aspects of public services finance and their expertise in the sector is unrivalled – so they keep telling us!

To make this wealth of knowledge more accessible they have created CIPFA Thinks, a collection of

The Finance Academy Government finance professionals (GFPs) are to have their own Finance Academy, according to the Treasury’s David Allen. The academy will be the ‘goto’ place for the development and learning needs of all GFPs and a hub for advice on how to get on.

PQ Magazine April 2016

CIMA CASE STUDY COURSE

With LSBF’s comprehensive 12 evening course, developed by CIMA specialists, you will get the preparation you need to pass your assessment.

The Case Study course includes two mock exams with personalised feedback from our expert tutors. You will also learn how to integrate the knowledge from the Objective Tests into the Case Study and get tips on maximising your score.

CLASSES START 11 APRIL.

BOOK ONLINE AT www.LSBF.org.uk/shop 020 3535 1111

PQ news

PREM SIKKA Profession must rise to human rights challenge The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), published in 1948, commits all UN members to respect, protect and enforce the human rights of every individual to a standard of living for adequate health and wellbeing, including the right to food, water, clothing, medical care, housing and social services. The obligations apply not only to nation states – no company, market or cyberspace entity is excluded from UDHR obligations.

Increasingly, corporations are seen as social organisations that should be dedicated to advancement of human welfare. Hence the public concern about poverty wages, environmental degradation, industrial accidents and tax avoidance. The Companies Act 2013 now requires major companies to publish a ‘strategic report’ which must explain the effect of corporate practices on “social, community and human rights issues”.

The above is in stark contrast to the way companies are portrayed in corporate governance codes and accounting standards. These remain informed by old-fashioned economic logics. Corporate governance codes published by the Financial Reporting Council hardly make any reference to human rights. The same goes for accounting standards focused on shareholder wealth maximisation and the assumed needs of investors.

The challenge is to transform accounting to something which is useful to a variety of stakeholders. So far, accounting regulators have shown little sign of rising to this challenge. n Prem Sikka is professor of accountancy at the University of Essex

OLD BOYS’ CLUB IS ALIVE AND KICKING

The ever-present ‘old boys’ club’ and male domination at senior levels are both seen as major factors for male accountants being Olivia offered better Hill progression opportunities in 2016 than their female colleagues.

New research from the AAT found that the experience of men and women in the profession varies drastically in terms of pay,

progression and prejudice.

So while 60% of men think men and women are treated equally, when it comes to opportunity and remuneration this is the ‘experience’ of just 43% women.

A real concern to the AAT is the suggestion that the gender pay gap may be opening up rather than closing. In its most recent survey, men working full-time were earning 18% more than women, an increase on previous years, with the

gap widening to 23% at senior levels.

Nearly two-thirds of women at senior levels told researchers they had experienced discrimination at work because of their gender.

AAT’s chief HR officer, Olivia Hill, felt that this new research shows that men are much less aware of issues relating to gender inequality simply because they aren’t as exposed to it. To help champion positive progress Hill explained that the AAT is launching a white paper to explore the reasons behind inequality issues in the finance sector.

To access the white paper, which is called ‘Making the finance sector add up for women’, go to www.aat.org.uk/news

‘Impersonator’ is expelled by ACCA

Happy birthday!

HTFT Partnership turned three recently and they celebrated in style with students, employers and friends at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham

CIMA’s advice on real life

The debate has been rumbling on CIMA noticeboards – does using real-life business examples earn you marks in the case study? There appears to be much confusion out there, so PQ magazine asked CIMA for a definitive answer. In response, CIMA told us that case studies and marking schemes are written without any expectation of a candidate using real business examples. A spokesman said: “Sometimes a candidate might feel he/she can illustrate a point more easily by giving an example, but others can make the same point with equal effect (and credit) without giving an example.”

CIMA also said that most of those passing the case study do so without using examples, but rely instead on the data given in the pre-seen or the additional data in the exam itself.

There is a worry that students may try to shoehorn in real examples that they have been pointed towards in their preparation. When they do so it simply spoils the flow of any point the candidate is trying to make. It could be seen as irrelevant and show-offy!

A Zambian ACCA student desperate for money to pay exam costs has been caught taking a MA2 CBE exam for an ACCA ‘friend’.

Kasonogo Chilufa admitted to inputting the details of a fellow student, Chitalu Nambeya, on his exam computer and taking the exam on her behalf while she wrote his. And while he obtained 74% for her, she only managed 18%!

An exam coordinator and an invigilator became suspicious and, when questioned, Chilufa admitted he had sat the exam for Nambeya and that she had agreed to pay him. In mitigation he wrote: “I regret ever doing this and all I can ask for is for you to exercise mercy upon me. I will never cheat in an exam again because I have learned a harsh lesson today.”

The ACCA disciplinary committee ordered both students to be removed from the student register and to each pay costs to the ACCA of £1,382.50.

The case is subject to appeal.

In brief New chief for ATT The Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT) has named Jane Ashton as its new Executive Director.

Ashton (pictured) replaces Andrew Pickering, who is retiring after more than 22 years at the ATT. Ashton’s tax career has spanned over 30 years. She became a member of the ATT in 1993 and has served on the ATT Council for 10 years.

Show your workings, examiners plead ACCA examiners are calling on candidates to “show their workings”. The F7 examiner 10

stressed in their December Examiner’s Report that: “An appropriate level of referenced workings are essential to allow markers to understand how answers have been arrived at.”

However, it was pointed out that both excessively long or no workings are just as bad.

The F9 agreed that it is good examination technique to show all workings “as marks can be gained for applying a correct method even when numerical errors have been made”.

AAT qualification in Myanmar Management Accounting School (MAS Education) has become the first training provider approved by the AAT to deliver its

qualification in Myanmar. AAT said that a gradual lifting of government restrictions has been taking place in Myanmar since 2010 and it is widely believed the country’s economy will improve.

Enhanced disclosure Companies will need to provide information about changes in their financing liabilities as part of improvements to disclosures announced by the International Accounting Standards Board. The IASB has issued amendments to IAS 7 Statement of Cash Flows after requests from investors for information that helps them better understand changes in a company’s debt.

PQ Magazine April 2016

PQ news

CARL LYGO Colombia looks forward to a brighter future I’ve been in the capital of Colombia, Bogota. At 8,300ft above sea level the first thing that hits you as you step off the plane is the altitude and your own shortness of breath. It took two days to shake off the constant headaches of high altitude and adjust to the climate. This does not bode well, as next year I am attempting to climb Kilimanjaro at just under 20,000ft.

Bogota is an amazing modern city and the people are incredibly friendly.

In 2014, Colombia’s national accountancy body INCP (Instituto Nacional de Contadores Publicos de Colombia) agreed an MoU with ACCA to promote the training development and recognition of IFRS in Colombia (among other things). Last year we helped a leading university (EAN) develop links with ACCA to boost the local accountancy profession.

The profession is growing in Colombia and the dividends of the peace process (expected to culminate in an agreement this month between the government and FARC rebels) will hopefully be a more peaceful and business friendly environment.

Returning to the UK was a trauma.

A two-hour flight delay left me with 35 minutes to transit in Miami (which means going through immigration and coming back in through security checks again). I managed it with literally seconds to spare but my luggage did not. At the time of writing my luggage is still making its way back from Colombia. A transit experience never to be repeated – next time I fly direct from London! n Professor Carl Lygo is chief executive of BPP

Corporate Governance Code to remain unchanged, says FRC addressed. In an effort to promote There will be no changes to the consistency in audit quality, he said Corporate Governance Code for the by 2019 the FRC wants at least next three years, says the Financial 90% of FTSE350 audits to require Reporting Council’s CEO Stephen no more than limited Haddrill. He told a packed improvements. That is a open meeting that this big ask, and a KPI that was “a committed everyone can now measure promise”. The FRC wants the FRC against. to embed all the recent The implementation of changes to codes and the audit regulations and standards rather than add directive come into UK law even more requirements. in the middle of June. This It will also seek to remove regulatory burdens Stephen Haddrill will, Haddrill suggested, require changes to wherever possible. standards and its relationship with Haddrill felt that there are still issues around audit consistency and professional bodies. He expects the FRC to be inspecting a lot more quality of audits that need to be

ACCA EXAM FEEDBACK FOR FIRST MARCH SET ACCA students were sitting the firstever March sitting as PQ magazine went to press. It appears F8 sitters disagreed about which was the hardest question on the paper – was it Q3, Q4, Q5 or Q6? All were mentioned as ‘the hardest’.

ACCA PQs also seem to have a new skill to master – remembering how they answered the MCQs! One candidate admitted to being concerned about leaving the hall with their answers, as they worried that the invigilators may have thought they had walked in with the answers too!

The order of answers is another hot topic online. PQs are concerned if there are too many of the same letters in their answers (this time it was C) or in a row. “I have changed one in the exam and now regret it,” explained one student.

