PQ magazine, March 2023

IN THIS ISSUE

A note from the Editor

Wow, time seems to be flying by! Before you know it you will have missed the deadline for the PQ magazine 2023 awards – it’s Friday 10 March. We really do need those nominations from you. Just download the form at https://tinyurl.com/k6bkx7fm. Then all you need to do is write up to 500 words on why you/your nominee should win and send it off to awards@pqmagazine.com. Or you can just send it directly to me at graham@pqmagazine.com and I will make sure the judges see it. If you get shortlisted then you get to come along to a great night at Proud Embankment on Monday 24 April.

Don’t forget you can come and see me and the crew before that at London’s Queen Mary University seminar on Wednesday 8 March. We will be looking at the Future of Audit and have a fantastic line up for you. Check it out on Eventbrite at https://tinyurl.com/3hk645n3.

As always we have a jammed-packed issue this month, with exam results from ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA and the ICAEW. AAT also unveiled its strategy to 2030 and CEO Sarah Beale explains all. And we expand on Professor Ian Thomson’s concerns about how accountants are fuelling climate change. And we have not forgotten – there are six pages of tips for the March ACCA exams, too.

Hambly, Editor and Publisher, PQ magazine

10 ACCA pass rates Latest results show two-thirds of sitters still failing AAA and APM exams

12 Tech news Biggest security concern for firms is the cloud, a new PwC survey finds Features, etc

14 Have your say Why it’s vital that everyone can do maths; cost of living crisis is hurting us all; and are we killing the planet? Plus our social media round-up

17 PQ Awards 2023 It’s last chance saloon time – it’s now or never of you want to be at the PQ awards in April

18 AAT strategy 2023 Association aims for great global recognition for members and students

19 Accountex London 2023 It’s time you registered for this must-attend event

26 PQ Bumper Quiz All the answers – how did you get on?

28 CPD Continuing Professional Development should be so much more than ticking the box

29 ACCA exam tips Six pages of fantastic tips for the March exams that are not to be missed

35 Intangible assets Regular columnist Neil Da Costa tackles the subject and keeps it simple

20 Study advice Top advice on how to avoid procrastinating –read this article now!

22 Sustainability When it comes to climate change, accountants must be part of the solution –not part of the problem

23 ACCA exams Advice on getting your preparation right –from prize-winning students

24 Ethical dilemma How to deal with short deadlines and limited resources

To subscribe for FREE go to

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36 CIPFA spotlight Celebrating National Apprenticeship Week

37 Exam technique Coping with exam failure: advice for those who’ve never failed a test before

38 Digital learning Some Q&As on the CGMA Finance Leadership Programme

40 Your career Five top tips for writing a great CV

41 Careers Businesses must adapt of die; Karen Young offers some more sound careers advice; and our book review

42 Fun The lighter side of life –and accountancy

The columnists

Lisa Nelson ChatGTP is proof that AI is here to stay

Robert Bruce It’s time for some plain speaking in business

Prem Sikka Government is laying the foundations for another crash

Anna Kate Phelan Exam trial is a glimpse into the future

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David Rothera New tie-up heralds a bright net zero dawn

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Graham

LISA NELSON

ChatGPT shows AI is here to stay

Talent crunch will get worse in 2023

The acute shortage of qualified accountants will worsen in 2023, as Irish businesses and firms struggle to access the talent they need to support the economy, says President of Chartered Accountants Ireland Pat O’Neill.

He told guests at the CAI annual dinner: “Anecdotally, the talent pipeline problem is clear right across the profession, from practices of all size to industry, resulting in attraction and retention challenges, not just in Ireland, but around the world, and we are working with global partners to tackle it. It is driven by a huge

increase in competition for talent from non-accounting roles; but also, a real gap in perception of what accountants actually do.”

O’Neill explained that many students are turned off

accountancy because of rote learning, the lack of breadth of what is taught and the need to unlearn and relearn concepts. It means the number of students opting for accountancy has slumped with them attracted to the newer subjects like climate action and sustainable development. He claimed: “Accounting has remained set in stone, essentially unchanged in 30 years, so it is little wonder that students don’t associate the profession with cutting-edge areas like data analytics or sustainability reporting, both of which are huge growth areas for us.”

CIPFA pass rates are in

CIPFA students seemed to struggle with the new Audit & Assurance paper in December, with just 38.96% passing. This, however, was not the lowest pass rate at last winter’s sitting, according to the latest stats. Just one in three of those who sat Financial Management (32.63%) managed a pass, and the Company Financial Reporting pass rate also came in under 40%, at 38.96%.

Meanwhile, the Strategic Case Study pass rate remained below 60% (59.13%) and the Strategic Public Finance pass rate slipped to 55%.

CIPFA is continuing to ‘retire’ its old PQ syllabuses

CIPFA EXAM RESULTS FOR 2022 MarchJuneSeptDec CF Management Accounting 64.06%89.93%75.00%92.11% CF Financial Accounting 84.15%83.78%66.67%80.91% CF Audit & Assurance N/AN/AN/A38.96% CF Developing Strategy & Data Analysis N/AN/AN/A62.5% Company Financial Reporting 56.75%53.40%34.04%36.11% Financial Management 17.39%51.61%23.33%32.63% Business & Change Management 61.11%77.32%77.27%47.41% Corporate Governance & Law 82.5%90.70%91.30%84.4% Taxation 57.14%67.16%37.50%79.49% Public Sector Financial Reporting 52.50%65.00%56.25%77.98% Strategic Public Finance 68.00%62,50%66.67%55.00% The accounting bodies changed their syllabuses a few years ago to recognise the importance of new technologies and data analytics. There is now a much greater awareness of the need for cyber security and a whole raft of new terms have emerged, such as cloud computing, blockchain and AI. One of the most futuristic was until recently AI. But no longer: in November 2022 it announced its presence very loudly in the form of ChatGPT, a language based chatbot. Developed by a company called Open AI and partly financed by Elon Musk, ChatGPT is a conversational chatbot that can answer questions – lots of questions. Ask it to provide an answer to an exam question and it can do that; ask it to improve on the answer and it can do that too. However, a word of warning: based on our own testing the answers are not always correct – and the jokes are terrible. That said, some universities have stopped offering remote exams fearing the temptation to cheat will be too great. Others have been more positive and see it as an excellent learning tool, effectively acting as a study buddy. So far, the professional bodies have yet to comment but you can’t hold back technology and after all, isn’t that why ethics is also in the syllabus, to help us make the 'right decision'?

– March sees the last Company Financial Reporting exam. Students will sit the new Business Reporting exam come June. September will be the last Financial Management and Business & Change Management exams. These papers become Business Planning and Financial Management and Implementing Business Change.

In brief

ACCA March tips

They come with the usual health warning, but there are six pages of exam tips in this issue, courtesy of BPP! Our tips are great, but you must also read the Examiner Reports and be practising on the Practice Platform. New mocks were added to the platform in February, with accompanying debrief videos to help you make the most of the resources.

Back to our tips, and the Optional pass rates are still low.

The general advice to those sitting APM is to remember this is primarily a skills-based exam which tests the candidate’s ability to apply knowledge to practical problems. This is now even more important as 20% of the marks are awarded for professional skills. For all the tips go to page 29

Decision tree time?

new exam

decision tree

PQ JOB OF THE MONTH: Financial Analyst

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Oxfordshire branch of an established international company with ambitious growth plans. The

of the role is to support the FP&A team influencing mergers, acquisitions and supporting specialist pillars of the business.

On offer is a salary between £35,000 and £45,000. A study support package for a recognised accountancy qualification and 25 days holiday (along with Bank Holidays) are also part of the package.

Lisa Nelson is Director of Learning at Kaplan

Making AATs real world ready

Accessible qualifications and a supportive community will be the cornerstones of the AAT’s new strategy to 2030.

AAT unveiled its plans to help drive up standards and champion the role that its professionals play in tackling the global challenges that lie ahead.

It sees a future where AAT members and students become more digital, data and insightled, as well as more focused on sustainable growth and ethical consideration.

That means putting its community at the centre of

decision-making, says CEO Sarah Beale (pictured). She also wants to ensure more accountants are members of professional bodies and at the same time ensure increased access to the profession.

CIMA case study pass rates up

The CIMA case study pass rate rose sharply in November’s Strategic case study (SCS) to 71%, according to the latest stats. The SCS pass rate was just 58% last time around (August 2022), the lowest it had been since August 2020. The 71% pass rate was on a par with

the February 2022 pass rate.

Success at the Management case study also jumped this time around, to 71%. Although that’s two percentage points above the August pass rate it is nowhere near the 83% achieved by May 2022 sitters.

Beale believes its new strategy will also help create renewed trust and confidence in the profession from the public.

She said: “Our new strategy outlines our ambition to achieve greater recognition for accounting technicians. At AAT we want our members and students to be real world ready. Our aim is to ensure businesses and governments understand the value accounting technicians bring in supporting productivity, growth, and providing solutions to modern challenges.”

For more see https://prospectus. aat.org.uk/strategy-to-2030/

The Operational pass rate also looks great compared to November 2021. Back then it was 52% and now it is holding steady at 66% –the joint top pass rate for the paper in 2022.

CIMA CASE STUDY RESULTS 2022

Operational66%66%62%62%

Management71%69%82%73%

Strategic71%58%62%72%

The Future of Audit – a free evening seminar

Queen Mary University of London and PQ magazine have joined forces again to give you ‘The Future of Audit – reform, resilience and scepticism’, a free evening faceto-face seminar on Wednesday 8 March.

Our top panel of experts includes Sultana Azmi, assistant auditor, National Audit Office; John Boulton, Director, Policy at ICAEW; Yogesh Dhanak, Senior Technical Advisory Manager with ACCA; and Iain Murray, director of Public Financial Management at CIPFA. Between them they have worked for PwC, Grant Thornton, the Audit Commission and a host of smaller chartered firms.

Click here to sign up: https:// tinyurl.com/3hk645n3

The event is supported by ACCA, CIPFA, ICAEW and GAAPweb.

ROBERT BRUCE

Putting nature on the balance sheet

Companies should take the practical step of adding the value of ‘nature’ to annual accounts to help save the planet, according to Professor Paolo Quattrone of Manchester Business School, and Associate Professor Ariela Caglio of Bocconi University, Milan.

People in business are criticised for using meaningless cliches when trying to express their opinions. They don’t have to do this. But they fall into the trap. They look at the boilerplate they used last time. And they use it again. They assume that the world outside expects it of them.

An old journalist friend put together a top 10 of business cliches. He suggested that when people used to talk of the three pillars that represent what they thought were their business strengths they talked of buckets rather than columns. They talked of strands. They talked of silos. They talked of paradigms. They talked of value streams and of suites and platforms, not forgetting the box outside of which they were trying to think. It is all meaningless.

It washes through the mind of a reader and comes out the other side leaving nothing behind. But there is, to slip into another cliché, an elephant in the room. And that is that there is no need to write or talk like this. Scrub those Powerpoint slides clean. It is perfectly possible for people in business to express themselves clearly. People can sit down and think through what they want to get across and then pretend they are telling an old friend at home or in the pub all about it. What they then say will be clear. And the narrative around their business transformed.

Quattrone and Caglio believe adding a line for nature in the current accounting and auditing system would allow nature to be a visible key stakeholder and to have a voice and value.

This approach would also allow greater focus and capital to be given to nature – and human activity would move decisively and permanently to net positive.

Their long-term hope is that governments, central banks and

regulators legislate to make this compulsory – but in the meantime, they urge corporations, and indeed all organisations, to start adding nature in their financial reports

New CEO for ICB

Ami Copeland (pictured), the former director of communications at the ICB, has been appointed the new CEO.

Copeland became an executive director of the ICB in 2016, and takes over the role of CEO from June Carter.

She says she is committed to raising the profile of bookkeepers and the ICB, and wants to maintain the quality and status of membership while expanding the

organisation’s reach.

Copeland added: “I look forward to working with our passionate UK team, and our sister bodies and representatives around the world, to continue to grow ICB’s membership, impact and influence.

“We are here to support our members to develop the technical skills, ethical mindset, business intelligence and network necessary for success as the role of the bookkeeper expands and evolves

How do you celebrate passing your accountancy exams?

On a recent final exam results day Ben Wilson posted a very old picture, celebrating when he had qualified. Along with his friends Charlie and Elliot, he celebrated with the ‘McDonald’s Challenge’ – eight cheese burgers in a single

voluntarily and to set up bonds for nature’s repair and revival.

Quattrone stressed: “Currently, financial structures are not set up to recognise nature in financial reports. With its roots in the first industrial revolution, and codified by Adam Smith, who reduced value to utility, and in turn market price, the current accounting system recognises only production and assets and not how nature is affected – usually damaged, destroyed or exploited – by this production.

“The addition of a Provision for Nature in the Value-Added for Nature Income Statement (VAN) would force stakeholders to pay serious attention to how we relate our corporate activity to nature.”

into the future.”

She takes over the helm of an organisation founded by her parents in 1996.

sitting, Tempted?

Not lecturer Brigita Pertrova, who said: “You certainly didn’t look like someone who could do well with that challenge! My thing was cartwheels!”

Valia McDomagh chipped in: “We had many different celebrations! I recall softball and picnic in the park overlooking Buckingham Palace.”

ATX professional skills

It's time for some plain speaking

Robert Bruce is an award-winning writer on accountancy for The Times

THE FUTURE OF AUDIT – REFORM, RESILIENCE AND SCEPTICISM

A Queen Mary University of London seminar putting audit under the spotlight, brought to you in association with PQ magazine

Following the hugely successful Future of Tax seminar last year, we are bring you a new free evening seminar on the Future of Audit. Click here to sign up

Recent research by CMC Markets found that searches for ‘auditor’ ranked number one on the list of finance careers with 222,500 monthly Google searches. People are also searching 5,000 times a month for ‘auditor jobs’ and 500 times for ‘auditor careers’.

So, what does the future hold for the audit profession? Come along to our unique seminar and all will be revealed!

Our panel for the night

Sultana Azmi, assistant auditor, National Audit Office

John Boulton, Director, Policy at ICAEW

Yogesh Dhanak, Senior Technical Advisory Manager at ACCA

Iain Murray, Director of Public Financial Management at CIPFA

Together they have worked for PwC, Grant Thornton, the Audit Commission, and smaller chartered firms. We might also have some more surprise panellists on the night – so watch this space. The event will start at 18.00 pm BST, but doors will open at 17.00 for networking. There will be sandwiches too!

