The Best Way To Balance Your Financial Accounting Module Marks
You’ve heard it in Financial Accounting before, but we’ll say it again – you need to balance your checkbook.
Luckily for you we can tip the scale in your favour. We’ll help you balance your FAC1502/FAC1601 Financial Accounting marks. And in so doing, get you one step closer to having a real checkbook, with real money.
The way that helps you balance your checkbook is, we show you how to do it the right way, and we make it look easy. By the time you have one it will be like tying your shoelaces – it won’t trip you up.
So how can we help you do that? We’re glad you asked.
We offer the right tools for you succeed so you pay just right amount of fees for your degree and don’t send your student bank account into overdraft. Although, it might be there already. The student struggle is real, we know.
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That’s why we offer you study notes and exam packs for just R300, which you can find here. And if that isn’t enough, you have a Financial Accounting online study group that you can join for a special price of R 0!!! Yes, you’re seeing it right.
Our study groups are at no cost to you. Our affordable prices make sure you don’t push your bank account off a cliff just to pass.
That’s not to say you can’t get things back on track if you did already. After all, you are doing Financial Accounting. It’s your job to make sure finances are on track. Well, it will be after you pass. And our job is to make sure that happens.
And it will happen because we’re good at our job. Ask any of the 20 000 students we’ve already helped. As long as you stick it out, we will too!
How can we Help you?
So you need a little nudge to get you to where you need to be with your FAC1502 and FAC2601. We’ve got just the thing:
FAC1502 Exam Pack
Our FAC1502 exam pack is compiled from past UNISA exam papers and the suggested solutions. We’ve got exam packs for all of the other BCom modules you do at UNISA as well, so you can excel in more than just one of your modules.
The FAC1502 exam pack has four question papers. The question paper is set up like this:
October/November 2017 P1 Exam Paper
Over here we have a part of the suggested solution:
We wouldn’t want to let you see the answers now, now would we? You can grab our FAC1502 exam pack set for a mere 200 bucks. That’s R300 for four exam papers and the solutions. You don’t need to be a financial accountant to know that’s a bargain.
FAC2601 Study Notes
Now, we all know that you need more than just the exam questions and answers to do well in your exams. That’s where we can help you balance it out. Our study notes are perfect to use side by side with the exam packs
We highlight all the important information that UNISA likes to ask in the exams so you are fully prepared. Besides showing you what the examinable points are, we put it in an easy to read format. But not too easy though.
You don’t need to spend time sifting through your notes, trying to figure out what is important and what is not. We did all that for you.
We also explain the relevant formulas in its simplest form. Sometimes it can be tricky to understand even then, but think about this other Einstein quote if you feel like giving up when facing a math sum.
Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater.
– Albert Einstein
Here is an example of what the notes will look like:
Studying the notes can be draining sometimes, we know this. There are ways to overcome reading through a full page of notes and not being able to recall a single word of what you just read (yes, you’re not the only one).
This study shows that you will usually remember information the same way it went into your brain. So if you used rhymes or mnemonics (a system that you created to help you remember information easily), you will remember it that way.
For example, think about the alphabet song. When you try to remember where a certain letter is in the sequence, you sing the song in your head. That song is a mnemonic.
But, the study goes on to say that if you get information and you think about what it means, you will remember it easier.
For example, when someone asks you about one of your hobbies, you don’t have to scratch too far back in your memory to tell them. This is because you thought about it before, and you understand it, so it is easy to remember.
Keep in mind that thinking about and understanding the information is better in with your learning preference.
Finding a Learning Preference That Works for you
If you are a visual learner, you will understand things better if you see pictures, or an example of it with your eyes. If you are an auditory learner you will understand it better if you hear it explained to you.
There are four main types of learners, and generally you will have more than one preference of learning. You can have three or four preferences of learning, and it can depend on the information you need to take in. It all depends on you as a person.
Check out this infographic showing what types of learners there are. If you are a visual and read/write learner this will be right up your alley.
The different preferences of learning are
- Visual
- Aural
- Read/Write
- Kinesthetic (movement or practical)
These are shortened to VARK. You can have a look at the VARK website here and figure out what kind of learner you are.
Whatever your preference, it is best to try and understand the information, rather than make a rhyme for it or just parrot the information.
How many times have you asked a friend to explain something and they say something that you can find in the class notes? If someone understood something properly they would explain it in a way that anyone could understand.
That was the last Einstein quote, we promise.
Financial Accounting Study Group
Now that you have an idea of what you need to do to study effectively, you will be able to engage your FAC study group in the best way possible.
Remember, our study groups are free so you can join the group for the modules you are doing and discuss what you understand and what you need to understand.
We ask that you help as much as you are helped in the group, so that we balance each other out, as we balance our checkbooks.
Speaking of, what is it about checkbooks that interests all of us? Is it that we, in a sense, control the money? That we know where it goes? That we see the strings that make the businesses move the way they do?
If you don’t know, we hope you will by the end of this article.
What is Financial Accounting and What is its Purpose?
Financial Accounting is basically making notes about the money that flows in and out of a business. It’s not as simple as it sounds.
You have to take note of all of the transactions of a company or person, summarize it, and then create reports about it.
