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EDITOR’S
CHOICE

Welcome to the latest issue of Student Accountant.

Our features include advice on how to approach that all important first
interview and offers some insight into preparing for second interviews or
panel interviews. We also include an article on understanding your learning
style to help focus your mind on the best ways you learn. We also include a
current issues article about gender equality in business.
We have a number of important technical articles to help you get
prepared for the June 2011 exams. We have an article on project
management relevant to Paper P3 candidates, three articles relevant to
auditing candidates on the auditor and insolvency, group auditing and
Clarified auditing standards. We also include an article written by the CAT
Paper 10 examiner on interpreting breakeven and profit–volume charts. You
can access the technical content on page 30.
We’re always keen to have your stories in the magazine. We’re
particularly on the look out for your ideas on how to get the practical
experience requirement for ACCA membership and also your job‑hunting
tips. If you have a story to share with your fellow readers, email us
at studentaccountant@accaglobal.com and you could be featured
in the magazine.
I hope you enjoy this issue. If you have any feedback about the magazine
please email us at studentaccountant@accaglobal.com

Victoria Morgan
Editor, Student Accountant magazine
4 CONTENTS

DISPATCH
06 GRAPHIC NEWS Oil and gas turn up M&A flame,
the social reach of Facebook, and are Blue Chips still the
taxman’s best friend?
08 NEWS ROUNDUP Global finance and accounting news

FEATURE
20 TAKE YOUR PICK
Understanding how you learn can help you
study more effectively. Iwona Tokc-Wilde
finds out how to discover your preferred
learning style and how to develop other
study techniques for best results
22 RULES OF THE GAME
Different interviews call for
different tactics – it’s not over until
it’s over…
24 INEQUALITY CONTROL
Women in the top tier in
accountancy are still
woefully thin on the
ground, but does
this indicate an
inherent sexism in the
profession and how
can this imbalance be
remedied?

LEARNING CENTRE
12 EXAM TECHNIQUE Command words and MCQs
14 CAREER OPPORTUNITIES Getting a job in Malaysia 17 THE VIEW FROM... Banking and practice
16 PER SUPPORT Useful links 18 DISTANCE LEARNING Improving access to tuition

BALANCING ACT DOWNLOAD ARTICLE PDFS

How do you manage the work/study balance? Let us Wherever you see the download icon , click on it
know your top tips and you could be in a forthcoming SA to download a PDF file of the article which can be
feature. Email us at studentaccountant@accaglobal.com read offline and printed off to help you with your studies
 Welcome to ISSUE 07/2011 of STUDENT ACCOUNTANT
Mark Gold
Please email studentaccountant@accaglobal.com with your feedback on this issue President
Dean Westcott
Deputy President
Barry Cooper
Vice President
Helen Brand
TECHNICAL Chief Executive

EDITORIAL TEAM
29 TECHNICAL ARTICLES
Victoria Morgan
CLARITY AUDITING Editor
STANDARDS
Glen Patterson
Relevant to ACCA
Deputy Editor
Qualification Papers F8
and P7 Jackie Dollar
Art Editor
PROJECT
MANAGEMENT: Richard Gooding
BUSINESS CASES AND Designer
GATEWAYS
Relevant to ACCA
WWW.ACCAGLOBAL.COM
Qualification Paper P3
Jamie Ambler
GROUP AUDITING Digital Editor
Relevant to ACCA
Qualification Paper P7 29 Lincoln’s Inn Fields London
AUDIT AND WC2A 3EE
INSOLVENCY United Kingdom
Relevant to ACCA tel: +44 (0)20 7059 5700
Qualification Papers P7 email: info@accaglobal.com
(UK) and (IRL) www.accaglobal.com
INTERPRETING
PUBLISHING AND ADVERTISING
BREAKEVEN AND
Adam Williams
PROFIT–VOLUME
Head of Publishing and Commercial
CHARTS
Relevant to CAT Anthony Kay
Qualification Paper 10 Production Manager
An extensive
online archive of For all advertising-related matters please
Student Accountant contact Lisa Peake:
technical articles is tel: +44 (0)20 7902 1224
available at: www. email: lisa@educate-direct.com
accaglobal.com/
students/student_ Published by the Certified Accountants
accountant/archive/ Educational Trust in cooperation
with ACCA.

