Which ACCA Paper Should I Take Next?

Here's Some Expert Advice From Years of Teaching ACCA

Take 1 Paper Per Exam Session

Take advantage of having four exam sessions per year and take only one ACCA Exam at a time.  You will have more time to focus and devote your energies to that one paper.

Take FR Before AA

...Just because you will feel more comfortable with the some of the audit risks.

FM and SBR have very large syllabi - be aware when choosing these with other papers

This is especially true of FM with the MCQ section . This means periphery syllabus areas will definitely be examined!

Do AFM (if you must) as soon as possible after FM

They link beautifully together - though AFM is extremely tough, at first.

APM is technically easier than AFM

However APM relies on PM knowledge which will be long forgotten by now! :) Recaps needed!

AFM is very technical and is quite a specialised area - so consider this if it's a real area of interest for your future career.

Do SBR as soon as possible after FR

There is a lot of common ground, but you will find the groups techniques particularly useful again.

Do AAA as soon as possible after SBR

This is really, really helpful as the basic principles of SBR standards (not calculations though) are all vital in AAA - the perfect exam to follow SBR.

AAA needs a rethink of your technique and therefore...more time

As mentioned, AAA builds on SBR (and AA) and needs to be done asap after SBR particularly - however do be aware that the technique for this paper is vastly different.

The examiner expects are a far greater range of points and knowledge than any of the other papers - so its a proper combination of lots of knowledge work and application skills.

Therefore be very wary of doing this alongside another paper.