CAT PAPER 7

THE SYLLABUS The paper will examine knowledge and understanding of the application of management accounting techniques to support the management processes of planning, decisionmaking, control and performance measurement. Candidates will be expected to understand the main principles of costing techniques, forecasting techniques, budgeting, variance analysis, performance measurement, cost management, and should be capable to apply these when asked in questions. Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) is 20 marks part of the CAT Paper 7 exams. All compulsory writing questions will have computational and discursive elements. The discursive content will be aimed to be up to 40% of the question. The examination will test the application more than knowledge i.e. not simply reiterating of definitions. Past papers indicated that roughly 35% of the set papers are knowledge-based marks. DEC 2009 EXAM The questions covered various aspects of the topics such as flexible budgeting and variance analysis, performance measurement, material and labour variances, activity based costing (ABC) and marginal costing. It can be said that the set questions have covered the entire syllabus. LOOKING FORWARD It appears that the questions set will be made up of similar blocks of knowledge and techniques to those used on past papers. Previous CAT Paper 7 questions repeatedly tested core areas of the syllabus. Past experience indicates that up to 80% of the available marks were based upon key syllabus areas. In the long term it is no doubt that this trend will continue into the future exams with a minor variations. Students must possess fundamental knowledge and is capable to address a range of different issues. It is good to be noted that figures calculation only is not sufficient for a pass at CAT Paper 7. Concentrate on your theoretical understanding of the study topics; supplement your study with regular reading of relevant articles; prepare for the lecture and do not be afraid to ask questions during the class. Candidates who practice past exam questions will be very well placed to answer future questions