ACCA

MANAGEMENT
ACCOUNTING (MA)
COURSE PROGRAMME
How to use this course programme
Use this study programme to:

● Study for your ACCA MA exam in the most effective way possible

● Cover every aspect of your ACCA MA exam

● Organise your studying so that you’re ready in time for your exam date

Most importantly, you can use this study programme to increase your chances of
passing the ACCA MA exam. This course will take ten weeks to complete and is split into
four phases.

Phase one, two and three - Learning phase

The first eight weeks will be dedicated to studying the MA course. During these weeks,
you will be reading, watching and testing yourself on the content of each chapter in
preparation for phase four.

Phase four - Revision

In the final two weeks, you will be revising the course and practising for your exam by
completing mock papers. You should also use the remaining time to contact Astranti
about any questions or topics you are having difficulty with.

Study approach

As you work through the study text and videos, your general approach should be to:

● Day 1 - Spend one day covering a chapter with the study text and/or tuition videos
and make you own notes.

● Day 2 - Then spend the next day reviewing your notes and going back over the
areas you are struggling to recall.

This two-day routine, covering both learning and review, helps with knowledge retention,
which ensures that the material is absorbed and learnt. We find it’s best to split this over
two days so your brain has time to organise and store what you have learnt.
Phase one
Week 1

The first week will act as a good introduction to management accounting. You’ll cover
the role of a management accountant and learn some of the key, fundamental topics
which you’ll build on throughout your ACCA studies. These will include the purpose of
financial reporting, the regulatory framework, and the accounting system.

Areas of focus for this week

● Chapter 1—Accounting for Management —This first chapter introduces

management accounting and explains its global principles, the position of the
management accountant, and the various levels of management.

● Chapter 2 - Data, Information and Sampling — Chapter 2 explores different types

of data, their sources how they are sampled and what makes data good/useful

● Chapter 3 - Presenting Information — This chapter introduces you to writing a

report, data visualisation and computer spreadsheets!

This should take you six days to complete. Make sure to read one chapter on one day and
then revise that knowledge on the next.

Week 2

Week two is all about costing! Costing is a fundamental part of management accounting
and of accounting as a whole, so it is vital that we figure the basics out early on!

Areas of focus for this week

● Chapter 4 - Cost Classification - This chapter breaks down all things

costing-related! A range of topics, from defining costing to cost classification to
the high-low method and different coding systems, are all covered, to name a few.
It’s a bit of a longer one, but it is all a vital introduction to a really important part
of accounting.
 ● Chapter 5 - Marginal and Absorption Costing — Join us as we dive deeper into the
world of costing! We will examine the two types of costing mentioned in the title
and introduce how profit is calculated under marginal and absorption systems of
costing and the advantages and disadvantages of each type.

Phase two
Week 3

This week, we start to look beyond the basics of management accounting. First we will
finish off the basics of costing, before moving on to accounting for materials and labour!

● Chapter 6 - Alternative Costing Systems - We’ve seen the standard costing

systems, so its only fair we look at some alternatives! This chapter will examine a
whole host of different options, including activity-based costing (ABC), cost
drivers, life cycle costing and total quality management. We will also be looking at
some of the advantages and disadvantages of these different costing techniques.

● Chapter 7 - Accounting for Materials — In this chapter you will learn how to
account for materials, inventory costs, reorder quantities, replenishment and
control procedures. There will also be sections on inventory records and
measurement.

● Chapter 8 - Accounting for Labour — With materials done, we move on to labour.

This chapter will be shorter, including an explanation of labour, how we account
for it, remuneration methods and finally, some useful labour ratios.

Week 4

This week marks the beginning of the more advanced parts of costing, including more
specific models of cost accounting. We will then make a start on budgeting!

Areas of focus for this week

● Chapter 9 - Process Costing — Lets get stuck into some more industrial specific
costing! We start by explaining what process costing is, then look at normal vs
abnormal losses and gains. The next two sections deal with closing and opening
work in progress, finishing with a section on joint and by-products.
 ● Chapter 10 - Costing — This section will deal with job costing, direct costs,
overheads and batch costing. We will close by looking at the accounts that relate
to these types of costing.

● Chapter 11 — Budgeting — On to budgeting! As always, we will first explain the

purposes of budgeting. Then we will look at how to prepare budgets, incremental
budgeting, rolling budgets and a whole lot more! This section is designed to lay the
foundations of budgeting out clearly for you before we head onto the more
specific side of things

As a reminder of the process, this should take you six days to complete. Make sure to read
one chapter on one day and then revise that knowledge on the next.

Phase three
Week 5

We continue this week with some of the more advanced topics in the syllabus,
exploring budgets in more detail and then moving onto averages and forecasting

Areas of focus for this week

● Chapter 12 — Budgetary Control — It is all very well knowing about budgets, but
the management accountant must also know how to ensure they are controlled
(otherwise they are just numbers on a page!). We start by looking at control
systems, then moving onto responsible accounting and then fixed vs flexible
budgets. More key budget topics include stress-testing, ethical considerations and
sustainability and budgets, among some others in this chapter!

● Chapter 13 — Averages and Distribution — Thats budgeting all covered! Now we

will look at averages and distribution. This section will start with an introduction to
financial mathematics, with sections on the mean, median, mode and range. Then
we will think about distribution and expected values.

