The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants 2005

November 2005 Examinations Managerial Level

Management Accounting – Performance Evaluation (Paper P1) Question Paper 2 Brief Guide 21 Examiner’s Answers 22 The answers published here have been written by the Examiner and should provide a helpful guide for both tutors and students. Published separately on the CIMA website (www.cimaglobal.com) from the end of February 2006 is a Post Examination Guide for this paper, which provides much valuable and complementary material including indicative mark information. 2005 The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recorded or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

P1 2 November 2005

Management Accounting Pillar

Managerial Level Paper

P1 – Management Accounting – Performance Evaluation

22 November 2005 – Tuesday Morning Session

Instructions to candidates

You are allowed three hours to answer this question paper.

You are allowed 20 minutes reading time before the examination begins during which you should read the question paper, and if you wish, make annotations on the question paper. However, you will not be allowed, under any circumstances, to open the answer book and start writing or use your calculator during this reading time.

You are strongly advised to carefully read ALL the question requirements before attempting the question concerned (that is, all parts and/or sub- questions). The requirements for the questions in Section C are contained in a dotted box.

Answer the ONE compulsory question in Section A. This is comprised of 20 sub-questions and is on pages 2 to 11.

Answer all SIX compulsory sub-questions in Section B on pages 12 and 13.

Answer ONE of the two questions in Section C on pages 14 and 15.

Maths Tables and Formulae are provided on pages 16 to 20.

Write your full examination number, paper number and the examination subject title in the spaces provided on the front of the examination answer book. Also write your contact ID and name in the space provided in the right hand margin and seal to close.

Tick the appropriate boxes on the front of the answer book to indicate which questions you have answered.

P1 –

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November 2005 3 P1

SECTION A – 50 MARKS [the indicative time for answering this section is 90 minutes] ANSWER ALL TWENTY SUB-QUESTIONS

Question One

The following data are given for sub-questions 1.1 and 1.2 below.

The following data relate to a manufacturing company. At the beginning of August there was no inventory. During August 2,000 units of product X were produced, but only 1,750 units were sold. The financial data for product X for August were as follow:

£ Materials 40,000Labour 12,600Variable production overheads 9,400Fixed production overheads 22,500Variable selling costs 6,000Fixed selling costs 19,300 Total costs for X for August 109,800

1.1 The value of inventory of X at 31 August using a marginal costing approach is A £6,575 B £7,750

C £8,500

D £10,562

(2 marks)

Instructions for answering Section A: The answers to the twenty sub-questions in Section A should ALL be written in your answer book. Your answers should be clearly numbered with the sub-question number then ruled off, so that the markers know which sub-question you are answering. For multiple choice questions, you need only write the sub-question number and the letter of the answers option you have chosen. You do not need to start a new page for each sub-question. For sub-questions 1.11, 1.12, 1.13, 1.15, 1.17 and 1.18 you should show your workings as marks are available for the method you use to answer these sub-questions.

P1 4 November 2005

1.2 The value of inventory of X at 31 August using a throughput accounting approach is A £5,000 B £6,175 C £6,575 D £13,725

(2 marks)

1.3 A company has a budget to produce 5,000 units of product B in December. The budget

for December shows that for Product B the opening inventory will be 400 units and the closing inventory will be 900 units. The monthly budgeted production cost data for product B for December is as follows:

Variable direct costs per unit £6·00 Variable production overhead costs per unit £3·50 Total fixed production overhead costs £29,500

The company absorbs overheads on the basis of the budgeted number of units produced. The budgeted profit for product B for December, using absorption costing, is A £2,950 lower than it would be using marginal costing. B £2,950 greater than it would be using marginal costing. C £4,700 lower than it would be using marginal costing. . D £4,700 greater than it would be using marginal costing.

(2 marks)

November 2005 5 P1

1.4 Y has set the current budget for operating costs for its delivery vehicles, using the formula described below. Analysis has shown that the relationship between miles driven and total monthly vehicle operating costs is described in the following formula:

y = £800 + £0·0002x2

where y is the total monthly operating cost of the vehicles, and x is the number of miles driven each month

The budget for vehicle operating costs needs to be adjusted for expected inflation in vehicle operating costs of 3%, which is not included in the relationship shown above.

The delivery mileage for September was 4,100 miles, and the total actual vehicle operating

costs for September were £5,000. The total vehicle operating cost variance for September was closest to A £713 Adverse B £737 Adverse C £777 Adverse D £838 Adverse

(2 marks) 1.5 The CIMA official definition of the “variable production overhead efficiency variance” is set

out below with two blank sections.

“Measures the difference between the variable overhead cost budget flexed on _____________ and the variable overhead cost absorbed by _______________ .”

Which combination of phrases correctly completes the definition? Blank 1

Blank 2

A actual labour hours budgeted output

B standard labour hours budgeted output

C actual labour hours

output produced

D standard labour hours output produced

(2 marks)

P1 6 November 2005

The following data are given for sub-questions 1.6 to 1.8 below.

The following data relate to Product Z and its raw material content for September.

Budget Output 11,000 units of Z Standard materials content

3 kg per unit at $4·00 per kg

Actual Output 10,000 units of Z Materials purchased and used

32,000 kg at $4·80 per kg

It has now been agreed that the standard price for the raw material purchased in September should have been $5 per kg. 1.6 The materials planning price variance for September was A $6,000 Adverse

B $30,000 Adverse

C $32,000 Adverse

D $33,000 Adverse

(2 marks) 1.7 The materials operational usage variance for September was A $8,000 Adverse

B $9,600 Adverse

C $9,600 Favourable

D $10,000 Adverse

(2 marks)

1.8 The materials operational price variance for September was A $6,000 Adverse

B $6,400 Favourable

C $30,000 Adverse

D $32,000 Adverse

(2 marks)

November 2005 7 P1

1.9 A company operates a just-in-time purchasing and production system and uses a

backflush accounting system with a single trigger point at the point of sale. A summary of the transactions that took place in June (valued at cost) is:

£ Conversion costs incurred 890,000Finished goods produced 1,795,000Finished goods sold 1,700,000Conversion costs allocated 840,000

The two items debited to the cost of goods sold account in June would be £ £

A

890,000 and 95,000

B

1,700,000 and 50,000

C

1,700,000 and 95,000

D

1,795,000 and 50,000

(2 marks)

1.10 Division Y has reported annual operating profits of £40·2 million. This was after charging

£6 million for the full cost of launching a new product that is expected to last three years. Division Y has a risk adjusted cost of capital of 11% and is paying interest on a substantial bank loan at 8%. The historical cost of the assets in Division Y, as shown on its balance sheet, is £100 million, and the replacement cost has been estimated at £172 million.