These reports are usually split into the categories:
- Income Statement
- Balance Sheet
- Cash Flow Statement
Income Statement and Balance Sheet
The income statement and the balance sheet are similar, what with both of them record the financial situation of a company. The main difference is the time periods of these two.
The balance sheet records the what financial situation looks like on a specific time period, while the income statement shows the financial situation from one time period to another time period.
This is a simple example of balance sheet:
Because the income statement shows you how the finances looked from point A to point B, you can figure out how well the company did during that time.
So when investors think about investing into a company, they will look at the yearly or quarterly income statement.
Investopedia gives a good explanation on what the Income Statement is in this video.
Cash Flow Statement
So the cash flow statement is a little bit different from the previous two. It shows the total actual money coming and leaving the company over a period of time.
For example, if your company sells something on credit, the income statement will show that you made a sale. But the cash flow statement will show that the actual money for the sale did not come in yet.
If you don’t manage or do the cash flow statement properly you can easily run at a loss, so make sure you don’t cut corners here (or anywhere else for that matter).
Why is Financial Accounting Important and What is my Role?
If you’ve been doing FAC1502/FAC1601, you know that Financial Accounting is the language of business. It helps you with the proper information so you know what the next step can be.
Like when a doctor tells you what your symptoms are so you know what you need to do, besides take your medicine, to get better.
If you know you are operating at a loss, you can look at your financial reports and decide what to do next. If you didn’t have those you would not know what or where the problem was exactly. And we all know how it feels to have an itch that we can’t reach.
Let’s say business is going good, then you can point out the areas that are excelling and try and make them more profitable.
Basically, your job as a Financial Accountant will be to report on the company’s finances, and sometimes give advice on what to do next based on the numbers.
You need to have really good organisation skills and be great at analyzing data. Remember, Einstein worked with much bigger numbers, so you’ve got this.
To give you a hand getting started, these apps were designed to make accounting easier for your startup. This app is called Mint.
We know that since you’re studying FAC, you might not need any of these apps, but they can provide you with some good ideas. Or you can use them for your personal finances and save yourself the trouble of going through your spending manually.
Who Uses Financial Accounting?
Besides you (the financial accountant), Financial Accounting is usually used by external parties. So when you are working for a company and you set up all your financial statements, you’re actually doing them for outside people.
Of course, people inside the company will be looking at the financial statements as well, but it will mainly be used for the benefit of people on the outside.
The accounting you will do for the top management in a company is called managerial or cost accounting. In the beginning of your accounting career, you will probably do more than one type.
This is until you settle in and find the type of accounting you enjoy doing.
So what are the other kinds of accounting?
Different Kinds of Accounting and Different Kinds of Jobs
Well, for starters, accounting is not just accounting. While you will need a general set of skills and abilities, one shoe does not fit all. So depending on what branch of accounting you go into, you will need something extra.
That extra thing could be making policy plans for a company, preparing financial analysis for negotiations, or overseeing investments and bank accounts. It’s all open for you to decide, and on what your company needs.
These are some of the job titles you can aspire to in the FAC field and their average salaries.
Don’t day dream on the payouts too much yet. Finish your course first, because the high-rise apartment and holiday in Hawaii comes later.
Different Jobs in Financial Accounting
- Bookkeeping Clerk – R117,720
- Billing Clerk – R98,964
- Accounts Receivable Clerk – R130,042
- Accounts Payable Clerk – R143,661
- Accounting Clerk – R105,928
- Payroll Clerk – R121,252
- Accounting Assistant – R123,061
- Accounting Manager – R347,161
- Auditing Clerk – R116,163
- Accountant – R257,483
- Financial Accountant – R324,229
- Cost Estimator – R207,857
- Cost Accountant – R318,549
- Auditor – R200,805
- Tax Accountant – R380,802
- Compliance Analyst – R317,993
- Treasury Analyst – R524,023
- Financial Advisor – R146,578
- Anti-Money Laundering Officer – R335,093
- Credit Analyst – R295,150
- Forensic Accountant – R276,684
- Accounting Professor – R745,050
- Compliance Manager – R465,763
- Accounting Manager – R347,161
- Financial Controller – R337,109
- Assistant Controller – R191,729
- Compliance Officer – R295,743
- Finance Director – R975,086
- Chartered Accountant – R497,798
- Tax Manager – R535,152
- Chief Financial Officer – R1,020,444
Remember these are only the average salaries. They can go up or down in either direction.
Now, a separate survey done by Robert Walters shows a different set of data for some of the jobs you can find in the financial sector. Their data suggests that working in the financial sector has a much higher salary.
They show the permanent salary for 2017 and what they expected for 2018.
Here’s the thing: These salaries may not be the case for everyone.
Unfortunately, one of the most impacting things for your salary or if you get a job in South Africa is your race.
The Commission for Employment Equity released this report a couple of years ago about the state of employment in our country. If you are a person of colour, you would have to work harder to get to top management positions. And no, this is not about because people of colour are not qualified.
The best way to secure a job in the future is to be a top achiever in your field. And that starts here. You need to know what you are doing and what you are talking about.
So come on and join our FAC1502 and FAC1601 study groups. where you can work hard with your peers to finish your course. Be a part of diversity that we are so proud of in our country. We’re counting on you to balance the scales.
See what we did there?
Last Updated: 27 October 2022
