ICAP PRC-3 Business and Economic Insights study plan

Define the circular flow of income and distinguish GDP, GNP and national income using your own numerical example

Explain how monetary policy transmission works through interest rates, credit and exchange rates, and list two lags that weaken it

Distinguish demand-pull from cost-push inflation and identify which indicators (CPI, PPI, wage growth) signal each

Map the phases of the business cycle onto unemployment, capacity utilisation and inventory behaviour, then state what each implies for a firm's pricing and hiring decisions

Summarise the main tools of fiscal policy and evaluate one scenario where expansionary fiscal policy crowds out private investment

Compare the four market structures (perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, monopoly) on pricing power, entry barriers and long-run profit

Apply elasticity of demand to predict the revenue effect of a price change in two contrasting products

Describe the roles of primary and secondary markets and explain why secondary-market liquidity lowers an issuer's cost of capital

Distinguish money-market instruments from capital-market instruments by maturity, issuer and risk

Calculate the price and yield of a simple bond at par, at a premium and at a discount, and explain the inverse price-yield relationship

Prepare a simple statement of financial position, income statement and statement of cash flows from a list of transactions, ensuring the accounting equation balances

Apply accrual accounting to adjust for prepayments, accruals, depreciation and bad debts, and show each adjustment's double entry

Compute gross margin, operating margin, net margin, current ratio, quick ratio and interest cover from a set of financial statements

Interpret a cash-flow statement by classifying cash flows into operating, investing and financing and flagging one warning sign in each

Explain two limitations of ratio analysis, including accounting-policy differences and window dressing

Compute the weighted average cost of capital for a company with given debt and equity weights, including the after-tax cost of debt

Explain the Modigliani-Miller propositions with and without taxes, and state the practical role of financial distress costs

Rank four funding options (retained earnings, bank loan, bond issue, rights issue) on cost, dilution, covenant burden and flexibility

Calculate net present value, internal rate of return and payback for a single project, and state which criterion should decide acceptance

Distinguish operating leverage from financial leverage and show how each magnifies earnings volatility

Classify ten given costs as fixed, variable, direct, indirect, product or period

Compute contribution margin, break-even point in units and revenue, margin of safety and target-profit volume

Prepare a marginal-costing income statement and reconcile its profit to absorption costing profit through the change in inventory

Allocate overhead using a single plant-wide rate and then an activity-based costing approach, and explain the difference in results

Prepare a flexible budget and calculate the price, quantity, and total direct-material and direct-labour variances, stating whether each is favourable or adverse

Apply a PESTLE and a Porter's Five Forces analysis to one named industry and derive two strategic implications from each framework

Distinguish cost leadership, differentiation and focus strategies and identify the organisational capabilities each requires

Explain the principal-agent problem and evaluate two governance mechanisms (independent board, audit committee, executive pay design) that mitigate it

Compare the shareholder and stakeholder models of governance and state one criticism of each

Outline the main board committees and describe the specific oversight responsibility of the audit committee

Distinguish data, information and insight, and describe how a transactional system, a data warehouse and a dashboard each support a different decision horizon

Identify the controls that protect data integrity, confidentiality and availability, and match three common threats to a mitigating control

Interpret a small dataset using descriptive statistics (mean, median, trend, outlier) and state one decision it supports and one it does not

Outline the essential elements of a valid contract (offer, acceptance, consideration, intention, capacity) and apply them to a short scenario

Distinguish the main business forms (sole trader, partnership, private and public company) on liability, capital raising and disclosure obligations

Explain directors' duties and the consequences of breach, and summarise the purpose of insolvency and competition law for business conduct

Apply the five fundamental ethical principles to three short dilemmas and justify the chosen course of action

Identify threats to objectivity (self-interest, self-review, familiarity, intimidation) and select the appropriate safeguard for each

Re-solve ten previously missed questions across economics, accounting and finance without notes, then record the reason for each correction

Complete one full timed mock under exam conditions and mark it by domain to find the two weakest areas

Build a one-page formula and definition sheet covering ratios, WACC, NPV, break-even and variances for final revision