CBS Financial Planning & Analysis 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which component of the cash budget accounts for the timing difference between when sales are made and when cash is actually received?
- Capital expenditure schedule
- Collections from accounts receivable (Correct answer)
- Depreciation expense
- Accrued liabilities
Correct answer: Collections from accounts receivable
Collections from accounts receivable adjust for the lag between credit sales and actual cash inflows based on collection patterns.
Question 2: If a company budgets fixed overhead at $120,000 for 10,000 units but actually produces 8,000 units, what is the fixed overhead volume variance?
- $24,000 favorable
- $24,000 unfavorable (Correct answer)
- $12,000 unfavorable
- $12,000 favorable
Correct answer: $24,000 unfavorable
The volume variance is (budgeted − actual units) × standard fixed overhead rate: (10,000 − 8,000) × $12 = $24,000 unfavorable.
Question 3: A company wants to achieve a net income of $200,000. Fixed costs are $300,000 and contribution margin ratio is 40%. What is the required sales revenue?
- $500,000
- $750,000
- $1,000,000
- $1,250,000 (Correct answer)
Correct answer: $1,250,000
Required sales = (Fixed costs + Target profit) ÷ CM ratio = ($300,000 + $200,000) ÷ 0.40 = $1,250,000.
Question 4: Which type of financial analysis compares each line item on an income statement as a percentage of net sales?
- Horizontal analysis
- Trend analysis
- Common-size analysis (Correct answer)
- Ratio analysis
Correct answer: Common-size analysis
Common-size analysis expresses each financial statement item as a percentage of a base figure (sales for income statements, total assets for balance sheets).
Question 5: In capital budgeting, the payback period method is criticized mainly because it:
- Is too complex to calculate
- Ignores cash flows after the payback date and the time value of money (Correct answer)
- Requires knowledge of the cost of capital
- Always leads to poor investment decisions
Correct answer: Ignores cash flows after the payback date and the time value of money
The payback period ignores profitability beyond the recovery point and does not discount future cash flows for the time value of money.
Question 6: What is the purpose of a pro forma financial statement in the budgeting process?
- To record past transactions for audit purposes
- To project future financial position based on planned activities (Correct answer)
- To comply with SEC reporting requirements
- To document inter-department cost allocations
Correct answer: To project future financial position based on planned activities
Pro forma statements are forward-looking projections that show expected financial results based on assumptions about future operations.
Question 7: Which budgeting approach allocates resources based on activities performed and the cost drivers associated with those activities?
- Incremental budgeting
- Activity-based budgeting (ABB) (Correct answer)
- Line-item budgeting
- Program budgeting
Correct answer: Activity-based budgeting (ABB)
Activity-based budgeting links resource planning directly to activities and their cost drivers, improving cost accuracy and resource allocation.
CBS Financial Planning & Analysis 3
Which component of the cash budget accounts for the timing difference between when sales are made and when cash is actually received?