Several P7 sitters admitted to spending too much time on Q1 this spring. Many resitting the exam claimed the March test was much harder than December’s. Time management issues were mentioned by many as the big challenge of this paper. As one sitter put it: “I just didn’t have time to write quality answers.”

The biggest complaint from F7 sitters was the amount of work they needed to do to get just four marks in Q1. One sitter claimed they had spent half-an-hour “to get four bloody marks”.

The key feedback about the P2 exams was the confusing nature of the paper. “There were too many things to consider,” explained one sitter.

• Go online to our ACCA study zone for more feedback.

ICPA joins up to CA Worldwide

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) has been awarded Associate membership by Chartered Accountants Worldwide. ICAP is the second professional body to be admitted to the organisation since it was launched in February 2013.

As an Associate member, ICAP joins a group of globally-recognised chartered accountancy bodies that are committed to enhancing the value of the brand and the profession. Its membership 12

audit firms; he ventured it could be around 50 firms a year.

The FRC has said that by 2019 the audit profession alone will pay the full cost of audit regulation.

Haddrill went on to stress that the FRC needs to be more transparent about its work. He believes it has the reputation as the most transparent audit regulator in the world. And to this end it has encouraged companies to tell it about poor audits. It is, however, less transparent on the review of company reports and accounts. It will now publish lists of who has been looked at and where problems are ‘significant’.

recognises the importance of the qualification in Pakistan and

demonstrates ICAP’s commitment to the highest professional and ethical standards.

The rest of the Chartered Accountants Worldwide family are founder members Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand; Chartered Accountants Ireland; ICAEW; ICAS; the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants; and the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA), who joined as an Associate in June 2015.

PQ of the Year: Manuy Figueroa was unable to pick up his award in person due to illness, so we caught up with him at work. Read our interview with him in next month’s PQ. See pages 16 and 17 for loads more awards stuff

Partners exit

KPMG is reportedly letting go some 50 partners in a bid to improve performance, and as a direct respond to changing client demands, reports Sky News.

The total number of partners at KPMG is being reduced from 630 to 580, as the firm invests in new technology and areas more likely to deliver better long-term benefits.

Sky said a source had revealed that there was board support inside the firm for the changes. KPMG was recently overtaken by EY, making it the smallest of the Big 4 firms.

PQ Magazine April 2016

PQ mental wellbeing

‘I DIDN’T WANT TO BE A BURDEN TO ANYONE’

When Melissa couldn’t cope after her boyfriend dumped her just before crucial exams she turned to CABA for help. Here’s her story

I

was in my early twenties and things were looking good. I was in a training agreement and leading up to my final assessments.

Obviously that’s quite pressured, but I was living in a nice flat and I was in a good relationship – or so I thought.

I’d been friends with my boyfriend all the way through university, and then when I moved near him for work, things very quickly developed. It was my first real relationship and we were very close. We weren’t living together but we saw each other all the time. I trusted him completely.

Then, suddenly, he just stopped calling. For nearly four weeks I couldn’t seem to get hold of him. I was so focused on my assessments, I tried not to think about it too much. I knew that he was also in a very stressful situation at work, so I thought, let’s just get through the exams and then we’ll sort it out.

Then, five days before my final assessment deadlines he dumped me. It was awful, I just didn’t expect it. He just said: “I’ve decided I don’t want to be with you anymore.” He also said some very hurtful things that just devastated me.

I don’t know how to explain it, but when you’ve really trusted someone like that, then out of the blue they just destroy you, it makes you feel so vulnerable. It’s the worst feeling in the world. I had so many unanswered questions, but that was it. He ended it and I basically never heard from him again.

I couldn’t stop crying. I felt so betrayed. I’ve never felt so alone, and I knew I had to get through my assessments. I really didn’t want to tell work what had happened, I didn’t want to unravel and end up losing my job.

In the middle of the night, I was crying and crying. I had a lovely flat-mate, but you can’t wake people in the night about things like that. I just didn’t want to be a burden to anyone. So I thought, I’m just going to call CABA. The advisor that answered the phone was really good. She talked through some breathing exercises to calm me down and got me into a state where I was able to sleep and go to work the next day. She said I could call back whenever I needed, day or

night. I have to say that the people at CABA must be some of the most patient, understanding and kind people you can imagine.

CABA arranged for me to have telephone counselling – I mostly did it in my lunch breaks by going into one of the meeting rooms.

Counselling was crucial for me – I really think I would have ended up signed-off work or hospitalised if I hadn’t had that. Somehow it makes you able to carry on, because you know someone is there to talk to, that you’ll get a chance to go over all the unfinished business again.

I also found some of the advice the counsellor gave me really helpful – like the idea of being kind to yourself. I was so hung up on what I’d done wrong, what was wrong with me to make him leave, but I see now that whatever it was, it wasn’t to do with me. He must have problems of his own to treat someone so badly.

I think if you’re ever in trouble, you should call CABA. They’re so good and helpful.

I got through the exams and passed them, thankfully. Now I’d say that, for the most part, I’m okay. It’s taken nearly a year, and I still get upset sometimes, but really I’m fine. Work is going really well and I’m about to become qualified, which is a great feeling. And I’ve learnt from this. I think I’ve become more aware of myself, my own emotions, and I’m also more resilient. I don’t think I would react quite as badly now, if it were to happen again.

I’ve been re-gaining my confidence, and just recently a really nice guy asked me to go out.

And I’ve said yes. So I must be back on track, ready to try again and trust people.” PQ • Go to www.caba.org.uk; the 24-hour support line number is +44 (0) 1788 556 366

PQ ACCA professional marks

HOW TO GET THOSE FOUR EASY MARKS So where are the ACCA professional marks awarded?

• P1, P3, P4 & P5 – all marks in section A, Q1.

• P2 – two marks in each question in section B. • P6 & P7 – all four marks in either Q1 or Q2 (section A).

A lot of students mistakenly believe it is all about choosing the right format – although this is part of it!

The marks are available for introducing the topic appropriately. You must also make convincing points with counter-arguments, while using the appropriate tone for the audience. The markers will be looking for logical flow and structure, which draw together main themes of an argument into a valid set of conclusions.

Do some planning. If each minute in the exam hall is worth 1.8 marks this means you have seven minutes to gain these professional marks.

14

You must use the appropriate format – if asked for a report or press statement then that’s what you need to produce. Don’t write a letter when you have been asked for a memo.

And remember those exam basics: keep your sentences short and concise; have short paragraphs and make sure your writing is legible; make sure you leave plenty of white space; and make the marker stop and think: does this need a mark? Another no-no is writing down points as they come into your head – make sure your points are logical.

Headings and conclusions/ recommendations are also key. Also, remember to put the question you are answering at the top of each page.

Finally, it seems the examiners don’t like slang or abbreviations. Remember you are a professional, so accordingly use professional language that reflects your status. PQ PQ Magazine April 2016

&2//(*( 2) 7+( <($5 1LQH \HDUV DJR )LUVW ,QWXLWLRQ VHW RXW WR RIIHU D IUHVK DSSURDFK WR DFFRXQWDQF\ WUDLQLQJ +DYLQJ ZRQ WKH 34 &ROOHJH RI WKH <HDU DZDUG IRXU WLPHV VLQFH ZH PXVW EH GRLQJ VRPHWKLQJ ULJKW

7KDQN \RX IRU \RXU VXSSRUW

ZZZ IL FR XN

PQ Awards 2016

THE PQ GOES TO ...

MEET ALL OUR WINNERS THE BEST AWARDS IN ACCOUNTANCY DELIVER ONCE AGAIN London’s Café de Paris was rocking for the PQ Awards 2016.

More than 250 of the accountancy profession’s finest turned up ‘ready to party’ and to see who would be picking up a PQ. However, one winner was conspicuous by his absence – our PQ of the Year! Poor Manuy Figueroa was at home in bed with chickenpox, on his mum’s orders. Figueroa is an accounts co-ordinator at St. Mary’s Services Chartered Certified Accountants in south London.

Someone who was there was our Distance Learning Student of the Year, Mathura Atputhalingam. This Sri Lankan student is taking a degree and studying the early ACCA papers at the same time. She has a huge story to tell (all to be revealed in a future PQ) – let’s just say through it all education and learning have been her saviour.

Our NQ of the Year was Agchem Project Consulting’s Sharon Harris. This CIMA member explains that if you had told her 16-year-old self that at the age of 52 she would be a chartered accountant with an honours degree she would have asked you what you’d been drinking!

Our Personality of the Year is the dapper Kevin Lloyd of Training 2000. Lloyd is a gregarious character who also answers to wacky, quirky and funny!

On the night, CIPFA’s student network walked off with our student body prize, and the ICAEW was named the 2016 Accountancy Body of the Year.

