ABE/ISBA,CAT,CIM,ACCA,LCCI

原帖由 cloudgirl 于 3-3-2005 04:39 PM 发表
中学的时候念过LCCI
后来中学毕业拿CAT
目前念着ACCA

so now what level are you study?
part??

standard
IFRS 3: The evolution of management 13/09/2005



As part of its ongoing drive to reduce inappropriate or unnecessary choices in accounting practice and to eliminate disparities between different jurisdictions the IASB has started to tackle the thorny subject of business combinations. But IFRS 3 is the beginning and not the end, as Paul Rodgers explains



   
Ask the finance director of a listed company to name which international accounting standards could significantly change their company’s reported performance, and certain standards such as those dealing with financial instruments or share based payment will be at the front of the queue. However, the list is in a constant state of flux and IFRS 3 with its impact on the calculation and treatment of goodwill, and the prohibition of merger accounting makes it a high impact standard.

To gain an understanding of IFRS 3 your focus should be on the following subjects: methods of accounting for business combinations, restructuring costs and accounting for goodwill.

Historically there have been two methods of accounting for a business combination; namely the purchase method, also known as acquisition accounting, and the pooling of interests or merger accounting. The latter has now been completely prohibited by IFRS 3.

The loss of merger accounting, already subject to tough constraints in the UK and elsewhere, will be bemoaned by those that viewed it as an opportunity to enhance group performance figures. However, there is now a uniformity of treatment, and the fair value of the target company is crystallised at the purchase date.

An additional consequence of IFRS 3 is that an acquirer must be identified, and the fact that this can be achieved further endorses the belief that a true merger was rare in the real world. The acquirer gains control over the financial and operating policies of the other entity usually by holding more than 50% of the voting rights or by controlling the composition or voting strategies of the board.

One of the aims of IFRS 3 is to identify as many separable assets and liabilities as possible to ensure that any remaining differential from the consideration given represents goodwill. There was a belief that prior to this, standard goodwill potentially represented a residual rather than an asset. One consequence is an acceptance that there may be a greater uncertainty about the value attributed to some of the other assets and liabilities.

Subsequent to its recognition the amortization of goodwill is now prohibited by IFRS 3 which requires an annual impairment review. This change caused great concern among many finance directors who were worried about increased volatility of results. Although this view has some foundation the impact on stakeholder perception is often less dramatic.

IFRS 3 also stipulates that the acquirer must not recognise provisions for future losses or restructuring costs; these items are in reality a post combination expense. Such prohibitions close one doorway to creative accounting whereby future costs are absorbed within the acquisition thereby improving later performance figures.

IFRS 3 has laid the foundations for greater consistency in world accounting for business combinations, and in so doing has been prepared to tackle contentious issues such as the treatment of goodwill. However, this is not the end of the story as the IASB are now pushing ahead with Phase 2 of their business combinations project which will tackle entities subject to common control. This may see the introduction of new start accounting, but that is a story for another day.

Paul Rodgers lectures for ACCA and CIMA at Reed Business School

ACCA paper ２。１

Test your knowledge

ACCA paper 2.1 - answers to the short form questions set in PQ Magazine

SUGGESTED SOLUTION TO QUESTION ONE

Prototyping involves the creation of simplified models of parts of computer systems focusing on the appearance and operation of interfaces and the tasks that can be performed by the software. IT specialists work closely with users to prepare the prototype and can then allow the user to test the prototype giving feedback to the developer during their use of it. Since prototypes are written in fourth generation languages or development tools such as Microsoft Access or Microsoft Visual Basic they are relatively quick to construct and amend.

There are three principal reasons for the use of prototyping:

* As a way of 'discovering' user requirements
* As a tool for 'external' design where users are highly involved
* To speed up the development of systems

Prototyping can replace or supplement some of the traditional tools of systems analysis. Whilst interviews and questionnaires are still likely to be used they will be supplemented by user facilitated workshops where, for example, groups of users may receive demonstrations of similar systems to those that are being built and based on their comments small prototypes are constructed to ascertain their particular requirements. These workshops may be followed by the production of more extensive prototype systems for users to test and respond to. Users requirements are more likely to be met since they are involved and understand the prototypes better than structured diagrams such as entity life histories and data flow diagrams. However some of the rigour of structured methodologies may be lost.

