ACCA AA December 2026: Why "Check" and "Review" Score Zero in Audit Procedures

Writing "check the inventory" or "review the invoices" in an AA audit procedures answer earns nothing. Examiners want who does what, to which document, to prove which assertion.

What the examiners actually reward

In AA, audit procedures requirements are marked on a simple test: could a junior on the audit team pick up your sentence and carry it out tomorrow? "Review" and "check" fail that test. They describe an intention, not an action.

ACCA examiner reports for AA have flagged this pattern across sittings: candidates list the area to be audited rather than the procedure. Marks go to the verb that describes the actual evidence-gathering: inspect, agree, recalculate, reperform, observe, confirm, enquire.

The second leak is the assertion. A procedure that does not link to completeness, existence, valuation, rights and obligations or cut-off is hard to credit. Strong answers make the link explicit, even in half a sentence.

The third leak is the scenario. Generic textbook procedures score at the margin. Procedures built from the facts given (a new warehouse, a year-end count on a different date, a supplier in a foreign currency) pick up the marks that separate a pass from a near miss.

Worked example: inventory

Wrong answer: "Check the inventory count and review the valuation of inventory."

Correct answer: "Attend the year-end count and select a sample of items from the count sheets, agreeing them to physical inventory (completeness). Select items from the shop floor and trace them to the count sheets (existence). Agree a sample of inventory costs to supplier invoices, and compare cost to post year-end selling prices to test net realisable value (valuation)."

The wrong answer is one mark at best. The correct answer is three separate, creditable procedures, each tied to an assertion, in under 60 words.

What to do

1. Ban the lazy verbs. Before the exam, write "check" and "review" at the top of your notes as banned words. Replace them with inspect, agree, recalculate, observe, confirm or enquire.

2. Use the three-part sentence. Verb, document or item, then the assertion in brackets. "Agree a sample of post year-end receipts to the receivables ledger (existence)."

3. Tie one procedure to each scenario fact. Highlight every detail in the question that is unusual, then write a procedure that only works for that fact.

The bottom line

AA pass rates have historically hovered at roughly 40-50%, and procedure requirements are one of the most predictable places marks are lost. Fix the verbs and you fix the marks.

Be specific, or be one mark short.