Unofficial practice for the ACCA Performance Management (PM) exam. Not affiliated with or endorsed by ACCA.
Performance management exam prep
PM is an Applied Skills exam that builds on Management Accounting: it moves from calculating costs and variances to using them to make and judge business decisions. ACCA's pass rates of 40% to 45% over the last five sessions mean fewer than half of candidates pass.
| Pass mark | 50% |
|---|---|
| Recent pass rates | 40% to 45% (September 2025 to September 2026) |
| Length | 3 hours, 100 marks |
| Written questions | 40 marks in Section C |
The 50% pass mark leaves room for mistakes, and the same techniques come up again and again: relevant costs, breakeven, limiting factors, expected values, mix and yield variances, return on investment and residual income. ACCA provides a formulae sheet in the exam. Once the techniques are secure, the marks come from explaining what the figures mean.
The free diagnostic asks one question on every topic of the syllabus, then shows the topic to fix first and a short lesson on it.
Limiting factors and linear programming
Fairley Co makes two products, Plain and Fancy. Its weekly plan is set by linear programming. With x units of Plain and y units of Fancy a week, the problem is: maximise contribution C = 30x + 40y, subject to labour 2x + 4y <= 2,000 hours, machine time 3x + 2y <= 1,800 hours, demand for Plain x <= 500, and x, y >= 0.
In the optimal plan, how much slack is there in the demand constraint for Plain? (2 marks)
Risk and uncertainty
Jarrow Co is deciding whether to launch a product. The market will be good (probability 0.5), giving a profit of $300,000, or bad (0.5), giving a loss of $200,000. Not launching gives nil. Jarrow Co chooses by expected value.
A market research firm offers a survey. The survey will be favourable with probability 0.6; after a favourable survey the probability of a good market is 0.75. It will be unfavourable with probability 0.4; after an unfavourable survey the probability of a good market is 0.125.
What is the most Jarrow Co should pay for the survey? (2 marks)
Divisional performance and transfer pricing
Division X of the Hurst group makes a component with a variable cost of $22 and a full cost of $32 a unit, and has spare capacity. It transfers components to Division Y at full cost plus 25%. Division Y has been offered a one-off order for 2,000 units of its product at $50 a unit. Each unit needs one component and further variable costs in Division Y of $15. The group's fixed costs will not change.
By how much would the group's profit change if Division Y accepted the order? (2 marks)
ACCA's pass rates were 40% to 45% over the last five sessions, so fewer than half of candidates passed. The pass mark is 50%, and 40 of the 100 marks are written questions.
Yes. ACCA's study guide says the exam has both computational and discursive elements: many objective questions ask for a figure, and Section C asks you to calculate and then explain.
ACCA's study guide says some Management Accounting knowledge is assumed in PM, chiefly overhead treatments, fixed, flexible and incremental budgets and all the Management Accounting variances.