Well i don't know whether or not i should say this Amanda (It may come back to bite me on the bum) but it was really enjoyable.

I'd rather sit all 5 exams again than try and complete the ICAS project.

The tax modules are quite useful and can be good fun, personal tax wasn't that interesting for me but business tax certainly was.

It's probably dealing with larger amounts of money in business tax that excites me, as i float off dreaming lol.

I'm sure you will enjoy both modules, i would definitely recommend the 2 taxes over the credit control and audit options, especially as you

have clients.


Neil.

It's a project Tim.

Basically i am given information about a business and i am expected to write a report detailing

different aspects of internal controls and systems. I am supposed to do a swot analysis and then

give some brief description of the areas i have picked up on, choose one of those and delve deeper

making recommendations and providing workings and proof of my recommendations and calculations.

It is supposed to be a work based project, so you would lets say, pick on your accounts receivable

department and pull it to bits, putting it back together with recommendations for any changes and

why. I don't have an accounts department and i have never wrote a report. It does say that i can

look at other reports to get the general gist but again, i have none of those. I haven't a clue where

to begin with it. Reading someone elses report is the only way i think i'm going to understand what

to do.

Neil.

I did this earlier in the year with BPP and they had a sample report in the text book they sent. Also, the textbook had a chapter for each chapter of the report which pretty much had all the answers in it. The case study had such obvious errors that you won't have any trouble finding enough to write about!

I did it a chapter at a time and the tutor gave feedback on what needed changing. Then you resubmit that chapter along with the next one and it gets looked at again. By the time you get to the last chapter your report is almost complete. Then there is another final run through by the tutor. The only trouble i had was keeping within the word count.

So don't panic. Read through the stuff you've been given, just focus on the first bit you have to give in. Then the next one etc. It will be fine. It's actually probably easier than most of the exams, just a bit time consuming. And a bit annoying that you get into it, write a section then have to wait a few weeks to get the feedback by which time you've forgotten about it all and have to start reading it all again!

good luck.

Hi Neil,

very occassionally I have to admit that BPP get things right and Kaplan get them wrong. This sounds like one of those cases.

Is this one the book that you need :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=978+14453+9499+2

At £14.25 it has to be worth an investment if it gets you over the final hurdle.

All the best matey,

Shaun.

p.s. whats Santa bringing you?

Yeah, i've been toying with the idea of trying the BPP book, it's just such a shame that Kaplan seem to

have fallen at the final hurdle so to speak. I've ordered it anyway, as you say for less than 15 quid if it

helps me get the gist then i'm on a winner.

Been reading the Colin Drury Management and Cost Accounting book for a couple of hours this morning.

Some stuff was touched upon with AAT, some because of my incessant noseyness while studying. All

Fascinating stuff. How well does this book relate to CIMA and ACCA ( i know the practise questions are

taken from past papers) and how much of it's topic does it cover?

I also bought Financial Accounting and Reporting by Mr Barry Elliott, Jamie Elliott for 60p lol. If it's crap it's

cheap bog roll.

The Colin Drury book will always come in handy for whacking Ganglions if nowt else lol.

I hope to get a copy of the latest Batman on Blu-ray to complete my collection for Christmas. It's my 40th as

well on Boxing Day so i may get a new Lexus, maybe not.

Since it is solely my job to ensure everybody else has a big smile for the holidays, the kitty is usually quite poor

when it's time to treat myself. To be honest, i'm happy with film,coffee,chocolate. Cheap date aint i?


How about yourself?

Thats one heck of a lot of book for 60p. I've got the 12th edition. definitely not toilet paper material.... Although with all of the other books that I've needed to read mine hasn't had the attention that it really deserved being used only for reference rather than read cover to cover (must put that one back on the reading list).

know what you mean about no money being left when it gets to yourself. My pressy is just going to be the Costner Wyatt Earp which is one that's been in my Amazon basket for a couple of years... Of course, everything else that I want my youngest is getting so I get to watch it anyway (including dark knight rises and Battleship). Shame Dredd wasn't out before Christmas.

We don't have blue ray yet as the TV is only a 720p plasma so no point getting bluerays until that breaks and we move up to a 1080p.

The drury book relates well to the ACCA syllabus and is recommended reading right up to P5 so you're going to get a lot of use out of that one. My version of that one is 6th edition.

Another book that you are going to need is Exploring Corporate Strategy by Johnson Scholes and Whittington. To my mind they live in the shadow of Michael Porter but the JSW book is required reading for P1, P3 and P5 and advised reading before that.

That one is a ridiculously expensive book so a good idea to keep an eye out over the next year or so for one coming up cheap amongst the resellers. Managed to get mine for £18 and thankfully it was an unmarked near perfect copy (much better than coffing up £55 for it). Oh, make sure that you get the text and cases version. Not sure if they still produce the cheaper text only version but if they do that's not what you want.

For whacking Gangloins though accept no substitute for the Kaplan ACCA study text for paper P6 (6 cm thick!)

JSW doesn't have to be that recent and to be honest I have no intention of upgrading mine from 7th edition.... Maybe you set 7th as your benchmark and try to get newer than that.

But.... Learn the work of Michael Porter before reading JSW as you will understand where much of their thinking came from.

The difference with JSW is that they bring lots of ideas together in a single volume.

Difference between Cima and ACCA....

Everything in the CIMA syllabus is in the ACCA one plus ACCA has additional emphasis on financial accounting (including the evil P2 which is officially the most difficult paper of any accounting body (and is even referred to as "the beast")).

Back in the 90's it was assumed that to be a management accountant you went down the CIMA route and a financial one down the ACCA path however, in business there has ceased to be preference given to one over the other.

I don't think that CIMA leaving the CCAB party did them any favours and may, at the time, have worked to ACCA's advantage (although I feel that such history is now behind them).

Cima is a serious quality qualification and is more lenient towards people working in a self employed capacity than the ACCA with the restrictions placed by regulation 8. For those just setting out it is often seen as the simpler and shorter of the two options although once started it will prove anything but simple.

If you want to work in practice ACCA wins over CIMA. (which is not to say that there are not CIMA people in practice doing every bit as well as ACCA ones).

If you want to work in industry there is little difference between the two

Same with consultancy.

Like yourself I enjoy the management accounting side of things (as proven by my far higher scores in those papers... Then again, that is more likely due to the world I come from (no, not the planet Zarg, I meant banking)) but in the real world I like it to be part of my services rather than being the thrust of them as working in industry is all about meetings and infighting.

I want to get things done not debate for three months over countless powerpoint presentations with people who just want to be paid (a lot) whilst avoiding doing anything. (as the old idea is that you don't get fired if you are busy doing nothing. Failed projects get you noticed, never starting the project in the first place apparently gets you promotion).

If you want to make a lot of money then industry is the way to go.

If you want to avoid the urge to walk into the office on a Monday morning with a loaded M16 (#1) and a backpack full of spare Ammo clips then go for working in practice.

hope that helps,

Shaun.


#1 or AK47, bit like the ACCA / CIMA debate as to which one is best for the job!... Although according to Samuel L. Jackson in Jackie Brown, "AK47. If you've absolutely, positively got to kill every M***********r in the room, accept no substitute!".

Going back a while now but best thing i found at the time was to do the best i could with my first draft, get it to my assessor and work from the feedback given.

Good luck Matt.