RESOURCES The Council of ACCA and the publishers

do not guarantee the accuracy of
statements made by contributors or
35 NOTICEBOARD advertisers, or accept any responsibility
for any statement which they may make in
ESSENTIAL this publication.
INFORMATION
ABOUT ACCA AND No part of this publication may be
YOUR STUDIES reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
ACCA Connect or transmitted in any form or by any means,
contact details, annual electronic, mechanical, photocopying
subscription and or otherwise, without prior written
exam fees, June 2011 permission of the publishers. © CAET 2011
exam timetable, exam ISSN 1473‑0979

WHAT’S YOUR STORY? entry, exam FAQs and

Why did you want to become an accountant, and OBU BSc (Hons) degree
what do you hope to be in the future? Email your
story to us at studentaccountant@accaglobal.com
 6 dispatch
OIL and gas turn up m&A flame
A 35% surge in the total value of global oil and gas M&A deals last
year can be credited to rebounding crude prices and better capital
2009 2010
availability, according to Ernst & Young’s annual review. $200bn $270bn
graphic news
10 canada 17,381,700 11 germany 16,215,380

3 uk 28,940,400
4 turkey 26,417,820

5 philippines 22,651,600
1 us 152,189,880
8 france 21,037,340

7 mexico 21,892,020
9 italy 18,438,760

6 india 22,057,280

2 indonesia 35,174,940
12 brazil 13,409,220

blue chips still taxman’s The social

best friend? networK
A PwC survey of Britain’s 100 biggest companies shows their By the start of March 2011, social
contribution to the total tax take remains huge, with two-thirds networking site Facebook had 643
of it coming from taxes other million active users worldwide.
than corporation tax. The US has far and away most
Facebook users, with 24% of the
global total, and the 12 biggest
user countries listed here account
for over 60%. The US, the UK and
Canada have a particularly high
08/09 £66.6bn 13.1%

degree of Facebook penetration:

