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PQ magazine
September 2014
www.pqmagazine.co.uk / www.pqjobs.co.uk
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JULY 2014
THE VOICE
OF ALL NQs
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P18
ALL THE
NEWS
YOU NEED
CPD
SPOTLIGHT
What your
accountancy body
expects of you
And a whole
lot more
Pages 4
and 7
ETHICAL
DILEMMAS
HOW TO BUILD
EFFECTIVE
RELATIONSHIPS
Page 8
WOULD YOU TURN A BLIND

EYE TO CORRUPTION IN YOUR
PLACE OF WORK OR WOULD
YOU STAND UP AND BE
COUNTED?
P10
P12
ETHICS IN
BUSINESS
There are ethical
mountains to
climb, says LSBFs
Dr Steve Priddy
P8
CPI EXAM
UPDATE
You can now sit
the CPI exams in
December so why
not make it the best
Christmas ever?
Page 14
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PQ have your say
email graham@pqaccountant.com
Nothing to sing about
and who could be subject to their

new powers. Thats not a small
problem and as an accountant I
dont want to be associated with
the people who are trying to
fleece the system. We arent all
the same. So I want to know what
happens to the accountants who
devised these schemes? Are they
investigated by their professional
body or the FRC?
Joseph Asha, by email
The editor says: A tricky debate,
this one. My rule of thumb that is
if you are happy to tell everyone
you meet about the benefits of
the scheme you are in and how it
works, then thats fine!
Singer Katie Melua quickly moved

from tax superhero to fallen
hero when her tax dodging came
to light. But surely the real villains
are her tax advisers. Melua insists
that she only invested in the
Liberty scheme on the suggestion
of her accountants. We know her
name, but isnt time to name and
shame the people who actually
make money convincing people to
take a risk with these schemes? I
was shocked to read some 33,000
people have invested in
the 800 tax avoidance
schemes being
investigated by HMRC,
The writer of the star letter each month wins a fantastic I PQ mug!
Best present ever
Thank you, CIMA! Ive just read the

front cover of PQ this month and I
am planning to sit CIMA exams this
November. I always want my results
asap, so 23rd December is fine by
me. I cant predict if it will be a pass
or a fail, but I would prefer to know
and enjoy Christmas, rather than be
kept waiting. So thank you, Mr
Tagoe, for the early Christmas
present. I have to say that I also
agree with the new syllabus pass
mark of 70%. It has always worried
me that I could be exam-qualified by
only getting half the paper right. You
should see how people raise their
eyebrows when I tell them that fact.
Name and address supplied
Standard bearer
Can I say that low pass rates,

always a hot discussion in these
pages, do not necessarily equate
with high standards.
As a former ICAEW Education
Chairman my initial concern when
taking office was that although over
the years the inputs were of higher
quality (better educated students,
in-house training, professional exam
tutorial courses, etc.) the pass rates
had not improved. Evidence was
not easy to find but it was clear that
some in the exam process did not
believe that the new recruits were
better. Nevertheless, with more
rigorous processes the pass rates
started to rise in line with the rise in
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input quality for which ICAEW

deserves credit.
It is possible to adjust marking
schemes, whatever the pass mark,
to ensure the same proportion of
passers or even ensure standards
were kept up. Raising or lowering
the pass mark can be quite
independent of standards. Even so,
I take the Editors point that being
able to qualify by only getting half
the questions right does not look
good. The trick is to set standards
When:
16thAugust 2014,
10am2pm
Where:
22 Billiter Street,
London EC3M 2RY
RESERVE YOUR PLACE NOW

in the public interest and the longterm interest of the exam setting
body and then make the marking
process follow those objectives.
But beware! I have had great
workers who could not pass their
exams and very poor workers who
could easily pass. The real world is
never so straight forward.
David Hunt, by email
The editor says: David is a man
with decades of experience. Take a
look at his Life at on page 33.
Hot & Tweet
What we really like

about twitter
@PQmagazine is
that you can share the love. So,
if its a great job from Walker
Dendle or Reeds five questions
you cant legally ask at an
interview, then we can retweet
it. Oh, and the questions an
interviewer
cant ask
include
whether you
are married,
how old you
are, or
whether you
have any
criminal convictions.
Our top reweeted story this
month by our followers was
about CIMA pass rates. We split
them into global and UK for
clarity and because we only
have 140 characters to play
with!
We had a big, big problem
with rogue emails this month
because of two server problems
and a routine service so
nothing to do with us, and
everything to do with us! Our IT
guy had to totally debug the
system and it is all OK now.
Our followers were quick to tell
us about the problem via
twitter. My favourite tweet was:
Holy shit @PQmagazine, did
the cat sit
on your
keyboard?
16 copies
of the
same
email
today. PQ
would like
to thank
everyone
for bearing with us. And we, of
course, arent alone.
Nationwide recently had its
third system meltdown in less
than a month, affecting
hundreds of thousands of its
customers. Technology dont
you just love it!
Follow us @PQmagazine.
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Published by PQ Publishing PQ Publishing 2014
I chose BPP
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of charge, two ACCA or CIMA papers must be booked at the same time. This ofer does not apply to our Basics courses. Only certain online Professional Development Courses apply, the list is available at http://www.bpp.com/terms/l/bpp-career-development-guarantee. To qualify for a further online Professional Development
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has not developed in that 2 year period. Further conditions apply. The ACCA and CIMA Career Development Guarantee ofer will be available between 08.00am on 2 June 2014 and midnight of 31 December 2014. See http://www.bpp.com/terms/l/bpp-career-development-guarantee for full terms and conditions. Calls will be
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PQ news
ROBERT
BRUCE
In IFRS
terms, we
are better
together
We are living through a period where
good old nationalist sentiment has
come to the fore. People feel the
need to shout that Scotland needs to
be separate to be successful, that
European economies would be better
off having nothing to do with other
European economies and that,
frankly, all that globalisation stuff is
why we are in a mess now. None of
this is true. But it is a very alluring
idea. And the same goes for
accounting on an international basis.
It is in the interests of everyone
that accounting standards work
internationally. It is in the interests
of readers of this magazine for there
to be global reach and comparability
of IFRS. It makes the whole system
much easier, and accountants find
that their jobs are portable around
the world. What works in Adelaide
will work in Amsterdam.
This became clear in a speech in
memory of Tommasso PadoaSchioppa, a founding father of the
Euro and a man who gave much time
to the IFRS Foundation, the governing
body of the International Accounting
Standards Board. It was given by
Mario Draghi, President of the
European Central Bank. Before he
turned to the wider arguments for
combatting the fragmentation which
has bedevilled the world since the
financial crash he talked of similar
dangers for financial reporting.
Problems would be smaller if there
was more integration rather than
less. More than 100 countries speak
the same accounting language today,
he said. And his view was that long
should that momentum continue.
n Robert Bruce is an
award-winning writer on
accountancy for The Times
Record number of women

promoted by Big 4 firms
PwC now has more women equity

partners than any other
accountancy firm, after announcing
a record number of new partner
promotions.
In early July, the Big 4 firm
unveiled 53 new partners, 40% of
whom were women. PwC now has
148 female equity partners in the
UK, plus three in its legal arm.
Some 20% of the new partners
were also from a culturally diverse
background.
UK chairman Ian Powell stressed
that increasing the diversity of the
leadership in the business has
been a priority since he was elected
in 2008. He pointed to various
initiatives including board level
mentoring, womens leadership
programmes and Open Mind
diversity training.
Meanwhile, Deloitte recently
promoted 65 new partners. Just
20% of these were female (13),

although it also revealed that 30%
of promotions at director level in
the business were women. Deloitte

has set ambitious targets of 25%
female partners by 2020 and 30%
by 2030.
EY unveiled a record 68 new
equity partners in the UK over the
past year. Of these, some 13 are
women and eight from minority
ethnic groups. The firm revealed
that this takes its partner
population to 17% female, with
over 30% of EYs leadership team
women.
EYs partner for talent, Liz
Bingham, said: While we are
moving in the right direction to
achieve our goal of a more diverse
workforce, it is clear that we must
continue to keep diversity at the
heart of our business in order to
support the UKs focus on this
important issue. Diverse teams
make better business decisions
its a commercial imperative.
Impressive 100% pass rate
CIPFAs June exam results hit the streets this month.

Overall, the results saw an slight decrease in pass rates
down from 73% to 72%.
One paper, however, stands out for all the right
reasons. The pass rate in this summers Management
Accounting paper was an impressive 100%, up from the
69% last December. Students sitting the Financial
Accounting paper also didnt do too badly, either. They
achieved a 94% pass rate this time around.
Pass rates at the two Strategic papers held up well
this sitting. While the FM paper had a success rate of
75% candidates will have been pleased to see the
Leadership paper pass rate also held up at 85%.
The problem paper this time around if you can call
it that was Public Sector Financial Reporting. The
pass rate this June was 54%, down 9% on the previous
sitting.
For a CIPFA conference report turn to page 29.
CIPFA JUNE 2014 RESULTS
Jun 14
Financial Accounting
Dec 13
94%
85%
100%
75%
69%
63%
Audit & Assurance

Business Management
59%
78%
56%
83%
Business Strategy
Financial Management
Governance, Public Policy
Public Finance & Tax
Public Sector FR
Strategic Leadership
Strategic Financial Mment
OVERALL
72%
79%
62%
78%
54%
85%
75%
72%
88%
56%
65%
92%
63%
86%
68%
73%
Management Accounting
Financial Reporting
In brief
Pay ACCA with PayPal

ACCA PQs can now pay for
everything via their PayPal
account. You can, of course, still
pay via a credit card and debit
card. Interestingly, the ACCA said
that it was looking at other forms of
payments and PQ wondered if this
included Bitcoins!
Polytechnic to develop a Finance

and Accounting Acceleration
programme. The first of its kind in
the region, the programme will
allow students on the Singapore
Polytechnic Diploma course to sit
ACA exams and be awarded credit
against others as part of their
course.
ICAEWs new programme

