TÀI LIỆU ÔN THI ACCA MỚI NHẤT NĂM 2016 BPP p5 study text

Paper P5
Advanced Performance Management
This ACCA Study Text for Paper P5 Advanced
Performance Management has been
comprehensively reviewed by the ACCA examining
team. This review guarantees appropriate depth
and breadth of content and comprehensive syllabus
coverage.

For exams up to June 2015

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Advanced Performance Management

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Paper P5
Advanced Performance
Management

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ACP5ST14 (HO).indd 1-3

27/05/2014 17:43


S
T
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D
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PAPER P5
ADVANCED PERFORMANCE
MANAGEMENT

BPP Learning Media is an ACCA Approved Learning Partner – content. This means we
work closely with ACCA to ensure this Study Text contains the information you need to
pass your exam.
In this, ACCA examination-team reviewed Study Text we:



Highlight the most important elements in the syllabus and the key skills you need



Signpost how each chapter links to the syllabus and the study guide



Provide lots of exam focus points demonstrating what is expected of you in the exam



Emphasise key points in regular fast forward summaries



Test your knowledge in quick quizzes



Examine your understanding in our practice question bank



Reference all the important topics in our full index

BPP's Practice & Revision Kit and i-Pass products also support this paper.

FOR EXAMS IN DECEMBER 2014 AND JUNE 2015

T
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First edition 2007
Seventh edition June 2014
ISBN 9781 4727 1089 5
Previous ISBN 9781 4453 9657 6
eISBN 9781 4453 6744 6
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library

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We are grateful to the Association of Chartered Certified
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ii


Contents
Page

Introduction
Helping you to pass
Studying P5
The exam paper
Syllabus and study guide

v
vii
xii
xiii

Part A Strategic planning and control
1
2
3

Introduction to strategic management accounting ................................................................................................... 3
Performance management and control of the organisation .................................................................................... 43
Business structure, IT developments and other environmental and ethical issues ................................................. 59

Part B External influences on organisational performance
4

Changing business environment and external factors.......................................................................................... 123

Part C Performance measurement systems and design
5
6

Performance management information systems .................................................................................................. 153
Management information, recording and processing and management reports................................................... 187

Part D Strategic performance measurement
7
8
9

10a
10b
11
12

Performance hierarchy......................................................................................................................................... 223
Scope of strategic performance measures in the private sector ........................................................................... 257
Divisional performance and transfer pricing issues ............................................................................................. 307
Strategic performance measures in not-for-profit organisations.......................................................................... 335
Non-financial performance indicators.................................................................................................................. 359
The role of quality in management information and performance measurement
systems ............................................................................................................................................................... 379
Performance measurement: strategy, reward and behaviour ................................................................................ 429

Part E Performance evaluation and corporate failure
13
14
15

Alternative views of performance measurement and management ....................................................................... 469
Strategic performance issues in complex business structures............................................................................. 509
Predicting and preventing corporate failure ......................................................................................................... 541

Part F Current developments and emerging issues in performance
management
16

Current developments, issues and trends............................................................................................................ 569

Mathematical tables

599

Practice question bank

603

Practice answer bank

621

Index

663

Review form

Contents

iii


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iv


Helping you to pass
BPP Learning Media – Approved Learning Partner - content
As ACCA’s Approved Learning Partner – content, BPP Learning Media gives you the opportunity to use
study materials reviewed by the ACCA examining team. By incorporating the examination team’s
comments and suggestions regarding the depth and breadth of syllabus coverage, the BPP Learning

Media Study Text provides excellent, ACCA-approved support for your studies.

The PER alert
Before you can qualify as an ACCA member, you not only have to pass all your exams but also fulfil a three
year practical experience requirement (PER). To help you to recognise areas of the syllabus that you
might be able to apply in the workplace to achieve different performance objectives, we have introduced
the ‘PER alert’ feature. You will find this feature throughout the Study Text to remind you that what you
are learning to pass your ACCA exams is equally useful to the fulfilment of the PER requirement.
Your achievement of the PER should now be recorded in your on-line My Experience record.

Tackling studying
Studying can be a daunting prospect, particularly when you have lots of other commitments. The different
features of the text, the purposes of which are explained fully on the Chapter features page, will help you
whilst studying and improve your chances of exam success.

Developing exam awareness
Our Texts are completely focused on helping you pass your exam.
Our advice on Studying P5 outlines the content of the paper, the necessary skills you are expected to be
able to demonstrate and any brought forward knowledge you are expected to have.
Exam focus points are included within the chapters to highlight when and how specific topics were
examined, how they might be examined in the future, and how different topics within the syllabus fit
together.

Using the Syllabus and Study Guide
You can find the syllabus and Study Guide on pages xiii – xxi of this Study Text.