There were two new PQs up for grabs this time. BPP Live won the Online College category and Kaplan’s School Leaver Campaign picked up the prize for Best Use of Social Media.

Meet the crew: the ICAEW were propping up the bar, keeping cool about picking up the Accountancy Body of the Year award

THE INDEPENDENT JUDGING PANEL Dr Mary Bishop – Director of Learning, ACCA Rachel Kellett – Head of Product, AAT Shaun Robertson – Director of Qualifications, ICAEW Professor Prem Sikka – Professor of accountancy at the University of Essex

Kaplan Financial were double winners on the night: Julia Falvey won Lecturer of the Year and it also picked up a PQ for Best Use of Social Media 16

Who doesn’t love posing in front of the sponsors’ logos pretending they have won? Here are some of the AAT team living the dream

The PQ magazine Awards for 2016 are over, but we ended this year with a bang – don’t worry, no one had a heart attack!

PQ Magazine April 2016

Awards 2016 PQ

STUDENT BODY OF THE YEAR CIPFA Student Network

DISTANCE LEARNING STUDENT OF THE YEAR Mathura Atputhalingam

ACCOUNTANCY COLLEGE OF THE YEAR PUBLIC SECTOR University of South Wales – professional accountancy tuition hub

NQ OF THE YEAR Sharon Harris, Agchem Project Consulting

ACCOUNTANCY COLLEGE OF THE YEAR PRIVATE SECTOR First Intuition, London

ONLINE COLLEGE OF THE YEAR BPP Live

LECTURER OF THE YEAR PUBLIC SECTOR Fiona McEwen, MMU

TRAINING MANAGER OF THE YEAR Daphne Sanya, The Training Place

STUDY RESOURCE OF THE YEAR BPP Momentum

BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA Kaplan School Leaver Campaign

INNOVATION IN ACCOUNTANCY Leeds University

ACCOUNTANCY TEAM OF THE YEAR Casual Dining Group

ACCOUNTANCY PERSONALITY Kevin Lloyd, Training 2000

EDITOR’S AWARD The Great Minds Series, LSBF

ACCOUNTANCY COLLEGE OF THE YEAR PUBLIC SECTOR Gower College Swansea

LECTURER OF THE YEAR PRIVATE SECTOR Julia Falvey, Kaplan Online

ACCOUNTANCY BODY OF THE YEAR ICAEW

PQ Magazine April 2016

17

PQ AAT exams

LET’S GET TECHNICAL

Gareth John compares the various methods of costing: this you must know

I

had to buy a car recently to replace my fondly missed orange Mini. I went to the car showroom (not a Mini one I’m afraid, my eldest daughter wouldn’t allow it) and asked the price of a fairly ordinary ‘run-around’. “That one is £460,000” the salesman informed me.

“WHAT!! Is it made of gold?” I spluttered.

“No,” he said, “but my boss said that we need to always charge a price to cover our costs and it cost us £8,000 to assemble that car and our rent for the month is £450,000.”

I felt that a lesson in costing was in order so I hope that the salesman in question is reading this article.

Costing Costing is one of the principle roles of management accounting and we looked at some basic costing terminology in the last issue. In this article I want to think a bit about the two most important costing approaches; absorption costing and marginal costing.

When thinking about costing always bear in mind that the ultimate purpose of costing is to identify the cost of producing each unit of output. This cost can be summarised by pulling together a ‘cost card’ to list and add up the various costs involved in production.

Absorption costing I think of absorption costing as ‘full costing’ because the cost card will include all production costs whether they are variable or fixed.

Variable costs are generally quite easy to deal with as they will tend to be related in some way to a single unit being made.

So a single car will require a certain amount of direct materials (steel, wheels, seats etc), a certain amount of direct labour (the staff who assemble the car) and a certain amount of variable overheads (perhaps the electricity used to power the machine that builds the car).

Fixed costs are harder to deal with since the cost incurred will not be related to individual units (by definition a fixed cost has nothing to do with the volume of output) but are often related to periods of time (this is true of rent, rates, electricity, telephone charges and most other utility bills). What we need to do is to be spread the cost over the number of units produced in the period covered to work out an effective cost per unit. This is what we mean by ‘absorbing’ the cost. So our salesman should have divided the 18

cost. This means that the absorption costing cost card will always give a higher cost per unit as it includes that extra element of fixed cost. This means that absorption costing always gives a higher value to inventory.

monthly rent cost of £450,000 by all of the cars made in the month.

Marginal costing I think of marginal costing as ‘variable costing’ because the cost card will only include variable production costs. This is because the variable costs are the only costs that change if we produce just a single extra car (this is what we mean by ‘at the margin’). Fixed costs such as rent will not change as a result of that extra unit of production.

Comparing costs cards Let’s look at how our cost card for making a car would compare using our two costing methods:

Direct costs – Direct material (4 wheels at £20 per wheel) – Direct labour (2 hours at £15 per hour) Prime cost (the total of direct costs) Indirect costs – Variable overhead (2 hours at £5 per hour) – Fixed overhead (£450,000/50,000 cars made) Production cost You will see that: 1. Direct material costs are in both cost cards as they are ‘variable’ costs and are therefore part of ‘full’ cost.

2. Direct labour costs are in both cost cards as they are ‘variable’ costs and are therefore part of ‘full’ cost.

3. Variable overheads are in both cost cards as they are ‘variable’ costs and are therefore part of ‘full’ cost.

4. Fixed overheads are only in the absorption cost card as these are not a ‘variable’ cost but are part of the ‘full’

Absorption costing

Marginal costing

80 30 110

80 30 110

10 9

10 -

129

120

Short-term versus long-term It is often said that marginal costing is more appropriate for use in the shortterm, since if you are only looking at changing production levels over a few days your fixed costs will not change so can be ignored. In our example (left), if we made a single extra car one day we would incur extra variable costs of £120, so could in theory get away with charging £125 to sell that car and we would still cover our costs and make £5 (this is what marginal costing calls ‘contribution’).

If, however, we charged £125 for every car we sold during the whole month we would make a loss of £4 per unit as we would not be covering our fixed costs.

This is why absorption costing is felt to be more appropriate in the long-term. So in order to make money (absorption costing calls this ‘profit’) we would need to charge a regular price of more than £129 per car.

The fact that marginal costing is more relevant in the short term explains why we use the concept of contribution in various forms of ‘short-term decision making’ such as breakeven analysis and limiting factor analysis. PQ • Gareth John is a tutor/director with First Intuition and helps to manage their AAT distance learning programme. He was PQ Magazine Accountancy Lecturer of the Year in 2011 PQ Magazine April 2016

Premier Training: You ask. We listen.

P Award-winning e-learning Benefit from interactive videos and our innovative individual learning programme.

Personal tutor support

Pass Promise

Instant access to ACCA, FCA and AAT qualified tutors via phone, email, Skype, Twitter and our mobile app.

We will tutor you until you pass. (Students must be actively and continuously studying. Please see our T&Cs for more information.)

Price Match

Find another provider that offers personal tutor support, marked assignments, mock exams and e-learning tools, and we'll match their price.

ENROL NOW! AAT Level 2 Certificate in Accounting £699 AAT Level 3 Diploma in Accounting £749 AAT Level 4 Diploma in Accounting £799 For more bookkeeping and payroll courses, visit our website

“I couldn’t ask for a better tutor." Methodia Mathias MAAT Sign up now PQ magazine

AWARDS

2014 WINNER

Study Resource of the Year

BKN Training Provider Awards 2014

AWARDS 2014

Winner

Accounting Training Provider of the Year

Best Use of E-learning

BKN Training Provider

Training Provider

AWARDS 2015 Winner

Best Use of E-learning

01469 515444 info@premiertraining.co.uk www.premiertraining.co.uk

PQ ICAEW spotlight

Making your statement Financial statement analysis is a key skill for ACA students. Anne Porcheron takes you through the exam and how to prepare for it

T

he case study exam tests whether nearly qualified accountants can conduct a thorough valuation of a company’s financial performance and communicate their findings to a board of directors.

What you will be asked to do The case study requirements typically ask you to evaluate the performance of a business for the year, with a focus on revenue, profit and other specific areas. You will need to compare the results to the prior year, and sometimes to KPIs or a forecast.

Know your approach Good financial analysis will tell a story using numbers. Build up each point with: • A financial fact – eg “revenue has increased by 10% to £11m”.

• Cause(s) – eg “due to the launch of a new product…”

• Your opinion – eg “which is impressive”.

• A benchmark or context – eg “given industry growth of only 4%”.

• Implication(s) – eg “but growth will be limited in 2015 as the factory reaches production capacity”.

Analysing revenue Consider the overall revenue growth and then the individual areas of the business, noting any requirement to focus on a particular business line. For causes of revenue growth or decline, make sure you think about price, volume, new contracts, clients or products.