The prototyping continues into the design phase to further refine requirements into a software product – the prototypes focus on the features, input formats, reports, dialogue and graphical user interfaces that users will see in the final system.

Prototyping is also a tool for RAD – rapid application development. By moving away from time consuming development activities such as interviewing, structured methodology documentation and structured walkthrough meetings towards iterative software engineering considerable time can be saved in constructing systems. The systems are also more likely to meet user requirements since they understand what they have seen and have been more actively involved.

It is important to see that prototyping can be both a partial substitute for traditional methodologies or a supplement to them. In some developments the prototyping is largely used to speed up developments – an effective support to find a way out of the classic 'systems development bottleneck'. Prototyping helps to match the demand for developments that generally exceeds our capability to supply or build them. In other developments prototyping is used alongside a traditional methodology to engage users in the process – making delivered systems closer to user requirements.


SUGGESTED SOLUTION TO QUESTION TWO

Structured methodologies such as Structured Systems Analysis and Design Methodology (SSADM) are used to bring method, technique and rigour to the processes of systems analysis and design. Essentially methodologies such as SSADM bring standards into the development process. Standards should lead to improved communication between users analysts, developers and software engineers. Standards also allow for improved testing during analysis, design and programming and hence enhanced quality control. Improved quality control with documentation and signed off confirmation by users should also lead to improved quality assurance. The use of structured methodologies should therefore lead to quality software.

Structured methodologies were originally aimed at solving the three way problem of IT project failure – delivering late, over budget and failing to meet user expectations and requirements – the classic time, cost, quality triangle.

By using a standard sequence of steps, supported by standard techniques and tools projects should be easier to manage. Standardisation makes tasks clearer and therefore budgeting and project planning techniques such as critical path analysis can be more effectively employed. Improved planning should lead to improved monitoring and control. The clear paper based deliverables of methodologies such as SSADM allow projects to be broken down and demonstrable milestones established at the end of significant phases such as systems analysis, systems design and software engineering.
The standards used within SSADM are a good example of rigour and 'perfection' in establishing user requirements. SSADM takes (in principle) a three-way view of systems – they are seen in terms of data, processes and events. By cataloguing data into a data dictionary and modelling data in an entity relationship model users can agree to their data requirements and hence the basis of the relational database design. Users can also agree to process requirements using a combination of textual English, Structured English Statements and Data Flow Diagrams. Interface and dialogue requirements are largely captured during the production of Entity Relationship Models where business events that trigger and drive the input and processing of data and the display of information are comprehensively identified and agreed to by users. The three views are then integrated and cross-checked. In theory we can therefore get closer to the 'what' is required during analysis, the 'how' it should be done during design and with comprehensive agreed documentation to work with construction and implementation should achieve quality standards and meet user requirements.

However the word should seems to appear throughout my explanation – structured methodologies should improve quality, should improve project management and should therefore address the time, cost quality triangle issues. But the reality is that they often fail to achieve their objectives because their rigour and 'perfection' comes at a cost of longer time scales for development. Traditional methodologies encourage a waterfall style sequential approach to systems development.

SUGGESTED SOLUTION TO QUESTION THREE
Please see next month's PQ Magazine

with thanks to LCA's Peter Keeling

Practice makes perfect

ACCA paper 3.4 - get the answers to the questions set in PQ Magazine

(Questions set in the May issue of PQ Magazine)

SUGGESTED SOLUTION TO QUESTION ONE

On line analytical processing (OLAP) database systems are generally seen as a solution to an issue with conventional relational database systems.

Relational database systems use a form of database organisation that consists of storing data in two-dimensional tables or computer files. The columns of the tables consist of a key or keys that are the unique identifiers of data items followed by the descriptive attributes or fields of the file. The fields are in a one to one relation with the key – each row being unique. The tables are joined by sharing common keys often as attributes or common keys.

The relational database model scores highly on efficiency since data is stored once and once only and also scores highly on flexibility since ad-hoc reports are relatively easy to create and self-design. However the relational model sometimes creates slow retrieval of data.

To speed up the retrieval of data in reports an on line processing approach is used whereby the transactions details are stored in traditional database tables but are also used to update a second database – the OLAP database.

