Operational level · OCS
CIMA OCS past questions by sitting
Every sub-task from recent Operational Case Study pre-seens, summarised in our own words and sorted by core activity. One sitting at a time, with the number of matching sub-tasks on each.
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All sittings: showing 105 of 200 sub-tasks.
May & Aug 2026 · SoPa
CIMA's post-exam materials for May & Aug 2026Restaurants · 69 sub-tasks shown
- V1 · Task 1(a)Core activity E: Short-term decisions
Making in-house or outsourcing: read a break-even chart for profit, fixed and variable cost, break-even point and margin of safety.
- V1 · Task 1(b)Core activity E: Short-term decisions
Benefits and limitations of the break-even analysis behind the make-or-outsource choice.
- V1 · Task 1(c)Core activity E: Short-term decisions
Using weighted benefit scoring to support the in-house or outsource production decision.
- V1 · Task 2(a)Core activity B: Budgeting
Why production budgets help a new production unit plan, co-ordinate and control.
- V1 · Task 2(b)Core activity B: Budgeting
How to build the production, materials usage and materials purchases budgets from the data given.
- V1 · Task 2(c)Core activity D: Reporting, ethics and tax
Valuing the new unit's finished goods inventory under the inventory standard.
- V1 · Task 3(a)Core activity A: Costing
Choosing and justifying overhead absorption bases for each production process.
- V1 · Task 3(b)Core activity A: Costing
Whether activity-based costing suits the new production facility.
- V1 · Task 3(c)Core activity F: Working capital
What the economic order quantity represents and the data needed to work it out.
- V1 · Task 3(d)Core activity F: Working capital
Whether EOQ is a sensible ordering policy for a packaging item.
- V1 · Task 4(a)Core activity C: Performance
Interpreting a month's production variances alongside a KPI dashboard.
- V1 · Task 4(b)Core activity C: Performance
Two sustainability KPIs to add to the production dashboard, with reasons.
- V2 · Task 1(a)Core activity B: Budgeting
Whether time series analysis of past sales would give a usable sales forecast.
- V2 · Task 1(b)Core activity B: Budgeting
How AI and big data could improve sales forecasts.
- V2 · Task 1(c)Core activity C: Performance
KPIs for individual servers and for restaurant managers: how to measure them and why.
- V2 · Task 2(a)Core activity E: Short-term decisions
Choosing restaurant capacity under maximax, maximin and minimax regret.
- V2 · Task 2(b)Core activity E: Short-term decisions
How probability estimates and decision makers' attitudes to risk affect the capacity decision.
- V2 · Task 3(a)Core activity D: Reporting, ethics and tax
Initial and later measurement of the lease liability and right-of-use asset for a new service system.
- V2 · Task 3(b)Core activity F: Working capital
Benefits and drawbacks of moving to a proposed working capital policy.
- V2 · Task 4(a)Core activity B: Budgeting
Likely effects on the budgets of replacing serving staff with an automated system.
- V2 · Task 4(b)Core activity C: Performance
What sales and service data shows when reviewing restaurant performance.
- V2 · Task 4(c)Core activity A: Costing
How the automated system changes the way standard costs for drinks are set and used.
- V3 · Task 1(a)Core activity B: Budgeting
Applying flexible budgeting to one restaurant's budget for the year.
- V3 · Task 1(b)Core activity B: Budgeting
Benefits of big data analytics and AI for forecasting restaurant sales.
- V3 · Task 1(c)Core activity D: Reporting, ethics and tax
Recognising and measuring new capital expenditure under the property, plant and equipment standard.
- V3 · Task 2(a)Core activity E: Short-term decisions
Reading a chart to compare two suppliers' cost structures.
- V3 · Task 2(b)Core activity E: Short-term decisions
Choosing a supplier on expected purchase volume, and two limits of doing so.
- V3 · Task 2(c)Core activity F: Working capital
Comparing two suppliers' working capital ratios with industry averages and explaining the gaps.
- V3 · Task 2(d)Core activity F: Working capital
Recommending the more suitable of two suppliers.
- V3 · Task 3(a)Core activity C: Performance
Interpreting a restaurant's variances using the notes provided.
- V3 · Task 3(b)Core activity C: Performance
Justifying each dashboard KPI and linking it to the variance results.
- V3 · Task 4(a)Core activity A: Costing
The categories in a cost of quality report, with a restaurant example of each.
- V3 · Task 4(b)Core activity A: Costing
Benefits of producing a cost of quality report for every restaurant.
