OCAM Contabilistas common mistakes
OCAM Contabilistas · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Recording a transaction when cash moves rather than when the economic event occurs, so revenue and expenses land in the wrong reporting period.
Candidates default to the intuitive 'money in / money out' mental model instead of accrual accounting, especially for invoices settled in a later period.
What to do instead
Before each entry, ask 'when was the obligation created?' and post on that date; use accruals and deferrals for cash settled later. Practise with period-end cut-off cases.
Debiting an increase in a liability or credit account, or crediting an increase in an asset, because the entry 'looks balanced'.
Weakening of the debit/credit rule under time pressure; candidates reason by symmetry instead of by account class.
What to do instead
Write the accounting equation effect (A, L, E) for each side before posting. Memorise the normal balance per account class and self-check the entry against it.
Failing to adjust inventory to the lower of cost and net realisable value, or ignoring write-downs on receivables and impairments.
Candidates treat measurement as fixed at historical cost and forget the prudence and impairment requirements.
What to do instead
At each closing, run a checklist: NRV test on inventory, expected credit loss on receivables, impairment indicators on non-current assets. Show the adjustment entry explicitly.
Confusing the audit opinion types and issuing a qualified opinion where a disclaimer or adverse opinion is appropriate (or vice versa).
The distinction between material-but-not-pervasive and pervasive misstatements/limitations is subtle and memorised superficially.
What to do instead
Build a 2x2 grid: nature (misstatement vs scope limitation) against pervasiveness (material vs pervasive). Map each scenario onto the grid before choosing the opinion.
Designing substantive tests that do not address the specific assertion at risk (e.g. testing existence when completeness is the concern).
Candidates pick familiar procedures instead of linking risk to assertion to evidence.
What to do instead
For each risk, state the assertion explicitly, then select a procedure that would detect that assertion's failure. Justify why the chosen test covers it.
Treating materiality as a single fixed percentage and not revising it as the audit progresses or as qualitative factors arise.
Textbook benchmarks are memorised as constants; candidates overlook that materiality is a judgement revised during the engagement.
What to do instead
State the benchmark, the percentage and the rationale; note that it is revised if new information changes the picture. Flag qualitative factors (law, covenants, related parties).
Applying the wrong VAT rate or regime to a transaction, or mis-treating exemptions and reverse-charge situations.
Candidates memorise rates but not the conditions that determine which regime applies to a specific supply.
What to do instead
For each case, identify the nature of the operation, the place of supply and the applicable regime before computing. Build a decision tree for exemptions and reverse charge.
Missing filing or payment deadlines, or computing a penalty or interest on the wrong base.
Deadlines and penalty rules are numerous; candidates rely on vague memory instead of a structured calendar.
What to do instead
Maintain a dated obligation calendar per tax type and practise penalty computations step by step (base, rate, period).
Accepting an engagement or acting where a conflict of interest or independence threat exists, without identifying or addressing it.
Candidates focus on technical competence and skip the ethical screening step.
What to do instead
Run a threats-and-safeguards analysis (self-interest, self-review, advocacy, familiarity, intimidation) before accepting; document the conclusion and any safeguards.
Breaching confidentiality or disclosing client information without a legal basis, or failing to keep proper professional documentation.
Candidates underestimate the scope of the duty of confidentiality and its legal exceptions, and treat documentation as optional.
What to do instead
Learn the permitted disclosure exceptions and apply them explicitly; keep contemporaneous working papers that support every professional judgement.