Thinking of dropping POA? 5 reasons to give POA another chance

Jul 16, 2020

7 min read

Updated: Aug 25

WA1: Didn't do well

WA2: Still struggling

WA3: Somehow still not improving

And now your Sec 3 EOY is coming up.

Or maybe you've already received your EOY result and it still isn't what you wanted.

At this point, you might be thinking:

“Maybe POA just isn't for me.”

Before you decide to drop the subject, take a step back.

You may not be bad at POA.

You may simply not have figured out how to make sense of it yet.

Here are 5 reasons why you may want to give POA another chance.

POA is actually about things you already see every day

Let's forget your POA textbook for a moment.

Think about the things you actually see and spend money on:

🧋 CHAGEE

🍨 YOCHI

🛍️ Shopping

👟 Shoes

🎮 Games

🧸 Collectibles

👕 Merchandise

🍔 Food with friends

You see these as things you buy.

But have you ever thought about the business behind them?

Take a drink that sells for $5.

The business doesn't simply make $5.

It has to pay for things like:

Ingredients
Cups and packaging
Staff
Rent
Electricity
Delivery
Advertising

So the business has a simple problem:

How much does it cost us and how much can we sell it for?

If it costs the business $4 and they sell it for $5, there is $1 left before considering other expenses.

That's already the beginning of thinking about cost price, selling price and profit.

You can even look at a popular collectible or limited-edition merchandise.

You might think:

“Wah, everyone is buying this.”

A business owner might be thinking:

“How much did it cost us to produce?”

“How much can we sell it for?”

“How many should we make?”

“Are we actually making money?”

Suddenly, POA doesn't seem quite so far removed from the things you already see around you.

POA is more logical than it looks

Now let's look at why POA can actually make sense.

You don't always have to start with:

“What am I supposed to memorise?”

Start with:

“What is actually happening?”

For example:

You put money into a business.

What happens to the business's cash?

The business receives money → its cash increases.

Simple.

You buy something from a shop but haven't paid yet.

Do you owe the shop money?

Yes.

The shop has provided something to you, but you haven't paid yet.

A customer owes your business money.

Has the business received the cash?

No.

But does the customer still owe the business?

Yes.

A business buys a delivery van.

Did the business simply “lose” the money?

Not exactly.

The business has exchanged money for something it now owns and uses.

These situations are not random.

There is a reason behind them.

Of course, POA still requires you to learn proper accounting rules, terminology, formats and methods.

But understanding what is happening first can make those rules much easier to learn.

That's why POA can be more logical than it first appears.

POA can give you real “money sense”

Here's where POA becomes even more relevant as you get older.

You may not care about accounting right now.

Fair enough.

But you will eventually have to deal with:
money, borrowing, saving, investing, businesses, income and expenses.

And you've probably already encountered some of these situations.

Your friend wants to borrow $20.

Would you immediately lend it?

Or would you think:
“Will I actually get it back?”

What happens if they keep delaying?

What if they say:
“Sorry, I don't have the money anymore.”

That's something businesses also have to think about when customers owe them money.

And if your parents invest.

Have you ever asked:

“How do you actually make money from investing?”

Maybe an investment increases in value.

Maybe there are dividends.

But investments can also fall in value.

So there is potential return, but also risk.

A business is making sales but still struggles.

How is that possible?

Because making sales doesn't automatically mean the business has plenty of cash available.

Businesses have bills to pay, suppliers to pay, staff to pay and other expenses to manage.

These are not just textbook situations.

These are real financial situations that you will encounter more and more as you grow older.

POA simply gives you a way to understand them.

“But I've already done badly for WA1, WA2 and WA3. Isn't it too late?”

This is probably the question you're actually asking.

If you've struggled throughout Sec 3, it's understandable to feel like you've fallen too far behind.

But don't confuse:

“I haven't done well so far.”

with:

“I cannot improve from here.”

They're not the same thing.

Your WA results show your performance at that point in time.

They don't automatically determine how you will perform after you identify your weak areas, change how you study and get the help you need.

But here's the important part:

Don't wait until Sec 4 to do something about it.

If you already know that you're struggling, the earlier you address the problem, the more manageable it is.

