CA ANZ Core 1 study guide
CA ANZ Core 1 · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
Core 1 is the first technical module of the CA Program, the qualification pathway that candidates complete on the way to becoming a Chartered Accountant with Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. It is designed for graduates who have completed an accredited degree and are now working in accounting or a related role, and it bridges university theory and professional practice. The CA ANZ Core 1 study guide has 8 sections and about 2,444 words.
01Accounting and Financial Reporting Fundamentals
Start with the objective of general purpose financial reporting: providing information useful to existing and potential investors, lenders and other creditors in making resource-allocation decisions. Understand the qualitative characteristics (relevance, faithful representation, comparability, verifiability, timeliness, understandability) and the cost constraint.
345 words, about 2 min02Management Accounting and Cost Analysis
Understand fixed, variable, mixed and step costs, relevant versus sunk versus opportunity costs, and the separation of product and period costs. Be able to use the high-low method and regression output to split mixed costs, and know the limitations of each.
300 words, about 2 min03Financial Management and Corporate Finance
Be confident with present and future values of single amounts and annuities, and with the distinction between nominal and effective rates. Know that compounding frequency raises the effective rate, and that annuity due values exceed ordinary annuity values by one period of interest.
325 words, about 2 min04Information Technology and Information Systems
Understand the role of enterprise resource planning systems, general ledger and subledger architecture, and how master data (chart of accounts, customer and vendor records) drives reporting integrity. Know the difference between transaction processing, management reporting and decision-support layers.
290 words, about 1 min05Audit, Assurance and Internal Control
Understand the objective of an audit: reasonable assurance that financial statements are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, expressed in an opinion. Know the concepts of materiality, audit risk (inherent, control and detection risk), professional scepticism, and the expectation gap.
296 words, about 1 min06Taxation Fundamentals
Understand the difference between taxable income and accounting profit, and why temporary and permanent differences arise. Know that temporary differences reverse over time and give rise to deferred tax, while permanent differences never reverse.
299 words, about 1 min07Business Law and Ethics
Understand the elements of a valid contract: offer, acceptance, consideration, intention to create legal relations, capacity and legality. Know the distinction between terms and representations, conditions and warranties, and the remedies for breach: damages, specific performance and injunction.
270 words, about 1 min08Professional Skills and Integrated Case Analysis
Core 1 cases combine financial reporting, management accounting, finance, systems, audit, tax, law and ethics into a single business scenario. The skill being tested is selection: identifying which framework applies to each requirement, then applying it to the specific facts rather than reciting theory.
319 words, about 2 min