The ACCA FA1: Recording Financial Transactions syllabus introduces you to the basics of bookkeeping, focusing on how to prepare and record financial documentation through to the trial balance stage. It is part of the Foundations in Accountancy (FIA) suite of qualifications.
FA1 Syllabus Overview
The Official FA1 Study Guide is organized into several sections:
- Types of Business Transactions and Documentation: Identifying transaction characteristics and coding documents.
- Duality of Transactions: Working with the accounting equation and books of prime entry.
- Banking System: Learning bank procedures and security for different payment forms.
- Payroll: Calculating wages and recording the employer’s tax responsibilities.
- Ledger Accounts: Posting entries to the general ledger and maintaining balances.
- Reconciliations: Using control accounts and bank reconciliations to find discrepancies.
- Trial Balance: Extracting an initial balance and clearing suspense accounts.
Key Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, you should be able to:
- Describe business transactions and the various types of documentation used (e.g., invoices, credit notes).
- Explain the duality of transactions and apply the principles of double-entry bookkeeping.
- Understand the banking system, including the process of clearing and different digital payment methods.
- Process payroll transactions, including calculating gross wages and handling deductions.
- Maintain ledger accounts, including cash books, petty cash records, and sales/purchase ledgers.
- Perform reconciliations for bank statements, cash records, and supplier accounts.
- Prepare a trial balance and identify/correct errors using journal entries.
Exam Structure
- Format: 2-hour computer-based exam.
- Questions: 50 compulsory multiple-choice questions, worth 2 marks each.
- Pass Mark: 50%.
Content: A mix of computational and theoretical questions covering 100% of the syllabus.