You don't necessarily need to relearn everything from scratch either.

First, find out where the gaps actually are.

Are you struggling because:

You don't understand the concepts?
You forget what you learnt?
You struggle with theory?
You can't apply what you've learnt to questions?
You make too many careless mistakes?
You don't know how to study POA?
You simply haven't been practising consistently?

Once you know the problem, you can work on the right thing.

If your EOY is approaching, don't panic and try to relearn every chapter at once. Start with the topics you've already covered. Identify which areas you consistently lose marks in, fix those first, then move on. A focused catch up plan is much more useful than trying to study everything at once.

A good POA grade is more achievable than you think

Let's address the thing you're probably most worried about:

“Can I actually get a good grade?”

Yes, a strong POA grade is achievable.

But that doesn't mean POA is a “free A1”.

You still need to:

Understand → Practise → Correct → Revise → Apply

Students who do well aren't necessarily the ones who understood everything immediately.

Many improve because they gradually build up their understanding,

learn from their mistakes and become more consistent.

Think about it this way:

If you currently don't understand a topic, you might be losing marks because you don't know what to do.

Once the concept clicks, you can start earning those marks.

Then you practise until you can do it without help.

Then you learn to avoid the mistakes that were costing you marks.

That's how a weak topic gradually becomes a topic you can score in.

You don't need to become perfect overnight.

You need to start improving one problem at a time.

What if you feel like you're just “bad at POA”?

Don't turn one subject into an identity.

You may have thought:

“I'm a Math person.”

“I'm not a POA person.”

But POA isn't something you're born being good or bad at.

You can be confused in Sec 3 and significantly better later.

The more useful question is:

“What is stopping me from getting the marks I want?”

That's something you can actually work on.

What You Can Do From Now

If you're serious about improving, don't wait for the next exam to see whether things magically get better.

Start small.

1. Revise for 15–20 minutes between lessons.

Don't just read.

Try recalling what you learnt.

2. Look at your mistakes.

Don't only look at the correct answer.

Find out what caused the mistake.

3. Ask when you're stuck.

If you don't understand something, get it clarified before the gap gets bigger.

4. Practise consistently.

You don't need to spend your entire weekend doing POA.

Regular practice is more useful than last-minute cramming.

5. Look at POA in the real world.

Think about businesses, money, purchases, borrowing, investing and everyday financial decisions.

The more familiar these ideas become, the less foreign POA can feel.

And your parents can help, without becoming your POA tutor

If you're reading this together with Mum or Dad, here's something important:

Your parents don't need to know accounting to support you.

They can help you notice the financial ideas happening around you.

Talk about:

🧋 How a drink business makes money

🛍️ Why one product costs more than another

💰 Why a business needs to sell at a price that covers its costs

🤝 What happens when someone borrows money and doesn't repay

📈 Why people invest

🏦 What happens when money goes into and out of a bank account

🧾 What information is shown on a receipt

These don't have to become POA lessons.

They're simply ways to help you become more familiar with the real-world situations behind the subject.

So, Should You Drop POA?

If you're thinking of dropping POA because:

“I've tried, and I'm still not doing well.”

don't make the decision based only on your current grade.

First ask yourself:

“Have I actually figured out what I'm struggling with?”

“Have I been studying POA effectively?”

“Have I given myself enough consistent practice?”

“Have I gotten help with the topics I don't understand?”

If the answer to these is mostly no, then you may not have given yourself a fair chance yet.

You don't have to love POA.

You don't have to become an accounting expert.

But struggling with POA now doesn't mean you're incapable of doing well in it.

Struggling With POA?

At InstanTuition, we work with Sec 3, Sec 4 and Sec 5 POA students who need help understanding the subject and improving their results.

Our POA classes are kept small, with individual coaching within the class.

Students don't necessarily have to be doing exactly the same thing at exactly the same time. Depending on their current understanding and school progress, students may work on different questions or topics while receiving individual guidance from the tutor.

The focus is not simply on completing more questions.

It's about helping students:

Understand → Practise → Identify mistakes → Improve

If you're currently struggling with POA, there's no need to figure everything out on your own.

See if there's a POA class for me