如果山东省考生符合这些条件，那么ACCA证书就是为你量身订做的

正确答案：
(b) Sergio’s investments
Sergio aims to leave a substantial asset to his family on his death. Accordingly, in view of his age, he is right to be considering
investing in an asset whose value is unlikely to fall suddenly, such as a domestic rental property. However, it must be
recognised that although the value of land and buildings can usually be relied on to increase over a long period of time, its
value may fall over a shorter period. The only investments that cannot fall in value are cash deposits, although they do, of
course, fall in real terms due to the effects of inflation.
Sergio should consider whether or not he wishes to increase his annual income. The return on capital invested in a domestic
rental property is unlikely to be very high due to the recent increases in property values in the UK. Also, there are likely to be
periods when the house is unoccupied during which no income will be generated. If it is important to Sergio to generate
additional income he should consider other low-risk investments with a more reliable and higher rate of return, for example,
gilt edged stocks, unit trusts and cash deposits.
Sergio must also decide whether it is important to him to be able to access capital quickly, as it is usually not possible to
realise the capital invested in land and buildings at short notice. If this is important, Sergio should consider holding some of
his capital in cash deposits or other liquid investments, eg unit trusts.
Sergio could invest up to ￡7,000 each year in an individual savings account (ISA). A maximum of ￡3,000 can be held as a
cash deposit with the balance invested in quoted shares. The income and gains arising on the funds invested would be
exempt from both income tax and capital gains tax. This would be a relatively low-risk investment and would also be
accessible quickly if required.

正确答案：
(c) Due diligence review
(i) Inquiries
Tutorial note: These should be focussed on uncovering facts that may not be revealed by the audited financial
statements (e.g. off balance sheet finance, contingencies, commitments and contracts) especially where knowledge
may be confined to management.
■ Do any members of MCM’s senior/executive management have contractual terms that will result in significant
payouts to them (e.g. on change of ownership of the company or their being made redundant)?
■ What contracts with clients, if any, will lapse or be made void in the event that MCM is purchased from Frontiers?
■ What synergy or inter-company trading, if any, currently exists between MCM and Frontiers? For example, Frontiers
may publish MCM’s training materials.
■ Are there any major clients who are likely to be lost if MCM is purchased by Plaza (e.g. any competitor food
retailers)?
■ What are the principal terms of the operating leases relating to the International business’s premises?
■ What penalties should be expected to be incurred if operating leases and/or contracts with training consultants are
terminated?
■ Has MCM entered into any purchase commitments since 31 December 2004 (e.g. to buy or lease further
premises)?
■ Who are the best trainers that Plaza should seek to retain after the purchase of MCM?
■ What events since the audited financial statements to 31 December 2004 were published have made a significant
impact on MCM’s assets, liabilities, operating capability and/or cash flows? (For example, storm damage to
premises, major clients defaulting on payments, significant interest/foreign-exchange rate fluctuations, etc.)
■ Are there any unresolved tax issues which have not been provided for in full?
■ What effect will the purchase have on loan covenants? For example, term loans may be rendered repayable on a
change of ownership.

正确答案：

(b) Controlling variable costs
The first step in the process of controlling costs is to measure actual costs. The second step is to calculate variances that show
the difference between actual costs and budgeted or standard costs. These variances then need to be reported to those
managers who have responsibility for them. These managers can then decide whether action needs to be taken to bring actual
costs back into line with budgeted or standard costs. The operating statement therefore has a role to play in reporting
information to management in a way that assists in the decision-making process.
The operating statement quantifies the effect of the volume difference between budgeted and actual sales so that the actual
cost of the actual output can be compared with the standard (or budgeted) cost of the actual output. The statement clearly
differentiates between adverse and favourable variances so that managers can identify areas where there is a significant
difference between actual results and planned performance. This supports management by exception, since managers can
focus their efforts on these significant areas in order to obtain the most impact in terms of getting actual operations back in
line with planned activity.
In control terms, variable costs can be affected in the short term and so an operating statement for the last month showing
variable cost variances will highlight those areas where management action may be effective. In the short term, for example,
managers may be able to improve labour efficiency through training, or through reducing or eliminating staff actions which
do not assist the production process. In this way the adverse direct labour efficiency variance of ￡252, which is 7·3% of the
standard direct labour cost of the actual output, could be reduced.
Controlling fixed production overhead costs
In the short term, it is unlikely that fixed production overhead costs can be controlled. An operating statement from last month
showing fixed production overhead variances may not therefore assist in controlling fixed costs. Managers will not be able to
take any action to correct the adverse fixed production overhead expenditure variance, for example, which may in fact simply
show the need for improvement in the area of budget planning. Investigation of the component parts of fixed production
overhead will show, however, whether any of these are controllable. In general, this is not the case2.
Absorption costing gives rise to a fixed production overhead volume variance, which shows the effect of actual production
being different from planned production. Since fixed production overheads are a sunk cost, the volume variance shows little
more than that the standard hours for actual production were different from budgeted standard hours3. Similarly, the fixed
production overhead efficiency variance offers little more in information terms than the direct labour efficiency variance. While
fixed production overhead variances assist in reconciling budgeted profit with actual profit, therefore, their reporting in an
operating statement is unlikely to assist in controlling fixed costs.