I have just bought the Students guide to IFRS by Clare Finch, does anybody own this book? and could anybody tell me which sections i would need to concentrate on for level 4 AAT? I started reading the book last night and it is quite fun. I intend to read through all of the book but it seems to cover AAT, CIMA and ACCA exam topics and i was wondering if it only covers the CIMA and ACCA basics. Funny enough it is a Kaplan endorsed book too, theres no getting away from the big K.
I did have the book but gave it to my eldest boy as he is just starting out ACCA and it's not a bad starter text for paper F3 (or AAT). but it's not one that I would recommend for study at a level any higher than that and there are some serious shortfalls that you need to be aware of before you start assuming that the book is completely current and correct.
On Amazon I took umbridge at a large number of first time commenters commenting in a very short period of time and never posting another comment... Basically, I think it was the publishers trying to get it up the ratings by a load of people giving it five stars. On the back of that I dropped my two star review to one but the reality is that the books not that bad. Its just not what I was expecting from Kaplan. (you can read my review on Amazon. Userid is S.Morris "Shamus"... Or just go to the one star reviews for the book)
To add to the above Neil, the book is from 2008 but the IASB clarity project released major changes to many standards in 2009 /10.
The IASB's intention is for accounting standrads to be principles based, internally consistent and internationally converged.
In 2008 the internal consistency was still only a pipe dream but the clarity project is bringing them together with fair value measurement now far more widely referenced.
I think that some of the author's priorities are a bit mixed up.
IAS19, IAS21 and IFRS2 are complex area's but they are core and as such I feel that they should be in section 2 not 4
IAS24 really should be in section 1.
IFRS7 should be moved from section 2 to 4.
IAS17 and IAS36 should be moved up into section 1.
You are likely to have very little interest in these following standards :
IAS29, IAS41, IFRS4 or IFRS6.
If you want to learn the standards, regardless as to the section that the author puts them in, take a stack of index cards, write the standard name (i.e. IAS36) on one side and it's proper name (Impairment of Assets) on the other.
Start with five cards. When you have them memorised add one more card and redo the whole deck. Keep doing that until you have the whole deck memorised.
Everyday shuffle the cards (or you just memorise them in sequence) and do them both ways around. From the name to the stanard and the standard to the name.
As the IASB drop and add standards you just do the same with the deck.
The full current list for you to write out and learn are :
IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements
IAS 2 Inventories
IAS 7 Statement of Cash Flows
IAS 8 Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors
IAS 10 Events after the Reporting Period
IAS 11 Construction Contracts
IAS 12 Income Taxes
IAS 16 Property, Plant and Equipment
IAS 17 Leases
IAS 18 Revenue
IAS 19 Employee Benefits
IAS 20 Accounting for Government Grants and Disclosure of Government Assistance
IAS 21 The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates
IAS 23 Borrowing Costs
IAS 24 Related Party Disclosures
IAS 27 Separate Financial Statements
IAS 28 Investments in Associates and Joint Ventures
IAS 32 Financial Instruments: Presentation
IAS 33 Earnings per Share
IAS 34 Interim Financial Reporting
IAS 36 Impairment of Assets
IAS 37 Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets
IAS 38 Intangible Assets
IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement
IAS 40 Investment Property
IFRS 1 First-time Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards
IFRS 2 Share-based Payment
IFRS 3 Business Combinations
IFRS 5 Non-Current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations
IFRS 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures
IFRS 8 Operating Segments
IFRS 9 Financial Instruments
IFRS 10 Consolidated Financial Statements
IFRS 11 Joint Arrangements
IFRS 12 Disclosure of interests in Other Entities
IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement
IFRS for SMEs IFRS for Small and Medium sized Entities
And if you want to include them :
IAS 29 Financial Reporting in Hyperinflationary Economies
IAS 41 Agriculture
IFRS 4 Insurance Contracts
IFRS 6 Exploration and Evaluation of Mineral Resources
Note that IAS31 (Interests in Joint Ventures) now swims with the fishes as it's been replaced by IFRS11. However IAS31 is not official cmpletely defunct until January 2013)
IFRS10, 11, 12 and 13 are new stanards.
