Financial Analysis & Reporting Flashcards
7 cards from real CPS practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Financial Analysis & Reporting flashcards as text
Which of the following best describes a payroll cost center analysis?
Answer: A breakdown of payroll expenses attributed to specific departments or business units
Cost center analysis allocates payroll costs to specific organizational units to help management understand labor spending by department.
A company pays employees twice a month (semi-monthly). How many payroll accrual entries would typically be needed in a fiscal year?
Answer: 24
Semi-monthly payroll results in 24 pay periods per year (2 per month × 12 months), requiring 24 payroll entries.
The purpose of a payroll to Form 941 reconciliation is to ensure that:
Answer: Total wages and taxes reported on 941s match the payroll register for the year
Reconciling payroll to Form 941 verifies that quarterly tax reports accurately reflect wages paid and taxes withheld as recorded in payroll data.
An employer's FUTA tax liability is reduced by the credit for state unemployment taxes paid. What is the maximum FUTA credit allowed?
Answer: 5.4%
Employers can receive a maximum FUTA credit of 5.4% for timely paid state unemployment taxes, reducing the effective FUTA rate to 0.6%.
When analyzing overtime costs, which formula correctly expresses the overtime premium as a percentage of regular pay?
Answer: [(OT rate − Regular rate) / Regular rate] × 100
The overtime premium percentage compares the extra cost above regular rate to the regular rate, showing how much more OT labor costs.
A payroll variance report shows that actual payroll exceeded budget by 8%. Which factor would NOT typically explain this variance?
Answer: A decline in employee turnover
A decline in turnover means fewer departures and replacements, which would generally reduce costs through avoided hiring expenses rather than increasing payroll.
For internal financial reporting, which document serves as the primary source of detail for all payroll transactions within a given period?
Answer: Payroll register
The payroll register is the detailed record of each payroll run, listing all employee earnings, deductions, and net pay for the period.