In the context of the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) Foundations in Accountancy, MA2 (Managing Costs and Finance) focuses on the preparation and presentation of basic cost information to support planning and decision-making.
Syllabus Overview
The curriculum is divided into five core sections:
- Management Information: Purpose of management information, cost accounting systems, and reporting.
- Cost Recording: Accounting for materials (valuation methods like FIFO/LIFO), labor (remuneration and efficiency), and other expenses.
- Costing Techniques: Application of absorption costing, marginal costing (including profit reconciliation), job/batch costing, process costing, and service costing.
- Decision Making: Cost-volume-profit (CVP) analysis, short-term decision-making (limiting factors/relevant costs), and investment appraisal (NPV, IRR, and payback).
- Cash Management: Cash flow patterns, managing cash balances, preparing cash budgets, and evaluating financing options.
Key Learning Outcomes
Upon completion, candidates are expected to:
- Explain the role of costing within an organization and how costs are classified by nature, function, and behavior.
- Describe and Record costs accurately for materials, labor, and overheads.
- Apply various cost accounting techniques to establish the cost of a product or service.
- Use management accounting techniques, such as break-even analysis and investment appraisal, to support business decisions.
- Explain principles of cash management, including the preparation and use of cash budgets for control.
Exam Structure
- Format: 2-hour computer-based exam.
- Questions: 50 compulsory objective questions (2 marks each).
Pass Mark: 50%