The Future of Audit – reform, resilience & scepticism

Date: Wednesday 8 March 2023

Venue: Graduate Centre Lecture Theatre, Mary University of London, Mile End Road, Bethnal Green, London E1 4NS

Time: 18.00 – 20.30 BST, but doors will open for 17.00 for networking

Supported by

PREM SIKKA

Big drop in FAR pass rates

the foundation for another crash

The UK government is obsessed with the finance industry even though the effects of the 2007-08 financial crash are still with us.

The Financial Services and Markets Bill is laying foundations for the next financial crash by changing the role of the regulators. The regulators’ primary duty is to provide financial stability and protect consumer interests. The Bill imposes a secondary duty upon regulators to also promote ‘growth’ and international ‘competitiveness’. These objectives conflict.

The competitiveness objective was abandoned after the last crash as it encouraged reckless risk-taking in pursuit of high profits and pay, but has now been resuscitated. Competitiveness will be gauged by benchmarking the UK regulation against other countries. Inevitably, buccaneer traders will say that some offshore place has competitive advantage and low costs because of low consumer protection, capital requirements and poor enforcement. They will push the regulator to deliver the same. So ‘competitiveness’ is another code word for deregulation.

Speculation generates huge profits at short notice, but does not make society better. For example, speculation on the price of food and commodities has enabled some to become rich, but has fuelled higher prices and inflation for others.

The pass rates for December’s ICAEW Professional Level exam results ‘slipped a bit’ when compared with previous sittings.

At 59.1%, the Financial Accounting and Reporting (IFRS) paper saw a big drop – in September the pass rate for this paper was 82.1%. The pass rate for the UK GAPP version of this paper wasn’t much better, at 60.9%.

Elsewhere, the pass rate for Tax Compliance slipped below 70% to 68.4%.

An ICAEW spokesman said: “We appreciate the disappointment that some students may be feeling. We continue to work closely with our partners in learning and employers to put effective plans in place that will support you in reaching the required level to be

successful going forward. The learning materials have been updated for the 2023 exams, which are provided free of charge for students who were unsuccessful in December.”

Two still seems to be the ideal number of Professional Level

Football Black List

Sofia Thomas, a chartered tax advisor and CEO of Juno Sports Tax, has been named in the recent Football Black List – a list celebrating black excellence in football. She appears alongside Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka and Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford. However,

Computer says ‘no’

Accountant Karlee Besse has been told to pay her former employer for ‘time theft’ after time tracking software called TimeCamp revealed she had stolen 50 hours of work!

Sofia is the only tax advisor to be named on the list! Her company, Juno Sports Tax, founded in 2021, provides specialist tax advice to a range of international athletes, primarily footballers. She said: “We set up Juno Sports Tax because

Besse, who worked remotely in Canada, had taken her employer to a tribunal for unpaid wages and severance pay after she was fired. Her firm, Reach CPA, explained she had in fact logged many hours that “did not appear to be spent on work-related tasks”.

TimeCamp tracks how long documents are open, how the document is being used and

papers if you want to pass all the papers you sit. Some 65.6% of sitters passed the two they sat this time around, with another 20.8% passing one of the two. In all, 63.2% of those sitting three papers passed them all, with 62.4% who opted for one paper passing it. It all means some 1,601candidates failed all the papers they sat – 22.3% of sitters.

PROFESSIONAL LEVEL

2022 RESULTS: Audit & Assurance 74.3%; BP: Banking 62.9%; BP: Insurance 73.3%; BP: Taxation 81.9%; Business Strategy and Technology 85.1%; FAR (IFRS) 59.1%; FAR (UK GAAP) 60.9%; Financial Management 78.7%; Tax Compliance 68.4%

we felt there was a clear gap in the market for high-quality, independent, professional specialist tax advice in this area. This was especially true of high-net-worth sports people who have often been the subject of poor advice and targeting around tax evasion.”

Further information about the Football Black List published this month is available here: https:// footballblacklist.com/about

Further information about Sofia & Juno Sports Tax is available here: https://junosportstax.com/about/

logs the time as work. When the company analysed Besse’s timesheets and the software usage logs the irregularities became clear.

The tribunal agreed with the firm and ordered Besse to pay her former company £1,680 in returned wages and for an advance she received.

For more see https://tinyurl.com/ msks6vep

Cutting inflation better than tax cuts!

UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt says ’significant’ tax cuts in his March Budget are unlikely. Some members of his party wants to see tax cuts to simulate the economy. However, Hunt believes halving inflation “is the best tax cut right now”. He described the current situation as just “a difficult patch”.

Mileage allowance rates are ‘out of date’

Mileage allowances rates should

be increased to reflect the increasing cost to employed workers who use their own vehicles for business use, says the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT).

Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) allow employers to make tax-free payments up to certain limits to their employees when those employees carry out business travel in their own cars, vans, motorcycles or cycles. However, the rates have been unchanged

for at least 10 years and in some cases several decades more. The current mileage allowance rate is 45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles in a private car or van, dropping to 25p per mile after that. A further 5p per mile can be paid per passenger, provided they are also travelling for the business. The rate for motorcycles is 24p per mile and 20p per mile for cycles.

Five more tax avoidance schemes named HMRC has published details of five

further tax avoidance schemes, including three promoted by AML Tax (UK) Limited. Last year, AML Tax (UK) Ltd was fined £150,000 for failing to provide HMRC with legally required information as part of a tax investigation.

The three AML schemes made use of complex company structures and directors’ loan accounts to extract profit, providing directors with income where corporation tax, income tax and national insurance contributions were not correctly paid.

Laying

Prem Sikka is Emeritus Professor of Accounting at the University of Essex

ACCA Practice Platform

Students who use the ACCA Practice Platform have a 14% higher pass rate, says new analysis from the association.

To enhance student support it now plans to release a new mock exam on to the Practice Platform each session. This will be made available three weeks before the exam and will be accompanied with supporting materials, such as exam debrief webinars.

There is one minor change coming, with ACCA ‘retiring’ the PDF content from the past exam library.

Past exams are available on the Practice Platform and will continue to be available alongside specimen exams, additional practice exams

Levelling up won’t work this way

The government’s recent levelling up spending announcements underscore the painful reality of the competitive bidding process, says CIPFA’s chief economist Jeffrey Matsu.

He said that larger councils with better resources are more likely to be able to submit higher quality bids than those smaller, less resilient councils that most need

the additional funding.

Matsu explained: “This way to fund levelling up is not transparent and impacts on policy delivery and accountability. The current system lacks a whole systems approach for understanding spending in areas with different profiles or priorities. What results is the shifting, rather than creation, of economic activity.

and the new mock exam. ACCA reiterated that past exams are not being removed – it’s just the PDF screen shot version of these exams.

ACCA stressed: “The Practice Platform is the only way for students to fully prepare for the exam.” It wants to encourage students to use it early and throughout their studies so they become familiar with the exam. It should also mean sitters can get the best out of the word processing and spreadsheet tools when it really matters – in the actual exam!

“The short-term nature of the funding and relatively small amounts available will not significantly contribute to successful levelling up. As our previous research shows, reducing regional inequalities requires place-led partnerships and leadership to progress joined-up solutions. The government needs to grasp the scale of the challenge and commit to a clear and coherent way forward.”

Everyone wants to be an auditor?

Those who worried about how attractive a career in auditing has become will be pleased to hear ‘auditor’ is the most in-demand finance career right now, according to a study by CMC Markets.

Searches for auditor ranked number one on the list with 222,500 monthly Google searches. People are searching 5,000 times on average a month for ‘auditor jobs’ and 500 times for ‘auditor careers’. There are currently 785 auditor jobs in the finance sector on Indeed.

Actuarial careers came closely behind as the second most soughtafter job in finance with a combined 166,600 searches per month for ‘actuary careers’ and ‘actuary jobs’.

The third most desirable finance career is corporate banking, which amassed a total of 96,280 Google searches per month, 1,200 of which were for the search term ‘corporate banking jobs’.

When it comes to the most desirable financial sector to work in accounting came out on top, way ahead of insurance (in second place) and banking (third).

ANNA KATE PHELAN

Optional pass rates remain low

AAA and APM, two of the final optional papers, are still failing two out of every three ACCA students who sit them, according to the December exam results.

‘ridiculously hard’, and nothing like they had seen in any books or mocks. Yet it had a pass rate of 41%, the best of the optional papers.

Thousands of students are due to sit digital mock GCSE and AS level exams in 30 schools across the UK and globe as part of a trial put on by Cambridge University Press and Assessment. These mocks will be marked with results being sent back in two weeks to let students know how ready they are for the high stakes exams.

Following these trials, this digital service is expected to be a permanent fixture of Cambridge’s assessment services, in tandem with paper-based offerings. Additionally, Cambridge will be trialling several new projects which will hope to see digital on-screen assessments go beyond the limits of paper tests’ capabilities. They will be launching a new digital computer qualification in Computer Science in 20 different schools across the globe.

On-screen exams will enable students to showcase their coding and problem solving skills in a way that more closely mirrors industry standards. They will also be investigating how an AS Level history qualification could be assessed to more adequately meet the requirements of skills currently necessary for modern historians; candidates may be enabled to capture annotations digitally, review longer sources/online source banks. The assessment space is set to become even more digital as the world evolves, financial training organisations and accountancy bodies need to make sure they are ahead of the curve.

The latest pass rates for AAA and APM sitters were 32% and 33% respectively. Let us hope the AAA sitter who said “to be honest that was the easiest paper in P7 history” was not left eating their words on results day!

Students had called AFM

This was the second session where ACCA examined Professional Skills in three of the optional papers (ATX will change from June 2023). However, optional pass rates don’t seem to be moving in the right direction.

Meanwhile, the AA December pass rate was just 40%, the lowest of Applied Skills papers. PM was the second lowest at 43%. ACCA is encouraging all Applied Skills sitters to get on the My Exam Performance platform to get their exam performance feedback.

Check out our March tips on page 29

ACCA DECEMBER 2022

EXAM

RESULTS: BT 79%; FA 68%; MA 61%; LW 82%; TX 52%; FR 49%; PM 43%; FM 51%; AA 40%; SBL 49%; SBR 47%; AAA 32%; AFM 41%: APM 33%; ATX 39%

Apprentice levy reform needed

AICPA & CIMA have called on the UK government to reform the apprenticeship levy to boost higher level skills in the workforce.

In their submission to the Treasury ahead of the Spring Budget, AICPA & CIMA said changes were needed to widen access to training and enable employers to better nurture the skills and talent pipeline for their future UK workforce. They propose a new ‘Apprenticeship and Skills Levy’, which would allow the

money raised by the levy to be spent by employers not only on apprenticeships, but also on other forms of skills and development training.

Andrew Harding, chief executive — management accounting AICPA and CIMA, said: “If the

apprenticeship levy were reformed to allow access to a wider range of training and professional development, that would go some way to addressing the skills gaps which are currently preventing the economy from growing as it should.”

IFA appoints new technical manager

The Institute of Financial Accountants (IFA), the UK’s professional SME accountancy membership body, has appointed Matt Barton (right) as its new technical manager.

Having qualified as a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) through the Civil Service Finance

New sustainable delivery clause

Deloitte is looking to include a ‘sustainable delivery’ clause – ‘Clause Zero’ – in client engagement letters and contracts this year.

The clause will encourage and support the Big 4 firm and its clients to deliver projects in a more sustainable way, for example by opting for digital options such as virtual meetings and using online tools to help make low carbon choices when travel is required. It is designed to place sustainability at the forefront of every project, from initial pursuit through to completion.

Fast Stream, Barton has previously worked as a management accountant and finance business partner in a number of Government departments, including the Ministry of Defence, the Department for Education and HMRC.

John Edwards, CEO of the IFA, said: “Matt’s breadth of experience and innovative

Deloitte has also pledged to source 100% renewable electricity for office buildings, convert its car fleet to plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles, and ensure that more than two-thirds of suppliers have set their own science-based carbon reduction targets.

KPMG records second year of strong growth

KPMG UK delivered double-digit growth for the second consecutive year, recording a 16% rise in revenue from £2.35bn to £2.72bn, with profit before tax increasing from £436m to £449m.

In unveiling the results the Big 4 firm said it was investing heavily in its people. Last May it awarded employees an overnight flat salary increase of between £2,000 and £4,000. The

approach backed by a strong track record of driving process improvements makes him not only best placed to support our members, but will also help drive the IFA forward into this new, exciting phase building further on what has already been achieved and to continue to meet the needs of SMEs within the UK and throughout the international market.”

rise was progressive and designed so that the firm’s more junior employees received the most proportionally. It was in addition to the annual pay increases awarded by the firm to staff in Autumn 2021.

The average partner reward increased from £688,000 to £757,000. PwC’s Jon Holt received a total remuneration of £2.72m.

Profit warnings on the rise

The number of profit warnings issued by UK-listed companies in 2022 increased by 50% year-on-year, with record levels of warnings citing rising costs, according to EY-Parthenon’s latest Profit Warnings report. In total, 305 profit warnings were issued in 2022, an increase of 102 from 2021 when 203 warnings were issued.

Cambridge trial is a glimpse of the future

Anna Kate Phelan is Head of Product at Eintech

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ROTHERA

Risks are in the cloud

Cloud-related risks top the list of cyber security concerns that UK senior executives say will have a big impact on their organisations in 2023, according to PwC's annual Digital Trust Insights.

Some 39% of UK respondents say they expect cloud-based risks to significantly affect their organisation this year, more so than cyber risks from other sources such as laptop/desktop endpoints, web applications and software supply chains.

A third (33%) of respondents expect attacks against cloud management interfaces to increase

greatly, while 20% say they expect attacks on Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and operational

Google launches Bard

ChatGPT is set to have a new rival in the form of Google’s new chatbot.

Two years ago, Google unveiled its next-generation language and conversion capabilities powered by its Language Model for Dialogue Applications (or LaMDA for short). It has now revealed it has been working on an experimental conversational AI service, powered by LaMDA, that it is calling Bard.

After being opened up to trusted testers it will be made more widely available to the public in the coming weeks.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai (pictured) said: “Bard seeks to combine the breadth of the world’s knowledge with the power, intelligence and creativity of

Digital currency by 2025?

A digital pound is coming and HM Treasury and the Bank of England have joined forces to set out a roadmap to introduce a new central bank currency. A decision

either way has been promised by 2025.

