MATSEC AM Accounting study plan

Prepare the full set of primary financial statements from a trial balance, including adjustments for accruals, prepayments, depreciation and closing inventory

Apply double-entry reasoning to record correcting entries for errors that do not affect trial balance agreement

Reconcile a bank statement to the cash book and identify unrecorded timing differences

Construct a statement of cash flows under the indirect method from comparative statements of financial position and a statement of profit or loss

Distinguish operating, investing and financing cash flows and reconcile profit to operating cash

Prepare partnership accounts including appropriation, admission and retirement adjustments with goodwill treatment

Classify costs by nature and behaviour and apply high-low and scatter-graph methods to separate fixed and variable elements

Compute overhead absorption rates and reconcile over- and under-absorption to the actual overhead incurred

Prepare process accounts with normal loss, abnormal loss and abnormal gain, including scrap value

Apply marginal costing and absorption costing to the same data and reconcile the profit difference through the change in inventory

Compute break-even point, margin of safety and target profit, and interpret the results for a decision maker

Evaluate a short-term decision using relevant costing, including opportunity cost and sunk cost exclusion

Explain the IASB Conceptual Framework elements, recognition criteria and measurement bases using original examples

Apply the qualitative characteristics of useful financial information to critique a set of published accounts

Distinguish the roles of the IASB, IFRS Foundation and local Maltese regulator in setting and enforcing standards

Apply recognition and measurement rules of key standards on revenue, leases, inventory and property, plant and equipment to short scenarios

Explain the purpose and limitations of the true and fair view and of the going concern assumption

Compare rules-based and principles-based approaches and assess the effect on reported profit

Prepare company financial statements from a trial balance including tax, dividends, share issues and revaluation

Draft a statement of changes in equity and explain each movement to a non-specialist reader

Compute and interpret profitability, liquidity, gearing and efficiency ratios from a set of company accounts

Diagnose weak areas using a timed mock paper and rank topics by marks lost

Rehearse exam technique for computational and discursive questions under strict timing

Consolidate a one-page summary sheet per domain covering the most frequently examined adjustments and standards