HCAFA study plan
HCAFA · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 6 hours per week
Financial Accounting and Reporting
Map the financial-statement relationships (income statement, balance sheet, cash flow, equity) into a one-page flow diagram you can redraw from memory
Compute and interpret revenue and expense recognition outcomes for basic accrual scenarios
Record adjusting and closing entries for a set of routine period-end transactions
Differentiate cash-basis from accrual-basis results on the same fact pattern
Your checkpoint
A closed-book 15-question self-quiz on accrual accounting and adjusting entries scored at 80% or higher
Financial Accounting and Reporting
Prepare a multi-step income statement and classified balance sheet from a trial balance
Classify and measure inventory and fixed-asset transactions under common cost methods
Reconstruct operating, investing, and financing cash flows with the indirect method
Apply basic revenue, lease, and deferred-tax distinctions to short scenarios
Your checkpoint
A fully worked financial-statement preparation case with a correctly balanced balance sheet and reconciled cash flow statement
Financial Management and Analysis
Compute and interpret liquidity, solvency, and profitability ratios from a supplied statement set
Build a common-size and trend analysis across two comparative periods
Convert raw financial data into a DuPont decomposition and explain each driver
Identify which ratio movements signal earnings-quality concerns
Your checkpoint
A one-page ratio analysis memo with a DuPont breakdown and three flagged risk signals
Financial Management and Analysis
Calculate present and future values for annuities and lump sums and apply them to valuation
Estimate cost of debt, cost of equity, and a weighted average cost of capital
Evaluate a capital project using net present value, internal rate of return, and payback
Distinguish relevant from sunk or allocated costs in a decision scenario
Your checkpoint
A capital-budgeting worksheet with NPV, IRR, and payback computed and a written accept/reject recommendation
Strategic Management and Decision Making
Perform break-even and target-profit analysis with contribution margin
Construct a contribution-format income statement and test sensitivity to price and volume changes
Frame a make-or-buy or special-order decision using incremental analysis
Link a chosen strategy to specific financial and nonfinancial performance measures
Your checkpoint
A cost-volume-profit model with a sensitivity table and a one-page strategic recommendation
Strategic Management and Decision Making & Business Law and Ethics
Draft a SWOT-to-strategy brief that converts findings into two actionable initiatives
Distinguish agency, fiduciary, and confidentiality duties in short ethics vignettes
Identify the legal form and liability exposure in a given business-entity fact pattern
Apply a structured ethical decision framework to a conflicting-stakeholder scenario
Your checkpoint
A written ethics and entity-selection case response applying a named decision framework and reaching a defensible recommendation
Business Law and Ethics & Information Technology and Data Analytics
Outline the core contract-formation elements and remedies across three short scenarios
Explain internal-control principles and segregation-of-duties failures in a described process
Interpret descriptive statistics and data-visualization outputs to support a stated conclusion
Detect common data-quality and analytics-reasoning pitfalls in sample reports
Your checkpoint
A controls-and-analytics review memo identifying three weaknesses and one data-driven recommendation
Financial Accounting and Reporting & Financial Management and Analysis & Strategic Management and Decision Making & Business Law and Ethics & Information Technology and Data Analytics
Integrate all five domains in a timed full-length mixed practice set
Re-drill the two weakest domains identified from practice results
Rebuild your one-page statement-flow and ratio diagrams from memory
Finalize a personal error log with a correction rule for each recurring mistake
Your checkpoint
A timed 60-question mixed mock exam scored at 75% or higher with a completed error log
Milestones
Week 2: Score 80%+ on a closed-book financial-statement preparation quiz and produce a reconciled cash flow statement unaided
Week 4: Correctly compute WACC, NPV, and IRR on a fresh case without reference notes, and justify the decision in writing
Week 6: Complete a timed 30-question mixed set spanning Domains 1-3 at 70%+ before adding Domains 4-5
Week 8: Achieve 75%+ on the full-length mixed mock and show a lower error rate in the two previously weakest domains