Business and Technology is usually the first paper ACCA candidates sit, and it plays by different rules to almost every paper that follows: 100% objective test (OT), entirely on-demand, and marked in a way that rewards attempting every question rather than leaving anything blank.
Quick summary
- BT is a 2-hour, on-demand exam: 46 objective test questions in Section A (76 marks) and 6 multi-task questions in Section B (24 marks), one per syllabus area
- There’s no penalty for a wrong answer, so guessing beats leaving a question blank, and BT’s pass rate has run 87-89% over the last five sittings as of June 2026
- The technique here is different from later papers: eliminate wrong options, trust a confident answer, and study every syllabus area at a basic level rather than trying to question-spot
We have summarised ACCA’s own BT examiner’s reports (Sep 2022-Aug 2025) and collated insights from past ACCA candidates who passed for this BT exam tips below.
Aside from the 15 general ACCA exam tips that apply across all ACCA papers, do check whether you’re exempt from BT entirely especially if you hold other professional qualifications, before you start revising.
ACCA exam tips by paper: Management Accounting (MA) | Financial Accounting (FA) | Corporate and Business Law (LW) | Performance Management (PM) | Taxation (TX) | Financial Reporting (FR) | Audit and Assurance (AA) | Financial Management (FM) | Strategic Business Leader (SBL) | Strategic Business Reporting (SBR) | Advanced Financial Management (AFM) | Advanced Performance Management (APM) | Advanced Taxation (ATX) | Advanced Audit and Assurance (AAA)
What’s the format of the ACCA BT exam?
| Section | Question type | Marks | Time budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Section A | 46 objective test questions (16 worth 1 mark, 30 worth 2 marks) | 76 | ~91 minutes, roughly 2 minutes per question |
| Section B | 6 multi-task questions, one per syllabus area, 4 marks each | 24 | ~29 minutes, roughly 5 minutes per MTQ |
BT runs for 2 hours and is available on-demand, so you can sit it whenever you’re ready rather than waiting for a quarterly session. The pass mark is a fixed 50%, same as every ACCA paper. Working at 1.2 minutes per mark, ACCA’s own guidance, keeps you on pace for both sections without needing to watch the clock constantly.
A multi-task question is not a constructed response question. Every MTQ sub-question still uses an objective, auto-marked format, such as selecting from a drop-down list, dragging and matching items, or picking multiple correct responses. There’s no free-text writing anywhere on BT; that only appears from Applied Skills level onwards.
What are the most effective ACCA BT exam tips?
| ACCA BT Exam Tips | Why |
|---|---|
| Attempt every question, even if you have to guess | Skipping a question loses marks you could have earned by eliminating wrong options and picking the most plausible answer |
| Read the requirement before the scenario in multi-task questions | This keeps you focused on what’s actually being asked instead of re-reading the scenario a second time |
| Trust a confident answer and move on | BT has no trick questions, so don’t hunt for hidden meaning once you’re sure |
| Study every syllabus area at a basic level rather than specialising | BT is a gateway paper that tests many topics shallowly, so spreading your revision evenly across all six areas beats going deep on a few |
| Skip hard questions first and return to them later | Most candidates aren’t time-pressured on BT, so bank the easy marks before spending time on the difficult ones |
| Get comfortable navigating the on-demand CBE environment before exam day | BT is many candidates’ first computer-based ACCA exam, and ACCA’s own guidance flags CBE familiarity as a specific preparation step, not something to work out live in the exam |
| For each MTQ, read the whole scenario once before answering any sub-question | ACCA’s own exam guidance specifically recommends this for Section B, since the six sub-questions attached to a scenario often depend on understanding it fully first |
What do examiners flag for each part of the ACCA BT syllabus?
| ACCA BT Topic | Topic-specific Tips |
|---|---|
| A. Business, environment, stakeholders | Learn frameworks like Mendelow’s matrix and the direct effects of macroeconomic policy properly, as scenario wording is designed to include intuitive-yet-wrong answers |
| B. Structure, governance | Know the differences between agency, stewardship and stakeholder theory, not just definitions, and match director behaviour precisely to each |
| C. Business functions, technology | Focus on who is responsible for a function and how functions interact, not how to perform the accounting itself, since that belongs to FA and MA |
| C. Technology | – Study AI, big data, cloud computing, blockchain and cyber security as core content – Read statements word by word, since a single qualifier can flip an otherwise correct-sounding statement false |
| D. Leading and managing | Learn McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y as a fixed pair, and double-check you haven’t swapped the labels before answering |
| E. Personal effectiveness | Study time management principles (focus, organisation, prioritisation) formally rather than assuming they’re obvious from work experience |
| F. Ethics | Learn ACCA’s five threats to independence (self-interest, self-review, advocacy, familiarity, intimidation) and practise matching scenarios to each |
FAQs
An MTQ is a short scenario in Section B with several objective-test sub-questions attached to it, not a written answer.
Each sub-question is still auto-marked using formats like drop-down selection or drag-and-drop matching, so it’s closer to a linked set of multiple choice questions than an essay-style question.
BT’s pass rate has run between 87% and 89% across the last five sittings, as of June 2026, making it one of the more forgiving papers in the ACCA syllabus. See our ACCA pass rates breakdown for how this compares to every other paper.
BT has 52 questions in total:
– 46 objective test questions in Section A worth 76 marks, and
– 6 multi-task questions in Section B worth 24 marks, one per syllabus area.
All questions are compulsory.
No. There’s no penalty for an incorrect answer on BT, so attempting every question, even a guess after eliminating the least likely options, is always better than leaving one blank.
BT is a 2-hour exam, and it’s available on-demand rather than tied to a quarterly sitting, so you can book it once you feel ready rather than waiting for a fixed exam date.
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