Analysing gross profit Start with the movement in overall gross profit

and margin and then drill down into the detail of the individual division’s gross profit margins.

Take care not to repeat your revenue analysis – focus on mix, margins and costs and efficiencies. Changes in revenue mix between business streams are useful in explaining movements in the overall company gross profit margin; and you can use changes in product mix to explain the movement in gross margin for an individual business stream.

Making adjustments Some recent case study exams have included a requirement to make adjustments to the accounts and then appraise the results. Don’t panic. The background to the adjustments will be something you know about, and this won’t be as difficult as the problems you’ve been set in Financial Accounting and Reporting or Corporate Reporting. Follow the instructions and use your analysis of the Advance Information to help you work out the implications.

Make those numbers talk Remember, this is financial statement analysis – it has to include numbers. The best approach is to use a mix of absolute figures (£s) and percentages. A new division with 75% revenue

A QUICK LOOK AT...

This case concerns the situation where a person purporting to have, but in fact lacking, authority to enter into a contract on behalf of a company forms a contract with a third party.

The claimants were architects, who had entered into a contract with one Mr Kapoor relating to the development of Buckhurst Park, a property in London. Kapoor and others had formed the defendant company with a view to developing the property. Kapoor was a director of the defendant company, the articles of association of which allowed the company to appoint one of its four directors to the position of ‘managing director’, who would thereby have the authority to enter into contracts on behalf of 20

growth sounds amazing, but if it’s only contributing £300,000 of the company’s £15m total revenue it’s important to stress this is not the core of the business.

For case study exam resources go to icaew.com/examresources TOP TIPS .

1. Read the requirement carefully. Cover everything you’ve been asked for.

2. Aim for a balanced answer. You won’t write exactly the same quantity for each subrequirement, but you shouldn’t have pages on revenue and just a couple of paragraphs on profit.

3. Make your wider business issues count.

Weave them into your analysis to explain or evaluate performance. In the commentary on Rolling Stores (Nov 2014) the examiner said: “Weaker candidates frequently used bland generalised comments – such as ‘the UK is coming out of the recession’ – without in any way tying that statement to RS’ business activity to show its relevance, which meant that no reward was given.”

4. Get your opinion across. Identifying the main cause, or the best and worst performing division shows you are exercising your judgement. PQ

Freeman & Lockyer v Buckhurst Park Properties (Mangal) Ltd [1964] 2 QB 480

the company. Kapoor was never appointed managing director, although he (successfully) led the claimants to believe that he was.

Subsequently, it became apparent that the development would come to fruition. The claimants commenced proceedings for their outstanding fee.

As Kapoor’s whereabouts were unknown, the claimants were required to bring a claim against the company on the basis that Kapoor had authority to act on its behalf.

In the Court of Appeal, it was held that although Kapoor had no actual authority (whether express or implied) to act on behalf of the company, because he had acted as if he

were, and had been allowed to so act by the other directors, he thereby had ‘apparent’ or ‘ostensible’ authority to act on behalf of the company.

As the company had acquiesced in his acting as if he were its managing director, it was estopped from disputing that he did not have authority to enter into contracts on that basis, and the company was therefore required to pay the claimants their fee.

• Ross Fletcher is an AIA Achieve e-tutor. The AIA Achieve team is producing a series of ‘A Quick Look at…’ articles throughout 2016.

More articles can be found on the AIA website: www.aiaworldwide.com/a-quick-look-at.

PQ Magazine April 2016

Awards Won: Training Provider of the year (small) Apprentice of the year

FREE Work Placement available to all our students

TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR CAREER AND EARNING POTENTIAL WITH GUARANTEED WORK EXPERIENCE Practical Short Courses: Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Sage Line 50 Sage Payroll Excel Spreadsheet Value Added Tax (VAT) Management Accounts and others

Daytime/Evening Courses:

Ÿ AAT Level 2 Ÿ AAT Level 3 Ÿ AAT Level 4 Distance Learning Available

16-23? FREE Apprenticeships: Ÿ Accounting Ÿ Business Administration Ÿ Customer Service

Benefits of joining The Training Place: Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Small class sizes Experienced tutors Exam prep support Student loan available Full set of study materials Study daytime or evening CV/Interviewing sessions Guaranteed work placement

FIND OUT MORE:

Open days 29th of March-1st of April 12:00 - 4:00pm

Carlton Cottages, 12 New Cross Road, London SE14 5BE

Email: admin@thetrainingplace.org Visit: www.thetrainingplace.org Call: 0207 252 9331

PQ salary journals

Make sense of salaries Mary Ofili explains how a salary journal works, with the help of a practical example

pension expense account in the P&L account by debiting it and the liability will immediately be established in a pension liability account in the balance sheet by crediting it (as seen above). When the payment for pension is made, the liability has now been cleared or reduced, so this will be posted as a bank payment by debiting the pension liability account and crediting bank.

J

ournals are used to move funds from one account to another account using a computerised accounting system. They are classed as a book of prime entry and are used to record accounting transactions that do not frequently occur.

Journals have to be set up in compliance with double entry and this means that the total of the debit side entries should be the same as the total of the credit side entries.

Salary journals are used in accounts to help ensure that the total employment cost is captured and the total employment liability is also captured in compliance with the accrual concept and not just accounting for each of these when the payment is made.

A salary journal could be as shown as below.

DR Details Amount Gross Salaries Employers NI Employers Pension

Details Net Wages PAYE NI (employers & employees NI) Pension (employers & employees NI)

When the payroll is calculated, a salary journal should be set up using the payroll date: Dr: Gross salaries Dr: National Insurance expense account Dr: Pension expense account Cr: Net wages Cr: PAYE & NI Cr: Pension liability account

CR Amount

TOTAL EMPLOYMENT COST

TOTAL EMPLOYMENT LIABILITY

Going into the P&L Account

Going into the Balance Sheet

Expenses are debit balances

Liabilities are credit balances

The debit side shows the total cost a company will incur for having staff members and the credit side shows the total liability – what the company owes the different people and organisations in regards to payroll payments.

A simple illustration is you being employed and the company agreeing to pay you a salary of £45,000; this doesn’t mean that the full £45,000 will be paid to you by the end of a year under the PAYE system.

It only means that the gross amount you will be entitled to will be £45,000, but from this amount national insurance (NI), income tax (PAYE) and pension contributions will be deducted, and the net of these amounts will be paid to you periodically.

The company will also incur additional costs to the £45,000 for employing you, which will be employers national insurance contributions made on your behalf and employers pension also made on your behalf (if any).

22

These all add up to be costs the company will incur due to the fact that they have employed you.

The net wages, after all relevant deductions, will be paid to you, maybe at the end of each month as may have been agreed; the NI & PAYE deductions will have to be paid to HMRC and the pension deductions to the pension provider company.

These amounts are paid to different organisations and people at different times, as they all have different deadlines for the payments to be made.

It will be wrong for the payments to be recognised as expenses at the time they are being paid rather than the time they are incurred because the NI & PAYE payment, for example, is not due to be paid until the month following the payroll month or on a quarterly basis. So if the January payroll is run, the net wages will be paid to staff in January, the pension may be paid in February and the NI and PAYE may be paid in February or at a later date.

Where the salary journal is not used, such pension payment will be recognised as an expense in February by debiting pension expense and crediting bank, but under the accrual concept this will be wrong.

It is clear that this is an expense which relates to January, but is being paid in February or later, so the expense has to be shown in January and not in any other month when the payment may have been made.

Where the salary journal is used, the expense will be established in the

When staff are paid: Dr: Net wages Cr: Bank This will clear the amount being owed to the staff members because we are debiting a liability account When HMRC are paid: Dr: PAYE & NI Cr: Bank This will clear the amount being owed to HMRC for staff NI, PAYE and Employers NI When the pension amount is paid: Dr: Pension liability Cr: Bank This will clear the amount being owed to the pension company for employee and employer pension deductions An illustration .

Take a look at this simple illustration: you say I owe £10,000 for pension, which will be made up of the employee’s pension deduction and the employer’s pension contribution.

This means there is an existing liability because the company owes £10,000.

This may because the payroll for January was paid in February; you will see that as at the end of January we owed £10,000 but this has now been paid, so the liability has been cleared.

The salary journal establishes such liability and when the payment is made this is posted against the set liability account to clear out any such liability owed to HMRC, pension provider or the staff. PQ • Mary Ofili is a director of The Training Place PQ Magazine April 2016

ethics PQ

I

remember, many years ago, my old history teacher Mr Harvey telling us with great passion about the story of the Greek army who, after 10 long years of besieging the city of Troy, sailed away one night leaving behind a gigantic wooden horse. The Trojans, thinking they had finally won, pulled the giant horse into the city and began to celebrate. What they didn’t know was that hidden away inside the horse was small group of Greek warriors who descended under darkness of night and routed the Trojans as they slept off their hangovers.