As cash continues to decline the government believes that this new form of money will be needed

technology (OT) to significantly increase in the next 12 months, too. However, long-standing and familiar cyber risks haven’t gone away, highlighting the challenge facing many businesses. Just over a quarter (27%) of UK organisations say they expect business email compromise and ‘hack and leak’ attacks to jump in 2023, and 24% say they expect ransomware attacks to significantly increase. Nevertheless, cyber security budgets will rise for many organisations, with 59% of UK respondents saying they expect their budgets to increase.

our large language models. It draws on information from the web to provide fresh, high-quality responses. Bard can be an outlet for creativity, and a launchpad for curiosity, helping you to explain new discoveries from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to a nine-year-old, or learn more about the best strikers in football right now, and then get drills to build your skills.”

in our increasingly digital economy. The new currency, which will sit alongside cash, has been given a nickname – ‘Britcoin’.

However, more ground work will be needed before the government commits to building the necessary infrastructure.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: “We want to investigate what is possible first, while always making sure we protect financial stability.” However, he does believe a central bank digital currency could be a new, trusted and accessible way to pay.

Deloitte buys London tech firm

Deloitte has announced the completion of its purchase of the assets and business of Reformis, a specialist investment management technology and data firm.

The Big 4 firm welcomed 83 people from the UK, US and Australia, who bring a wide range of expertise, including front office implementations, data management and reporting solutions to clients in the investment and wealth management industry.

Deloitte’s vice chair, Tony Gaughan, said: “This is a transformative transaction and it demonstrates Deloitte’s commitment to continue growing our investment management practice.

“It will further enhance our global technology proposition in this sector and our ability to offer these services at scale.”

Taking the pain out of life admin Sage has announced a partnership

with

efficiency

The service is made possible by a new integration between Sage payroll software and Verification Exchange from Equifax – the global data, analytics and technology company.

Sage says that with “life admin” tasks, or essential day-to-day activities, taking up to 13 days a year, UK consumers stand to benefit from a partnership that improves

For example, when applying for personal finance or jobs, consumers usually need to gather and provide documents that verify employment status and, in some cases, income level information as part of the application process. Equifax and its partnership with Sage help improve the process by automating the employment and income verifications that lenders and employers require, while reducing red tape for the consumer.

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We all need maths I was delighted to read that the Prime Minister wants all pupils to study maths in some form to the age of 18. Quite rightly the PM has identified maths and numeracy capabilities are a keystone to career and business success. Sadly, there has not been enough consistent focus on this essential lifetime skill, and it is important to grasp the scale of this challenge to the UK economy as we look for longterm solutions.

Last month, AICPA & CIMA commissioned Opinium to conduct research about the skills the country needs to address productivity and the findings were stark. Some 25% of SME

Cost of living biting

Thanks for highlighting that everyone, no matter what job they do, can be affected by the current cost-of living crisis.

I work in a very understaffed accounting department. There is no prospect of new staff to relieve the pressure of work. I also didn’t get a salary increase last year as I work in an area of hospitality that has been hit by everything from strikes, energy price rises and just fewer people coming through our doors. It has been tough both financially and mentally and the problems don’t seem to be going away, not for me anyway.

Name and email address supplied

Killing the planet

Are we fuelling climate change?

I noticed you gave Professor Ian Thomson a platform to accuse the profession of fuelling climate change, but did not give the bodies any chance to respond. However, it is true we don’t seem very near to creating greenhouse gas emission price tags. It’s so hard to do the right thing by buying green, and not go for the option that would be more cost effective. The recession will also add pressure and may dilute any moves in the right

employers who had identified a skills gap within their organisation in the past 12 months noticed that a lack of numeracy and

financial literacy skills among employees were holding back their businesses. Maths and numeracy are also an essential skill necessary to drive the digital transformation of our economy and the creation of jobs that will drive real wage growth opportunities.

Efforts to upskill those entering the workforce with maths and numeracy skills can take many forms. However, the key will be how to turn good intent into action. Now that is not an easy equation to solve, and we look forward to seeing the formula.

Accountex London opened for registrations on 13 February, and it proved unlucky for some! So many people wanted to book their place they crashed the system. If you were one of the thousands of people trying to register and were held in the queue, Accountex said a big sorry. If you are still looking

direction – to help save the planet.

Name and address supplied

Lack of resources

No matter where you live there doesn’t appear to be enough tax collectors! We have an

If you have any problems with delivery, or if you want to change

underfunded HMRC and I read on your fun page last month that in the US the IRS hasn’t got the resources to examine Donald Trump’s 400 ‘business interests’ either. What’s going on?

Name and address supplied

to book a place then get your free ticket at https://bit.ly/ ACX23REG.

We are also partnering up with Accountex this year for the first time, and will see you all there on 10-11 May at Excel London. If you do visit then the organisers are promising to plant a tree on your behalf. This year they have teamed up with Carma to work towards mitigating Accountex’s carbon footprint while supporting local communities across the world.

People also seem to be getting excited about LinkedIn’s new schedule post button. Although not everyone has got it yet! Reformed accountant Tony Stevenson FCA said: “Please stop making me feel left out and let me have the schedule post button. Was it something I said? Was it something I did? This ghosting is making me very sad.”

Vehali Patel felt it was very random – she has had it for quite a while now and just thought everyone else did too! And, as Alison Bryan pointed out: “You don’t need one – you are a spontaneous, off the cuff guy. They’ve looked at you and thought nah – Tony doesn’t need this, it will take away what his audience loves about him.”

star letter writer wins a fantastic ‘I love PQ’ mug!

Andrew Harding, FCMA, CGMA, Chief Executive — Management Accounting, AICPA & CIMA

LASTORDERS!

We really need your nominations for the PQ magazine awards right now! The deadline is Friday 10 March 2023

This is it – the time really has come for you to get your nominations to us if you want to be one of our PQ magazine award winners for 2023!

Our judges are ready, the venue is ready and the trophies have been ordered, so let’s get to it.

We are going back to Proud Embankment, the majestic two-storey venue on the North Bank of the River Thames. Put Monday 24 April in the diary, because that’s when the coolest accountancy awards there are will be happening!

But we are getting ahead of ourselves in the excitement, it being our 20th awards ceremony. Before that we need your 500 words on why you/your nominee should be shortlisted for one of our coveted trophies.

So, what are you waiting for? Download the

nomination form at http://tinyurl. com/k6bkx7fm. Or go to the website and click on the ‘pq awards’ bar at the top of the home page and download the form there. When you are ready email your completed nomination to us at awards@pqmagazine.com

If you want to post it to us then send it to: The Editor, PQ magazine, PO Box 75983, London E11 9GS.

Just be crystal clear about which category you are entering, and if you feel that you need more than 500 words then just attach the supporting material to your entry. We make sure the judges see everything that is relevant.

Once again, the deadline for entries is Friday 10 March 2023 –remember, you can’t win it if you aren’t in it!

DISTANTLEARNER

Here are the immediate past winners of the Distant Learning Student of the Year award. Our reigning campion is former firefighter Hanni Owens. The 2021 winner was Demel Johnson and in 2020 it was Edyta Czapla

PQ AWARD 2023 CATEGORIES

PQ of the Year

NQ of the Year

Distance Learning Student of the Year

Accountancy Graduate of the Year

Apprentice of the Year

Student Body of the Year

Accountancy College of the Year – Public Sector

Accountancy College of the Year - Private Sector

Online College of the Year

Lecturer of the Year –Public Sector

Lecturer of the Year –Private Sector

Study Resource of the Year

Podcast of the Year*

Innovation in Accountancy Award

Best Use of Social Media Award

Training Manager/Mentor of the Year

Graduate/Apprentice Training Programme of the Year

Accountancy Team of the Year

Accountancy Personality of the Year

*a new category for 2023

OUR SPONSORS

Hanni Owens

Edyta Czapla

Demel Johnson

Keeping it relevant

Chief executive Sarah Beale reveals how AAT aims to achieve greater global recognition of Accounting Technicians with its new strategy

The world around us is changing exponentially and with it the role of the accounting technician. If we don’t adapt to these changes, then we will not survive. But at AAT we want to do more than that. We want to thrive, both as an organisation and through our community of accounting professionals in the UK and around the world. We want our members to be real world ready.

AAT’s new strategic plan, ‘Securing future relevance to 2030’, sets out our ambition to achieve greater global recognition for accounting technicians. Our aim is to ensure businesses and governments understand the value accounting technicians bring in supporting productivity, growth, and providing solutions to modern challenges. By 2030, our vision is for economies and societies around the world to benefit from the expertise of our community.

Our strategy builds on AAT’s core values and focuses on three complementary principles: keeping the profession relevant, driving up professional standards and building responsible business.

Keeping the profession relevant

We have a pivotal role to play in advocating for our profession. Innovating and enhancing our core qualifications and CPD is at the heart of our plan – anticipating emerging priority areas, such as digital skills, sustainability and analytics. We will define skills sets and then design accessible and affordable education solutions. And we’ll provide lifelong learning products and engage digitally to ensure resources and assistance are available.

Driving up professional standards

Central to our role, as both an awarding and

professional body, is a commitment to raising standards and upholding professional ethics within the accountancy profession. This starts with ensuring that more accountants are members of professional bodies with recognised and appropriate accounting qualifications. Ultimately, we want to see a renewed trust and confidence in the profession from the public.

Building responsible business

AAT has a clear remit to act in the public interest. As a professional membership organisation, we can enact and inspire societal change, both through our own business activity and by demonstrating leadership to our community. Sustainability and social mobility are central to this. We want to raise awareness and really engage positively in the global sustainability agenda. And social mobility has always been and remains a key priority for us. It sums up so much of what we’re about –ensuring increasing access to the profession for everyone.

To achieve these goals, we have four strategies to get us there: putting our community at the centre of decision-making; developing and growing effective partnerships; taking a digitalfirst approach to increase accessibility and efficiency; and using data to make evidencebased decisions shared with the profession.

This is just a flavour of what we’re setting out to achieve. For more detail on our plan visit our website at aat.org.uk

Registration now open for Accountex London

It’s time to sign up to Europe’s largest accountancy and finance event – Accountex London is back in London this May

Accountex London is returning to ExCeL on the 10-11 May 2023 for its biggest show yet. Over two days, 8000+ accountants, in-house finance professionals and bookkeepers from all over the world will be returning to the capital for the free annual event. More than 250 top fintech companies will be giving software demos and there will be a diverse CPD accredited education programme to explore.

There’s no real substitute for face-to-face contact “Due to the pandemic, last year's show was the first in three years. Our focus was reuniting the community and getting people back to faceto-face business. It was a celebration of the profession who endured the storm and came out stronger. This year we’re delivering a lot more –an even bigger show, a jam-packed programme and a larger exhibition with a wider range of exhibitors,” said Accountex Portfolio Director Caroline Hobden. “We want the two days to be a real team building experience, with lots of fun to be had. We’ve even got a few surprises up our sleeves...”

Start-ups and global brands alike will be exhibiting at the show, including FreeAgent, Intuit QuickBooks, IRIS, Sage, TaxCalc and Xero. Visitors will have the opportunity to meet the teams behind the companies, see software demonstrations and ask their questions in person. HMRC will also be exhibiting and on hand to offer guidance following the MTD delay announcement, as well as presenting vital updates in the educational programme.

Gain industry insight and up to 16 CPD hours

There will be over 250 different sessions to explore across the 12 theatres, with two main stages full of keynote presentations. This year, new themes include sustainability, ESG and climate change, and how the accountancy profession can help take responsibility and communicate the right messages to their clients. Also high on the agenda is mental health, diversity and inclusion, especially looking at

wellbeing during the economic downturn, and how people can look after their teams, clients and themselves. The programme highlights issues that affect people inside and outside of the workplace, with the menopause and neuro diversity among the topics in the spotlight.

Another big theme this year is the recruitment crisis, with sessions covering the wage war and why fewer young people are joining the profession. Some speakers will even be challenging the concept of the recruitment crisis all together.

Vibrancy and energy throughout the show

Many of the established theatres will be returning this year: Tax and Compliance; Bookkeepers and Small Business; Practice Management; the ACCA theatre; and the Accountants in Industry Theatre, which the Virtual Finance Director are curating. However, Accountex London has some new additions, such as the Communication Theatre, where sessions will cover how to build and maintain relationships with good communication, and even how to work with different personality types.

The Practice Growth and Resilience Theatre

will tackle issues around growth and stability in a time of recession, and how accountants can advise their clients through the cost-of-living crisis.

A real eye opener to the forever changing industry

“Wow! What a show, so many amazing speakers, a vast range of suppliers to meet, and a community of lovely contacts to network with. A real eye opener to the forever changing industry we are in,” said Rachael Prideaux, the Founder of Figure Fairy, following a visit to Accountex London 2022.

Alongside a packed seminar programme and floor full of exhibitors, there will be plenty of opportunities for visitors to network and connect with the accountancy and finance industry. As well as several post-show drinks parties, there will be new features to explore, including a Bookkeepers Base Camp, a Networking Bus and a popular feature from Accountex Summit Manchester, the Accountex photobooth. • Accountex London is taking place at ExCeL on the 10-11 May 2023. You can register for your free ticket here: https://tinyurl. com/2bbcmrx3

Tips on overcoming procrastination

It’s easy to procrastinate when you are immersed in your studies. But having clear targets and a consistent approach can help you achieve your goals, says Nasheen

Picture it: an important exam is approaching, but you put off studies in favour of cleaning your house, chatting with friends or, really, anything that doesn’t involve studying. But delaying these essential tasks is inevitably followed by negative emotions such as guilt and self-doubt, resulting in stress and anxiety. This can become a cycle which is hard to break out from.

The good news is you can overcome procrastination by identifying your triggers, creating productive habits, and setting specific goals. At CIMA, study support is readily available. Check out the CGMA Study Hub for many morefree resources.

Start with self-awareness

A vital first step is to realise that you are avoiding study, and that this will leave you short of time to attain what you can and want to achieve.

Focus on the bigger picture. Why are you studying? What is the end goal? How much do you want it? These positive thoughts will pave your journey between now and the exam.

Once you’ve gained insight and awareness as to why you have been putting things off, you can start taking action.

Identify your triggers

With self-compassion, ask yourself what’s hindering you from getting started. Are you worried that the task is too complex, and you won’t succeed? Maybe you lack motivation?

People believe the root cause of

Wuisman

procrastination can be laziness or lack of time management skills but that is simply not true. Often it is about regulating your emotions.

Anxiety, self-doubt, frustration, and confusion are all possible triggers for procrastination which, in turn, becomes a coping mechanism to avoid these unpleasant feelings.

If you are a perfectionist then you may be especially prone to procrastination. The fear of not being able to complete a task perfectly may drive you to put it off as long as possible.

To counter negative thoughts, focus on completion over perfection and celebrate your micro-moments of achievement. Remember that trying something and doing it OK is better than not starting at all. In time these small steps will result in a steady pace of progress, which brings contentment and the motivation to reach your goal.

