BTS G.PME Maroc common mistakes
BTS G.PME Maroc · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
In the accounting case, the candidate records the VAT amount inside the expense or revenue account (e.g. books a supplier invoice TTC into a 6xxx charge account) instead of isolating the deductible VAT in 34551/34552 and the collected VAT in 4455, so the ledger never balances against the déclaration de TVA.
Candidates learn the TTC amount from the invoice and post it as a single line because it is faster; they do not mentally separate HT and TVA, and many have never practised the Moroccan PCGE account numbering for tax accounts, so they confuse deductible VAT (3455) with the TVA due account (4455).
What to do instead
Before posting any invoice, write the three amounts (HT, TVA, TTC) on a scratch line and force yourself to produce at least two lines per invoice: charge/immobilisation at HT and 34551/34552 for deductible VAT, or 711x at HT plus 4455 for collected VAT. Practise ten supplier and ten client invoices until the reflex is automatic, and always verify TTC = HT + TVA on the extract.
The candidate builds the trésorerie prévisionnelle by copying the accounting result or the bank balance as the starting point, instead of starting from the encaissements/décaissements logic of the budget de trésorerie, and then reports a monthly balance that never matches the variation of the bank account.
Candidates mix up résultat (accounting, with amortissements and non-cash items) and trésorerie (cash timing); they also forget that VAT, IS acomptes and loan repayments are cash outflows that do not appear as charges in the same period, and that client delays shift receipts by one or two months.
What to do instead
Rebuild the table month by month from the top: solde initial, encaissements (ventes TTC with the actual délai de règlement), décaissements (achats TTC, salaires plus CNSS/AMO, TVA, IS, échéances d'emprunt, investissements), solde final = solde initial + encaissements − décaissements. Reconcile the solde final of the last month with the variation of the 5141 bank account to catch omissions.
For a hiring scenario, the candidate writes a contrat de travail (CDD or CDI) without the mandatory mentions and treats a CDD as renewable indefinitely without checking the legal cas de recours, or omits the période d'essai and the CNSS/AMO registration steps.
Candidates memorise the general shape of a contract but not the Moroccan-specific mandatory clauses (identité des parties, fonction, lieu, salaire, durée, convention collective applicable), and they confuse the French model with the Code du travail marocain, where a CDD must correspond to a specific temporary situation and has strict renewal rules.
What to do instead
Build a one-page checklist of mandatory mentions and apply it to every contract you draft: parties, poste et classification, lieu, durée et terme (for CDD, the precise cas de recours), période d'essai, rémunération et avantages, horaires, convention collective, signatures. Add a separate checklist for the onboarding formalities: déclaration d'embauche, immatriculation CNSS, AMO, and registre d'employeur.
In the management case, the candidate answers a conflict or motivation scenario by listing general theories (Maslow, Herzberg) without choosing a concrete action plan, a responsible person, a deadline and a measurable indicator; the answer stays descriptive.
Candidates treat the question as a knowledge test rather than a decision exercise, and they fear committing to one option, so they hedge with theory. The exam expects an operational recommendation adapted to a small team with limited resources.
What to do instead
Structure every management answer as: diagnostic (facts from the case, not theory), two or three options with advantages and risks, chosen option and justification, then an action plan in a table (action, responsible, deadline, indicator). Cite a theory only if it explains a specific fact in the case, never as the answer itself.
In the marketing case, the candidate proposes a SWOT or a 4P that lists generic items ("bonne qualité", "prix compétitif", "réseaux sociaux") without segmenting the target or linking the action to a budget, a channel and a measurable objective (parts de marché, coût d'acquisition, taux de conversion).
Candidates reproduce a template learned by heart and fill it with plausible-sounding words, because they have not practised deriving a positioning from a specific customer segment and a specific competitor set; the PME context (small budget, local market) is ignored.
What to do instead
Force yourself to name the segment in one sentence (who, where, need, buying power), then derive the positioning in one sentence, then only the 4P items that follow from it. For each recommended action, state the channel, the cost, the expected result and the indicator that will prove it worked. Delete any bullet that could apply to any company.
The candidate answers a legal question by asserting a rule without identifying the applicable text or the competent jurisdiction, and confuses the forms of société (SARL, SARL AU, SA, SNC) on capital, number of associés, gérance and responsabilité.