The OLAP database contains a variety of data views or report forms that focus on key management information system (MIS) information report formats. The OLAP database does not contain the detail of transactions only the totals and sub-totals required to produce the reports.

Managers are usually given a multi-dimensional view of costs and revenues analysed by, for example

* Profit centres and cost centres
* Cost type – fixed and variable
* Cost nature – rent, rates etc
* Brand
* Product

Managers can quickly build reports that are flexible but within the anticipated multi-dimensional view parameters.

The key objective of OLAP is therefore to create an MIS that gives both speed and flexibility of reporting.






SUGGESTED SOLUTION TO QUESTION TWO

The Ward & Peppard grid is most commonly used as a tool for modelling and deciding upon candidate information systems for inclusion in a strategically determined portfolio of existing systems maintenance and new systems construction.

The grid is largely based around a lifecycle view of how information systems pass from new technology research and development into implementation of projects and learning how to gain benefits, through to enhancement, upgrading and other maintenance of existing systems ending with maintenance and enhancement of legacy systems.

Underlying the grid is the view that IS and IT are strategic weapons that have the potential for strategic returns in addition to economic returns. The grid also includes a view of project, technology and benefit realisation risks. By plotting information systems and work on to the grid projects may be classified and a view of the whole portfolio examined. The portfolio view enables considerations of how to balance the essential issues of return, risk and our capability to build and maintain systems within the right timescale.

The Ward & Peppard grid classification includes:

1. High potential developments – new technologies that are essentially at the research and development stage but with the potential for future competitive advantage.
2. Strategic projects – current and available technologies that if properly managed and implemented may lead to competitive advantage
3. Key operational systems – existing systems that give competitive advantage and may require adaptive (and other) maintenance effort to protect them
4. Legacy support systems – former key operational systems that no longer give competitive advantage but may require perfective and other forms of maintenance
5. Support technologies – are newly proposed IS projects that involve systems that inherently do not give competitive advantage but may give economic or operational benefits

The key to success is to plan a mix of projects and work that represents a feasible portfolio and where individual project feasibility is achieved.

The McFarlan strategic grid is related to but different from its successor the Ward & Peppard grid. The McFarlan grid labels organisations according to how strategic their overall information systems portfolio is – it shows overall the extent of strategic use of existing systems and whether the future systems portfolio will be seen as strategic.

The McFarlan grid indicates the scale of information management issues for a company – what McFarlan describes as a contingency view. The important issue is to know where you are on the grid and where you want to be on the grid – or better where you should be on the grid. Management can then consider strategies to move the company forward if required.

The four quadrants on the grid represent:

1. Support – where IS and IT are not critical to advantage
2. Factory – where some existing systems in the portfolio are critical to operations and advantage
3. Turnaround – where the existing view of IS and IT is as support but new developments are critical to future success and advantage
4. Strategic – where existing systems and future systems are both critical to success and advantage

Making a move on the grid will require funding, resources and effective management of projects to which management must be committed.

With thanks to Peter Keeling of London College of Accountancy

Stick your neck out

ACCA paper 3.5, SBPD, is a pet subject for FTC's Sean Purcell

Section A

If you look at the previous papers you will know that this contains a 60 mark compulsory case study on which you are likely to get four questions.

These questions are always along a similar theme and you are likely to be required to evaluate the resources or the external environment of the organisation in the scenario.

My suggestion here would be to use the frameworks you have learnt in your studies (e.g. PEST, 5 Forces, 6M's). However do not make the mistake of simply regurgitating the facts of these models as the examiner and markers have commented that this is not only wrong but actually turns them off you! (see previous exam comments on ACCA website).

The skill you need to demonstrate here is that you can show the examiner that you know how to apply the models in the context of the scenario. Don't forget the models are meant to act as catalyst for your thought process!

The exam is then likely to ask you to suggest some options, which will enable the company in the scenario to improve its situation. Here again you can use models to help act as a catalyst for your thought processes (e.g. Porters generic strategies, Ansoffs product market). Care should again be taken to make sure that you use the models in an applied way.

The other issue to be aware of is that if the exam gives you figures, it is a reasonable assumption that you should use them in your answer. It surprises me how many students ignore them.

The key is to behave like a business analyst and comment on the key trends the figures show. No two sets of figures are ever the same but you should look at the differences in gross margin, revenue growth maybe stock turnover if stock is mentioned.

