Cost and Accounting

1-For which areas of application is process-based costing (process cost accounting) suitable?. Areas with repetitive activities. Areas that involve few decisions. Areas with many different activities. Areas that involve many decisions.

2-Which statements about imputed costs (kalkulatorische Kosten) are correct?. Imputed costs include costs that have no corresponding expenses. Financial-statement depreciation aims to reflect the actual loss of value of assets. The acquisition price is used as the depreciation base for imputed depreciation. Imputed costs include costs that have corresponding expenses but in a different amount.

3-How can the capital turnover be improved?. Capital turnover can be increased, for example, by reducing inventory levels through inventory optimization. Capital turnover can be increased, for example, by increasing inventory levels. Increase the assets on the balance sheet. Capital turnover can be improved, for example, by reducing outstanding customer receivables through shorter payment terms or stricter dunning/collection procedures.

4-How is the relative contribution margin defined?. Selling price per unit minus variable unit costs. Relative contribution margin is the contribution margin per unit divided by the bottleneck (constraint). Relative contribution margin is the unit contribution margin in relation to fixed costs. Relative contribution margin is the unit contribution margin related to time units, e.g., machine minutes.

5-Which of the following cost types are variable costs?. Material costs. Managing director’s salary. Rent for the business premises. Piecework wages.

6-What does profitability (rentability) mean?. Indicates the return earned on the invested capital over a certain period of time. Monetarily valued productivity/yield. Indicates the amount of profit achieved in a certain period. Physical productivity/yield; shows how well the input factors are utilized.

7-Which statements about the term “cost center” are correct?. Cost center accounting is necessary to ensure a complete and non-overlapping recording of all cost types. A cost center is an operational activity and responsibility area that forms a functional unit and can be settled/charged independently for cost accounting purposes. Main and auxiliary cost centers are directly involved in the operational performance (value creation) process. Cost center accounting allocates all costs that cannot be directly assigned to a cost object proportionally and according to causation to the settlement areas in the company.

8-Which statements about direct costs and overhead costs are correct?. Direct costs can be either fixed or variable. Overhead costs can be either fixed or variable. Fixed costs are always overhead costs. Direct costs are always variable costs.

9-According to which criteria is the ranking/prioritization of product manufacturing or product sales determined when financial resources are scarce?. According to sales volume/quantity sold. According to the contribution margins they generate. According to the net price. According to the gross price.

10-The following statements belong to dynamic investment appraisal methods: They consider the timing of investment-related cash inflows and outflows. They refer to fixed values of a single period. They consider the entire useful life. They take the time value of money into account.

11-Which sub-areas make up cost object accounting (Kostenträgerrechnung)?. Unit cost accounting, cost center accounting, and period cost object accounting. Unit cost accounting and period cost object accounting. Direct costs, overhead costs, and unit cost accounting. Cost center accounting, cost element accounting, and overhead costs.

12-Which statements about assignability to cost objects are correct?. Typical examples of overhead costs are direct materials and direct labor. Direct costs are activity-independent costs that occur exclusively time-dependent. Direct costs are costs that can be directly assigned to an object of reference based on internally determined data and documents. Typical examples of direct costs are direct materials and direct labor.

13-What is piecework pay (Akkordlohn)?. Piecework pay is paid for simple, manual, similar activities where employees can directly influence output quantity through their personal working speed (e.g., assembling parts). Piecework pay is a requirement- and performance-dependent wage form: in addition to a base wage, a bonus is paid depending on additional performance influenced by the employee or another objectively measurable reference value. Piecework pay is performance-based compensation. It is usually calculated based on produced quantity or pieces per hour; working time plays a minor or no role depending on the type. Piecework pay is a requirement- and performance-dependent wage form. It is paid for a specified time per production unit (time piecework) or as a fixed monetary amount per unit (money piecework), without considering actual working time in payroll accounting.

14-What is meant by the term “contribution margin” (Deckungsbeitrag)?. The comparison of product-related variable costs and the corresponding sales revenues assigned to them. Contribution margin is also called (unit) gross profit and indicates to what extent a cost object/product contributes to covering variable costs. The comparison of product-related fixed costs and the corresponding sales revenues assigned to them. Contribution margin is also called (unit) gross profit and indicates to what extent a cost object/product contributes to covering fixed costs that occur anyway.

15-What is Direct Costing?. Direct Costing can also be called “single-level contribution margin accounting”. All costs are directly assigned to cost objects. Total costs are split into variable and fixed components, and only the variable costs are directly assigned to cost objects. Direct Costing can also be called “multi-level contribution margin accounting”.