Financial instruments (IAS32, IAS39, IFRS7 and IFRS9) is an area where things are moving around the standards and is an area of a great deal of change. Beware of what you read in a 2008 book on these standards.
Revenue (IAS18) is a hot topic.
To understand the standards a very brief and up to date description of each is available from Deloitte. As an example here's a link to one of them :
http://www.iasplus.com/standard/ias16.htm
Just replace ias16 with whichever standard you are interested in.
Also don't forget to keep a weather eye on the IASB website for changes, additions and clarifications.
Good luck in your studies Neil. Sorry I'm not more positive about this particular book but regardless of that this is a major step in the right direction... I'll be seeing you at an ACCA exam centre yet
All the best,
Shaun.
p.s. Amended to emphasise that IAS31 whilst on it's deathbed is still clinging to life for another 12 months... So might be worth memorising it for exams in the near future.
-- Edited by Shamus on Friday 23rd of December 2011 11:40:19 AM
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Funny thing is, i was going to address this post to you Shaun, but thought it slightly cheeky of me. I'll swap the relevant IAS to your recommended section, but i knew the book was dated before i bought it so i'm not fussed about that. I think theres enough useful material to keep me interested. It's the little quotes i'm enjoying at the moment and the way it uses true stories to grab your interest, i'm still finding that bit difficult as i have no financial background whatsoever but some of the current news stories are now slightly more interesting. This book is mentioned as a recommended read in the opening pages of Kaplans Financial Statements study text so i thought i'd get myself something to chew on over Christmas. Thanks for that list and the advice and links, given me something to do now.
No probs matey and don't worry, it's not cheeky to direct questions such as this to me. Only issue really is that I'm not always around so sometimes direct messages might go unanswered for a long time or not get the length of response that they deserve.
I went through the anguish of finding a book like this myself a year or so back when ACCA imposed IFRS rather than UK GAAP on me... Not overly upset though as Cashflow statements under IFRS are Soooo much easier than under UK GAAP.
All of my study up until that stage had been UK GAAP and I think that the biggest problem I had was trying to unlearn everything that I had learnt up until then.
Thats the real issue with accountancy texts. They cost a fortune and they're out of date in no time.
You'll really find the deloitte briefing notes an absolute godsend in your studies.
I've actually got them all saved away on my hard drive... Just paranoid because in the past I've been using internet resources that have suddenly disappeared or become protected.... For one I'm thinking about AAT past exam papers here which once upon a time were a free resource.
Its also worth reading the standards in their original form and reading the ACCA and ICAEW articles and guidance on them.
All the best,
Shaun.
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Hey Shaun you feather ruffler, i'm laughing so hard right now, seems you have upset a certain author........
Thanks for the heads up on that other book, are these kind of books updated frequently? and i must add (and this goes for any other of my posts about training and study) that if my questions come across as childish, it is because i feel and know i am only at kiddie level. I'm not trying to jump the gun with study but i do enjoy reading and always have a book with me, why not carry a relevant study book instead of an old Rebus novel?
no worries what so ever as the level of questions posted. Always glad to help out where I can and I don't find your questions childish at all.
My Amazon reviews (not that there are that many of them) do tend to cover two ends of the spectrum and nothing inbetween. (basically "To be avoided" or "buy this now").
Clare may have unfairly received both barrels not due to the book per se which does a good job of introducing people new to IFRS at least to the existance of the various accounting standards. But rather because Kaplan push it as a must have where it is clearly a lot less content rich than a lot of other material out there.
It would actually be better to put the money towards a Kaplan study text for ACCA paper F7 (Corporate Reporting) or even P7 (advanced audit) which has an excellent, very short review of current accounting standards in the final chapter.
The books do go out of date very quickly espechially in these quite dynamic times for the industry.
The problem of course is that the publishers run off so many copies in a batch but if there is a whiff of an update the stock becomes virtually worthless.
