ACCA (Global)

What you will practice:

Understand how organisations operate, the role of finance, governance and ethics, and the basics of technology and risk in business.

• Business organisation and structure; functions and how they interact
• Leadership, management and organisational culture
• Governance, social responsibility and sustainability basics
• Control, compliance and risk fundamentals (including fraud awareness)
• Technology, data and digital business concepts; cyber/data security awareness
• Professional ethics, ethical decision-making and professional behaviour
• Money laundering: definition, offences, detection, prevention and reporting

Tip: After topic practice, do mixed sets under time pressure and review missed questions immediately.

What you will practice:

Build strong financial reporting foundations: recording transactions, preparing basic financial statements and interpreting performance.

• Purpose of financial reporting and qualitative characteristics
• Accounting concepts and conventions; double-entry bookkeeping
• Recording business transactions (sales, purchases, payroll basics, cash/bank)
• Inventory and non-current assets (including depreciation)
• Accruals, prepayments, irrecoverable debts, provisions
• Reconciliations: control accounts and bank reconciliations
• Trial balance, correction of errors and suspense accounts
• Preparation of basic financial statements (sole traders, partnerships and companies)
• Basic interpretation of financial statements

Tip: After topic practice, do mixed sets under time pressure and review missed questions immediately.

What you will practice:

Learn management information for planning and control, including costing, budgeting, performance measurement and decision-making.

• Nature and purpose of management information; data handling basics
• Cost classification and cost behaviour
• Costing methods: job, batch, process and service costing (basics)
• Marginal vs absorption costing and profit reconciliation
• CVP analysis: break-even, contribution, margin of safety and limiting factors
• Budgeting and forecasting, including flexible budgets
• Standard costing and variance analysis (materials, labour, overheads, sales)
• Performance measurement fundamentals and basic decisions (pricing, make-or-buy, shutdown)

Tip: After topic practice, do mixed sets under time pressure and review missed questions immediately.

What you will practice:

Understand legal systems and key business law areas: contracts, employment, companies, governance and insolvency (variant-dependent).

• Sources of law, legal systems and dispute resolution (including arbitration where covered)
• Contract law: formation, terms, breach and remedies
• Delict/tort foundations (e.g., negligence) and duty of care
• Employment law fundamentals
• Formation and constitution of business organisations and companies
• Capital and financing: shares and loan capital basics
• Directors’ duties and powers; meetings and resolutions; governance concepts
• Insolvency overview and business failure concepts
• Fraud/criminal behaviour in business and professional regulation (variant-dependent)

Tip: After topic practice, do mixed sets under time pressure and review missed questions immediately.

What you will practice:

Apply taxation principles for individuals and businesses. Paper is jurisdiction-specific (e.g., TX-UK) but core structure is consistent.

• Tax system, administration, compliance obligations and ethics in taxation
• Income tax principles (employment, self-employment, property, savings/dividends where applicable)
• Reliefs/allowances and residence concepts (variant-dependent)
• Capital gains/capital taxes: computation principles and reliefs (variant-dependent)
• Corporation/company tax: taxable profits, adjustments and losses planning basics
• Groups of companies: group relief concepts (variant-dependent)
• VAT/GST or equivalent: registration, returns, adjustments and partial exemption where relevant
• Penalties, interest and disputes/enquiries fundamentals

Tip: After topic practice, do mixed sets under time pressure and review missed questions immediately.

What you will practice:

Prepare and interpret single-entity and consolidated financial statements and apply IFRS Accounting Standards at the FR level.

• Conceptual and regulatory framework for financial reporting
• IFRS-based reporting of key transactions at FR level (e.g., revenue, PPE, impairment, provisions, leases)
• Single-entity financial statements: SOFP, SOPL/OCI, cash flows and equity changes (as applicable)
• Financial instruments and income taxes (FR-level scope)
• Consolidated financial statements: subsidiaries and associates; goodwill; intragroup adjustments; NCI
• Interpretation and analysis using financial and selected non-financial indicators
• Digital/data awareness in the reporting context (as referenced in current outlines)

Tip: After topic practice, do mixed sets under time pressure and review missed questions immediately.

What you will practice:

Use management accounting techniques for planning, control and performance evaluation, including budgeting, variances and decision-making.

