【考前须知】2020年ACCA考试免试政策有关通知

正确答案：
(b) Both companies are listed. The only difference will be in the availability of inheritance tax relief – specifically business property
relief (BPR). If Stuart and Rebecca jointly hold in excess of 50% of the share capital of a listed company, BPR will apply at
the rate of 50%. Otherwise, no BPR is available.
Stuart can only buy 1,005,000 (￡422,100/￡0·42) shares in Omikron plc. This represents a shareholding of 2·00%
(1,005,000/50,250,000). As the shares in Omikron plc are listed, a 2% holding will not qualify for BPR.
At the moment, both Stuart and Rebecca own 2,400,000 shares in Omega plc. Their shareholdings are amalgamated for
IHT purposes under the related property rules. With a joint holding of 48%, BPR is not available. A further 200,001 shares
will be required to attain a 50% holding. Assuming Stuart and Rebecca can buy these shares, they must then hold their 50%
interest in the company for the period of at least two years in order to ensure that BPR applies.
On the basis that Stuart is expected to survive for two to three years, he should therefore buy further shares in Omega plc in
order to take advantage of the BPR available.

正确答案：
(iii) The treatment of items not dealt with by an IFRS for SMEs
IFRSs for SMEs would not necessarily deal with all the recognition and measurement issues facing an entity but the key
issues should revolve around the nature of the recognition, measurement and disclosure of the transactions of SMEs. In
the case where the item is not dealt with by the standards there are three alternatives:
(a) the entity can look to the full IFRS to resolve the issue
(b) management’s judgement can be used with reference to the Framework and consistency with other IFRSs for SMEs
(c) existing practice could be used.
The first approach is more likely to result in greater consistency and comparability. However, this approach may also
increase the burden on SMEs as it can be argued that they are subject to two sets of standards.
An SME may wish to make a disclosure required by a full IFRS which is not required by the SME standard, or a
measurement principle is simplified or exempted in the SME standard, or the IFRS may give a choice between two
measurement options and the SME standard does not allow choice. Thus the issue arises as to whether SMEs should
be able to choose to comply with a full IFRS for some items and SME standards for other items, allowing an SME to
revert to IFRS on a principle by principle basis. The problem which will arise will be a lack of consistency and
comparability of SME financial statements.

正确答案：
(b) ‘Opinion shopping’
Explanation of term
‘Opinion shopping’ occurs when management approach auditing firms (other than their incumbent auditors) to ask their views
on the application of accounting standards or principles to specific circumstances or transactions.
Ethical risks
The reasons for ‘opinion shopping’ may be:
■ to find alternative auditors; or
■ to get advice on a matter of contention with the incumbent auditor.
The member who is not the entity’s auditor must be alert to the possibility that their opinion – if it differs from that of the
incumbent auditor – may create undue pressure on the incumbent auditor’s judgement and so threaten the objectivity of the
audit.
Furthermore, by aligning with the interests of management when negotiating taking on an engagement, an incoming auditor
may compromise their objectivity even before the audit work commences. There is a risk that the audit fee might be seen to
be contingent upon a ‘favourable’ opinion (that is, the audit judgement coinciding with management’s preferences).
Employed professional accountants (accountants in industry) who support their company’s management in seeking second
opinions may call into question their integrity and professional behaviour.
Sufficiency of current ethical guidance
Current ethical guidance requires that when asked to provide a ‘second opinion’ a member should seek to minimise the risk
of giving inappropriate guidance, by ensuring that they have access to all relevant information.
The member should therefore:
■ ascertain why their opinion is being sought;
■ contact the auditor to provide any relevant facts;
■ with the entity’s permission, provide the auditor with a copy of their opinion.
The member’s opinion is more likely to differ if it is based on information which is different (or incomplete) as compared with
that available to the incumbent auditor. The member should therefore decline to act if permission to communicate with the
auditor is not given.
‘Opinion shopping’ might be less prevalent if company directors had no say in the appointment and remuneration of auditors.
If audit appointments were made by an independent body ‘doubtful accounting practices’ would (arguably) be less of a
negotiating factor. However, to be able to appoint auditors to multi-national/global corporations, such measures would require
the backing of regulatory bodies worldwide.
Statutory requirements in this area could also be more stringent. For example, an auditor may be required to deposit a
‘statement of circumstances’ (or a statement of ‘no circumstances’) in the event that they are removed from office or resign.
However, disclosure could be made more public if, when a change in accounting policy coincides with a change of auditors,
the financial statements and auditor’s report highlight the change and the auditors state their concurrence (or otherwise) with
the change. This could be made a statutory requirement and International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) amended to give
guidance on how auditors should report on changes.
Further, if the incoming auditor were to have a statutory right of access to the files and working papers of the outgoing auditors
they would be able to make a better and informed assessment of the desirability of the client and also appreciate the validity
(or otherwise) of any ‘statement’ issued by the outgoing auditor.

正确答案：
4 All organisations need appropriately trained employees. Due to the nature of modern business, especially the professions, much of this training is internal and often on a one to one basis. Accountants as managers should therefore be able to understand the different approaches to training and which of them is the most appropriate and cost effective for the training requirements of the organisation.
(a) Computer based training can be inexpensive and is based upon user friendly interactive computer programs designed to enable trainees to train on their own and at their own pace.