The Ultimate Guide to Success in VCE Accounting
by Jamison (Study Score of 50 in Accounting in 2008)
Introduction: After successfully completing VCE Accounting in 2008, I can say with certainty, that it simply is not a hard subject – it just requires a bit of practice. The exam will NOT ask difficult questions that you have not seen before, it simply will ask you to do the same as you always do, but in different scenarios, which put most people off.
To those who have completed Units 1+2 in Accounting, Units 3+4 are simply building on the knowledge you learnt last year.
So make sure you completely understand the following:
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The Accounting Elements (Assets, liabilities, Owner’s Equity, Revenue, expenses)
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The Accounting Principles – including definitions (KNOW THESE OFF BY HEART)
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The Qualitative Characteristics – including definitions (KNOW THESE OFF BY HEART)
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Cash Flow Statement – learn how to identify operating, financing and investing activities
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Profit and Loss Summary – including skills to identify expenses/revenue
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Balance Sheets – become comfortable with the layout
All of these you should have covered in Units 1+2 and therefore should have a basic knowledge for what is required in 3+4. Learn all of those points and you are well on your way to a great start to Unit 3.
For those who did not complete Units 1+2, never fear, although Accounting does build on a lot of knowledge from 1+2, you can still catch up! I found that almost ALL of unit 3 is a catch-up of Units 1+2 knowledge, as well as a bit extra such as the General ledger and journal.
The Accounting ExaminationThe accounting exam is around the middle of the examination period, so you need to have prepared early on as you will undoubtedly be studying for various other examinations at the same time. I would strongly recommend beginning practice examinations by the Term 3 holidays at the latest. This allows you to balance your accounting practice exams with the rest of your subjects. Preferably you should have finished the course by then, if not you need to finish it on your own over the holidays. This ensures you are not disadvantaged, as most other students will be finished the course by then.
Practice exams are essential. They are the most important thing you can do to prepare for the exam. Too many students each year do not expose themselves to enough examination style situations and end up with lousy marks. Especially early on, even if you are getting things incorrect, you are still learning! Instead of simply throwing away past exams, get your teacher to mark them or assist you with the areas you were uncomfortable with. This ensures each exam is a growing experience.
Balance is the key over those last weeks of school and exam preparation. It is best to spread your accounting prac exams over those last weeks, doing 1 every 2-3 days to keep the knowledge fresh in your mind. Checkpoints and other short question resources are invaluable at the time, as they allow for quick revision at any time of the day (including during dinner (guilty)).
Ways to Study for Accounting throughout the yearWhile there are many ways to study for any subject,
these are a couple methods which I employed throughout the year to keep my accounting knowledge fresh.•
Checkpoints – no brainer. I started this one early, to coincide with starting Units 3+4, allowing me to do extra practice of all the activities to make sure I experienced different scenarios.
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Creating an Accounting Procedures Manual. Lame I know. In order to revise the creating of reports, as many SACs will required this. I used a normal exercise book and wrote instructions on how to prepare each of the Accounting reports, including tips and tricks. Even though you are unlikely to have to create accounting reports from scratch in the exam, creating a guide allows you to go over the steps you used to make reports, ensuring you do not forget parts of the report such as Other Revenue in a Profit and Loss.
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Accounting Theory Question revision – up to 40% of the exam can contain theory questions, so be prepared! However 90% of the theory questions you will have seen before, eg. Define the term operative activities OR State why the Wages is counted as an expense. Use this to your advantage! The best way I found to prepare for this, was to prepare a document with ALL the theory questions asked by the VCAA in recent years, and ALL other theory questions I could get my hands on. I personally prepared this for my class for both examinations, but obviously it helps the one the most who creates it themselves. Basically I would copy the question (including the marks), and the answer. I would then annotate the question on how to answer similar questions. Then I would try to memorize or at least ‘learn’ the answers
Final Tips for Accounting Students1. Learn to write neatly. While examiners are not heartless bastards, they are unlikely to acquire the use of a hand-writing expert to try and decipher your definition of “Cost of Sales”. Therefore you need to make it easy for them to understand your answer, pencil is useful in the accounting examination and is actually required for calculations. However make sure you have a good eraser, as those old dirty ones seem to cause more harm than anything else.
2. Prepare your accounting theory answers beforehand. Examiners read your exams very quickly, as they get paid by the exam not the hour. Therefore all the most relevant information of the answer must be incorporated into your answer as soon as possible. Answers that babble about how Assets are wonderful are unlikely to get a mark, even if they correctly identify the definition halfway down the page. Also, make sure you are well versed in Accounting jargon which basically includes all definitions.
3. Use bad marks as a way to learn. I know I’ve said this before, but it needs to be repeated. Early on the year I received my worst ever accounting mark on a SAC, 90%. Although many would regard this as a rather decent mark, I was aiming high and thought a low mark like that would ruin me forever. However, because I was so annoyed by the mark, I remembered exactly what I got incorrect and NEVER made that mistake again. And guess what? It came up in the exam.
4. Lectures are not necessary to attend, however they will refresh your knowledge on the content. I primarily attended some accounting lectures to gain confidence in my own knowledge. Seriously, if you don’t know the content by the time the revision lectures come around, you have problems.
In the end, the way to get great marks in accounting basically ends up on how much effort you want to put in. Complete a lot of practice throughout the year and you should be well prepared for the exam. Even if the exam seems hard, don’t worry – very likely everyone else will find it difficult too.
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