Ignore the effects of taxation. The EVA® for Division Y is A £23·28 million

B £25·28 million

C £29·20 million

D £30·44 million

(2 marks)

P1 8 November 2005

1.11 Z plc has found that it can estimate future sales using time-series analysis and regression techniques. The following trend equation has been derived:

y = 25,000 + 6,500x where y is the total sales units per quarter, and x is the time period reference number. Z has also derived the following set of seasonal variation index values for each quarter using a multiplicative (proportional) model:

Quarter 1 70 Quarter 2 90 Quarter 3 150 Quarter 4 90

Using the above model, calculate the forecast for sales units for the third quarter of year 7, assuming that the first quarter of year 1 is time period reference number 1.

(3 marks) 1.12 Three products P, Q and R are produced together in a common process. Products P and

Q are sold without further processing, but product R requires an additional process before it can be sold. No inventories are held. There is no loss of volume in the additional process for product R.

The following data apply to March.

Output Product P 3,600 litres Product Q 4,100 litres Product R 2,800 litres Selling prices Product P £4·60 per litre Product Q £6·75 per litre Product R £10·50 per litre Costs incurred in the common process £42,500 Costs incurred in the additional process for R £19,600

Calculate the value of the common process costs that would be allocated to product R using the sales proxy method (notional sales value method).

(3 marks)

November 2005 9 P1

1.13 A company is preparing its cash budget for February using the following data. One line in the cash budget is for purchases of a raw material, J. The opening inventory of J in January is expected to be 1,075 units. The price of J is expected to be £8 per unit. The company pays for purchases at the end of the month following delivery.

One unit of J is required in the production of each unit of product 2, and J is only used in this product. Monthly sales of product 2 are expected to be:

January 4,000 units February 5,000 units March 6,000 units

The opening inventory of product 2 in January is expected to be 1,200 units. The company implements the following inventory policies. At the end of each month the following amounts are held: Raw materials: 25% of the requirement for the following month’s production Finished goods: 30% of the following month’s sales Calculate the value for purchases of J to be included in the cash budget for February.

(4 marks)

The following data are given for sub-questions 1.14 to 1.16 below

K makes many products, one of which is Product Z. K is considering adopting an activity-based costing approach for setting its budget, in place of the current practice of absorbing overheads using direct labour hours. The main budget categories and cost driver details for the whole company for October are set out below, excluding direct material costs:

Budget category £ Cost driver details Direct labour 128,000 8,000 direct labour hours Set-up costs 22,000 88 set-ups each month Quality testing costs* 34,000 40 tests each month Other overhead costs 32,000 absorbed by direct labour hours

* A quality test is performed after every 75 units produced The following data for Product Z is provided:

Direct materials budgeted cost of £21·50 per unit Direct labour budgeted at 0·3 hours per unit Batch size 30 units Set-ups 2 set-ups per batch Budgeted volume for October 150 units

1.14 Calculate the budgeted unit cost of product Z for October assuming that a direct labour-

based absorption method was used for all overheads. (2 marks)

1.15 Calculate the budgeted unit cost of product Z for October using an activity-based costing

approach. (3 marks)

P1 10 November 2005

1.16 Explain in less than 50 words, why the costs absorbed by a product using an activity-based costing approach could be higher than those absorbed if a traditional labour-based absorption system were used, and identify two implications of this for management.

(4 marks)

The following data are given for sub-questions 1.17 to 1.18 below The KL Company provides legal and secretarial services to small businesses. KL has two divisions. Secretarial Division This division provides secretarial services to external clients and to the Legal Division. It charges all its clients, including the Legal Division, at a rate of £40 per hour. The marginal cost of 1 hour of secretarial services is £20. Legal Division The Legal Division provides legal services. One service, called L&S, involves a combination of legal and secretarial services. Each hour of L&S charged to clients involves one hour of legal services and one hour of secretarial services. The secretarial element of this service is purchased from the Secretarial Division. The likely demand for L&S at different prices is as follows:

Demand (hours)

Price per hour (£)

0 100 1,000 90 2,000 80 3,000 70 4,000 60 5,000 50

The marginal cost of one hour of legal services is £25. 1.17 Calculate the level of sales (hours) and total contribution of L&S that would maximise the

profit from this service for the Legal Division. Assume the Legal Division pays the Secretarial Division at a rate of £40 per hour for secretarial services.

(3 marks)

1.18 Calculate the level of sales (hours) and total contribution that would maximise the profit

from L&S for the KL Company as a whole.

(3 marks)

November 2005 11 P1

The following data are given for sub-questions 1.19 and 1.20 below

T is a large pharmaceutical manufacturing company that is implementing a ‘Kaplan and Norton style’ Balanced Scorecard for its research and development division. The goals and measures for the ‘customer perspective’ and the ‘financial perspective’ have been set.

1.19 For each of the two perspectives given in the question data, state an appropriate

performance measure.

(2 marks)

1.20 List the other two perspectives in the Balanced Scorecard for T’s research and development division, and state for each of the perspectives a relevant goal and performance measure.

