宁夏考生：2020年ACCA国际会计师几月份考试？

正确答案：
5 (a) Objectives may be viewed as profit and market share in a profit-oriented organisation or the achievement of ‘value for money’
in a not-for-profit organisation (NFP). The overall objective of an organisation may be expressed in the wording of its mission
statement.
In order to achieve the objectives, long-term strategies will be required. In a profit-oriented organisation, this may incorporate
the evaluation of strategies that might include price reductions, product design changes, advertising campaign, product mix
change and methods changes, embracing change techniques such as BPR, JIT, TQM and ABM. In NFP situations, strategies
might address the need to achieve ‘economy’ through reduction in average cost per unit; ‘efficiency’ through maximisation of
the input:output ratio, whilst checking on ‘effectiveness’ through monitoring whether the objectives are achieved.
The annual budget will quantify the short-term results anticipated of the strategies. These results may be seen as the level of
financial performance and competitiveness achieved. This quantification may be compared with previous years and with
actual performance on an ongoing basis. Financial performance may be measured in terms of profit, liquidity, capital structure
and a range of ratios. Competitiveness may be measured by sales growth, market share and the number of new customers.
In a not-for-profit organisation, the results may be monitored by checking on the effectiveness of actions aimed at the
achievement of the objectives. For instance, the effectiveness of a University may be measured by the number of degrees
awarded and the grades achieved. The level of student ‘drop-outs’ each year may also be seen as a measure of ineffectiveness.
The determinants of results may consist of a number of measures. These may include the level of quality, customer
satisfaction, resource utilisation, innovation and flexibility that are achieved. Such determinants may focus on a range of nonfinancial
measures that may be monitored on an ongoing basis, as part of the feedback information in conjunction with
financial data.
A range of business change techniques may be used to enhance performance management.
Techniques may include:
Business process re-engineering (BPR) which involves the examination of business processes with a view to improving the
way in which each is implemented. A major focus may be on the production cycle, but it will also be applicable in areas such
as the accounting department.
Just-in-time (JIT) which requires commitment to the pursuit of ‘excellence’ in all aspects of an organisation.
Total quality management (TQM) which aims for continuous quality improvement in all aspects of the operation of an
organisation.
Activity based management systems (ABM) which focus on activities that are required in an organisation and the cost drivers
for such activities, with a view to identifying and improving activities that add value and eliminating those activities that do
not add value.
Long-term performance management is likely to embrace elements of BPR, JIT, TQM and ABM. All of these will be reflected
in the annual budget on an ongoing basis.

正确答案：
(ii) Administration of the company’s tax affairs
The corporation tax return must be submitted within 12 months of the end of the accounting period, i.e. by 5 April
2008.
Corporation tax is due nine months and one day after the end of the accounting period, i.e. by 6 January 2008.
HMRC have 12 months from the filing date to enquire into the corporation tax return. This deadline is extended if the
return is submitted late. Once this deadline has passed the return can be regarded as agreed provided it includes all
necessary information and there has been no loss of tax due to the company’s fraud or negligence.
Jane should have notified HMRC by 5 July 2006 that Speak Write Ltd’s first accounting period began on 6 April 2006.
The penalty for failing to notify is a maximum of ￡3,000.