Testing what you can do
Testing yourself helps you develop the skills you need to pass the exam and also confirms that you can
recall what you have learnt.
We include Questions – lots of them – both within chapters and in the Practice Question Bank, as well as

Quick Quizzes at the end of each chapter to test your knowledge of the chapter content.

Introduction

v


Chapter features
Each chapter contains a number of helpful features to guide you through each topic.
Topic list
Topic list

Syllabus reference

What you will be studying in this chapter and the relevant
section numbers, together with ACCA syllabus references.

Introduction

Puts the chapter content in the context of the syllabus as
a whole.

Study Guide

Links the chapter content with ACCA guidance.

Exam Guide

Highlights how examinable the chapter content is likely to
be and the ways in which it could be examined.

Knowledge brought forward from earlier studies

What you are assumed to know from previous
studies/exams.

FAST FORWARD

Summarises the content of main chapter headings,
allowing you to preview and review each section easily.

Examples

Demonstrate how to apply key knowledge and
techniques.

Key terms

Definitions of important concepts that can often earn you
easy marks in exams.

Exam focus points

When and how specific topics were examined, or how
they may be examined in the future.

Formula to learn

Formulae that are not given in the exam but which have to
be learnt.

Gives you a useful indication of syllabus areas that
closely relate to performance objectives in your Practical
Experience Requirement (PER).

vi

Introduction

Question

Gives you essential practice of techniques covered in the
chapter.

Case Study

Real world examples of theories and techniques.

Chapter Roundup

A full list of the Fast Forwards included in the chapter,
providing an easy source of review.

Quick Quiz

A quick test of your knowledge of the main topics in the
chapter.

Practice Question Bank

Found at the back of the Study Text with more

comprehensive chapter questions. Cross referenced for
easy navigation.


Studying P5
As the name suggests, this paper examines advanced performance management topics and is particularly
suited to those who are thinking about a career in management accountancy or are likely to be involved in
strategic management decisions.
ACCA expects you to demonstrate a professional approach to all questions – not just presenting
information in a professional manner, but also integrating knowledge and understanding of topics from
across the syllabus.
The examining team has stressed that candidates should not expect topics in P5 exams to be examined in
isolation. One of the major skills you will be expected to demonstrate in the P5 exam is being able to draw
on knowledge gained across your studies to date, in order to present complete solutions to relatively
broad business issues or problems.

1 What P5 is about
The syllabus for Paper P5 further develops key aspects and skills introduced in Paper F5, and it draws on
aspects of the material about strategic and operational planning and performance covered in Paper P3,
Business Analysis.
However, whereas Paper P3 only assesses principles of management accounting as part of the wider
analysis of a business situation, Paper P5 could examine aspects of management accounting – such as
budgeting or costing techniques – in their own right.
The stated aim of the P5 syllabus is:
‘To apply relevant knowledge, skills and exercise professional judgement in selecting and applying
strategic management accounting techniques in different business contexts and to contribute to
the evaluation of the performance of an organisation and its strategic development.'
Read this aim carefully. You are no longer just a 'number cruncher' drawing up budgets and producing
calculations to include management reports. You are expected to understand the wider issues that affect
organisations. These issues are often written about in newspapers and journals such as the Financial

Times and the Economist, so it is important you read the financial press to help you identify how the
issues you are studying in P5 relate to the real world context.
At this level in your studies, you also need to recognise how the subjects you previously studied begin to
fit together. You need to begin to take a holistic view of an organisation, and to see how the various parts
of it and various processes affect overall performance – rather than looking at individual issues in
isolation.
Importantly, the P5 exam is likely to also test your ability to assess different approaches to performance
management, from a variety of perspectives. As well as knowing what the approaches are, you will also
need to be able to compare them with one another in the context of a scenario; for example, the
comparing the long-term and short-term issues affecting an organisation’s performance.
Snapshot of the syllabus
The syllabus expects you to understand how organisations set their strategy and the external influences
that affect strategic plans and operational outcomes. You will be expected to evaluate different systems of
performance management and apply strategic performance measurement techniques in evaluating and
improving performance. You may also be expected to advise on strategic performance evaluation and the
possibility of corporate failure. Finally you need to be aware of the current developments in management
accounting and performance management as these affect organisations.

Introduction

vii


There are six parts to the syllabus, as summarised below:
(a)

Use strategic planning and control models to plan and monitor organisational performance

(b)

Assess and identify relevant macro-economic, fiscal and market factors and key external
influences on organisational performance

(c)

Identify and evaluate the design features of effective performance management information and
monitoring systems

(d)

Apply appropriate strategic performance measurement techniques in evaluating and improving
organisational performance

(e)

Advise clients and senior management on strategic business performance evaluation and on
recognising vulnerability to corporate failure

(f)

Identify and assess the impact of current developments in management accounting and
performance management on measuring, evaluating and improving organisational performance

We expect most of these capabilities (if not all) to be tested to some extent in every P5 exam.