(3 marks)

(Total for Section A = 50 marks)

End of Section A

P1 12 November 2005

SECTION B – 30 MARKS [the indicative time for answering this section is 54 minutes] ANSWER ALL SIX SUB-QUESTIONS. EACH SUB-QUESTION IS WORTH 5 MARKS Question Two (a) J Limited has recently been taken over by a much larger company. For many years the

budgets in J have been set by adding an inflation adjustment to the previous year’s budget. The new owners of J are insisting on a ‘zero-base’ approach when the next budget is set, as they believe many of the indirect costs in J are much higher than in other companies under their control.

(i) Explain the main features of ‘zero-based budgeting’.

(2 marks)

(ii) Discuss the problems that might arise when implementing this approach in J Limited.

(3 marks)

(b) An analysis of past output has shown that batches have a mean weight of 90 kg and that the weights conform to the normal distribution with a standard deviation of 10 kg. The company has a policy to investigate variances that fall outside the range that includes 95% of outcomes. In September one sample batch weighed 110 kg.

(i) Calculate whether the material usage variance for this batch should be

investigated according to the company policy described above. (3 marks)

(ii) Discuss two other important factors that should be taken into account when

deciding whether to investigate this variance. (2 marks)

(c) UV Limited is a catering company that provides meals for large events. It has a range of standard meals at fixed prices. It also provides meals to meet the exact requirements of a customer and prices for this service are negotiated individually with each customer.

Discuss how a ‘McDonaldisation’ approach to service delivery would impact on budget preparation and control within UV Limited.

(5 marks)

November 2005 13 P1

(d) A management consulting company had budgeted the staff requirements for a particular job as follows:

£ 40 hours of senior consultant at £100 per hour 4,000 60 hours of junior consultant at £60 per hour 3,600 Budgeted staff cost for job 7,600

The actual hours recorded were:

£ 50 hours of senior consultant at £100 per hour 5,000 55 hours of junior consultant at £60 per hour 3,300 Actual staff cost for job 8,300

The junior consultant reported that for 10 hours of the 55 hours recorded there was no work that she could do.

Calculate the following variances:

• Idle time variance • Labour mix variance • Labour efficiency variance

(5 marks) (e) ST plc is a medium-sized engineering company using advanced technology. It has just

implemented an integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in place of an old MRP (manufacturing resource planning) system.

Discuss the changes that are likely to be seen after the implementation of the ERP system in

(i) the budget-setting process; and (ii) the budgetary control process

(5 marks)

(f) W Limited has conducted a review of its budget-setting procedures. The review

coordinator frequently heard the following comment from staff interviewed:

“It’s impossible to make this system work because senior managers want budgets to be a challenging target whereas the finance department require an accurate forecast.” Discuss the issues raised in this comment, and advise the review coordinator on practical action that could be taken to alleviate the situation described.

(5 marks) (Total for Question Two = 30 marks)

(Total for Section B = 30 marks)

Section C is on the next page

P1 14 November 2005

SECTION C – 20 MARKS [the indicative time for answering this section is 36 minutes] ANSWER ONE OF THE TWO QUESTIONS

Question Three (a) M Pty produces ‘Biotinct’ in a lengthy distillation and cooling process. Base materials are

introduced at the start of this process, and further chemicals are added when it is 80% complete. Each kilogram of base materials produces 1 kilogram of Biotinct.

Data for October are:

Opening work in process: 40 kg of base materials, 25% processed Cost of opening work in process Base materials $1,550 Processing $720 Costs incurred in October: Base materials (80 kg) $3,400 Conversion costs $6,864 Further chemicals $7,200 Closing work in process: 50kg of base materials, 90% processed

Finished output: 65 kg of Biotinct Under normal conditions there are no losses of base materials in this process. However, in October 5kg of partially complete Biotinct were spoiled immediately after the further chemicals had been added. The 5kg of spoiled Biotinct were not processed to finished goods stage and were sold for a total of $200.

Required:

Using the FIFO method, prepare the process account for October. (12 marks)

(b) One of the company’s management accountants overheard the Managing Director arguing as follows, “These process accounts are complicated to produce, and often conceal the true position. As I see it, the value of partly processed Biotinct is zero. In October we spent $17,464 and the output was 65 kg. So the average cost was $268·68 per kilogram, while the target cost is $170 ($40 for base materials, $70 for processing and $60 for further chemicals). These figures make me concerned about production efficiency.”

Required:

Explain to the Managing Director any errors in the comment he had made, and discuss whether the data from the process account indicate that there has been production inefficiency.

(8 marks)

(Total for Question Three = 20 marks)

November 2005 15 P1

Question Four Y and Z are two divisions of a large company that operate in similar markets. The divisions are treated as investment centres and every month they each prepare an operating statement to be submitted to the parent company. Operating statements for these two divisions for October are shown below:

Operating Statements for October Y

£000 Z

£000 Sales revenue 900 555 Less variable costs 345 312 Contribution 555 243 Less controllable fixed costs 95 42 (includes depreciation on divisional assets) Controllable income 460 201 Less apportioned central costs 338 180 Net income before tax 122 21 Total divisional net assets £9·76m £1·26m

The company currently has a target return on capital of 12% per annum. However, the company believes its cost of capital is likely to rise and is considering increasing the target return on capital. At present the performance of each division and the divisional management are assessed primarily on the basis of Return on Investment (ROI).

Required:

(a) Calculate the annualised Return on Investment (ROI) for divisions Y and Z, and discuss the relative performance of the two divisions using the ROI data and other information given above.

(9 marks)

(b) Calculate the annualised Residual Income (RI) for divisions Y and Z, and explain the implications of this information for the evaluation of the divisions’ performance.

(6 marks)

(c) Briefly discuss the strengths and weaknesses of ROI and RI as methods of

assessing the performance of divisions. Explain two further methods of assessment of divisional performance that could be used in addition to ROI or RI.