● Chapter 14 — Forecasting — Time to get stuck into some forecasting, which

essentially involves using current data to steer the direction of a business. This
 section will teach you how to do a time series analysis, calculate the trend and
variation and think about correlation in relation to finance.

I know this is a lot of content to take in, but stick at it, we are getting there! If you’re
stuck on any of these topics, please ask for help on the Astranti community forums. We’re
a friendly bunch, so don’t be afraid to ask!

Week 6

In week 6, we go deeper into the more mathematical side of accounting. This can be a
daunting side of the course, but once you break it down it’s all very logical! There will be
plenty of questions in your exam that require the maths we are learning now, so if you
can nail it now you’ll be in a great position to pass MA.

Areas of focus for this week:

● Chapter 15 — Moving Averages — Another average to figure out and apply to

forecasting, but a nice short topic! This chapter will consist of an explanation of
moving averages, before looking at the high-low method and the limitations of
forecasting techniques.

● Chapter 16 — Index Numbers — Le’ts talk indexes. From a single product index to
a weighted index to quality indices and finally retail price index, this champion has
got you covered!

● Chapter 17 — Compounding and Discounting — Time to consider the value of

money over time: to give a very brief overview, compounding emphasizes the
future value of money whereas discounting focuses on its present value. The
chapter will go into detail on both, before consideriring annuity and perpetuity
and then nominal and effective interest.

We are getting there! Just two more weeks of learning to go; keep up the good work!

Week 7

Week 7 is all about variance analysis, which compares the planned/projected

performance in the business to its actual results. As you might expect, this is truly vital
for management accounting and will allow you to tie much of what we have studied so far
all together. So, buckle up, and let’s figure it out!
Areas of focus for this week:

● Chapter 18 — Variance Analysis Part 1 — Think of this as your formal introduction

to variance analysis. We will start by looking at standard costing and then variance
analysis itself. Next we move on to standard marginal costing, and then how all
this apples to the modern manufacturing environment.

● Chapter 19 — Variance Analysis Part 2 — Time for a deeper dive into variance
analysis. Here we take on the role of a variance analyst, thinking about backwards
variances, the causes of variances, their interrelationships and when to investigate
them. This chapter will close with some criticisms of what we have learned so far,
to keep balance!

● Chapter 20 — Variance Analysis Part 3 — Onto our final part of the variance
analysis rundown. We will think about sales volume variances, planning and
operational variances and, finally, control reports.

● Chapter 21 - Investment Appraisal - This section will teach you how to separate a
good investment from a bad one, so it is a really useful one for wider life too! After
explaining the gist of investment appraisals, we will go on to consider net present
value, internal rate of return, the payback period, intangible and non-financial
factors and, last but very much not least, the all important gearing ratio.

So close now! Just one more week of the learning phase left! You’ve made it this far, lets
glide even closer to the finish line!

Week 8

Week 8, our final week of learning, is all about performance analysis, split into 3
manageable chunks. It is possible to measure almost all levels and assets in a business,
making performance data invaluable to the management accountant. A good topic to
end on, huh! Lets go out with a bang and round off all of our learning. Areas of focus for
this week:

● Chapter 22 — Performance Measurement Part 1 — This first part takes a nice

broad overview of business performance, looking at mission statements, then
objectives, control theory and non-financial performance measures. Next up is the
balanced scorecard and benchmarking, with a rundown of the critical success
factors tying this first section into a neat bow.
 ● Chapter 23 — Performance Measurement Part 2 — Time to get a bit more
specific in thinking about performance measurement, looking at performance
evaluation, ratio analysis, and resource utilisation (among other things!). As you go
through this section, try to put yourself in the shoes of the management
accountant, using all this data to inform your increasingly expert opinions.

● Chapter 24 — Performance Measurement Part 3 — Finally, we come to the most

complex part of performance measurement. Here we look at responsibility
centres, measuring performance in the service sector, managerial performance,
government regulation and a whole lot more. These final topics are some of the
most important, looking at the cutting edge/top level of finance, so make sure you
have a firm grasp of them - and don’t hesitate to ask if you need a hand!

Phew! That brings us to the end of the learning phase. At this point, you should have
covered everything in the syllabus and have your own notes based on your studies.

Now that the learning is done, it’s time to start exam practice.
Phase four
Week 9

Homestretch! This week, you will dedicate your time to exam practice and revision.

Diving right in, we recommend you do the following this week as a minimum:

● Use your revision notes to review chapters 1-18.

● Complete a practice test or specimen exam on the ACCA ‘Study support resources’
page, taking note of any topics that you found particularly hard.

● Make a study plan to revise the topics you found hardest.

● Use the time in between revision to contact Astranti for assistance if you find you
are struggling with any particular topics.

This can be done via contacting your personal mentor, using our full tutor
support, or consulting the Astranti Community, to name but a few options.

Week 10

Exam week is finally here. All that's left to do now is to apply all the knowledge you have
learned to the resources available on the ACCA website ‘Study Hub’.

● Complete the remaining practice tests and specimen exams on the ACCA ‘Study
support resources’ page.

● Review your exam technique with our Astranti MA Examiner’s Guide

● Attempt as many mock exams as you can find.

...and that brings us to the end of MA. Good luck from all at Astranti!