Study time

magic_ghost

How much study time is needed to pass the intermediate stage? What are peoples experiences, and what should I expect, compared with the foundation stage?

Also, does anyone have any top tips for studying in general?

blobbyh

This'll pretty much depend how quick you are at picking things up. If you're gifted at accounts then you'll grasp it quite easily, if you're less so it'll certainly be harder than Foundation and you'll definitely need to put the hours in to get successful results. Without wishing to demean Foundation too much, you can pretty much pass the PLB exam with your eyes half closed and it'll never be that easy again.

FRA is the natural extension to PLB only you'll start to delve into what comes beyond the ITB; the ETB (extended trial balance) with depreciation, accruals, prepayments and others all leading onto the P&L and Balance Sheet for sole traders and partnerships. I personally found the jump from Foundation to Intermediate greater than that from Intermediate to Technician. You'll also need to have thoroughly grasped the underlying concept of double entry by this stage as if you haven't, you'll undoubtedly struggle.

ECR will be new to you with it's introduction to cost accounting and is a subject quite ridiculously undervalued on the forums by some. Many find this tougher as the topics don't necessarily flow into each other as they do with FRA and there are many different concepts to learn but if you work in the manufacturing or service industry you should see and appreciate their vitality to a business.

Tips? None really, just manage your time devoted to studying effectively and try to understand each chapter/topic before progressing onto the next one. Prepare well at this level and Technician should be less of a shock when the workload rises yet again.

magic_ghost

Thanks for that Robert, that was really helpful.

I must say I am nervous about next year, especially since I would have liked more time to do the Foundation stage. In fact 6 months doesnt seem very long at all for Intermediate, but I guess that depends on how much work I put in.

Anyway, the only way to find out is to do it.

One thing is for sure, and that is that i'm going to have a very big party when I pass the Intermediate stage.