Accounting is a universal discipline, where everywhere you look, you know that an accountant has been involved in the process of that product being created or the service being provided. QCE Accounting covers many topics – from the source document and recording them in the General Journal to the preparation of financial reports and evaluating a company’s performance. It provides you with some valuable insight into the disciple and I hope this study guide can help you maximise your ability to perform well in the subject.
Guide
How to get a 90+ in Accounting: Tips from an expert teacher
By GlennIn this guide, Glenn goes through his top tips and tricks for getting a 90+ in Accounting
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Introduction
How to prepare for your Internal Assessments (IA)
QCE Accounting syllabus
Download the latest version of the QCE Accounting General Senior Syllabus as this
has all the details of the content that can be assessed in your internal assessments.
This is split into three sections:
Unit 3 Topic 1 – Managing resources for a trading GST business
Unit 3 Topic 2 – Fully classified financial statement reporting for a trading
GST business
Unit 4 Topic 1 – Cash management
All are worth 25% of your total mark for the year.
Subject matter
Take note of the ‘subject matter’ that each topic covers as any part of this can be assessed in your internal assessment. Ensure that you understand all the key terms and concepts as this provides the foundation of your knowledge for tackling the assessment.
Specifications
Also study the ‘Specifications’ for each IA as this stipulates how all QCE Accounting students will be assessed. For example in IA1, the Part B Item 1 questions, you have to calculate the depreciation using the diminishing balance depreciation method. So you know what method to use for that specific question and there will be no surprises on the assessment for you.
Short answer questions
Short answer questions will appear in IA1 and IA2 in the Part A short items. Ensure
that you are familiar with the ‘describe’ and the ‘explain’ aspects of the subject
matter as this is where the short answer questions will come from. Also ensure that
you are familiar with the ISMG for the short items as this is what your teacher will
use to assess your work. To ensure that you provide a comprehensive answer, try to
tick these points off in your answer:
Highlight the key accounting terms in the question
Read the question carefully and ensure that you know what it is asking
Define key accounting terms in your answer to demonstrate that you know
what you are explainingEnsure that you answer the questions fully
Provide relevant and specific accounting examples to demonstrate your thorough knowledge of the topic
Practical questions
Practical questions are in all IAs and are important to prepare for as they can provide you with easy marks. They are also relevant as many of the practical topics assessed are assessed again in the final year exam such as balance day adjustments and preparing financial reports. So the more effort you put into practising practical questions, you are preparing for the IAs as well as the external exam at the end of the year.
When preparing for the practical questions, try doing as many questions as you can and as many different types of questions as you can whether it is from the textbook or from resources provided from your teacher – the more you do, the better prepared you will be.
Extended response questions
IA1 and IA2 have extended responses and IA3 has a written report that is more than
50% of your mark for each assessment. This includes the Analysis (6 marks), Evaluation (4 marks) and Communication (3 marks) – all out of a total of 25. It is vital that you dedicate time and effort into this section as it can really make a difference to your overall result for the year.
Ensure that you are familiar with the ISMG and know what teachers are looking for when marking your responses. Try to hand in sample responses to your teachers for feedback as this will highlight what areas of your responses you need to work on to improve.
How to prepare for the final exam
Revision of content
Use the ‘Subject Matter’ outline for Unit 4 Topic 2 and 3 to understand what is on the external examination. Topic 2 covers much of the practical content such as balance day adjustments and preparing financial reports. Topic 3 covers companies and how to evaluate their financial performance using ratios and financial statements. It would be valuable to create a checklist of all the subject matter and check to see if you understand and apply each point.
You should also organise your notes this way as well as have sample transactions, explanations of ratios and report templates to assist your revision and aid completing practice exam questions.
Complete practice questions and exams
Completing practice exam questions is the best way to prepare for the exam as you
will be practising what you will actually be doing under test conditions. When completing practice exam questions, ideally you should be completing them closed book so that you can see which topics you understand and which topics you should be putting effort into revising. Also spend time on marking your own paper and use the External Assessment Marking Guide (EAMG) if available. The external exam is marked differently to the internal assessments, so ensure you are familiar with how the questions are assessed and where the marks are allocated for each question.
