The Six Ws:F5 Paper Performance Management Accounting

July 31st, 2010 by admin

Before embarking on the ACCA F5 Paper, it may prove useful to gather some key information about the subject.The essence of the paper will be clarified by applying the six w’s of who, what,Why, where, when and how. Deciding where to start is, as usual, half the problem. Fortunately, the ACCA is conscious of this and has created within its website, a micro-site dedicated entirely to the subject.

Following on from this, the candidate needs to ascertain what the subject entails for the purposes of the F5 exam. According to ACCA it is “To develop knowledge and skills in the application of …technique to information for planning, decision-making, performance evaluation and control”. F5 is a skills paper, one of the six found in the nine fundamental papers. A review of the Homepage and “Syllabus and Study Guide” provides further detail on the five areas of the syllabus, confirming that it is a three hour exam with a 50% pass mark, comprising five, multi-element questions, of twenty marks each.. Exam sittings take place in June and December. It should be noted, that there are to be non-structural revisions to the syllabus shortly, details of which will be published on the micro-site.

The F5 exam can only be taken once a student has successfully completed the Knowledge papers F1-3, and one of these, F2, Management Accounting directly underpins the F5 paper. Comprehension of paper F5 will also assist with Financial Management paper F9 and underscores the theories and techniques required in paper P5, Performance Management.

So why is F5 considered so vital: it is because “knowledge is power”. It provides the management accountant with several of the chief devices for obtaining, analysing and making sense of pertinent financial data, and so informing management in planning and making key business decisions.

The Resources element of the micro-site strengthens this message and hosts an abundance of F5 advice and support, for example, technical articles, previous exam papers, activities to test learning and examiner reports. This material can also help determine the aims and expectations of the examiner. Additionally, it highlights the common traps, how to direct and test study, understand questions, grab the easy marks and succeed in the exam.

This paper F5 is pivotal to management accounting. This is exemplified by the microsite which ought to make study more palatable for candidates and exam outcomes more positive.