SOCPA Fellowship Financial Accounting Study Plan: Seven Weeks and How Many Answers You Need to Pass

Last verified: 31 October 2026. Check the Fellowship exam page on the SOCPA website and the exam schedule before you start, because dates and weights can change. This is an independent guide and is not affiliated with the Saudi Organization for Chartered and Professional Accountants (SOCPA) or any government body.

Financial accounting covers almost the whole of IFRS in one paper, so time will not stretch evenly over every standard. This plan is ordered by the official weights, starts today, 31 October 2026, and ends at the 20 December 2026 sitting (seven weeks). If your sitting is in 2027, stretch the same plan over a longer period (see the section after the plan). The topics are explained in the exam content guide.

Numbers to build your plan on

How many multiple-choice answers do you need?

Multiple choice is 75 marks spread over 60 questions, so each question is worth 1.25 marks. The number of correct answers you need depends on what you score on the essays, because the total has to reach 60. Since the essay floor is 5 of 25, in the worst case you need 55 marks from multiple choice, which is 44 questions:

The practical reading: do not count on a high essay score. If you can secure 44 of 60 (about 73%), you pass even with only the minimum on the essays. If you can secure only 38, you need half the essay marks. And even with every multiple-choice question right, scoring below 5 of 25 on the essays fails you, so do not neglect the essay part.

Rank the topics by number of questions

SOCPA publishes three official topics, each with a percentage range (pages 3 to 6). On this site we split them into seven topics so you can see where you lose marks. The table shows the approximate number of questions for each (total 60):

The second official topic alone (topics 2, 3, 4 and 6 here) is about 33 questions, more than half the paper. The first five topics in the table add up to 47 questions, a little more than the 44 you need in the worst essay case. Do not drop the last two, though: revenue and Conceptual Framework questions are shorter and easier to memorise, and they make up for what you lose on long calculations.

What this site offers for your plan

• The 10 free questions, no sign-up, covering the seven topics and ending with your score and your weakest topics. Start with them today to see where to begin.
• The practice area: practise topic by topic, with every answer explained and tied to the paragraph of the standard, revisit your errors in the mistakes notebook, and try the full mock exam with Part 1's specification: 60 questions in 180 minutes.
• The free questions are open to everyone. The rest of the question bank and the full mock exam need a pass for this exam.
• The question bank is multiple choice only. For the essay part use the essay questions guide.

A seven-week plan to 20 December 2026

If your sitting is in 2027

The 2027 sittings are on 21 March (registration 4 to 13 February), 20 June, 12 September and 5 December. If you sit in March you have about 20 weeks: double each stage, give the largest topic two weeks, financial instruments a full week and consolidation another, and go through every topic twice before you start full mock exams. Watch SOCPA's announcements on how IFRS 18 affects the 2027 sittings (trap 2 below). Remember that a subject you pass lapses after four calendar years and thirty days if you do not complete the Fellowship subjects.

The traps that come up again and again

1. Two marks, not one. A total of 60 is not enough if you fall below 5 of 25 on the essays.
2. IFRS 18 has not started yet. It takes effect on 1 January 2027 and replaces IAS 1. The December 2026 sitting stays on IAS 1, so do not answer with the new profit categories (operating, investing, financing) or with management-defined performance measures.
3. LIFO is prohibited. IAS 2 (paragraph 25) allows FIFO or weighted average, with specific identification for items that are not interchangeable (paragraph 23). Inventory is measured at the lower of cost and net realisable value, and a reversal of a write-down cannot exceed the original write-down (paragraph 33).
4. Where does the change in value go? For investment property under the fair value model, the change goes to profit or loss (IAS 40, paragraph 35). A revaluation surplus on property, plant and equipment goes to other comprehensive income and accumulates in equity, and a decrease goes to profit or loss except to the extent of an earlier surplus on the same asset (IAS 16, paragraphs 39 and 40). In Saudi Arabia, the Capital Market Authority allowed listed companies from 1 January 2022 to choose fair value or revaluation for property and investment property, and kept plant, equipment and intangible assets on the cost model.
5. The two lease exemptions. A lessee may choose not to recognise a right-of-use asset and lease liability for a short-term lease (12 months or less with no purchase option) or a lease of a low-value asset, and expenses the payments, usually on a straight-line basis (IFRS 16, paragraphs 5 to 8). The short-term exemption is chosen by class of underlying asset, the low-value one lease by lease, and low value is judged on the asset when new, whatever the size of the lessee.
6. The variable consideration constraint. In revenue, variable consideration is estimated using the expected value or the most likely amount (IFRS 15, paragraph 53), and it enters the transaction price only to the extent that it is highly probable a significant reversal will not occur later (paragraph 56). Questions on volume discounts or rights of return test this constraint.
7. Remeasuring employee benefits. In defined benefit plans, including end-of-service benefits, remeasurements (actuarial gains and losses) go to other comprehensive income and are not reclassified to profit or loss (IAS 19, paragraphs 120 and 122).
8. Events after the reporting period. Dividends declared after the period end are not a liability at that period end; they are disclosed (IAS 10, paragraphs 12 and 13). Tell apart an event that shows a condition that already existed (adjust) from one that arose after the date (disclose only).
9. Contingent does not mean recognised. A contingent liability is disclosed, not recognised, and a contingent asset is recognised only when the inflow is virtually certain, at which point it is no longer a contingent asset (IAS 37, paragraphs 27, 31 and 33).
10. Research is always an expense. Research-phase costs are never capitalised (IAS 38, paragraph 54), development is capitalised only when the six criteria in paragraph 57 are met, and internally generated goodwill is not recognised (paragraph 48).

The day before the exam

• Check your entry time and ID. SOCPA provides calculators in the exam hall, so get used to a simple one.
• Split your time: 180 minutes for multiple choice in the morning and 120 minutes for the essays in the afternoon. Do not leave an essay question blank, because the floor is 5 marks.
• Start with what you know, flag the long calculations and come back to them.

This is an independent guide and is not affiliated with the Saudi Organization for Chartered and Professional Accountants (SOCPA) or any government body.