Rvu 8 QP 6 B 37 V 9 LVHSG 5 Ga
Rvu 8 QP 6 B 37 V 9 LVHSG 5 Ga
(BEC)
AICPA
Released Questions -
2021
Material from Uniform CPA Examination Selected Questions
and Unofficial Answers, 2021, copyright ©️ by American Institute
of Certified Public Accountants, Inc., is reprinted and/or
adapted with permission
A. Incentive.
B. Collusion.
C. Opportunity.
D. Rationalization.
Correct Answer: B
Multiple Choice Question #2:
According to COSO, which of the following issues should lead to the greatest concern regarding the
effectiveness of an entity's internal control?
A. Monitoring internal control in areas that have never had a control failure.
B. Errors from control failures that were not detected timely by the routine monitoring procedures.
C. Unwarranted duplication of efforts when multiple people monitor the same control.
D. Additional evaluations solely to meet regulatory requirements when elements of other procedures
would be sufficient.
Correct Answer: B
Multiple Choice Question #3:
A member of the audit committee is evaluating the following risk matrix for a company:
Using statistical risk ranking methodology, which of the following lists of risks is correctly prioritized?
A. 2,1,3,4.
B. 2,1,4,3.
C. 3,4,2,1.
D. 4,3,2,1.
Correct Answer: C
Multiple Choice Question #4:
According to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, each of the following is a corporate responsibility requirement,
except:
A. The audit committee of the issuer is directly responsible for the appointment, compensation, and
oversight of the registered accounting firm.
B. The audit committee chairperson must certify that the quarterly report filed with the SEC fairly
presents the financial condition and results of operations.
C. The audit committee of the issuer must establish whistleblowing mechanisms and procedures within
the issuer.
D. Each audit committee member of the issuer must be independent.
Correct Answer: B
Multiple Choice Question #5:
A manufacturer performed an analysis of its product's price point in an effort to meet its customers' demand
without experiencing excess inventory.
The manufacturer uses just-in-time inventory processes, and demand for the product is elastic. Which of the
following prices should management use in order to address the efforts above while maximizing profits?
A. $1
B. $2
C. $3
D. $4
Correct Answer: C
Multiple Choice Question #6:
A company increased the price of its products and noted subsequent decreases in demand as below:
The data above best support which of the following conclusions regarding the price elasticity of demand for
the two products?
Correct Answer: C
Multiple Choice Question #7:
Two companies make handcrafted wooden ducks and rocking horses. Information about each company's
weekly production alternatives is as follows:
Production possibilities are linear. The annual market for ducks in the relevant shipping range is saturated at
4,160 ducks. Treasure and Gem enter into a trade agreement. According to the principle of comparative
advantage, which company should produce which product and why?
A. Gem should produce horses because it only needs to sacrifice four ducks compared to Treasure's 10
ducks.
B. Gem should produce ducks because it only needs to sacrifice two ducks compared to Treasure's four
ducks.
C. Treasure should produce horses because it only needs to sacrifice one-half of a horse compared to
Gem's one-fourth of a horse.
D. Treasure should produce ducks because it only needs to sacrifice one-fourth of a horse compared to
Gem's one-half of a horse.
Correct Answer: D
Multiple Choice Question #8:
Gray Co. and Seas Co. have the following items on their balance sheet at the end of the current year:
Which of the following statements best describes the liquidity position of the two companies in relation to
each other?
A. Seas is more liquid because it carries a larger amount of current assets than Gray.
B. Seas is more liquid because it has working capital greater than Gray.
C. Gray is more liquid because it carries a smaller amount of current liabilities than Seas.
D. Gray is more liquid because it has a larger current ratio than Seas.
Correct Answer: D
Multiple Choice Question #9:
Based on the following data, what is the cost of goods sold for the company?
Sales $1,000,000
Net purchases of raw materials 600,000
Cost of goods manufactured 800,000
Marketing and administrative expenses 250,000
Indirect manufacturing costs 500,000
A. $200,000
B. $400,000
C. $600,000
D. $900,000
Correct Answer: B
Multiple Choice Question #10:
A company provides the following information about discount factors and yearly cash flows:
If the discounted payback method is used, an outlay of $1,000 cash would most likely result in payback in
which of the following months?
A. Month 33.
B. Month 36.
C. Month 42.
D. After month 48.
Correct Answer: C
Multiple Choice Question #11:
Which of the following individuals or groups within an organization reviews and approves long-range plans and
oversees its information systems?
