WACE Accounting Finance ATAR study plan
WACE Accounting Finance ATAR · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 6 hours per week
Financial accounting: recording, processing and reporting financial information
Apply the accounting equation and double-entry rules to record 30 varied transactions in a manual journal and ledger.
Prepare an unadjusted trial balance from the recorded entries and identify any imbalances.
Classify accounts into assets, liabilities, equity, income and expenses using the chart of accounts provided in the syllabus.
Your checkpoint
A complete transaction workbook containing 30 journal entries, corresponding ledger postings and a balanced trial balance.
Financial accounting: recording, processing and reporting financial information
Process adjusting entries for accruals, prepayments, depreciation and doubtful debts across a range of scenarios.
Construct an adjusted trial balance and use it to prepare an income statement and balance sheet for a sole trader.
Explain how each adjusting entry affects profit and the balance sheet.
Your checkpoint
A set of adjusting journal entries, an adjusted trial balance and a classified income statement and balance sheet for a practice business.
Financial accounting: recording, processing and reporting financial information & Management accounting: cost concepts, costing methods and budgeting
Prepare a closing entry process and produce a post-closing trial balance.
Distinguish between product costs and period costs and classify 20 cost items accordingly.
Calculate cost of goods sold and gross profit under a perpetual inventory system.
Your checkpoint
A closing entries worksheet and a cost classification table with 20 items and supporting calculations.
Management accounting: cost concepts, costing methods and budgeting
Apply job costing and process costing to two separate production scenarios and compute unit costs.
Allocate overhead costs using a predetermined overhead rate and reconcile under- or over-applied overhead.
Prepare a production cost report for a process costing system using weighted average.
Your checkpoint
Two fully worked costing case studies (one job costing, one process costing) with unit cost calculations and overhead reconciliation.
Management accounting: cost concepts, costing methods and budgeting & Financial management: sources of finance, capital structure and investment appraisal
Prepare a cash budget and a production budget from given sales and inventory policy data.
Calculate and interpret variances for materials, labour and overhead in a standard costing system.
Compare sources of short-term and long-term finance and match them to business needs.
Your checkpoint
A master budget package (sales, production and cash budgets) plus a variance analysis report for a manufacturing scenario.
Financial statement analysis and interpretation of financial information & Financial management: sources of finance, capital structure and investment appraisal
Compute and interpret profitability, liquidity, efficiency and solvency ratios from published financial statements.
Perform a trend and common-size analysis across two years of financial data.
Evaluate an investment proposal using payback period, net present value and internal rate of return, and recommend a course of action.
Your checkpoint
A financial analysis report with ratio calculations, trend commentary and a capital investment appraisal recommendation.
Financial institutions, markets and the regulatory environment & Personal finance, consumer and business decision-making, and ethics
Describe the roles and interactions of financial institutions, markets and the regulatory bodies in the Australian financial system.
Apply ethical decision-making frameworks to three business case scenarios involving conflicts of interest.
Evaluate personal financial decisions such as borrowing, insurance and superannuation using time value of money concepts.
Your checkpoint
A written response to three ethics case studies and a personal finance decision matrix comparing two borrowing options.
Financial accounting: recording, processing and reporting financial information & Management accounting: cost concepts, costing methods and budgeting & Financial statement analysis and interpretation of financial information & Financial management: sources of finance, capital structure and investment appraisal & Financial institutions, markets and the regulatory environment & Personal finance, consumer and business decision-making, and ethics
Synthesise knowledge from all six domains by completing a full-length practice examination under timed conditions.
Identify and revise the three weakest syllabus areas based on practice exam results.
Create a one-page summary sheet of key formulas and definitions for each domain.
Your checkpoint
A completed practice exam with self-marking, an error log and a personalised revision sheet for final review.
Milestones
Week 2: Can produce a balanced adjusted trial balance and a classified income statement and balance sheet from a trial balance within 45 minutes with no errors.
Week 4: Can complete a job costing and a process costing problem, including overhead allocation and reconciliation, scoring at least 80% on a self-marked set.
Week 6: Can calculate and interpret all major ratio categories and recommend an investment decision using NPV and payback, with written justification.
Week 8: Achieves at least 75% on a full timed practice exam and has a written revision plan for any remaining weak areas.