Management accounting - decision and control

Parki82

Hi all
Sat my budgeting exam yesterday so cracking on with d & c today.
Is it loads more involved than budgeting and how long would you say it takes if I can dedicate maybe three full days a week to the module?
Is there a similar writing task as with budgeting tasks 4 and 8?
Thanks

Pian32

It's a lot more in depth than budgeting. You will need a much better understanding of variances and how they are made up as well as ratios that you might have done in FSCL. However if you have completed FSCL and Budgeting a lot of material you will be familiar with so it's just advancing your understanding more.

Expect to be given a result from a variance calculation or a ratio and have to work back to calculate something else.

There are similar writing tasks based on what you've been doing.

lorraine frame

I need help with this one as I have sat it 3 times and just can't seem to get it, I don't think the study material reflects what your asked in the exam to be honest, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Pian32

Hi Lorraine. What are you studying with, I self studied through an online firm that used the osborne books and I found them quite useful.

Is there a part you are struggling with in particular?

Emmalouise18

Hello,

It took me 4 times to pass Decision and Control as I was a few percent off each time.

I personally feel it is the hardest exam of Level 4.

It is heavily based on variances etc however I have a really good Kaplan link below which helped me and I cracked it.

https://kfknowledgebank.kaplan.co.uk/management-accounting/performance-management/variance-analysis

I did revision cards with each variance on one side. Then a definition on the other side.

There is a large written question based on variances, and I followed the below method..

Make your point -> Give a definition -> explain your point -> Use an example and then link it back to the question.

I used to get below requirement on written questions until using this method. Then I have got met and exceeded.

Let me know if anyone needs any more advice/help.

lorraine frame said:

I need help with this one as I have sat it 3 times and just can't seem to get it, I don't think the study material reflects what your asked in the exam to be honest, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Parki82 said:

Hi all

Sat my budgeting exam yesterday so cracking on with d & c today.

Is it loads more involved than budgeting and how long would you say it takes if I can dedicate maybe three full days a week to the module?

Is there a similar writing task as with budgeting tasks 4 and 8?

Thanks

Mannaesi

@Emmalouise18 thanks for the advise and link its very helpful

Emmalouise18

Mannaesi said:

@Emmalouise18 thanks for the advise and link its very helpful

No problem at all - good luck wishing you all the best

Emmalouise18

Emmalouise18 said:

Hello,

It took me 4 times to pass Decision and Control as I was a few percent off each time.

I personally feel it is the hardest exam of Level 4.

It is heavily based on variances etc however I have a really good Kaplan link below which helped me and I cracked it.

https://kfknowledgebank.kaplan.co.uk/management-accounting/performance-management/variance-analysis

I did revision cards with each variance on one side. Then a definition on the other side.

There is a large written question based on variances, and I followed the below method..

Make your point -> Give a definition -> explain your point -> Use an example and then link it back to the question.

I used to get below requirement on written questions until using this method. Then I have got met and exceeded.

Let me know if anyone needs any more advice/help.

lorraine frame said:

I need help with this one as I have sat it 3 times and just can't seem to get it, I don't think the study material reflects what your asked in the exam to be honest, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Parki82 said:

Hi all

Sat my budgeting exam yesterday so cracking on with d & c today.

Is it loads more involved than budgeting and how long would you say it takes if I can dedicate maybe three full days a week to the module?

Is there a similar writing task as with budgeting tasks 4 and 8?

Thanks

Hi Lorraine,

Sorry to hear you are struggling with Decision and Control. Is this the last exam you are doing? Or do you have any more exams to concentrate on before coming back to Decision & Control?

It took me 4 times to pass it. My first attempt I got 69%. I was so upset and got a remark but AAT refused to give me any more marks. I re sat this again got 60% as my nerves got the better of me. I then took a break and did financial statements then came back to it and failed again with 66% then did Credit Management, Auditing then sat it again and finally got 72%.

I personally feel if you resit an exam again and again it will knock your confidence more. But everyone is different.

I revised the variances using this link... https://kfknowledgebank.kaplan.co.uk/management-accounting/performance-management/variance-analysis

I did little cards with each variance on. One side with the variance written on, then the other side a definition and examples of the variances. example..

Material Price Variance..

Material price variance is when the actual price paid for materials is higher/lower than the budgeted price paid for materials. Variance may occur if the company purchased materials in bulk (cheaper), changed supplier and purchased cheaper materials, changed supplier to a more expensive supplier, incorrect budgeting by the budgeting team.

Variances is a big part of the exam. So doing revision cards and practicing these 3-4 times a day will really help you remember and lean these off by heart.

Kaplan and BPP have really good books so it may be worth buying one of those. I am selling a BPP Decision and Control BPP one if you are interested?

Thank you x