Create a study timetable
In lead up to the external exams, I recommend planning out a study timetable for all
your subjects. Use a calendar template for the weeks leading up to the examinations
and note when each of your exams are timetabled. It would be advisable to study for
your last exam first, then move your focus to your first exam so that your preparation is fresh in your memory. Then use the time in between your timetabled exams to prepare for the next one. Also prepare study blocks of no longer than an hour and schedule breaks and rewards for yourself – you don’t want to burn yourself out leading up to the exams.
How to handle the exam
Time management
With the exam being about 65 marks and 2 hours long (excluding planning time),
how you approach the exam is important. Many students will be under pressure to
complete the whole exam, so it is important that you pick up all the marks for the
questions that you find easy as you don’t want to know there were questions you
could have answered, but didn’t as you ran out of time.
Planning time
Use your 15 minutes of planning time effectively and read through all the questions
and stimulus to get a feel of the paper. Then make a plan about which questions you
find the easiest and attempt them first as this will provide you with confidence and
guarantees you will get marks for these. In your planning time, you can write notes
on your planning paper so you could plan responses to written questions or make
points about certain questions and as to what to look out for such as calculations,
key terms and key concepts.
Writing time
As mentioned before, answer the easy questions first to provide you with
confidence and then tackle the rest of the paper. Know where the high mark
questions are and ensure you answer those well to maximise the marks you get on
the paper. It is also important to read the question carefully and highlight key terms
in the question, as this will help you maximise your marks. Efficiency is also
important, but with accounting – so is accuracy! So ensure you double-check your
calculations, journal entries, classification in financial statements and so on as you
want to avoid making silly errors that may cost you crucial marks.
With the exam being about 65 marks and 2 hours long (excluding planning time),
how you approach the exam is important. Many students will be under pressure to
complete the whole exam, so it is important that you pick up all the marks for the
questions that you find easy as you don’t want to know there were questions you
could have answered, but didn’t as you ran out of time.
Final tips
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Use your teacher
They will be the most knowledgeable and accessible person you know about the
subject. If you have a question about the content or the exam, don’t be afraid to email them. Your teacher will want you to succeed and will assist you in any way
they can. Also complete some analysis and evaluation questions and give them to
your teacher for feedback. This information will help when trying to maximise your
marks in these types of questions.
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Create study groups
It can be extremely helpful to study with a group of friends who are also doing
Accounting. You can challenge each other and help each other to understand the
more complex topics. Being able to discuss and share ideas will assist in your
learning, but also provides you with support and motivation. You can learn a lot from
others on how they study, how they approach different aspects of the content in
Accounting and this can only help boost your marks in the exam.
Enjoy yourself!
Finally, but most importantly, have fun with Accounting. Try to keep a positive
attitude and if preparing for the assessment gets overwhelming, ensure you give
yourself a break. If there are questions or content that you find difficult to
understand, make sure you seek help from your Accounting friends and teacher, as
they will be there to help you understand it. Keep in mind that the exam is worth
25% of your total mark, so enjoy the challenge and know that you did your utmost to
achieve the best mark that you can.
Final Tips
Here are some final tips from Glenn on how to get a 90+ in Accounting.
Use your teacher
They will be the most knowledgeable and accessible person you know about the
subject. If you have a question about the content or the exam, don’t be afraid to email them. Your teacher will want you to succeed and will assist you in any way
they can. Also complete some analysis and evaluation questions and give them to
your teacher for feedback. This information will help when trying to maximise your
marks in these types of questions.
Create study groups
It can be extremely helpful to study with a group of friends who are also doing
Accounting. You can challenge each other and help each other to understand the
more complex topics. Being able to discuss and share ideas will assist in your
learning, but also provides you with support and motivation. You can learn a lot from
others on how they study, how they approach different aspects of the content in
Accounting and this can only help boost your marks in the exam.
Enjoy yourself!
Finally, but most importantly, have fun with Accounting. Try to keep a positive
attitude and if preparing for the assessment gets overwhelming, ensure you give
yourself a break. If there are questions or content that you find difficult to
understand, make sure you seek help from your Accounting friends and teacher, as
they will be there to help you understand it. Keep in mind that the exam is worth
25% of your total mark, so enjoy the challenge and know that you did your utmost to
achieve the best mark that you can.
By Glenn
After working as an accountant for various organisations in Australia, England and New Zealand, Glenn decided to become a teacher. He has been teaching senior Accounting for the past 10 years in Queensland and Victoria and has also worked as a marker for the first external exam for Accounting in 2020.