As part of the celebrations for
the fifth anniversary of the ICAEWs
South East Asia office, ICAEW has
signed an MoU with Singapore
A happy Noel
Our front page story
last month highlighted
the fact that CIMAs
November sitters are
going to get their exam results just

five short weeks after they have sat
them on 23rd December. The
decision came from education
chief Noel Tagoe. Now, Noel is
called Noel for a reason he was
born on Christmas Day! So, one
tutor wondered, had he pushed
the date to the 23rd so he
could really enjoy his
birthday on the 25th So
there is no way he can be
called a Grinch in any way.
There are more fun stories
on page 38.
Services to students
CIPFA has given the Tom
Sowerby Award, recognising
outstanding service to student
education, to Paul Simpson.
Simpson led the establishment of
CIPFAs successful Co-operative
Training Scheme in Nottingham.
CIPFA President Mike Owen said:
We feel Paul deserves this award
for his commitment to the
continuous improvement of CIPFAs
offering to students, and his
leadership in the field of CIPFA
training is something to celebrate.
PQ Magazine September 2014
THE
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PQ news
PREM
SIKKA
Global
accounting
standards:
dead as a
parrot
Despite the banking crash, world
domination remains an objective for
the International Accounting Standards
Board (IASB). This dream has received
a severe jolt from the US, without
whom a global convergence in
accounting standards is not feasible.
In Monty Python-esque language, a
former commissioner of the US
Securities Exchange Commission
(SEC) has said: This parrot is no
more. The prospect of full scale IFRS
in our lifetimes has ceased to be. It is
bereft of life. It rests in peace. The
former commissioner blamed the IASB
for its insensitivity to the concerns of
US shareholders, companies and
users of financial statements. He also
said the IASB lacked independence
from regional players such as the
European Union, as all IFRSs need a
nod from the EU. The SEC has
statutory responsibility for oversight of
the US capital markets and it cannot
delegate this rulemaking to the IASB,
a private limited company.
Further challenges are likely to
come from the rise of Brazil, Russia,
India, China and South Africa. In the
absence of full US support, the IASB is
seeking political support from other
countries. China has already exacted a
high price by diluting the related party
disclosure requirements of IAS 24,
effectively securing exemptions for
most of its major companies.
Others will demand concessions,
too. The IASB would inevitably need to
make compromises, a process which
will further expose the political nature
of accounting standards.
Prem Sikka is professor
of accountancy at the
University of Essex
Tackling low pay

UK businesses
have a duty and
responsibility to
adhere to the
Living Wage
Commissions blueprint and help
lift one million UK citizens out of
low pay, says KPMGs Mike Kelly.
He stressed that KPMG research
suggests that the decision to pay a
living wage should remain
voluntary. However, he would like
to see living wage-accredited
employers proudly displaying the
Living Wage Kitemark.
10
Timing the key

to CIMA success
CIMAs Post Exam Guides are still

being drip-fed into the public
domain instead of all being
released on the same day much
to the annoyance of some PQs.
Resits start on 26 August and
students sitting P2 asked PQ
magazine why this paper is always
the last Post Exam Guide to be
published. Why is there a week
between publishing some PEGs
and the P2 report? asked one PQ.
As it had the lowest worldwide
pass rate (43%) it will, most likely,
to be the biggest resit paper.
The P1 May PEG explains that
there was clear evidence of poor

time management in many sitters
papers, with PQs spending far too
long answering Q2. The examiner
says: Candidates should try to
discipline themselves to spend no
more than the allocated time on
each question.
There is also no need to write two
pages to answer a five-mark
question, said the examiner.
Find out how students are
performing in each question in
papers F1, P1 and E1 on page 22.
We also prcis the PEGs for P1, F1
and F2 on page 20.
The more the merrier

for the ICAEW exams
The more ICAEW professional
exams you take the more likely it is
you will pass them all so long as it
is no more than three papers.
The latest professional exam
results follow this assumption. Some
78.8% of those candidates who sat
three papers passed them all. This
compares with the 70.7% of
candidates who sat two papers and
got a pass in both. Then there are
the 68.7% who sat one paper in
June and achieved a pass.
In all, some 3,889 students sat
7,499 papers this summer.
Deloitte students won the bulk of
ICAEW PROFESSIONAL EXAMS JUNE 2014

First
All
attempt
Audit & Assurance
84.8% 85%
FA & Reporting
80.7% 81.8%
Tax Compliance
88.5% 89.3%
Business Planning Tax 81.1% 81.5%
Business Strategy
87.9% 90%
Financial Management 72.6% 74.8%
Financial Accounting 28.6% N/A
Taxation
65.6% 82.4%
Financial Reporting
55.5% 40.8%
the order of merit prizes. Katie

Roberston, Martha Fromson (two)
and Xiyi Lee all picked up awards.
Calls for help on

the rise The number of chartered
charity helped 201 people,

compared with 80 in the previous
12-month period. During that time
CABA was contacted by 324 people
regarding mental health issues. This
makes it the third most common
reason to get in touch with the
charity.
UK charity launched
EY has launched a UK charity
called the EY Foundation to help
young people find alternative
routes into employment and
education. The announcement
comes just weeks after Office of
National Statistics (ONS) data
showed younger workers (18-24)
have shouldered the biggest
burden of higher unemployment
in the UK.
that arise from an increasingly

inter-connected world, such as
social instability, debt crises and
extreme weather events, says
PwC. The firms James Crask said
that enterprise resilience is not
just about surviving in the present.
It is about having the foresight,
capability and agility to adapt and
evolve. He said: The relentless
pressure on business to cut costs
while enhancing their long-term
prospects of survival means that
agility can sometimes be at odds
with the requirement for robust
protection mechanisms.
accountants accessing the

Chartered Accountants Benevolent
Associations (CABA) mental health
services has increased by more than
150% during the past 12 months.
In the year to March 2014, the
Wake up to the risks

UK business leaders are not doing
enough to prepare for the risks
Currency
issues loom
for ACCA
The Scottish independence vote

could have a big impact on one of
the UKs leading accountancy
bodies, and we arent talking the
Institute of Chartered Accountants
of Scotland here.
The ACCA HQ might be in the
famous Lincolns Inn Fields,
London, but as all PQs know the
main administration centre is in
Glasgow. The ACCA hierarchy will
be watching and waiting for the
final vote, unsure if they will need
to invest more heavily in foreign
exchange risk management! There
is also a question of additional
transactions costs if the vote is yes
to independence.
The fear, of course, is that any
additional costs will be borne by
PQs in higher exam fees.
As PQ magazine went to press
we were waiting for the ACCAs
Annual Review to see what it has
said about the risks of the
Scottish vote.
Student thrown
out of the AAT
The AAT recently announced it had
throw out a student who will not be
allowed readmission under any
circumstances one Michael
Adebolajo. The AAT stated that in
accordance with its 2012
disciplinary regulations he was
found guilty of misconduct by his
conviction of murder and
possession of a firearm with intent
to cause fear of violence. By
consent he was formally withdrawn
from student membership of the
Association.
PQ believes this Michael
Abebolajo is one of the men who
killed Lee Rigby in Woolwich and
was given a whole-life sentence at
the Old Bailey in February,
alongside Michael Adebowale.
When we asked the AAT to confirm
this we were told that the AAT has
published everything it is permitted
to make public by its regulations.
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news PQ
CARL
LYGO
Ambitious
Germans
targeting
London
Congratulations to Germany, who were
deserved winners of this year's World
Cup. I was in Frankfurt during the
tournament. There was quiet
expectation and confidence from the
locals and that was before that 7-1
thrashing of Brazil! Planning for that
victory started when Germany was
knocked out of the group stages in
Euro 2004.
Along similar lines, Germany is
planning for Frankfurt to overtake
London as Europes financial centre.
Frankfurt describes itself as a strong
financial centre in the heart of
Europe and is home to the European
Central Bank, the central bank of the
Eurozone. It also hosts the Committee
of the European Insurance and
Occupational Pension Supervisors
(CEIOPS). Frankfurt is positioned
eighth in the International Financial
Centres Development Index 2013,
which ranks London second only to
New York.
The MasterCard Global Cities Index
has just reported that London will be
the most visited city in the world,
welcoming 18.7 million visitors and
beating last year's winner Bangkok. In
terms of highly skilled workers,
London is viewed as the number-one
location to work for knowledge
workers. A recent Deloitte survey
found that London was the home for
1.5 million high-skilled knowledge
based jobs compared with 1.2 million
in New York. Deloitte found that
more people are employed in highskill, knowledge-based sectors in
London than any other city in the
world.
Frankfurt did not even get a
mention in Deloitte's survey. Lessons
on the sporting field would suggest
we cannot be complacent!
Professor Carl Lygo is
chief executive of BPP
We trawled through the Key Facts and Trends in the Accountancy

Profession report from the FRC and heres a selection of key findings
CIPFA TOP FOR

FIRST-TIMERS
If you want to pass your final exams

first-time then perhaps you should
have opted for the CIPFA
qualification. The latest statistics
from the Financial Reporting
Council (FRC) show a healthy 84%
of CIPFA PQs pass their final exams
at the first attempt in 2013.
The really good news story,
however, among the pass rate
figures is the ACCA. Four years ago
the overall percentage of ACCA
candidates passing the final exams
was just 44%. By 2011, the pass
exam pass rates for CIMA PQs is a

strong 65%, up there with the Irish
chartered accountants. The ACCA,
at 59%, is bottom of the list of the
six bodies.
It is students from ICAS who have
the best overall pass rate again, this
year by some distance. In 2013,
89% of its PQs passed the final
level exams. This is 14 percentage
points ahead of its nearest rivals,
the ICAEW on 75%.
PQ magazine
EXCLUSIVE
rate had jumped to 55%, and it has

held steady ever since thats three
years now.
The ACCA overall pass rate at the
final exams (55%) is also better
than CIMAs (54%). Where there is
a difference is in the first-time pass
rates. Here CIMA PQs easily beat
ACCA sitters. The first-time final
Final exam pass rates 2013

.
First Time
Overall
ACCA
59%
55%
CIMA
65%
54%
CIPFA
84%
68%
ICAEW
79%
75%
CAI
63%
63%
ICAS
N/A
89%
(Source: FRC)
Gender
counts
TIME REGISTERED AS A PQ (IN YEARS)
<1
1>2
2>3
3>4
4>5
5+
Total
ACCA
78,646
61,384
47,524
42,537
34,212
101,185
365,488
CIMA
31,933
22,893
13,872
10,230
6,890
36,576
122,394
CIPFA
812
281
186
197
1,074
N/A
2,550
ICAEW
5,392
5,117
4,689
3,339
892
692
20,121
CAI
1,474
1,196
1,233
925
462
1,150
6,440
ICAS
762
907
866
294
63
97
2,989
How long does it take?

