Ruby Dale Synoptic

iech2020 · October 2020

Hi! I have my synoptic assessment this week and had a couple of questions -
1. To me it seems most likely that question 6 will be CBA - as it’s normally a toss up between SWOT and CBA but the pre release material contains a SWOT analysis done by the finance manager (I think - without looking!) what are everyone else opinions on this - have you still had a SWOT question?
2- I really struggle with SWOT so does anyone have a good way of deciphering between threats/weaknesses etc?
3- any other tips on budgeting?!! I have annotated the pre release and feel happy I can (hopefully) bring some bits into my written answers but I’m not feeling too hopeful that I will pass - it’s my first attempt!

mergen · October 2020

@iech2020
1 - from others experience of sitting this exam majority had either ABC or CBA or Make or Buy, very few had SWOT.
2 - Keep practicing SWOT, sorry not the recommendation you are probably looking for. Maybe others can help.
3 - Budgeting, learn different types of budgets, advantages and disadvantages and then how you can apply them to the scenario or given question on the exam.

Pian32 · October 2020

When I sat the exam AAT information stated that task 6 was a CBA or a SWOT that might have changed since last year.

For SWOT the best way to think of it is a weakness is something already in the system that could cause problems. eg A single person handling billing and receiving funds has a chance for fraud so is a weakness as it's already present.
A threat would be a potential change that would cause issues.
eg A new competitor has opened up in the industry raising competetion and possibly undercutting your business.

The best way to think of it is the SW is about current situations and OT is about potential future situations.

Budgeting

Go over the advantages/disadvantages of different budgets. Which do you think is best suited to the pre release material as that will be a good reference point. Make sure you know how to flex/adjust budgets to actual levels and be prepared to do some variance calculations to compare actual to budget.

Do not be afraid to put calculations in the written sections, back everything that you state up and you'll pull in those extra marks.

iech2020 · October 2020

> @Pian32 said:
> When I sat the exam AAT information stated that task 6 was a CBA or a SWOT that might have changed since last year.
>
> For SWOT the best way to think of it is a weakness is something already in the system that could cause problems. eg A single person handling billing and receiving funds has a chance for fraud so is a weakness as it's already present.
> A threat would be a potential change that would cause issues.
> eg A new competitor has opened up in the industry raising competetion and possibly undercutting your business.
>
> The best way to think of it is the SW is about current situations and OT is about potential future situations.
>
> Budgeting
>
> Go over the advantages/disadvantages of different budgets. Which do you think is best suited to the pre release material as that will be a good reference point. Make sure you know how to flex/adjust budgets to actual levels and be prepared to do some variance calculations to compare actual to budget.
>
> Do not be afraid to put calculations in the written sections, back everything that you state up and you'll pull in those extra marks.

> @mergen said:
> @iech2020
> 1 - from others experience of sitting this exam majority had either ABC or CBA or Make or Buy, very few had SWOT.
> 2 - Keep practicing SWOT, sorry not the recommendation you are probably looking for. Maybe others can help.
> 3 - Budgeting, learn different types of budgets, advantages and disadvantages and then how you can apply them to the scenario or given question on the exam.

Thank you both! I’ve gone over SWOT today and feel a bit happier with it! Budgeting recap will be next!!

Ruby Dale Synoptic

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