ACCA F8- By: Badrul Awang

Description : ACCA F8.

ACCA F8, Audit and Assurance, is the eighth paper in the compulsory Foundation level of the ACCA exams. The aim of Paper F8 is to test the knowledge and skills required to carry out assurance engagement and its application in the professional regulatory framework. This is the only compulsory auditing paper in the ACCA exams, and aims to ensure that students understand the fundamental concepts of auditing. Since it relates to auditing, it will be a very practical exam with real scenarios that need to be tackled.

ACCA F8: Syllabus.

The ACCA F8 syllabus aims to provide students with knowledge of why an audit is required and an understanding of auditing fundamentals and procedures. The prerequisites to this paper are Paper F3, Financial Accounting, and Paper F4, Corporate and Business Law. Students will be able to apply the knowledge gained in ACCA F8 to subsequent elective Professional level exams, especially Paper P1, Professional Accountant, and Paper P7, Advanced Audit and Assurance.

Topics to be covered under this paper will include the purpose and scope of assurance arrangements, including the role and importance of external and internal auditors. Students will also be introduced to regulatory and ethical frameworks of audits. Topics will also cover how an auditor assesses the business entity and the environment, in preparation for planning an audit of financial statements. Finally, the types of audit reports and how conclusion is drawn from them will also be included in the syllabus for ACCA F8.

ACCA F8: Format.

The format of the ACCA F8 will contain compulsory questions, with a combination of computational and discursive portions in each question. Students will be required to apply the knowledge of previous papers in performing various calculations, in the context of audit planning and review, and will be expected to interpret the results and discuss the implications for the entity.

The ACCA F8 paper will be divided into five questions. Question 1 will be a 30-marks questions and will always be on audit procedures and their applications to different scenarios. Students will be provided with a scenario, and questions will be put forward relating to audit procedures, identification of system weakness, writing management letters and internal audit focus. Question 2 will be a 10-marks question, which will be divided into short factual questions on International Standards on Auditing (ISAs). Question 3 will be a 20-marks question, which will be related to the topics of risk and audit approach. Question 4 will also be a 20-marks question, which will be related to more specialized areas of auditing. Finally, question 5 will also be a 20-marks question that will test the student on collection of audit evidence, closedown and preparing audit reports.

Summary.

The ACCA F8 is the first audit exam that an ACCA student will be giving. Therefore, the examiners understand the level of responses that will be received and will design the exam keeping this in mind. Any student who understands the importance, role and theory of audits, and can apply the knowledge to extract audit information and prepare reports in basic scenarios can pass the ACCA F8. Any student that studies the basics of auditing and has an understanding of the fundamental ISA principles can easily pass the ACCA F8.

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