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Examples of how you might need to apply your technical skills in the three Case Study Exams
Level Lead learning outcome Expressed as a
Operational Discuss costing methods “I can interpret a variance
and their results (P1 A1 – analysis statement and
Management Accounting) make recommendations
Management Discuss types and sources “I can advise on different
of long-term finance for methods for raising
an incorporated entity long-term finance”
(F2 A1 – Advanced
Financial Reporting)
Strategic Evaluate the “I can advise on
process of strategy and recommend
formulation (E3 B1 – strategic options”
Strategic Management)
Helen Crofts is a
content consultant for
Kaplan Publishing who
is part of the team
preparing the CIMA
official study texts for
the Case Study Exams
STUDY NOTES
All pillars
Integrated Case Study
Exams at Strategic,
Management and
Operational levels
The 2015 syllabus requires students to sit
not one but three Case Study Exams. Each
is a thorough test of your ability to apply
your skills in a setting designed to match
a real work situation as closely as possible
By Helen Crofts and the Case Study
Exam writers
In the past there was plenty of time for candidates to get
used to the idea of a Case Study Exam, because they didn’t
really have to think about it until they neared the end of
their studies – although it may still have come as a shock
to the system. But procrastination is never a good thing,
so CIMA has made life so much easier for students on the
2015 syllabus by giving them the opportunity to take this
type of assessment at each level of the qualification.
Before we look at what’s new and how to prepare for it,
let’s consider why the institute is obliging people to take
these exams so much earlier in their studies. It’s all about
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testing your competence – your ability to apply what you
have learnt to real business problems. This is what
employers say they require from the qualification.
CIMA has designed a framework that splits the
management accountant’s role into four generic skills
or “competencies”: technical, business, people and
leadership. The syllabus designers recognise that your
role will change as you progress in your career, so they
have given these skills different weightings at each level
of the qualification. For example, there is a greater
emphasis on technical skill at Management level, but by
the time you reach Strategic level you’ll be expected to be
equally adept in all four areas.
In the Operational level Case Study Exam, the
assumption is that you’re a finance officer dealing with both
day-to-day matters and specific issues that are relevant to a
developing business. Often these will be relevant to fast-
moving smaller firms or older established SMEs facing the
challenges of a changing commercial environment.
Although you’re at a relatively junior level in the
organisation, you are a key member of a team in which
many colleagues don’t have the accounting and information
management skills that you possess. The organisation relies
on your skills in producing and communicating accurate
information, which can form the basis for sound advice.
At Management level, the assumption is that you are
a manager reporting to the CFO and other senior
executives. They will require your advice in dealing with
problems and evaluating opportunities.
At Strategic level, the assumption is that you are a
senior manager reporting directly to the board of directors,
who will also need your guidance in dealing with problems
and evaluating opportunities.
At both Management and Strategic levels, the
expectation is that you will be able to adapt what you have
learnt during your studies to address the issues arising in
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the scenario. These will of course depend largely on the
nature of the organisation concerned and its business.
Your position as a manager means that you’ll often have
to give senior executives very specific advice, because
they won’t necessarily have the time to analyse a problem
in depth themselves.
At all levels, the Case Study Exams will enable you to
show your ability in analysing various scenarios
(demonstrating technical skills) and determining how
these affect the organisation concerned (business skills).
You may need to explain the key issues to non-accountants
who are senior managers (people skills) and indicate areas
that require improvement (leadership skills). Remember
that these exams are less of a test of what you know;
they’re far more about what you can do. At Management
level, technical skills have the heaviest weighting, but they
are still worth only 39 per cent overall. So, as with the exam
at Operational level, you will not be able to pass it by
relying on these alone. At Strategic level, each skill is given
equal weighting, which means in effect that displaying
technical skills alone would score you 25 per cent at most.
The table on the next page shows how you might need to
apply your technical skills in a Case Study Exam. Many more
examples are given in the CIMA official study texts for each
level. But, as you can see here, there is a significant
progression from one level to the next. You can expect
much more complex and integrated tasks by the time you
reach the final exam.
At Operational level the task is likely to follow a logical
path. For example, the variance analysis report you have
been given at company V may not be set out as expected
and could contain errors. The technical skill is to identify
any mistakes and explain which variances have been
spotted, how they have been calculated and what they
indicate. The business skill is to consider the analysis in
the wider context of the scenario: is this type of analysis
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Illustrative task
competency statement
For many years company V has
operated care homes for the
elderly. In search of growth, it
to improve performance” recently opened a hotel. In its
meeting at the end of Q1, the
management team was shown a
variance analysis report showing
several adverse variances. The
operations director has warned
that, if this situation continues,
most of the team will not be paid
a bonus. Some members feel that
V’s performance management
system is unfair. You have been
asked to evaluate the system
and recommend improvements.
Company X has decided to
purchase and redevelop a new
factory. Finance is required.
Discuss the pros and cons of
using debt finance compared
with raising further equity.
Company Z, which competes in
the computer games industry,
is worried about a recent sharp
decline in its sales and profits.
The board wishes to prepare a
strategic response. Evaluate the
situation and the options for
correcting it.
relevant to V’s situation? How can it help in managing the
business more effectively? Are some elements more
relevant than others and should the report be refocused?
