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Jag's Journey

Sharing my life experiences including the Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA) qualification

ICAEW Case Study Made Easy – How to Pass ACA Case Study

What was my first impression of the ICAEW Case Study? Weird. This exam is completely different to the 14 ACA exams prior which actually have new content to learn. The ICAEW Case Study was completely unknown to me until I came to study for this exam. It was not really an exam that was spoken about at all beforehand. For this reason, I have written this blog to give others an insight into the ICAEW Case Study exam with tips to pass . If you would like to know how much preparation is needed for the ICAEW Case Study, click here .

I will also share a few of my ‘ help sheets ‘ for free to those of you who have kindly joined my journey. These sheets can be tailored to your ICAEW case study, printed out and taken into your exam as it is open book. It isn’t too late – join now! You will receive these within three/four days of joining at 6pm (UK).

Check out my  YouTube video  if you would prefer watching to reading!

Table of Contents

Introduction to the icaew case study, icaew case study materials, icaew case study exam format, executive summary, requirement 1, requirement 2, requirement 3, different ways to fail the icaew case study exam, icaew case study marking key and timings, make it easy.

To reiterate, there is no new content that you need to learn to pass the ICAEW Case Study. Passing this exam is more skills based than anything. According to ICAEW , students need to demonstrate they “ can provide advice on complex business issues in the form of a written report “. In order to do so, you will have to analyse both financial and non-financial data as well as portray ethical awareness to form conclusions and recommendations.

In terms of difficulty , the calculations involved are quite basic such as percentage change and there is minimal technical knowledge required. You will even already know roughly 40% of the exam that is going to come up. The remaining 60% is somewhat predictable too based on the case study information you are given.

If you are reading about the ICAEW Case Study for the first time, you are probably thinking “ this is great! “. I know I was. However, hold your horses as you might start to smile slightly less as you continue to read on.

The way the ICAEW Case Study works is that prior to the exam (roughly a month before I think it was) you should get sent the Advanced information (AI) . This is 40-50 pages of information – it is everything we need to know about the client before the current financial year. Do not worry about researching the industry outside of the AI as there is plenty of information including prior year financial statements and a few news articles within this. My case study was during COVID-19 and there were not many extra marks available regarding this.

Using this AI, you can really get to know the fictional client. You should understand the history of the company, the products the client sells, the pricing, competitors, opportunities, etc. Furthermore, you can perform a SWOT analysis, PESTEL analysis and all sorts.

The surprise aspect of the ICAEW Case Study comes in the exam where you will get 10-15 pages of new information. However, this information is unlikely to be a total surprise as the AI will point towards this. For example, my ICAEW Case Study was about a magazine company. The AI mentioned the possibilities of exploring different consumer markets, different prices for magazines, a different type of magazine, etc. In the exam, out of all of these options price changes was one of the questions which came up so I was somewhat prepared.

The way I see it is that the AI is historical and the exam information is like meeting with your client for a new financial year and they update you on how it went. You will get the latest financial statements, hear of actual potential strategies and opportunities as well as get provided some newer news articles.

Every ICAEW Case Study will have the same exam format as follows:

For more information regarding each of these key exam areas, see the tabs below. As this is a report, your ES and requirements will need to be numbered throughout. My ‘help sheet’ will assist with this.

This first thing to do before even reading the exam question is to start the executive summary. You will need to address the external report to the client from your accountancy firm as per the Case Study. Following this, you should also write a disclaimer regarding liability. Doing this will get you a tick in the overall assessment criteria and my ‘help sheet’ has this all set out.

The purpose of the ES is to provide a balanced summary of all the three requirements. If someone did not have the time to read your full report, they should be able to pull out all the key information from this executive summary. The ES is standard for any ICAEW Case Study exam and is part of the 40% where you know what will come up.

You cannot simply copy and paste the conclusions from your requirements otherwise you will not get any marks . This could also result in you failing, see below. The ES needs to be slightly more detailed than the conclusion.

The ES is on a separate tab in the ICAEW software to the requirements so there would be a fair bit of flicking back and forth between the tabs to do this properly. The way I went about doing this was copying each of my requirement answers into sticky notes/comments on the exam exhibits. I would then paste these into the ES, remove less important information and reword parts to ensure I gained marks.

Timing is key in this exam so I would recommend to avoid leaving the ES until the end. Write it up after each requirement when the points are fresh in your mind.

Requirement 1 is part of that 40% where you know what question will come up. There is a small part of this requirement that is unknown but using the case study you can form an educated guess for what might come up.

The first thing you will need to do for every requirement is to create an appendix . These will be fairly basic calculations using information from the exhibits. Requirement 1 is all around financial statement analysis , in particular financial performance.

You already have the financial statements for the year prior to the exam statements in the AI. This will be used for the YOY comparison which is essentially what this R1 appendix is. You will need to have a movement column (£) and a % change column.