Create productive habits

When caught in a spiral of procrastination, getting started can feel insurmountable.

To overcome the first hurdle, make it easy to act by planning your week ahead of time — using a diary, allocate date, time, and duration to each study session. This will make the journey less daunting and instantly more achievable.

A useful strategy is to tackle the most critical task first each day. The positive effect of accomplishing a constructive study session will snowball into increased productivity and create the momentum you need to keep going.

Set a timer for each study session. You can start with a 30-minute session and increase

it by five minutes daily until it reaches 50 minutes. When the timer is up, take a break. Go for a walk, grab a snack, or watch an episode of your favourite TV programme — anything that helps you to unwind.

When you stick to a set schedule, you will build a solid anti-procrastination habit. If you deviate, it’s ok, stick to the plan for the rest of the week.

These productive study sessions and the strong work ethic that they will create are essential to accomplishing your goal of passing CIMA’s CGMA exams.

Set specific goals

We are all prone to procrastination, it is part of our human nature. The brain is wired to prioritise short-term needs ahead of long-term goals; there is an ongoing fight between your present self and your future self.

The present self prefers instant gratification, not long-term payoff. But by procrastinating, the future self is paying the price.

To pass your CGMA exams tomorrow, your preparation starts now. Set yourself a few goals, some short term, some long term. Decide when you want to achieve them by. Write these down and put them in a place where you will see them often. This will remind you of your aspirations and exactly what steps you need to take now to achieve them. It will connect your present and future self. Imagine how great it is going to feel when you’ve finished your tasks.

Always keep your big picture ‘why’ in mind. Remind yourself of why you want to achieve the CGMA designation. When you get distracted, the ‘why factor’ will motivate you to stay focussed on your studies and create a meaningful connection to the tasks you need to carry out.

It is more than possible to overcome procrastination by understanding why you do it, building consistent habits, experiencing the satisfaction of completing tasks and thereby making solid progress towards your end goal.

• Nasheen Wuisman

is a Senior Manager of Global Academic

Progression

at AICPA & CIMA, together the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants

London : Birmingham : Manchester : Online info@fctraining.org

0203 7908674

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Accountants and the climate crisis

Professor Ian Thomson charts the way accountants can be part of the solution for the climate crisis, not part of the problem

He is worried about how few people know how to teach about the impacts of climate change and deal with notions like stranded assets and stranded liabilities, which are challenging businesses ability to carry on as going concerns.

Thomson is also worried that the academics are now lagging behind practice too. So practice is leading, rather than educators and the research.

His research has revealed that applying inappropriate GHG to accounts can lead to the selection of options that decision makers mistakenly believe will reduce GHG emission, when they actually increase global GHG emissions. “We are finding because of a lack of knowledge and awareness people are trusting flawed information to make decisions, even when they are trying to do the right thing,” he said.

He wants everyone to envisage a world where everything came with a GHG price tag as well as a financial price tag. Imagine a world if every decision maker was carbon sensitive and climate literate, with every decision taking account of the GHG consequences. And, in turn, every accountant is able to calculate the impact of every decision.

Accountancy and the way it is being taught and practised is inadvertently fuelling the climate crisis, says Professor Ian Thomson.

In fact, he would go further – the way in which most people do their accounting actual incentivises climate change!

A keynote speaker at the recent PQ magazine/LSBU 6th annual conference, Birmingham University’s Thomson said there is an urgent need to decarbonise the hidden carbon curriculum in university accounting degrees.

Thomson has been studying and working on climate change for 32 years, and he believes the crisis is getting worse and accountants need to step up to the plate.

The problem is that accounting for the environment was seen as a marginalised issue by many accountants until recently, yet all transactions past, present and future, have

a direct effect on greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). They aren’t a sub-section and can no longer be seen that way, Thomson commented. He said: “All the decisions and actions taken by institutions, governments, business, communities and individuals impact on greenhouse gas that enters our atmosphere – it is ubiquitous.”

What really annoys Thomson is people who say this is all abstract, because it’s not! “It is already a f***ing reporting requirement in the UK for large businesses,” he stressed. And, for many businesses, it has been 10 years since it has been a reporting requirement. It is not an optional luxury, so why isn’t it being treated with the respect it should be?

Thomson said climate change happening right now is already affecting costs, future liabilities, asset valuation, ability to pay debts and dividends, market value and tax (to name a few).

Thomson honestly believes accountants are in breach of their ethical duties if they aren’t environmental accounting ‘aware’. But, unfortunately, right now nothing has a definitive GHG tag and very few accountants are able to calculate the climate impact of any decision.

Thomson stressed: “What accountancy students graduates should be asking themselves is what carbon accounting competencies or capacity they have on graduation.”

His research also showed for too many universities climate change was often still found within optional social and environment accounting modules, or piggybacked into other courses.

Birmingham Business School, part of his university, was the first in the world to integrate climate change throughout the programme, so it’s in every core module in its accounting and finance degree.

Check out what he said in full at https://tinyurl.com/ycyxw7u6 (go to 4.37).

Get your exam prep right

James Patrick shares some top tips in getting your exam preparation right, with the help of some recent prize-winners

New year resolutions are generally set in January and then forgotten in February, but as we approach the March exam session it’s the perfect time to set some great resolutions that will help in your exam preparation and give you the best chance of exam success.

We’ve been speaking to some of our prizewinning students to get their top tips for good exam preparation:

Taxation (joint winner) –Aimee O’Connor, audit assistant

“To conquer feelings of being overwhelmed I stayed on top of my revision, put 100% effort into my studies, and remembered that my hard work would eventually pay off. Having a balanced study plan was also essential – ACCA syllabuses are very broad, and you must make sure you are confident in every topic as they could all come up in the exam. I revise using flashcards summarising key areas, and lots of question practice, especially for the Taxation exam, which initially felt like a new language. By repeating similar past exam questions, however, I became more and more confident.”

Silver medal winner –Joshua Lawrence, management accountant

“Allocate 25% of your available study time to understanding the syllabus, and spend the remaining 75% on question practice. I’m a big believer in learning by doing and, for me, question practice is the best way to learn how to answer questions while also reviewing syllabus content. I recommend using ACCA’s past exams and also ACCA’s YouTube channel – this is a fantastic resource where you can watch expert

tutors dissecting past questions and showing how to score a good pass mark.”

Financial Management –Alex Chubb, management accountant

“Don’t wait until you are ‘ready’ to start question practice – jump in early and make mistakes, as this is where the learning happens. For the Financial Management exam, always practise Section C questions using the online ACCA spreadsheets to get totally comfortable with the platform.”

Bronze medal winner –Amy Smith, accountant

“Make sure you plan ahead, so you have time to study, but don’t overwork or you could wear yourself out. Also, complete as many practice questions and mock exams as possible, as this means you are less likely to be surprised in the actual exam.”

All these students cite the importance of practice. It’s critical in good exam preparation. And that’s why ACCA now provides an additional standard mock exam, for each exam session, for core Applied Skills and Strategic Professional exam on the ACCA Practice Platform. These mock exams come with full wraparound support and are the ideal tool to get that extra practice in as part of your exam preparation. We really encourage all students to fully attempt the mock, ideally under timed conditions, and then invest time carefully to review answers with the self-marking functionality, model answers and debrief content.

Here are some of the reasons why mock exams should be part of your exam preparation strategy:

Identify your strengths and weaknesses

Sitting a mock exam, and then debriefing it gives

you an incredible insight into how prepared you are for an exam. You can find out where you are performing well but, more importantly, you can identify any gaps in your knowledge. And because you have taken the mock exam in advance of the real thing, you can take action to fill in any gaps before your exam.

Get focused

Going through the process of preparing for and taking a mock exam can get you into a great studying mindset. Structure your studies and set a realistic target date. Then work towards doing the mock under full exam conditions – to time and with no notes! Don’t forget to plan time to debrief the mock to get the full benefit. The Compass planner tool can really help with this activity.

Fight stress

Exam-day nerves are completely natural but the more practice you have the better you will get at overcoming them. Doing your mock in exam conditions will help you become familiar with the process, which will then help you overcome the stress of exam day and make the real exam less daunting.

Look out for the new mocks, which will be released on ACCA’s Practice Platform from 13 February. These come with accompanying debrief videos to help you make the most of them. Our analysis shows that, in the live exams, students who engage with the mock exams consistently outperform those who don’t. That’s a great reason for building mock exams part into your exam preparation!

• James Patrick is head of education solutions and student support at ACCA

A company restructure

We outline a case from the CCAB’s ethical dilemmas for professional accountants working in business

Outline of the case

You are a qualified accountant. You have been asked, by your line manager, to complete a costing exercise with a very short deadline and limited resources. You think that the chief executive of the company is planning to use this information to restructure the company, including making some of your close colleagues redundant. You are worried that your work cannot be robust enough to be used for such a big business decision, but your line manager is putting you under a lot of pressure to complete the work quickly.

Questions

As a professional accountant in business:

a. Which fundamental principles feature more prominently for safeguarding?

b. What would be your key considerations in your approach to resolving the dilemma

presented?

c. What course of action would you take to resolve the dilemma?

Key fundamental principles

Objectivity: Could you maintain an unbiased stance throughout, in view of your close relationship with your colleagues?

Professional competence and due care: Can you realistically produce a costing, with the time and resources available, without compromising the standard of your work?

Confidentiality: Given the sensitivity of the situation, you should maintain discretion and not share your concerns with other staff, who may not be aware of the chief executive’s intentions.

Considerations

Identify relevant facts: You suspect that the company may be restructuring, and the chief

executive needs to have the most up to date and complete financial information to inform any decisions. As a professional accountant, you must ensure that any financial information you provide is robust.

Identify affected parties: Key affected parties are you, your line manager, the chief executive and anyone else who may use the results of the costing exercise. Other stakeholders in the company may also be affected, including those employees whose roles might be made redundant.

Who should be involved in the resolution: Is there anyone else in the company with whom you can raise your concerns? Is there a senior finance officer who could advise you, or another member of the board of directors with whom you can discuss your dilemma? Should you approach the chief executive directly?

Possible course of action

You think that the chief executive of the company is planning to use the information you produce to restructure the company. As a professional accountant, you have a duty to make your line manager and other users of the information aware of the limitations in the scope of your work. With this in mind, you should attempt to obtain certainty regarding the use of the information.

You should arrange a meeting with your line manager and explain your concerns that you may be unable to do the work to a sufficient level of quality in the time available. You could ask for more time to complete the work to the required standard or suggest alternative approaches such as outsourcing.

Outsourcing the work could have the added benefit of enhanced objectivity, although given the tight deadline it may require your assistance to ensure ready and efficient access to all necessary information. The process of clarifying the intended use of the information and expressing your concerns regarding its reliability is likely to enhance your credibility. You could suggest that your line manager discuss the issue with the chief executive or those charged with governance (such as other members of the board of directors), as appropriate.

If your line manager is unsympathetic to your concerns, you should not allow yourself to be associated with information that may be misleading. You should consider the most appropriate way in which to make your concerns known to the board of directors. This may be through the chief executive or the company secretary.

If, after exploring all these routes of communication, you still find yourself under unreasonable time pressure, you may have to make clear your refusal to conduct the work, and possibly resign from the company. However, resigning is not a substitute for taking required actions.

You should document, in detail, the steps that you take in resolving your dilemma, in case your ethical judgement is challenged in the future. • The CCAB case studies illustrate how the codes of ethics of the CCAB bodies can be applied by professional accountants and the five sets can be found at https://tinyurl.com/ycxj4pxx

Fast-track to the CGMA® designation with the CGMA Finance Leadership Program.

The CGMA Finance Leadership Program (FLP) allows you to study anytime, anywhere. It’s a comprehensive learning model that provides all the learning, assessments and Case Study exams preparation.

PQ Bumper Quiz – the answers

4 Saudi Arabia; 5 They were accused of witchcraft between 1563 and 1736; 6 Francis Kere from Burkina Faso; 7 Will Smith; 8 Cannabis plants; 9 Turkiye; 10 Scotland

SPORT

11 Pakistan; 12 Canada, Mexico and USA; 13 2-1 (after extra time); 14 USA; 15 Netherlands (4G,4S,2B =10 medals); 16 Ireland’s flanker Josh van der Flier; 17 Novak Djokovic; 18 LA Rams; 19 Norway –16; 20 Ronnie O’Sullivan.

ENTERTAINMENT

21 Matt Hancock; 22 Coda; 23 Adele; 24 Heat Waves; 25 Ncuti Gatwa; 26 Taylor Swift; 27 Beth Harmon; 28 Liverpool; 29 Las Vegas; 30 Future Nostalgia.

ACCOUNTANCY

41 India; 42 10 November; 43 Bookkeeping; 44 PwC; 45 Albert Brennaman (Kevin James); 46 Kushim (see January 2022 fun page story); 47 They are 20 years old; 48 Friday 10 March 2023; 49 CIMA; 50 Old French.

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

51 Bubble-gum; 52 Kyrgyzstan; 53 The Varso Tower at 310 metres is in Warsaw, Poland; 54 8 billion people; 55 Nelson Mandela and Fredrick W de Klerk; 56 1967; 57 Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft; 58 Stonehenge; 59 Mercury; 60 Prunes.

Thanks to our sponsors

Here are the answers to our much-loved annual Bumper Quiz. A big thanks as always to our sponsors – AAT, ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA and ICAEW. The three winners of a Tefal EasyFry Precision Air Fryer & Grill were Matt Cocking, Daniels Graves, and Victoria Laughton.

IN THE NEWS

1 Apple; 2 The New York Times; 3 Koala;

HISTORY

31 BBC – created in 1922; 32 Haiti; 33 Bosworth Field; 34 Alexander the Great; 35 Three – Edward the Confessor, Harold & William the Conqueror/We also allowed four as well, although Edgar the Atheling was never crowned; 36 Caligula; 37 Napoleon Bonaparte; 38 Sirimavo Bandaraike, Sri Lanka; 39 New Zealand; 40 Italy.

ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

The Ethics and Professional Skills Module (EPSM)

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Bank reconciliations – the lowdown

Karen Groves explains how to approach a bank reconciliation exam style question and tests your knowledge on the subject

As part of your AAT Level 2 and 3 studies, you will need to be confident in tackling a bank reconciliation question.

A bank reconciliation is completed at regular intervals, usually once a month. It is a reconciliation to determine any differences between the cash book and bank statement. There are likely to be items on the bank statement that are not in the cash book, for example, if a customer pays by BACS and doesn’t send a remittance advice, the first time you will notice the receipt is looking at the bank statement. Bank charges are another item often not recorded in the cash book.

