BCS Written Accounting study plan

Build a one-page map of the IFRS-style framework: recognition, measurement, derecognition and disclosure, writing the criteria for each element from memory

Solve 30 adjusting-entry problems covering accruals, prepayments, depreciation and inventory write-downs, and log every error type in a personal error register

Prepare a full set of financial statements from a trial balance, including statement of changes in equity, within 90 minutes

Explain to yourself, in writing, the difference between profit and cash flow using one worked example

Work through consolidation mechanics: goodwill, non-controlling interest, intra-group eliminations and fair value adjustments, solving 12 practice computations

Apply IAS 16, IAS 38, IAS 40 and IFRS 15 to 15 short scenarios, stating the treatment and the journal entries

Draft disclosure notes for revenue, PPE and leases for one constructed company

Recompute three ratios (return on capital employed, gearing, interest cover) from your own statements and interpret each in two sentences

Distinguish absorption, marginal and activity-based costing by costing the same product three ways and reconciling the profit differences

Compute variances for materials, labour and overheads, and classify each as price or efficiency, solving 20 variance problems

Prepare a process-costing statement with normal loss, abnormal loss and equivalent units

Build a 12-month cash budget and a flexible budget in a spreadsheet with formulas, not hard-coded numbers

Evaluate two investment proposals using payback, net present value, internal rate of return and profitability index, and state which you would recommend and why

Compute weighted average cost of capital including the after-tax cost of debt, and sensitivity-test it against a 2% change in the risk-free rate

Perform break-even, margin of safety and target-profit calculations for a multi-product firm with a stated sales mix

Identify relevant and sunk costs in four short decision scenarios (make or buy, special order, shut-down)

Map the audit process end to end, writing the purpose and output of planning, risk assessment, evidence gathering, review and reporting

Apply the audit risk model to three scenarios, identifying inherent, control and detection risk with a planned response for each

Draft the key sections of an unmodified and a modified audit report, and state the conditions that trigger each modification

Summarise the duties, liabilities and disqualification grounds of directors under company law, plus the main board committee responsibilities

Explain the difference between the audit committee's oversight role and management's responsibility for internal control in under 300 words

Compute taxable income and tax payable for an individual and a company from given data, handling allowable deductions, capital allowances and losses

Distinguish tax avoidance from evasion using four constructed fact patterns, and state the consequence of each

Apply the principles of indirect tax (registration thresholds, input and output tax, exemptions) to six transactions

Compare cash accounting and accrual accounting in public sector reporting, and explain budgetary control and variance reporting in government

Prepare a simple statement of financial position for a public entity under accrual-based reporting

Trace a transaction from source document through ledger to financial statement in a computerised system, and list the controls at each stage

Classify general and application controls for four IT scenarios, including access management, segregation of duties and backup

Describe how spreadsheets and data analytics support audit evidence, and state two limitations of data analytics as audit evidence

Draft a short internal control questionnaire and a findings report with two control weaknesses, their risk and a recommendation each

Explain the audit trail and the risks of a system with weak change-management controls

Sit two full-length timed mock papers under exam conditions and mark them against the official weightings

Rank your error register by frequency and re-solve every recurring error until each is correct twice in a row

Write model answer skeletons for the four question types you scored lowest on, including structure, workings layout and time allocation

Rehearse time management: allocate minutes per mark and practise abandoning an overrun question