Leaving Certificate Accounting Predictions 2023
Always exercise caution with any predictions and don’t take too many risks. Updated January 2023
Please note that the choice of questions has been expanded with the more recents amendments available on the SEC website.
In Section 1 candidates will be required to answer either Question 1 or any two of the remaining questions in the Section. In 2023, there will be an additional alternative Question 1 (Sole/Company/Manufacturing) to provide additional choice within Question 1. There will be three questions, as usual, in Section 2. In 2023, Question 5 will be based on Interpretation of Accounts. In 2023, there will be no change to Section 3; there will be two questions as usual and candidates will be required to answer one question.
Section 1
Students planning on answering q1:
In the exam you will have a choice of two questions labeled q1A and q1B.(Not labeled q1 and q2.)
Given that there are three possible question types – Manufacturing, sole trader and company, you would be safe learning off two of these. Although this may mean you will not have a choice in the exam so make sure these two are learned off well.
Prediction:
The most likely to come up is a Sole trader based on previous trends and having not come up last year.
Manufacturing account is the least likely to appear given it had never come up two years in a row before 2021 and it appeared the last two years.
2021 saw sole trader come up with some company workings in it ,so the best bet would be to learn off company and sole trader and you are practically guaranteed to be covered.
These two are similar and in recent years they have shared workings so knowing both is a huge advantage. This strategy would involve leaving out the manufacturing account and even if it did appear you are safe knowing you can choose the other option.
Given the above facts it is most logical to focus on sole trader and the company account.
Students planning on answering q2,3 or 4:
If you are not answering q1 then you must answer two of these three questions.
Unlike Q1 there are many options that can come up for this part and given you must answer two thirds of what comes up, there is much less room for banking on certain ones.
Prediction:
One of Club/service/farm accounts would be the most likely to come up. Given these are similar, only one can come up in this section at a time and learning each one is easy once you know one of them.
There is also a reasonable chance one of control, published or incomplete records comes up.
The other option that may come up is then depreciation/revalue.
Tabular is unlikely to come up given it is a hot favourite to come up in section 2.
Likewise suspense is unlikely to come up as it is another favourite for section 2 and came up last year in this section.
I would also class cashflow as unlikely to appear given it came up last year in this section and in section 2 in 2021.
If you leave out Tabular and suspense and know all the other options it would mean a less than 5% chance that two you know don’t come up. Given that these two are also way less likely to come up than others , in reality the odds are much less than 5% of not knowing two of the options. So that would be the best advice.
Section 2
Students planning on answering q5:
As per the changes to the exam, Ratios/Interpretation of accounts is guaranteed to be Q5.
However it is much harder to get 90+% in this question than in q6 or q7. Therefore it is advisable that you do all past exam questions back as far as you can.
It is key that you look at the marking schemes and see what is required to get the marks for each type of question.
You must take note of who you are advising and which ratios are suitable e.g. debenture holders or shareholders.
q6 or q7:
Prediction:
The most likely to come up is suspense based on past patterns. It came up every second year from 2014 to 2020 (in this section) and having not appeared last year or 2021, it’s certainly due in 2022.
Tabular statement is also highly likely to appear as it has not appeared since 2017 in section 2.
The least likely to appear are club/service/farm and incomplete given they both appeared last year. Incomplete hasn’t appeared twice in a row since 2001 and club/service/farm is a favourite for section 1.
Other options are then published and cashflow. It is possible cashflow may appear although it has never appeared three times in five years. Published isn’t the most likely to come up but having not appeared in any section in 2022 it’s possible it could come up in section 2 in 2023.
The best advice would be to not study one of club/service/farm and incomplete and learn the rest with an extra focus on suspense and tabular.
Section 3
In this section students will answer either Q8 or Q9.
Question 8 is either Product/Absorption/Job/Marginal Costing
Question 9 is either a production budget/cash budget/flexible budget/cash and production budget.
You should already have chosen which question you are answering before the exam.
Students planning on answering q8:
Prediction:
Unfortunately for this question a combination of some or all of the topics can up. Last year it was absorption that came up. Given marginal costing was the only topic not to be included in last year’s or 2021’s question, it is likely to appear in some form in 2023.
Absorption may be the least likely to appear given it has come up the last four years.
The best advice would be to know all topics that could appear as this is not a predictable question.
Students planning on answering q9:
Technically there are four potential options for q9 – cash budget, production budget, production and cash budget combination, and flexible budget.
Prediction:
The most likely to appear would be the production and cash budget combination (similar to 2020). It hasn’t come up the last two years while flexible and production has.
The least likely to come up is a production budget only given it appeared last year but it is possible it could appear again as its a popular option and appears frequently
It is also worth noting that the cash budget ( on its own) hasn’t appeared since 2012 and it would seem that the examiner has stopped asking this and replaced it with a combination of production budget and cash budget questions (production/cash budget) as seen in the likes of 2020 and 2016.
Therefore the best advice would be to know production and cash budget combination very well, also study flexible questions, and although it is unlikely to appear, have a glance over production.
Extra advice:
The key to accountancy success is practice, practice and more practice
It is also vital to practice under time constraints.
For Q9 keep your work as neat as possible.
For Q1 do not panic if it doesn’t balance. You can still get over 90% of the marks.
Keep your work well-structured.
Best of luck with the exam.