Why are there items in the cash book that are not on the bank statement you may wonder? This is all down to timing differences. For example, if I write a cheque and put it in the post today, there will be the delay whilst it is delivered, and then a further delay until the cheque is actually banked.

The main areas of confusion are around prior period reconciling items. These are items that are written out in the previous month and are reconciling items during that month (think about your unpresented cheques or uncleared lodgements). All too often, students are focussed on the current month only, however, consideration needs to be given for what happened during the previous month.

Our first task should be identifying any prior period reconciling items, match these, and then move to ticking off the other items between cash book and bank statement.

Any items left unticked on the bank statement need to be entered in the cash book and any items unticked in the cash book will form the bank reconciliation as we are about to see.

Example

The cash book for February needs to be reconciled with the bank statement.

The first thing we need to do is to compare the opening cash book and bank statement balances. You will see that there is a difference of £150 (£1,306.20 - £1,156.20), showing the bank statement balance is £150 higher than the cash book. You can see on the bank statement a cheque numbered 001300 for £150. This is a prior period reconciling item which can be confirmed by the cheque number, as we start with 001301 in this month’s cash book. We will mark this as matched and then continue ticking off the other items between the cash book and bank statement.

Next, we can update the cash book for any items that need to be entered. You will see two amounts on the bank statement, one BACS receipt for £150 and a bank charges payment for £20 that are not ticked and must now be entered:

We finally prepare a bank reconciliation. There are two items in the cash book that are not ticked, an uncleared lodgement for £276.55 and an unpresented cheque for £180.50.

The bank reconciliation is now complete, and the balance agrees as per the cash book.

Now you have read this example, have a go at a bank reconciliation question in your own study resources, watching out for any prior period items!

• Karen Groves is an AAT tutor and Faculty Director of Accounting at e-Careers

CPD: a golden upskilling opportunity

2022 was the year the landscape of the traditional work model changed.

Triggered by game-changing global events and an accelerated digital revolution, outsourcing, insourcing, upskilling and hybrid working became the frequent employment buzzwords.

This workplace flexibility is set to continue as technology evolves and promises to further shake up the office, bringing with it pros but also cons. A recent study by Arden University has suggested professional, scientific and technical activities are set to lose over 760,000 jobs to automation and technology in the next decade, potentially shrinking the UK job market by 30%.

The advancement of accounting automation is necessitating change in the sector and upskilling must become a key priority for businesses. In order to stay ahead of the curve, firms will need to seek out accountants with a wide and diverse skill set to keep up with the ever-evolving accounting terrain. It’s now less about preparing financial statements and filing tax returns – such transactional work is becoming increasingly automated – and more about employees demonstrating tech savviness, the ability to comprehend data analytics, and being well-versed in all aspects of business concepts enabling them to provide valuable

insights to clients.

This is encouraging for qualified and part qualified accountants and those entering the industry to develop and grow outside of the traditional accountancy career path. Roles such as project managers, change managers and data analysts may be more beneficial to accounting firms now than ever before, and may represent a strategic advantage for both parties. Yet this isn’t the only benefit. Such skills are not sector specific, offering greater flexibility and not only bolster an individual’s existing repertoire of skills but

YOUR WELLBEING HUB

also enhance their employability across other sectors. The past few years have led many people to reassess their career choices, as well as learning to be more adaptable. We no longer live in a world where staying in the same job until retirement is the norm; as the adage goes, change is the only constant.

Continuing professional development (CPD) offers prime opportunities to develop and enhance your abilities. Training covers a diverse set of topics linked to but not exclusively about accounting for example, communication, sustainable thinking, building business resilience, technology and digital innovation, ethics and profitability.

Investing in relevant and regular CPD is an important way to stay abreast of new developments and best practice in a fastchanging environment. It can boost motivation and improve the quality of work and the service provided.

Studying on IFA Direct (the Institute of Financial Accountants online education programme) is ideal for those looking for a route to IFA membership, gaining a practising certificate or wanting to invest in relevant, practical CPD and employability skills. To find out more click here

• Thanks to the Institute of Financial Accountants for this article

Maintaining a positive mindset while studying can be challenging. Our wellbeing hub provides a range of resources and podcasts from our wellbeing ambassador to help support you throughout your ACCA journey.

YOUR MARCH EXAM TIPS

Time to spring into those last-minute exam tips from top tutors BPP. Here’s your guidance and tips for the March sitting

Performance Management PM

Section A will have 15 two-mark OTQs on a wide range of topics. Expect a mix of calculation and discussion-based questions, note that there are no marks for workings in this section. Good time management is essential as it is easy to get caught up in a tough calculation which ultimately will only be worth 2 marks. Never be tempted to spend more than 5 minutes on any question in this section.

For section B there are three separate scenarios with five objective test questions on each scenario; each question is worth 2 marks. Questions are not dependant on each other and can be answered in any order. Each scenario could be a mix of topic areas or focused on one topic and will usually consist of two/three calculations and two/three narratives.

In section C there are two 20-mark questions, which could be from, but not limited to: budgetary systems, planning and operational variances, mix and yield variances and evaluation of the company performance (either as a whole, or on a divisional basis). Familiarity with the CBE software is important as you may be expected to use both a word processing and spreadsheet format for your answer. Learn standardised layouts for calculations such as variances, learning curves and limiting factors. This will save you time in the exam and also mean that you are less likely to make mistakes. The split of marks tends to be approximately 40% calculations and 60% discussion, so don’t neglect the written elements of this paper. Make sure that you always fully explain your ideas. Interpretation and application are important skills that are tested in this paper so make sure you make full use of the scenarios that you are given in the exam.

Taxation TX (UK)

In section A there will be a wide range of topics tested as there are 15 OTQs. Tutors expect at least a couple of these to be devoted to the administration of income tax and corporation tax. So, candidates should ensure they are comfortable with the following:

• Due dates for the payment of income tax (including payments on account).

• Due dates for the payment of corporation tax (including instalments for large companies).

• Filing dates for the income tax and corporation tax returns.

• Penalties and interest for late payments and returns.

Other topic areas likely to be tested in section A of the exam are:

• VAT rules on registration, impairment loss (bad debt) relief, and the SME schemes relating to cash accounting, annual accounting and flat rate schemes.

• Inheritance tax due on lifetime transfers both in the donor’s life and on death.

• Statutory residence tests for individuals.

• Identification of groups of companies for corporation tax loss reliefs and gains.

• Trading loss reliefs for both companies and sole traders.

In section B the questions will be like those of section A, but there will be a longer scenario to deal with. This means a slightly different exam skill is necessary as you have more information to work through and each OTQ will require you to find the relevant information or data in

Continued on page 30

that scenario. It is not a difficult skill, but you must practise an extensive range of section B questions from the practice and revision kit before attempting the real exam.

In section C you will face the longer, constructive response questions with scenarios and much more open requirements. Your answers will need to show not just sound technical knowledge, but also the application of that knowledge to the question you have been asked.

At least 50% of your revision time should be spent answering the section C questions in the practice and revision kit to build confidence and speed in a way that will also maximise marks.

1. Remember to learn your income tax and corporation tax pro formas.

2. Calculations which require no more than two or three entries into your calculator can be included on the face of your pro formas (e.g. time apportioning a salary). Calculations which are more complex (e.g. company car benefits) need separate workings which are properly referenced (W1, W2 etc) and have a heading. Use the cell formulae to link the workings answer into your pro forma – then if you change the working the main body will be automatically update.

3. Attempt the narrative parts of the requirement – aim for as many sentences as there are marks with each sentence containing something technical. Keep your paragraphs to no more than 3 sentences long.

4. Your exam will be in the CBE software and the spreadsheets have some differences to the software you may be accustomed to, so it is crucial you practice using the CBE software, especially for section C type questions.

5. Remember you cannot insert rows into the CBE spreadsheets. So, leave plenty of space on the page (especially when setting up proformas). You may need to add something in and you can always go back and move workings up the page. Show workings down the page, rather than across the page as it makes them easier to mark. Well – spaced answers are also easier to mark – and you always want to keep the marker happy. We know that the two longest questions will focus on income tax and corporation tax. These are likely to include the following:

• Employment benefits.

• Property income.

• Relief for pension contributions.

• Adjustments to profit to arrive at trading income for both companies and sole traders – in past sittings we have seen a number of questions whereby you have to correct errors in computations included in the scenario.

• Capital allowance computations. Finally, remember the pass mark is 50% so you don’t need to be perfect. If you don’t know something have a guess and move on. Sometimes you have to do that in order to get follow through marks in section C questions. If you make a mistake, but then use that incorrect

HEALTH WARNING

and the other preparation of financial statements.

• One question is likely to be in the context of a single company and one in the context of a group, so you could be faced with a single company interpretation and a groups preparation or vice versa.

• Accounts preparation questions may include extracts or standalone calculations or full statements. Students expect statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income and statement of financial position to be asked, but don't forget about the statement of changes in equity and the statement of cash flows too.

• Both questions will require knowledge from other areas of the syllabus, particularly the accounts preparation question which will have a range of adjustments covering various areas.

• A single entity accounts preparation question from a trail balance or restatement of given financial statements with common adjustments being for depreciation, revaluation and current/deferred tax (including deferred tax on revaluations) plus a mixture of adjustments on other syllabus areas .e.g. leases, substance over form issues, financial instruments (change in fair value or amortised cost), share issues, government grants, inventory valuation, and revenue recognition.

figure later in a subsequent calculation, then that’s fine – you can only lose the mark once. In sections A and B never leave an OTQ unanswered – have a guess if you don’t know the answer. It might be right!

Financial Reporting FR

Section A:

• 15 two-mark OTQs on a wide range of topics including several on consolidation and interpretation of financial statements that will be covered in detail in section C.

• Expect a few questions on non-core areas (e.g. inflation, specialised entities).

• Read the scenario, requirement and answer options carefully and ensure you capture the correct information from the scenario to answer the requirement.

• Don’t leave any questions unanswered – there is no harm in guessing if you are unsure of the correct answer.

Section B (case questions):

• Three separate scenarios with five OTQs on each scenario; each question is worth 2 marks.

• Each scenario could be a mix of topic areas (for example revenue and receivables are often related, as are PPE and leases) or focused on one topic and will usually consist of two/three calculations and two/three narratives.

• Questions are not dependant on each other and can be answered in any order.

Section C (constructed response questions):

• Two 20-mark questions, one covering interpretations of financial statements

• Group accounts preparation questions will provide the separate financial statements (or extracts thereof) of the parent and relevant subsidiary(ies) and associate. Candidates should be prepared to set out the standard workings for goodwill, non-controlling interests, movements in net assets, retained earnings as those are commonly examined. Other common adjustments are intragroup sales of goods, intragroup sales of assets, dividends and fair value adjustments.

• ACCA has clarified in the 2022-23 syllabus that a consolidation accounts preparation question could include up to two subsidiaries and one associate (previously it was one subsidiary and one associate) which allows additional scope for examining the disposal of a subsidiary (including as a discontinued operation). Candidates should be prepared for such a question from September 2022 onwards.

• Candidates continue to find the interpretations question challenging. In both single entity and group interpretation questions, candidates must avoid making generic statements about the movement in ratios and instead focus on using the information in the question to, for example: identify key changes in the period (e.g. change in sales mix, closed down an operation, purchased a new subsidiary); identify transactions that would cause inconsistencies between periods or between balances (e.g. revaluation of assets for the first time, particularly if the revaluation was at the end of the period); identify any changes in accounting policies or estimates, or classification (e.g. one company presents expenses as part of cost of sales whereas

These tips should only be used in conjunction with proper study. We cannot guarantee that these topics will appear in the actual exam as we have not seen the exam papers. Examiners are not predictable so it is vital that all core syllabus areas are revised fully.

another presents as part of administrative expenses).

• ACCA has clarified wording in the 2022-23 syllabus to emphasise the importance of the statement of cash flows in interpreting financial statements. Candidates should be prepared for such a question from September 2022 onwards.

Audit & Assurance AA

In section A there will be three mini-case style scenarios, each with five 2-mark questions based on the scenario (30 in total). Each minicase question will test single topic areas of the syllabus and so will test syllabus areas A, B, C, D or E. Expect questions in section A to focus on areas A and E.

All three questions (one 30-mark and two 20-mark questions) in section B will be broken down into sub requirements and be scenario based. The majority of marks in each question will test syllabus areas B, C and/or D. Areas expected to be tested in questions 16 to 18 include:

• Audit planning.

• Audit risk (identification and explanation of audit risks from a scenario and explanation of the auditor’s response to each risk).

• Internal audit.

• Internal controls (identification and explanation of deficiencies in internal control and the recommendation of suitable internal controls or description of tests of

controls).

• Audit procedures (substantive procedures & tests of controls).

General advice: Where questions are based on a scenario it is essential that you use the information in the scenario to score the identification marks and then develop this to score the explanation marks.

The exam provides a table for you to complete your answer. For example, audit risk questions will have a table with two columns, one for ‘audit risk’ and one for ‘auditor’s response’ with each properly explained point being worth one mark. Using this tabular approach encourages you to answer both parts of the question, therefore maximising your marks.

Pay attention to the verbs used in question requirements as these indicate the number of marks available. For example, the verb “explain” requires a sentence and will score one mark if properly explained whereas the verb “list” simply requires you to list out information with no further explanation and this will score 0.5 mark per point.

Finally, it is essential you read the Examiner’s Reports which are issued twice a year after the June and December exam sittings. These are an invaluable source of advice and provide a sample section A OTQ case style question as well as three constructed response questions from the March/June and September/ December sittings. Not only do they provide the

example questions but these are accompanied by a commentary from the examining team which gives guidance on interpreting the question requirements and common mistakes/ areas of weakness noted during the marking process. These reports can be found on the ACCA website: https://www.accaglobal.com/ uk/en/student/exam-support-resources/ fundamentals-exams-study-resources/f8/ examiners-reports1.htm

Financial Management FM

Questions in section A will often be knowledge based (testing your knowledge of key technical terms), and will balance out the questions in section B and C of the exam to make sure that all aspects of the syllabus are examined.

It is also likely that a good number of these questions will test your understanding of financial management and objectives (ratio analysis, the concept of shareholder wealth) as well as the economic environment and financial institutions topics (financial intermediation, fiscal and monetary policies).

Each section B case-study will be broken down into three 10-mark mini case studies. The case study will then be broken down into 5 separate 2-mark MCQs (so 15 questions in total). Areas expected to be commonly tested in this section are working capital management (e.g. the operating cycle, the impact of a change in credit period or accepting a factor’s

Continued on page 32

offer), business or security valuations (e.g. methods of valuation), and financial risk management (currency risk and interest rate risk).

