The changes to the ACCA syllabus were outlined in
Student
Accountant
in issue 12/2010. The article described changes
to the qualification as a whole and made a number of points
relevant to all papers. It also briefly examined the revised
relationship between Papers P3 and P5. This article focuses
on the changes made to P3,
Business Analysis
.
A new relational diagram for the paper has been developed
(see Figure 1). One complete section (on quality) of the
original diagram has been dropped from the syllabus.
The relationship of the paper with other papers in the ACCA
Qualification has also been redefined. The primary input is still
from Paper F1,
Accountant in Business
. However, there are also
important inputs from Paper F5,
Performance Management
,
and Paper F7,
Financial Reporting
. Paper P3 itself is an input
into Paper P5,
Advanced Performance Management
. The
relationship between Papers P3 and P5 has been clarified. As
well as quality, Paper P5 now examines reward management
and performance management, elements of which used to be
in the Paper P3 syllabus.
This article considers the changes to each section of
the syllabus.
SectionS A, B And c
The first three sections of the
Study Guide
(A, B and C)
continue to represent the strategic management part of the
syllabus. They consider strategic position, strategic choice and
strategic action and they remain closely aligned to the Johnson,
Scholes and Whittingham book.
Within these sections of the
Study Guide
, three changes have
been made. The first is the insertion of A2e:
¤ Evaluate methods of business forecasting used when
quantitatively assessing the likely outcome of different
business strategies.
This neatly follows on from objective A2d, where the
principles of scenario analysis have been introduced.
Scenarios may or may not use quantitative forecasting
techniques. Furthermore, in a wider context, virtually every
form of decision making and planning activity in business
requires forecasting of some kind. Key techniques include
linear regression, the coefficient of determination, time series
analysis and exponential smoothing.
Questions set on this new objective will not ask candidates to
undertake the mathematics of any of the techniques, but will
focus on principles, evaluation and consequences. The revised
Pilot Paper
for Paper P3 includes an example of how it might
be examined.
Linear regression and its associated concepts, the correlation
coefficient and the coefficient of determination, can also be
used to explore the relationship between variables. This should
also be studied at this point, as strategies may be based on
an observed decline in one variable (for example, disposable
income) and its likely effect on another (for example, the
amount of charity donations).
Learning objective A3d has been slightly amended to
introduce costing implications into the lifecycle model.
Candidates need to appreciate that costs will vary depending
on where the product is in its lifecycle. In the context of
scenario-based examinations, the nature of the product has
to be carefully considered. For example, when developing
a software product most costs are incurred in the initial
development of the software itself. Once these have been
incurred, unit production and distribution costs are relatively
low and so margins are high and unit price can be varied to
reflect this. However, for a manufactured product, variable costs
may still remain high reflecting the cost of raw materials and
the physical labour required to produce the product. Indeed
these costs may increase during its lifecycle. Furthermore,
equipment used to produce the product will need maintenance
and eventual replacement.
Finally, learning objective A5b has been slightly reworded but
it is still aligned to the source book for this part; section 3.3
Cost efficiency (Johnson, Scholes & Whittington) pp121–124.
Strategic position
(A)
Strategic choices
(B)
Strategic action
(C)
Business process
change (D)
Information
technology (E)
People (H)
Project
management (F)
Financial
analysis (G)
FiGURe 1: ReLAtionAL diAGRAM oF MAin cAPABiLitieS
01 technicAL01 technicAL
ReLeVAnt to AccA QUALiFicAtion PAPeR P3 FRoM JUne 2011
business analysis
syllabus changes