The software can be a pain when it comes to this requirement. This is because once you have produced the appendix, you will need to discuss the movements in the year and explain why this has happened using information in the exhibits. Again, this is fairly predictable and you can for example prepare reasons for increase/decrease in revenue beforehand. However, given the software you would need to keep scrolling up and down to see the numbers.

This is why my ‘ help sheets ‘ are useful as one addresses this issue. See a preview below. I took this in with me printed out as part of my open book file. As I was populating the appendix in the software I was writing all the numbers out too. This prevents having to scroll constantly and if you practice, it will save you more time than it wastes.

The less obvious aspect of this requirement will relate to a proposed financial adjustment. For example, a stock write off, bad debt issue, to do with cash flow or more. Do not worry too much as the AI will hint towards the potential issues.

As stated in requirement 1, you will need to produce an appendix made of fairly straightforward calculations. This should be the calculations behind evaluating a potential strategy or opportunity. For me, this was the potential revenue for different magazine pricing strategies. This was somewhat predictable so I had practiced calculations beforehand.

The rest of requirement 2 tends to have the same structure :

• Is the strategy or opportunity is worthwhile given your numbers?
• The assumptions would then need to be assessed. There will be benchmarks given in the AI and in the exam which you can compare these assumptions to.
• Commercial and ethical considerations based on the exam information would be made. For example, does this strategy align with the client’s values as per the AI.
• Conclusions and recommendations would need to be made.

Always state “any changes in the assumptions will affect the results of the model” for any ICAEW case study – it is an easy, guaranteed mark!

The shortest appendix will be needed for this requirement. It should be a few simple calculations to assess a potential strategy or opportunity. In all honesty, sometimes the lines can get slightly blurred between what could come up in requirement 2 or requirement 3.

As with 2, requirement 3 has roughly the same structure from ICAEW Case Study to Case Study:

• Financial impact using these calculations
• Strategic and operational issues
• Business trust and ethical issues
• Conclusions and recommendations

The recommendations can be quite straightforward such as carrying out market research. If there is another company involved, carry out due diligence on them.

Within all requirements , wider business context points are required to be sprinkled in throughout. These can be gathered from the AI and prepared beforehand but then ensure to add them in where relevant.

This is probably the most horrible aspect of the ICAEW Case Study. Either this or the fact that it is 4 hours long. What surprised me is that you can still fail this exam even if you achieve the actual pass mark. Yes, you read that correctly. Even if you reach the 50% pass mark, you can be failed for any of the other reasons outlined below .

• As mentioned, achieving less than the 50% pass mark.
• For not having complete coverage of the requirements – for example, if you scored 100% on R1 and R2 but then 0% on R3 or have a missing ES this would be seen as an incomplete report and you will fail. This is why time management in this exam is crucial which I touch on later and the ‘help sheet’ should help with.
• Achieving less than 50% in each individual requirement and being deemed insufficiently competent often. Not only do you need 50% overall but you need to pretty much be passing each requirement. You really need to show you can produce a strong report here.
• Missing out parts of requirements across the ICAEW Case Study. If you score above 50% in all requirements but have missed out 4-5 skills assessment boxes, you will fail. There cannot be gaps in the report. A fail could also be for writing poor conclusions and recommendations throughout.

Essentially, the examiner wants to see that you can write a complete report properly. If you do not do as ICAEW say in this exam you will be punished and you will fail.

I could honestly spend a very long time talking through the marking key. However, I do not want to get too bogged down with this in this blog. You will go through this in a LOT of detail once studying for this exam. I will therefore cover this at a high level. If you want further details about the ACA ICAEW Case Study marking key, click here where I have delved into this much more.

The main thing to know is that there are skilled assessment boxes (total of 40): ES (6); each of the three requirement (11); and one final box for the overall assessment criteria. The mark per each box is 0-6 so the maximum mark is 240 for this exam (40 x 6). Each box will have six points/’diamonds’ that need to be made. For example, one point/’diamond’ is stating revenue increased by x amount/(y %) based on the case study numbers. This will make more sense once you start studying for ICAEW Case Study.

From the table above you can see you do not benefit for hitting six points/’diamonds’ rather than four. You waste time but then it is difficult to know whether a point you make is in the skills assessment box or not. Through these boxes you demonstrate that you can: assimilate and use information; structure problems and solutions; apply judgement and form conclusions and recommendations.

You may be slightly confused as the marking key is unlike any others. There are no predetermined correct answers . In fact, only after assessing the first 100 say papers are the skills assessment boxes points/’diamonds’ put together. You need to write what everyone else writes so state the obvious and work together when preparing beforehand!

To briefly touch on timings, the ICAEW Case Study is four hours as mentioned. Believe it or not but it is very time pressured . There are many different ways to plan your time. I will share how I did it on one of my ‘help sheets’.