2 What skills are required?
Look back at the action verbs in the six parts of the syllabus outlined above. You are expected to be able to
assess, advise and evaluate, as well as to identify and monitor.
The need for these skills of assessing, advising and evaluating highlights that, at P5 level, you are
expected to have moved beyond merely demonstrating your knowledge of a model or technique, and

instead you have to apply that knowledge to practical situations. For example, the examiner will expect
that, by the time you reach P5, you can already calculate basic financial ratios. In P5, though, the examiner
will expect you to be able to interpret the information provided by those ratios to understand how an
organisation is performing, and to make sensible suggestions (where appropriate) about how its
performance could be improved.
The questions set in P5 exams will be based around case study scenarios which describe an
organisation, its objectives and its business environment. You will need to relate your answers specifically
to the scenario given in the question. There will be very few marks available for simply describing models
or theories. Evidence from past exam sittings suggests that candidates who simply learn models and
theories, but then do not apply their knowledge to the question scenarios, typically score between 20-30%
in their P5 exams.
The P5 paper has a large written element, with well over half the marks being earned for written answers
(discussion, analysis, evaluation) rather than calculations. Again, this is designed to reflect the position of
a qualified accountant working in a business. The accountant can expect a number of the routine
calculations and figures to be produced by their more junior colleagues, but the accountant should then
expect to identify the issues or implications being identified by those figures.
We have summarised here the skills you are expected to demonstrate in P5.
(a)

Core knowledge. The contents of Paper F5 Performance Management – assumed knowledge
brought forward for Paper P5.

(b)

Numerical skills. Those skills demonstrated in Paper F5. You only learn a small number of new
mathematical techniques in this paper, but, alongside these, you are also expected to remember
those you learnt previously.

(c)

Written skills These are key skills on this paper. You will be expected to write reports and notes
explaining issues you encounter.

(d)

Analysis and interpretation of question data or calculations. The examiner has stressed that
candidates will be expected to analyse (not merely calculate) numerical data given in a scenario.
Wider business awareness or application of skills in a practical context.

(e)
viii

Introduction


3 How to pass
The examiner provides a lot of useful feedback in the ‘Examiner's reports’ to past exams. This feedback
highlights areas where students have struggled in exams, and also indicates the skills the examiner
expects candidates to be able to demonstrate.
Looking at the post exam guidance can also be useful for reminding yourself about essential areas of
exam technique. Therefore you are strongly recommended to read these guides which are available in the
‘Qualification resources’ section of ACCA’s website:
The points highlighted in the Examiner’s reports include the following:
(a)

Read questions very carefully and answer the question asked, not the question you hoped had
been asked. In particular, if a question asks you to ‘evaluate’ or ‘assess’ the usefulness of a
performance measure for assessing performance in an organisation, this is not asking you to
evaluate or assess the organisation’s performance. Instead, the focus of your answer must be on
the performance measure itself.

(b)

Answers which consist of rote-learned definitions or explanations with no application to the
scenario will score very few marks. It is vital that you apply your knowledge to the context
described by the question scenario.

(c)

Look at the mark allocation to help you manage your time allocation and plan your answer.

(d)

Read all the parts of the question before you prepare your answer, so that you avoid repeating the
same points in answering different parts of the question.

We recommend you read the ‘P5 Examiner's approach’ article published in October 2012 and available on
ACCA’s website. This illustrates how some of the skills required to pass P5 have been tested in recent
exam sittings, and provides some useful hints about how to approach the paper.
Approach to the exam – In the article, the Examiner suggested that the best approach to the exam can be
summarised as:
(a)

Cover the whole syllabus – Candidates often appear to over-concentrate on Section D of the
syllabus (strategic performance measurement). However, it is important to understand how, for
example the choice of performance measures fits with planning and control structures (Section A
of the syllabus) or how well the measures chosen relate to external drivers of performance (Section
B of the syllabus).

(b)

Be prepared to apply your knowledge of syllabus topics to a business scenario – answers which
provide lists of rote-learned points (or rote-learned advantages and disadvantages for different
techniques and approaches) will not earn sufficient marks to pass a question. Candidates will be
expected to tailor their knowledge specifically to the situation given in the question scenario.

(c)

Read and answer the question set – Candidates earn marks where their answers are technically
correct and relevant to the question asked. However, candidates have a tendency to write answers
to the question they wish had been asked, rather than the question the examiner actually set. This
approach scores little or no credit though.

(d)

Add value to the organisation that is being advised – Candidates need to demonstrate their ability
to add value by taking data already produced and identifying and analysis the key issues in that
data and the commercial implications of it. Candidates need to be prepared to analyse numerical
data given in a scenario, not merely to perform calculations on it.