06/07 £64.6bn 13.3%

07/08 £66.5bn 12.9%

09/10 £56.8bn 11.9%

50% of their populations operate

05/06 £60bn 13%

Facebook accounts.
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 8 DISPATCH
01 FINANCE SECTOR
TO BALLOON
Malaysia’s finance sector, which
has grown by more than 10% since
2000, is expected to expand by
NEWS ROUNDUP
at least 10% this year, according
to deputy finance minister Datuk
Donald Lim Siang Chai. ‘Foreign
funds which are coming into
the securities market will drive
the sector,’ he said, adding
that finance sector
professionals earned 7%
more than professionals in
other sectors. He also said the
government was proposing
the Minimum Wages Act,
which is expected to be
implemented in the middle of
the year.
02 ACCA APPOINTS
POLICY BOSS
ACCA has announced the
appointment of Chiew Chun Wee
as its new head of policy for Asia
Pacific. The position has been
created to support emerging
demands as the accountancy
services market in Asia Pacific
grows. Wee’s role is to add value
to the business community and
the profession, especially in
key markets such as Singapore,
China, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
He will work with stakeholders
and organisations to identify
opportunities where ACCA can
contribute to the agenda of
the region.
03 HK EXITS DOWNTURN
Hong Kong’s economy has
‘fully recovered’ from the global
downturn, financial secretary
John Tsang has announced in
his annual Budget address. The
reported surplus of HK$71.3bn
contrasted markedly with the
sizeable deficit that had been
forecast. Tang said strong growth
in the Chinese mainland and the
rest of Asia, combined with a
surprise windfall from land sales,
DRAGON POISED
TO SOAR
Chinese companies have the
means, the motivation and
the opportunities to hunt
for acquisitions in 2011,
according to Ernst & Young.
The firm forecast that
domestic and outbound M&A
would accelerate during the
second half of 2011.
Bob Partridge, EY’s
Greater China leader
for transaction advisory
services, said: ‘2010
was a year of recovery
worldwide, but Chinese
corporate deal-making
could really roar back into
the headlines in 2011.
Chinese companies clearly
have a stronger appetite
for transactions than their
global counterparts.’
Partridge said Chinese
companies would aim ‘to
flex their capital structures’
over the next six months.
taxes and stamp duty receipts,
had helped swell the city’s
finances late last year.
04 JAPAN BACK IN THE RED
Japan posted its first trade
deficit in almost two years last
month as commodity prices
rose and exports weakened.
The Finance Ministry said
exports, a key driver of
Japan’s economy, rose just
1.4% in January. It was the
14th consecutive month
of growth, but well off the
13% on-year surge in December.
Instability in the Middle East and
North Africa has pushed up oil
and commodity prices.
05 AIB LAYOFFS
Allied Irish Bank’s restructuring
plan will result in job losses as it
becomes a smaller bank. Executive
chairman David Hodgkinson told
staff in an email the bank would
prefer that most redundancies
would be voluntary and that job
losses would be phased throughout
the bank. A review of AIB’s future
has now been submitted to the
AIB board and Hodgkinson said
it would be discussed with the
regulator and the government. A
further difficulty for the bank may
relate to mortgages provided to
staff and other groups, estimated
to be worth €1.8bn.
06 SMEs RECEIVE
IFRS GUIDANCE
Guidance for SMEs in their
adoption of International Financial
Reporting Standards (IFRS) has
been published as a first draft by
the SME Implementation Group,
which advises the International
Accounting Standards Board
(IASB). The aim is to address the
questions most likely to be posed
by SMEs, including situations where
a group parent is not required to
report using IFRS, but where part
of the group isrequired to do so.
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 10 DISPATCH
07 HONG KONG CONTINUES
TO BE THE CAPITAL
OF LUXURY
Chinese millionaires are getting
richer, younger, and continue
NEWS ROUNDUP
to buy their luxury goods in
Hong Kong. Hong Kong-based
brokerage and investment group
CLSA has forecast that the
consumerism of these nouveaux
riche – average age 39, 15 years
younger than their overseas peers
– means that mainland China,
Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan
will dominate the global luxury
market within the next decade.
Aaron Fischer, author of the
report Dipped in Gold – Luxury
Lifestyles in China/Hong Kong,
said the number of individuals ITALY GOLD RESERVES REVALUED
worth more than HK$1.18bn Faced by a crisis of weak capital ratios, Italian banks are now
had increased from just 24 seeking to plug the gap by having the Bank of Italy’s gold
in 2000 to 1,363 in 2010. He reserves valued at market prices. The bank’s book value of
added that Chinese mainlanders €156,000 (£132,000) would then escalate to about $30bn. As the
preferred to shop for luxury country’s retail and savings banks are shareholders in the Bank
goods in Hong Kong, a duty‑free of Italy, the country’s central bank, the revaluation would provide
city where prices are lower, an accounting solution to their weak capital positions. The
and counterfeiting was not a increase in book valuation of the gold is close to the extra capital
big concern. required by Italy’s banks under Basel III. But the government
has adopted a different approach to boost the capital ratios: it is
08 INDIA DELAYS allowing banks to treat credit loss deferred tax assets as capital.
IFRS ROLLOUT
The Indian government has
delayed the implementation of Company Accounting Oversight quo is not an option for the
IFRS, which was to have become Board. Examination of existing auditing world,’ he said. ‘It’s not
mandatory for large companies practice will focus on the about changing for the sake of
from the beginning of April. A conduct of auditors, the role change, but to reply to very real
senior official in the Ministry of of audit committees, corporate needs which we can no longer
Corporate Affairs explained: ‘We governance, the way in which ignore…The auditing market is
have put in place 35 accounting identified financial problems hyper‑concentrated. How can
standards to be followed by large are disclosed, and the extent of we encourage the emergence
companies in the first phase. ‘hyper concentration’ in the audit of new actors capable of being
Implementation by companies will market, Doty said. ‘There will be competitive?’ He suggested
depend on how and when some analogues to what Mr Barnier is ceilings to the total market
issues, such as those related to saying in Europe. The question share of the larger audit firms
taxation, are resolved or not.’ is, “Which practices are diluting for listed companies; joint
Indian business organisations audit quality?”’ auditing, where the audit could
have led calls for a deferral of be done by two different audit
IFRS adoption. 10 EU GETS TOUGH ON firms, one of which at least
BIG FOUR is not part of the Big Four;
09 US FACES AUDIT REFORM European Commissioner Michel and a ‘European passport’.
The US audit market faces Barnier has warned the Big He intends to produce proposals
reform, warned James Doty, Four that the audit market on competition reform in the
new chairman of the Public must be reformed. ‘The status market in November.