Financial Management (FM) essentials on one page

About Financial Management (FM)
Financial Management (FM) provides you with the knowledge and skills expected of a finance manager, in relation to investment, financing and dividend policy decisions. The syllabus is designed to equip you with the skills that would be expected from a finance manager responsible for the finance function of a business.

Overview of FM

Illustration of corporate objectives and stakeholder objectives, with 'effective finance manager in the middle, connecting to (on the left) 'key decisions', which are listed as financial objectives, working capital management, business finance, investment appraisal and business valuations. On the right of 'effective finance manager' are two-way connections relating to 'risk management', which are listed as approaches to risk management, foreign exchange risk, foreign exchange hedging, investment rate hedging and interest rate risk - illustrating the economic environment for business.

How to approach your studies

  • We strongly recommend that you study with an Approved Learning Partner.
  • Book your exam as early as possible to begin receiving tailored ACCA communications and support.
  • Access the specimen exam and other content in the ACCA Practice Platform – this will give you a clear picture of how the exam is structured and how it will be assessed, as well as the likely style and range of questions that you could see in the real exam.

Advice from the examining team

  • In Section A, candidates should not spend too much time on any one question that they may be struggling with, as each question is only worth 2 marks.
  • In section B, questions will be based around a common scenario and can come from any area of the syllabus. There will be a mix of calculative and narrative marks.
  • In section C, questions are likely to be broken down into several requirements and will be manually marked. It is therefore vital that all workings are shown and assumptions are stated.

Read more in the Examining team guidance.

ACCA Study Hub

The ACCA Study Hub is an exclusive digital platform providing free access to study materials, flashcards, short quizzes and practice questions.

Find out how the ACCA Study Hub helps you prepare for your exams.

CBE Practice Platform

  • Get familiar with the exam environment by doing past, practice and mock exams.
  • Self-mark your answers within the platform using marking guides and sample answers.

Access the CBE Practice Platform here

Link to support resources

Access the FM syllabus, technical articles & topic explainer videos, mock & debrief videos, the compass planning tool and additional support resources here.

Subscribe to the official ACCA student YouTube channel for the latest videos to help you prepare for your exams.

About the exam

Exam format

FM is a three-hour exam, comprising three sections. All questions are compulsory.

  • Section A comprises 15 objective test questions of two marks each.
  • Section B comprises three questions each containing five objective test questions.
  • Section C comprises two 20-mark constructed response questions.

Most frequently used verbs in the FM exam

Discuss – Consider and debate in detail the pros & cons of an issue using arguments in favor or against.

Explain – Make an idea clear. Show logically how a concept is developed & give the reason for an event.

Calculate – ascertain by computation. Provide description along with numerical calculations.

Read this article for more about exam verbs.

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