More than one in four (28%) PQs
studying with the six main UK
accountancy bodies are still
waiting to qualify five years after
they started their studies. That is a
whopping 140,000 students out of
a total of just over 500,000,
according to figures released in the
FRCs Key Facts and Trends in the
Accountancy Profession.
Figures based on 2013 data
show the ACCA has over 100,000
people who are still PQs over five
years after they first register. That
is 28% of the total number of
students registered with the ACCA.
As with last year there are,
however, a bigger percentage of

CIMA students at the five-year plus
milestone. The 36,576 still
studying half a decade after
registering with CIMA represents
30% of the student body.
It is a different story with ICAS
and the ICAEW. Both have just over
3% of their students still signed up
after five years. The Irish Institute
(CAI) has more of a problem, but at
18% it isnt too much of a worry.
The way training contracts work and
the firms stricter employment rules
(you can still be sacked for failing
exams) does prevent most students
going beyond four years.
The accountancy profession

continues to attract large
numbers of female part
qualified accountants. For
example, over half (51%) of all
ACCA PQs are women.
Meanwhile, CIMAs women
numbers have remained the
same for the past five years
exactly 44%.
Unfortunately, the ICAEW
remains the most unattractive
to female students. Just 39% of
its current students are women,
up 1% on 2012.
The problem for ICAEW is
that this low intake then
translates into poor female
membership numbers. In 2013,
just 26% of its members were
women. This compares poorly
with the ACCA, which has a
female membership percentage
of 45%.
Key Facts and Trends in brief

New member stats
For every ICAEW new
member the ACCA is signing up
three, according to the latest facts
from the FRC. For the past few
years around 10,000 PQs/affiliates
have become ACCA members,
thats 19,960 new members in the
past two years alone. During that
time, the ICAEW signed up 6,727
new members. Over at CIMA,
5,500 new members are joining

each year.
age and CIMA 59.

CIPFA has just one.
Under 25s
There are just 745 members
worldwide under-25 years of age
signed up to one of UK
accountancy bodies, PQ has
discovered. The ACCA has 356 of
these and the ICAEW 199. ICAS
has 96 members under 25 years of
Degree holders
ICAEW PQs are
the least likely of any of
the bodies to have a relevant
degree. Figures correlated by the
FRC reveal that just 19% of ICAEW
PQs have a relevant one. That said,
some 81% of its students do have
a degree of some
kind just not that
many have one in
accountancy. At the
ACCA, 45% of
students have
relevant degrees and 48% of those
studying for the qualification have
a degree. This is slightly higher at
CIMA, where 52% of the total
student population have a degree.
13
PQ ACCA F9 paper
Management issues
Zoe Robinson outlines changes to
the Financial Management exam
more discursive aspects surrounding what

causes exchange rate fluctuations or interest
rate movements, and the risks that these create
for organisations.
Pass rate: 45% (December 2013)

Technical difficulty: 9/10
Weighting of calculations: 50%
Weighting of discursive elements: 50%
Exam technique: 7/10 (was 8/10 for the
old syllabus)
The new exam format
.
Like the other papers at the skills level, the
format of the paper F9 exam is changing this
December. It will now comprise 20 multiplechoice questions (each worth two marks), three
10-mark questions and two 15-mark questions.
All questions will be compulsory.
The syllabus
The F9 syllabus can be broken down into the
following key areas:
Financial Management Function and

Environment: This covers the role the financial
manager plays within an organisation, together
with the environment (economic and market)
that companies operate in. This will likely still
feature as a peripheral area of the syllabus, most
likely being tested within the multiple-choice
section of the exam.
Investment Appraisal: This area used to be a
guaranteed 25-mark question under the old style
of exam. It will continue to feature heavily and
has been identified as one of three areas that the
15-mark questions could relate to. If it didnt
appear as one of the 15-mark questions, it would
undoubtedly be one of the three 10-mark
questions. Students must therefore be
comfortable with the different methods of
investment appraisal, and in particular with NPV
and IRR calculations.
Working Capital Management: This featured on
almost all previous F9 exams, and is an area that
will definitely be covered by one of the new
longer questions, possibly as a 15-marker, if not
as one of the 10-mark questions. As before, the
key unknown will be which aspect of working
capital management will be tested, and students
14
will be well advised to ensure a solid grounding

throughout.
Business Finance and Cost of Capital: The final
core area that could be covered with a 15-mark
question, students must be comfortable with the
calculation of the cost of capital, as well as the
discursive aspects relating to different sources of
finance.
Business Valuations: This topic will most likely
feature as one of the 10-mark questions, as well
as within some of the MCQs. Students must be
confident in the calculations, especially the PE
ratio method, as well as the discursive aspects
about what impacts the value of a business.
Risk Management: Another potential topic that
could be covered in a 10-mark question.
Calculations involving various hedging
techniques could be presented, as well as the
Sitting the F9 exam

.
Previously, the F9 exam was often described as
an exam of two halves. Students would aim to
score highly on the first two questions, typically
investment appraisal and working capital
management, and then pick up as many marks
as they could on the remaining two questions.
The new exam format will change this, and a
more rounded knowledge of the syllabus will
now be required.
The changes are likely to have the following
impact on the F9 exam:
The large 15-mark questions will draw from
two of three syllabus areas (investment
appraisal, working capital management and
business finance), meaning these are the core
areas that students must be comfortable with.
The three 10-mark questions, as well as the
15-mark questions, will all contain a mix of
calculations and discursive elements, with the
overall paper likely to remain around a 50:50
split. As currently, students must avoid sending
too much time practising the numerical aspects
at the expense of understanding the subject in
sufficient depth to be able to tackle the wordy
parts.
The multiple-choice question element to the
exam means that any area can be tested. While
that sounds obvious, this is likely to see a slightly
increased focus on more fringe topics, such as
the financial management function and the
economic environment.
While the multiple-choice calculation-style
questions in the specimen paper are technical in
parts, the narrative parts will be a lot quicker.
This should mean the exam will become less
time pressured.
In summary, there will now be no escaping
the need for more in-depth knowledge of the
entire syllabus in order to score well on this
paper. Having said that, a well-prepared student
should feel more confident about achieving the
result they deserve as the exam will likely be
more balanced and less of a lottery regarding
which topics appear on each paper. PQ
Zoe Robinson is Head of Accountancy
Product at Kaplan Financial
PQ the ultimate giveaway
HOLIDAY
GIVEAWAY
WITH
AND
The exam results are out and there is a small window before it all starts again.
You need something, a reward perhaps, to keep you going!
Well, PQ magazine and Home Learning College have joined forces to offer one
lucky reader 750 worth of Thomas Cook travel vouchers.
So, do you fancy Venice in the Spring? A long weekend in Barcelona with a visit
to the Nou Camp thrown in? Or just want to fly to Thailand and find a beach?
Then we can make it all that much more affordable!
The choice is totally yours. To enter simply email graham@pqaccountant.com
with your name and contact number by noon on Tuesday 30 September.
COMPETITION TERMS & CONDITIONS

The competition is open to all readers of PQ magazine. Deadline for all entries is noon (GMT)
on Tuesday 30 September 2014. No cash equivalent will be offered. The decision of the
publisher is final. Not open to employees of PQ magazine or Home Learning College.
One reader will win vouchers to the value of 750 when they book with
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16
exam analysis PQ
heyve turned it into a

qualification that a chimpanzee
could pass was one reaction I
heard to the CIMAs announcement that it
intended to use OTQs to assess all nine
of its professional exams from January
2015. But CIMA isnt alone in causing
excitement in the jungle. ICAEW has
swung over to using computer-based
OTQs to examine six of its 12
Professional Stage exams. The ACCA is
introducing OTQs into papers F4 to F9
(with the structure of F6 still to be
decided) from December 2014.
Several accounting bodies believe that
computer-based OTQs are preferable to
setting you written exams. They say they
are fairer and more reliable, can test
more of the syllabus, allow you more
flexibility on when to sit, permit you
quicker resits and faster progression, and
that OTQs enable them to compete
internationally against qualifications that
provide the benefit of computer-based
OTQs already.
But does the greater use of OTQs
mean that your qualification is being
dumbed down?
Evolving successfully
.
The first accounting exams were set in
the 19th century. They required
candidates to write essays and to prepare
accounts by hand. Despite being in a
laptop and tablet age, accounting exams
are disappointingly unevolved from their
origins. Who does either of these things
at work?
Ensuring that standards are maintained
as exams change will depend on three
things: the additional assessment
required beyond the OTQs; the integrity
of the OTQ banks; and the quality of the
OTQs.
Merely passing its exams does not
confer membership of an accounting
body. No chimp could manage the final
hurdle of submitting an adequate
professional experience record. Also, the
UK accounting bodies have all retained
an element of written exams in their
assessments that will test knowledge and
understanding carried forward from the
earlier exams. If our chimp managed to
pass the OTQs it would be no banana
because they would still fail these written
tests.
Perhaps candidates will rote-learn the
answers to OTQs if some leaked out.
Hopefully, the OTQ banks will be
sufficiently large, and refreshed
frequently to eliminate any benefit from
this.
Three wise monkeys
.
Can OTQs be passed by guesswork?
Simple multiple-choice questions require
you to choose between four options, A to
D. Three responses are wrong. This gives
our chimp a 25% chance of getting the
correct answer. But try this question on
ratios.
Exams fit for
CHIMPS?
Does greater use of OTQs

(objective test questions)
mean your qualification is
being dumbed down? No,
says Adrian Sims heres why
Multiple completion
Which three of the following are
measures of the profitability of a
business?
A: Price earnings ratio
B: Return on capital employed
C: Earnings per share
D: Return on sales
E: Return on net assets
With nine possible combinations the

chimp now has only an 11% chance of
picking the correct one.
The correct answer is B, D, E. To pass
you would need to recognise three
profitability ratios and/or realise that P/E
and EPS are not profitability ratios.
This same question can be made
much more searching by changing the
requirement as follows:
Which one or more of the following are
measures of the profitability of a
business? Select all that apply
A: Price earnings ratio
B: Return on capital employed
C: Earnings per share
D: Return on sales
E: Return on net assets
Question
Assertion
A rise in a firms Price
1
Earnings ratio is taken as
a sign of rising investor
confidence in the firm.
Reason
An increase in the profit
attributable to ordinary
shareholders will increase the
EPS of the business compared
to the previous year if no
additional shares have been
issued in the interim.
A firms return on net assets is

the product of the net profit
ratio and the asset turnover
ratio
The overall profitability of

a firm will improve if the
net profit ratio rises
and/or the asset turnover
ratio rises
One wrong guess and you get zero marks

on this question. You would really need to
know your stuff to pass an exam full of
OTQs like this. This type of OTQs are
used extensively in medical doctors
exams.
The gorilla in the room
.
The questions above were basic
knowledge. Can OTQs test higher skills
too? Have a look at the following two
assertion reason questions:
Use the following key to assess the
statements that follow:
Key
A
B
C
D
E
Assertion
Correct
Correct
Correct
False
False
Reason
Correct and explains the assertion
Correct but does not explain the assertion
False
Correct
False
Answering each questions needs

several pieces of knowledge and also an
understanding of the relationship
between the statements.
1=B. To pass this you would need to
know that both statements are true, and
to recognise that P/E reflects expectations
of higher earnings which the rise in the
earnings would merely justify.
2=A. This correct answer is impossible to
reason through unless the candidate
knows that the asset turnover ratio is in
fact the ratio of turnover to assets and not
the other way around, and then how
these both relate to profitability.
There are many different styles of OTQ
available. Each accounting body will
provide samples of the types they set.
So how is our chimp getting on? Hes
gone back to his bananas. These new
OTQ exams are no place for monkeys.
But I expect there will still be a lot of
chattering in the jungle about OTQs in
the year to come. PQ
Adrian Sims is a freelance writer and
tutor who has been involved in the
examining processes of five UK
accounting bodies
17
PQ ACCA exams
ARE YOU READ
Ready for F7? Take Danusia Wysockis test

