In the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) Applied Skills level, FR (Financial Reporting) builds on the foundations of financial accounting to develop advanced skills in preparing and analyzing financial statements for both single entities and groups.
Syllabus Overview
The FR Syllabus is structured into five core sections:
- The Conceptual and Regulatory Framework: Understanding the qualitative characteristics of financial information, the standard-setting process by the IASB, and the transition to IFRS 18 Presentation and Disclosure which replaces IAS 1 for exams starting September 2025.
- Accounting for Transactions in Financial Statements: Mastering specific IFRS standards including Tangible Non-Current Assets (IAS 16), Intangible Assets (IAS 38), Impairment (IAS 36), Financial Instruments (IFRS 9), and Revenue (IFRS 15).
- Preparation of Financial Statements: Drafting the Statement of Profit or Loss, Statement of Financial Position, and Statement of Cash Flows for single entities.
- Consolidated Financial Statements: Preparing group accounts, including calculations for goodwill, non-controlling interests (NCI), and the treatment of associates (IAS 28).
- Analysis and Interpretation: Evaluating an entity’s performance using ratio analysis (profitability, liquidity, efficiency) and discussing its financial health.
Key Learning Outcomes
By successfully completing this module, you will be able to:
- Apply the conceptual framework to identify how items should be recognized and measured.
- Construct financial statements for complex single entities and simple groups.
- Evaluate business performance through detailed ratio analysis and narrative interpretation.
- Demonstrate digital fluency by using spreadsheet and word processing tools in a professional exam environment.
Exam Format
The FR exam is a 3-hour session computer-based exam (CBE):
- Section A (30 marks): 15 Objective Test Questions (2 marks each).
- Section B (30 marks): 3 scenario-based cases, each with 5 Objective Test Questions.
- Section C (40 marks): 2 Constructed Response questions (20 marks each), typically one on Preparation (single entity or group) and one on Interpretation