(5 marks)

(Total for Question Four = 20 marks)

(Total for Section C = 20 marks)

End of question paper Maths Tables and Formulae follow

P1 16 November 2005

November 2005 17 P1

PRESENT VALUE TABLE

Present value of $1, that is ( ) nr −+1 where r = interest rate; n = number of periods until payment or receipt.

Interest rates (r) Periods (n) 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8% 9% 10%

1 0.990 0.980 0.971 0.962 0.952 0.943 0.935 0.926 0.917 0.909 2 0.980 0.961 0.943 0.925 0.907 0.890 0.873 0.857 0.842 0.826 3 0.971 0.942 0.915 0.889 0.864 0.840 0.816 0.794 0.772 0.751 4 0.961 0.924 0.888 0.855 0.823 0.792 0.763 0.735 0.708 0.683 5 0.951 0.906 0.863 0.822 0.784 0.747 0.713 0.681 0.650 0.621 6 0.942 0.888 0.837 0.790 0.746 0705 0.666 0.630 0.596 0.564 7 0.933 0.871 0.813 0.760 0.711 0.665 0.623 0.583 0.547 0.513 8 0.923 0.853 0.789 0.731 0.677 0.627 0.582 0.540 0.502 0.467 9 0.914 0.837 0.766 0.703 0.645 0.592 0.544 0.500 0.460 0.424 10 0.905 0.820 0.744 0.676 0.614 0.558 0.508 0.463 0.422 0.386 11 0.896 0.804 0.722 0.650 0.585 0.527 0.475 0.429 0.388 0.350 12 0.887 0.788 0.701 0.625 0.557 0.497 0.444 0.397 0.356 0.319 13 0.879 0.773 0.681 0.601 0.530 0.469 0.415 0.368 0.326 0.290 14 0.870 0.758 0.661 0.577 0.505 0.442 0.388 0.340 0.299 0.263 15 0.861 0.743 0.642 0.555 0.481 0.417 0.362 0.315 0.275 0.239 16 0.853 0.728 0.623 0.534 0.458 0.394 0.339 0.292 0.252 0.218 17 0.844 0.714 0.605 0.513 0.436 0.371 0.317 0.270 0.231 0.198 18 0.836 0.700 0.587 0.494 0.416 0.350 0.296 0.250 0.212 0.180 19 0.828 0.686 0.570 0.475 0.396 0.331 0.277 0.232 0.194 0.164 20 0.820 0.673 0.554 0.456 0.377 0.312 0.258 0.215 0.178 0.149

Interest rates (r) Periods

(n) 11% 12% 13% 14% 15% 16% 17% 18% 19% 20% 1 0.901 0.893 0.885 0.877 0.870 0.862 0.855 0.847 0.840 0.833 2 0.812 0.797 0.783 0.769 0.756 0.743 0.731 0.718 0.706 0.694 3 0.731 0.712 0.693 0.675 0.658 0.641 0.624 0.609 0.593 0.579 4 0.659 0.636 0.613 0.592 0.572 0.552 0.534 0.516 0.499 0.482 5 0.593 0.567 0.543 0.519 0.497 0.476 0.456 0.437 0.419 0.402 6 0.535 0.507 0.480 0.456 0.432 0.410 0.390 0.370 0.352 0.335 7 0.482 0.452 0.425 0.400 0.376 0.354 0.333 0.314 0.296 0.279 8 0.434 0.404 0.376 0.351 0.327 0.305 0.285 0.266 0.249 0.233 9 0.391 0.361 0.333 0.308 0.284 0.263 0.243 0.225 0.209 0.194 10 0.352 0.322 0.295 0.270 0.247 0.227 0.208 0.191 0.176 0.162 11 0.317 0.287 0.261 0.237 0.215 0.195 0.178 0.162 0.148 0.135 12 0.286 0.257 0.231 0.208 0.187 0.168 0.152 0.137 0.124 0.112 13 0.258 0.229 0.204 0.182 0.163 0.145 0.130 0.116 0.104 0.093 14 0.232 0.205 0.181 0.160 0.141 0.125 0.111 0.099 0.088 0.078 15 0.209 0.183 0.160 0.140 0.123 0.108 0.095 0.084 0.079 0.065 16 0.188 0.163 0.141 0.123 0.107 0.093 0.081 0.071 0.062 0.054 17 0.170 0.146 0.125 0.108 0.093 0.080 0.069 0.060 0.052 0.045 18 0.153 0.130 0.111 0.095 0.081 0.069 0.059 0.051 0.044 0.038 19 0.138 0.116 0.098 0.083 0.070 0.060 0.051 0.043 0.037 0.031 20 0.124 0.104 0.087 0.073 0.061 0.051 0.043 0.037 0.031 0.026

P1 18 November 2005

Cumulative present value of $1 per annum, Receivable or Payable at the end of each year for n

years rr n−+− )(11

Interest rates (r) Periods

(n) 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8% 9% 10% 1 0.990 0.980 0.971 0.962 0.952 0.943 0.935 0.926 0.917 0.909 2 1.970 1.942 1.913 1.886 1.859 1.833 1.808 1.783 1.759 1.736 3 2.941 2.884 2.829 2.775 2.723 2.673 2.624 2.577 2.531 2.487 4 3.902 3.808 3.717 3.630 3.546 3.465 3.387 3.312 3.240 3.170 5 4.853 4.713 4.580 4.452 4.329 4.212 4.100 3.993 3.890 3.791 6 5.795 5.601 5.417 5.242 5.076 4.917 4.767 4.623 4.486 4.355 7 6.728 6.472 6.230 6.002 5.786 5.582 5.389 5.206 5.033 4.868 8 7.652 7.325 7.020 6.733 6.463 6.210 5.971 5.747 5.535 5.335 9 8.566 8.162 7.786 7.435 7.108 6.802 6.515 6.247 5.995 5.759 10 9.471 8.983 8.530 8.111 7.722 7.360 7.024 6.710 6.418 6.145 11 10.368 9.787 9.253 8.760 8.306 7.887 7.499 7.139 6.805 6.495 12 11.255 10.575 9.954 9.385 8.863 8.384 7.943 7.536 7.161 6.814 13 12.134 11.348 10.635 9.986 9.394 8.853 8.358 7.904 7.487 7.103 14 13.004 12.106 11.296 10.563 9.899 9.295 8.745 8.244 7.786 7.367 15 13.865 12.849 11.938 11.118 10.380 9.712 9.108 8.559 8.061 7.606 16 14.718 13.578 12.561 11.652 10.838 10.106 9.447 8.851 8.313 7.824 17 15.562 14.292 13.166 12.166 11.274 10.477 9.763 9.122 8.544 8.022 18 16.398 14.992 13.754 12.659 11.690 10.828 10.059 9.372 8.756 8.201 19 17.226 15.679 14.324 13.134 12.085 11.158 10.336 9.604 8.950 8.365 20 18.046 16.351 14.878 13.590 12.462 11.470 10.594 9.818 9.129 8.514

