dfs answers

cornflower

i have answers for PEV from sandyhood but does anybody know if someone does dFS answers. I desperately need to see some suggested answers.

thanks
carrie.:001_smile:

peugeot

I have been known in the past to do some suggested answers to DFS but I'm afraid I don't have a copy of the paper to hand, though I have been told by various members that IAS 38 came up (which some weren't expecting - "question spotting"). Did you mention:

• Research expenditure expensed
• development expenditure capitalised if:
• project technically feasible
• intentin to complete and use/sell the asset
• ability to use or sell the asset
• existence of a market
• availability of technical, financial/other resources to complete; and
• cost can be measured reliably.

I will do some answers when the paper goes up on the website (time permitting).


Kind regards
Steve

cornflower

thanks i will wait until they go on the site for you to do the answer.
i thought the intangible question was very unexpected and did not think that would be tested our tutor said it would not normally come up so din't understand what it needed. very unfair:mad2:

carrie.

peugeot

I'm not entirely sure why you feel that intangible assets being examined in a financial reporting paper is unfair.

The Unit 11 workbook for DFS is quite clear which standards are and which standards are not examinable and IAS 38 is examinable. Therefore the examiner is perfectly within his rights to test your ability on IAS 38.

Question spotting should not be encouraged and if students do "cherry pick" which standards they "think" will be examined - then they do so at their own peril. This happened when the gearing ratio was examined in the June 07 sitting - students were saying it's "unfair", it's "not right" and "surely they'll take it into account when they mark the papers and bring the pass mark down". The fact is, if something is examinable, you should know to study for it - they won't lower the pass mark just because a student has got their predictions wrong and tuition providers are wholly negligent if they are encouraging students by saying "IAS 38 won't be tested, or will only be tested as part of a question". I've not seen the DFS paper but I think judging by the above post, one college at least has got a misinformed tutor.

I know this is not what you want to hear, Carrie but you have to take some responsibility and not place all the blame on the examiner - who appears to have set a very fair paper.

Kind regards
Steve

LouLou143

peugeot wrote: »

I'm not entirely sure why you feel that intangible assets being examined in a financial reporting paper is unfair.

The Unit 11 workbook for DFS is quite clear which standards are and which standards are not examinable and IAS 38 is examinable. Therefore the examiner is perfectly within his rights to test your ability on IAS 38.

Question spotting should not be encouraged and if students do "cherry pick" which standards they "think" will be examined - then they do so at their own peril. This happened when the gearing ratio was examined in the June 07 sitting - students were saying it's "unfair", it's "not right" and "surely they'll take it into account when they mark the papers and bring the pass mark down". The fact is, if something is examinable, you should know to study for it - they won't lower the pass mark just because a student has got their predictions wrong and tuition providers are wholly negligent if they are encouraging students by saying "IAS 38 won't be tested, or will only be tested as part of a question". I've not seen the DFS paper but I think judging by the above post, one college at least has got a misinformed tutor.

I know this is not what you want to hear, Carrie but you have to take some responsibility and not place all the blame on the examiner - who appears to have set a very fair paper.

Kind regards
Steve

110% totally agree with Steve. The paper was very similar to one in the past! Where infact the questions were exactly the same.....

Gem7321

I definitely mucked up the development costs question! I had four bullet points fixed in my head specifically for that question, and when it came up I went completely blank and had to make up a load of twaddle. Then on my way home in the car I remembered what I wanted to say! And although I knew it was IAS 38 I didn't write that down! Argh!

I thought it was a fair paper too. Similar to the practice exams and I felt that we'd covered everything in the paper in class.

There's no point dwelling on it now until August anyway :001_smile:

peugeot

Hi Gem,

A common assumption by candidates is that in order to pass the question you would have to know the full principles of IAS 38 and write them down. This assumption is, in fact, incorrect!

As long as you knew that IAS 38 was intangible and didn't waffle on about (say) cash flow statements and you got down something about research and development/goodwill/brands or anything like that and (say) wrote about recognising them as an asset after certain qualification criteria had been met, you should be fine.

Don't forget that anyone can rote learn accounting standards and anyone can write about, for example, the 5 criteria that have to be met in IAS 18 for sales of goods - what does this do to demonstrate your knowledge? Absolutely nothing.

A candidate who has rote learned IAS 38 or any other accounting standard may be able to bullet point the fundamental technicialities, but I think you will find more often than not, that when you have a memory blank and you choose to "waffle" this in fact enables you to apply the standard to the actual question therefore demonstrating that you haven't rote learned the standard! The markers are more interested in how a candidate applies a standard to a question rather than if they know the full criterion for an intangible asset to be capitalised. I think you will find you will be fine.

Best of luck
Steve