ACCA

BUSINESS AND
TECHNOLOGY(BT)
COURSE PROGRAMME

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How to use this course programme
Use this study programme to:

● Study for your ACCA BT exam in the most effective way possible

● Cover every aspect of your ACCA BT exam

● Organise your studying so that you’re ready in time for your exam date

Most importantly, you can use this study programme to increase your chances of
passing the ACCA BT exam. This course will take ten weeks to complete and is split into
four phases.

Phase one, two and three - Learning phase

The first six weeks will be dedicated to studying the BT course. During these weeks, you
will be reading, watching and testing yourself on the content of each chapter in
preparation for phase four.

Phase four - Revision

In the final two weeks, you will be revising the course and practising for your exam by
completing mock papers. You should also use the remaining time to contact Astranti
about any questions or topics you are having difficulty with.

Study approach

As you work through the study text and videos, your general approach should be to:

● Day 1 - Spend one day covering a chapter with the study text and/or tuition videos
and make your own notes.

● Day 2 - Then spend the next day reviewing your notes and going back over the
areas you are struggling to recall.

This two-day routine, covering both learning and review, helps with knowledge retention,
which ensures that the material is absorbed and learnt. We find it’s best to split this over
two days so your brain has time to organise and store what you have learnt.

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Phase one
Week 1

Starting your studies by looking at Business and Technology is a fantastic way to lay the
groundwork for what’s to come as you progress through your course. BT’s content is, of
course, centred around how businesses operate effectively in a changing world and in
various contexts. Therefore, it makes sense to start BT with the basics of organisations
and how they are structured, and the importance of financial management to a business.

Areas of focus for this week:

● Chapter 1 - Organisations
Starting strong, this chapter explains the structure and management of different
types of organisations, from profit-seeking businesses to not-for-profits, and the
role of stakeholders who influence or are influenced by these organisations. It also
discusses how organisations manage stakeholder power, interests, and conflicts.

● Chapter 2 - Organisational Structure

This chapter builds upon what you have learnt, exploring various organisational
structures in detail. It also touches on outsourcing and the evolving nature of
organisational structures in response to changes in the business environment.

● Chapter 3 - Organisational Levels

This chapter wraps up organisational structures, illustrating how they shape
communication, leadership, and operations within a business. It also covers
different organisational levels, from operational control to strategic planning, and
examines the roles and functions of key departments in achieving organisational
goals.

● Chapter 4 - The Finance Function

This chapter covers the essential roles of the finance function, including financial
and management accounting, treasury management, and auditing. It highlights
the importance of financial planning, fraud prevention, and compliance to ensure
effective financial stewardship and support for business operations.

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Each part of the learning phase should take you six days to complete. Make sure to read
one chapter each day and then revise that knowledge on the next.

Week 2

The second week will explore how accounting impacts key business areas and how it is
regulated. The chapters you will be looking at this week will also explore how businesses
manage and prepare for the external environment, and price, demand and supply.

Areas of focus for this week

● Chapter 5 - Accounting and Regulation

This chapter explores how accounting connects with business functions like
marketing and purchasing to support decision-making. It also covers the legal
frameworks and international regulations that ensure transparency and
consistency in financial reporting, with key roles played by bodies like the IFRS
Foundation and IOSCO in harmonising global standards.

● Chapter 6 - The External Environment

This chapter focuses on how businesses can analyse their external environment to
identify opportunities and threats using tools like PESTEL and Porter’s Five Forces.
Companies can adapt their strategies to remain competitive and thrive in a
dynamic marketplace.

● Chapter 7 - Price, Demand and Supply

This chapter explains the basics of market dynamics, focusing on how price,
demand, and supply interact. It covers the concept of demand and supply curves,
factors influencing them, and how equilibrium price is reached.

● Chapter 8 - Price Elasticity of Demand and Supply

This chapter explains how price elasticity measures the sensitivity of demand or
supply to price changes. Businesses use this to set prices and plan production;
governments use it for taxation decisions.

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Phase two
Week 3

This week we move on to thinking about factors impacting businesses in more detail, and
how businesses can make effective decisions to maximise their success in changing
environments. as well as company culture and key management strategies. Remember to
try our tuition videos for these chapters if you fancy breaking up the learning.

Areas of focus for this week

● Chapter 9 - External Factors Affecting Businesses - Part 1

This chapter discusses how macroeconomic factors impact businesses. It also
explains how these factors influence the broader economy, affecting business
decisions and operations.

● Chapter 10 - External Factors Affecting Businesses - Part 2

This chapter discusses how political, legal, environmental, social, and technological
factors impact businesses. It highlights how changes in government policies,
employment laws, environmental awareness, social trends, and technological
advancements can influence business operations, strategies, and their ability to
adapt to external pressures.

● Chapter 11 - Culture and Conflict

This chapter examines organisational culture, its influence on behaviour, and the
importance of managing conflict. It highlights different types of culture and
discusses methods for handling conflict. The focus is on how culture shapes
workplace dynamics and the strategies for resolving conflicts constructively.