Nowadays, of course, a Trojan virus is one which enters your computer and lurks, unseen, before causing (often irreparable) damage. But there is another way the story still lives on in modern life – in the saying “Beware Greeks bearing gifts”, which means that we should always be wary of anything which we get for free, as there is often peril lurking within.

Objectivity compromised .

Accountants are often in a position where they are offered something for nothing, and they should be wary of the dangers which can arise from accepting them.

Clients may offer gifts or hospitality to an accountant – this could be anything from a bottle of wine at Christmas to lavish hospitality at sporting or cultural events or other expensive items. The accountant faces a significant risk in accepting any of these, because it could be perceived by others that they have been offered in an attempt to compromise their objectivity.

Objectivity is one of the five fundamental principles of the AAT’s Code of Professional Ethics. It means that an accountant must ensure that any decision or judgement they make is done so fairly and without bias or prejudice. A significant threat to this objectivity is selfinterest, which arises when the accountant’s judgement is influenced by the knowledge that he, or someone close such as a relative, could benefit by making a particular decision.

Even if the client’s intentions in offering gifts or hospitality are entirely honourable, there remains a risk that the accountant’s judgement could become coloured as a result. At some point in the future, that client may want the accountant to do something unethical on their behalf – such as understate income on a tax

PQ Magazine April 2016

BEWARE GREEKS BEARING GIFTS Tread carefully when it comes to accepting hospitality from clients – one day they might want something in return, says Neil Arnott

return – and the accountant may be more likely to do so because of the earlier gifts and hospitality. Or, in another scenario, the client may want the accountant to support their plans to expand their business, which would seriously affect the long-term prospects of a different client – again, the accountant’s objectivity in this may be compromised by the gifts or hospitality they have previously received.

Most people would accept that accepting simple gifts such as a bottle of wine from a client are unlikely to seriously impact on the accountant’s objectivity.

However, at the other end of the scale, there is no doubt that accepting more valuable items is a serious threat to independence and objectivity.

We only need to look at the experiences of football’s world governing body, FIFA, to see how gifts and hospitality are used to bribe and corrupt.

FIFA had been the subject of allegations of bribery, corruption, collusion and money laundering for some years, and investigations by the FBI and other crime prevention agencies began in earnest in 2015. It is alleged that corruption within FIFA was rife, with many examples of illegal payments being made in relation to securing contracts and marketing rights for global football events such as the World Cup. Clearly worded policy .

So what should accountants do? One approach would be to simply refuse any offers of gifts or hospitality – even ones of very low value. By doing this, there could be no allegations of corruption, but this approach could be considered to be overcautious by some and may even lead to a loss of business if clients are offended by a refusal to accept a small ‘token’.

A practical solution is to have a clearly worded policy which applies to all staff and which provides rules for which gifts can and cannot be accepted. A register could also be kept, in which any gifts or hospitality offered and/or accepted are recorded and reviewed periodically.

Ultimately, however, it is usually a case for the accountant’s professional judgement to determine whether a gift or offer of hospitality could be construed as a threat to objectivity – and if there is any doubt the offer should be politely declined. To paraphrase another old saying – always look a gift horse in the mouth! PQ • Neil Arnott is a course tutor at Premier Training

23

PQ CIOT winners list

THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF TAXATION Awards The Chartered Institute of Taxation, the principal body in the United Kingdom concerned solely with taxation, has announced the results from its examinations taken by 1,277 candidates on 3 and 4 November 2015.

The Institute President, Chris Jones, commenting on the results said: “I would like to offer my congratulations to all 987 of the candidates who have made progress towards becoming a Chartered Tax Adviser as a result of passing one or more papers at the November 2015 examination.

Some 239 candidates have now successfully completed all of the CTA examinations and we very much look forward to them becoming members of the Institute in the very near future.”

Full details of prizes and results are as follows: • The Institute Medal for the candidate with the best overall performance attempting the Awareness Paper and two Advisory Papers (all at the same sitting): The medal has been awarded to Harriet Revington of London, where she is employed by Squire Patton Boggs.

• The Gilbert Burr Medal for the candidate with the highest mark in the Advisory Paper on Taxation of Owner-Managed Businesses: The medal has been awarded to Peter David Mills of Wimbledon, who is employed by Menzies LLP in Leatherhead.

• The Spofforth Medal for the candidate with the highest mark in the Advisory Paper on Inheritance Tax, Trusts & Estates: The medal has been awarded to Christopher Beeston of Werrington, who is employed by Geens Ltd in Stokeon-Trent.

• The Ronald Ison Medal for the candidate with the highest mark in the Advisory Paper on Taxation of Individuals: The medal has been awarded to Sharlene Botterill of Gateshead, who is employed by RSM in Newcastle upon Tyne.

• The Wreford Voge Medal for the candidate with the highest mark in the Advisory Paper on VAT on Cross-Border Transactions & Customs Duties: The medal has been awarded to Jack Sims of Leeds, where he is employed by BDO. • The John Wood Medal for the candidate with the highest mark in 24

the Advisory Paper on Advanced Corporation Tax: The medal has been awarded to Stuart Christopher Pibworth of London, where he is employed by Sidley Austin LLP. • The Ian Walker Medal for the candidate with the highest mark in the Awareness Paper: The medal has been jointly awarded to Laura Wycherley of Stockport, who is employed by Grant Thornton UK LLP in Manchester; and David Oliver of Camberley, who is employed by Crowe Clark Whitehill LLP in Reading.

• The Avery Jones Medal for the candidate with the highest mark in the Application and Interaction Paper: The medal has been awarded to Sebastian Paul Yoe of London, where he is employed by Deloitte.

• The LexisNexis Prize for the candidate with the highest total marks in two Advisory Papers (taken at the same sitting): The prize has been awarded to Tesonia Munder of West Drayton, who is employed by Dixon Wilson Chartered Accountants in London.

• The Wolters Kluwer Prize for the candidate with the highest distinction mark: The prize has been awarded to Christopher Beeston, winner of the Spofforth Medal.

• The Victor Durkacz Medal has not been awarded on this occasion.

The Medals, Prizes and Distinctions are awarded for each examination paper subject to the discretion of Council and the attainment of a satisfactory standard, regardless of

CIOT President Chris Jones whether the examination requirements for membership have been met.

Distinctions are awarded to candidates for the following papers: • James Bailey (Blick Rothenberg, London) (Advisory – Inheritance Tax, Trusts & Estates).

• Christopher Beeston (Geens Ltd, Stoke-on-Trent) (Advisory – Inheritance Tax, Trusts & Estates).

• Tesonia Munder (Dixon Wilson Chartered Accountants, London) (Advisory – Inheritance Tax, Trusts & Estates).

Results by paper • Advisory – Taxation of OwnerManaged Businesses: 227 candidates passed this paper out of a total of 473 sitting the examination. A pass rate of 48%.

• Advisory – VAT on UK Domestic Transactions, IPT & SDLT: 21 candidates passed this paper out of a total of 51 sitting the examination. A pass rate of 41%.

• Advisory – Inheritance Tax, Trusts & Estates: 41 candidates passed this paper out of a total of 58 sitting the examination, including three candidates being awarded a distinction. A pass rate of 71%.

• Advisory – Taxation of Individuals: 188 candidates passed this paper out of a total of 348 sitting the examination. A pass rate of 54%.

• Stuart Christopher Pibworth (Sidley Austin LLP, London) (Advisory – Advanced Corporation Tax and Application and Interaction).

• Sebastian Paul Yoe (Deloitte LLP, London) (Application and Interaction).

Distinctions are awarded to candidates whose answers reflect an exceptional level in the Advisory Papers and the Application and Interaction Paper. Distinctions are not awarded for the Awareness Paper .

• Advisory – VAT on Cross-Border Transactions & Customs Duties: 23 candidates passed this paper out of a total of 57 sitting the examination. A pass rate of 40%.

• Advisory – Advanced Corporation Tax: 78 candidates passed this paper out of a total of 164 sitting the examination including one candidate being awarded a distinction. A pass rate of 48%.

• Awareness Paper: 375 candidates passed this paper out of a total of 471 sitting the examination. A pass rate of 80%.

• Application and Interaction Paper: 134 candidates passed this paper out of a total of 380 sitting the examination including two candidates being awarded a distinction. A pass rate of 35%.

PQ Magazine April 2016

Success in Tax! The CTA is an efficient means to jump ahead of knowledge and expertise that might be gained by on-the-job experience. You could work on more complex higher chargeable tax work faster than colleagues who do not do the ATT or CTA tax qualifications.

Congratulations to all the CTA prize and distinction winners!

