CMA Intermediate · June 2026 · Paper 12
CMA Intermediate Management Accounting 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(a) | 7 | Scope of management accounting as an information system for analysis and interpretation | Introduction to Management Accounting |
| 2(b) | 7 | Overhead cost per unit under a traditional machine hour rate compared with activity based costing | Activity Based Costing |
| 3(a) | 7 | Profit-maximising production mix when departmental labour hours are fixed and non-transferable | Applications of Marginal Costing in Short Term Decision Making |
| 3(b) | 7 | Transfer price for a captive division under profit margin, return on investment and cost-plus strategies | Transfer Pricing |
| 4(a) | 7 | Deriving fixed costs and unit contributions of two products from break-even and indifference points | Marginal Costing (Management Accounting) |
| 4(b) | 7 | Pricing a special export order using spare capacity and semi-variable cost behaviour | Applications of Marginal Costing in Short Term Decision Making |
| 5(a) | 7 | Labour rate, efficiency, mix and total cost variances for a mixed-grade work group | Standard Costing and Variance Analysis (Management Accounting) |
| 5(b) | 7 | Fixed overhead expenditure, calendar, capacity, efficiency, volume and cost variances | Standard Costing and Variance Analysis (Management Accounting) |
| 6(a) | 7 | Production budget and department-wise direct labour budget allowing for normal loss and stock changes | Forecasting, Budgeting and Budgetary Control |
| 6(b) | 7 | Flexible budget: unit cost at lower and higher capacity with partly variable expenses | Forecasting, Budgeting and Budgetary Control |
| 7(a) | 7 | EBIT and economic value added using CAPM-based cost of equity and an unrecorded intangible | Divisional Performance Measurement |
| 7(b) | 7 | Accepting a bulk order when labour time falls under a learning curve effect | Applications of Marginal Costing in Short Term Decision Making |
| 8(a) | 7 | Probability of break-even, of a target profit and expected profit from a sales distribution | Decision Theory |
| 8(b) | 7 | Types of responsibility centres and their features | Responsibility Accounting |
What stood out
- Twelve of the fourteen written parts were numerical; only the scope of management accounting and types of responsibility centres were theory.
- Marginal costing applications dominated Section B with three parts (limiting factor, export order pricing, learning-curve order acceptance) plus a break-even and indifference-point puzzle.
- Variance analysis took a full 14-mark question split between labour mix variances and a six-way fixed overhead variance analysis.
- Budgeting had two parts (functional production and labour budget, flexible budget), and EVA appeared under divisional performance measurement.
- The MCQ section covered all ten chapters, giving every chapter one or two questions, so selective study is risky in this paper.
Practise the chapters that carried the marks
Applications of Marginal Costing in Short Term Decision Making, Standard Costing and Variance Analysis (Management Accounting), Forecasting, Budgeting and Budgetary Control: study guides and practice questions in the CMA Intermediate format.