In the ACCA Applied Skills level, PM (Performance Management)—formerly F5—advances the techniques learned in MA to help businesses manage and control performance through sophisticated accounting and management systems.
PM Syllabus Overview (2025–2026)
The curriculum focuses on application and critical evaluation across five areas:
- Specialist Costing & Management Techniques: Beyond basic methods, this covers Activity-Based Costing (ABC), Target Costing, Life-Cycle Costing, and Throughput Accounting.
- Decision-Making Techniques: Using Relevant Costing, Linear Programming (for limiting factors), Pricing Decisions, and Risk and Uncertainty (Maximax, Maximin, and Expected Values).
- Budgeting & Control: Evaluating budgetary systems (Rolling, Zero-based, Activity-based) and advanced Variance Analysis (Planning vs. Operational variances, Mix and Yield variances).
- Performance Measurement & Control: Analyzing performance in divisionalized businesses, including Transfer Pricing and non-financial models like the Balanced Scorecard and Fitzgerald & Moon’s Building Block Model.
- Employability & Technology Skills: Using digital spreadsheets to analyze data and present management information.
Key Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, you should be able to:
- Apply modern costing techniques to improve product pricing and profitability analysis.
- Recommend optimal business decisions when faced with scarce resources or uncertain data.
- Appraise different budgeting approaches and their impact on employee behavior.
- Analyze variances to distinguish between controllable and uncontrollable performance.
- Design and evaluate performance measurement systems for both private and not-for-profit organizations.
Exam Structure
- Format: 3-hour Computer-Based Exam (CBE).
- Section A (30 marks): 15 Objective Test Questions (2 marks each).
- Section B (30 marks): 3 case-based scenarios with 5 questions each.
- Section C (40 marks): 2 Constructed Response questions (20 marks each). These require both numerical calculations and written discussion, often focusing on Budgeting, Variance Analysis, or Performance Measurement