Section C’s two 20-mark questions will be broken down into sub requirements and be scenario based. These two questions will focus mainly on syllabus sections C, D and E. Section C is working capital management, section D is investment appraisal and section E is business finance. Whichever of these three topics does not feature in section C is likely to appear in section B of the exam.

Questions from syllabus section C (working capital management) are likely to be broad ranging so a good broad knowledge of this syllabus section is important. Candidates are sometimes exposed by a weak understanding of working capital finance.

Questions from section D (investment appraisal) are likely to feature NPV with inflation and tax, however it is important to also be able to answer questions that include risk, leasing, asset replacement and capital rationing. Section E (business finance) questions often either feature an evaluation of financing options (interest coverage and gearing ratios are likely to be important here) or calculation and analysis of a company's cost of capital.

Strategic Business Reporting SBR

It is important that you read the examiner's approach article on the ACCA website. ACCA has also published several exam technique and technical articles that you should read as part of your exam preparation. These are available in the exam technique section of the SBR exam support resources section of the ACCA website www.accaglobal.com

If you are sitting the CBE, you should make every effort to attempt some questions using the ACCA Practice Platform. There are resources here relating to the CBE that you should access.

The exam section A will be 2 questions, worth 50 marks in total – both are compulsory.

Question 1 - 30 marks:

• Q1 will be based on group accounting. Be aware that this question may test any aspect of group accounting, including consolidated statements of cash flows, overseas subsidiaries and associates and JVs.

• Make sure you provide calculations if these are asked for. A recent examiner's report stated that some candidates are not attempting the required calculations and

therefore struggling to gain a pass mark on this question.

• To score well, you need to do the calculations and, where asked explain the principles underlying the calculations you have performed. If a question simply asks for a calculation, you do not need to provide an explanation, unless this is specifically indicated in the requirement.

• Time-keeping is key to passing this question. A recent examiner report identified that students were spending too long writing detailed answers to the first parts of question 1 and then not attempting the later parts. The marker cannot award more than the allocated number of marks for each part of the question, so to maximise your marks, you must make sure you attempt each part of the question. Make sure you work out the time you have available for each question, and for each part of the question and then stick to it.

Question 2 - 20 marks, including two professional marks:

• Q2 will cover the reporting and ethical implications in a given scenario. Make sure you consider any threats to the fundamental principles of ACCA's Code of Ethics and Conduct in your answer.

• Two professional marks are available in this question and going forward the examiner has stated that the question will make it clear what these marks will be awarded for.

Section B will be two questions, worth 25 marks each:

• Section B can deal with any area of the syllabus and may be based on a short scenario, a case study with several parts, or an essay.

• Section B will always include a question or part-question involving the analysis or appraisal of information from the perspective of a stakeholder. Make sure you have a go at answering this question. There is no 'right' answer at this level – marks will be awarded for sensible points that have been applied to the scenario.

• There are two professional marks available for the question that covers the stakeholder's perspective. To gain these marks, you must discuss the issue from the perspective of the stakeholder – e.g. if asked for the investor's perspective, you must answer from the investor's perspective!

• Current issues are usually examined in section B as a part of a question (not a full question). However, current issues could

be examined in either section A or section B of the exam. A question on current issues may require the application of existing accounting standards to a current accounting issue – for example, accounting for cryptocurrency, accounting for the effects of a natural disaster.

General advice: Make sure you plan your time at the beginning of the exam (and stick to it) to ensure you don't over-run on a particular question – it is 1.95 minutes per mark (or 1.8 minutes per mark if you allocate 15 minutes to reading the paper).

Generally, you will be awarded 1 mark for each relevant well-explained point in the SBR exam. Make sure you make enough points for the marks available – for example, if the requirement is worth 8 marks, you should aim to make 8 relevant, well-explained points.

It will be easier for the marker to award you marks if you lay out your answers clearly, leaving space between your points. You can use the spreadsheet (and spreadsheet functionality) to do calculations. If you do use the spreadsheet, make sure you cross reference to any narrative discussion, if appropriate.

Some requirements state that you do not need to refer to an exhibit to answer that particular requirement. Where this is the case, then it is recommended that you follow that advice and stick to general discussion, rather than referring to the scenario.

Use the 'cut' and 'paste' tools wisely – e.g. do not cut and paste into your answer large sections of the exhibits as the examiner has stated in a recent examiner's report that this will be obvious to the marker, and will gain no marks. If you wish to use cut and paste, the examiner recommends just copying and pasting relevant parts of sentences and then adding your own comments.

Strategic Business Leader SBL

As with all other ACCA current exams SBL is examined as a closed book examination. Unlike the other Strategic Professional level exams which are 3 hours and 15 minutes in duration, the SBL exam ‘lasts’ 4 hours. The exam builds upon the knowledge that you gained at the ‘Applied Knowledge’ and ‘Applied Skills’ levels. However, it does also have its own distinct syllabus content. That all changes in September 2023 with the introduction of a pre-seen! For the March and June exams you will not be issued with any pre-seen information in advance of sitting your exam as everything you will require will be made available to you within the examination itself. The SBL exam will focus on one main organisation, and all of

the question requirements will relate to this organisation. You may have to take on a variety of roles which may require you to adopt an internal or external perspective when answering questions. You will also be required to respond to a variety of people within the organisation. All of the questions in the exam are compulsory. The SBL exam will consist of 80 technical marks and 20 Professional Skills marks.

Question requirements in the exam will assess and link several subject areas from across the syllabus, and these will test your ability to construct appropriate responses and to carry out numerical analysis.

General advice: While 4 hours (240 minutes) can sound like a lot of time in which to attempt the exam, it is crucial not to become complacent in how you use this time.

ACCA recommend spending around 40 minutes reading, planning and interpreting the requirements and the information/exhibits provided. Based on this estimation when planning the amount of time you will spend on each requirement you should look to allocate 2.5 minutes per mark on offer. This time allocation is based on the fact that the exam is 240 minutes in duration, once the 40 minutes reading time is deducted this gives 200 minutes to type up your answer. There are 80 technical marks on offer so by dividing the 200 minutes by the 80 technical marks we derive 2.5 minutes per mark. You can earn the 20 Professional Skills marks by virtue of attempting the 80 technical marks on offer.

It is important to note that you can spend longer than the recommended 40 minutes reading and planning your answer. If you do choose to spend longer on this task then you will need to bear this in mind when you come to writing your answers. Alternatively, you may prefer to work on the basis of 2 minutes per mark (being 200 minutes divided by 100 marks).

Reading question requirements: The SBL exam will contain all of the information that you will require to answer the question requirements set. This information will be presented in a series of exhibits. To help you locate the exhibits most relevant to answering a specific question it is therefore important that you take the time to read the question requirements set carefully as this should help to direct you. Furthermore, reading the question requirements carefully is important as this will indicate the role and the perspective from which you are expected to answer the question. Identifying this early on is important as it will drive how you construct your answer.

Planning your answer: Clearly, if you have gone to the trouble of preparing an answer plan it is important that you use it when writing up your answer. To get the most from your answer plan it is therefore important that you include as much detail as you think will be helpful when the time comes to write up your answer. When planning your work it is important to bear in mind the ACCA’s guide of using 40 minutes for reading and planning. As mentioned earlier you need to remember that some question requirements may require you to conduct some numerical analysis. For example, you may be asked to analyse the performance of

the organisation featured in the exam. It is important that you plan the numerical analysis that you intend to perform to ensure that you only focus on performing those calculations that are going to support your answer and provide you with something to talk about. Producing lots and lots of unnecessary calculations for the sake of it will only serve to waste your time in the exam.

Using computer software: Ensure you practise timed exam questions using the ACCA CBE software. You need to be comfortable reading and highlighting the exhibits on the screen as well as taking notes in the scratch pad. It will be easier if you plan your ideas and set up your answer structure in the software, in the form of headings. The exam software comprises a word processor, a spreadsheet and some presentation software. The word processor will be used for answering the majority of the tasks. Any calculations you perform should be in an appendix in the spreadsheet software. Tasks requesting slides should be completed in the presentation software.

Understanding the syllabus and the appropriate use of theoretical models in the exam: To stand the best chance of passing the SBL exam, you will need to have a good understanding of the entire syllabus. However, it is important to remember that unlike other exams that you may have sat in the past, questions in the SBL exam will not ask you to simply regurgitate your knowledge of a particular topic or theoretical model. Requirements will test your ability to apply your understanding of the subjects covered in the SBL syllabus in the context of the question scenario. Furthermore, requirements will not specifically ask you to use a particular model in answering the question. Whether to use a theoretical model when constructing your answer will be a matter of judgement that you will need to weigh up in light of the information presented to you in the exam. Attempting plenty of questions in the lead up to your exam is the most effective way of developing your judgement in this area.

Understanding the difference between technical marks and Professional Skill marks: Technical marks relate to the knowledge (which

we discussed in the previous section), there are 80 technical marks on offer in the exam. By contrast the 20 Professional Skills marks are awarded for displaying the following skills and behaviours:

• Communication.

• Commercial acumen.

• Analysis.

• Scepticism.

• Evaluation.

Every Professional Skill will be tested in every SBL exam sitting. The Professional Skill being tested will be specified under each question requirement. As you prepare to attempt the exam it is crucial that you take the time to attempt as many practice questions as you can. To increase your chances of exam success you need to ensure that you take sufficient time to develop your understanding of the Professional Skills.

Advanced Performance Management APM

Q1 section A:

Q1 of the APM exam will focus on a range of issues from syllabus section A (strategic planning and control), section B (performance measurement systems and design) and section C (strategic performance measurement).

Section A (50 marks) contains one compulsory question broken down into sub requirements. You will often be required to link a business’s mission to its performance objectives using the concept of CSFs and KPIs. You may well also have to critique and recommend improvements to performance reports and the balanced scorecard and/or information systems could well be tested in this context.

The assessment of performance is also likely to be tested and this could easily include benchmarking as a theme. Financial performance measures (ROCE/RI/EVA etc) are also likely to be commonly examined in this context but don't neglect non-financial issues from syllabus section C such as quality management, value for management and reward systems.

Q2-3 section B:

ACCA have said that one of the section B questions will come from syllabus section D (performance evaluation). This means you have to have sound knowledge of the balance scorecard, building block and performance pyramid models. In addition you will also need to have a good working knowledge of activity based management (ABM) and value based management (VBM).

The other question can be sourced from a variety of syllabus areas including quality management, information reporting (e.g. big data, lean information), HR frameworks (e.g. reward & appraisal systems), transfer pricing and environmental management accounting. General advice: APM is primarily a skills-based exam which tests the ability to apply knowledge to practical problems. This is now even more important as 20% of the marks are awarded for professional skills. Make sure you aware what these skills are and that you are confident in your ability to integrate these into your answer

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to the technical requirements of a question. However, application of knowledge is only possible if you have a good range of technical skills in place. So, even though APM is not about reciting technical knowledge, it is absolutely vital that candidates ensure that they have a good broad knowledge of core technical areas.

Advanced Taxation ATX (UK)

The exam will comprise of two compulsory questions within section A which will both be of a case study style. The first question will be 35-marks in length and the second will be for 25-marks. One of these questions will focus on personal tax issues and the other will focus on corporate tax issues. In Q1 there will be four professional skills marks, and in section A there will be five marks on ethics.

Section B will comprise of two compulsory 20-mark questions. These will be in a more succinct, note form style.

The exam will test candidates’ ability to analyse and evaluate the tax implications of various situations, numerical calculations will only be required to assist in producing an answer and no purely numerical questions will be set.

Topics/scenarios we would expect to see are:

• Personal income tax scenarios which could involve: investing in a pension; investing in EIS, SEIS or VCTs, share schemes; employment income possibly with termination payments; a personal service company; property income or a takeover.

• Unincorporated business – particularly including loss reliefs, partnerships or basis period rules.

• A question focussing on overseas issuesthis could be income tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax or a corporate scenario.

• Capital gains tax versus inheritance tax including availability of reliefs.

• Corporate scenarios – likely to focus in more depth on intangibles; research and development; losses; corporate groups or consortia.

• Special corporate scenarios such as liquidation; purchase of own shares; close or investment companies.

• A business transformation scenario question such as selling a sole trade business, incorporation, or, in a corporate context, the sale of shares versus the sale of trade and assets.

• Other common types of question/calculation to expect are:

• Reviewing a pre-prepared computation to spot, explain and correct errors.

• Calculations such as “tax saved through an action”, “after-tax proceeds”, “the value of a post-tax inheritance”, “net spendable income” or the “net of tax cost of something”.

Don’t forget that across the scenarios you can expect to see VAT marks available. Partial exemption, land & buildings, transfer of going concern, capital goods scheme, overseas VAT and registration/group registration tend to be frequently examined.

There will also likely be a couple of marks

for stamp duty points if you remember to think about it in your planning!

Finally, don’t forget your basic administration points are also likely to be examined - when do we need to pay tax, when do we file a return and what if either of those are late?

Advanced Audit & Assurance AAA

The most recent AAA exams have contained no real surprises, although you should be prepared for the look and feel of the embedded email and supporting exhibits and the split of both technical and professional skills marks.

Section A will comprise a case study, worth 50 marks, split into 40 technical marks and 10 professional skills marks, and will be set at the planning stage of the audit, for a single company, a group of companies or potentially several audit clients.

Candidates will be provided with detailed information, which will vary between examinations, but is likely to include extracts of financial information, strategic, operational and other relevant information for a client, as well as extracts from audit working papers, which could include the results of analytical procedures. The date will be set as 1 July 20X5.

Candidates will be required to address a range of requirements, from syllabus sections A, B, C and D thereby tackling a real-world situation where candidates may have to address a range of issues simultaneously in relation to planning, risk assessment, evidence gathering and ethical and professional considerations.

Ten professional marks will be available in section A and will be awarded based on the demonstration of professional skill within a candidate’s answer, including communication, analysis and evaluation, professional scepticism and judgement and commercial acumen.

Section B will contain two compulsory 25-mark questions, with each being predominately based around a short scenario. The marks will be split into 20 technical marks and five professional skills marks. There are no optional questions in AAA.

One question will always test syllabus section E, and candidates should therefore always be prepared to answer a question relating to completion, review and reporting. There are a number of formats this question could adopt, including, but not limited to, matters to be considered and evidence expected to be on file, a going concern assessment, the impact of subsequent events, evaluating identified misstatements and any corresponding effects on the auditor’s report. Candidates may also be asked to critique an auditor’s report or a report which is to be provided to management or those charged with governance.

