Question 1
What is marginal cost?
A. The total cost of producing all units
B. The additional cost of producing one extra unit
C. The fixed overhead allocated per unit
D. The average cost per unit
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — The average cost per unit
Explanation: B
Question 2
Which of the following is a fixed cost?
A. Raw materials consumed in production
B. Direct labour paid per unit
C. Factory rent paid regardless of output
D. Sales commission per unit sold
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — Sales commission per unit sold
Explanation: C
Question 3
Under marginal costing, fixed production overheads are treated as:
A. Part of the cost of each unit produced
B. A period cost charged in full to the income statement in the period incurred
C. Allocated to closing inventory
D. Deferred until the product is sold
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — Deferred until the product is sold
Explanation: B
Question 4
Under absorption costing, fixed production overheads are:
A. Expensed immediately as period costs
B. Included in unit cost and carried in inventory until the unit is sold
C. Ignored for product costing
D. Written off against equity
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — Written off against equity
Explanation: B
Question 5
Contribution is calculated as:
A. Revenue minus all costs
B. Revenue minus variable costs
C. Gross profit minus fixed costs
D. Operating profit plus depreciation
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — Operating profit plus depreciation
Explanation: B
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Question 6
The contribution to sales ratio (C/S ratio) equals:
A. Variable cost divided by sales
B. Contribution divided by sales revenue
C. Fixed costs divided by contribution
D. Net profit divided by revenue
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — Net profit divided by revenue
Explanation: B
Question 7
Break-even point in units is:
A. Fixed costs divided by selling price
B. Fixed costs divided by contribution per unit
C. Variable costs divided by selling price
D. Total costs divided by number of units
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — Total costs divided by number of units
Explanation: B
Question 8
Margin of safety is:
A. Selling price minus variable cost
B. Budgeted sales minus break-even sales
C. Fixed costs as a proportion of total costs
D. Contribution minus fixed costs
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — Contribution minus fixed costs
Explanation: B
Question 9
When production exceeds sales, which costing method gives higher profit?
A. Marginal costing
B. Absorption costing
C. Both give identical profit
D. It depends on the selling price
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — It depends on the selling price
Explanation: B
Question 10
A semi-variable cost has:
A. Only a fixed element
B. Only a variable element
C. Both a fixed element and a variable element
D. No relationship with output
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — No relationship with output
Explanation: C
Question 11
A stepped fixed cost:
A. Increases proportionally with output
B. Is fixed at all activity levels with no exceptions
C. Remains constant within a range but jumps to a higher level when activity exceeds that range
D. Falls as output increases
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — Falls as output increases
Explanation: C
Question 12
The high-low method estimates:
A. Maximum and minimum selling prices
B. Variable cost per unit and fixed cost element from the highest and lowest activity data points
C. The break-even point under different prices
D. The overhead absorption rate
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — The overhead absorption rate
Explanation: B
Question 13
An overhead absorption rate (OAR) is used to:
A. Calculate the selling price
B. Allocate fixed overheads to product units in absorption costing
C. Determine variable costs per unit
D. Measure workforce efficiency
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — Measure workforce efficiency
Explanation: B
Question 14
Over-absorption of overhead occurs when:
A. Actual overhead exceeds absorbed overhead
B. Absorbed overhead exceeds actual overhead incurred
C. Budgeted overhead equals actual overhead
D. Production is below budget
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — Production is below budget
Explanation: B
Question 15
Activity-based costing (ABC) differs from traditional absorption costing primarily by:
A. Using a single factory-wide overhead rate
B. Using multiple cost drivers to attribute overheads based on the activities that cause them
C. Ignoring overheads for product costing
D. Only considering direct costs
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — Only considering direct costs
Explanation: B
Question 16
Target costing starts with:
A. Cost and adds a profit margin to determine price
B. A market-driven selling price, deducts required profit, and derives the maximum allowable cost
C. Historical average cost
D. Competitor pricing only
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — Competitor pricing only
Explanation: B
Question 17
Life cycle costing tracks costs:
A. Only during production
B. Across the entire product life — from design and development through production, sales and post-sale disposal
C. Only after the product launch
D. From first sale to final sale
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — From first sale to final sale
Explanation: B
Question 18
Throughput contribution per unit is:
A. Selling price minus total variable cost
B. Selling price minus direct material cost only
C. Selling price minus all production costs
D. Contribution minus fixed overhead
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — Contribution minus fixed overhead
Explanation: B
Question 19
A bottleneck resource in throughput accounting is:
A. The most expensive machine
B. The resource whose capacity limits the entire production system's output
C. The resource with the longest idle time
D. The resource used by the most products
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — The resource used by the most products
Explanation: B
Question 20
Environmental management accounting considers:
A. Only the direct financial costs of production
B. Both financial costs and the environmental costs and impacts of business activities
C. Only regulatory compliance costs
D. Only costs that appear in published financial statements
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — Only costs that appear in published financial statements
Explanation: B
Question 21
Which cost classification is most useful for short-term decision-making?
A. Historical cost
B. Fixed versus variable
C. Product versus period
D. Direct versus indirect
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — Direct versus indirect
Explanation: B
Question 22
A direct cost can be:
A. Allocated to a cost unit using an absorption rate
B. Specifically traced to a cost unit economically without needing allocation
C. Only a fixed cost
D. Only a material cost
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — Only a material cost
Explanation: B
Question 23
A cost unit is:
A. A department responsible for costs
B. A quantitative measure of output used to ascertain the cost of a product or service
C. The total cost of one production run
D. A unit of currency
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — A unit of currency
Explanation: B
Question 24
Which of the following is NOT relevant when applying the learning curve?
A. The task is repetitive and labour-intensive
B. Workers gain experience from repeated production
C. The work involves highly automated processes with minimal human input
D. Cost estimation is required for pricing future orders
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — Cost estimation is required for pricing future orders
Explanation: C
Question 25
What is the contribution to sales ratio used for?
A. Calculating the overhead absorption rate
B. Break-even analysis and assessing how much of each sales pound covers fixed costs
C. Measuring asset efficiency
D. Calculating return on investment
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — Calculating return on investment
Explanation: B
Question 26
Which of the following is an example of a direct labour cost?
A. Factory supervisor salary
B. Wages paid to workers directly involved in making a product
C. Depreciation of factory machinery
D. Canteen staff wages
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — Canteen staff wages
Explanation: B
Question 27
What happens to the break-even point if fixed costs increase?
A. Break-even falls
B. Break-even remains unchanged
C. Break-even rises
D. Break-even is unaffected by fixed costs
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — Break-even is unaffected by fixed costs
Explanation: C
Question 28
What happens to the break-even point if contribution per unit increases (price rises, variable cost unchanged)?
A. Break-even rises
B. Break-even falls
C. Break-even is unchanged
D. Break-even becomes negative
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — Break-even becomes negative
Explanation: B
Question 29
Absorption costing is required for:
A. Management decision-making
B. External financial reporting under most accounting standards
C. Tax calculations only
D. Throughput analysis
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — Throughput analysis
Explanation: B
Question 30
Value engineering in target costing aims to:
A. Increase selling price to restore margins
B. Reduce product cost without reducing customer-perceived value to close the cost gap
C. Increase marketing spend
D. Extend the product life cycle
Check answer
Select an option first.
Correct answer: D — Extend the product life cycle
Explanation: B
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