and find out where your knowledge gaps are
for the Financial Reporting paper
here are a number of key things

to consider when preparing to
revise for your exam:
Do you know your syllabus?
Do you know your examiner?
Do you have copies of past papers?
Answer the following theory-based
multiple choice questions to determine
whether you are ready to tackle F7.
Question 1
.
Which of the following key topics are
examinable under the syllabus of F7
Financial Reporting?
(i) The concept of consolidated financial
statements.
(ii) The conceptual, legal and regulatory
framework for financial reporting.
(iii) Statements of cash flow.
(iv) Calculation and interpretation of
accounting ratios.
(v) Reporting of non-group financial
statements.
(vi) Inheritance tax calculations.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(i),(ii),(v)
(i),(ii),(iii),(vi) and (v)
(i),(ii),(iii)
(i),(ii),(iii), (iv),(v) and (vi)
Question 2
.
The objective of general purpose financial
statements is to provide information
about the financial position, financial
performance, and cash flows of an entity
that is useful to a wide range of users in
making economic decisions. To meet that
objective, financial statements provide
information about an entitys: assets,
liabilities, equity, income and expenses,
(including gains and losses),
contributions by and distributions to
owners (in their capacity as owners) and
HELP IS AT HAND
cash flows. [IAS1.9]

Which of the following compose a
complete set of financial statements?
(i) A statement of financial position
(balance sheet) at the end of the period.
(ii) A statement of profit or loss and other
comprehensive income for the period.
(iii) A statement of changes in equity for
the period.
(iv) A statement of cash flows for the
period.
(v) Notes, comprising a summary of
significant accounting policies and other
For your reference, a copy of the syllabus and study guide along with past papers and technical
articles can be found on the ACCAs website: go to www.accaglobal.com
The ACCA F7 study guide is an invaluable tool for students. It provides a detailed breakdown of
the syllabus and structure of the paper and includes which areas of the syllabus are examined in
each question. This is the starting point for efficient students and can be found at
http://www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/acca/global/PDF-students/acca/f7/studyguides/f7-sg-d14j15.pdf.
The syllabus for the F7 Financial Reporting paper is vast and builds upon earlier knowledge from
paper F3 Financial Accounting. Students are required to have a deeper knowledge of the principle
and key elements of specific standards related to the topics examined. The current examinable
documents are at http://www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/acca/global/PDF-students/acca/f7/f7-p2intuk-d14-j15.pdf.
18
explanatory notes.
(vi) Comparative information prescribed
by the standard.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(i), (ii) and (v)

(i),(iii) and (iv)
(ii),(iv), (v) and (vi)
all of the above
Question 3
.
When producing a statement of cash
flows using the indirect method and in
accordance with IAS 7 Statement of Cash
Flows which of the following items,
among others, would be included in the
calculation of net cash flows from
operating activities:
(i) Cash receipts from customers.
(ii) Depreciation.
(iii) Cash paid to suppliers.
(iv) Income taxes paid.
(v) Interest paid.
(vi) Amortisation of goodwill.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(i), (iii), (iv) and (v)

(ii),(iii), (iv),(v) and (vi)
DY FOR F7?
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(i), (iii) and (v)

none of the above
Question 6
.
Whether a lease is a finance lease or an
operating lease depends on the
substance of the transaction rather than
its legal form. Under IAS 17 Accounting
for Leases, which of the following
situations would normally lead to a lease
being classified as a finance lease:
(i) A short term agreement for the
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(i) and (iii) only

(ii), (iv), (v) and (vi)
Question 7
.
Items of property, plant, and equipment
should be recognised as assets when it is
probable that future economic benefits
associated with the asset will flow to the
entity, and the cost of the asset can be
measured reliably. [IAS 16.7]
According to IAS 16 Property, Plant and
Equipment, which of the following items
could be included in the initial cost of an
asset alongside the purchase price
excluding VAT?
(i) Site preparation.
(ii) Training costs.
(iii) Delivery and handling costs.
(iv) Installation charges.
(v) Overheads related to running the
asset.
(vi) Related professional fees.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(i), (ii) and (v)

(i),(iii) and (iv)
all of the above
Question 9
.
The objective of IAS 36 Impairment of
Assets is to ensure that assets are not
carried at more than their recoverable
amount, applicable also to goodwill and
intangible assets acquired in business
combinations.
What is meant by an impairment review
and in which of the following questions
are you likely to come across it?
(a) Seen in questions on ratio analysis.
The impairment review looks to
determine the cost of an asset and how
this has changed over a period of time.
(b) Seen in a statements of cash flow
question. The impairment review is only
related to the calculation of goodwill and
must be shown on the statement of cash
flow.
(c) Seen in a question relating to the
preparation of consolidated financial
statements. Impairment occurs when
the carrying amount of an asset is more
than its recoverable amount, thus an
impairment review is the process of
determining if an asset has been
impaired and by how much. Recoverable
amount here is taken as the higher of the
fair value of the asset less costs to sell or
its value in use.
(d) None of the above.
Question 10
.
The Conceptual Framework for Financial
Reporting identifies faithful representation
as a fundamental qualitative
characteristic of useful financial
information. [ACCA, F7]
Which of the following can also be
classified as fundamental qualitative
characteristic of useful financial
information?
(i) Relevance.
(ii) Verifiability.
(iii) Understandability.
(iv) Timeliness.
(v) Comparability.
(vi) Materiality.
(ii) and (v) only

(i),(iii),(iv) and (vi)
all of the above
Question 8
.
Which of the following items are used in
the calculation of basic earnings per
share (EPS)?
(i) Profits attributable to ordinary
shareholders.
(ii) Dividend paid to ordinary
shareholders.
(iii) Weighted average number of shares
in issue during the period.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(i), (ii) and (iv)

(i),(iii) and (v)
all of the above
PQ
ANSWERS
Danusia Wysocki
lectures at London
South Bank
University
(1) B (2) D (3) C (4) A (5) A (6) D

(7) B (8) B (9) C (10) D
Question 5
.
According to IFRS 10 Consolidated
Financial Statements, an investor
determines whether it is a parent by
assessing whether it controls one or more
investees. An investor considers all
relevant facts and circumstances when
assessing whether it controls an investee.
[IFRS10: 5-6]
Which of the following criteria must be
satisfied for an investor to control an
investee as detailed in IFRS 10
Consolidated Financial Statements?
(i) Power over the investee, namely, the
investor has existing rights that give it the
ability to direct the activities that
significantly affect the investees returns.
(ii) Ownership of more than 35% of the
equity share capital of an entity.
(iii) Exposure, or rights, to variable
returns from its involvement with the
investee.
(iv) A minimum of one woman present on
the governing board.
(v) The ability to use its power over the
investee to affect the amount of the
investors returns.
(vi) The investee must adopt the same
depreciation policy as the investor.
temporary hire of an asset.

(ii) The lease transfers ownership of the
asset to the lessee by the end of the
lease term.
(iii) The lessor has earned revenue from
renting out the asset and consequently
recognises the lease rental receivable as
income in the profit and loss account.
(iv) The lease term is for the major part of
the economic life of the asset, even if title
is not transferred.
(v) The lease assets are of a specialised
nature such that only the lessee can use
them without major modifications being
made.
(vi) The lessee has the option to
purchase the asset at a price which is
expected to be sufficiently lower than fair
value at the date the option becomes
exercisable and that, at the inception of
the lease, it is reasonably certain that the
option will be exercised.
(iv) Preference share dividend.

(v) Profit after tax for the period.
(vi) Tax for the period.
GREEN to go, if you scored 8-10

AMBER to practise, if you scored 5-7
RED to revise, if you scored below 5
Question 4
.
Which of the following best describes the
purpose of the Statement of Changes in
Equity:
(a) The purpose of the Statement of
Changes in Equity is to show the reasons
for any changes in share capital and
reserves during an accounting period.
(b) The purpose of the Statement of
Changes in Equity is to show the new
shares issued during a period.
(c) The purpose of the Statement of
Changes in Equity is to highlight
information on share structure to those
parties interested.
(d) The purpose of the Statement of
Changes in Equity is to show if a dividend
has been paid during the period.
ACCA exams PQ
19
PQ CIMA exams
JUST PEG IT!
Make sure you arent left out to dry come CIMA exam time! You must
read the Post Exam Guides now we prcis P1, F1, and F2 here for you
The P1 exam
.
The May performance in this paper was
reasonably good, said the examiner. The pass
rate was above average for the 2010 syllabus,
with many candidates scoring very highly and
there were fewer marginal scripts.
Yet, we discover that candidates scored fairly
badly in the MCQs, and Q1 as a whole was not
particularly well done. Students did much better
in Q2, and especially in the narrative questions.
Worryingly, the answers to Q3 seemed to
indicate to the examiner that some candidates
had not practised using past papers (really?),
and they have not mastered ABC and standard
costing core topics.
What also concerned the examiner is the clear
evidence of poor time management, with PQs
spending too long answering Q2 to the detriment
of the other questions.
The F1 exam
.
The F1 examiner stressed that it is essential that
adequate, clear workings are shown for every
question, or marks could be lost.
Looking at the May sitting, the examiner felt

students did particularly poorly on:
Q1 (1.1 indirect tax and 1.10 rollover relief).
Q2a IFRS 8 reportable segments and question
2d fundamental qualitative characteristics of
financial statements.
When it came to Q3, the examiner revealed
that a considerable number of candidates were

unable to correctly calculate or treat some of the
adjustment required, for example an increase in
an allowance for doubtful receivables,
depreciation of non-current assets and the
impairment of an intangible non-current asset.
For Q4, most candidates seemed to
understand what a statement of cash flow
should look like, but there were still some
including statement of profit or loss items and
statement of financial position items in the
statement of cash flow.
The F2 exam
.
Mays paper covered many of the usual core
areas, points out the examiner in the PEG,
including share-based payments, pensions,
financial instruments, groups and ratio and
financial analysis. That said, many answers
illustrated how genuinely unprepared the
candidates were for answering on these
technical areas.
The consolidation questions were extremely
well answered in May, and a high number of
candidates scored full marks. The examiner was
particularly pleased that candidates were able to
deal with trickier areas like substance over form
and financial instruments.
Candidates continue to struggle with investorfocused ration calculation and analysis. The
attempts at question 3 were poor and the parts
of both Q5 and Q7 that dealt with the investors
viewpoint were not answered well. PQ
We have lots more analysis of how CIMA
students perform by question on page 22.
The University for