Also remember that you must do theses calculations quickly.

Section B
Here questions tend to be targeted on a more specific area on the syllabus and there is a choice of 2 from 3. O

ne area that every student should be aware of is the area of innovation and learning (hopefully everyone has taken the shrink-wrap off the Student Accountant magazine and read Ralph Bedrocks article on the role of the accountant in new product development in Jan 2005). If a question does not come on the exam in the next couple of sittings I will personally do any forfeit PQ chooses.

However students need to prepare for a question, which might be quite open and ambiguous and rely on them to create and articulate a strong argument.

For other parts of section B It is advisable that students should familiarise themselves with change management, marketing, ethics, international issues and organisational structure.

However the key factor that will influence your success in Section B is that of question selection. Make sure you read each question (both part a and b if applicable!) and then estimate what realistically you should be able to score. Choose those questions that you feel you can get the highest scores on

Also manage your time and you need to keep a closer eye on the clock than a winning premier league manager in the final few minutes of a game. I would tend to recommend about 1.5 minutes per mark actually writing with the rest of the time (30 minutes) set aside for reading and planning.

Finally remember that it is pointless writing a great answer if it is illegible. Therefore try and get the markers to warm to you by presenting your answer in a logical and legible way. If you do a quick plan and mark focus for each one you should have no problem.

Further reading can be done by looking at my articles on the strategic planning process part 1 and part 2 on the ACCA official website


Sean Purcell

Stick your neck out

ACCA paper 3.6, ACR, is the specialist subject of FTC's Tom Clendon

As you should know Section A contains one compulsory number crunching group accounts question for 25 marks.

It has been some time since the examiner has set a consolidated profit and loss account.

If he were to set such a question then an obvious twist would be to include the partial disposal of a subsidiary mid-year leaving an associate to be accounted for.

It is reasonable to expect in these circumstances the usual type of adjustments such as the impairment of goodwill, elimination of inter company transactions, and fair value adjustments.

However the examiner is more than capable of also including any accounting adjustment or correction. For example there could be a lease that has not been accounted for. As a long shot there could even be another subsidiary, but an overseas one, so it will need to translated before consolidation!

The best way to prepare for this question is question practice. Given the compulsory nature of this question it would of course be foolish to ignore group balance sheets and cash flow.

The group accounts questions can be very technically challenging but with the right approach, and time management there will be enough marks for you to pass this question.

In Section B there are four questions, all of equal marks, but you only have to attempt three.

The most striking question is Q5, which will require a discussion or report. This question will not have any debits or credits in it and neither will it be based on a technical accounting standard.

In the past this question has required discussion of human asset accounting, environmental reporting.

This question is difficult to tip and therefore to prepare for. The examiner likes to touch on current issues in financial reporting.

So what is topical at the moment - well corporate social responsibility is one area, as is corporate governance and of course the impact of listed companies in the European Union switching over to international accounting standards. Traditionally students do well on this question.

That leaves three other questions in Section B. Probably two of these will be about the application of a couple (or more) accounting standards in a scenario.

This could mean commenting on why a particular accounting treatment used in the question is wrong, and what the effect on the accounts of making the correction would be. There are several accounting standards like, pensions, foreign currency, deferred tax and leases which could be examined in this regard.

Traditionally each exam paper has a question on a current issue. Historically the introduction of international accounting standards has been very popular, and there is no reason to suppose that this will not continue to be examined.

Perhaps though the examiner may look to require the preparation of reconciliations required by IFRS1 First Time Application of International Accounting Standards. Please note that IFRS1 is both examinable on the UK and the IAS paper. The actual accounting of share based payments is something that ought to be examined at this level with figures as well.

Stick your neck out

ACCA paper 3.7, SFM, is FTC tutor Patrick Lynch's specialist subject

Overview
Scott Goddard (the SFM examiner) has been studying Strategic Financial Management for over thirty five years, so he can write fairly innovative papers. When you open your exam paper, you may feel in the initial minutes after reading the paper that the challenge is too great. That's OK, that's all part of the process. Students have had trouble acclimatising to SFM papers for years. Take a few deep breathes and score one mark, then another and so on. Remember all you need is 50 per cent, so as the old saying goes "you can get 50 per cent wrong and still pass". Keep your nerve and keep going. If you can get the basics down on the paper you will pass.

