The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants or ACCA is one of the fastest growing accountancy organisations in the world. An accountancy qualification from ACCA can fast-track your accounting career and help you secure a well-paying and exciting role in the financial world.
That being said, an ACCA qualification is not easy to achieve. ACCA is infamous for holding some of the most rigorous and exhaustive accounting examinations in the world. Passing your ACCA exam can help you demonstrate a high level of accounting knowledge and skills.
If you are intimidated by the prospect of passing your ACCA exams, you can be rest assured that it is possible to study for ACCA by yourself. You can ace your preparation through hard work, perseverance and patience.
Here are a few tips that can help you effectively prepare for your ACCA exams.
- Start your preparation early: ACCA has around 14 papers covering an exhaustive list of accounting subjects and disciplines. Hence, you can benefit from starting your preparation way in advance. Starting your preparation early also gives you sufficient time to read every chapter in your textbook and familiarise yourself with all the important concepts. You can even find time to revise multiple times if you start studying early.
- Plan your schedule: If you can’t start your preparation early and have got limited time on your hand, a planned study schedule can be your best friend. Creating a planned schedule can help you decide how many papers you can appear for in a single year. Detailed planning might take some time in the beginning but can end up saving you a lot of time throughout your preparation. Break down the entire syllabus into daily and weekly targets. This way, you will know how much time you need to devote to your studies to pass your exams successfully.
- Use all resources available to you: Preparing by yourself for ACCA can seem intimidating but isn’t rocket-science. There are plenty of free tools and resources online like study guides and solved question papers that can help you prepare for ACCA. You can also browse through technical articles and tips and tricks by previous candidates to fine-tune your preparation.
- Hold regular group study sessions: Working or studying in a group can be an excellent way to find out your knowledge level and work out the kinks in your study plan. Holding regular group study sessions also allows you to run ideas across your friends and get your confusions clarified. In addition, it also helps you improve your communication and networking skills which can be useful for your future career.
- Follow the PQRST technique: The PQRST (P= Preview, Q= Question, R= Revise, S= Summary, and T= Test) is a popular study technique that can serve you well in your ACCA preparation. Following the technique ensures you understand the concepts and ideas thoroughly and don’t have to mug them up. It also helps you fill the knowledge gaps in your preparation and pass your exams in your first attempt.
Apart from following these tips, make sure to solve a lot of practice question papers and get your doubts clarified early. This can ensure that you have a thorough understanding of each paper in the ACCA syllabus