About the exam
ACCA Applied Skills Exam structure
An independent UK-market study guide for the current ACCA Applied Skills stage, preserving all six required exams within one qualification-stage slug and using the LW-ENG and TX-UK versions.
Issuer and path
ACCA Applied Skills Study Guide is administered through Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Check official resources before booking, retesting, or relying on a stale requirement.
Corporate and Business Law — English (LW-ENG)
50 scored + 0 pretest
The English legal system, obligations, employment, business organisations, company finance, administration, insolvency and corporate crime.
Performance Management (PM)
20 scored + 0 pretest
Information and analytics, specialist costing, decisions, budgets, control, performance measurement and digital response skills.
Taxation — United Kingdom (TX-UK)
21 scored + 0 pretest
UK tax administration, personal and corporate taxes, chargeable gains, inheritance tax, VAT and digital tax-working skills.
Financial Reporting (FR)
20 scored + 0 pretest
IFRS frameworks and transactions, analysis, single-entity and group statements, and digital reporting skills.
Audit and Assurance (AA)
6 scored + 0 pretest
Audit regulation, planning, risk, internal control, evidence, completion, reporting and digital audit skills.
Financial Management (FM)
20 scored + 0 pretest
Finance objectives and environment, working capital, investment, financing, valuation, risk and digital response skills.
Confirm the exam version, syllabus period and delivery
Before booking, confirm LW-ENG and TX-UK where applicable, the syllabus year assigned to the sitting, any exemption or progression rule, and whether the exam is on-demand or session based. Use current ACCA tax tables, examinable documents and Practice Platform resources.
Official Outline Coverage Map
Coverage is mapped to official outline item counts so content depth can be checked without hard-coding a single exam.
| Topic | Official outline items | Your questions | Your flashcards | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essential Elements of the English Legal System | 0 | 12 | 5 | Priority |
| The Law of Obligations | 0 | 12 | 5 | Priority |
| Employment Law | 0 | 10 | 5 | Priority |
| Formation and Constitution of Business Organisations | 0 | 12 | 5 | Priority |
| Capital and the Financing of Companies | 0 | 10 | 5 | Priority |
| Management, Administration and Regulation of Companies | 0 | 12 | 5 | Priority |
| Insolvency Law | 0 | 10 | 5 | Priority |
| Corporate Fraudulent and Criminal Behaviour | 0 | 12 | 5 | Priority |
| Management Information Systems and Data Analytics | 0 | 15 | 5 | Priority |
| Specialist Cost and Management Accounting Techniques | 0 | 20 | 5 | Priority |
| Decision-making Techniques | 0 | 20 | 5 | Priority |
| Budgeting and Control | 0 | 20 | 5 | Priority |
| Performance Measurement and Control | 0 | 20 | 5 | Priority |
| PM Employability and Technology Skills | 0 | 10 | 5 | Good |
| The UK Tax System and Its Administration | 0 | 12 | 5 | Priority |
| Income Tax and NIC Liabilities | 0 | 22 | 5 | Priority |
| Chargeable Gains for Individuals | 0 | 15 | 5 | Priority |
| Inheritance Tax | 0 | 12 | 5 | Priority |
| Corporation Tax Liabilities | 0 | 22 | 5 | Priority |
| Value Added Tax | 0 | 14 | 5 | Priority |
| TX-UK Employability and Technology Skills | 0 | 8 | 5 | Good |
| The Conceptual and Regulatory Framework for Financial Reporting | 0 | 15 | 5 | Priority |
| Accounting for Transactions in Financial Statements | 0 | 30 | 5 | Priority |
| Analysing and Interpreting Financial Statements | 0 | 20 | 5 | Priority |
| Preparation of Financial Statements | 0 | 30 | 5 | Priority |
| FR Employability and Technology Skills | 0 | 10 | 5 | Good |
| Audit Framework and Regulation | 0 | 14 | 5 | Priority |
| Planning and Risk Assessment | 0 | 18 | 5 | Priority |
| Internal Control | 0 | 16 | 5 | Priority |
| Audit Evidence | 0 | 20 | 5 | Priority |
| Review and Reporting | 0 | 18 | 5 | Priority |
| AA Employability and Technology Skills | 0 | 10 | 5 | Good |
| Financial Management Function | 0 | 10 | 5 | Priority |
| Financial Management Environment | 0 | 10 | 5 | Priority |
| Working Capital Management | 0 | 18 | 5 | Priority |
| Investment Appraisal | 0 | 18 | 5 | Priority |
| Business Finance | 0 | 16 | 5 | Priority |
| Business Valuations | 0 | 12 | 5 | Priority |
| Risk Management | 0 | 10 | 5 | Priority |
| FM Employability and Technology Skills | 0 | 6 | 5 | Good |
How to use this guide
How to study ACCA Applied Skills
Build on Applied Knowledge, use the correct UK law and tax versions, practise workplace-style digital responses and keep each independent 50% pass decision visible.
1. Define scope and authority
Identify the exam, version, syllabus period, stakeholder, entity, transaction and exact requirement.
2. Select the current rule or model
Choose the applicable legal principle, tax rule, standard, audit assertion or finance technique before processing detail.
3. Apply and evidence
Use scenario facts, transparent digital workings, appropriate evidence and controlled assumptions.
4. Check and conclude
Reconcile the result, test material limitations and communicate a concise action or opinion aligned to the requirement.
Essential Elements of the English Legal System
Court structure, sources of law, statutory interpretation, precedent, civil procedure, alternative dispute resolution and legal advice.