• Management information systems and performance measurement (including data/analytics themes)
• Advanced budgeting: incremental vs zero-based; activity-based budgeting; behavioural aspects
• Standard costing and advanced variances (mix/yield, planning/operational variances)
• Performance frameworks: KPIs, divisional performance, Balanced Scorecard
• Decision-making: relevant costing, limiting factors, pricing and product mix
• Risk and uncertainty (expected values, decision trees where included)
• Transfer pricing, responsibility accounting and quality/continuous improvement concepts

Tip: After topic practice, do mixed sets under time pressure and review missed questions immediately.

What you will practice:

Apply financial management for working capital, investment appraisal, cost of capital, valuation and risk management.

• Financial management objectives and stakeholder perspectives
• Financial markets, institutions and sources of finance
• Working capital management and short-term financing
• Investment appraisal: NPV, IRR, payback, ARR; relevant cash flows; sensitivity/scenario analysis
• Cost of capital: WACC; cost of equity and debt
• Capital structure and financing decisions; dividend policy concepts
• Business valuation fundamentals
• Risk management: interest rate and FX risk; hedging techniques (as per syllabus scope)

Tip: After topic practice, do mixed sets under time pressure and review missed questions immediately.

What you will practice:

Understand audit and assurance engagements: ethics, planning, risk assessment, controls, evidence, completion and reporting.

• Audit and assurance framework and regulation
• Professional ethics, independence and professional scepticism
• Engagement acceptance and audit planning
• Risk assessment and materiality
• Internal controls: documenting, evaluating, tests of controls
• Audit evidence: assertions, substantive testing, sampling and analytics
• Completion: subsequent events, going concern, written representations
• Audit reports and other assurance reports; modifications and implications

Tip: After topic practice, do mixed sets under time pressure and review missed questions immediately.

What you will practice:

Apply advanced corporate reporting and professional judgement in strategic contexts, including complex group issues and current reporting matters.

• Ethical and professional responsibilities in corporate reporting
• Advanced application of IFRS Accounting Standards in judgement-intensive areas
• Groups and complex groups: business combinations, restructurings, associates/joint arrangements, foreign operations (as covered)
• Advanced topics: financial instruments, leases, revenue, impairment, provisions and tax (as examinable)
• Analysis and interpretation of corporate reports and performance
• Narrative and wider reporting considerations where included in scope
• Current issues in corporate reporting (as per examinable documents and updates)

Tip: After topic practice, do mixed sets under time pressure and review missed questions immediately.

What you will practice:

Demonstrate strategic leadership, governance, risk and performance thinking through integrated case-based requirements and professional skills.

• Leadership and governance at strategic level
• Strategy formulation, evaluation and implementation
• Organisational control and performance management at strategic level
• Risk management and internal control
• Finance and financial management decision-making in business contexts
• Innovation, change and project management themes in case contexts
• Technology, data and IT/security controls at organisational level
• Professional skills: communication, analysis/evaluation, judgement, scepticism and commercial acumen

Tip: After topic practice, do mixed sets under time pressure and review missed questions immediately.

What you will practice:

Plan, manage and conclude complex assurance engagements at senior level, including group audits, reporting and current audit issues.

• Advanced legal/regulatory environment and professional/ethical issues
• Planning and managing assurance engagements; acceptance and continuance
• Evaluating risk and responses in complex engagements
• Quality management and practice management considerations
• Advanced evidence evaluation and conclusions under uncertainty
• Advanced reporting: complex audit opinions and other assurance reports
• Communications with those charged with governance
• Group audits and multinational/complex entity considerations
• Current issues and developments in audit and assurance

Tip: After topic practice, do mixed sets under time pressure and review missed questions immediately.

What you will practice:

Apply advanced tax planning and advisory judgement. Paper is jurisdiction-specific (e.g., ATX-UK) though core capabilities are consistent.

• Advanced tax planning for individuals (income, gains, residence/domicile themes where relevant)
• Advanced corporate tax planning: profits, losses and reliefs (variant-dependent)
• Groups, reorganisations and company/shareholder planning
• International/cross-border tax issues (to the extent covered by the chosen variant)
• Indirect tax planning and complex VAT/GST areas (variant-dependent)
• Ethics, anti-avoidance concepts, disclosures and managing tax risk/governance
• Advising on tax implications of major business/financial decisions with professional judgement

Tip: After topic practice, do mixed sets under time pressure and review missed questions immediately.