This blog title is definitely not click bait. These ‘help sheets’ will definitely give you a good idea of how to approach the ICAEW Case Study.

In addition to this, people do say you cannot revise for this exam given there is no content. However, I do definitely think you can prepare and you will need to go through the AI beforehand. Like I said though, do not go overboard with this as the AI should have all the information you need. Find out exactly how much preparation is needed to pass here . You should also familiarise yourself with the ICAEW software beforehand.

Practice for this exam to master the technique and timing. You may be wondering how and you probably will not like the answer. I would recommend practicing mock exams , as in previous ICAEW Case Study exams. This is tough as sitting one four hour exam is bad enough. Additionally, you would have to read AI’s that are not relevant to your exam and it is a lot of work. It is worthwhile though to do a few!

Another way to practice is through ACA Simplified / Paradigm Shift . Once the AI is released, this company will use the AI to predict around 5 different exams for your case study. It is fairly expensive but if you do want to practice on your own case study it is worthwhile. You can take the mark schemes in with you too as it is open book so this can potentially help in the exam if a similar question comes up. I mentioned above that requirement 2 and 3 have simple calculations but these can actually sometimes be tricky depending on the case study. ACA Simplified can help with this.

And there you have it! This was a very lengthy blog so if you found this useful it would be great if you could leave a comment 🙂

I thought I would also throw in a video of my final ICAEW exam day (Case Study) in November 2020 – I am sure many of you can relate to these feelings!

20 comments

It’s all just come screaming back to me, great summary! Excited to see what your helpsheet is like!

Thank you for reading Abs and I hope you like them!

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A very informative blog for someone starting to prepare for Case Study! Now I know more about what I’m in for, lol. Thank you for the tips and helpsheets!

You are welcome Anne – I am glad to help!

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Thank you for providing the information relating to Case!

I was wondering what made you use ACA Simplified/Paradigm Shift compared to ACA Masters to help with your analysis of the AI?

Hi Guv, you are welcome – others I knew who had sat Case previously used ACA Simplified/Paradigm Shift and highly recommended them. At the time of my studies I actually wasn’t that aware of ACA Masters. They also have great reviews though!

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Loved this post. Very informative.

I was wondering what you think is the best way to use the ACA simplified mocks? Obviously sitting the other 2 advanced level exams, there isn’t a lot of time to practice all the mocks to time so I was wondering if you have any tips?

Also, is it possible for me to have your help sheets?

Thank you!!!

You are welcome and in terms of the mocks, I scanned through them and at the time was able to print them out and take in with me. I think this may have changed since I sat them so not sure if this is possible now. I would advise really running through the calculations and understanding them for requirement 2 and 3 – write these out in a way that is easy to understand and could be applicable to your real exam. Definitely is unmanageable trying to do them all but it is worth going through them and seeing if you would be on the right track if similar questions came up in the exam. I have mistakenly just emailed you the audit notes – in terms of the help sheets you will need to join my journey at http://www.jagsjourney.blog/contact and they will be with you in a few days. All the best!

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• Regulatory and Conduct news September 2024

Rising concerns with student misconduct in exams and assessments

Author: Professional Standards Department

Published: 02 Sep 2024

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ICAEW students and provisional members, along with members, affiliates and firms, must demonstrate the highest standards of professional conduct and abide by ICAEW’s regulations, codes and other policies.

These requirements are no different when it comes to exams and assessments; students must act professionally at all times and show integrity and honesty, as well as comply with the requirements laid down for specific assessments.

“Students have to adhere to our Code of Ethics , ” explains Lisa McCarthy, Investigations Officer in ICAEW’s Conduct Department. “So, in terms of exam conduct, we’ll be looking at whether there’s a breach of the Code of Ethics, and this generally means we’re looking at students’ integrity and professional behaviour. Integrity requires you to be straightforward and honest. And professional behaviour means avoiding any conduct that might discredit the profession.

“Where students don’t follow the Code or break specific assessment rules, they could be referred to us,” she explains. “Their employers may also discipline them, potentially putting their careers at risk.”

A growing problem

“Since 2023, reports of misconduct during exams and assessments have been increasing,” says Laura Olsson, Senior Manager in ICAEW’s Conduct Department. “We’re getting more and more cases referred to us, and it’s a variety of misconduct in exams and assessments.” Cases range from cheating in exams and assessments, to colluding with other candidates to gain an advantage, to plagiarising the work of others.

“We urge firms of all sizes to be alert to these issues and to communicate expected standards and behaviours to their trainees,” Laura says. “If a firm finds examples of misconduct, they are obliged to report it to ICAEW.”

The Conduct Department also receives reports directly from ICAEW’s Education and Training Department. “If the software they use identifies plagiarism, including suspicious use of artificial intelligence (AI), for example, then they’d report that to us internally,” explains Laura.

