I’ve finally gotten around to debriefing the first ACC 650 midterm… two days before the second ACC 650 midterm. What a coincidence~!! LOL.
One key learning point from reading the TAs’ Midterm Feedback Document was to leave internal control evaluation to the end. The reasoning is that doing IIR for internal controls does not require linking to CPACHB, so it’s easier to squeeze in at the end of the exam. On the other hand, if you’re under time pressure towards the end it’s much more stressful trying to think through the Standards and apply their implications to the case facts.
Overall, pretty happy with my performance. I only got one NC which was for the Materiality AO. I completely messed up the Performance Materiality determination (I set it at 5% of OM which is hilarious… it should be more like 50–75% of OM). I didn’t even attempt to set an Overall Materiality because I had chosen Total Assets as my benchmark, and I forgot the appropriate % rate (0.5–2%).
I also just had an epiphany about specific materiality (which I always struggle to remember the purpose of). I just now made the connection that specific materiality is specific to a subset of users, in contrast to overall materiality which applies to overall user needs as a whole. This should help me remember that SM is determined based on needs/sensitivities of a specific user group who are concerned about a specific area of the FS.
In the future I’ll also need to recognize that higher risk areas of the FS may require a separate (lower) PM to be set.