Correct Answer: A
Multiple Choice Question #12:
A credit card company that processes millions of transactions each year has experienced an increase in
fraudulent transactions. The company maintains a data warehouse with data about customers and
transactions from the past five years. How could the company best use this data to detect potentially
fraudulent charges within 24 hours of receipt of transaction data?
Correct Answer: A
Multiple Choice Question #13:
The estimated time for an intruder to penetrate the system is 27 minutes. Which of the following conclusions
is appropriate?
Correct Answer: B
Multiple Choice Question #14:
Product Sales price Variable costs Fixed costs Percent units sold
Shoes $100 $25 $40 30%
Swimsuits 50 10 20 50%
Hats 40 5 5 20%
A. $40.00
B. $49.50
C. $56.67
D. $63.33
Correct Answer: B
Multiple Choice Question #15:
Estimated sales for the Johnson Co. in the second quarter are shown below by month:
Johnson has a policy of maintaining 40% of the following month's estimated cost of sales on hand in
merchandise inventory at the end of each month. The cost of goods sold is 60% of sales. What is the cost of
the merchandise inventory that Johnson needs to purchase in May?
A. $21,600
B. $24,000
C. $26,400
D. $44,000
Correct Answer: C
Multiple Choice Question #16:
A company has determined that its sales to residential home builders tend to vary with changes in the prime
interest rate. Sales this year will be $5 million. The following information is available:
What amount is the expected value of the company's sales for the coming year's budget?
A. $5,037,500
B. $5,150,000
C. $5,172,500
D. $5,337,500
Correct Answer: A
Multiple Choice Question #17:
A company has established and communicated baseline expectations for performance to all employees. The
company's action demonstrates a focus on which of the following components of the COSO Internal Control
Framework?
A. Control activities.
B. Monitoring activities.
C. Control environment.
D. Information and communication.
Correct Answer: C
Multiple Choice Question #18:
A threat to an information system with a total potential dollar loss impact of $7 million has been discovered.
The risk of loss to the identified threat is currently 10%. The following four proposed controls are under
consideration to mitigate the risk of loss:
W 8% $100,000
X 6% 250,000
Y 4% 350,000
Z 2% 500,000
Based on a cost-benefit analysis, which control provides the greatest net benefit?
A. Control W.
B. Control X.
C. Control Y.
D. Control Z.
Correct Answer: C
Multiple Choice Question #19:
When risk is evaluated, which of the following risk responses is generally considered a sharing response?
Correct Answer: B
Multiple Choice Question #20:
According to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the audit committee of an issuer is responsible for each of the
following activities, except
A. Evaluating and reporting on the effectiveness of the company's internal control over financial
reporting.
B. Preapproving all audit and nonaudit services provided by the company's auditor.
C. Establishing procedures for the receipt, retention, and treatment of complaints received by the
company regarding accounting, internal control, and auditing matters.
D. The appointment, compensation, and oversight of the work of the registered public accounting firm
employed by the company.
Correct Answer: A
Multiple Choice Question #21:
A client owns a $1,000 10-year bond. The coupon rate is 6%. The client acquired the bond three years ago at a
discount. What is known about the interest rates three years ago?
Correct Answer: D
Multiple Choice Question #22:
An investment manager has been asked to prepare an analysis to show the difference between the interest
rates on U.S. Treasury bonds and corporate bonds of equal maturity and marketability. What type of interest
rate premium is being analyzed?
A. Inflation premium.
Correct Answer: B
Multiple Choice Question #23:
The transfer price set by a parent or subsidiary for goods or services most likely can be used by multinational
companies to
A. Transfer as much of the cost as allowable to the country with the lowest overall tax burden.
B. Transfer funds from a subsidiary located in a strong-currency country to a subsidiary located in a
country with depreciating currency.
C. Transfer as much of the cost as allowable to the country with the highest overall tax burden.
D. Change the financial statements of the individual subsidiaries.
Correct Answer: C
Multiple Choice Question #24:
Stock
E Perfectly correlated with F.
F Perfectly correlated with E.
H Positively correlated with I.
Which pair of stocks, if the stocks are purchased in equal amounts, will create the portfolio with the least risk?
A. E and F.
B. H and I.
C. J and K.
D. L and M.
Correct Answer: D
Multiple Choice Question #25:
Which of the following is a valid method of calculating the internal rate of return?