Sharing and plagiarism

Although the types of poor conduct being reported vary, they are often related to how students are approaching internal or external assessments.

“One of the issues we’re seeing is students cheating in assessments within their firm,” says Laura. “These are not ICAEW exams; they're internal assessments that students do at the larger firms as part of their training. We’ve had reports, for example, where people were sharing answers to those assessments.

“These assessments are not always done under typical exam conditions, but it doesn't mean that the individuals taking the assessments should disregard the need for their answers to be their own,” she explains. “Students can do the internal assessments when they wish, and what’s happening is that they are having group chats with their peers and sharing screenshots of the answers, so technology's certainly having a role in cases of plagiarism and sharing answers.”

“There are similar problems with Project Reports,” adds Lisa. The Project Report is part of the Level 7 apprenticeship and assesses evidence of a student’s competence in the skills and behaviours required to become a Level 7 Accountancy Professional. It’s a compulsory assessment for anyone studying for ICAEW membership under the apprenticeship route.

“Some students don't seem to understand there's a problem with sharing,” she explains. “A Project Report must describe an individual’s own experiences and be written by them in their own words.

“It should be about individual experiences,” stresses Lisa. “But, using plagiarism software, our Education and Training team has picked up that the wording across multiple scripts is the same.”

Other issues have been arising with firms’ recruitment assessments. “When firms are recruiting for the next batch of students, they often require the potential employees to sit assessments,” explains Laura. “And there have been some assessments that are being completed far too quickly, where it’s not physically possible that students could have completed the assessments in the time taken.”

Pass on the message

“Every student and firm should remind themselves of the Code of Ethics and also make sure they read the relevant ACA and ICAEW policies and regulations,” says Laura.

“We appreciate there are lots of different types of assessments,” adds Lisa. “But they all come with guidance. Be sure to check that guidance before you undertake the assessment, so you know the rules you should be complying with.”

For example, paragraph 57 (of the ACA Assessment Regulations ) defines exam misconduct and sets out activities that are considered misconduct. These include cheating, colluding, fabricating, impersonating (acting, appearing, or producing work on behalf of another candidate to deceive the examiners, or soliciting someone else to do so on your behalf) and plagiarising.

“We also want firms to ensure they’re passing the key messages down to their trainees,” says Laura. They need to be making it clear that:

• the work students submit should be all their own work;
• they mustn’t share answers; and
• they mustn’t copy answers from other people.

“Firms are getting better at communicating these messages,” she adds. “For example, some larger firms now send out an email making it clear that everything submitted has to be the student’s own work. And, if it's an internal assessment, firms often include an agreement for students to read, and then tick to confirm they understand the requirement before accessing the assessment.”

What are the consequences?

Whenever the Conduct Department receives a report of exam or assessment misconduct, it will thoroughly investigate the case. “And, if we have the evidence and believe there is a case to be answered, we will refer it to the Conduct Committee,” explains Laura.

“The Conduct Committee has the power to impose financial penalties as well as a sanction such as a reprimand. Details of its decision will remain on a student’s ICAEW record and will be publicly available. In some circumstances, cases may be referred on to the Tribunals Committee which has the power to exclude students from ICAEW membership,” adds Lisa.

To see the kinds of cases that are resulting in disciplinary action, individuals and firms can check ICAEW’s disciplinary and regulatory records . The Professional Standards Department also publishes regular disciplinary updates in Regulatory and Conduct news .

In a recent batch of cases where students had shared answers in their firm’s internal assessments, they were given severe reprimands and a fine. “We’ve also had Project Report plagiarism cases that have been to the Conduct Committee,” adds Lisa. “These individuals received severe reprimands and fines too, with one going to the Tribunals Committee, which ended in a similar sanction and a requirement to complete ethics training.”

The consequences of poor exam conduct extend beyond the immediate sanction and could have long-lasting effects. “Cases are published, and they stay on record,” emphasises Laura. “Most firms would probably ask a question about that if they were interviewing someone. So, it could impact your future career. We’ve also seen employers dismissing staff for these kinds of breaches.

“It might seem common sense that students should understand they should never cheat in exams,” concludes Laura. “But the reality is that we are seeing a growing number of cases of misconduct of this kind.”

“As a rule of thumb, if you think it's wrong, it probably is,” stresses Lisa. “But if you have any doubts, be sure to check our resources to remind yourself of your obligations.”

• Find out what behaviour is expected from students
• Review ICAEW’s Student Insights article: Seven tips for flawless exam conduct
• Access ICAEW’s Code of Ethics
• Access ACA Assessment Regulations

Editor’s note

This article is part of a three-part series of articles on conduct and PSD’s commitment, under oversight by the ICAEW Regulatory Board and our regulators, to provide guidance on the standards expected to strengthen trust in the profession. As the articles publish, we’ll add references to them below.

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