NSSCAS Accounting (8244) study plan
NSSCAS Accounting (8244) · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 6 hours per week
Accounting fundamentals: the accounting equation, double-entry bookkeeping, books of prime entry, and the trial balance & Preparation and presentation of financial statements for sole traders and limited companies
Apply the accounting equation to 20 opening-position scenarios and record each as a statement of financial position, stating the effect on assets, liabilities and capital
Post 40 mixed transactions through the books of prime entry (sales, purchases, returns, cash book, journal) into ledger accounts and extract a balanced trial balance
Distinguish capital from revenue expenditure in 15 borderline cases and justify each classification in one sentence
Prepare a sole trader's statement of profit or loss and statement of financial position from an adjusted trial balance within 45 minutes
Your checkpoint
A hand-written 40-transaction practice set with fully balanced ledgers, a trial balance, and a sole trader's final accounts completed under timed conditions, self-marked against a checklist
Preparation and presentation of financial statements for sole traders and limited companies & Accounting for non-current assets: acquisition, depreciation methods, disposal, and the non-current asset register
Prepare a limited company's statement of financial position and statement of profit or loss applying IAS 1 structure, including cost of sales and gross profit presentation
Calculate depreciation under straight-line and reducing-balance methods for 10 asset scenarios and reconcile the two results
Record the acquisition, part-exchange and disposal of non-current assets, including the profit or loss on disposal, in ledger accounts
Construct a non-current asset register schedule showing cost, accumulated depreciation and net book value for 6 assets over 4 years
Your checkpoint
A worked non-current asset register spreadsheet plus the linked disposal ledger accounts and the resulting depreciation charge posted into a company statement of profit or loss
Control systems: bank reconciliation, petty cash imprest, and the correction of errors with suspense accounts & Preparation and presentation of financial statements for sole traders and limited companies
Reconcile 4 bank statements to the cash book, adjusting for unpresented cheques, uncredited lodgements, bank charges and standing orders, and update the cash book balance
Operate a petty cash imprest system for a month of 25 vouchers, restore the float, and prove the balance
Identify and correct 12 errors using journal entries, distinguishing errors that affect the trial balance from those that do not
Prepare and clear a suspense account for a trial balance that does not agree, explaining the original cause of each entry
Your checkpoint
A reconciliation pack containing one completed bank reconciliation, one petty cash book with imprest restoration, and a journal log of 12 corrections with a cleared suspense account
Partnership accounts: appropriation, capital and current accounts, admission, retirement, and dissolution
Draft a partnership agreement's accounting implications and prepare an appropriation account covering interest on capital, partner salaries and residual profit sharing
Maintain capital and current accounts for 3 partners across a full year, including drawings and interest on drawings
Account for the admission of a new partner, including goodwill adjustment and revaluation of assets, through the capital accounts
Account for a partner's retirement, including the settlement of the retiring partner's balance, and prepare a dissolution account with realisation of assets and settlement of liabilities
Your checkpoint
A full partnership file: appropriation account, three partners' capital and current accounts, and one admission plus one retirement worked example, all balancing to a partnership statement of financial position
Company accounts: share issues, debentures, reserves, dividends, and financial statement disclosure
Record the issue of shares at par and at a premium, including application, allotment and calls, and show the resulting share capital and share premium in the statement of financial position
Distinguish debentures from shares and post interest and redemption entries, including any premium on redemption
Classify and post movements in reserves, including general reserves and retained earnings, and account for dividends declared and paid
Prepare the disclosure notes required for share capital, reserves and debentures in a set of company financial statements
Your checkpoint
A company accounts workbook containing share issue ledgers, a debenture schedule, a reserves movement statement and the matching disclosure notes for one limited company
Interpretation and analysis of financial statements: ratio analysis, profitability, liquidity, and efficiency & Preparation and presentation of financial statements for sole traders and limited companies
Compute profitability, liquidity and efficiency ratios from a set of company financial statements, including gross margin, net margin, ROCE, current ratio, quick ratio, inventory turnover and receivables collection period
Interpret ratio movements against a prior year and against an industry benchmark, writing conclusions that separate cause from symptom
Identify the limitations of ratio analysis and state which figures a user should treat with caution
Reconstruct missing figures from a set of ratios, working backwards to sales, cost of sales and closing inventory
Your checkpoint
A ratio analysis report of 400 to 500 words on one company's two-year results, with a ratio table, three supported conclusions and a stated limitation of the analysis
Cost and management accounting: cost classification, manufacturing accounts, marginal and absorption costing, and decision making
Classify 25 costs as direct or indirect, fixed or variable, and product or period, and explain the classification rule used
Prepare a manufacturing account showing prime cost, factory overhead absorbed and cost of production transferred to the statement of profit or loss
Reconcile marginal costing profit with absorption costing profit by calculating the fixed overhead absorbed in and released from inventory
Apply relevant costing to 5 short-term decisions, excluding sunk costs and apportioned fixed overheads, and recommend an action with a supporting figure
Your checkpoint
A costing pack with one manufacturing account, a marginal-versus-absorption profit reconciliation and 5 written decision recommendations, each justified by a relevant cost calculation
Accounting fundamentals: the accounting equation, double-entry bookkeeping, books of prime entry, and the trial balance & Preparation and presentation of financial statements for sole traders and limited companies & Accounting for non-current assets: acquisition, depreciation methods, disposal, and the non-current asset register & Control systems: bank reconciliation, petty cash imprest, and the correction of errors with suspense accounts & Partnership accounts: appropriation, capital and current accounts, admission, retirement, and dissolution & Company accounts: share issues, debentures, reserves, dividends, and financial statement disclosure & Interpretation and analysis of financial statements: ratio analysis, profitability, liquidity, and efficiency & Cost and management accounting: cost classification, manufacturing accounts, marginal and absorption costing, and decision making
Complete two full-length mock papers under timed conditions, allocating time by mark value
Mark each mock against the published mark scheme and log every lost mark by domain and by error type
Re-teach the two weakest domains from the error log using fresh worked examples, not the original questions
Build a one-page formula and procedure sheet covering ratios, depreciation, imprest, suspense and costing, and recite it from memory
Your checkpoint
A completed error log from two timed mocks with a prioritised revision sheet of the 10 most frequent mistakes and a corrected second attempt at each
Milestones
Week 2: Produce a sole trader's and a limited company's financial statements from raw trial balances, and post a disposal with the correct profit or loss, without notes
Week 4: Clear a disagreeing trial balance through a suspense account and complete a bank reconciliation in under 30 minutes each, scoring at least 80 percent on self-marking
Week 6: Produce a partnership set of final accounts after admission and retirement, and a company accounts pack with share issues, debentures and reserves, both balancing first time
Week 7: Score at least 70 percent on a self-marked ratio and costing section, with the marginal and absorption profit reconciliation correct to the dollar
Week 8: Achieve at least 65 percent on each timed mock, with no domain below 50 percent, and show a falling error count between mock one and mock two