CMA Intermediate — Answer Writing
Costing is the heart of this level, and costing is marked on the statement: the format, the working notes and the reconciliations. An answer that arrives at the right figure without them is an answer the examiner cannot award.
Answer Question No. 1 which is compulsory and any five from the rest. Working notes should form part of the answer.
- 1. (a)From the following data compute the material price variance and the material usage variance, and comment on the result. Standard: 500 kg at ₹20 per kg. Actual: 520 kg at ₹19 per kg.(6 Marks)
- (b)Prepare a cost sheet from the particulars given above, showing prime cost, works cost and cost of sales.(6 Marks)
- 2. (a)Distinguish between job costing and process costing with suitable examples.(5 Marks)
One CMA Inter answer, from question to marked report
A real question, an attempt with the weaknesses a real attempt has, and the report an AI examiner hands back — in the marking unit CMA Inter genuinely uses. This is the whole product; there is nothing else to sign up for.
Scoped to the paper and topic you pick, at the marks it is genuinely set at.
From the following data compute the material price variance and the material usage variance, and comment on the result. Standard: 500 kg at Rs 20 per kg. Actual: 520 kg at Rs 19 per kg.
Type it, dictate it, or write on paper and photograph the page — your handwriting is read.
Photographed, read, and marked in red — every expected step scored down the right margin and the omissions written in.
Material price variance = 520 x (20 - 19) = Rs 520 favourable. Material usage variance = 20 x 20 = Rs 400 adverse.? So the total variance is Rs 120 favourable. The buyer got a cheaper rate but more material was consumed. The material has been purchased at a rate one rupee below the standard rate, which is favourable, but a larger quantity has been consumed than the standard allows, which is adverse. As the favourable price variance is larger than the adverse usage variance the net effect on cost is favourable.
- The formula line before each computation
- Working notes for standard quantity and actual quantity
- Reconciliation of the two variances to the total material cost variance
Model answer for this question
Write the formula, substitute, then conclude — three lines per variance. Material Price Variance = AQ (SP minus AP) = 520 (20 minus 19) = Rs 520 F. Material Usage Variance = SP (SQ minus AQ) = 20 (500 minus 520) = Rs 400 A. Total Material Cost Variance = Rs 120 F, reconciled as 520 F less 400 A. Comment: the favourable price was obtained on material of a quality that raised consumption, so the net gain is small and the purchasing decision needs review.
Photograph the page from your phone and the Studio reads your handwriting — the only way to practise the speed and layout the paper actually tests.
Fast enough to write, read the report and rewrite the same answer in one sitting — which is where the improvement actually comes from.
The scoring behind those pen marks: every expected step, what it was worth, what you earned, and a model answer.
- Price variance formula stated before use½/1
Applied without being stated. State AQ times (SP minus AP) first.
- Price variance computed with correct sign1/1
Correct and correctly labelled favourable.
- Usage variance formula stated before use0/1
Not stated. The formula line is a mark in its own right.
- Usage variance computed with correct sign1/1
Correct.
- Working notes shown0/1
No working notes. An unsupported figure is worth little at ICMAI whatever its accuracy.
- Comment linking the two variances1/1
The trade-off between cheaper material and higher consumption is exactly the right comment.
CMA Inter at a glance
| Conducting body | The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICMAI) |
|---|---|
| Mode | Handwritten, with objective components in some papers |
| Papers | 8 |
| Marking | CMA Inter — step marking |
What CMA Inter sets
The papers you sit, and what each is worth.
- Marked to the CMA Inter scheme
- Model answer, every time
- Handwriting read from a photo
- AI viva on any topic
- Full timed papers
- Every attempt kept in your archive
- WriteA question, answered and marked.
- VivaQuestioned on Marginal costing and more.
- Full paperA timed paper, one scorecard.