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Come along to our special event
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Wednesday 20th August 2014
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Talk to a CIMA representative
Ask any questions you have about your

specific study route
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please go to www.cimasyllabus.eventbrite.co.uk
20
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PQ CIMA 2010 syllabus
OPERATIONAL LEVEL
How do you beat the CIMA examiners? Weve got a mark-bymark analysis of how you are tackling the Operational level
ENTERPRISE OPERATIONS
.
The hot verbs in this paper are describe and explain. The E1 examiner revealed that
students generally perform well in Q1 (see below for confirmation). However, sitters
seem to struggle with Q2 and again in the longer 25-mark questions. The examiner
wondered if students are allocating enough time to answer Q3 and Q4.
PQs continually use models as a framework for answers, and this isnt what the
examiner wants. Another no-no is knowledge dumping.
Although the examiner does not want to be prescriptive about the sequence in
which candidates tackle the exam paper, the key thing is to get your battle plan right
and stick to it.
It was also pointed out that examiners answers are not intended to be model
answers. They are more expansive than what a student could produce in the exam
hall, but the style is worth noting if you want to impress.
QUESTION 1 (MCQS)
May 2012
November 2012
May 2013
November 2013
QUESTION 2 (6x5 MARKS)
May 2012
November 2012
May 2013
November 2013
QUESTION 3 (25 MARKS)
May 2012
November 2012
May 2013
November 2013
May 2012
November 2012
May 2013
November 2013
All
82%
83%
80%
72%
MARKS PER QUESTION

UK
Africa
85%
81%
84%
83%
81%
77%
74%
69%
All
49%
47%
53%
47%
UK
52%
52%
57%
51%
Africa
45%
45%
48%
45%
All
36%
34%
42%
43%
UK
38%
38%
47%
49%
Africa
34%
33%
40%
38%
All
40%
37%
37%
39%
UK
43%
42%
42%
41%
Africa
38%
34%
33%
37%
FINANCIAL OPERATIONS
.
The F1 examiner also tells PQs to prepare their verbs for this exam. That
means you must know what explain and prepare mean in the context of
the exam. Students are underperforming in the MCQs and short questions
in this paper, and the worry is that too much question spotting is going on.
Areas that students need to do more work on are:
The IASB framework and roles the regulatory environment.
Cashflow statements.
Deferred tax.
Foreign taxation of subsidiary.
Fair value.
When it comes to the exams the markers want to see your workings; at
present these are inadequate on many scripts.
The examiner explains that when it comes to the accounting standards
you need to understand the general principle used and be able to explain
and apply it.
22
And, remember, mark allocation in F1 is based on the level of difficulty

and the time that it takes to complete a calculation.
QUESTION 1 (MCQS)
May 2012
November 2012
May 2013
November 2013
May 2012
November 2012
May 2013
November 2013
All
62%
63%
49%
45%
All
37%
41%
45%
45%
MARKS PER QUESTION

UK
Africa
64%
57%
62%
60%
49%
44%
47%
41%
UK
39%
42%
46%
47%
Africa
33%
37%
39%
42%
CIMA 2010 syllabus PQ
HOW IT ALL WORKS

PERFORMANCE OPERATIONS
.
The P1 examiner explained that Q1 tends to be well answered
by sitters. However, Q2 tends to be weaker everywhere, not just
in the UK. A particular concern for Q2 is the weakness of
narrative parts of candidates answers.
The performance at Q3 and Q4 tend to be split with the
calculations section well answered and the rest poorly. Another
surprise for the examiner is just how badly PQs answer the
project appraisal sections in Q4.
Students are also affected by any change in question, such
as the ABC question and negative NPV, which appeared in
November 2012.
If you are looking at the verb count for this paper over the
past four sittings then you need to focus on explain, calculate
and evaluate. Theres also a bit of preparing and evaluating to
do.
The examiner provided a list of technical areas where
students need to get better:
Variance analysis a basic understanding.
EV with perfect/imperfect info too much rote learning here.
Sensitivity analysis.
IRR.
Material mix and yield variance.
Tax depreciation in NPV.
What the examiner really wants is for you to understand the
difference between explain and discuss. Layout is also
important, for two main reasons. First, it makes it easier for you
to work through the calculations in a structured way. Second, it
makes it easier for the marker to follow what you have done.
You also need to understand how this paper works. Section B
of each of the paper normally consists of three computational
questions and three narrative questions, although occasionally a
question can be a mixture of both.
QUESTION 1 (MCQS)
May 2012
November 2012
May 2013
November 2013

May 2012
November 2012
May 2013
November 2013
Question 4 (25 marks)
May 2012
November 2012
May 2013
November 2013
All
56%
64%
52%
55%
All
50%
46%
53%
42%
MARKS PER QUESTION

UK
Africa
56%
50%
64%
57%
54%
43%
55%
51%
UK
51%
46%
53%
40%
Africa
44%
40%
45%
35%
MARKS
All
60%
53%
48%
61%
PER QUESTION
UK
Africa
61%
54%
52%
44%
50%
36%
60%
53%

All
May 2012
57%
November 2012
39%
May 2013
33%
November 2013
45%
UK
62%
44%
37%
52%
Africa
50%
31%
24%
37%

All
May 2012
41%
November 2012
53%
May 2013
54%
November 2013
55%
UK
43%
59%
58%
59%
Africa
34%
42%
46%
48%

All
May 2012
52%
November 2012
47%
May 2013
46%
November 2013
45%
UK
57%
49%
49%
48%
Africa
42%
36%
37%
36%
For more feedback on F1 see page 20

23
PQ pensions
COMFORT LEVEL
How are you going to achieve a comfort pension level? Graham McDonald answers an age-old question
recent study by NEST (National Employment Savings Trust) has

suggested that a basic comfort level of income in retirement is
15,000 a year; though at that level around one third of
pensioners struggle to meet their energy and grocery bills each month.
The same survey suggests overall satisfaction with life rises by 7% for
each additional 5,000 of income up to 40,000, at which point further
increases in income do not significantly add to satisfaction.
Your state pension will give you around 8,000 of income so you will
need to build up a saving pot to provide the rest. Table 1 shows the
amount you need to have saved by retirement in order to generate
retirement income of between 15,000 and 40,000.
For simplicity, the following calculations will be based on real income
and real returns so we can ignore the impact of inflation. I will also assume
constant real returns of 5%, a retirement age of 70 and life expectancy of
90.
Table 1: Total savings required to achieve four target levels of income
Desired Retirement Income
15,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
less State Pension
8,000
8,000
8,000
8,000
Income Required from Saving
7,000
12,000
22,000
32,000
Total savings required
87,235.47
149,546.52
274,168.63
398,790.73
The sooner you start, the easier it gets. Table 2 shows the monthly
amounts you need to save to achieve these different levels of income
starting at ages 25, 30, 35 and 40.
Table 2: Monthly saving needed to achieve desired retirement income
starting at ages 25 40
Target Income
15,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
Savings start at age
25
43.05
73.80
135.30
196.79
30
57.17
98.00
179.66
261.33
35
76.79
131.63
241.33
351.02
40
104.82
179.69
329.43
479.17
To achieve a real return of 5% you are going to need to invest in some
risky assets; bank savings will only earn around half of your required
return. What follows does not constitute investment advice but please do
consider the following options facing you.
Active or passive management?
Most investors do not have the time to build and then monitor a portfolio of
30 to 40 individual assets which you need to spread your risks sufficiently.
Your choice then is to invest in a Collective Investment Scheme run by an
active fund manager who will attempt to beat the market or a passive
tracker fund manager who will invest across the market and achieve the
average market return. All of the evidence suggests that tracker funds
generate superior net-of-fees returns.
An active manager will charge usually 3% of assets under management
Investment ace:
the legend that is
Warren Buffett
each year compared to a tracker fund that will charge around 1%. That
doesnt sound like a big difference but it hides two vital details. These fees
are what the fund managers pay themselves; they exclude transaction
costs which are incurred by active, but not tracker, funds.
Research suggests that transaction costs and other expenses add
another 2% to the cost paid by the investor in an active fund. The
percentage of assets under management is also misleading; its how much
of the return they take each year that impacts on how much wealth you
will accumulate see Table 3, below.
Table 3: The impact of fees on 1,000 portfolio earning a 6% real return
Tracker fund
Active fund
Manager fees
1.00%
3.00%
Other costs
0.50%
2.00%
All-in cost
1.50%
5.00%
Return before fees
All-in Cost
Net return
Net return to investor %
60
50
10
1.00%
Warren Buffett the great active investor tells Mrs Buffett to invest her
money in tracker funds; when you look the impact of the higher costs of
active management, you can easily see why.
Which index to track?
The FTSE 100 is an index measuring the change in value of the 100
largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. With an objective
of long-term growth it is not a good index to track; you are following the
companies that have already grown to be the largest. You would expect
better returns over time from the All-share index where your portfolio will
still be invested in these large blue-chip firms but also be able to benefit
from the growth of the younger firms that will grow to be the 100 largest in
the future.
In summary: invest in a tracker fund so you keep more of the growth
and start saving as soon as you can to get your wealth compounding as
much as possible. PQ
Graham McDonald is CFA Programme Director at LSBF
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PQ working capital
A SPLIT DECISION
hen questions ask about aggressive

and conservative approaches to
managing working capital, students
often confuse the fact that there are actually two
separate, decisions to make an Investment
Decision and a Financing Decision.
In terms of double entry bookkeeping, the
Investment Decision is the size of the debit you
plan to have on your balance sheet how much
you intend to invest in inventory and receivables,
less payables. The Financing Decision is where
the credit comes from either short-term or
long-term sources of finance. Breaking your
discussion down into these two areas is
analytical and constructive and very good for
maximising marks.
The Investment Decision

.
Investing in working capital is about balance
essentially balancing customer/supplier goodwill
with cash flow and profitability. Keep excessive
inventories and youll always have something to
sell, but youll have to pay to store it, it needs to
be paid for before you sell it (so costing you
finance charges) and risks obsolescence or
shrinkage (workers taking a five-fingered
discount home in the boot of their car).
However, too little inventory and you could run
out of things to sell and lose business.
High receivables again needs financing (its
High payables (a credit balance, remember)

might be a tempting source of finance but it may
mean youre paying your suppliers late. They will
de-prioritise you and they may even put you on
stop, or sue you.
In summary, the investment decision is a
matter of careful balance big debit
(conservative) or smaller debit (aggressive).
Taking a two-pronged approach to

working capital questions will really
pay dividends, says Peter Woolley
The Finance Decision

