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ACCA FA (Financial Accounting)
Guides, Practice & Mock Exam
ACCA FA (Financial Accounting) or Foundation in Accountancy (FFA) is one of papers in Applied Knowledge Module. The syllabus states its aim is to introduce knowledge and understanding of:
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Underlying principles and concepts relating to financial accounting;
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Technical proficiency in the use of double-entry accounting techniques;
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Preparation of basic financial statements.
In examiner’s report, it highlights some areas that many students performance can be improved such as understanding of errors that may occur in financial statements, record share issue in financial statements and reconciliation of control account and ledger balances.
Examiner states that Financial Accounting paper requires you to have a thorough understanding of financial accounting techniques and the capability of preparing financial statements for both single and group entities.
It is not rare to find the wrong formats of financial statements are presented by students.
Therefore, you should pay extra care on writing the correct format of financial statements as these marks are considered as easy marks.
free STUDY TOOLS
Exam Structure
2-hour exam
All questions are compulsory. The 2-hour computer-based exam will assess all parts of the syllabus and will test knowledge and some comprehensive or application of this knowledge.
Section A includes 35 two-mark objective test questions covering all areas in the syllabus.
Section B comprises 2 15-mark multi-task questions and these will test consolidations and accounts preparation. The consolidation question could include a small amount of interpretation and the accounts preparation question could be set in the context of a sole trader or a limited company.
Syllabus
ACCA FA is one of the fundamental papers to begin with your ACCA professional qualification journey.
Its syllabus introduces to financial accounting techniques to use double-entry accounting techniques to prepare basic financial statements, such as Statement of Financial Position and Statement of Profit and Loss.
ACCA FA is the fundamental to ACCA FR (Financial Reporting) especially on accounting standards and financial statements preparation. An edge to ACCA FR if you master these techniques in ACCA FA.
There are 9 sections in the syllabus, which are –
A The context and purpose of financial reporting
Explain the context and purpose of financial reporting
B Accounting principles, concepts and qualitative characteristics
Define the accounting principles, concepts and qualitative characteristics of useful financial information
C The use of double-entry and accounting systems
Demonstrate the use of double-entry and accounting systems
D Recording transactions and events
Record transactions and events
E Reconciliations
Perform reconciliations
F Preparing a trial balance
Prepare a trial balance
G Preparing financial statements
Prepare financial statements
H Preparing basic consolidated financial statements
Prepare basic consolidated financial statements
I Interpretation of financial statements
Interpret financial statements
In the exam, you will see questions from every section in the summary above. There is no one area you can ignore as all of them will be in your exam. Perhaps you find the topics above are separated, however, they are linked together in real business world as well as the syllabus design.
Section A covers all areas in the syllabus. However, more marks are found in Recording Transactions and Events (Part D), Preparing Trial Balance (Part F) and Preparing Financial Statements (Part G) from Specimen paper.
Section B contains 2 longer questions on 2 areas which are preparation of basic financial statements for single entities and simple consolidated financial statements.
Time Management
The general principle in ACCA Financial Accounting Paper exam is 1 mark per 1.2 minute which means you have 100 marks to complete an exam within 120 minutes.
But you should be careful that the time spent on the case-based questions in Part B of the exam. It is probably more than what you need to work on objective test questions.
It is wise for you to practice mock exam to train your time management skills before you need to attempt the paper.