Interest rates (r) Periods

(n) 11% 12% 13% 14% 15% 16% 17% 18% 19% 20% 1 0.901 0.893 0.885 0.877 0.870 0.862 0.855 0.847 0.840 0.833 2 1.713 1.690 1.668 1.647 1.626 1.605 1.585 1.566 1.547 1.528 3 2.444 2.402 2.361 2.322 2.283 2.246 2.210 2.174 2.140 2.106 4 3.102 3.037 2.974 2.914 2.855 2.798 2.743 2.690 2.639 2.589 5 3.696 3.605 3.517 3.433 3.352 3.274 3.199 3.127 3.058 2.991 6 4.231 4.111 3.998 3.889 3.784 3.685 3.589 3.498 3.410 3.326 7 4.712 4.564 4.423 4.288 4.160 4.039 3.922 3.812 3.706 3.605 8 5.146 4.968 4.799 4.639 4.487 4.344 4.207 4.078 3.954 3.837 9 5.537 5.328 5.132 4.946 4.772 4.607 4.451 4.303 4.163 4.031 10 5.889 5.650 5.426 5.216 5.019 4.833 4.659 4.494 4.339 4.192 11 6.207 5.938 5.687 5.453 5.234 5.029 4.836 4.656 4.486 4.327 12 6.492 6.194 5.918 5.660 5.421 5.197 4.988 7.793 4.611 4.439 13 6.750 6.424 6.122 5.842 5.583 5.342 5.118 4.910 4.715 4.533 14 6.982 6.628 6.302 6.002 5.724 5.468 5.229 5.008 4.802 4.611 15 7.191 6.811 6.462 6.142 5.847 5.575 5.324 5.092 4.876 4.675 16 7.379 6.974 6.604 6.265 5.954 5.668 5.405 5.162 4.938 4.730 17 7.549 7.120 6.729 6.373 6.047 5.749 5.475 5.222 4.990 4.775 18 7.702 7.250 6.840 6.467 6.128 5.818 5.534 5.273 5.033 4.812 19 7.839 7.366 6.938 6.550 6.198 5.877 5.584 5.316 5.070 4.843 20 7.963 7.469 7.025 6.623 6.259 5.929 5.628 5.353 5.101 4.870

November 2005 19 P1

Formulae

PROBABILITY A ∪B = A or B. A ∩ B = A and B (overlap). P(B A) = probability of B, given A. Rules of Addition If A and B are mutually exclusive: P(A ∪B) = P(A) + P(B) If A and B are not mutually exclusive: P(A ∪B) = P(A) + P(B) – P(A ∩ B) Rules of Multiplication If A and B are independent: P(A ∩B) = P(A) * P(B) If A and B are not independent: P(A ∩B) = P(A) * P(B | A) E(X) = ∑ (probability * payoff) Quadratic Equations If aX2 + bX + c = 0 is the general quadratic equation, the two solutions (roots) are given by:

aacbbX

242 −±−

=

DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS Arithmetic Mean

nxx ∑=

ffxx

∑∑

= (frequency distribution)

Standard Deviation

nxxSD

2)( −∑= 2

2x

ffxSD −∑∑

= (frequency distribution)

INDEX NUMBERS Price relative = 100 * P1/P0 Quantity relative = 100 * Q1/Q0

Price: 100 x w

PP

wo

1

∑

∗∑

Quantity: 100 x

1

wQQw

o

∑

∗∑

TIME SERIES Additive Model

Series = Trend + Seasonal + Random Multiplicative Model

Series = Trend * Seasonal * Random

P1 20 November 2005

LINEAR REGRESSION AND CORRELATION The linear regression equation of Y on X is given by:

Y = a + bX or Y - Y = b(X – X) where

b = 22 )X(Xn

)yY)(X(XYn)X( Variance

)XY( Covariance∑−∑

∑∑−∑=

and a = Y – bX or solve

∑ Y = na + b ∑ X ∑ XY = a ∑ X + b∑X2

Coefficient of correlation

})Y(Yn}{)X(Xn{

)Y)(X(XYn)Y(Var).X(Var)XY( Covariancer

2222 ∑−∑∑−∑

∑∑−∑==

R(rank) = 1 - )1(

62

2

−

∑

nnd

FINANCIAL MATHEMATICS Compound Interest (Values and Sums) Future Value S, of a sum of X, invested for n periods, compounded at r% interest

S = X[1 + r]n Annuity Present value of an annuity of £1 per annum receivable or payable for n years, commencing in one year, discounted at r% per annum:

PV =

+−

nrr ]1[111

Perpetuity Present value of £1 per annum, payable or receivable in perpetuity, commencing in one year, discounted at r% per annum:

PV = r1

November 2005 21 P1

The Examiner for Management Accounting – Performance Evaluation offers to future candidates and to tutors using this booklet for study purposes, the

following background and guidance on the questions included in this examination paper.

Section A – Question One – Compulsory Question One consists of 20 objective test sub-questions. These are drawn from all sections of the syllabus. They are designed to examine breadth across the syllabus and thus cover many learning outcomes.