Find out more about how the CTA can help your career and to register as a student visit: www.tax.org.uk/workingintax

“I am an award-winning Certified Bookkeeper ” “I was a serving helicopter pilot with the Army, but changed my career and I am now an award winning Certified Bookkeeper” Natalie Phillips MICB. CB. Dip HRH Prince Michael of Kent GCVO To find out if you could become a bookkeeper call

0845 060 2345

www.bookkeepers.org.uk/PQ

The Institute of Certified Bookkeepers

PQ exam planning

A step too far?

Educators must empower students to think flexibly and take control of their exam journey, says Mark Foley

C

IMA’s decision to revolutionise its assessment methods is having far-reaching consequences for organisations with finance study programmes. As other institutes also move to more flexible examining models we examine the impact this is having on students and employers.

What has changed? .

Assessments are now more flexible. This means students can now plan the timing of their exam dates for the CIMA objective test papers so they, in effect, peak at the right time and maximise their chances of passing their exams. With ACCA moving to four exam sittings a year, greater flexibility is being given to the student to take ownership of their exam and study journey.

CIMA describes this is as an opportunity for the student to take more control of their studies. This supports the view of self-direction, personal responsibility and accountability, all key characteristics of CIMA-qualified accountants. This approach would allow CIMA students to develop these behaviours earlier in their studies and become well-rounded finance leaders on qualification. It also allows students the incentive of planning their studies around holiday, work and life-changing commitments.

The amount of flexibility provided by the institutes should only be applauded, and already we are witnessing significant real and meaningful benefits: • Students can complete the exams in three years and avoid studying during critical year-end routines.

• Students’ study can be staggered so they are not all out of the office at the same time.

26

• Students can take more control of their own study pathway and ease the administrative burden on training managers.

• The case study exams try to mirror time pressured work tasks, set by a line manager, and so aim to demonstrate application to work-based scenarios.

However, employers are advised to retain some structure and ownership of the study programme as deferral rates are higher than ever. We are now seeing students deferring their exams at short notice with little penalty.

While in certain circumstances this is commendable, proficient exam standard students are choosing to defer and in some cases citing their own lack of selfbelief as being the key reason for deferral.

Exam dates used to be compulsory;

now it depends on a number of factors such as work and social commitments, desire and confidence. The consequence of this has been a dramatic lengthening in the time to qualification.

The consequences .

There are consequences to these changing patterns: • It’s more difficult to keep track of progress given there are fewer formal sittings.

• It disrupts staff scheduling and their availability for critical work tasks.

• It disrupts career and succession planning. Having a prescribed exam date provided some inevitability – whether you felt ready or not, the exam was there for the taking.

• Work and study become less integrated and, as a consequence, it becomes confusing to know what knowledge is being imparted and when this can be applied in the workplace.

• It takes longer for a student to qualify and may affect their promotional and remunerative opportunities.

Tips for employers .

1. Utilise your training provider’s progression planning calendars (where available) to stay on top of exam results, course timings and anticipated study completion dates.

2. Amend internal training study policies outlining a specific deferral authorisation process to ascertain the reasons for the request and decide on whether it’s appropriate to grant the deferral.

3. Provide training contracts with a specific recommended qualification date, which provides some rigidity and reduces the number of times a student will defer.

4. Ensure exams are taken within two weeks of revision course completion to maximise the chances of exam success.

5. Encourage students to contact either their account manager or tutor with regards to building confidence or perfecting technique and advising on delivery methods for all learning styles.

6. Finally, it’s more important than ever for employer engagement on practice assessment performance to identify more objectively if students are ready to sit their exams and avoid unnecessary deferral. PQ • Mark Foley FCCA is Head of Kaplan Business Management

PQ Magazine April 2016

CIMA integrataion marks PQ

THE SPICE OF LIFE Like a good chef, CIMA case study students need to blend their knowledge to produce the perfect answer

P

ause for a minute and think of your favourite meal. For us Brits, nothing tops a curry. When you get a really good one it’s obvious that the chef innately understands the chemical processes involved: when a marinade softens the meat, how to mix the spices without overwhelming the overall dish, and when it’s appropriate to use a tandoor oven.

The act of cooking is the act of integration, the award-winning curry dish is judged as a whole: the mix of flavours and textures, the deep understanding of how the ingredients combine.

CIMA’s case studies are very much the same; our students are asked to demonstrate their understanding of how topics from all three pillars (Enterprise, Performance and Financial) interact and depend upon each other, forming a key part of their analysis and recommendations.

Integration is therefore a key component of an answer in CIMA’s case study exams. In fact, our examiners state that all good answers are automatically integrated, that the tasks themselves ensures that a good answer has no alternative but to contain integrated content.

Deep understanding .

If integration is automatically produced in a good case study answer, why does CIMA award marks for integration? The reason for this is that we want CIMA qualified management accountants to be world class, and to do that they need to demonstrate a deep understanding of how subjects interrelate so that they can bring this knowledge and insight to the workplace.

Integration marks are therefore a very clear message to students, shaping their studies, increasing their understanding and, ultimately, their employability.

So what do we mean by integration? The CIMA syllabus has three levels with three subjects for each level. Integration exists between subjects and between topics within the subject. Taking an example from the Operational level, costing accounting systems (P1A) can affect the following: • The extent to which the finance function supports/provides costing information (E1B).

• How technology/big data can assist with costing and preparation of reports (E1C).

• How the operations are managed will affect the costs and cost drivers (E1D).

• Both marketing and costing will need to be considered together, to ensure strategic match (E1E).

• The reporting of costs will have to be in line with relevant standards (F1A).

• Accurate costing information will be required for the accounts (F1B).

• Accurate short-term cash forecasts will depend on correct costing information (F1C).

• Costs are one factor that will have an eventual effect on taxation (F1D).

PQ Magazine April 2016

A holistic, integrated response in a case study exam requires students to apply and demonstrate their deep understanding of how the components of the syllabus combine and interact within an unfamiliar situation set out in the case study exam. This is similar to a chef in a cookery competition being asked to make something they have never cooked before. The winner of the competition is always the person who can best apply their technical knowledge and previous experience to this new challenge.

So, what can you do to prepare to earn the integration marks available in a CIMA case study exam?

CIMA case studies simulate a scenario where the candidate is working within an organisation, dealing with a situation they have been presented by a colleague. The task at hand is to respond to that situation, using management accounting, to add to the understanding of your colleague.

In business, you need to consider the reason behind your colleague setting you the task; the issues or risks facing the organisation around the situation that is being addressed; the likely implications of your feedback on colleagues or other stakeholders; and the management accounting techniques that will help resolve the situation. If you do this before committing to a response, you are likely to present a reply that raises the right points at the right time and delivers a free-flowing, coherent, integrated answer.

For example, variant 2 of the November 2015

management case study begins by asking the candidate to advise a marketing director on a choice for which she has prepared two present value calculations. Those calculations are provided in detail, as are a few pieces of background information about staffing, technology, capacities and other risk factors.

Poor integration marks .

A poorly integrated response might have a few paragraphs explaining, in text book fashion, the need to apply annualised equivalents for the decision making in the task. There might be another few paragraphs talking knowledgeably about risk and the importance of incorporating risk into decision making. Two separate piles of ingredients, exquisitely prepared but at different ends of the table.

To earn integration marks, the same knowledge and understanding could be applied, but this time by using the information about the cash flows alongside the factors from the task which indicate risk. For instance, annualised equivalents assume that a contract will be renewed; we’re not told whether there is any guarantee that the contract will be renewed so we may have to use different costs of capital, depending on the extent of that risk.

The case study answer is a blended dish, incorporating the raw ingredients but much easier to digest. PQ • Thanks to CIMA’s Peter Stewart, Director of Learning, and Stephen Flatman, Director of Examinations, for this article 27

PQ learning tips

What’s your learning style?

James Taylor explains how we all learn in different ways and why you should find out what works best for you

I

dentifying and embracing your learning style can make you a more effective studier, and help you get more out of your study time.

When we talk about individual learning styles we are referring to how you (the student) absorbs, processes, comprehends and retains information – and everybody is different. For example, when learning about IAS 37 some students understand by following the verbal instructions (teachings) of their tutor, while others like to read up and jump straight into questions – learning by doing.

It is widely accepted that student learning styles fall into three categories: visual learners, auditory learners and kinesthetic learners.

These learning styles are found within educational theorist Neil Fleming’s VARK Model of Student Learning. VARK is an acronym that refers to the four types of learning styles: visual; auditory; reading/writing preference; and kinesthetic (see diagram).

I mentioned before that everyone is different. It is important for you to understand your own learning style, so that you can focus on using tools that are

going to get the best results for you.

There doesn’t seem much point, to me at least, of spending hours and hours creating lovely colourful mindmaps if you are a kinesthetic learner.

So what learning style are you? There isn’t enough space here to conduct a full assessment, but if you log onto http://varklearn.com/the-vark-questionnaire – and there are others out there – you can participate in an online test to help you understand your learning style.