One travesty out there still in publication is this one :
Its not actually called 2003-4 but Amazon have added that pressumably due to the number of returns.
The book was excellent in it's time giving detailed analysis of every standard from a practical perspective but at least 50% of the standards in this book have been superseded making it pretty much useful as a shelf filler but not a great deal of use for reference material... Its still in publication and costs £43.99!!!!
The more useful texts are seriously expensive to make up for their short run life cycle. You can pay above £100 for some texts on publication or pick them up in the larger Waterstones at the end of the year for £1.
If you fancy a semi fun read prior to doing any of the management accountancy papers. Try this one out.
Each theory gets no more than four pages written in an often amusing fashion. Reading this will give perspective to management theory... I found it espechially amusing that the Japanese were not actually that good at manufacturing and the management techniques of Just in Time and Total Quality Management were actually introduced to Japan by the Americans after WWII.
That one's right up there with IBM deciding that PC's were just going to be a flash in the pan so virtually gave away hardware development to a semi conductor manufacturing company called Intel and Software development to an insignificant company run from above a garage... What was there name... Oh yes, Microsoft!!!!
Wonder if any IBM executives ended up at the bottom of the ocean wearing concrete boots on the back of that decision!
All the best,
Shaun.
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
If you fancy a semi fun read prior to doing any of the management accountancy papers. Try this one out.
............................
... I found it espechially amusing that the Japanese were not actually that good at manufacturing and the management techniques of Just in Time and Total Quality Management were actually introduced to Japan by the Americans after WWII.
If you want an interesting read on Japanese management principles, have a look out for "The Toyota Way"
An interesting fact is, that they originaly made weaving machines, and developed a machine that would stop automatically if any threads broke. When they visited Britain in the 1920's to sell them to the cotton mills of the Midlands, they happened to visit a car manufacturer, and were so impressed they decided to go home and make their own. How things changed
Very interesting. With you saying cotton I had a delve and the rights to the automatic machine were bought by Platt Brothers. They had been the biggest manufacturer of textile machinery for decades but lost ground particularly because of the First World War. They also employed my Dad, but then so was half the town.
Ah-Ha... Apparently I'm not the only escapee of the big bang theory on here...
As Bill says.
Penny
Penny
Penny.... lol
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
I remember studying the cotton industry in history and manufacture has always captured my imagination. I especially remember the teacher showing us how to thread a needle by sucking the thread through the eye, needless to say this caused health problems for the workers, but he had the whole class trying to thread the needle the way you would think to do it while he had it done in a fraction of a second. We were then warned that his way would slowly kill you. Nice bloke.
I also remember reading (I think it was Henry ford) about the scrap or slag left over from the metal process turning rusty and that was when things started to be recycled (the iron ore). Very vague description i know, i'm off to google it again.
I'm having difficulty retaining stuff at the mo, everytime i learn something new it seems something old slips out of one of my ears.
Nah, I'm from the other side of the tracks in Blackley but me Dad was a Manchester vagrant. "... we moved when another child came along, or the rent was due, whichever came first!". He was born in Ashton, spent 4 years in Ireland, where they had servants, untill his own father refused to join the freemasons; part of an early job for Bass-Charrington was actually a tester for their top of the range 'red label' bottled beer. He's been writing a book for longer than the actual events took. He later worked at Streetbridge Mill in Royton where we used to have fantastic bonfire nights burning dozens of wooden pallets. Edit spelling.
I took some photos this year when they knocked down the mill on the corner for the new Aldi and a lady had come all the way from Birmingham to do the same thing. This link seems to be from a post-industrial archaeologist site whose members seem to go burrowing into old mills. Different world eh - no wonder half of them were deaf. http://www.urbexforums.co.uk/showthread.php/3477-Woolworths-Distribution-Warehouse-Rochdale.-April-09
Have a good one, Neil Can you ask for ear-plugs off someone. Tim
PS Start worrying when you can't work out how to set-up an eReader.
-- Edited by Don Tax on Saturday 24th of December 2011 10:44:11 AM
