ACCA Study Support: Financial Management (FM)

A Mai Studies study-support programme written for learners preparing for the ACCA Applied Skills paper Financial Management. Every module contains original written notes with worked numerical examples, a tutor-voice classroom transcript, a practical activity with a worked solution, a mock test with explained answers and a marked written assignment. Mai Studies is an independent provider: it is not ACCA, is not an ACCA Approved Learning Partner, and this programme carries no exam credit or exemption.

10 weeks 60 guided hours Intermediate

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ACCA Study Support: Financial Management (FM) course artwork

What you will achieve

Explain the role and objectives of financial management
Manage inventory, receivables, payables and cash effectively
Appraise an investment using payback, return, net present value and internal rate of return
Compare sources of short and long term finance
Calculate a weighted average cost of capital and explain gearing
Value a business and explain how currency and interest rate risk are managed

Entry guidance

— Comfortable with percentages, discounting and basic financial statements
— Access to a spreadsheet
— Around six study hours each week

Original Mai Studies learning material. This is a professional completion programme, not a regulated qualification or university accreditation.

Programme syllabus

7 applied modules

Lessons: 7
Assessed tasks: 14
Practice questions: 147
Timed mock papers: 2

The financial management function

Objectives of the business, the conflict between stakeholders, and the three core financial decisions.

1 lesson · 23 practice questions · 2 assessed tasks

1. What financial management is for37 min study · 3 learning objectives · practical activity
The objectives a finance function serves, the conflicts between those who have a claim on the business, and the decisions it makes.

Section C practice: Performance Measurement, Agency Issues, and Macroeconomic Influences at Thornevale Engineering — marked out of 20, pass at 50%
Advise a board on objectives and agency — marked out of 100, pass at 80%

Working capital management

The cash operating cycle, inventory and receivable policy, and choosing between aggressive and conservative funding.

1 lesson · 22 practice questions · 2 assessed tasks

1. Managing the money tied up in trading39 min study · 3 learning objectives · practical activity
The cash operating cycle and the policies that shorten it without damaging the business.

Section C practice: Kestrel Components Ltd: Working Capital Management — marked out of 20, pass at 50%
Review working capital and recommend action — marked out of 100, pass at 80%

Investment appraisal

Payback, accounting rate of return, net present value and internal rate of return, with relevant cash flows.

1 lesson · 20 practice questions · 2 assessed tasks

1. Choosing between investments38 min study · 3 learning objectives · practical activity
Relevant cash flows and the four appraisal methods, with the reasons net present value is preferred.

Section C practice: Kestrel Engineering Ltd - Investment Appraisal and Sensitivity — marked out of 20, pass at 50%
Appraise an investment project — marked out of 100, pass at 80%

Sources of finance

Short and long term finance, equity and debt, leasing, and what suits which business at which stage.

1 lesson · 22 practice questions · 2 assessed tasks

1. Where the money comes from38 min study · 3 learning objectives · practical activity
Short and long term sources, equity and debt, and matching the source to the need.

Section C practice: Practice Task: Vandor Systems plc – Financing Decisions and Capital Structure — marked out of 20, pass at 50%
Recommend a source of finance — marked out of 100, pass at 80%

Cost of capital and gearing

Cost of equity and debt, weighted average cost of capital, and the effect of gearing on risk and value.

1 lesson · 21 practice questions · 2 assessed tasks

1. The cost of the money used37 min study · 3 learning objectives · practical activity
Calculating the cost of equity and debt, combining them, and understanding what gearing does to risk.

Section C practice: Kestrel Engineering plc - Cost of Capital and Capital Structure — marked out of 20, pass at 50%
Calculate and apply the cost of capital — marked out of 100, pass at 80%

Business valuation

Valuing a business on asset, earnings and cash flow bases, and judging which basis a negotiation should start from.

1 lesson · 20 practice questions · 2 assessed tasks

1. Valuing a business40 min study · 3 learning objectives · practical activity
Asset, earnings and cash flow valuation methods, the assumptions behind each and how a negotiating range is built.

Section C practice: Torridon Engineering Valuation and Market Efficiency — marked out of 20, pass at 50%
Value a business and defend the range — marked out of 100, pass at 80%

Risk management: currency and interest rate

Translation, transaction and economic exposure, forward contracts, money market hedges, futures, options, swaps and forward rate agreements.

1 lesson · 19 practice questions · 2 assessed tasks

1. Hedging currency and interest rate exposure39 min study · 4 learning objectives · practical activity
How a business measures foreign exchange and interest rate exposure, and the step by step mechanics of each hedging tool.

Section C practice: Veltis Engineering: Currency and Interest Rate Risk Management — marked out of 20, pass at 50%
Hedge a currency payment and an interest rate exposure — marked out of 100, pass at 80%

Timed mock papers

FM Mock Exam 1 — full 100 marks — 195 minutes, 30 objective questions plus written and computational tasks
FM Mock Exam 2 — full 100 marks — 195 minutes, 30 objective questions plus written and computational tasks

Lesson pages, assessed tasks and mock papers open the moment you join this programme. Teaching material is studied online; the notes you write are yours to download.

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