- V3 · Task 4(c)Core activity E: Short-term decisions
Which costs are relevant to deciding whether to back a community project.
- V4 · Task 1(a)Core activity B: Budgeting
Problems setting objectives and finding the principal budget factor for a pop-up restaurant.
- V4 · Task 1(b)Core activity B: Budgeting
How data-gathering technology can inform the pop-up restaurant's budgets.
- V4 · Task 1(c)Core activity B: Budgeting
How zero-based budgeting works and how to use it for front-of-house labour.
- V4 · Task 2(a)Core activity E: Short-term decisions
Interpreting a payoff table and its statistics for a marketing campaign choice.
- V4 · Task 2(b)Core activity E: Short-term decisions
Which campaign risk-neutral, risk-seeking and risk-averse managers would choose.
- V4 · Task 2(c)Core activity F: Working capital
Difficulties managing stock of a specialist ingredient, and whether EOQ fits.
- V4 · Task 3(a)Core activity C: Performance
Errors in a colleague's ingredient price and usage variances, the right method and the records needed.
- V4 · Task 3(b)Core activity C: Performance
Two sustainability KPIs and two inventory KPIs, with measurement and reasons.
- V4 · Task 4(a)Core activity A: Costing
Types of cost in building, launching and running an app in-house.
- V4 · Task 4(b)Core activity A: Costing
Problems costing the app in total and sharing its cost across restaurants.
- V4 · Task 4(c)Core activity E: Short-term decisions
Non-financial factors in buying a maintenance contract or training own IT staff.
- V4 · Task 4(d)Core activity D: Reporting, ethics and tax
Applying the short-term and low-value lease exemptions to several leased items.
- V5 · Task 1(a)Core activity A: Costing
Implementing ABC for labour at a vertical farm, and the benefits.
- V5 · Task 1(b)Core activity D: Reporting, ethics and tax
Recognising and initially measuring new farm expenditure.
- V5 · Task 1(c)Core activity D: Reporting, ethics and tax
How a change in tax depreciation allowances on new equipment affects taxable profit.
- V5 · Task 2(a)Core activity E: Short-term decisions
Interpreting a payoff table and its statistics for a supplier choice.
- V5 · Task 2(b)Core activity E: Short-term decisions
Which supplier risk-neutral, risk-seeking and risk-averse decision makers would choose.
- V5 · Task 2(c)Core activity F: Working capital
Comparing three short-term finance sources for a project's working capital, and recommending one.
- V5 · Task 3(a)Core activity C: Performance
How six variances are calculated, what they mean, their limits and how reported events caused them.
- V5 · Task 3(b)Core activity C: Performance
Three KPIs for farm workers across the growing cycle.
- V5 · Task 4(a)Core activity E: Short-term decisions
Relevant and irrelevant costs in evaluating a supermarket supply contract.
- V5 · Task 4(b)Core activity B: Budgeting
Technology and data sources for forecasting outside demand for a crop.
- V5 · Task 4(c)Core activity B: Budgeting
Cash budget factors when expanding production for outside customers.
- V6 · Task 1(a)Core activity E: Short-term decisions
What a decision tree shows for a set of linked options.
- V6 · Task 1(b)Core activity E: Short-term decisions
Using the decision tree on a risk-neutral basis to pick the best combination.
- V6 · Task 1(c)Core activity E: Short-term decisions
Two limitations of the approach and two other factors to weigh before deciding.
- V6 · Task 1(d)Core activity D: Reporting, ethics and tax
Initial and later measurement of a lease liability for the year-end accounts.
- V6 · Task 2(a)Core activity B: Budgeting
Effect of three sales ideas on budgeted revenue, variable cost, contribution and profit for a delivery service.
- V6 · Task 2(b)Core activity B: Budgeting
Whether the budget assumptions are reasonable.
- V6 · Task 2(c)Core activity F: Working capital
How a bulk purchase discount changes ordering and stock levels, plus one financial and one non-financial factor.
- V6 · Task 3(a)Core activity A: Costing
Environmental conformance and non-conformance costs, with examples of each category.
- V6 · Task 3(b)Core activity C: Performance
Three KPIs for individual delivery drivers.
- V6 · Task 4(a)Core activity C: Performance
Interpreting sales mix contribution variances under the individual units and weighted average methods.
- V6 · Task 4(b)Core activity C: Performance
Benefits of each method of calculating mix variances.
- V6 · Task 4(c)Core activity F: Working capital
Comparing three short-term investments for surplus cash and recommending one.
