hyhq

P1 – Professional Accountant

Section A: Compulsory

? always covers range of syllabus areas
? some element of ethics in this question
Section B: 2 from 3

? one question solely on governance
? one question with significant ethics element

Key topics – in section A or B:

? internal audit: independence or appointment (possibly via audit committee)
? remuneration committee
? directors induction and / or appraisal
? ethical decisions: AAA or Tucker
? stakeholder categorisation
? normative / instrumental views of stakeholders
? board structure: family / insider or unitary / two tier
? Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
? sound internal controls

P2 INT – Corporate Reporting (International variant)

Compulsory group question within part A could be:

? Cashflow (not examined under the new syllabus, but in the pilot paper)
? Group income statement which will examine aspects of IFRS 3 revised (goodwill and NCI at fair value)
? Accounting for changed shareholdings in group structure

Within the compulsory question, there may also be some explanation and application of ethics and/or a written element which includes IFRS 3 revised.

Multi-topic question to include aspects of:

? Impairments
? Share-based payment
? Financial instruments
? Retirement benefits
? Discontinued and held-for-sale
? Deferred tax
? Provisions and events after the b/s date

Current issues:

? Retirement benefits – Discussion Paper within examinable documents
? Financial Instruments – Discussion Paper within examinable documents
? IFRS 3 Revised
? Harmonisation of international standards

P2 UK – Corporate Reporting (UK variant)

Compulsory group question within part A could be:

? Cashflow (not examined under the new syllabus, but in the pilot paper)
? Group income statement - accounting for changed shareholdings in group structure during the year
? Some explanation and application of ethics

Multi-topic question to include aspects of:

? Impairments
? Share-based payment
? Financial instruments
? Retirement benefits
? Discontinued and held-for-sale
? Deferred tax
? Provisions and events after the b/s date

Current issues:

? Retirement benefits proposed changes to UK and international standards - i.e. harmonisation

? Financial Instruments – proposed changes to UK and international standards:

1. ASB issues Amendment to FRS 25 'Financial Instruments: Presentation'
14 August 2008 @ 10:00
http://www.frc.org.uk/asb/press/pub1676.html  

2. ASB to issue Amendments to Permit Reclassification of Financial Instruments
16 October 2008 @ 17:00
http://www.frc.org.uk/asb/press/pub1739.html  

3. Possible revisions to reporting business combinations per IFRS 3 Revised to harmonise UK and IFRS

4. Harmonisation of financial reporting standards generally - i.e. UK FRS, IFRS and US GAAP

It may be a little too soon for a question on problems re fair values which, although this is a problem in the real world at the moment, in the context of when the examiner probably wrote and had the paper checked for quality control is more likely to be examined next time. Therefore, the first improvement standard is less likely to be examined than the topics above.