SOCPA Accounting Technician Content: 4 Topics and Weights

Information last checked: 31 October 2026. Exam details and topics can change, so check the Accounting Technician exam page on the Saudi Organization for Chartered and Professional Accountants (SOCPA) website and the exam topics document (November 2024 version) before you start studying. This is an independent exam preparation site with no link to SOCPA.

The Accounting Technician exam tests accounting only: entries, standards, costing and analysis. The weights of the four topics tell you where to spend most of your time, since topic 2 alone is close to half the questions.

Exam format at a glance

Data comes from the exam page. All questions for this exam on our site are multiple choice, as in the real exam.

The four topics and their weights

SOCPA publishes a minimum and a maximum share of questions for each topic. The question counts below are the split we use in our 60-question practice tests:

Topics 2 and 3 together are 45 of the 60 questions. Topic 4 is small, but its questions are short calculations you can solve fast once you know the formulas.

Topic 1: Conceptual framework, professional standards, presentation and disclosure (about 10 questions)

• Professional ethics: the code of ethics as endorsed in Saudi Arabia, its five principles (integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality, professional behaviour), the types of threat and the safeguards.
• Conceptual framework for financial reporting: the objective of general purpose financial reporting, fundamental and enhancing qualitative characteristics, the cost constraint, the reporting entity, the going concern assumption, the definitions of the five elements, recognition and derecognition, and measurement bases (historical cost and current value).
• The accounting cycle: double entry, debit and credit rules, the accounting equation, the journal and the ledger, source documents, analysis and posting.
• Trial balance, adjustments and closing: which errors a trial balance reveals and which it does not, adjusting entries (accruals, prepayments, deferred income, depreciation, bad debts), correcting errors, preparing the statements, and closing entries.
• Presentation and disclosure: IAS 1 (the full set of statements, current and non-current classification, expenses by nature or by function, other comprehensive income), IAS 8 (changes in policy and estimate, prior-period errors) and IAS 10 (events after the reporting period).

Sample questions for this topic: A company paid a 12-month insurance premium of SAR 6,000 on 1 October and booked all of it as an expense. What entry is needed on 31 December? The company reduces the expense to SAR 1,500 (three months) and records SAR 4,500 as a prepayment. Another: an accountant is asked to change a figure in the report under pressure from the manager. The principle under threat is integrity, and the type of threat is intimidation.

Topic 2: Elements of the financial statements (about 30 questions)

This is the largest topic, with seventeen subjects in the official document:

• Current assets: cash and cash equivalents (three months or less, bank reconciliation, the cash flow statement by the indirect method), trade receivables (direct write-off and allowance, the ageing method, the simplified expected credit loss model), and other receivables and notes receivable (interest and discounting).
• Inventories: IAS 2, cost components, the lower of cost and net realisable value, FIFO and weighted average (LIFO is not allowed), periodic and perpetual systems, and the effect of an error in closing inventory on profit.
• Long-term assets: property, plant and equipment (IAS 16: initial cost, subsequent expenditure, depreciation methods, revaluation, disposal), investment property (IAS 40) and intangible assets (IAS 38: research and development, goodwill).
• Liabilities: current and non-current (loans and bonds at a premium or discount, the effective interest method), and provisions and contingent liabilities (IAS 37).
• Equity: share capital, share premium, retained earnings, cash and stock dividends, treasury shares, and profit sharing and changes in partners in partnerships.
• Revenue, expenses, gains and losses: IFRS 15 and its five steps, matching, classification of expenses, and the difference between revenue and a gain.
• Leases: IFRS 16: the right-of-use asset and lease liability for the lessee, the exemption for short-term and low-value leases, and the lessor's classification.
• Related parties and information systems: IAS 24 (who is a related party and what is disclosed), accounting information systems and internal control (segregation of duties, authorisation, backups).

Sample questions for this topic:

• Inventory costs SAR 50,000 and its net realisable value is SAR 46,000. Inventory is shown at 46,000 and a write-down loss of SAR 4,000 is recorded.
• A machine costs SAR 100,000, has a residual value of SAR 10,000 and a five-year life. Straight-line depreciation is SAR 18,000 a year, which is (100,000 − 10,000) ÷ 5.
• Cash received in advance for services to be delivered after year end. It is recorded as a liability (deferred income) and is not revenue this year.

Topic 3: Cost accounting (about 15 questions)

• Cost concepts and classifications: the difference between expenditure, cost, expense and loss, product and period costs, manufacturing and non-manufacturing costs, direct and indirect, and fixed, variable and mixed costs (the high-low method).
• Joint products and by-products: the split-off point, allocating joint costs by quantity, sales value at split-off or net realisable value, and treatment of a by-product.
• Cost elements and their measurement: direct materials, direct labour and manufacturing overhead, predetermined rates, over- and under-applied overhead, prime cost and conversion cost, the cost of goods manufactured statement and cost of goods sold.
• Job order costing: the job sheet, the materials requisition, the time card, applying overhead, and moving cost to work in process and then finished goods.
• Process costing: equivalent units by the weighted average and FIFO methods, unit cost, the cost of units transferred and of ending work in process, and normal and abnormal spoilage.

Sample questions for this topic:

• The overhead rate is SAR 5 per labour hour, actual hours are 1,200 and actual overhead is SAR 6,400. Applied overhead is SAR 6,000, so overhead is under-applied by SAR 400.
• In a production stage, 8,000 units were transferred out and 2,000 units remain in process at 50% conversion. Equivalent units for conversion cost under weighted average are 9,000 (8,000 + 2,000 × 50%).

Topic 4: Decision analysis (about 5 questions)

• Cost-volume-profit: contribution margin and its ratio, break-even in units and in amount, target profit, margin of safety and operating leverage.
• Financial ratios: liquidity (current and quick ratios), activity (inventory turnover, receivables turnover and collection period), profitability (gross margin, net margin, return on assets and on equity) and leverage (debt to equity and interest cover).

Sample questions for this topic: A unit sells for SAR 50, variable cost is SAR 30 and fixed costs are SAR 40,000. The contribution margin is SAR 20 a unit, so break-even is 2,000 units. If current assets are SAR 300,000 and current liabilities SAR 150,000, the current ratio is 2.

What is not in the exam

Older sites say the exam includes zakat and tax at 25% and commercial law at 15%. The topics document issued in November 2024 lists only the four accounting topics above, so do not spend time on zakat, tax or commercial law texts for this exam.

Which standards the exam is built on

The questions here are based on the IFRS as endorsed in Saudi Arabia (including IAS 1 and IFRS 15 and 16), the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting, and the code of ethics as endorsed in Saudi Arabia. For cost accounting and financial analysis they rely on the standard basics. Every explanation on our site names the standard it rests on.

How to use this guide

Start with the free questions on our site to see what you would score today against the pass mark of 60, then look at which topic costs you the most. To spread your time across the weeks, read the study plan.