ACCA F5 Performance Management

Nature of the ACCA F5 paper

ACCA F5 Paper – Performance Management – continues from Paper F2 and is concerned with managing the business so as to achieve better performance. Most of the topics were introduced in Paper F2, but are examined in more detail and to a greater depth.

Structure of the ACCA F5 paper

There are two sections to the exam – Section A will comprise 20 multiple choice questions of 2 marks each; Section B of the exam comprises three 10 mark questions and two 15 mark questions.  The two 15 mark questions will come from decision making techniques, budgeting and control, and/or performance measurement and control areas of the syllabus.The Section A questions and the other questions in section B can cover any areas of the syllabus.
There are 3 hours for the exam, plus 15 minutes of reading time.
Overall, approximately 50% of the exam involves calculations, and approximately 50% is written.

Emphasis of the ACCA F5 exam

Although most of the arithmetic involved is not difficult in itself, the calculation parts of questions are designed to check that you understand the techniques, and can decide what information is relevant, rather than checking that you have just learned rules.
For the written parts of questions there is some learning involved, but most of them are again checking that you understand the techniques – that you can explain them, that you can discuss advantages and disadvantages, and that you can identify the problems of applying them in practice.