The second section B question can be drawn from any other part of the syllabus, including sections A, B, C, D and F. Syllabus section G on current issues is unlikely to form the basis of a question on its own, but instead will be incorporated into the Case Study or either of the section B questions depending on question content and the topical issues affecting the profession at the time of sitting the exam.

Five professional marks will be available in each Section B question for demonstrating professional skill in analysis and evaluation

plus at least one of professional scepticism and judgement and commercial acumen.

General advice: This subject often tests topical issues which have been covered by the examining team’s technical articles (for example, Quality management in September 2022 and the impact of data analytics in September/December 2020). Content on the CBE and how to improve your CBE technique can be found on the website. Note that for the syllabus examinable from September 2022, as well as changes to audit quality, there has also been an increased focus on sustainability reporting. All of the examining team's technical articles can be found online, including two recent articles on quality management plus another two articles that discuss recent developments in social, environmental and sustainability reporting.

Advanced Financial Management AFM

All AFM exams will have questions which have a focus on section B of the syllabus (advanced investment appraisal) and section E (treasury and advanced risk management techniques). These syllabus areas are therefore high priority areas for your revision.

Q1 section A:

You can expect section A questions to cover at least two different syllabus areas. This emphasises the importance of having a good broad knowledge of the syllabus and not targeting your final exam revision on a small number of syllabus areas.

Section A questions are often based on core syllabus areas such as: project appraisal (domestic or overseas), business valuations and business/financial reorganisations; these areas often include cost of capital calculations.

Risk management may also feature in a number of different ways e.g. value at risk, real options, interest rate or current hedging, and risk management (e.g. mapping).

Q2-3 section B:

Areas to be tested:

• Risk management (currency or interest rate) including the functions and structure of a treasury department.

• Dividend policy and general financing issues.

• Real options including limitations of approach.

• Business reorganisation.

General advice: The examining team have stressed that exams are designed to make question spotting extremely difficult for this paper, so it is important to have a broad understanding of the key aspects of each syllabus area.

Don't over-emphasise numerical analysis in your final revision – remember that this paper is not a maths exam and, in all exam questions the examiner is interested in your ability to communicate well and to give good management advice that relates to the scenario in the question. This is now even more important as 20% of the marks are awarded for professional skills. Make sure you aware what these skills are and that you are confident in your ability to integrate these into your answer to the technical requirements of a question.

Intangible assets for companies simplified

In this month’s article in his ‘Keep It Simple’ series, Neil Da Costa tackles a topic that students find challenging – intangible assets for companies

There are four main aspects to this subject: patents and trademarks; goodwill; capital gains; and rollover relief.

Patents and copyrights

The patents and trademarks relate to the company’s trading activity, so HMRC allow the tax treatment to follow the accounting treatment. This means that the amortisation (depreciation) is an allowable expense in computing taxable profits. Alternatively, the company can make an election to claim a writing down allowance of 4% straight line each year. This is beneficial if the amortisation is less than 4% a year.

Simple example: Patent Plc

Patent Plc has been providing 8% amortisation on its patents that all relate the company’s trade.

Patent Plc can make an election within two years from the end of the accounting period in which the asset is acquired to claim a 4% WDA each year.

Patent Plc buys a patent for £100,000. Should Patent Plc make the election to claim the 4% WDA?

Solution to Patent Plc

Patent Plc will provide amortisation of £100,000 x 8% = £8,000 which is an allowable expense for tax purposes.

Alternatively, Patent Plc can make an election to claim the WDA of £100,000 x 4% = £4,000 instead of the £8,000 which is not beneficial so Patent Plc should not make the 4% election.

Goodwill

Generally, any amortisation/ impairment of goodwill is disallowed in computing taxable profits. In addition, the company is not permitted to claim the 4% WDA on goodwill.

Capital gains or losses on intangible assets including goodwill

If the company makes a capital gain on an intangible asset, it is

treated as extra trading profits.

On the other hand, if a capital loss arises, it is treated as an expense for non-trading loan relationships and increases the deficit arising.

The NTLR deficit is treated in a similar manner to a trading loss and can be offset against total profits in the current year, carried back against NTLR income in the previous 12 months or carried forward against future total profits to get tax relief in the future.

Rollover Relief

If a company makes a gain on an intangible asset and reinvests in a replacement intangible within one year before to three years after the disposal of the original asset, then rollover relief can be claimed.

If all the sale proceeds are reinvested, then the full amount can be postponed.

This will result in the trading profits being deferred as gains on intangibles are treated as extra trading profits.

The amount deferred is reduced by the deduction already claimed from trading profits.

Simple example: Patent Plc (all sale proceeds reinvested)

Patent Plc has been providing 8% amortisation on its patents which all relate the company’s trade.

Patent Plc buys a patent for £100,000 and claims the 8% amortisation so the tax written down value (TWDV) is £92,000.

Patent Plc sells the patent for £120,000 and buys a new patent for £150,000

Solution to Patent Plc (all sale proceeds reinvested)

The gain on the old patent is computed based on the difference between the sale proceeds and the TWDV (£120,000 - £92,000) = £28,000.

The amount deferred will be based on the difference between the sale proceeds and the original cost (£120,000 - £100,000) = £20,000.

This £20,000 will be deducted from the cost of the new patent to reduce the base cost to £150,000 - £20,000 = £130,000.

£8,000 cannot be deferred because Patent Plc has already claimed this as a deduction from its trading profits so will be extra taxable trading profits when the original patent is sold.

Simple example: Patent Plc (partial sale proceeds reinvested) Patent Plc has been providing 8% amortisation on its patents which all relate the company’s trade. Patent Plc buys a patent for £100,000 and claims the 8% amortisation so the tax written down value (TWDV) is £92,000.

Patent Plc sells the patent for £120,000 and buys a new patent for just £110,000

Solution to Patent Plc (partial sale proceeds reinvested)

The gain on the old patent is computed based on the difference between the sale proceeds and the TWDV (£120,000 - £92,000) = £28,000.

The amount deferred will be based on the difference between the sale proceeds and the original cost (£120,000 - £100,000) = £20,000.

This £20,000 is now reduced by the sale proceeds not reinvested of £10,000 which means that just £10,000 will be deferred. This will be deducted from the cost of the new patent to reduce the base cost to £110,000 - £10,000 = £100,000.

In addition to the £8,000 deduction from trading profits already claimed, £10,000 cannot be deferred as these sale proceeds were retained by the company and not reinvested so the total extra trading profits will be (£8,000 + £10,000) = £18,000.

• Neil Da Costa is a Senior Tax Lecturer with Kaplan in London. He is the author of Advanced Tax Condensed, which summarises the entire syllabus using memory joggers

Celebrating National Apprenticeship Week

Apprentices are making a real difference to public sector finances, says Sarah Shreeves

One of CIPFA’s core aims is to nurture and inspire a new generation of public finance and counter fraud professionals. We are an approved and established apprenticeship training provider and help people to begin a career focused on the management, assurance and protection of public money. To understand more about the process of apprenticeships, we spoke to two CIPFA apprentices about their experiences.

Suman Chaudhary is currently taking part in the CIPFA Counter Fraud Investigator Apprenticeship. She has a degree in physiotherapy and came to the public sector and fraud investigation after moving to the UK from India with her husband. Her career began in 2018 in an administrative role at Reigate and Banstead Borough Council and she is currently

an intelligence officer in the fraud and financial investigations team.

Chaudhary’s interest in counter fraud began when she worked as an associate clinical investigator at a US-based multinational company. She loved the challenges that came along with that role, and taking up her first job at Reigate and Banstead marked her entry into the public sector.

The CIPFA Counter Fraud Investigator Apprenticeship has provided Chaudhary with invaluable knowledge that will help her progress her career. “It’s been very good for me to be on this apprenticeship – it has provided me with that clear, in-depth knowledge on UK law and legislation that I need,” she said.

Rachel Pizzey, another CIPFA apprentice, is currently in the final year of her CIPFA Level

7 Accountancy Professional Apprenticeship, having begun her journey towards qualification to be a Chartered Public Finance Accountant in September 2020. She has been in her current role as a school budgets support officer at Gateshead Council since December 2021.

“I really enjoy the school budgets support officer role,” Pizzey said. “It's really interesting – I get to provide financial advice and support to a number of the maintained schools within Gateshead.”

Pizzey started the ACCA qualification in 2018 soon after she moved to financial management. However, she soon identified that the CIPFA qualification would be the more appropriate route for developing her career in the public sector.

“I asked if I could switch to the CIPFA Level 7 Accountancy Professional Apprenticeship, which fortunately was agreed.” she explains. “The CIPFA apprenticeship is setting me up for my future career by providing me with the specific knowledge and skills that I need to be a public finance manager.”

Becoming an apprentice is a fantastic way to progress your career and get qualified at the same time. CIPFA has two intakes a year for the CIPFA Counter Fraud Investigator Apprenticeship and the CIPFA Level 7 Accountancy Professional Apprenticeship.

To learn more about CIPFA apprenticeships visit CIPFA’s website.

• Sarah Shreeves, Head of Training Services, CIPFA

Rachel Pizzy

Suman Chaudhary

I have a first class degree, so why have I failed my professional exams?

Sarah Boby explains the differences between university and professional exams, and outlines what you need to do to pass the latter

Ihave a first class degree in economics, so when it came to studying for the discursive papers for my CIMA exams I was pretty confident that I could write well.

I did a practice question as part of a revision course and asked my tutor to review it for me. I had approached it just like a university essay; a detailed introduction covering a full description of the theoretical model, along with a brief comparison with other models to provide an allround demonstration of my subject knowledge – I was pretty pleased with it. It was returned to me with huge chunks of writing crossed out, marked up with ‘irrelevant’ and ‘waffle’.

I was angry and shocked – how could this be so wrong when this way of writing had got me a really good degree? The discussion that followed highlighted some key differences between academic writing and that required for professional exam success: “Use the theory as glasses to view the problem with” was the advice I was given – words which stuck in my mind ever since. Along with the seemingly obvious “answer the question you have been asked, not the one you wanted to be asked”.

So, what is it that makes professional exams so different from university assessments?

Time pressure

Professional exams are frequently very timepressured; it’s not just about what you know but assess if you can assimilate that knowledge and structure a clear response in a limited period

of time.

One of the most common reasons for a marginal fail in professional exams is poor time-management; running out of time before the paper has been completed. It is essential that you stick to the exam time allocation for every question on the paper, and do not waste precious time writing things that are not specifically going to earn you marks (in other words, cut the waffle!).

Application

Many university exams are based around theoretical concepts that you are expected to be able to describe, compare and evaluate. Professional exams are focused on the practical application of your knowledge to a given business scenario. This application is easier to do if you are working in an accounting or finance type role, as you will have been able to see how the theories you learn in your studies actually appear in the workplace.

Precise requirements

University assessments are often written with loose and open requirements. This can mean that you may have not become familiar with the exact meaning of verbs used in questions. Professional exam syllabi and requirements use very precise verbs with specific meanings, and these can make a huge difference to what you need to do. For example, a question that requires you to ‘evaluate’ a technique requires coverage of the

advantages and disadvantages of the technique, whereas one requiring you to ‘explain’ is merely looking for a description of how it works. You need to be answering exactly the question that has been asked of you or there will be no way you can get good marks!

Predictability

There can be more predictability of exam questions at university – you are often guided to look at seminars or past papers, and similar questions will appear in the exams. This doesn’t happen in professional exams as they are not written by the people teaching you, or writing your study texts. Although you may see questions of a similar style in past papers you will definitely not find a question repeated in a subsequent exam.

Pass mark

And don’t forget the numerical aspect; you need 50% to pass a professional exam, unlike most university undergraduate modules where 40% is the pass mark. That 10% can make all the difference in your weaker subjects!

What can be done to aid the transition from university to professional exams?

• Answer exactly the question that has been asked of you – if it’s not asked for in the requirements, then don’t include it in your answer.

• Practice past exam questions to the exam time allocation and get used to the time-pressure.

• Write out full answers to the discursive elements of past questions to get practice at applying your points to a given business scenario.

• Work with a professional tuition provider who specialises in the exams that you are sitting –their advice will be invaluable to you.

• Don’t underestimate the work required –professional exams are hard and require a lot of practice!

• Sarah Boby, Senior Lecturer in Accounting and Finance at De Montfort University, and former tutor at Kaplan Financial and BPP

Award-winning AAT courses and apprenticeships

CGMA Finance Leadership Programme – some Qs & As

Kevin Gormley answers some common questions about the leadership initiative AICPA & CIMA launched last year

The CGMA Finance Leadership Programme (FLP) is a competencybased digital learning initiative for those studying CIMA’s CGMA Professional Qualification. It is delivered through an online learning and assessment platform and sets out to instill the knowledge, skills and competencies necessary to proceed through the Case Study exams.

Why did CIMA develop the FLP?

The programme is the result of our engagement with candidates and employers. They expressed a desire for new learning options with greater flexibility, while ensuring that the same standards of competence are maintained.

Does the programme use the same syllabus?

Yes, it uses the exact same syllabus as the traditional route. Learning content is constantly updated alongside CIMA’s CGMA syllabus, keeping it relevant to today’s employer needs.

Do I earn the same awards?

Yes, the awards are the same on both routes. In addition, within the CGMA Finance Leadership Program, candidates also earn Digital Skills Certificates upon completion of each group of competencies.

Is it easier or less valid than the traditional route as there are no Objective Test exams?

No. Regardless of the route you choose, completing the qualification relies on the candidate passing the Case Study exams, these are regarded as the ultimate measure of competence, not the Objective Tests. The programme’s goal is to provide a viable, valid, effective and flexible alternative route to these exams.

How do you ensure quality of the learning and assessment?

There are many robust quality assurance processes and review stages to ensure that the content seen by candidates is of the highest standards. We continuously monitor content to ensure it is performing as expected, as well as providing feedback channels for students and other stakeholders.

The combination of CIMA’s direct provision of learning, formative and summative assessment, and other tuition support, such as knowledge checks and business simulation assignments, give the program its validity. The Case Study exams remain the sole determinant of competence for all candidates, irrespective of the path they take, and it would ill serve our candidates if each pathway was not equally robust and valid.

Why should I join?

Some reasons people have joined include:

• It suits their learning style – it is less formal, more bitesize and iterative.

• Flexibility of learning whenever and wherever you want.

• Different subscriptions to suit their requirements.

• Comprehensive Case Study exam review courses including pre-seen analysis, graded mock exams, webinars, live classes and all relevant notes.

• Ability to progress faster if you choose to do so.

• Access to all learning materials regardless of their entry point.

Can I transfer from the traditional pathway?

Yes. You can also move back after your subscription expires. Any progress you have made will be maintained and transferred.