Nov 2025 & Feb 2026 · SumTrix
CIMA's post-exam materials for Nov 2025 & Feb 2026Ski manufacturing · 36 sub-tasks shown
- V1 · Task 1(a)Core activity D: Reporting, ethics and tax
Initial and later measurement of a lease of production equipment, this year and in future years.
- V1 · Task 1(b)Core activity E: Short-term decisions
Explaining a limiting-factor production plan and two factors to consider before adopting it.
- V1 · Task 1(c)Core activity E: Short-term decisions
How much it is worth paying for extra machine hours to meet full demand.
- V1 · Task 2(a)Core activity F: Working capital
Comparing two suppliers' working capital approaches and what that means for the business.
- V1 · Task 2(b)Core activity E: Short-term decisions
Expected values, standard deviations and coefficients of variation for an order-size choice, risk-averse and risk-seeking.
- V1 · Task 2(c)Core activity B: Budgeting
Sources and types of big data for a product range's sales budget.
- V1 · Task 3(a)Core activity A: Costing
Working out a cost per app download, and the difficulties.
- V1 · Task 3(b)Core activity B: Budgeting
Using activity-based budgeting to set a department's skilled labour budget.
- V1 · Task 4(a)Core activity C: Performance
Meaning and likely causes of a set of sales variances.
- V1 · Task 4(b)Core activity C: Performance
Whether planning and operational variances would help assess each regional sales head.
- V1 · Task 4(c)Core activity C: Performance
Three KPIs for how well the website generates sales.
- V2 · Task 1(a)Core activity B: Budgeting
Explaining a what-if analysis of discounts, volumes and unit cost on budgeted profit.
- V2 · Task 1(b)Core activity E: Short-term decisions
Three statistical measures and the discount level each attitude to risk would choose.
- V2 · Task 1(c)Core activity E: Short-term decisions
Limitations of the what-if figures and of using expected value for the decision.
- V2 · Task 2(a)Core activity F: Working capital
Explaining inventory data, the assumptions behind EOQ and whether it suits accessories.
- V2 · Task 2(b)Core activity A: Costing
Features of a digital costing system and how it helps purchasing and costing.
- V2 · Task 3(a)Core activity B: Budgeting
Features and benefits of beyond budgeting for production departments, including quality and sustainability.
- V2 · Task 3(b)Core activity C: Performance
What KPIs show about customer use of a newsletter, videos and a promotional discount.
- V2 · Task 4(a)Core activity D: Reporting, ethics and tax
Treatment, and effect on profit, of several items in the year-end financial statements.
- V2 · Task 4(b)Core activity C: Performance
Meaning and possible causes of a set of variances.
- V3 · Task 1(a)Core activity B: Budgeting
Using trend lines and seasonal variations to forecast sales in a new overseas market.
- V3 · Task 1(b)Core activity B: Budgeting
Factors that limit the accuracy of that forecast.
- V3 · Task 1(c)Core activity B: Budgeting
Benefits of big data and analytics for forecasting overseas sales revenue.
- V3 · Task 2(a)Core activity E: Short-term decisions
Using a decision tree, on a risk-neutral basis, to choose a sales agent.
- V3 · Task 2(b)Core activity E: Short-term decisions
Limitations of the decision tree approach for choosing the agent.
- V3 · Task 2(c)Core activity F: Working capital
Factors in setting finished goods stock levels to support overseas sales.
- V3 · Task 3(a)Core activity C: Performance
Four fixed production overhead variances and their likely causes.
- V3 · Task 3(b)Core activity C: Performance
How useful fixed overhead variances are for managing those costs.
- V3 · Task 3(c)Core activity A: Costing
The activity cost hierarchy, with production overhead examples at each level.
- V3 · Task 4(a)Core activity D: Reporting, ethics and tax
Effect on next year's accounts of adopting a property revaluation policy.
- V3 · Task 4(b)Core activity D: Reporting, ethics and tax
Depreciation period for computer equipment and how to handle a change in useful life.
- V3 · Task 4(c)Core activity C: Performance
Three KPIs for an overseas distribution centre manager.
- V4 · Task 1(a)Core activity D: Reporting, ethics and tax
Treatment of an old machine that is to be sold.
- V4 · Task 1(b)Core activity D: Reporting, ethics and tax
Which costs of a new machine are capitalised this year.
- V4 · Task 1(c)Core activity B: Budgeting
What market data says about demand for a new range and whether it supports a sales forecast.
- V4 · Task 2(a)Core activity C: Performance
Two KPIs for each of two new coordinator roles.