江苏省考生：如何利用零散时间学习ACCA？

正确答案：
(d) Stuart is not making use of his nil rate band, as all assets are transferred, exempt from inheritance tax (IHT), to Rebecca (as
spouse) on death. He should consider altering his will to transfer an amount equivalent to the nil rate band to his son, Sam.
If Stuart dies before altering his will, Rebecca can elect to make a Deed of Variation in favour of Sam instead. This will have
the same effect as the above.
Care should be taken in determining which assets are subject to this legacy. The Omega plc shares should not be transferred
to Sam as they currently attract 50% BPR. Instead, assets not subject to any reliefs (such as the insurance payout or cash
deposits) should be used instead. By doing this, IHT of ￡105,200 (￡263,000 x 40%) could be saved on the ultimate death
of Rebecca.
It is too late for Stuart to make use of potentially exempt transfers (PETs) as no relief is obtained until three years have passed,
and full relief only occurs seven years after making the gifts. The same would also apply to Rebecca if she were to die on 1
March 2008. However, as she is currently in good health, she may decide to make lifetime gifts, although she should also
not gift the Omega plc shares for the reasons stated above as any gift other than of the entire holding will result in the loss
of BPR on the remainder.
Both individuals should make use of their annual exemptions (￡3,000 per person per year). The annual exemptions not used
up in the previous year can be used in this current year. This would give a saving of ￡2,400 each (3,000 x 2 x 40%).
Exemptions for items such as small gifts (￡250 per donee per year) are also available.
Gifts out of normal income should also be considered. After making such gifts, the individual should be left with sufficient
income to maintain their usual standard of living. To obtain the exemption, it is usually necessary to demonstrate general
evidence of a prior commitment to make the gifts, or a settled pattern of expenditure.
While there are no details of income, both Stuart and Rebecca are wealthy in their own right, and are likely to earn reasonable
sums from their investments. They should therefore be able to satisfy the conditions on that basis.
If Rebecca were to make substantial lifetime gifts, the donees would be advised to consider taking out insurance policies on
Rebecca’s life to cover the potential tax liabilities that may arise on any PETs in the event of her early death.
Tutorial note: the answer has assumed that the shares could be bought for ￡2·10, their value for IHT.

正确答案：
(b) Financial statement ratios can provide useful measures of liquidity but an analysis of the information in the cash flow
statement, particularly cash flow generated from operations, can provide specific insights into the liquidity of Warrburt. It is
important to look at the generation of cash and its efficient usage. An entity must generate cash from trading activity in order
to avoid the constant raising of funds from non-trading sources. The ‘quality of the profits’ is a measure of an entity’s ability
to do this. The statement of cash flow shows that the company has generated cash in the period despite sustaining a
significant loss ($92m cash flow but $21m loss). The problem is the fact that the entity will not be able to sustain this level
of cash generation if losses continue.
An important measure of cash flow is the comparison of the cash from operating activity to current liabilities. In the case of
Warrburt, this is $92m as compared to $155m. Thus the cash flow has not covered the current liabilities.
Operating cash flow ($92 million) determines the extent to which Warrburt has generated sufficient funds to repay loans,
maintain operating capability, pay dividends and make new investments without external financing. Operating cash flow
appears to be healthy, partially through the release of cash from working capital. This cash flow has been used to pay
contributions to the pension scheme, pay finance costs and income taxes. These uses of cash generated would be normal for
any entity. However, the release of working capital has also financed in part the investing activities of the entity which includes
the purchase of an associate and property, plant and equipment. The investing activities show a net cash outflow of
$43 million which has been financed partly out of working capital, partly from the sale of PPE and AFS financial assets and
partly out of cash generated from operations which include changes in working capital. It seems also that the issue of share
capital has been utilised to repay the long term borrowings and pay dividends. Also a significant amount of cash has been
raised through selling AFS investments. This may not continue in the future as it will depend on the liquidity of the market.
This action seems to indicate that the long term borrowings have effectively been ‘capitalised’. The main issue raised by the
cash flow statement is the use of working capital to partially finance investing activities. However, the working capital ratio
and liquidity ratios are still quite healthy but these ratios will deteriorate if the trend continues.

正确答案：
(a) A highly-geared company has an obligation to pay interest on its loans regardless of its profit level. It will show high profits if
its overall rate of return on capital is greater than the rate of interest being paid on its borrowings, but a low profit or a loss if
there is a down-turn in its profit such that the rate of interest to be paid exceeds the return on its assets.

正确答案：
(d) Repayment of the loan
If at the beginning of the loan agreement, it was expected that the repayment option would not be exercised, then the effective
interest rate would be 8% and at 30 April 2008, the loan would be stated at $2 million in the statement of financial position
with interest of $160,000 having been paid and accounted for. If, however, at 1 May 2007, the option was expected to be
exercised, then the effective interest rate would be 9·1% and at 30 April 2008, the cash interest paid would have been
$160,000 and the interest charged to the income statement would have been (9·1% x $2 million) $182,000, giving a
statement of financial position figure of $2,022,000 for the amount of the financial liability. However, IAS39 requires the
carrying amount of the financial instrument to be adjusted to reflect actual and revised estimated cash flows. Thus, even if
the option was not expected to be exercised at the outset but at a later date exercise became likely, then the carrying amount
would be revised so that it represented the expected future cash flows using the effective interest rate. As regards the
discussions with the bank over repayment in the next financial year, if the loan was shown as current, then the requirements
of IAS1 ‘Presentation of Financial Statements’ would not be met. Sirus has an unconditional right to defer settlement for longer
than twelve months and the liability is not due to be legally settled in 12 months. Sirus’s discussions should not be considered
when determining the loan’s classification.
It is hoped that the above report clarifies matters.