CA Intermediate · September 2026 · Paper 4
CA Intermediate Cost and Management Accounting September 2026: paper analysis
Our own analysis of the official paper, as of 12 October 2026. The questions and answers belong to ICAI; read them on ICAI's website.
Chapter-wise marks
Where the marks were in this paper (out of 100; internal-choice alternatives not double counted).
| Chapter | Questions | Marks | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Budgets and Budgetary Control | 6 | 17 | 15% |
| Overheads - Absorption Costing Method | 3 | 12 | 11% |
| Cost Sheet | 2 | 11 | 10% |
| Activity Based Costing | 5 | 10 | 9% |
| Standard Costing | 1 | 9 | 8% |
| Marginal Costing | 1 | 7 | 6% |
| Job Costing | 1 | 7 | 6% |
| Cost Accounting Systems | 1 | 7 | 6% |
| Service Costing | 1 | 7 | 6% |
| Process & Operation Costing | 2 | 7 | 6% |
| Material Cost | 2 | 6 | 5% |
| Introduction to Cost and Management Accounting | 1 | 5 | 4% |
| Joint Products and By Products | 1 | 5 | 4% |
| Employee Cost and Direct Expenses | 2 | 4 | 4% |
What each question tested
In our words, by question number. Open the official paper for the full question.
| Q | Marks | Tests | Chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1(a) | 7 | Optimum product mix under a shared capacity limit where each product carries its own avoidable fixed cost | Marginal Costing |
| 1(b) | 4 | Economic order quantity with carrying cost built from storage, interest and obsolescence rates, plus annual ordering cost | Material Cost |
| 1(c) | 3 | Reciprocal service department cost reapportionment using the simultaneous equation method | Overheads - Absorption Costing Method |
| 2(a) | 7 | Direct labour wages budget allowing for productivity ratio, budgeted downtime, overtime premium and stock-driven production | Budgets and Budgetary Control |
| 2(b) | 7 | Job cost sheet for a special order using prior-year overhead recovery rates and a contingency loading | Job Costing |
| 3(a) | 7 | Reconciling cost accounts profit with financial accounts profit for under or over absorption and non-cost items | Cost Accounting Systems |
| 3(b) | 7 | Passenger transport costing: annual kilometres, passenger volume, fuel cost and fare per passenger with a profit target | Service Costing |
| 4(a) | 9 | Labour cost variances by grade split into rate, efficiency, mix, yield and idle time effects | Standard Costing |
| 4(b) | 5 | Process input, normal and abnormal loss quantities and FIFO equivalent units for conversion costs | Process & Operation Costing |
| 5(a) | 7 | Key cost sheet figures from prime cost to sales value with inventory changes and FIFO finished goods | Cost Sheet |
| 5(b) | 7 | Blanket versus departmental overhead absorption for job pricing and under or over recovery | Overheads - Absorption Costing Method |
| 6(a) | 5 | Functional classification of a list of cost items | Introduction to Cost and Management Accounting |
| 6(b) | 5 | Accounting for by-product realisations and apportioning joint costs using net realisable value | Joint Products and By Products |
| 6(c) | 4 | Cost sheet treatment of unusual items such as subsidies, idle wages, loan interest and recoverable taxes | Cost Sheet |
| 6(c) OR | 4 | Contents and uses of a bill of materials compared with a material requisition note | Material Cost |
What stood out
- This attempt carries a 30-mark MCQ part (15 questions) followed by a 70-mark descriptive part, so Paper 4 is now a mixed paper rather than fully written.
- Two MCQ case scenarios took 20 of the 30 objective marks: customer profitability under activity based costing and a production plus material purchase budget.
- The descriptive part is heavily numerical: only Question 6 is theory, and every other question is a full computational problem.
- Overhead treatment appears three times (service department reapportionment, blanket versus departmental rates and an MCQ on capacity), making it the most spread-out topic.
- Standard costing again carries a single high-mark labour variance question, rewarding students who can separate mix, yield and efficiency cleanly.
Practise the chapters that carried the marks
Budgets and Budgetary Control, Overheads - Absorption Costing Method, Cost Sheet: study guides and practice questions in the CA Intermediate format.