Sources[Kaplan,BPP,LSBF,Beckers Professional,First Intuition,MM University]
ACCA F8 Audit&Assurance Paper Exam Tips for December 2015 Session are given below by famous tuition providers
Kaplan
Part A: MCQ’s will be from any syllabus area.
Part B: Some of the frequently tested areas in the past were
● Ethics/Conflict of Interest/Confidentiality/Audit committees
● VFM,Outsourcing,
● Audit risks and responses
● Cash,inventory,purchases(including tests of control)
● Purchases,revenue,Payroll
● Written representations
● Auditor’s reports
● Limited assurance engagements
● Expectation gap
● Auditor rights and duties
● Engagement letters
● Fraud and error
● Components of an internal control system
● Inherent limitations of internal control
● Risk assessment procedures
● Financial statement assertions(Ratios)
You must learn the ISAs–not the numbers,but the objectives and key provisions of each ISA.Nearly 30%of the last exam was testing pure rote-learned knowledge.
The examiner wants QUALITY not QUANTITY–sometimes gives 1.5 marks for a well-explained point.
Look at the past exams–many of the model answers were in columnar format.Long windy paragraphs are not an option.Stay to the point and straightforward.
Time allocation is as important in this exam as it is in the others–1.8 minutes per mark.
BPP
Ethical threats and safeguards.
Corporate governance and internal audit.
Audit planning.
Materiality.
Audit procedures(especially substantive procedures).
Audit finalisation and audit reports.
Audit risk.
Internal control and audit procedures(both substantive procedures and tests of controls).
LSBF
Ethics,threats to independence.
Confidentiality,when to breach.
Audit risk and response,written scenario.
Internal controls objectives/procedures/tests on sales cycle.
Inventory and stocktaking–controls and substantive tests.
Substantive tests on receivables.•Advise company on improving its governance.
Role/benefits of audit committees.•Roles of internal audit and comparison with external audit.
Know your ISAs,especially 210,250,260,450,560,570,720.
First Intuition
Ethics.
Audit risk and auditor response(including ratio calculations).
Internal control–deficiencies,implications and recommendations(revenue and receivables or payroll cycle).
Audit evidence and substantive testing.
Subsequent events,written representations and going concern.
Modified auditors reports.
Open Tuition
Section A–Multiple Choice Questions
● Do not waste time doing neat workings for calculation questions–your workings will not be marked.Only the answer on the answer sheet is marked.You cannot attempt to justify or explain any of your answers.
● Look first for the short questions and those on topics you feel most happy with.Section A is a mix of 1 and 2 mark questions totalling 20 marks.Don’t waste time on a question that requires a lot of reading–come back to it later when you have finished the shorter questions.
● If you come across a question that you know little about,you might be able to eliminate one or two answers as being obviously wrong and this will improve your odds at guessing the correct answer.If you know nothing about a question,then staring at it will not make any difference–guess an answer and move on.A guess is always worthwhile.
● Watch your time.You should spend 36 minutes on Section A and no longer.You can always go back to it later if you find you have time left after completing Section B.
● Keep your eye on the clock and when there is 5 minutes left before the end of the exam stop what you are doing,and guess any of the Section A questions that you have not answered.To maximise you marks be sure to answer all 12 questions even if it means guessing several of them.
Section B–long form questions
● Make sure you write something for every part of every question.You are unlikely to be able to finish every part of every question–either because you run out of time or you get stuck–but you can always write something for each part.In the calculations each part of the workings is marked separately,whether or not you have finished.In the written parts,each comment is marked separately.
Even if you can only think of one brief comment and get just one mark,that could turn a 49%fail into a 50%pass.
● Calculations are relatively rare in F8,but if you have to carry out,for example,analytical procedures,show your workings neatly.It is the workings that get the marks(whether the final answer is right or wrong)but the marker can only give you the marks if they can follow what you are doing.
● For the written parts of questions,make sure that your writing is legible.(Before the exam day,ask someone if they can read your writing easily–if they can’t then consider printing the words!)
● For the written parts of questions,write each separate point on a new line(with a line space between points).If you write one long paragraph containing several points,then there is a danger that the marker will miss some of the points.
● Allocate your time.You should allow 18 minutes for each 10-mark question,and 36 minutes for each 20-mark question.There are 6 questions and submitting 6 questions all part finished,will get you more marks than only submitting 5 questions and missing one question completely.
● Start each part of each question on a new page in the answer booklet(if you run out of pages they will provide an extra booklet!).
That way you can always go back to questions and be able to add more to your answer neatly,if you have time left at the end of the exam.
You do not have to attempt the questions in order or even every part within a question in order,but do make sure you make it clear at the top of the page which part of which question you are answering.