It is important when completing and

analysing these types of tests to remember that life is multimodal: there are no hard boundaries and you may be a mixture of the four learning style modes.

The VARK questionnaire, and other online tests, will however show you your main learning style preference.

In next month’s PQ I’ll be setting out some good learning and revision tips against each learning style. PQ • James Taylor is a director at HTFT Partnership

Sorted, thanks to pqjobs.co.uk

PQ jobs

28

pqjobs.co.uk PQ Magazine April 2016

Becker’s Interactive eBook Becker’s Interactive eBook is one of the most technically advanced ACCA preparation tools available. The interactive eBook is an online resource that merges on page content, video presentation, tutor notes and audio instruction.

Becker’s Interactive eBook brings topics to life by combining syllabus learning points with interactive technology to take advantage of approximately 15 hours of audio and video lectures per paper from our expert authors and tutors, including interactive question practise, video introductions and tutor annotations.

Becker’s interactive eBook provides students the flexibility and freedom to study whenever and wherever it’s convenient for them.

Septermber 2016 editions now avalble for more information Visit: Becker-atc.com

PQ careers

Karen Young on how improving your communication skills will help you get ahead in your career

Y

ou can no longer rely purely on exam success and technical skills to get ahead in your career as an accountant.

Employers want you to have strong soft skills and effective workplace communication is particularly important whatever your career ambition. The Hays Accountancy & Finance Capability Gap report found that employers rate communication as the most important skill for their organisation’s future success. So developing your communication skills is a must before you take the next step in your career.

Here are ways to master communication in the workplace, if this isn’t yet your strong point: Listen: Listen to others. Communication is a two-way process so by listening to others you can learn, understand and resolve any conflicts.

Body language: Non-verbal communication has by far the greatest impact on how you are perceived, much more than tone of voice and what you actually say. Stay relaxed and aware of your body positioning; don’t adopt defensive stances such as crossing arms or legs, particularly in an interview.

Keep it cool and confident: It’s important not to try and resolve a serious situation when overcome with stress or frustration, in these situations things can be misinterpreted. It’s good to apply this logic to emails too. If you have written something in the heat of the moment that you might later regret to a colleague, manager or client, save it as a draft, and review it at a later date before you press send.

Face-to-face is best: Don’t email your colleague next to you, speak to them and don’t dismiss the importance of face-to-face time with your manager or clients. Emails can often be misconstrued, so communicating in person, where your tone of voice can be heard and your

MASTERING WORKPLACE

COMMUNICATION

body language can be seen is always best and can leave a lasting positive impact. Business leaders, including my own CEO, agree that faceto-face is the best form of communication.

Time it right: You need to focus and plan in order to communicate well in the workplace.

Pick the right moment for the right situation. For example, cornering your boss in the office kitchen to ask for a pay rise isn’t the right time or place. If you want to discuss pay, book time in with your manager so you don’t catch them unaware and you’ll both be able to prepare properly to make the most out of the conversation. And do your market research first as this will help you

We have joined forces with First Intuition Leeds to offer PQ readers the chance to win one of five CIMA and five ACCA courses

First Intuition has opened up at 1 Aire Street, Leeds LS1 4PR, in the heart of city, close to the railway station.

To celebrate it is offering 10 students the chance to taste just how FI can ‘make the difference’.

Yes, we have five ACCA classroom courses and five CIMA courses to give away, totally free!

The FI team promises: • Never to cancel a course – ever!

• The same tutor throughout your course.

30

make it less emotive.

Know your audience: Know your audience and act accordingly. Think about who you are communicating with and the best way for them to understand the information. For example, the way you communicate with your colleagues may be different to the way you communicate with your manager or clients, as well as what and how you communicate.

Effective communication is crucial to your career success, from succeeding at a job interview, to delivering financial reports to stakeholders. If you can master communication in the workplace this will help you stand out in the office and ensure you hold the skills that employers are looking for.

For further information and to find out what you’re worth visit salaryguide.hays.co.uk PQ • Karen Young, Director, Hays Accountancy and Finance About Hays UK Salary and Recruiting Trends 2016 Data compiled using data gathered during 2015 from Hays offices across the UK, based on job listings, job offers and candidate registrations. Survey responses from over 20,000 employers and employees from organisations of all sizes throughout the UK. Go to www.salaryguide.hays.co.uk

THE GREAT LEEDS

GIVEAWAY • A question bank on the first day of your tuition course.

• Free tea and coffee.

For more information contact leeds@fi.co.uk or call 0113 467 7770.

To enter our great giveaway simply email graham@pqaccountant.com with your name and contact number, heading up your email ‘First Intuition Leeds’. Deadline for entries is 4 April 2016.

* PQ magazine’s terms and conditions apply PQ Magazine April 2016

careers PQ

social media ROUND-UP Forget the Brits, BAFTAS and Oscars – #PQAWARDS2016 was the place to be seen on twitter as we unveiled the winners of the PQ magazine awards at the Café de Paris. We had ‘Ireland’s seventh biggest hip hop act’ Abandoman tearing up the stage, before editor Graham Hambly unveiled the winners. Lots of winners and finalist lined up to take their picture in front of our awards board. Among them was Colchester Institute’s Kay Fletcher who was nominated for the Public Sector Lecture of the Year (see picture).

Life at the ICAEW Shaun Robertson is the institute’s Director, Qualifications, based in London, and has worked there for 10 years. He has a B.Com from Edinburgh University. Sean has been in two episodes of TOWIE and sang on a Josh Groban video with over 2.5 million hits!

What time does your alarm clock go off on a working day? 7-ish.

What’s the first thing you do when you get to your desk?

Talk to the neighbours.

What’s on your desk? I do like a clear desk What’s the best thing about where you work? The people I work with.

Where’s your favourite place to go for lunch? Denny’s.

What (or who) can you see when you sit at your desk? A picture of Lochgelly.

Which websites are your favourites and why? Hotel booking sites – I love a trip.

Which websites do you use for work? Travel booking; you need to meet people.

How many hours a week do you spend in meetings? As much is needed to get things done.

What time do you leave the office? 6-7pm.

How do you relax? Sing in a choir – www.popchoir.com.

What’s your favourite tipple?

Full bodied red.

How often do you take work home with you? A little – only when needed.

What is your favourite TV programme? Tenko.

Summer or winter?

Summer.

Pub or club? Pub. Who is your hero?

Agnetha Fältskog.

If you had a time machine, where would you go? March 4 1890.

If you hadn’t chosen accountancy, where might you be right now? California.

In brief

On a recent visit to the Training Place we also found what winners do with their awards! Our Training Manager/Mentor of the Year is Daphne Sanya, and she keeps her award in her ‘in’ tray (below). Colleagues claim she is so proud she polishes it every day.

CIMA integration marks and the use of real-life examples have been hot topics on LinkedIn and Facebook pages. It appears one provider had been suggesting that real-life business examples will get you marks! Well, that might have been true under the old T4 case study, but we got a definitive answer from CIMA (see page 10).

One top ACCA tutor worth following on Facebook is Tom Clendon. He posted: “By all accounts the March P2 exam was a toughie. Q1 was a statement of financial position with a mixed structure. Standards examined included a bit of this and a bit of that, with nothing major jumping out. I have not seen the paper yet and it will not be officially published. Impairment of financial assets – expected credit losses came up. When it is tough for everyone it is important that you have written something down, had a go and so put yourself in the mix when a marker is thinking about the benefit of the doubt. Let’s see come results.”

PQ Magazine April 2016

Be an early bird Going to a job interview or taking an exam in the morning really increases your chances of success, claim scientists. The longer the day goes on the worse your performance becomes.

Danish researchers found that there were significant differences in simple brain power tests and cognitive tests. So an exam taken at 3pm was likely to have an average score of 5.4% worse than the same exam at 9am. The report said: “As the day wears on students become increasingly fatigued and consequently more likely to underperform on a standardised test.”

clean the house (24%), look for a new job (18%) and even go to the dentist (6%).

Rather clean the house?

New research from Robert Half reveals UK employees are much less likely to ask for a salary rise than those in other parts of the world. Just over half (54%) plan to request a rise, compared with 77% of workers in France, 78% in Germany and 81% in Brazil. Instead of making the case for a pay increase, employees said they would rather

A handy interview tip If you want to do well in an interview check out which hand the interviewer writes with and sit on that side of the desk. New research claims that our unconscious biases are heavily influenced by the hand we use to write, and that means we are drawn to objects and people who are positioned on that side.

‘Handedness’ and desire may be something you have to think about as you take your seat in the interview room.

The PQ Book Club: books you should read The Negotiation Book: Your Definitive Guide to Successful Negotiating, by Steve Gates (Capstone, £12.99) The amount of time most people actually spend negotiating is very small in the context of their whole job, and yet the consequences of their performance during negotiations will often dictate how successful they are.