Time management
Spend the first fifteen minutes reading the paper then select the questions you are going to attempt in Section B and complete them by 11.00 am. Then choose the more structured of the compulsory questions and complete it the time allowed i.e. 1.5 minutes per mark. Then attempt the final compulsory question.

Review topics for June 2005:

Section A:
Contains two compulsory questions, normally a thirty and a forty marker. These compulsory questions will often include more than one core area of the syllabus.

* Interest Rate Risk and Currency Risk: please review both areas in detail. Remember that Goddard wrote a question called Autocrat in December 2002 which for the first time in the history of the paper combined both topics. Ensure you have a solid understanding of both interest rate and currency futures and options!

* Company Valuation: Be able to use and abuse the different valuation methods; Net Asset Valuation, Dividend Valuation Model, Price Earnings Ratio and of course the Present Value of Free Cash Flows (the new name for NPV). The valuation question is often within the context of the Merger and Acquisition environment. Another possibility is that you are asked to calculate an acquisition premium in a share for share merger.

* Foreign Direct Investment - Overseas NPV: Specific items you need to be aware of, the application of double tax agreements, remittances from subsidiaries, use of purchasing power parity theory to estimate future exchange rates and the overall structure of an overseas NPV.

* Investment Appraisal: please review the basic calculation of WACC and Risk Adjusted WACC and the use of deferred annuities and perpetuities within an NPV calculation. Knowledge of real options may be useful.


Section B:
At least one of the questions is discursive.

* Dividend Policy

* Term Structure of Interest rate

* Portfolio Theory and CAPM – the calculation and interpretation of summary and alpha tables.

* International economics – I.M.F., Political Risk, Foreign Exchange Rate Systems, Balance of payments deficits. Control of foreign subsidiaries, Treasury Management.

Good Luck

Patrick Lynch

adrian86

不知這裡有誰是拿CIM的？

News - Exams tips & study

   
  CIMA P9 and ACCA 3.7 advice (Part 1) 05/10/2005



Dr Anthony Brabazon and Samuel Idowu tackle this crucial topic for ACCA 3.7 and CIMA P9 trainees




   
With substantial international flows of goods, services and capital, it is no surprise that foreign exchange markets are the most active of all financial markets. Average daily trading volumes in traditional (non-electronic broker) foreign exchange markets estimated at $1.2 trillion (Bank for International Settlements, 2001).

A major portion of this trading takes place in London, the largest foreign-exchange market in the world with approximately 31% of total trading volume. The second largest market, New York, has approximately 16% of total trading volume (Bank for International Settlements, 2001).

All but the smallest companies are likely to find themselves engaging in foreign exchange transactions from time-to-time. Larger companies will have substantial dealings in foreign exchange markets as they source raw materials from around the globe, sell their products internationally, or to fund overseas subsidiaries and joint ventures.

With these foreign exchange dealings comes financial risk. Attempts to accurately predict foreign exchange rates is likely to be a problematic task, as many, interconnected, macro-economic (including inflation and interest rates, money supply, balance of payments) and political factors could potentially impact on the fundamental value of a currency, and markets will respond as the future values of these variables alters. Foreign exchange markets also reflect short-term supply and demand factors. The difficulty in assimilating this information is demonstrated in studies which have shown that ‘expert predictions’ do not tend to beat a naive ‘no-change’ forecast (Marsh and Power, 1996). Despite this, companies need to implement policies to help manage their foreign exchange risks, to minimise the danger of substantial unexpected losses arising from foreign-exchange movements.

Candidates intending to sit an examination in this paper are expected to understand the various policies that could be followed in the management of foreign exchange transactions exposure.


Corporate policy on transaction exposure

Covering and hedging are two terms often used in the literature on foreign exchange transaction exposures. Covering is the purchase or sale of foreign currency forward to offset completely the risk of fluctuation in a rate of exchange. This is when payments are to be made or received in that currency in the future or balance sheet positions are to be translated at a closing spot rate.

Hedging on the other hand relates to all actions taken to change the exposed positions of an entity in a currency or currencies. Hedging is an all-embracing term which includes covering. In an attempt to minimise the transaction risks inherent in foreign trade, the chief financial officer has three policies to choose from.