A. Calculate the present value of each cash flow for each year and subtract it from the cost of the
investment.
B. Plot three or four combinations of net present value (NPV) and discount rate on a graph, connect the
points with a smooth line, and locate the discount rate at which NPV=0.
C. Calculate the project net income for each year, and then compute a simple average. Average the
project’s beginning and ending book value. Divide the average net income by the average book value.
D. Compute the total of the present values of each year’s cash flow. Divide the total of the present values
by the initial investment.
Correct Answer: B
Multiple Choice Question #26:
A company is evaluating four projects as possible investments. All of the projects are for the same activity. The
company will select only one project. The company's discount rate for such projects is 10%, and the tax rate is
40%. The company's reinvestment rate is 10%. Additional information about the projects is as follows:
A 11% $210,000
B 12% 195,000
C 13% 175,000
D 14% 200,000
A. Project A.
B. Project B.
C. Project C.
D. Project D.
Correct Answer: A
Multiple Choice Question #27:
Correct Answer: A
Multiple Choice Question #28:
A transaction processing system allows an authorized individual to select a quantity of items from the
company's online inventory. It is also possible to trace back to a copy of the purchase order to see when the
items were ordered and who authorized the order. Which of the following features does this system have?
B. An audit trail.
C. An inventory tracking system.
D. Real-time inventory auditing.
Correct Answer: B
Multiple Choice Question #29:
In order to calculate a single-level sales tax on gross retail sales by day, an accountant set up a spreadsheet
and entered data as follows:
A. Hard-coding the sales tax rate into all of the cells in column C.
B. Using a mixed cell reference for the sales tax rate for all of the cells in column C.
C. Using a relative cell reference for the sales tax rate for all of the cells in column C.
D. Using an absolute cell reference for the sales tax rate for all of the cells in column C.
Correct Answer: D
Multiple Choice Question #30:
If there were no changes in inventory, what amount would be the usage variance?
A. $160,000
B. $180,000
C. $200,000
D. $220,000
Correct Answer: A
Multiple Choice Question #31:
Clear Plus, Inc. manufactures and sells boxes of pocket protectors. The static budget and the actual results for
May are as follows:
What amount of operating income will Clear Plus have for May under a flexible budget?
A. $12,000
B. $18,000
C. $19,200
D. $29,200
Correct Answer: B
Multiple Choice Question #32:
A company normally sells a product for $12 per unit. The plant capacity is 100,000 units per month, and
current production is 75,000 units per month. Current costs are as follows:
The company received a one-time special order for 10,000 units, which would be shipped in bulk to the buyer
at a cost of $5,000 (10,000 times $0.50). What amount is the minimum selling price per unit that the company
should accept for the special order?
A. $10.00
B. $ 9.50
C. $ 8.00
D. $ 7.50
Correct Answer: D
Simulation
Item: 2445 #1:
An internal audit team noted that the CFO is reallocating JRM Company's investment portfolio
into high-risk, high-return investments. Total investments for JRM represent 20% of the
company's assets.
Write a memo to the audit committee expressing your concern over the investment strategy and
the increased risk to the company. Discuss procedures and controls that could reduce the risk to
JRM.
REMINDER: Your response will be graded for technical content and writing skills. Technical content
will be evaluated for information that is helpful to the intended audience and clearly relevant to the
issue. Writing skills will be evaluated for development, organization, and the appropriate expression
of ideas in professional correspondence. Use an appropriate business format with a clear
introduction, body, and conclusion. Do not convey information in the form of a table, bullet-point
list, or other abbreviated presentation.
Memorandum
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Exhibits Information
There are no exhibits for this item.
Blueprint Information
CSO: 002.003.002
Representative task: Identify strategies to mitigate financial risks (e.g., market, interest rate, currency and
liquidity) and quantify their impact on a business entity.
Simulation
Item: 85881 #2:
A company's controller maintains a spreadsheet to facilitate the reconciliation of the company's account
balance per the bank to the company's account balance per the general ledger. The company's management
is considering the implementation of new financial software that includes an automated bank reconciliation
process.
In a memo to the controller, discuss the impact on the internal controls of migrating from a manual bank
reconciliation process to an automated bank reconciliation process.
REMINDER: Your response will be graded for technical content and writing skills. Technical content
will be evaluated for information that is helpful to the intended audience and clearly relevant to the
issue. Writing skills will be evaluated for development, organization, and the appropriate expression of
ideas in professional correspondence. Use an appropriate business format with a clear introduction,
body, and conclusion. Do not convey information in the form of a table, bullet-point list, or other
abbreviated presentation.
