Book excerpt: The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is the global body for professional accountants. With over 100 years of providing world-class accounting and finance qualifications, the ACCA has significantly raised its international profile in recent years and now supports a BSc (Hons) in Applied Accounting and an MBA.BPP Learning Media is an ACCA Official Publisher. P2 is a very challenging paper which builds on the knowledge and skills acquired at earlier levels in the preparation and analysis of financial reports for single entities and groups. It takes these areas to a higher level, putting into context the role of the accountant as a professional steward and adviser, who is responsible to the stakeholders of an organisation.It has five main sections: 1. Regulatory and ethical framework and current issues 2. Reporting the financial performance of entities 3. Group financial statements 4. Specialised entities 5. Analysis of the financial performance of entitiesThe main new topics introduced at this level relate to group accounts, but other topics are tested with a different emphasis and in more depth than at the Fundamentals Level.We provide material for both International and UK streams. International is now the ACCA main stream.The study text has been reviewed by the examiner and takes account of his advice on approaching the paper. Ethics, which have an impact on all aspects of financial reporting, are introduced at an early stage in the text, as is corporate social responsibility, so that students do not neglect these topics when covering the numerical areas. Accounting standards come next, combining revision with extension into more advanced areas. After a brief revision of basic groups, the more advanced consolidation topics are covered. Current issues are covered throughout the text within the appropriate topics, and also summarised in a final chapter. The question bank contains practice at the case study-style question you will encounter in the real exam.BPP Learning Media is the publisher of choice for many ACCA students and tuition providers worldwide. Join them and plug into a world of expertise in ACCA exams.