The key, according to author Steve Gates, is not to underestimate the role negotiation plays in your life. As he explains, it can represent the difference between viability and insolvency, profit making and loss, growth or decline; such is the power of its outcome.

Gates wants to help you become the complete skilled

negotiator, but warns against letting your ego and competitiveness fuel your need to ‘win’. Negotiating agreements should not be about winning; they should be about securing the best value.

He also talks about being comfortable with being uncomfortable. There will be pressure and tension, and how you deal with this can affect the outcome.

Oh, and never forget that everyone likes a bargain (look at Black Friday).

Another key skillset you need to master is recognising when the change from selling to negotiating has taken place.

Gates wants you to be honest with yourself, too. How did you cope with the ‘uncomfortable’ and how did your personal

perspectives affect the deal?

But perhaps his best advice is that in negotiations there are no rules.

As he said: “There is no right, no wrong, no good, and no bad way to negotiate. Only that which is appropriate to your circumstances.”

Power and where it lies should not be underestimated, either. History teaches us that those with power will at some point seek to exercise it. So it is vital to understand where the balance is. A lot of this will dependent on the power of the brands and relative size of both parties. Time and circumstances also offer great power levers.

PQ rating 4/5 Everyone needs to master the art of negotiation.

31

YOUR PATH TO A FULFILLING CAREER You can no longer rely on exam success and technical skills to get ahead in your career as an accountant. Employers want you to have strong soft skills and effective workplace communication is particularly important whatever your career ambition.

At Hays, we specialise in recruiting for part-qualified accountants and have a number of expert consultants who can advise you on developing and showcasing your skills and experience to get you ahead in your finance career.

To find out about the range of opportunities we can offer you and be put in touch with an expert consultant, email karen.young@hays.com or call 07834 260029.

Alternatively, you can visit us online.

hays.co.uk/pq

PQ magazine About you Title......................................................

First name............................................

Surname ..............................................

Company name .................................. ............................................................

Department..........................................

Full postal address

Home

▫

Work

▫

............................................................

The easiest way to get your free monthly copy is to go online at www.pqmagazine.co.uk, or you can fill in the form below and send it to: PQ Magazine, 4th Floor, Central House, 142 Central Street, London, EC1V 8AR Study please tick a box in 1A or 1B 1A Please indicate accountancy body you belong to and tick the box of the next set of exams you are hoping to sit ACCA

▫ CAT

CIMA

▫ Certificate

▫ F1-3 ▫ Operations

▫ F4-F9 ▫ Management

CIPFA

▫ Certificate

▫ Diploma

▫ Strategic

ICAEW

▫ CFAB

▫ Professional

▫ Advanced

ICAS

▫ TC

▫ TPS

▫ TPE

Tax

▫ ATT

▫ CTA

AAT

▫ Level 2

▫ Level 3

▫ Level 4

1B Studying for an accountancy degree/MBA/MSc Do you work in accountancy and finance

▫ P Papers ▫ Strategic

▫ Year 1

▫ Yes

▫ Year 2

▫ T4

▫ Member ▫ Year 3

▫ No

If yes, what is your job title? ..........................................................................................................

............................................................

* How do you want to receive your PQ magazine?

............................................................

Please tick your preferred mode of delivery for your free monthly magazine.

Postcode ............................................

Phone .................................................. * Email ................................................ ............................................................

▫ Online (please supply email address)

Sign below

▫ By post (UK only)

to receive your monthly

PQ magazine totally

free

Sign here ............................................................................Date........................................................... ▫ Please tick here if you do not wish to receive direct marketing promotions from other companies.

PQ magazine reserves the right to refuse a free copy of the magazine if the applicant does not comply with the terms and conditions of circulation.We will use your details to send you a copy of the magazine and any further information we feel would be of use.

PQ got a story, funny or serious, you want to share? Email graham@pqaccountant.com

SITTING EXAMS IN YOUR PANTS

WHERE’S THE MONEY GONE?

The Indian army in Bihar recently took drastic steps to stop cheating (and save time frisking so many people) by making candidates at a recruitment day strip to their pants to take a written exam. There was also a conspicuous lack of desks as the men sat their test cross-legged in a field using their thighs to balance the paper! In another part of India, Gujarat, authorities blocked mobile internet services in cities and towns that were holding entrance exams for public service jobs.

CHECK YOUR SPELLING!

PQ magazine was contacted by a top ACCA tutor who was grateful for our informative piece on how to get those often elusive ACCA professional marks (there are four on offer in each exam). “Very useful,” he said.

However, his P5 class ‘brightened up’ when they read our last sentence.

We explained that the examiner “doesn’t like slags”, when we meant to say slang! Oh, how they laughed – we have changed the advice now, but are glad we could help.

’ WEV E

Abandoman were the star turn at this year’s PQ awards. They had the audience rocking with their clever rapping. This top act has supported Ed Sheeran and played Glasonbury, Reading and Leeds festivals, as well as Bestival and the Edinburgh Fringe. At one point in their show our audience was asked to hold up “what’s in your pocket”. Apart from some personal medication, the big question is what happened to Ken’s €10 note? It changed hands several times and then disappeared! Let’s hope it wasn’t laundered, because we don’t think he got it back!

THE THIFTY

AUDITOR

Ever thought about ditching shampoo for home-made olive oil soap and brushing your teeth with bicarbonate of soda?

Former auditor Zoe Morrison says she has saved £11,000 after completing a year of eco-challenges. She left a comfortable job as an internal auditor for the NHS to become an eco-saving blogger. She also made £3,500 income, from among others things her solar panels. You can find Morrison’s blog on Eco Thrifty Living.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

We have a new ‘Personality of the Year’!

Our 2016 winner was none other than Kevin Lloyd of Training 2000, who has set the bar high for next year. Would you be prepared to drive around in an open top car waving an AAT banner around? We have proof that Kevin does! He’s also a really natty dresser too, and won our best dressed man on the night.

THE OTHER OSCARS

RACISM ROW

Oscars host Chris Rock got himself in hot water on Oscars night for introducing three Asian children as his ‘accountants’. The inference, of course, is that all Asians are good at maths! The group Asian American Advancing Justice said: “Last night’s ceremony, and particularly the joke involving Asian children… expose one of the failings of how we talk about race in America: race relations are not a black-white binary.”

Who doesn’t like a PQ magazine prize!

One of our Annual Bumper Quiz winners, Izabela Kaczynska, recently sent us a great picture of how she uses her Beats Pill. Great to see even the dogs seem grateful!

GOT THE L OT

TEST YOUR BRAIN

We have a pack of three IQ and aptitude books written by Philip Carter to give away (worth just under £30). IQ tests are now routinely employed by recruiters and these books will help you develop better powers of calculation and logical reasoning. By studying the different types of test, and recognising the different types of question, you can improve your test scores and increase your IQ rating.

We are giving away three sets of the IQ books in this month’s giveaway.

All you have to do is send your name and address to graham@pqaccountant.com. Head up your email ‘Test Your IQ’.

A BUMPER PACK

We are giving you the chance to read some of the great books we have taken a look at in our PQ Book Club Reviews. That means we have ‘The Joy of Tax’ and a signed copy of ‘Work it Out with a Pencil’ to give away this month. You can add ‘Dark Pools: The rise of AI trading machines and the looming threat to Wall Street’, plus the wonderful ‘Game of Thrones on Business’ and ‘Max Your Memory’. That’s over £65 worth of books.

Just email graham@pqaccountant.com along with your name and address. Head up your email ‘Bumper pack’.

Terms and conditions: One entry per giveaway please. You must send your name and address to be entered for the draw. All giveaway entries must be received by Friday 8 April. The main draw will take place on Monday 11 April 2016.

TO ENTER THESE GIVEAWAYS EMAIL GRAHAM@PQACCOUNTANT.COM 34

PQ Magazine April 2016

THE SKY IS THE LIMIT

We provide bespoke learning solutions to individuals and organisations.

LSBF Executive Education will boost your career in accounting or finance, bringing you out on top.

• Postgraduate Certificate in Finance • Postgraduate Certificate in Finance and Management • Postgraduate Certificate in Accounting and Financial Management • Financial Management Programme • Advanced Certificate in Financial Planning and Analysis

Choose LSBF today and invest in your future.

Find out more: www.lsbf.org.uk/pq-executive | +44 (0) 20 3005 6236

Now thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nothing standing in your way At De Broc School of Business you can expect leading-edge practical business education with a focus on your employability.

This year you could be eligible for a UK government loan of up to ÂŁ10,000, as well as a range of other funding options.

Choose from postgraduate courses in: Finance | Marketing | Management | Human Resources

T: 0800 107 6766 E: admissions@debroc.ac.uk W: debroc.ac.uk