Candidates learn the labels of company forms but not their legal consequences, and they do not habitually attach a source (Code de commerce, loi sur la SARL, Code des obligations et des contrats) to a legal statement; the exam often tests a concrete choice of structure for a créateur.
What to do instead
For each form of société, prepare a comparison table: capital minimum, nombre d'associés, organe de gestion, responsabilité des associés, régime fiscal, formalités de constitution. In any answer, state the rule, then the text or principle it comes from, then the consequence for the case. When the question is a dispute, name the competent tribunal (tribunal de commerce) and the prescription period.
On the tax question, the candidate computes the IS at the standard rate on the résultat fiscal without applying the progressive brackets or the cotisation minimale, and forgets to add back non-deductible charges (amendes, pénalités, charges sans facture, dons non conformes) before computing the base.
Candidates transpose a flat-rate reflex and skip the passage from résultat comptable to résultat fiscal; the cotisation minimale and the progressive IS scale are specific Moroccan rules that are easy to forget under time pressure, and the add-backs require reading the case carefully.
What to do instead
Always run the same three-step sequence: (1) résultat comptable, (2) réintégrations and déductions to get the résultat fiscal, (3) IS by bracket and compare with the cotisation minimale, retaining the higher. Write the bracket calculation line by line so the examiner sees the method, and keep a memorised list of the main non-deductible charges to check against the case.
In the organisation/documentation question, the candidate proposes a filing plan or a procedure that mixes physical and digital documents without a codification rule, a retention period or a named owner, and cannot say who may access or destroy a document.
Candidates describe filing as tidying rather than as a controlled system; they do not link document classes to legal retention obligations (comptables, sociaux, fiscaux) and they omit version control, which is exactly what the exam tests in a PME going digital.
What to do instead
Design the plan with explicit fields: code de classement (e.g. CPT-2024-FAC-001), support, durée de conservation with its legal basis, responsable, droits d'accès, règle d'archivage et de destruction. Present it as a short table and add one sentence on how a new employee finds a document in under a minute.
On the spreadsheet/IT question, the candidate describes what a tool does in prose instead of writing the actual formula or procedure (e.g. says "use a lookup" instead of giving RECHERCHEV with its arguments), or proposes a software solution without checking that it fits the PME's budget, existing tools and data migration constraints.
Candidates are used to explaining rather than executing, and they have not practised the exact syntax of the functions tested (RECHERCHEV, SI, SOMME.SI, tableau croisé dynamique, validation des données); tool recommendations are made from marketing impressions rather than from a needs analysis.
What to do instead
Answer with the exact formula including all arguments and the cell references, then state what the result proves. For tool-choice questions, list the needs first (facturation, stock, paie, comptabilité), then compare two options on cost, integration with existing files, training time and data export, and justify the choice in one sentence.
In the professional communication task, the candidate writes an email or letter in French with the wrong register (tutoiement, absence of formule de politesse, no objet), or in Arabic/foreign language produces a literal translation of French idioms and mixes formal and dialectal registers.
Candidates focus on content and neglect the codes of the genre (objet, formule d'appel, corps, formule de clôture, signature) and the register expected in a business relationship; literal translation produces calques that a native reader immediately spots, and dialectal Arabic is inappropriate in written professional correspondence.
What to do instead
Memorise one model per genre (email de relance, réclamation, demande de devis, lettre de motivation) with its fixed formulas, and practise rewriting the same message in the three languages while keeping the register consistent (vous in French, العربية الفصحى in written Arabic). Before submitting, re-read aloud to catch calques and check the objet, the greeting, the closing formula and the signature are all present.
For the entrepreneurship case, the candidate presents a business idea and a rough market estimate without a coherent business model, a break-even calculation or a realistic financing plan, and does not connect the projet to the créateur's own resources and the legal form chosen.
Candidates are enthusiastic about the idea and skip the numbers; they confuse the business plan with a description of the product, and they do not know the Moroccan support schemes and financing channels (auto-entrepreneur, programmes d'appui, crédits PME), so the financing section stays vague.
What to do instead
Build the dossier in a fixed order: problème client and segment, proposition de valeur, modèle économique (sources de revenus, structure de coûts), prévisionnel sur trois ans, seuil de rentabilité, plan de financement (apport, emprunt, subventions) and legal form justified by the numbers. Make every figure traceable to an assumption stated in the text, and name at least one concrete appui or financing channel with its conditions.