Examination No.

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THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS EXAMINATION

COUNCIL OF MALAWI

2007 EXAMINATIONS

CERTIFICATE IN FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING

PROGRAMME

PAPER FA 2: PRACTICAL MATHEMATICS & COMPUTING

WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2007 TIME ALLOWED: 3 HOURS

9.00 AM - 12.00 NOON

INSTRUCTIONS: -

1. Number of questions on paper – 7.

2. Answer ALL questions in Section A and any THREE questions in Section B.

3. Marks for each question are indicated.

4. Use of programmable calculators is NOT allowed.

5. All working must be clearly shown.

6. Graphs, Formulae and Financial Tables are provided.

7. This question paper must NOT be removed from the examination hall.

8. DO NOT OPEN THIS PAPER UNTIL YOU ARE INSTRUCTED BY THE

INVIGILATOR.

This paper contains 5 pages

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SECTION A
Answer ALL questions in this section
1. (a) Express each of the following in their simplest forms:
(i) 17 as a percentage;
25
(ii) 0.375 as a fraction;
(iii) 55% as a decimal;
(iv) 9746.8 in standard form. 6 Marks

(b) State which of the following variables is discrete and which is continuous:

(i) length of telephone call;

(ii) number of people living in a house. 2 Marks

(c) Evaluate:
2x - y + z2 if
x = 50, y = 28, z = 3 3 Marks

(d) Solve the following equation:

½ (x + 1) = 5 – x 3 Marks
(TOTAL : 14 MARKS)

2. (a) State three general factors involved in determining a sample size.

6 Marks
(b) A 1litre (1,000 mls) bottle of perfume costs a retailer K635.00. The
perfume is sold to customers in measures of 25ml at a price of K25.00 per
measure.

Required:
(i) Determine the number of measures of perfume per bottle.
(ii) Find the retailers profit if he sells the entire bottle.
(iii) What revenue will be received if 80% of the contents of the bottle
is sold?

(iv) How many whole measures must be sold to cover the cost of the
bottle? 9 Marks
(TOTAL : 16 MARKS)
Continued/……
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3. The diagram below shows a typical spreadsheet showing a summarized income

statement for DJ Limited for the year to 31 December 2006.

Required:

Write formula for the following cells:

(i) B5
(ii) B6
(iii) B7
(iv) B8
(v) B9
(vi) B10.
10 Marks
(TOTAL : 10 MARKS)

Continued/……
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SECTION B
Answer THREE Questions ONLY from this section

4. The following data indicates the geographical locations of the top 40 emerging –
market companies in 2006 based on their market values.

Europe S. America Asia N. America

S. America Asia Europe Asia
Africa S. America Africa Africa
Asia S. America Africa S. America
Asia Europe N. America Africa
Africa N. America Asia Asia
Asia Asia Africa S. America
S. America Asia Europe Asia
S. America S. America S. America S. America
Europe Asia N. America N. America

Required:

(a) Prepare a frequency distribution for this data. 5 Marks

(b) Using the frequency distribution, draw a bar chart. 10 Marks
(c) Calculate a percentage distribution. 5 Marks
(TOTAL : 20 MARKS)

5. (a) For any given set of data, state the measures required to find the
following:

(i) the most frequent occurring value;

(ii) the value in the centre of the distribution;
(iii) the difference between the highest and the lowest value. 3 Marks

Continued/……
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(b) The table below is obtained from a survey of 100 consumer complaints for
a kitchen utensil. The complaints were found to fall into the following six
categories.
Reason for complaint
Electrical Mechanical Appearance
During guarantee
period 18 13 29
Time of Beyond guarantee
complaint period 12 22 6

If a complaint is selected at random, find in decimal, the probability that:

(i) It was made during the guarantee period;

(ii) The reason for the complaint was mechanical;
(iii) It was made beyond the guarantee period given the reason was
electrical;
(iv) The reason was electrical or appearance;
(v) The reason was appearance and was made beyond the guarantee
period. 17 Marks
(TOTAL : 20 MARKS)

6. (a) Complete the following table:

base 2 base 8 base 10 base 16

10110
27
45
3B
12 Marks
(a) An insurance representative is paid purely on commission basis.
Commission is paid at 10% on all insurances sold up to the value of
K50,000 per week. If the value of insurance sold exceeds K50,000 in a
week, he is paid commission of 15% on the excess. His total sales for
three weeks are as follows:

Week 1 2 3
Sales 29,000 63,000 40,500

Required:
Calculate the total commission received for the three week period.
8 Marks
(TOTAL : 20 MARKS)

Continued/……
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7. (a) A mixture of paint contains chemicals A, B and C in the ratio 3:4:5. A tin
of paint contains 1,800g of chemicals B.

Required:

(i) How much of the chemicals A and C does the tin contain?

(ii) What is the total weight of paint in the tin in kilograms? 10 Marks

(b) A certain bank pays compound interest of 3% per annum for first year.
The rate rises by 1% each year with 7% being paid in the fifth year. In
addition a bonus of 1% is paid on the sum payable at the end of the fifth
year.

Required:

Calculate the value of the investment (initial sum of K20,000 plus the
interest and any bonus) that would be received after 5 years. Give your
answer to the nearest Kwacha (K). 10 Marks
(TOTAL : 20 MARKS)

END