ACCA F3 – Nature of the paper

　　ACCA F3 Paper – Financial Accounting –is concerned with the preparation of financial accounts. The topics examined cover everything from basic double entry through to the preparation of statements of cash flows, and basic consolidated accounts.

　　Structure of the F3 paper

　　·Section A will contain 35 two mark objective questions.

　　·Section B will contain 2 fifteen mark multi-task questions. One will test consolidations and the other will test accounts preparation.

　　Emphasis of the F3 exam

　　Depending on your previous studies and what you do at work, you may be happy already with many of the topics. However the syllabus is very large and there is a lot of time pressure in the?examinations?– it is difficult to complete all of the?questions in two hours. Additionally, there often small ‘tricks’ in the wording of the questions which (especially under time pressure) lead to it being easy to choose the wrong answer even if you are happy with the particular topic.

　　Although all the questions Section A carry equal marks, they are not all of equal difficulty. You will find some of the questions very quick and easy, whereas others will take much longer.

　　Although the majority of questions involve calculations, there will be some questions asking you to choose between several written statements. This particularly applies to questions about the Financial Reporting Standards.

　　How to pass ACCA F3 exam

　　Use the OpenTuition ACCA F3 lectures along with the?F3 Course Notes . Make sure that you are happy with the topics, but also listen carefully to the lectures and check that you really do understand.

　　When you are confident of a topic then practise as many past exam questions as you can.

　　Of great importance if that you then start trying tests of mixed questions (from one of the revision/exam kits available). You should practice determining which topic each question is examining quickly, and you should practice under strict time pressure. If you do take as long as you want then you will get most of the answers correct, but it is under time pressure that you are more likely to misread questions and make silly mistakes.