.
Finance (or corresponding credit to the debit)
can be more from short-term (aggressive) or
long-term (conservative) sources. This is more
a matter of choice, or risk appetite.
A mix that includes more short-term finance is
profitable but risky. Profitable because shortterm finance is generally inexpensive its lower
risk from the lenders perspective, overdrafts
only incur charges when used, and trade
payables may even be free. And risky because
of renewal risk (with short-term finance you have
to go back to the bank more often to renew the
finance, increasing the chance of them saying
no in any period) and rate risk (when you renew
the finance, you dont know the interest rate you
will be charged).
To decide between aggressive and
conservative, apply commercial logic and
support your opinion. For example, an already
risky business may not want to compound that
risk by financing working capital aggressively.
Split your analysis into the Investment
Decision and the Finance Decision to keep a
cool head, and watch your marks rack up. PQ
Peter Woolley, Reed Business School
money in your customers bank accounts, not

yours) and increases the risk of default. Too little
might mean youre chasing customers too
aggressively so, again, risking losing business
to the competition.
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26
technical update PQ
LETS GET TECHNICAL
Gareth John has variances in

his sights in this months
technical article for AATs
Material usage variance

Based on actual production in units
Should use (1,100 units x 5kg/unit)
Did use
Variance (kg)
Management accounting involves many

specific activities: costing, decisionmaking, budgeting and, most importantly
for the purposes of this article, control.
Control is the process of comparing the
actual performance of a business against
what was expected to identify where
improvements are needed. One common
tool for exercising control is variance
analysis.
A variance is simply a difference. If
sprint ace Usain Bolt challenged me to a
100-metre race there would be a large
variance in our finish times; with all his
recent media commitments his training
has slumped quite badly since the last
Olympics!
For the purposes of this article I am
going to focus on the direct material cost
variances using the following example:
Budget 1,000 units using 5,000 kg of
material at a total material cost of
50,000.
Actual 1,100 units using 5,390 kg of
material at a total material cost of
59,290.
DERIVING STANDARD INFORMATION
Standards are the targets we expect to
meet for each unit produced. They are
therefore derived from budgeted
information we were given:
Standard usage of material =
5,000 kg/1,000 units = 5 kg per unit.
Standard price of materials =
50,000/5,000 kg = 10 per kg.
Standard cost of materials =
50,000/1,000 units = 50 per unit (or
5 kg per unit x 10/kg)
These standard figures are what we
expect.
CALCULATING THE TOTAL VARIANCE
The total variance is the difference
between the cost in the flexed budget
and the actual cost incurred. Notice that
we compare the actual result to the
flexed budget rather than the original
budget to make sure that we are
comparing like with like in terms of
volume. It is hardly surprising that we
spent more than the original budget of
50,000 as we produced more than the
1,000 units that we were budgeting.
There are different ways to calculate
variances but the approach I have always
found easiest to use is to learn proformas
(or templates) that we can insert figures
into. The proforma for the total direct
material cost variance (with figures
inserted) is:
Valued at the standard cost per kg

Variance ()
5,500 kg
5,390 kg
110 kg
(favourable)
10
1,100
(favourable)
The usage variance is favourable as we

used less than the 5 kg/unit that we
expected. This will improve profit.
You can check that if you combine the
material price and material usage
variances, you get the total direct material
cost variance. 5,390 (A) plus 1,100 (F)
does indeed give 4,290 (A).
INTERPRETING VARIANCES
As well as calculating variances it is
important that you understand what may
have caused a particular variance to
arise. For instance, in our example here:
The adverse material price variance
means that we spent more per kg than
expected which could have been caused
by a market shortage of the material
resulting in an increased price.
The favourable material usage
variance means that we used less
material than expected which could have
been caused by reduced levels of
wastage in the production process.
Total direct material cost variance

Based on actual production in units
Should cost (1,100 units x 50/unit)
Did cost
Variance ()
This is an adverse variance as we have
clearly spent more than expected even
when the increase in volume is
accounted for. This will reduce the profit
that the business makes.
BREAKING DOWN THE
TOTAL VARIANCE
We can dig a bit deeper into the reasons
that we spent more than expected. This
could be down to two main factors: the
price we paid for each kg of material
purchased, and the quantity of kgs used
for each unit produced. These are the
material price and material usage
variances.
Material price variance
Based on actual purchases in kg
Should cost (5,390 kg x 10/kg)
Did cost
Variance ()
The price variance is adverse as we
spent more than the 10/kg that we
expected. This will reduce profit.
55,000
59,290
4,290
(adverse)
Gareth John is a
tutor/director with
First Intuition and
helps to manage
their AAT online
learning
programme. He
was PQ Magazine
Accountancy
Lecturer of the
Year in 2011.
Follow him on
twitter
@aattoptutor
53,900
59,290
5,390
(adverse)
LINKS BETWEEN VARIANCES

It is particularly exciting if we can think of
a single reason why both variances may
have arisen. For instance in this example,
perhaps the business made a decision to
purchase higher quality materials than in
the past. Higher quality materials will
tend to be more expensive (hence the
adverse price variance) but hopefully
requires a reduced quantity in production
(hence the favourable usage variance).
Now heres one for you to attempt dealing
with labour variances. Once you have had
a go watch me working through my
solutions at
www.firstintuition.co.uk/blog/aat-blog.html
Budget 2,000 units using 6,000 labour
hours at a total cost of 48,000.

Actual 1,800 units using 5,760 labour
hours at a total cost of 43,200.
1. Calculate the standard information for
labour.
2. Calculate the total direct labour cost
variance.
3. Calculate the labour rate and labour
efficiency variances.
4. Suggest some reasons why the
variances calculated may have
arisen. PQ
27
PQ ICAEW spotlight
THERE ARE OTHER

PATHS TO GLORY!
ast year saw the launch of two

exciting new routes to becoming
an ICAEW chartered accountant:
the Authorised Training Principal (ATP)
scheme, and the Joint Programme with
the Chartered Institute of Taxation
(CIOT), which combines the ACA
qualification with the CTA.
The ATP scheme goes back to the
roots of chartered accountancy training
echoing the Articled Clerks training
process which ran until 1973. Currently
available in China, Malaysia, Singapore
and the UK, the scheme provides an
opportunity for qualified accountants to
help support the next generation and
their profession, by sharing their valuable
knowledge, insight and experience. It will
also help build skills in mentoring and
management, without becoming an
ICAEW Authorised Training Employer on
a large scale, and provides organisations
with a new opportunity to create problem
solvers who will gain the technical
knowledge, professional skills and
practical experience that will benefit their
day-to-day and project-based work.
Dedicated staff
.
An ATP is an individual who supervises
up to four ACA students within their team
or organisation. They guide, review and
advise students throughout their ACA
training and help them to gain the
technical knowledge, professional skills
and practical experience to become
ICAEW chartered accountants. The
process of becoming an ATP is
straightforward and free. ICAEW supports
organisations throughout with a
dedicated member of ICAEW staff and
access to useful resources.
One of the biggest benefits of training
for the ACA qualification is the support
you receive from your employer; the ATP
scheme is not exempt from the
requirement to provide rigorous training
and support. ATPs must still sign up to
training students under a formal training
agreement, which sets out the
commitment to training and support on
both sides. They must hold six-monthly
review meetings with students as a
minimum, and manage the
administration of training records and
other requirements online.
An ATP must be a member of ICAEW
or a full member of ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA,
ICAS or CAI (or international equivalent)
28
There are two routes to ICAEW membership that you might not have heard
about the Authorised Training Principal scheme and the Joint Programme
with at least two years membership, and

should be in a senior position. This
ensures that ATPs have sufficient
experience, and the skill set to support
and mentor ACA students during what is
a crucial stage of their career.
Or, if the ACA qualification isnt
enough for you, and you are considering
specialising in tax, you could consider
going for double chartered status with
the ACA/CTA Joint Programme.
PQ reported the launch of this scheme
last year, and the first sitting of the joint
paper in the Taxation of Major Corporates
took place in July.
Those students who successfully
complete this route, which could be done
in as little as three to four years, will be
eligible to apply for membership of both
ICAEW and CIOT (provided they have
undertaken relevant professional work in
tax and accountancy during their
studies). This is a year quicker than the
traditional path of training to become a
CTA after qualifying as an ICAEW
chartered accountant.
The programme offers two routes
through which students can either
specialise in tax affairs of FTSE 350
companies or other larger corporates
under the Taxation of Major Corporates
route, or in indirect tax on the Indirect
Tax route, from the start of their training.

Students complete all the requirements
for the ACA and CTA in a way that
considerably reduces the study overlap,
time out of the office and tuition costs. It
still enables the employer to be confident
that the student has gained the relevant
skill-set required for a tax adviser and
ICAEW chartered accountant ready to
advise at the highest level.
The combination of these two well
respected programmes creates a more
efficient route to becoming an
accountancy and tax specialist. Both
routes replace the ACA Business
Planning: Taxation module with a
specialist exam module in either Taxation
of Major Corporates or Indirect Tax,
depending on the route selected. Work
experience, ethics and professional
development requirements for both
bodies must also be met.
Online, distance and classroom study
is available for all programme modules,
which also enables a flexible approach to
the programme. Tuition for the TOMC
paper is offered by Kaplan Financial and
tuition for the Indirect Tax papers are
offered by Tolley Tax Training.
To find out more about both of these
routes, visit www.icaew.com/atp and
www.icaew.com/aca-cta PQ
CIPFA conference PQ
he annual CIPFA Student

Conference 2014 proved again a
great success, helping students
gain industry insight as well as tangible
development skills and tips. Students also
had the opportunity to network with each
other, CIPFA members and industry
exhibitors at the main CIPFA conference,
entitled Risk, Resilience, Reform.
The first part of the London conference
saw two high-profile speakers take to the
stage. Chris Giles, Economic Editor of the
Financial Times, spoke on the subject of
Risk Resilience or Reform? What lies
ahead for the economy?, addressing the
real prospects for the UK public services
and the reality of recovery. President of
YouGov Peter Kellners talk was entitled
The people have spoken what are the
expectations and priorities? It looked at
UK citizens expectations for public
services and for the future government.
Students then moved on to their own
tailored event, where they received
sessions on Transformational Coaching
from Royston John, management
consultant from the Centre for Mentoring
& Coaching. This session addressed ways
in which CIPFA students could enhance
their leadership and management tool
box, by looking at new ways of finding
solutions to meet the demands and
challenges of a fast-paced work
environment. This was followed by
sessions on volunteering, clarity and
Future perfect
The emphasis was on developing skills for PQs at this years annual conference
Top gun: CETC Tutor