The people skill is to explain your analysis in a concise
and understandable way to the operations director who
doesn’t fully understand variance analysis. The leadership
skill is to recommend improvements, perhaps in the
relevance, detail and presentation of the report.
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The task at Management level is also likely to follow
a logical path. For example, you may be presented with
information concerning company X’s financial situation
and its need for new funds. The technical skill is to identify
the most appropriate financing method. The business
skill is to ensure that the funding meets the entity’s needs.
The people skill may be to explain your choice in a concise
and understandable manner to managers who may not
have an accounting background. The leadership skill may
be to manage the process of obtaining the funds, which
could entail forming a team to develop the business plan.
At Strategic level, you may be presented with a serious
threat to the business and be asked to come up with a
strategic response. The technical skill is to identify a
suitable response. The business skill is to ensure that this
response is a­ ppropriate to the industry and company Z’s
position in it. As at Management level, the people skill is
to explain your choice in a concise and understandable
way to Z’s directors, who may not have an accounting
background. The leadership skill may be to manage the
implementation of the strategy.
What to expect
Now that we understand the context of the Case Study
Exams, let’s look at their format in detail.
Seven weeks before each exam you’ll be able to access
the pre-seen material. This concerns a fictional company
but is based on a real business or industry. The new
material provided in the exam will be broken down into
a series of “triggers” and “tasks”. A trigger is an extra
item of information about the company, usually
describing a development or a problem that needs
resolving. This may come in the form of an email, a set
of accounts or a newspaper report – just as it might
when you are at work. You will then be asked to perform
one or more tasks based on each trigger.
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Most of the exams you’ll have sat until now have
focused on a single subject, testing your knowledge of
that subject and, possibly, your ability to apply this
knowledge. The CIMA Case Study Exams require you to
demonstrate integrated knowledge across all three pillars
of the syllabus, with a focus on application, analysis and
evaluation. These are higher-level requirements than those
imposed by most of the preceding objective tests, so they
often prove challenging to students. The aim is to reflect
the reality of cross-functional working and to get you
­performing the kinds of tasks that management
­accountants might be expec­ted to do in the course of their
work. The emphasis is on skills – eg, ­research, analysis
and presentation – rather than knowledge, as the technical
content of the syllabus has already been covered in the
objective tests.
A number of factors combine to ensure that the Case
Study Exam is a suitably difficult hurdle to overcome before
you can proceed to the next level of the qualification:
– The fact that a single exam will cover all three of the
learning pillars.
– The need to integrate your knowledge.
– The need for good time management.
So how can you surmount all these ­challenges? First,
you should start your exam preparations as soon as you
have completed the objective tests at the level concerned,
as you need to be comfortable with the technical content.
If you ever thought that you could afford to forget what you
learnt as soon as you left the exam hall, those days are
gone – you will be expected to retain all your knowledge.
It is clearly easier to do that than to relearn everything
when you start preparing for the Case Study Exam.
CIMA’s official texts for these exams provide diagnostics
to help you to assess whether you have the requisite
know­ledge or not. Ensure that you retain all of your study
materials (cue cards are a great help) as you progress,
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because you’ll want to avoid having to return to each full
study text if at all possible.
You won’t be expected to perform ­detailed calculations
in any Case Study Exam, although you may need to prepare
some brief illustrative numbers. Bear this in mind when you
are looking at the technical content and don’t get too
bogged down in the details of, say, a question concerning
a consolidated income statement. But do remember that
you may have to interpret someone else’s calculations,
so you will still need to understand all the numbers.
You are provided with material before the exam so that
you can absorb yourself in the affairs of the organisation
concerned and be able to attempt the tasks required as
though you were actually a member of its finance
department. You therefore need a full understanding of
the scenario and an appreciation of the firm’s industry.
The pre-seen material has been designed to give you all
of the necessary information, so there should be no need
for separate detailed industry research. An awareness of
real issues and companies can make you feel more
confident, but (unlike in previous Case Study Exams) no
marks are directly available for presenting the findings of
research conducted in real world.
It’s possible to use pre-seen material to generate ideas
about the tasks that might be required of you in the exam
and thereby identify technical content that could prove
relevant. This is a useful exercise, but it is important to
resist the urge to predict what the examiner will ask.
It’s all too easy to become so convinced about what will
be required that the actual exam comes as a real shock to
the system when it asks you to do something different.
One vital activity when preparing for the exam is to
practise writing full answers. It is tempting, when faced
with practice exercises, to make a few notes and then look
at the suggested ­solution and tell yourself that this is
­exactly what you would have written. Resist this temptation
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– you don’t want to make your first proper attempt at
writing an answer in the exam. Proper practice here will
also help with time management. This is particularly
important in the Case Study Exams because they impose
a time limit for each task. Once this expires, you must
move on to the next task.
When you have completed a practice exercise, you can
review the model answer alongside your own response. It’s
possible to make a number of points that may not be in the
suggested solution that would earn credit in the exam, so
don’t feel disheartened if the answers don’t match exactly.
Case Study Exam candidates would be well advised to
do the following:
– Check CIMA’s website regularly for further information
and updates.
– Register on the Pearson Vue website to gain access to
the pilot exams.
– Work through the relevant CIMA official study texts,
ensuring that you complete the practice exercises properly.
– Review the pre-seen material thoroughly as soon as it
becomes available.