These are a never hedging policy, an always hedging policy and a selective hedging policy. The first policy is a ‘do nothing approach’ to risk aversion. It is a risky course of action to take as it does not incorporate the realities of foreign exchange risks in to management decisions. The second policy is a ‘100% hedge’ policy. It is an expensive and uneconomic way of insuring against foreign exchange risks. The last policy is perhaps the most common one used by organisations, covering individual currency exposures in line with the anticipated movements of the underlying currencies. They are constantly evaluating and re-assessing their company’s risks to currency fluctuations and the costs of hedging such risks. It might be useful to consider whether to hedge on a before or after tax basis as the gains or losses incurred will have a variety of effects on the entity’s tax liability and will also depend on the type of exposure and the hedging vehicle selected.

Transaction exposure
Transaction exposure can come about as a result of four factors, namely:
(a) The exposed party is an exporter of goods or services.
(b) The exposed party is an importer of goods or services.
(c) The exposed entity is a subsidiary of an overseas parent company.
(d) The exposed entity raises capital in an overseas capital market.

To reduce the possibility of an adverse effect of any of the above on the entity concerned requires appropriate foreign exchange management policies. Let us now consider some of the possible actions that management could take in an attempt to reduce, neutralise, or avoid exchange risks.

Hedging techniques

1 Forward exchange contracts
Foreign exchange transaction exposures exist because of the obligation to pay or receive a foreign currency at some time in the future. There is always a possibility that the rate of exchange will move up or down before the settlement date. The payer or the receiver could arrange to buy or sell forward a quantity of foreign currency to the bank.

A rate of exchange will be determined between the two parties at the time the contract is made. One of the benefits of a forward contract is that it enables the party buying or selling the foreign currency to know in advance how much local currency will be delivered to or received from the bank on the settlement date.

Let us take a case example of a UK Exporter who has agreed with a foreign customer to invoice that customer in her local currency - the South African rand. The exporter knows that in 90 days he would receive 200,000 South African rand. The exporter can arrange a forward contract with his bank to sell 200,000 rand at a fixed rate of say 5.9071. The UK exporter can be certain that in 90 days he would receive 200,000/5.9071 = £33,857.56.

Whatever the spot rate in 90 days the exporter would have protected himself against the rand strengthening in terms of the pound sterling before the due date. There is always a possibility that things could move in the opposite direction but expect that and not cover forward would be speculating which could lead to serious consequences to the exporter. A forward contract with the bank has guided against that.



2 Local currency borrowing
Borrowing in the local currency can help provide a hedge against foreign exchange movements. If a foreign subsidiary needs to raise finance, foreign currency borrowing can be raised, with the loan being repaid through local currency cash inflows, thereby removing foreign exchange exposure on the borrowings.

3 Parallel loans
This technique of hedging against exposures to changes in exchange rates involves two companies with headquarters in different countries, each having subsidiaries in each other’s country and each having mirror-image liquidity positions and financing requirements. Take for example a large UK company with a subsidiary in Canada and a large Canadian company with a subsidiary in the UK and assume that the two companies have a mirror-image liquidity position and financing requirements. The UK company may have a surplus sterling liquidity or ready access to new sterling borrowing facilities but its Canadian subsidiary needs additional dollar financing. At the same time, the Canadian company has surplus dollar liquidity or access to dollar borrowing facilities in Canada and seeking a UK pound sterling financing for its UK subsidiary. The two companies can reduce or remove their foreign exchange risks by engaging in parallel loan transactions with each other whereby the UK company loans the Canadian company the sterling it requires for its UK subsidiary and the Canadian company simultaneously loans the UK company the Canadian dollars equivalent and hands this over to the subsidiary in Canada.

News - Exams tips & study

   
  CIMA P9 and ACCA 3.7 advice (Part 2) 05/10/2005



Crucial advice continued



   
(continued...)

When a corporate treasurer negotiates a sale or a purchase contract on behalf of her company, the currency in which the sale is invoiced can dramatically affect an entity’s foreign currency exposure. With regard to sales, a company should always seek to invoice its customers in a strong currency. If on the other hand it is a purchase contract, the company would be protecting its position if it were to purchase those goods in the market where the final products will be sold.