Key rules
Rule 1
English law develops through legislation, delegated rules, binding precedent and persuasive authority within a defined court hierarchy.
Exam cue: Identify the source of law and court level before deciding whether an authority binds.
Rule 2
Civil claims require the correct forum, procedure, limitation awareness, proof standard and proportionate remedy.
Exam cue: Separate criminal liability, civil liability and alternative dispute resolution.
Rule 3
Accountants should recognise legal risk and the point at which specialist advice is required rather than acting beyond competence.
Exam cue: Match the claimant's objective to the available remedy and procedural route.
Common traps
Treating every earlier judgment as binding precedent.
Prevention: Do not reuse a legal rule, tax amount, reporting format, audit phrase or finance formula without checking scope, date, units and evidence.
Confusing the civil balance-of-probabilities standard with the criminal standard.
Prevention: Do not reuse a legal rule, tax amount, reporting format, audit phrase or finance formula without checking scope, date, units and evidence.
Giving a commercial answer without addressing the governing legal rule.
Prevention: Do not reuse a legal rule, tax amount, reporting format, audit phrase or finance formula without checking scope, date, units and evidence.
Memory anchors
Precedent
A binding precedent must be followed by a lower court when the material legal principle applies.
Ratio Decidendi
The ratio decidendi is the legal reasoning necessary for the decision and may bind later courts.
Obiter Dictum
An obiter statement is persuasive commentary not essential to the decision.
Civil Standard
Civil liability is generally decided on the balance of probabilities.
ADR
Alternative dispute resolution includes negotiation, mediation and arbitration outside ordinary litigation.
Next best moves
Quick check-up
Use a short quiz to confirm the rule pattern is actually sticking.
Check-up Questions
A county court faces a binding rule from the Supreme Court on identical facts. What must it do?
Which part of a judgment contains the legal reasoning necessary for the decision?
Answer all questions to submit.
Next step personalized recommendations
Open another topic next
Official resources
Verify the details with the official sources
Use these links for eligibility, scheduling, handbook rules, and issuer updates. Our guide helps you study; official sources tell you what the testing partner currently requires.
ACCA Applied Skills exams
The official current stage page listing LW, PM, TX, FR, AA and FM and the Advanced Diploma route.
ACCA Qualification exam choices
Official distinction between law or tax version choices and Strategic Professional Options exams.
LW-ENG syllabus and study guides
Current and 2026–27 English Corporate and Business Law syllabus sources.
PM syllabus and study guide
The 2026–27 Performance Management syllabus, including updated data analytics and transfer pricing outcomes.
TX-UK syllabus and study guide
The June 2026–June 2027 United Kingdom Taxation syllabus and study guide.
FR syllabus and study guide
The 2026–27 Financial Reporting syllabus and current examinable reporting scope.
AA syllabus and study guide
The 2026–27 Audit and Assurance syllabus and study guide.
FM syllabus and study guide
The 2026–27 Financial Management syllabus and study guide.
Guide to Applied Skills session CBE specimens
Official session CBE structure, three-hour practice and digital response-tool guidance.
Objective questions for session CBEs
Official comparison of objective and constructed-response marks, including AA's distinct structure.
ACCA exam FAQs
Official progression, delivery and 50% pass-mark guidance.
Future ACCA Qualification
The separate redesigned structure and launch timetable used to keep the 2027 Expertise level out of this slug.
FAQ
Common ACCA Applied Skills questions
Is this an official ACCA study guide?
No. It is an independent resource mapped to ACCA's current public qualification, syllabus, variant and computer-based exam information.
Which exams does the acca-applied-skills slug cover?
It covers Corporate and Business Law, Performance Management, Taxation, Financial Reporting, Audit and Assurance and Financial Management as six sections inside one existing tracker row.
Can I choose only some Applied Skills exams?
The current Applied Skills stage has six required exams, although ACCA may award exemptions. The two-from-four Options choice belongs to the later Strategic Professional stage and is not part of this slug.
Why does this guide use LW-ENG and TX-UK?
Law and tax are version exams. For the UK-market product, the mapped scope is the English law version and the United Kingdom tax version. Selecting a country version is different from choosing an optional exam.
May the six exams be attempted in any order?
ACCA requires progression by qualification module but permits exams within Applied Skills to be attempted in any order, subject to its live progression and entry rules. A learning order can still be chosen to preserve prerequisite knowledge.
Is EPSM a seventh Applied Skills exam?
No. The Ethics and Professional Skills Module is a separate ethics module and an award or progression component, not another Applied Skills exam section.
Do all six exams use the same format?
No. LW-ENG is a two-hour objective-test and multi-task on-demand CBE. PM, TX-UK, FR, AA and FM are three-hour session CBEs with objective and constructed-response content, and AA and TX-UK have distinct section structures.
Which syllabus periods are mapped?
TX-UK uses the June 2026–June 2027 syllabus. The guide incorporates the published 2026–27 LW-ENG, PM, FR, AA and FM syllabuses for sittings from September 2026; candidates sitting earlier or during transition should confirm the syllabus attached to their exam date.
Is this the redesigned ACCA Expertise level launching in 2027?
No. This slug represents the current six-exam Applied Skills stage. ACCA's redesigned Expertise level is a future five-exam structure starting in September 2027 and must not be mixed into these assets.
Are official live question counts published by syllabus area?
ACCA publishes each exam's overall section structure and selected constructed-response focus, not a fixed live count for every main syllabus area. The 601 allocations in this guide are transparent study planning values rather than official question weights.