CMA Final · June 2026 · Paper 16
CMA Final Strategic Cost Management June 2026: paper analysis
Our own analysis of the official paper, as of 12 October 2026. The questions and answers belong to ICMAI; read them on ICMAI's website.
Chapter-wise marks
Where the marks were in this paper (out of 100; internal-choice alternatives not double counted).
What each question tested
In our words, by question number. Open the official paper for the full question.
| Q | Marks | Tests | Chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 14 | Product mix under a machine capacity constraint with an option to outsource one product to maximise operating income | Decisions involving Alternative Choices |
| 3(a) | 7 | Divisional transfer pricing: whether buying a component outside benefits the company under different opportunity cost situations | Transfer Pricing (Cost Management) |
| 3(b) | 7 | Target cost per unit and target product profitability statement after value engineering | Target Costing |
| 4(a) | 7 | Activity based costing: cost driver rates and overhead per unit for several products | Activity Based Cost Management |
| 4(b) | 7 | Classifying quality-related costs into prevention, appraisal, internal failure and external failure | Quality Cost Management |
| 5(a) | 7 | Material cost, price, usage, mix and yield variances with process loss | Variance Analyses |
| 5(b) | 7 | Reconciling budgeted and actual profit through cost, sales price and sales volume variances | Variance Analyses |
| 6(a) | 7 | Formulating a linear programming model with material, labour, minimum demand and ratio constraints | Linear Programming |
| 6(b) | 7 | Setting up a transportation problem and finding an initial solution by Vogel's method | Transportation |
| 7(a) | 7 | Two-person zero-sum game: optimal strategy and value using dominance and mixed strategies | Game Theory |
| 7(b) | 7 | PERT network: critical path, expected duration and completion probabilities | Network Analysis - PERT, CPM |
| 8(a) | 7 | Profit maximisation versus revenue maximisation using a linear demand function | Business Application of Maxima and Minima |
| 8(b) | 7 | Demand forecasting by exponential smoothing over several periods | Business Forecasting Models - Time Series and Regression Analysis |
What stood out
- Section B was almost wholly numerical; only the classification of quality costs (7 marks) could be answered without computation.
- Quantitative techniques took six written parts (LPP formulation, transportation, game theory, PERT, maxima-minima and exponential smoothing), mirroring the syllabus's heavy operations research component.
- Variance analysis had a full 14-mark question covering both material mix and yield variances and a profit reconciliation.
- Strategic costing topics appeared as decision problems: make or outsource with capacity limits, transfer pricing with opportunity costs, target costing and ABC.
- MCQs ranged across 13 chapters, including tools for data analytics and business process reengineering, so short concept notes on every chapter are needed.
Practise the chapters that carried the marks
Decisions involving Alternative Choices, Variance Analyses, Target Costing: study guides and practice questions in the CMA Final format.