XX2年12月ACCA考试F9考试考官报告

2012年12月ACCA考试F9考试考官报告本文由高顿ACCA整理宣布，转载请注明出处GeneralCommentsCongratulationstoallthosecandidateswhoweresuccessfulinpassingPaperF9inDecember2012!TheoverallperformanceinDecember2012wasgoodandmostcandidatesansweredfourfullquestions.Pleasereadthisreportcarefullyifyouwerenotsuccessfulinpassingthepaperatthissitting,asitindicatesareaswherecandidateanswersingeneralcouldbeimproved,aswellasindicatingwherecandidatesdidwell.Itisalsorecommendedthatthisreportshouldbereadinconjunctionwiththedetailedsuggestedanswerswrittenbytheexaminer.Overall,thehighestmarkswereusuallygainedonquestion1,whileroughlyequalmarksweregainedonquestions2,3and4.SpecificCommentsQuestionOne(a)Thisquestioncalledforthecalculationofthenetpresentvalue(NPV)ofaconstructionprojectforBQKCoandthencommentonitsfinancialacceptability.Manycandidatesgainedhighmarksonthispartofquestion.Anominaltermsevaluationhadtobeundertakenbecausetaxonprofitswasbeingpaidoneyearinarrears,andbecausespecificinflationrateswerelinkedwithsellingprice,variablecostandinfrastructurecosts.Thenominalafter-taxcostofcapitalof12%wasgiveninthequestion.Someanswersmistakenlyusedtherealafter-taxcostofcapitalof9%,ortriedtocalculateanotherdiscountratealtogetherusingtheFisherequation,butallthatwasneededwastousethe12%rateprovided.Althoughthequestionstatedthattwotypesofhousesweretobebuiltonthedevelopmentsite,somecandidatesmistakenlytreatedlargehousesandsmallhousesastwoseparateinvestmentprojects.Somecandidateschosetoignorethefixedinfrastructurecostswhichthequestionstatedwerefornewroads,gardens,drainageandutilities,arguingthatfixedcostswerenotrelevantininvestmentappraisal,butahousingdevelopmentwithoutroads,drainageandsoonwouldnotbeapracticalinvestment.Mostanswerscalculatedcorrectlythenominalvaluesofsalesincome,variablecostsandfixedcosts,andthencalculatedcorrectlyandtimedcorrectlyinarrearsthetaxliabilitiesonthebefore-taxcashflow.Thequestionsaidthatcapitalallowancesonthepurchasecostofthedevelopmentsitewereonastraight-linebasisoverthefouryearconstructionperiod.Mostanswerscalculatedcorrectlytheassociatedcapitalallowancetaxbenefits,althoughsomecandidateslostmarksbycalculatingcapitalallowancesona25%reducingbalancebasis.Havingcalculatednominalafter-taxcashflows,somecandidateschosemistakenlytodiscountthemwiththerealafter-taxcostofcapitalof9%.Nominalafter-taxcashflowsmustbediscountedwithanominalafter-taxcostofcapital(thisisthenominaltermsapproach).Someanswerschosenottocommentonthefinancialacceptabilityoftheinvestmentprojectandsolostarelativelystraightforwardmark.Asmallnumberofanswerswastedvaluabletimebycommentingatlengthonfinancialacceptability,forexamplebydiscussingcriticallythemeritsofNPVasaninvestmentappraisalmethod.QuestionOne(b)Candidateswereaskedheretocalculatethebefore-taxreturnoncapitalemployed(ROCE)oftheinvestmentprojectonanaverageinvestmentbasisandtodiscussbrieflyitsfinancialacceptability.ManycandidatesdidnotgainfullmarksherebecausetheywerenotsureofhowtocalculateROCEforinvestmentappraisalpurposes.ThedefinitionofROCEinthiscaseisaverageannualaccountingprofitasapercentageofaverageannualinvestment.SincetheNPVevaluationwasincashflowterms,accountingprofithadtobecalculatedbysubtractingdepreciationfrominvestmentprojectcashflows,apointoverlookedbysomecandidates.Somecandidateswerealsonotawarethataverageannualaccountingprofit,ratherthantotalaccountingprofit,wasneeded.Somecandidatesincorrectlychosetocalculateinternalrateofreturn(IRR),perhapsbecausetheywereconfusingROCEwithIRR.ItisalsopossiblethatthiserrorwaspartlyduetothefactthatbothROCEandIRRarerelativemeasuresofinvestmentworth.QuestionOne(c)Therequirementherewastodiscusstheeffectofasubstantialriseininterestratesonthefinancingcostoftheconstructioncompanyanditscustomersandonthecapitalinvestmentdecision-makingprocess.Thisquestionallowedstudentstoshowtheirunderstandingofhowacompanymightbeaffectedbyitseconomicenvironmentandmanycandidatesgainedcreditformakingrelevantpoints.Forexample,theincreasedcostofcustomerborrowingmightleadtoareductioninforecastdemandforhousingthatcouldbecounteredinpartbyachangeinproductmix,increasingtheproportionofsmallhousesexpectedtobebuilt.Candidateswholostmarkstendedtodothisinoneoftwoways.Firstly,somecandidatesspenttimeexplainingwhyinterestratesmightincreaseinaneconomy,somethingthatwasnotrequiredb