Helen Brain was
the winner of the
2014 Excellence in
Education award
impact, and status and

impact of the nonverbal. These provided
everyday work skills
and the opportunity to
make a difference both
personally and
professionally.
Finally, students were
able to hear from Mike
Owen and Rob
Whiteman, President
and CEO of CIPFA
respectively, about the
overall objectives of the institute, the
prospects for those with a career in
finance and the options available to
students to develop varied and exciting
careers and make a real impact on
society.
CIPFA Graduate Trainee Megan
Atwooll, from the Hackney Learning
Trust, said of her first CIPFA conference:
I found it to be an extremely interesting
and enjoyable day. With the theme of the
conference being Risk, Resilience and
Reform, we heard a lot of opinions on
the tougher times ahead that public

services face, but it also gave an insight
into ways in which we can move forward
under these increasingly difficult
circumstances.
Being from an economics
background, the morning talk from Chris
Giles was my personal highlight,
providing a clear explanation of the link
between how macroeconomic changes in
the UK, Europe and the rest of the world
are affecting our ability to deliver public
services in the UK.
She added: The student part of the
conference also gave us a chance to
learn how to make an impact, with
practical examples of the importance of
clarity in written documents whether in
reports at work, CVs or in exams. PQ
!
!
"""#$%&%'()%*+),$-'#./#01!
29
CIMA focus PQ
Worldwide success for graduates

Graduates from across the globe
shine at Manchester Met University
nternational students in Manchester were

joined by CIMA President Keith Luck as they
graduated from the highly successful CIMA
degree programme at Manchester Metropolitan
University (MMU).
Students from 17 different countries visited
Manchester in July to celebrate their graduation,
with the courses seeing their highest pass rates
since they began in 2011. Luck commented on
the success of the distance learning courses,
saying: The delivery method of the courses has to
be the future for a global organisation such as
CIMA to work with, and we are keen to develop
our relationship with MMU further.
Luck will encourage his successors to maintain
and build on the relationship with MMU. It
should be something the Honorary Officers
include in their diaries for years to come, he said.
The programmes, provided by MMU, offer
students and members of CIMA the opportunity to
top up their qualification to a masters or
undergraduate degree. The one-year, online
courses enable professionals to complete the parttime study at a flexible and independent pace.
Lorraine Marevich, a management accountant
at Crane BS&U Ltd, graduated with a first-class
honours degree in Sustainable Performance
Management after she was determined to take her
Top dogs: Keith Luck with MMU graduates

CIMA Advanced Diploma further.
Marevich commented on her success and
enjoyment of the course: The research I
conducted, I loved. The course allowed me to
become immersed in the subjects I was studying.
It opened my eyes to a whole world of commercial
subjects; I was given freedom to research and
learn in my own time, and in my own way.
Due to the online nature of the programmes,
there is a high level of global interest, with
students from 33 different countries enrolling in

2013/14.
Suren Panday, a seasoned executive and CEO
of SADL Consulting Services, achieved a first-class
degree MSc in Strategic Business Management,
and travelled from Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa,
to celebrate his graduation. Panday began his
studies when he endeavoured to further his
research into business failure in SMEs, with the
definitive goal of reducing unemployment and
business failure in South Africa.
Panday commented: The partnership between
MMU and CIMA was extremely apposite to my
studies and provided me with an opportunity to
link with a reputable UK business. The course is
well structured and demanding, with excellent
academic support offered from MMU.
From here, Panday aims to further his research,
which he conducted throughout his MSc, to assist
the SA government in stimulating the growth of
SMEs and to reduce unemployment.
The courses offer an invaluable opportunity to
onset research, and provide students the
opportunity to further this for future research
reports and materials.
MMU offers two top-up degree courses for
CIMA students and members, an MSc in Strategic
Business Management and a BA in Sustainable
Performance Management. PQ
For more information on these courses visit
www.business.mmu.ac.uk
31
PQ careers
In praise of internal auditing

Paul Clutton discusses the
benefits of a rewarding career
in internal audit
f you are considering your career

options and are looking for a role
that will raise your profile and give
you broad exposure to all areas of a
business, then internal audit could be the
right move for you yet is one that can
be easily overlooked as a career option.
A job in internal audit is a great way to
get your foot in the door of an
international blue chip business.
Accountants, ACA, CA or ACCAs with a
track record in external audit, especially
from a Big 4 or Top 10 accounting firm,
are in high demand as the UK economy
grows. It is important to know that
internal audit is commonly seen as a
talent pool in large businesses, providing
fast-track career progression into the
wider sphere of finance or operations.
Often regarded as a key stage in the
development of future finance leaders,
many finance directors of todays FTSElisted companies began their early steps
in the industry in internal audit.
Internal auditors have unrivalled
Paul Clutton
exposure to board directors and senior

management across organisations,
helping them to build effective internal
networks and ensure their talent is
recognised, so they are often sought out
for internal career moves.
They also have exposure to operational
and functional heads so are able to apply
their know-how across all financial and
operational areas and see the impact of
their recommendations and decisions.
Such is the reach of internal audit that
you can expect to significantly raise your
profile, impressing senior decisionmakers and hiring managers. Youll also
develop company-wide insights that can
STUDY AAT LEVEL 2, 3 & 4

GAIN ACCOUNTING
WORK EXPERIENCE
be invaluable for your fast-track

progression into management roles.
Internal auditors typically acquire
much more than simply snapshots of
stand-alone business units; appreciating
instead what it takes for complex
organisations to operate effectively. Your
unique perspective will let you identify
which areas of business represent the
best potential for the organisation, and
those that appeal to your own career
objectives, and allow you to develop a
career plan.
As an internal auditor you will develop
crucial analysis and influencing skills.
You may also have the opportunity to
travel internationally, increasing your
understanding of the wider business and
raising your cultural awareness.
Internal audit is far removed from its
compliance-oriented image and offers an
exciting and varied career. Todays
internal auditors act as proactive,
consultative business partners, reducing
risk and adding real commercial value.
For more information on internal audit
careers see www.hays.co.uk/
accountancy PQ
Paul Clutton is Head of Corporate
Governance at Hays Senior Finance
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32
career profile PQ
We spoke to Jasmine Brook,

just 22 but already qualified.
She works for Wellers
Accountants as a supervisor,
and recently starred in our
Life at feature see
PQ magazine, August 14
Why did you chose AAT at such a young
age? I had to be realistic and although I
enjoyed textiles and other subjects I felt I
wouldnt benefit from the same career path
as working as an accountant. They arent
particularly well-paid jobs in comparison to
the career I have now. I was comfortable
working with numbers at school and after
doing a bit of research I could see that AAT
is a highly recognised qualification. I think
whatever business you work in it is good to
have a basic understanding of the
financials.
How has having your qualification helped
with your work? It gave me a better
understanding of why I was doing certain
things in my role as a trainee; it also gave
me an understanding of the accounting
standards, which you do not necessarily
have time to look at during work.
Do you feel you missed out not going to
university? Not at all, I have got a
professional qualification at a young age
AGE IS NO BARRIER
with no student debt. I still go out with all

my friends who are at university so I dont
feel I have missed out on anything.
Did you find it difficult to be studying hard
while all your friends were out partying?
You really have to motivate yourself to
study, especially on a nice sunny day when
your friends are out drinking Pimms. But I
knew I could qualify at 21, so that really
gave me the motivation. I also went to Ibiza
every year after my June exams having a
reward, something to look forward to, gave
me real focus for the exams.
Do you have special revision techniques?
Study little and often, and start your study
early so that you do not keep putting it off.
Also, get a study partner someone to
work things through with and test each
other really helps. And make your own
revision cards carry these with you so
you become familiar with the syllabus.
Do people believe you when you tell them
you are a qualified accountant? No! They
usually say you don't look like an
accountant, but I think this a good thing
because accountancy is very stereotyped.
What do you do when you are not studying?
I love going abroad, visiting new places,
going out at the weekend with my friends
and watching the football with my Dad.
Having a
reward,
something to look
forward to, gave
me real focus
when preparing for
the exams
Have you ever lied about being an

accountant? No, I like the reaction on
peoples faces when I tell them what I do
I usually make them guess! I do not see
why I should lie, I think it is a great job to
have and it shows you are committed and
have worked hard to get where you are.
Actually, its a great talking point.
Is that it for studying? Or do you have plans
for more study? Never say never I am
embracing not having to study, enjoying life
and concentrating on my new qualified role
at Wellers. However, in the future I will
consider higher tax exams CTA. PQ
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33
PQ careers
The PQ Book Club
Life after paid work
EVERY MONTH WE REVIEW THE

BOOKS YOU SHOULD BE READING
David Hunt, 72, was the recent recipient of the IFAs Lifetime Achievement award. He
has been PKF Internationals Training Partner and HR Director; president of both AAT
and the IFA; and an ICAEW Council member. He has an MSc in Business Studies
Half Bad by Sally Green (Penguin,

7.99)
Former accountant Sally Green has
become a real media star following
the publication of the first in the
series of her Half Life trilogy.
PQ magazine gave the book to a
young adult the target audience
to read. They found it all a bit
confusing to start with as we discover
the main character, Nathan Byrn,
imprisoned in a cage. This is mainly
because the book switches between
second and first person narrative.
What time does your alarm

clock go off on a working
day? Whatever time I set it. Every
day is different and that is what
makes life so interesting.
Whats the first thing you do
when you get to your desk?
Turn on the computer.
Whats on your desk?
A sign that reads: Ive been
reading so much about the bad
effects of smoking, drinking, over
eating and sex that Ive decided to
give up reading.
Whats the best thing about
where you work? It is three
metres from my bed.
Wheres your favourite place
to go for lunch? Somerstown
Coffee House near St Pancras
their scotch eggs are awesome.
What can you see from your

desk? The next block of flats and
a lovely lawn with birdlife,
squirrels, trees, etc.
Which websites are your
favourites and why? The news
websites, mainly The Guardian
and overseas and the weather.
Which websites do you use
for work? Too many to name.
How many hours a week do
you spend in meetings? As
few as possible.
What time do you leave the
office? As early as possible.
How do you relax? Easily, after
years of practice. Five operations
for cancer and kidney failure twice
bring a sense of perspective.
Enjoy now, it is the only real
possibility.
Whats your favourite tipple?

