Financial Accounting (FA) is the third and final Applied Knowledge paper, and it’s where ACCA introduces genuine double-entry bookkeeping, financial statement preparation and basic group accounting for the first time.
It’s 100% objective test (OT), meaning every question has one demonstrably correct answer marked automatically by computer, using formats like multiple choice, multiple response and number entry rather than free-text writing.
Quick summary
- FA is a 2-hour, on-demand exam: 35 objective test questions in Section A (70 marks) and 2 multi-task questions (MTQs) in Section B (30 marks), usually one on accounts preparation and one on simple consolidations.
- There’s no penalty for a wrong answer, and FA’s pass rate has run around 68% recently, as of June 2026, sitting between BT’s high 80s and MA’s mid 60s.
- The technique here is precision under time pressure: get exact time-apportionment right, know the difference between a “for the year ended” and an “as at” statement cold, and treat each MTQ sub-task as independently markable.
We have distilled ACCA’s own FA examiner’s reports (Sep 2022-Aug 2025) and collected insights from past ACCA candidates to analyse what actually matters for passing. Don’t forget to check out our 15 actionable ACCA exam tips that apply across every ACCA paper too.
Other ACCA exam tips by paper: Business and Technology (BT) | Management Accounting (MA) | 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 FA exam?
Knowing exactly what you’re up against changes how you prepare, so here’s a quick summary of the FA exam format. Full detail is also available directly on ACCA’s own FA exam support page.
| Section | Question type | Marks | Time budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Section A | 35 objective test questions, 2 marks each | 70 | ~84 minutes, ~2.4 minutes per question |
| Section B | 2 multi-task questions, 15 marks each | 30 | ~36 minutes, ~18 minutes per MTQ |
FA runs for 2 hours and is available on-demand. The pass mark is a fixed 50%. A multi-task question (MTQ) is not a constructed response question; every MTQ sub-task still uses an objective, auto-marked format, so there’s no free-text writing anywhere on FA.
Section B’s two MTQs typically cover accounts preparation and simple consolidations, so expect longer, multi-part scenarios rather than the broader spread of topics Section A covers.
What are the most effective ACCA FA exam tips?
| ACCA FA Tips | Why |
|---|---|
| Practise every OT question format using the specimen exam before sitting | Section A mixes multiple choice, multiple response, number entry and matching formats, and candidates who haven’t drilled the less common ones lose time working out what’s being asked. |
| Identify exactly what a question is asking before calculating, especially phrases like “before any year-end adjustments” | Getting the timing or scope of the question wrong produces a confidently wrong answer even when the underlying knowledge is solid. |
| Manage your time across both sections deliberately | Section B’s MTQs take longer per mark than Section A, and running short on time changes which section costs you more. |
| Attempt every question across the full syllabus | The exam draws from the whole syllabus, so gaps in preparation show up directly as missed marks, and there’s no penalty for a wrong attempt. |
| Complete every part of an MTQ, even after an earlier mistake | Each MTQ sub-task is designed to be marked independently, so an error in one part doesn’t cost you marks in the parts that follow. |
What do examiners flag for each part of the ACCA FA syllabus?
| ACCA FA Topic | Topic-specific Tips |
|---|---|
| Financial statement titles and formats | Know precisely whether a statement is “for the year ended” (profit or loss) or “as at” a date (financial position), since exam questions test this distinction directly rather than testing calculation. |
| Recording transactions and double-entry | Since September 2023, FA has tested transaction recording in the context of computerised accounting systems rather than only manual, paper-based ones, so expect scenario wording built around software-based processes, not just T-accounts on paper. |
| Time-apportioned figures (interest, depreciation) | When an instrument or asset is issued, repaid, or revalued partway through the year, work out the exact number of months in issue before applying any rate, rather than defaulting to a full year or a round number of months. |
| Depreciation after a revaluation | Recalculate the remaining useful life at the revaluation date first, then depreciate the revalued amount less residual value over that remaining life, not the original life. |
| Error correction and its impact on profit | For each error, work out whether the correcting journal entry hits the statement of profit or loss or stays entirely within the statement of financial position, since only entries that touch an income or expense account change profit. |
| Provisions (IAS 37) | – Recognise a provision when a present obligation exists from a past event. – Remember the obligation can be constructive (arising from a published policy or past practice) as well as legal. |
| Intangible assets (IAS 38) | Capitalise development-phase costs and directly attributable costs like testing, but never advertising costs or tangible equipment used to build a prototype, even when the equipment supports development work. |
| Ratio calculation and interpretation | – Calculate the actual ratio (receivables days, ROCE, asset turnover, margin) before drawing a conclusion. – Never assume a rising number is automatically favourable, since ratios like gearing can worsen even as the figure increases. |
| Retained earnings movements | – Reconstruct the retained earnings movement (opening balance, dividends, bonus issues, profit for the year) to find a missing figure. – Remember only ordinary dividends and bonus issues from reserves hit retained earnings directly. |
| Bank and supplier statement reconciliations | – Separate items needing a correcting entry in the general ledger (errors, omissions, cancelled cheques not yet reversed) from items that only appear in the reconciliation itself (unpresented cheques, timing differences on a supplier statement). |
| Associates (IAS 28) | – Apply equity accounting only: recognise the group’s share of the associate’s profit, not the full profit, and never consolidate the associate’s assets and liabilities line-by-line. – Don’t show goodwill on associates separately. |
| Consolidated statement of financial position | – Add the subsidiary’s assets and liabilities in full regardless of ownership percentage, and replace the parent’s investment balance with goodwill. – Include only the group’s share of post-acquisition retained earnings, never pre-acquisition reserves. |
| Consolidated statement of profit or loss | – Add revenue and expenses in full, time-apportioning the subsidiary’s results if control was acquired mid-year. – Eliminate intragroup trading and any unrealised profit sitting in closing inventory. |
FAQs
FA’s pass rate has run around 68% in recent sittings, as of June 2026, placing it between BT’s high 80s and MA’s mid 60s. See our ACCA pass rates breakdown for the full picture across every paper.
FA has 37 questions in total: 35 objective test questions in Section A worth 70 marks, and 2 multi-task questions in Section B worth 30 marks. All questions are compulsory.
FA covers financial accounting: double-entry bookkeeping, preparing financial statements, and basic group consolidations. MA covers management accounting: costing, budgeting and variance analysis for internal decision-making. Both are Applied Knowledge papers, but they test genuinely different skill sets.
No. There’s no penalty for an incorrect answer, so attempt every question, including the multi-part MTQs, rather than leaving any part blank.
FA is a 2-hour exam, available on-demand rather than tied to a quarterly sitting, so you can book it once your bookkeeping and statement-preparation skills are exam-ready.
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