If I transfer, how is my CIMA progress transitioned?

You will maintain all progress you have made. If you have passed Objective Tests, for example the P1 exam, you will receive credit for the corresponding learning and assessment. If you passed any Case Study exams, you will receive credit and will not be required to re-take them.

Can I complete more than one level and case study per year?

Yes. You can progress as far as you are able to

for the length of your subscription. For example, if you just sat a Case Study exam and are awaiting your result, you can progress to the next level. This allows candidates to maximise their subscription’s value.

What subscription package options are available?

There are two flexible packages designed with your goals and schedule in mind available in the UK:

• Skills Plus – Access to all competency areas across all levels as well as full courses concentrating on case analysis, exam techniques with graded mock exams. All registration and annual subscription fees included in price, as well as two exam credits per Case Study exam.

• Skills Premium – Everything included in the Skills Plus package with the addition of expert led live online classes for competencies and Case Study exam preparation, expert tutor support and advice from personal coaches on how to best learn and progress.

Where can I find out more and sign up?

More information can be found at cimaglobal. com/CGMAFLP

• Kevin Gormley is Senior Product Manager for the CGMA Finance Leadership Programme, AICPA & CIMA. He hosts the FLP podcast, which you can listen to at beyonddisruption. libsyn.com/flp

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Five top tips for writing a great CV

PQ’s careers guru Karen Young explains how you can sharpen up your CV and make yourself a more attractive proposition for prospective employers

Your CV is the perfect opportunity to portray your best self and stand out to a prospective employer. There is so much advice out there when it comes to writing a top CV, but hopefully my updated tips will help you demonstrate why an organisation would be lucky to have you on board.

1. Keep it short, sweet and well-structured

Your CV should be concise, typically two pages but certainly a maximum of three, as hiring managers have so many to get through. This will help you to only include relevant information that showcases your experience and skills. Ensuring your CV is presented in a clear and organised way makes it much easier to navigate. A standard layout looks like:

• Contact information – mobile and email

• Personal statement

• Relevant education and qualifications

• Relevant experience

• Key skills

• Unique qualities

• Offer to provide references

Present your experience in chorological order;

start with the most recent thing you’ve done at the top and work backwards, always tailoring it to why you are a suitable person for the position you are specifically applying for. This may sometimes mean prioritising some experience over others and moving your order of bullet points to best match the job and person profile.

2. Sprinkle job description keywords

To make it crystal clear that you will carry out the role successfully, highlight any key terms that crop up in the job description and utilise these. This allows you to frame an otherwise generic CV around the job you’re applying for. Consider what specific skills are desired – such as strong analytical skills – and if you have these skills, use this terminology to appeal to the hiring manager. By incorporating these keywords into your CV, you spell out why you’re a great match for, and that you understand the requirements of, the role.

You could also pay attention to the specific values the organisation holds, which are increasingly important to businesses today. Mention how these align with your principles, to

prove why you would make a positive addition to the team.

3. Describe your skills in practice

I would suggest having concrete examples of your skills in practice, so you can illustrate your worth. For example, simply saying you have developed resilience is not enough. Specify a time when you overcame a challenge, and the tools you learnt that will support you to react to difficulties productively in the future. Other crucial soft skills employers in the industry look for today include:

• Communication and interpersonal skills

• Ability to adopt change

• Flexibility and adaptability

• Coordinating with others

Using data-driven statements is also a good way to demonstrate your achievements. Numbers provide the employer with context and show them what you can achieve if given the opportunity. Quantifying your abilities will stand out for those who are skim reading your CV. For example, a candidate applying for the role of finance manager could use the following data-driven statement: increased sales by 10% through my effective pricing strategy.

4. Make it personal as well as professional

Use your CV as a chance to build an idea of who you are as a person and therefore what you can contribute to an organisation’s culture. It makes sense to do this initially in your opening personal statement, which should be a brief but engaging summary of you as an individual, to separate you from all the other applicants. With this being at the start of your CV, it’s a good opportunity to entice the hiring manager to read on to find out more about you. Consider what qualities are unique to you that will enable you to flourish in the role and benefit the organisation overall.

5. Highlight the work you want to do CVs are not just about where you’ve been on your career path, but where you want to go; ensure you show ambition as well as previous accomplishments. Explain what parts of your accountancy training you’ve enjoyed and make your goals known.

Having employees who are willing to learn new things is essential for organisations to truly grow and progress amidst the current skills shortages. For instance, if you know you need to brush up on your Excel skills, state your enthusiasm to upskill in this important area.

When proof-reading your CV, look out for places which show drive and vision, to convince your prospective employer of the value you will add to their organisation in the long run.

• Karen Young is a Director at Hays

Dear Karen

Ask PQ’s very own agony aunt Karen Young when you need advice from a real expert. Email your dilemma to graham@ pqmagazine.com, and he will pass on the best ones to Karen

THE DILEMMA

The organisation I work for is not diverse and inclusive, which is something I care about. Should I leave – or voice my concerns?

Creating viable businesses

How long can a business last without making changes to the way they operate?

Almost a quarter (22%) of UK CEOs believe their business will not be economically viable within a decade if they do not make significant interventions to change course, according to PwC’s 26th annual CEO Survey, published at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The survey of 4,410 CEOs in 105 countries also found that 10% of UK CEOs believe they have less than three years to make these vital changes.

Globally the picture is starker, with 39% of CEOs believing their business will not be economically viable within a decade on current

In brief

trajectories.

Currently, 40% of UK CEOs believe their company’s tech capabilities lag behind the demands of their strategic objectives, and the gap will only widen without urgent action. Consequently, 86% of UK CEOs are automating processes and systems, while 77% are deploying technology and 74% are upskilling their company’s workforce in priority areas.

Kevin Ellis (pictured), Chairman and Senior Partner, PwC UK, said: “Businesses have already undergone massive change this

decade, with hybrid working and cloud computing among the big shifts. But this is the tip of the iceberg – many CEOs believe their current business models are unsustainable and this means more change ahead.

“This isn’t about tinkering but fundamental changes requiring big investment in people, skills and technology. It’s positive businesses are focused on making the changes needed, despite challenges including inflation and skills shortages which could be overwhelming.”

KAREN’S RESPONSE

Now widely referred to as DE&I (diversity, equity and inclusion), working in an environment where everyone is welcome and has equal opportunities to succeed should be a given, but the reality is that some organisations can still make significant improvements in this area.

The good news is, you’re not alone in caring; 68% of accountancy and finance professionals consider an organisation’s ability to demonstrate a diverse and inclusive culture as important to them when assessing a new role.

I suggest you arrange a meeting with your employer to discuss how you feel. Come prepared with the reasons why a diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace is so important not only to align with your principles, but to enhance your career.

Hopefully, your employer responds by acknowledging your concerns but be prepared to step up and be able to recommend some positive actions they could take. If your employer consciously sets out to attract and retain talent from a range of backgrounds, they will begin to build a diverse workforce which gives people the opportunities they deserve and ultimately benefits the organisation as a whole.

If you feel your concerns are not taken seriously, then don’t be afraid to look at other organisations and consider relocating to a company that values the same things as you do.

• Karen Young is a director at Hays. She is passionate about helping people to find the right job and companies the right person

Chief leaves FRC to head HS2 project

The head of the Financial Reporting Council, Sir Jon Thompson, is moving to pastures new. He has handed in his notice to leave the accountancy watchdog with immediate effect, and will be taking up the role of HS2 chair.

Thompson will be standing down as CEO at the end of his six months’ notice period and will be working on a part-time basis.

Sarah Rapson has been appointed on an interim basis as Deputy CEO to support Thompson and the board during this period.

How’s your work ethic?

Billionaire entrepreneur, Sir James Dyson, believes that the government’s failure to get workers

back to the office after Covid has badly damaged the UK’s self-belief and work ethic. He told the Daily Telegraph that working away from the workplace puts no weight on the importance of face-to-face collaboration, shared culture, mental health, productivity and output. He is also worried about the training of new and young employees which is fundamental to the success of businesses and employees alike.

In the process he said ministers have created invidious divisions in the workforce with unforeseen social and labour relation consequences.

Skills gap widens

New polling commissioned by AICPA &

CIMA shows that the UK workforce does not have the skills the country’s small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) need to survive and thrive, and that the situation is deteriorating. It also indicates that there is a significant gap between the skills employers are looking for and the skills employees think will increase their productivity.

The research, conducted by Opinium, found that 82% of SME employers have identified skills gaps within their organisation in the past 12 months. When this question was last polled in 2020 the figure was 65%, so the skills gap has become significantly worse in that period.

The PQ Book Club: books you should read

Highly Discriminating: Why the City isn’t fair and divesity doesn’t work by Louise Ashley (Bristol University Press £19.99)

The question Louise Ashley is trying to answer here is why does the City of London, despite an apparent commitment to recruitment and progression based on objective merit within its hiring practices, continue to reproduce the status quo?

Among those employers Ashley is also including the Big 4 accountancy firms, too. She provides a great, very brief history of the City of London, with barrow boys, bureaucrats and the Big Bang. There is also

a bit on the whole ‘myth of merit’ that helps to justify the large rewards on offer. Looking at the recruitment process, she sees many City employers going back to the same old set of universities (Russell Group) and insisting on at least a 2.1. But as one recruiter admitted: “It was typically felt that unless you had a 2:1, you wouldn’t be intellectually or academically robust in a profession or in an investment banking arena to learn and develop and have the strength of rigour academically to progress in that environment. In reality I’m not sure that was ever proven to be the case, so in HR I felt it was a tool to just narrow down the

numbers. We did have some people with 2:2s – there was no difference in their performance.”

It has meant that despite accountancy firms emphasising on building and communicating a unique brand, accountants and consultants at competitor firms seemed increasing alike.

PQ rating: 5/5 As one reviewer says, this is surely destined to be a landmark text. With razorsharp precision, Ashley cuts through the glossy corporate promise of ‘diversity’ to reveal how the City both generates and profits from profound class inequalities.

Manchester City charged again

The Premier League is claiming Manchester City broke financial rules between 2009 and 2018, and it now faces sanctions that might include points deductions.

It is alleged that City did not provide “accurate financial information that gives a true and fair view of the club’s financial position”, particularly in its revenue, sponsorship revenue and operating costs. And the Premier League said that the club failed to cooperate over the investigation, which started at the tail end of 2018.

An independent commission will now determine if the club has broken Premier League rules. There is a list of 100 potential breaches of the competition rules to go through.

City claims it has irrefutable evidence that can prove its innocence. In 2020 it overturned a two-year Champions League ban for breaching Uefa’s financial rules.

Show me yours first

UK PM Rishi Sunak is promising to release his tax return ‘shortly’. Hopefully by the time you read this he already has! He told Piers Morgan on TalkTV: “They will be published shortly. As you know the tax filing deadline was just a few days ago. So that’s why.

“So we do the tax-filing deadlines just passed, so they’re just being prepared and they will be released shortly.”

The First Minister for Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, has been publishing her tax returns since 2014. Her most recent return shows a total income of £140,496 from her employment as an MSP and First Minster.

Expensive dates

Valentine’s Day may be over but you must be careful if you are still searching for love! The cases of romance scams fell 17% between 2021 and 2022, according to new data from Nationwide. However, the average loss per case grew from £4,720 in 2021 to a whopping £11,796 in 2022 – a 150% increase.

And, contrary to the common view that romance scams are reserved for older people, data from the past two years highlights that victims were aged between 14 and 94. Last year, the percentage

of people aged under 34 years old reporting a romance scam almost doubled – from 15% to 28%. Interestingly, the rate of incidents against those aged 45 and over

Matter of life and death

Stand-up comedian Phil Wang recently featured in the Guardian’s Q&A, where he admitted his most embarrassing moment was animatedly quoting Warren Buffet’s dying words to a group of friends, only to be informed that he wasn’t dead! His most unappealing habit was playing too much chess. Then came the question about when he had come closest to death. His answer: “The Yorkshire Accountancy Awards 2019. They laughed about as much as you might expect.”

Time for tax equality

Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin says the biggest threat to pubs is the “vast disparity in tax treatment between pubs, restaurants and supermarkets”.

Why, he asked, do supermarkets pay zero VAT in respect to food sales whereas pubs and restaurants pay 20%?

Martin said this tax benefit allows supermarkets to subsidise the selling price of beer. Since Wetherspoons started in 1979 he estimated that supermarkets have won about half of the pub industry’s beer volumes. The pandemic has only added to the loss.

Martin said: “Pub industry directors have, in general, failed to campaign for tax equality, which is an important principle of taxation.”

Women football finance

Women’s football sides from the world’s top 20 revenuegenerating clubs reported average attributable revenues of €2.4m in the 2021/22 season, according to Deloitte’s Sports Business Group.

FC Barcelona generated the highest revenue out of all 2023 Money League clubs from its women’s team. FC Barcelona Femení, 2021 UEFA Women’s Champions League winners and 2022 finalists, generated revenue of €7.7m in the 2021/22 season.

Manchester United reported the second-highest revenue for their

women’s side (€6.0m), followed by Manchester City (€5.1m), Paris Saint-Germain (€3.6m), Arsenal (€2.2m) and Tottenham (€2.1m).

Tim Bridge, lead partner for Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, said: “There’s still significant work to be done to ensure that women’s club football continues to professionalise and develop in a financially sustainable way. Every Money League club that provided us with information on its women’s side noted that they made a loss in the 2021/2022 season, with wage costs surpassing total revenues in almost all cases, and we expect this to be the case for most clubs around the world.”

dropped in the same period – from 74% to 63%.

There is also an even split between men and women when it comes to those becoming victims of the scams. However, women are likely to lose more to criminals than men and that has widened yearon-year. In 2021, the average loss for romance scam cases involving men was £5,863, compared with £6,982 for women. However, in keeping with the overall year-onyear growth the average loss per case in 2022 for men was £9,057 (a 54% increase vs 2021) and, for women, it rose to £14,803 (a 112% rise on 2021).

What does it mean?

‘GDP’ has been revealed as the most confusing finance term in the world, with an average of two million Google searches each year for its definition. That’s according to new research by City Index. In this study, the experts utilised search analytics tool, Ahrefs, to discover how often on average the definition of the 50 most used finance terms is searched for each year.

Acquisition (130,700 searches a month) and equity (111,400) come in second and third. Also in the top 10 are overhead asset and capital.

Here’s some definitions for you:

GDP: “The total monetary or market value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a specific time period.”

Acquisition: “An acquisition is when one company purchases most or all of another company’s shares to gain control of that company.”

Equity: “Equity refers to partial ownership in a company or assets after subtracting all debts that are associated.”