A bottle of good wine with friends
never drink alone. It is the
fellowship that is important.
What is your favourite TV
show? Life is too interesting to
waste watching other peoples
enjoyment
Summer or winter? Summer (in
the UK).
Pub or club? Pub.
Who is your hero? Cant choose
between my three terrific sons.
If you had a time machine,
where would you go? Nowhere
the only time and place to enjoy
is now.
If you hadnt chosen
accountancy, where might
you be right now? In a home
for retired deep sea fishermen.
The workplace: how get to the top
Clare Needham offers five tips for

getting to the top while retaining
your human qualities
But, very quickly, Greens story
becomes I cant put this down.
Our reviewer really liked the bitesized chapters, which helps to push
you through the book. It also makes
it ideal for that holiday read, between
dipping in the pool.
The ending of this first book works
very well. The reader is left with a
happy glow, but wanting to know
what happens to Nathan. For that
you will need to wait until spring
when the second book, Half Wild, is
published. Green has created a
character that you care about.
The Harry Potter books were
written for children, but quickly
became must read for adults, too.
This is more of a grown-up read and
could be the real hit of the summer.
Going back to Green, we found out
that she worked in accountancy until
2010, when she discovered her love
of writing now she just cant stop.
The rights to her first book have been
sold in 36 countries and translated
into 31 languages.
So, what else do we know about
her? She used to keep chickens,
makes decent jam, doesnt mind
ironing and loves to walk in Wales,
even when its raining. Oh, and she
has to stop drinking all that coffee.
PQ rating: 4/5 We understand Fox
2000 has the movie rights this is
going to be big.
34
Be you, be known: Its better to be known for

something. This can be your personality, not just
your work. But its important that you stay true to
yourself. While you may see other people around you
whom you admire or would like to be like, dont try
and copy them. Leadership needs to be genuine.
Attitude not aptitude: A partner at KPMG had a
poster that said: Its your attitude, not your
aptitude, that determines your altitude. This is true
all accountants are intelligent, so you need to set
yourself apart from the rest. So you must:
Have a can-do attitude employers love the
person who goes the extra mile, pulls together for the
team and is willing to take on new tasks.
Smile we are all humans, we gravitate to those
who smile.
Make friends we are at work a long time, you
build better relationships professionally if you can
relate to people.
Work for success always strive for success and
the next opportunity. I dont believe they are ever
handed out on a plate. Dont be frightened to show
your career plan to your boss.
In brief
Be diverse: Do something new. It will be

uncomfortable at first, but thats when you learn
fast and it makes you more robust. Build up your
toolkit across finance reporting/statutory accounts/
commercial finance; the more wider experience you
have the more opportunities present themselves.
Dont be frightened to take a sideways move to gain
experience in more general management skills.
Dont forget the basics: Double entry never leaves
us if Im ever unsure I go back to double entry
and T accounts and I expect my team to as well.
Learn how to do reconciliations properly it is
important you understand what they represent.
There is nothing worse than being presented with a
screen dump or a spreadsheet that does not add up.
Presentation is also key money always has two
decimal places. Check, check and check again
businesses will make decisions on your analysis,
always ensure it is correct.
Be honest: Tell the truth and tell it early. If you
make a mistake, own up weve all done it, we
are all human. Its better to own up
early and rectify the problem than
leave it, letting it grow until someone
else finds it. Thats never a good
outcome.
Clare Needham is head of finance
at Wilkinson
by Muhammed Abdul-Jalil
Dont tell lies!

Students risk their future
by lying on job applications or
CVs, warns the UK fraud
prevention service
(CIFAS). In its new
publication Dont
finish your career
before it starts, it
attempts to dispel
the myth that white
lies on a CV are
harmless, acceptable and even

expected when looking for work.
CIFAS CEO Simon Dukes said:
Ignorance isnt an excuse if you
are caught out. He went
on: One young woman
whose case features in the
publication said she had no
idea she had committed a
criminal offence after
wrongly claiming to have
two A-levels and making
false references. She was jailed

for six months.
Sickie culture
Sick days are costing UK
business over 23bn a year. One
in three workers admits to having
pulled a sickie, says a PwC
study. The top reasons for not
making it to work are a hangover
(32%), boredom with the job
(26%) and to watch sport (8%).
SUITABILITY
AT WALKER DENDLE WE HAVE MANY DIFFERENT ABILITIES.

THE SUITABILITY OF OUR JOBS SETS US APART.
Walker Dendle Financial Recruitment has become established as a leading
recruiter of professional permanent and temporary nance staff in Surrey and
the surrounding area for over 12 years, lling a diverse range of part qualied
nance and accounting roles across nancial and management accountants to
commercial accounting and analysis to nance business partnering.
We continually focus on adapting and rening our service to suit you, offering sound and
knowledge based careers advice to part qualieds seeking their next, all-important job move.
For more information about the range of career openings available though Walker Dendle
Financial Recruitment, please contact:
Permanent Division perms@walkerdendle.co.uk
Temporary & Contract Division temps@walkerdendle.co.uk
Walker Dendle Financial Recruitment
Swan House, 51 High Street, Kingston Surrey KT1 1LQ
020 8408 9999

www.walkerdendle.co.uk
Find us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
EXAMS ARE OVER

Do you know where youre heading?
Contact your nearest Reed Accountancy branch.
Well help guide you in the right direction.
reedglobal.com/accountancyjobs
@ReedAccountancy
Reed Specialist Recruitment
Reed Accountancy
ITS CRUNCH TIME

PLAN YOUR CAREER NOW
Whether you are a part or newly qualied accountant,
its never too soon to start career planning.
We know its the time of year when you may be thinking about your next steps.
With over 100 ofces across the UK, we are the experts in nance careers and have
detailed knowledge of the best companies local to you. Through our extensive
networks, we are connected to the businesses you may want to work for and can
ofer you advice and guidance.
Book a condential 1-2-1 career clinic with one of our expert nance recruitment
consultants in a local ofce near you.
Contact Colin Harrison on 01708 795812 or email colin.harrison@hays.com
to take the next steps in achieving your dream career.
hays.co.uk/pq
Copyright Hays Specialist Recruitment Limited 2014. HAYS, the Corporate and Sector H devices, Recruiting experts worldwide, the HAYS Recruiting experts worldwide logo and Powering the World of Work
are trade marks of Hays plc. The Corporate and Sector H devices are original designs protected by registration in many countries. All rights are reserved.
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WALK THE WALK RING THOSE

PQ magazine was in CIMAs reception recently
when we came across their Global Corporate
Challenge award. Apparently, CIMA was the most
active accountancy organisation in 2013! After
some digging we found out that there is a group of
CIMA staff who measure every step they take, and
these figures are entered for the GCC. The winning
total in 2013 was an impressive 128,088kms, with
the average steps of each team member (there are
seven) 13,776 a day. Thats impressive. We were
told even CEO Charles Tilley is involved. One day
he managed 33,000 steps and was contacted by
the organisers to check it was actually him who
had achieved the total! Of course it was.
BELLES
If you are going to sponsor a team

then we cant think of a better one
than the Doncaster Belles. BPPs
Carl Lygo isnt just giving some
money, however his whole family
is involved! PQ magazine recently
caught up with the Lygos as they
were tying their banner to a fence
for a top-of-the-table clash with Millwall Lionesses at Beckenham
Towns ground in south London. And the result? An exciting 0-0
draw (although we have to say Doncaster should have won).
HES EATEN ALL WANT TO BE A LION TAMER?
HIS GREENS
Thanks to the PQ reader who sent in

this picture of a kebab house they
spotted in south London. We can assure
everyone Kaplan has no plans to branch
out into fast food this is a one off!
Now the last thing

PQ magazine wants
to have is a Mr
Cameron Bercow
moment, but we
had to smile when
we saw a picture of
Brian Smith of
Arnold Clark. He
walked off with the
Training Manager of
the Year at the Scottish Accountancy
Awards. Hes one big boy
JUST
FORGET IT!
WORST EXAM HOWLERS
Scientists believe they have found a pill that has the potential to wipe out the
painful memories of exam failure. It appears that mice given fingolimod (a
drug used in the treatment multiple sclerosis) enhanced memory extinction
of previous experiences that had caused pain. There are, of course,
concerns over the ethical use of the drug. It could eradicate the very essence
of what makes us human we learn from our mistakes, dont we?
WEV E
Test your IQ
The Monty Python

reunion tour has now
come to an end phew!
And, yes, the lion
tamer sketch was there
for all to see. For those
too young to remember
(nearly all of you)
Michael Palin plays an
unhappy chartered
accountant and John
Cleese a recruitment consultant. Palins spineless accountant
wants more excitement and a career change he wants to be a
lion tamer. By the end of the sketch he is convinced all the
excitement he needs can be found in banking!
Each year the Times Higher Education magazine runs an exam

howler feature. Heres our favourite real-life exam answers:
Q: Write an example of risk. A: This.
Q:To make centimetres into metres, you? A: Take out centi.
Q: What is a fibula? A: A small lie.
Q: Write two hundred thousand in figures. A: Two hundred
thousand in figures.
PQ magazine would love to hear from accountancy exam
markers about the howlers theyve come across.
GOT THE L OT
IQ tests are, we are told, used to

measure intelligence. They are more
and more common in the recruitment
process. We have three sets of books
to give away that should help
familiarise you with the different types
of tests Test Your IQ, IQ Testing
and IQ & Aptitude Test to giveaway.
Thats nearly 30 worth of books.
All we need from you is your name
and a postal address. Email graham@pqaccountant.com
head your email IQ Tests and we do the rest.
Word power for

every situation
Do you need to brush up your grammar and punctuation? Maybe

you are unsure of a definition or a synonym. Well, we have the
answer for you The Collins Home Reference Set, which would
set you back around 50. It includes an English Dictionary,
English Thesaurus, Grammar & Punctuation, Book of Quotations.
English Spelling, Bradfords Crossword Solvers Dictionary and
Scrabble Hints & Tips. Yes, thats seven books in all for this great giveaway.
To be in with a chance of winning this giveaway you need to send an email to
graham@pqaccountant.com. Head up your email Collins and please include your
name and address so we can post the prize straight after the draw!
Terms and conditions: One entry per giveaway please. You must send your name and address to be entered for the draw. All giveaway entries must be
received by Friday 5 September. The main draw will take place on Friday 12 September 2014
TO ENTER THESE GIVEAWAYS EMAIL GRAHAM@PQACCOUNTANT.COM

38
THE
COMPLETE ACCA COURSE
MANCHESTER
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and get 15% o your ACCA
part-time and a free tablet*
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a worry - you can now spread
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them.
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just o Portland Street, Manchester M1 4LF
*When you book a minimum of 6 part-time tuition papers. The Microsoft Surface oer is
available to eligible students on qualifying courses while stocks last. This promotion has not
been endorsed by Microsoft. Surface is a trademark of Microsoft, registered in the U.S. and
other countries. Oer expires 05/09/2014. Available to ACCA part-time students and selected
ACCA online study packages. ^Payments must be made on or before the specied date and
failure to comply will render the agreement null and void.
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IN BIRMINGHAM
At FBT we ensure
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Why choose FBT?
Expert tutors
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IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
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*When you book a minimum of 6 part-time tuition papers. The Microsoft Surface offer is available to eligible students on qualifying courses while stocks last. This promotion has not been endorsed by Microsoft.
Surface is a trademark of Microsoft, registered in the U.S. and other countries. Offer expires 05/09/2014. Available to ACCA part-time students and selected ACCA online study packages. ^Permanent average salary
per annum of a newly qualified ACCA accountant in London working in accounting and finance.Source: Robert Walters Global Salary Survey 2014. Payments must be made on or before the specified date
and failure to comply will render the agreement null and void.

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