CCA Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield CCA facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. Which capital budgeting method accounts for the time value of money AND expresses the return as a percentage? → Internal rate of return (IRR)
2. Which of the following is an example of an indirect manufacturing cost? → Factory supervisor salary
3. Which method of allocating service department costs allocates costs sequentially, with no re-allocation back to previously allocated departments? → Step-down method
4. Customer profitability analysis is primarily used to: → Identify which customers contribute most to overall company profitability
5. Under the COSO Internal Control framework, 'monitoring activities' include which of the following? → Ongoing evaluations and separate evaluations of internal controls
6. Which type of audit opinion is issued when financial statements present fairly in all material respects? → Unmodified (clean) opinion
7. Which assertion addresses whether transactions are recorded in the correct accounting period? → Cutoff
8. Which of the following events would most likely trigger goodwill impairment testing before the annual date? → A significant adverse change in legal factors
9. A sensitivity analysis on a sales forecast changes the unit price by ±10% while holding all other variables constant. This technique is used to: → Identify which assumptions have the greatest impact on the forecasted outcome
10. Which of the following would be a red flag in regulatory compliance? → Late or missing tax filings
11. Which costing method assigns manufacturing overhead to products based on the activities that drive costs? → Activity-based costing (ABC)
12. In a standard costing system, the labor efficiency variance is calculated as: → (Actual hours – Standard hours) × Standard rate
13. Which financial ratio is used to evaluate liquidity? → Current ratio
14. Operational risk is best described as the risk of loss resulting from: → Inadequate internal processes, people, or systems
15. Which strategic cost analysis tool examines the full series of value-creating activities from raw materials through final delivery to the customer? → Value chain analysis
16. What does a favorable materials price variance indicate? → Material was purchased at less than standard price
17. The Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income (GILTI) regime under Section 951A primarily targets which type of income? → Foreign subsidiary income exceeding a routine return on tangible assets
18. IT general controls (ITGCs) are best described as controls that: → Apply broadly to the IT environment and support the reliability of application controls
19. Target costing is most accurately calculated as: → Market price minus desired profit margin
20. A calendar-year corporation's estimated tax payments are due on which dates? → March 15, June 15, September 15, December 15
21. The contribution margin ratio is calculated as: → Contribution Margin ÷ Sales
22. A price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 20 means that investors are paying: → $20 for every $1 of annual earnings
23. What is the purpose of the Base Erosion and Anti-Abuse Tax (BEAT) under IRC Section 59A? → To prevent profit-shifting through deductible payments to foreign related parties
24. The arm's-length principle in transfer pricing strategy requires that: → Transactions between related parties be priced as if conducted between independent parties
25. Which is an example of a preventive control? → Approval requirements for purchases
26. What type of short-term investment is most appropriate for a corporate treasurer seeking maximum liquidity and minimal credit risk? → US Treasury bills (T-bills)
27. A company records a $50,000 write-down of inventory to net realizable value. What is the immediate effect on the financial statements? → Decrease assets and decrease equity
28. Under IRC Section 382, what event triggers a limitation on the use of a corporation's pre-change NOLs? → An ownership change exceeding 50 percentage points over 3 years
29. Which anti-avoidance provision under IRC Section 269 allows the IRS to disallow deductions or credits when a corporation is acquired principally to evade tax? → The Section 269 acquisition-for-tax-avoidance rule
30. During a budget variance analysis, a favorable volume variance combined with an unfavorable price variance most likely indicates that: → The company sold more units than planned but at lower prices than budgeted