Section B – Question Two – Compulsory

Question Two has 6 sub-questions.

(a) covers learning outcome C(vi) – evaluate and apply alternative approaches to budgeting (b) covers learning outcome B(ii) – calculate and interpret material, labour, variable

overhead, fixed overhead and sales variances (c) covers learning outcome B(i) – explain why and how standards are set in manufacturing

and in service industries with particular reference to the maximisation of efficiency and the minimisation of waste.

(d) covers learning outcome B(ii) – calculate and interpret material, labour, variable

overhead, fixed overhead and sales variances. (e) covers learning outcome A(vi) – explain the role of MRP and ERP systems in supporting

standard costing systems, calculating variances and facilitating the posting of ledger entries.

(f) covers learning outcome C(xii) – evaluate the impact of budgetary control systems on

human behaviour.

Section C – answer one of two questions Question Three has two parts. (a) and (b) cover learning outcome A(ii) – apply marginal and absorption costing approaches in job, batch and process environments. Question Four has three parts. The three parts of this question cover learning outcomes: D(iv) – calculate and apply measures of performance for investment centres, and D(v) – discuss the likely behavioural consequences of the use of performance metrics in managing cost, profit and investment centres.

P1 22 November 2005

Managerial Level Paper

P1 – Management Accounting - Performance Evaluation

Examiner’s Answers

SECTION A Answer to Question One 1.1 Marginal cost of inventory is an approximation of variable production cost of £62,000.

1/8th production in inventory = £7,750

The correct answer is B. 1.2 Throughput approach values inventory at direct materials cost = 1/8th of £40,000 = £5,000

The correct answer is A. 1.3 Absorption costing overhead rate is £29,500 / 5,000 units = £5·90 per unit

Absorption costing profit greater by £5·90 x 500 units = £2,950

The correct answer is B. 1.4 y = £800 + (0·0002 x 4,1002) = £4,162 Total budgeted vehicle costs are £4,162 x 1·03 = £4,287 Variance is £4,287 - £5,000 = £713 adverse The correct answer is A. 1.5 The correct answer is C.

November 2005 23 P1

1.6 Planning price variance

30,000 x ($4·00 - $5·00) = $30,000 adverse

The correct answer is B. 1.7 Operational usage variance

[30,000 - 32,000] x $5·00 = $10,000 adverse

The correct answer is D. 1.8 Operational price variance

32,000 x [$5·00 - $4·80] = $6,400 favourable

The correct answer is B. 1.9 Items debited to Cost of Goods Sold account will be:

Finished goods sold £1,700,000

Difference between conversion costs incurred and conversion costs allocated, that is, £890,000 - £840,000 = £50,000 The correct answer is B.

1.10 Adjustments needed are:

1. for launch costs – spread over 3 years; and 2. need to use replacement cost of net assets.

So EVA = (£40·2 million + £4 million) – (£172 million x 11%) = £25·28 million. The correct answer is B.

1.11 x = 27 so trend value is 25,000 + (6,500 x 27) = 200,500 units

Quarter 3 adjustment is 150%, so forecast is 300,750 units

P1 24 November 2005

1.12 Post separation costs per unit are £19,600 / 2,800 = £7 per litre

Notional price at separation point is £10·50 - £7 = £3·50 per litre

Weighted sales value is P 3,600 x £4·60 = £16,560 Q 4,100 x £6·75 = £27,675 R 2,800 x £3·50 = £9,800 £54,035

Allocation of common process costs to R is £42,500 x (£9,800 / £54,035) = £7,708

1.13

January February March units units units Sales 4,000 5,000 6,000 Closing inventory - 30% next month 1,500 1,800 less opening inventory (1,200) (1,500) Production in month 4,300 5,300

Raw material requirement January units Monthly production 4,300 Closing inventory: 25% of next month’s production

1,325

Less opening inventory (1,075) Material purchases 4,550

Payments for purchases for the cash budget in February are the actual purchases delivered in January, that is: 4,550 units at £8 per unit = £36,400

1.14

Total overhead cost £88,000 Direct labour hours 8,000 Absorption rate £11 per direct labour hour

Budgeted unit cost for product Z for October is:

£ Direct materials 21·50Direct labour 0·3 x £16 4·80Overhead costs 0·3 x £11 3·30Total unit cost 29·60

November 2005 25 P1

1.15 Cost driver rates are needed

Set-ups £22,000/88 = £250 per set-up Quality tests £34,000/40 = £850 per test Other overheads £32,000/8,000 = £4 per direct labour hour (note this is not a true cost driver)

Activity-based cost of product Z

£ Direct materials 21·50Direct labour 4·80 Set-up costs 2 x £250/30 16·67Quality tests £850/75 11·33Other overhead costs 0·3 x £4 1·20 Total activity-based costs for October 55·50

An alternative approach to these calculations would be: Set-up costs = [(150 / 30) x 2 x £250]/150 = £16·67 Quality costs = (2 x £850) / 150 = £11·33

1.16 Costs under ABC could be higher where: there is production complexity not represented

in direct labour hours; small batch sizes; or high levels of non-manufacturing activity. This may lead management to: increase batch sizes, simplify processes to reduce activities, or review pricing if this is not in line with ABC costs.

(Three implications are given, though only two are required).

LD view (VC = 25+40) KL view (VC = 25 + 20) Hours sold Price per

hour Contribution

per hour Contribution Contribution

per hour Contribution

£ £ £ £ £ 0 100

1,000 90 25 25,000 45 45,000 2,000 80 15 *30,000 35 70,000 3,000 70 5 15,000 25 *75,000 4,000 60 -5 -20,000 15 60,000 5,000 50 -15 -75,000 5 25,000

1.17 The level of sales for the Legal division that will maximise the profit in the Legal Division is

2,000 hours, giving contribution to the division of £30,000. 1.18 The level of sales for the KL company that will maximise the profit in KL company is 3,000

hours giving a contribution of £75,000. 1.19 Customer perspective performance measure could be the percentage of new product

developments delivered to the manufacturing division on time.

