The Secrets to Passing ICAN PE1 Exams (Part 3)

Tackling Management Accounting (MA)

 

Management Accounting was perhaps my most dreaded course in my PE 1 days. Even after the results were released and I passed, I was still scared!!! 

 

 

Ok back to you and your MA at the PE1 level, the simple technique which I discovered after the exams was that, MA has standards! There are selected topics in the syllabus that are recurrent year in, year out. You must identify these topics and master them. Some of them are; Capital Budgeting, Standard Costing, Cost Estimation Techniques, etc. You must practice them again and again. When you finally master them, no matter how they twist the questions you will definitely find a way around it. 

 

 

Passing Advance Audit and Assurance (AAA)

 

Somehow I’m tempted to say there are no standard ways of passing AAA, but deep down there are! I’ve seen ‘scholars’ write this particular course repeatedly for up to three (3) times!

The way I’ve come to understand it is that most times people forget the fundamentals of a particular course. Auditing is a practical subject and you don’t study it with your ‘book-sense’ approach but more on a practical approach. See yourself on the field carrying out what you’re reading. Put yourself in the process. Don’t read it in abstract. Otherwise, you’ll end up cramming! The risk of failure is higher these days when you cram because of the examination approach; case study!  

 

Remember to do a lot of case studies on this subject. When you exhaust the ones in the ICAN pathfinders, go for the ACCA materials. There are case studies for every topic in auditing. Do as many as possible before the exams.

 

Other tips

 

I see a lot of people still reading the BIG-BIG books few days to the exams, please save yourself the headache. Your brain can only retain little new ideas few days to the exams.  You should concentrate on past questions this period. Re-read those spots you underlined while reading initially. Get adequate rest before the exam day to avoid fatigue.
 

After all preparations and all, PRAY! The importance of prayers cannot be overemphasized. It can save your script from missing or/and marked wrongly. Even if it is for nothing else, the fact that you wrote the exams successfully!

 

I’m waiting to hear your success story.

 

Shalom!