16-Given the following cost function from the controlling department of a cement manufacturer: K(x) = 110x + 150{,}000. In the last period, 6,000 tons of cement were sold at a price of €140/ton. Calculate the operating result (operating profit) of the company using Direct Costing. €180,000. - €180,000. €30,000. - €30,000.

17-Types of planned cost accounting (Plankostenrechnung) include: Rigid planned cost accounting. Rigid planned cost accounting on a partial-cost basis. Standardized planned cost accounting on a full-cost basis. Variable planned cost accounting.

18-What are the most important calculation variables for carrying out static investment appraisal?. Capital employed / investment amount. Payback period. Interest rate. Useful life.

19-How are full costs (Selbstkosten) composed?. Direct material costs, direct manufacturing costs, cost of goods manufactured for sales. Material costs, manufacturing material, manufacturing costs, and selling costs. Material costs, manufacturing costs, administrative costs, selling/distribution costs. Material costs, manufacturing costs, administrative costs.

20-Which of the following examples can cause a progressive cost pattern (progressive cost behavior)?. Decreasing material consumption due to learning effects among workers. Increasing operating supplies consumption due to overuse/overloading of equipment. Payment of piecework wages. Overtime premiums/surcharges.

206-The elementary factors essentially include: Materials, operating resources, management and planning. Planning, monitoring/supervision. Materials, operating resources, executing labor. Planning, monitoring/supervision, top management.

207-Which of the following situations describe the maximum principle?. Trying to drive the longest possible distance with one tank of fuel. A manager demands that researchers and developers produce as much knowledge or as many new products as possible with a fixed R&D budget. A manufacturing company has 10 production machines available. There is no capital for more machines. The maximum principle now requires the company to produce as many products as possible with the available machines. Building cars that require as little fuel as possible to reach the destination. If the destination is reached with minimal fuel consumption, then this is the maximum principle.

208-What is premium wage (Prämienlohn)?. Premium wage is performance-related pay. For performance above the specified and agreed target, additional payments are made. A wage form dependent on requirements and performance. A planned additional payment on top of the agreed base wage. Premium wage is a flexible part of compensation that the employer pays for outstanding performance. The premium is not a substitute for the base wage; it supplements it with a performance-related amount. The employer defines in advance which parameters are used to calculate the premium and how achievement is rewarded.

209-What are cost objects (Kostenträger)?. Cost objects are independent performance units of a company, i.e., operational outputs produced over several accounting periods. Cost objects are independent performance units of an area/department, i.e., operational outputs produced over several accounting periods. Cost objects are independent performance units of an area/department, i.e., operational outputs produced within one accounting period. Cost objects are independent performance units of a company, i.e., operational outputs produced within one accounting period.

210-What is NOT meant by multi-step fixed-cost coverage accounting (stufenweise Fixkostendeckungsrechnung)?. Fixed costs are split into several blocks and allocated according to the causality principle. It is useful when fixed costs can be clearly assigned to products, product groups, or business units. Fixed costs are deducted as a global amount (“en bloc”) from the sum of contribution margins. It is also called multi-level contribution margin accounting.

211-Should process-based costing always cover the entire company?. Yes, it is necessary. No, because implementation usually involves considerable effort. Yes, you must even do it. No, because it never makes sense.

212-What are the key criteria for an investment decision?. Strategic alignment. Urgency. Return (profitability). Liquidity.

213-According to which criteria is the ranking/prioritization of product manufacturing or product sales determined?. According to the gross price. According to sales quantity. According to the net price. According to the contribution margins generated.

214-What prerequisites must be met to apply contribution margin accounting?. Step-fixed costs do not exist. A linear total cost function must apply, i.e., variable costs behave proportionally to the activity/output level. Costs must be separated as precisely as possible into fixed and variable components. Market prices (net) change continuously.

215-What do full costs (Selbstkosten) consist of?. Direct material costs, direct manufacturing costs, cost of goods manufactured for sales. Material costs, manufacturing material, manufacturing costs & selling costs. Material costs, manufacturing costs, administrative costs, selling/distribution costs. Material costs, manufacturing costs, administrative costs.

216-Which methods belong to static investment appraisal?. Profitability method (ROI/profitability analysis). Payback period method. Annuity method. Net present value (NPV) method.

217. Calculate the margin of safety (safety margin): cost function 7.5x + 30,000. Protein powder price 35 euros and profit is 10,000 euros. 35%. 20%. 30%. 25%.