● Chapter 12 - Management and Leadership - Part 1

This chapter outlines the key differences between management and leadership,
emphasising the importance of effective leadership in motivating teams. It
introduces various management functions and leadership styles, showing how
they influence organisational success.

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Week 4

This week we are going to be exploring all things management and personal effectiveness
after last week’s introduction. Don’t hesitate to use our course forums or get in touch
with a tutor if you get stuck or want to discuss anything; we’re always happy to help. You
are well on your way to passing that exam now, keep going!

Areas of focus for this week:

● Chapter 13 - Management and Leadership - Part 2

This chapter explores foundational management theories, including bureaucracy
and scientific management, which offer structured approaches to organisational
efficiency.

● Chapter 14 - Managing people

This chapter covers key aspects of managing people: appraisals for performance
feedback, reward systems to motivate employees, and training to enhance skills
and support long-term development. These elements are vital for fostering a
productive and engaged workforce

● Chapter 15 - The management of groups

This chapter covers the dynamics of group management, exploring the formation,
roles, and effectiveness of both informal and formal groups within organisations.
It highlights the importance of understanding group behaviour, the stages of team
development, and the role of communication, mentoring, and coaching in
fostering high-performing teams

● Chapter 16 - Personal effectiveness

This chapter covers effective time management, emphasising prioritisation and
decision-making to achieve objectives. It also discusses the role of information
technology in enhancing efficiency, the importance of competency frameworks
for aligning skills with organisational goals, and personal development plans for
continuous improvement.

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Phase three
Week 5

This week is a nice mix of topics: we start off with a chapter on corporate governance,
which can be tricky, so remember to reach out for support if you need it! Then we move
on to marketing before concluding the week by thinking more about technology and its
impact on businesses as it continues to develop. You’re over halfway through the course
now, congratulations on your progress!

Areas of focus for this week:

● Chapter 17 - Corporate Governance

This chapter highlights the importance of corporate governance in preventing
fraud and ensuring accountability, covering key principles, agency theory, the role
of committees, and IFAC's drivers for sustainable success.

● Chapter 18 - Introduction to Marketing

This chapter covers the fundamentals of marketing, including the development of
a marketing strategy, understanding business orientations, and defining the
marketing mix. It also explores the role of social marketing and corporate social
responsibility (CSR) in promoting ethical business practices.

● Chapter 19 - Digital Technologies - Part 1

This chapter explores the impact of digital technologies on modern processes,
focusing on the fourth industrial revolution and its influence on the finance
function. It covers emerging technologies like AI, big data, 3D printing, and data
visualisation, highlighting their benefits and challenges in transforming business
operations and decision-making.

● Chapter 20 - Digital Technologies - Part 2

This chapter covers how blockchain, business process automation, cloud
computing, mobile technologies, and IoT are revolutionising the finance function
by enhancing security, efficiency, and real-time data access, while also presenting
challenges like security risks and complexity.

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Week 6

In the final week of the learning phase, we’ll move on to looking at financial information:
the essentials of how it works and how it is used in organisations, before finishing off with
a chapter all about ethics in business.

Areas of focus for this week

● Chapter 21 - Financial Information: Sources and Purpose

This chapter covers the essentials of financial information, including the purpose
of financial statements, the importance of accuracy and transparency, and the
role of integrated reporting, budgeting, and variance analysis in guiding
organisational decisions

● Chapter 22 - Financial Systems, IT Systems and Internal Control

This chapter discusses the role of financial and IT systems in maintaining accuracy
and control within organisations, highlighting internal controls and management
accounting techniques crucial for preventing errors and supporting strategic
decisions.

● Chapter 23 - Ethics
This final chapter on ethics explores the importance of ethical behaviour and
social responsibility in business, highlighting how ethics impacts reputation, legal
compliance, and overall success. It also covers professional ethical standards, the
role of regulatory bodies, and strategies for managing ethical conflicts and
dilemmas within organisations.

That brings us to the end of the learning phase, well done! At this point, you should have
covered everything in the syllabus and have your own notes based on your studies.

Now that the learning is done, it’s time to start exam practice.

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Phase four
Week 7

Almost there! This week, you will dedicate your time to exam practice and revision.

Diving right in, we recommend you do the following this week as a minimum:

● Use your revision notes to review chapters 1-23.

● Complete a practice test or specimen exam on the ACCA ‘Study support resources’
page, taking note of any topics that you found particularly hard.

● Make a study plan to revise the topics you found hardest.

● Use the time in between revision to contact Astranti for assistance if you find you
are struggling with any particular topics.

This can be done via contacting your personal mentor, using our full tutor
support, or consulting the Astranti Community, to name but a few options.

Week 8

Exam week is finally here. All that's left to do now is to apply all the knowledge you have
learned to the resources available on the ACCA website ‘Study Hub’.

● Complete the remaining practice tests and specimen exams on the ACCA ‘Study
support resources’ page.

● Review your exam technique with our Astranti BT Examiner’s Guide

● Attempt as many mock exams as you can find.

...and that brings us to the end of BT. Good luck from all of us at Astranti!

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