Financial perspective performance measure could be number of projects completed within 5% of the budgeted cost.

P1 26 November 2005

1.20 Two perspectives required are “Internal Business” perspective and “Innovation and

Learning” perspective.

Appropriate objectives or goals could be:

The Internal Business perspective captures the processes at which the division must excel, so a goal might be a continuous stream of new products to the market. A suitable measure could be measuring the trend in the average time it takes to bring new drugs to market. The Innovation and Learning perspective emphasises how the division can continuously improve and create value. Thus the division’s goal might be to maintain its reputation for innovating new products and treatments. A suitable measure might be the number of new patents registered.

November 2005 27 P1

SECTION B Answer to (a) (i) The main features of Zero Based Budgeting (ZBB) include:

• Each element of cost within the budget has to be explicitly justified each year; this is in contrast to adding an increment to the previous year’s budget to allow for inflation;

• ZBB forces judgements to be made on priorities as to whether expenditure should be included in the budget and at what level;

• In practice ZBB often forces an organisation to consider whether activities are best out-sourced or undertaken internally;

• One method of implementing ZBB requires the activities of an organisation to be described as a set of decision packages. For example, in the case of a local government organisation, providing day-care for the elderly could be a decision package. All the decision packages are then ranked in priority order and resources are allocated accordingly;

• ZBB seeks to act as a control to increase efficiency, and so this approach is used particularly in the public sector where competitive markets do not provide a control on efficiency.

(ii) There are problems in implementing this approach. Successful implementation of ZBB is

extremely difficult. There are very few examples of “successful” implementations of ZBB, and many disaster stories – it is high risk.

• Implementation will only be effective if the staff of J are convinced of the value of

undertaking ZBB. Thus to effect the necessary “culture change”, additional problems may arise and additional expenditure is usually required.

• Some of the judgements needed in the ZBB process are very sensitive, particularly regarding reducing indirect costs of J. These decisions can prove difficult to make and can be divisive.

• It is usually expensive in terms of staff time; empirical evidence indicates this is frequently more so than expected. The business case for implementing ZBB prepared by the new owners of J must allow for this.

• ZBB usually needs consultants to aid the implementation. This adds the further problems of managing consultants and may add substantial cost. The benefits of implementing ZBB must be substantial to outweigh these costs and difficulties.

• Important aspects of work can be omitted from the activities included in the ZBB exercise, yet will still have to be undertaken.

P1 28 November 2005

Answer to (b) (i) 95% of outcomes will be within +/- 1·96 standard deviations of the mean.

Thus 95% of outcomes will be the range 90 kg +/- (1·96 x 10 kg), that is in the range 70·4kg to 109·6 kg. The actual weight of this batch was 110 kg. Thus this batch falls outside the 95% limit and the variance should be investigated.

(ii) Other factors that should ideally be included in the decision include: (only two needed)

• Trend of past months – if there is a clear trend moving away from the mean, the company may wish to investigate before adverse variances go beyond the 95% limit;

• The cost of investigating the variance compared with the benefits of correcting it; • The reliability of the standards set. Where standards are not reliable, there is a

higher likelihood that an outcome outside the 95% limit is not worth investigating. Answer to (c) “McDonaldisation” is the phenomenon of producing large numbers of very similar products or services, such that they can be produced by repetitive processes, and with the minimum amount of variation. These processes would be well understood and would involve very low levels of uncertainty. The consequences for budgeting at UV are as follows:

• Standards can be set with a high degree of certainty and without great expense; • Actual results are likely to be very close to budget if management perform well,

thus budgetary control through comparison with variances is a reasonable strategy; • For UV the provision of set meals at events conforms to these characteristics. It

should be possible to set accurate flexible budgets, and thus it would be possible to have published price schemes that will produce reliable profit margins;

• However, this only applies to part of the output of UV. The provision of specific meals to order for an event does not have the “McDonaldisation” characteristics and thus budgeting for this output of the service provision will have to be different.

November 2005 29 P1

Answer to (d) Idle time variance is 10 hours at £60 per hour = £600 adverse The mix and efficiency variances are calculated excluding the idle time hours.

Actual hours at standard rate Senior Consultant 50 x £100 £5,000 Junior Consultant 45 x £60 £2,700 £7,700

Thus, the labour efficiency variance is

£7,600 - £7,700 = £100 adverse

Labour mix variance:

Actual Hours

Standard mix

Mix variance hours

Rate per hour

£

Senior Consultant 50 40% 38 12 adverse £100 1,200 adverse Junior consultant 45 60% 57 12 favourable £60 720 favourable 95 95 480 adverse Answer to (e) (i) ERPS are integrated IT systems that include all aspects of the operations of a company

and the financial accounting system. ERPS may affect the budget setting process in the following ways:

• They are complex planning systems that will show the financial consequences of

operational plans, and thus they can significantly improve efficiency in the budget-setting process;

• It is much easier with ERPS to conduct sensitivity analysis and budgets can be flexed with more precision;

• Some complex budget relationships are expensive to model and change, but this cost is reduced with effective ERPS;

• Some have argued that the budget-setting process almost disappears with an effective ERPS as the budget figures are a natural consequence of the planning process.

(ii) ERPS also has consequences for the budgetary control process, including: • Actual data can be calculated and compared with budget data within very short time;

periods, in fact virtually in real-time with some systems. This can lead to intensification of the budgetary control process;

• Far less resources are needed to operate a budgetary control system, although vast resources may be needed to implement an ERPS;

• Accountants may play a much reduced role as much of the data required for budgetary control is automatically prepared by the ERPS that operational managers are using.