正确答案：
(a) To: Board of directors
From: Management Accountant
Date: 8 June 2007
The potential benefits of the adoption of a balanced scorecard approach to performance measurement within GER are as
follows:
A broader business perspective
Financial measures invariably have an inward-looking perspective. The balanced scorecard is wider in its scope and
application. It has an external focus and looks at comparisons with competitors in order to establish what constitutes best
practice and ensures that required changes are made in order to achieve it. The use of the balanced scorecard requires a
balance of both financial and non-financial measures and goals.
A greater strategic focus
The use of the balanced scorecard focuses to a much greater extent on the longer term. There is a far greater emphasis on
strategic considerations. It attempts to identify the needs and wants of customers and the new products and markets. Hence
it requires a balance between short term and long term performance measures.
A greater focus on qualitative aspects
The use of the balanced scorecard attempts to overcome the over-emphasis of traditional measures on the quantifiable aspects
of the internal operations of an organisation expressed in purely financial terms. Its use requires a balance between
quantitative and qualitative performance measures. For example, customer satisfaction is a qualitative performance measure
which is given prominence under the balanced scorecard approach.
A greater focus on longer term performance
The use of traditional financial measures is often dominated by financial accounting requirements, for example, the need to
show fixed assets at their historic cost. Also, they are primarily focused on short-term profitability and return on capital
employed in order to gain stakeholder approval of short term financial reports, the longer term or whole life cycle often being
ignored.
The limitations of a balanced scorecard approach to performance measurement may be viewed as follows:
The balanced scorecard attempts to identify the chain of cause and effect relationships which will provide the stimulus for
the future success of an organisation.
Advocates of a balanced scorecard approach to performance measurement suggest that it can constitute a vital component
of the strategic management process.
However, Robert Kaplan and David Norton, the authors of the balanced scorecard concept concede that it may not be suitable
for all firms. Norton suggests that it is most suitable for firms which have a long lead time between management action and
financial benefit and that it will be less suitable for firms with a short-term focus. However, other flaws can be detected in
the balanced scorecard.
The balanced scorecard promises to outline the theory of the firm by clearly linking the driver/outcome measures in a cause
and effect chain, but this will be difficult if not impossible to achieve.
The precise cause and effect relationships between measures for each of the perspectives on the balanced scorecard will be
complex because the driver and outcome measures for the various perspectives are interlinked. For example, customer
satisfaction may be seen to be a function of several drivers, such as employee satisfaction, manufacturing cycle time and
quality. However, employee satisfaction may in turn be partially driven by customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction
may partially drive manufacturing cycle time. A consequence of this non-linearity of the cause and effect chain (i.e., there is
non-linear relationship between an individual driver and a single outcome measure), is that there must be a question mark
as to the accuracy of any calculated correlations between driver and outcome measures. Allied to this point, any calculated
correlations will be historic. This implies that it will only be possible to determine the accuracy of cause and effect linkages
after the event, which could make the use of the balanced scorecard in dynamic industries questionable. If the market is
undergoing rapid evolution, for example, how meaningful are current measures of customer satisfaction or market share?
These criticisms do not necessarily undermine the usefulness of the balanced scorecard in presenting a more comprehensive
picture of organisational performance but they do raise doubts concerning claims that a balanced scorecard can be
constructed which will outline a clear cause and effect chain between driver and outcome measures and the firm’s financial
objectives.

正确答案：
(d) The benefits that might accrue from the successful implementation of a Total quality management programme by the
management of the combined entity include the following:
– There will be an increased awareness of all personnel within Quicklink Ltd of the need to establish a ‘quality culture’
within the company which will provide a basis of improved performance throughout the organisation.
– The successful adoption of a TQM philosophy would ensure that there is a real commitment to ‘continuous improvement’
in all processes.
– It would place a greater focus on customer satisfaction since at the heart of any TQM programme is a deep-seated
commitment to the satisfaction of every customer.
– There would be a greater emphasis upon teamwork which would be used in a number of forms e.g. quality circles which
could be established with a view to improving performance within every area of the business. The fostering of team spirit
will also improve communication within Quicklink Ltd.
– A major characteristic of a TQM programme is process-redesign which is used to simplify processes, systems,
procedures and the organisation itself. In this respect the adoption of a TQM philosophy will be invaluable since the
integration of the Quicklink Ltd and Celer Transport businesses will require, of necessity, a detailed review of those
processes currently employed.
– The adoption of a TQM philosophy will necessitate the monitoring of quality costs in order to measure whether the
objective of continuous improvement is being achieved. In this respect the aim will be to eliminate internal failure costs
such as late deliveries and lost items which are clearly detrimental to a business which operates in the transport and
haulage industry.