Importantly, the Examiner’s article also stresses that P5 is a paper about performance management, not
simply about performance measurement. Whilst it is important for an organisation to measure how well it
is performing, this performance measurement takes place within the wider context of strategic planning
and control, and is subject to both internal and external factors which can affect performance. In Paper P5
you need to be aware of this context and its impact on performance, not simply how an organisation can
measure performance. Performance management also considers how the management of an organisation

Introduction

ix

can be informed by the results of performance measurement; for example, through the way in which staff
are rewarded for their performance.

Question practice
The importance of tailoring your answer to the question actually set, rather than simply rote-learning
models and theories, also highlights the importance of question practice in preparing for your P5 exam.
You can develop application skills by attempting questions in the BPP Learning Media Practice and
Revision Kit.

4 Brought forward knowledge
You will be expected to build on the skills and knowledge you acquired when you studied Paper F5,
Performance Management. That paper introduces topics such as budgeting and pricing that continue into
the higher level syllabus. Paper F5 also covers cost and management accounting techniques including
activity-based costing that you will encounter in this paper. You will also be expected to draw on your
knowledge of performance measurement and control techniques that were introduced in this earlier
paper, because candidates sitting P5 will be expected to have a thorough understanding of the F5 syllabus.
In addition, you might also be expected to draw on topics covered in Paper P3, Business Analysis,
particularly in relation to aspects of strategic planning and control, and performance measurement.

x

Introduction


Analysis of past papers
The table below provides details of when each element of the syllabus has been examined and whether it
was examined as part of a compulsory (C) or optional (O) question. Further details about questions can be
found in the Exam Focus Points in the relevant chapters.

Text
chapter

Dec
2013

June
2013

Dec
2012

June
2012

Dec
2011

June
2011

Dec
2010

June
2010

Dec
2009

STRATEGIC PLANNING AND
CONTROL
1

Introduction to strategic
management accounting

O

2

Performance management and
control of the organisation

O

3

Business structure, IT developments
and other environmental and ethical
issues

C

C

C

C

C

C

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES ON
ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE
4

Changing business environment and
external factors

C

O

O

C

O

C

O

PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT
SYSTEMS AND DESIGN
5

Performance management

information systems

0

6

Management information and
reports

O

O, O
C

C

O

STRATEGIC PERFORMANCE
MEASUREMENT
7

Performance hierarchy

8

Scope of strategic performance
measures in the private sector

9

Divisional performance and transfer
pricing issues

10a

Strategic performance measures in
not-for-profit organisations

10b

Non-financial performance
indicators

11

The role of quality in management
information and performance
measurement systems

12

Performance measurement:
strategy, reward and behaviour

C

C, O
C, O

C

O

C

O

C

C
O

O

O
O

O
O

C
O

O

C

C

O

C

O

O

O

O

O

O

C

C, O

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION AND
CORPORATE FAILURE
13

Alternative views of performance
measurement and management

14

Strategic performance issues in

complex business structures

15

Predicting and preventing corporate
failure

C, O

O, O

O

O

O

CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS IN
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
16

Current developments, issues and
trends

O

O

0

O

Introduction

xi


The exam paper
Format of the paper
Paper P5 is examined in a three-hour paper consisting of two sections. You will be given 15 minutes
reading time before the three hours begin, to read the questions and start planning your answers.
Important note: The format of the exam paper changed in June 2013. If you are looking at past exams
(on ACCA’s website) from 2012 or earlier, it is vital that you remember this point.
Section A
Section A will contain one compulsory question comprising 50 marks in total. This question will
comprise several sub-sections, and will usually assess and link a range of subject areas from across the
syllabus. The Section A question will require students to demonstrate high-level capabilities to evaluate,
relate and apply the information in the case study to the question requirements.
Section B
You need to answer two questions in Section B, from a choice of three, comprising 25 marks each.
Section B questions are more likely to assess a range of discrete subject areas from the main syllabus
section headings. However, they will still require evaluation and synthesis of information contained within
the case study scenarios, and will require the application of this information to the question requirements.
A small number of professional marks will be available. The examiner has emphasised that in order to
gain the marks available, candidates must write in the specified format (such as a report or memo).
Reports must have terms of reference, conclusion, appendices and appropriate headings. Make sure you
are familiar with how different types of documents are constructed to improve your chances of gaining
maximum professional marks.

Syllabus and Study Guide

The P5 syllabus and study guide can be found on the following pages.

xii

Introduction


Introduction

xiii


xiv

Introduction


Introduction

xv


xvi

Introduction


Introduction

xvii

xviii

Introduction


Introduction

xix


xx

Introduction


Introduction

xxi


xxii

Introduction


P
A
R

T
A

Strategic planning and control

1


2