P1 30 November 2005

Answer to (f) The comment highlights the well-known issue of forecast versus motivation and control. When preparing the whole company’s budget it is important to have a realistic forecast of what is likely to happen, particularly for cash, purchases, labour and capital budgets. However, for a budget to be effective for motivation, targets must be set that are challenging. It is also argued that for control purposes the budget must be a realistic benchmark against which actual performance can be compared, that is, it must be close to a forecast. The difficulty is that both of these objectives are valid and beneficial. Thus the issue becomes whether one budget can do both tasks or whether companies need to choose which task the budget will be used for. Virtually all companies prepare one version of the budget that is a forecast. Some have two sets of budgets – one as a forecast and another as a motivating and controlling budget for managers. However, having two budgets can cause other problems. Some companies separate forecasting and motivation. Thus they set a single budget as a forecast, but have an incentive scheme that rewards performance that exceeds budget, or they have separate incentive targets for motivation purposes.

November 2005 31 P1

SECTION C Answer to Question Three (a) Calculation of equivalent units (EU) BM = base materials; FC = further chemicals; CC = conversion costs; WIP = work in process

BM FC CC Opening work in process (40) - (10) Finished 65 65 65 Abnormal loss 5 5 4 Closing work in process 50 50 45 TOTAL 80 120 104 October’s costs $3,400 $7,200 $6,864 Cost per EU $42·50 $60·00 $66·00

Calculation of costs BM FC CC Total $ $ $ $ Opening WIP (40kg) 1,550·00 - 720·00 Completion - 2,400·00 1,980·00 Total cost 1,550·00 2,400·00 2,700·00 6,650·00Started and completed (25kg) 1,062·50 1,500·00 1,650·00 4,212·50Abnormal loss (5kg) 212·50 300·00 264·00 776·50Closing WIP (50kg) 2,125·00 3,000·00 2,970·00 8,095·00 TOTAL COST 4,950·00 7,200·00 7,584·00 19,734·00 Process account for October

kg $ kg $ Opening inventory 40 2,270·00 Transfer to finished goods 65 10,862·50 Base materials 80 3,400·00 Abnormal loss 5 776·50 Further chemicals 7,200·00 Closing inventory 50 8,095·00 Conversion costs 6,864·00 120 19,734·00 120 19,734·00

(b) The following points could be made to the Managing Director (MD). 1. These accounts are no more complex than the reality, and are intended to show the true

position (which is that this month’s costs reflect this month’s activity, not just the output actually completed). Treating the WIP as having zero value is not even true in financial accounting terms.

2. The appropriate comparison is thus between target cost and the actual cost per EU:

(BM $40·00 v $42·50, CC $70·00 v $66·00, FC $60·00 v $60·00). These differences are small, and would be explained by a variance analysis in most companies.

P1 32 November 2005

3. The differences between the unit costs in the Process Account and the MD’s short cut are caused by the large change in the volume of WIP: if this change is normally very small, the MD may have a point.

4. The MD has not taken into account the abnormal loss. This is a cause for concern, but he

is comparing inputs for 70kg with output of 65kg. 5. The conversion costs normally include arbitrary overhead costs. Thus, the data from the

Process Account is not suitable for comparing with the target cost as a means of control. 6. The MD’s comments indicate that he has not grasped the nature of the process account.

Production efficiency is probably much better assessed by measures of physical usage compared with targets or standards.

Answer to Question Four (a)

ROI Y Z £m £m Monthly net income 0·122 0·021 Annualised net income 1·464 0·252 Divisional net assets 9·76 1·26 ROI 15% 20%

The following comments can be made regarding the relative performance of the two divisions: • On pure ROI division Z is performing better than division Y; • Division Y is earning a larger absolute amount by more than five times, and is exceeding

the target return on capital, thus Y is increasing the wealth of the company more than Z, but this is not reflected in the ROI figures;

• The availability of capital and other projects are critical to the assessment of relative performance. If there is (virtually) unlimited availability of capital then any division earning more than the target rate of return is increasing the company’s wealth and both divisions are making a positive contribution. If division Z could repeat its performance by adding similar projects, then it should be allocated more funds as its rate of return is higher;

• If there is a chance that the target rate of return will have to be raised, then division Y is at greater risk as its actual return is much closer to the current target;

• Controllable income return on sales is 51% (460 / 900) for division Y and 36% (201/555) for division Z. This indicates that the operations of division Y are producing income at a higher rate per £ of sales than division Z;

• The controllable income return on net assets is 57% for division Y and 191% for division Z. Thus division Z is earning its income with much less use of divisional net assets – it could be argued that it is being more efficient;

• The net income figures are being strongly influenced by the apportionment of central costs. More needs to be known about the basis of the apportionment before a more definite evaluation can be made.

November 2005 33 P1

(b)

RI Y Z £m £m Annualised net income 1·464 0·252 Interest charge at 12% of Divisional 1·171 0·151 Net Assets Residual Income 0·293 0·101

The following points could be made regarding the performance of the two divisions in the light of the RI calculations: • If capital is freely available then the higher RI indicates the division that is contributing

most to the company as a whole. Thus division Y is contributing more. This is the opposite conclusion to that indicated by ROI;

• The comments above concerning availability of capital and projects also apply; • Overall the issue is that Y earns more income, but Z earns its income at a better rate. (c) Strengths and weaknesses of ROI and RI can include: • ROI gives a percentage result that is often considered to have intuitive appeal; • ROI as a percentage is said to make comparison easier; • ROI does not require a cost of capital to be specified; • ROI has significant behavioural consequences that appear to make optimal decision-

making less likely; • Maximising RI leads to maximising company wealth in most cases; • Both ROI and RI can be affected by the age of assets and the method of asset valuation,

resulting in a similar performance by two companies showing different values for ROI and RI if the assets are valued on a different basis.

• Different interest rates can be used in the calculation of RI for each division, to reflect the different risk characteristics of each division.

Other methods of assessment that could be used alongside either ROI or RI include: • Economic Value Added® which is an adaption of RI; • Balanced scorecards and other non-financial measures of divisional performance; • Controllable profit, or other pure profit measures; • Cash generated.