An exporter may wish to avoid foreign exchange risk by invoicing the foreign customer in his domestic currency. Thus a UK exporter might quote and invoice the foreign customer in pound sterling. If this is acceptable to the foreign customer then the onus is on the foreign customer to protect its own exposed position. Alternatively, a foreign customer might wish to be invoiced in his own domestic currency and settle the invoice when due in this currency. If the UK exporter agrees with this term, then the exporter is the one who needs to cover himself against movements in the rates of exchange.

5 Currency swaps
The conditions needed for currency swaps to work are similar to that described above under parallel loans. The two companies with differing (opposite) foreign exchange exposures could agree to sell their respective currencies to each other with an agreement to reverse the sale in the future by a forward exchange contract. Currency swaps also enable multi-national parent firms to finance overseas subsidiaries’ activities at lower interest costs. The technique can be useful in the face of exchange control regulations where outright purchase of foreign currency may be prohibited by law or discouraged by other means.


6 Leading and lagging

Leading and lagging can be defined as ‘a planned acceleration of payables and/or receivables to change the position of the firm in a specific currency’. Leading basically means making a payment before the due date whilst lagging means delaying a payment beyond the due date. A firm would make a lead payment in a currency if it expects that currency to strengthen against its own domestic currency in the future. Both leading and lagging incur potential costs and risks. In the case of a leading payment, there is an interest (or opportunity) cost in making payment earlier than necessary; in the case of a lagged payment, there is the risk of damaging the firm’s credit reputation with its suppliers.

7 Exchange Risk Guarantees (ERG)

Governments across the world have realised the potential benefits of foreign trade; they have also realised that there are potential dangers in terms of currency movements. In order to encourage companies to continue exporting goods and services abroad, many governments have established ERG programmes. One of such programmes is that of the Japanese government’s ERG whereby losses incurred after an export contract has been signed when the yen depreciates by 3% or more in terms of the pound sterling, US$ and the EU

ABE／ISBA ，CAT ，CIM 的朋友，还有一个月，考试就到了，要加油加油

继续向前冲

考试倒数最后两天了，都准备好了吗？
加油加油
这里还有朋友拿TTH 吗？

这次的考试会难吗？
这次的我没考，去读别的学院了
觉得有点浪费的，
毕竟都用了一笔钱，
希望明年能考，
有朋友考ADVANCE DIPLOMA 的吗？

我想读CIMA，但我从没接触过ACCOUNT，会否因此没资格报读?
我想念PART TIME的，请问各位会推荐哪家学院?

原帖由 jimphl27 于 1-9-2005 12:41 AM 发表
我也是刚拿到LCCI的成绩了！！但现在不知该怎么样嘞！！我姐就叫我去读ACCA喔！！但我听我老师说ACCA很难的！！而且很多人到了LEVEL2就考不上了！！！是不是这样的呢？那完整的COURSE要多少钱呢？还是要读DIA呢？ ...

你在哪儿读LCCI，花了多少钱啊?

原帖由 左君右棋 于 2-1-2006 05:28 PM 发表
我想读CIMA，但我从没接触过ACCOUNT，会否因此没资格报读?
我想念PART TIME的，请问各位会推荐哪家学院?

CIMA不是读MARKETING来的吗？

原帖由 choontheen85 于 10-1-2006 12:51 AM 发表

CIMA不是读MARKETING来的吗？

是吗?但它和ACCOUNT也有密切的关系啊!
我男友也是读ACCA的，本我想读LCCI，但他讲那只是像SPM/STPM的课程，
我只是想进修，好让将来有得换工作领域的机会!
有请您多多指教!

对了，CIM和CIMA是不同的，
我要讲的是CIMA，
CIM是marketing的没错，
但CIMA是ACCOUNTANT的...

原帖由 左君右棋 于 12-1-2006 09:49 PM 发表
对了，CIM和CIMA是不同的，
我要讲的是CIMA，
CIM是marketing的没错，
但CIMA是ACCOUNTANT的...

哦，不好意思，我都不懂咧，哈哈

原帖由 左君右棋 于 10-1-2006 12:51 PM 发表


是吗?但它和ACCOUNT也有密切的关系啊!
我男友也是读ACCA的，本我想读LCCI，但他讲那只是像SPM/STPM的课程，
我只是想进修，好让将来有得换工作领域的机会!
有请您多多指教!

你现在有拿什么COURSE 吗？