Memorandum
To: Controller
Re: Implementation of an automated bank reconciliation process
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Exhibits Information
There are no exhibits for this item.
Blueprint Information
CSO: 001.001.002
Representative task: Apply the COSO internal control framework to identify an appropriate mix of
automated and manual application controls, (e.g., authorization and approval, verifications, physical
controls, controls over standing data, reconciliations and supervisory controls) to prevent
and detect errors in transactions.
Simulation #3:
Item: 500060
Mitro Ventures, Inc. is a global furniture manufacturer headquartered in the U.S. The company’s
controller asked you to perform some liquidity and profitability calculations based on the varying
circumstances outlined in Tasks 1, 2, and 3 below.
Task 1:
Mitro purchases all of its timber from one vendor with standard payment terms of 30 days. If Mitro
pays the invoices for timber within 10 days of the invoice date, it receives a 1.5% discount. If Mitro
pays the invoices for timber after that, it does not receive any discount.
During the prior month, Mitro's consolidated revenue reached $100 million, with cost of sales of $50
million.
For the questions listed below in column A, enter the applicable percentages in the associated cells
in column B, rounded to the nearest whole percent. If a response is zero, enter a zero (0). Use the
Analytics Definitions exhibit for the calculation of the gross margin.
Task 2:
Mitro sold a collection of furniture for 1,500,000 euros (€) to a retailer in a country located in the
Euro Zone when the exchange rate was €1 = $1.20. Mitro's functional currency in this country is
the U.S. dollar ($). At the end of the company's reporting period, Mitro collected the payment in
euros for the sale of furniture when the exchange rate was €1 = $1.10.
For the questions listed below in column A, enter the applicable amounts in the associated cells in
column B. Enter proceeds and gains as positive values and losses as negative values. If a response
is zero, enter a zero (0).
Task 3:
Mitro is in the process of calculating its operating and cash conversion cycles in days. Use the
information in the table below to calculate these cycles.
For the questions listed below in column A, enter the applicable number of days in the
associated cells in column B. If a response is zero, enter a zero (0). Use the Analytics
Definitions exhibit for the calculation of the cash conversion cycle.
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Exhibits Information
Exhibits included in this item 1. Analytics Definitions
Exhibit for Item: 500060
Exhibit 1: Analytics Definitions
Blueprint Information
CSO: 003.002.001
Skill: Application
Representative task: Calculate the metrics associated with the working capital components, such as current
ratio, quick ratio, cash conversion cycle, inventory turnover, and receivables turnover.
Simulation
Item: 500222
#4:
Scroll down to complete all parts of these tasks.
Birch Corp. is a floral retailer and distributor in the United States. The company is interested in improving its
working capital position during year 5.
Task 1:
Toward the end of year 4, the company's finance manager was asked to determine a reasonable level of cash
that the company should borrow and maintain to meet working capital requirements. The finance manager
asked you to review Birch's options, set forth in the working capital alternatives memo, to determine the impact
of each strategy on elements of the company's net working capital.
Review the company's working capital alternatives memo and its accounts receivable aging
schedule in the exhibits above and determine the impact of each strategy on elements of net working
capital.
For each of the strategies listed in column A of the table below, click in the associated cell in column B and
select the answer that best describes the impact that the strategy listed would have on the elements of net
working capital as of December 31, year 4. Assume that execution of each of the strategies listed would take
place on December 31, year 4.
Task 2:
At the end of year 5, Birch had shareholders' equity in the amount of $10,380,000. The company's long-term
liabilities were
$7,500,000, with net working capital, excluding accounts receivable, of $2,105,000. Birch's noncurrent assets
had a carrying value of $15,190,000. What was Birch's accounts receivable balance at the end of year 5?
For the line item listed below in column A, enter the applicable amount, rounded to the nearest whole number,
in the associated cell in column B. If an amount is zero, enter a zero (0).
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-- Option List Details --
B2 List
• Current assets will increase by $120,000, and current liabilities will increase by $120,000.
• Current assets will increase by $240,000, and current liabilities will increase by $120,000.
• Current assets will increase by $240,000, and current liabilities will increase by $240,000.
• Current assets will increase by $240,000, and long-term liabilities will increase by $240,000.
• Current assets will not increase, but current liabilities will increase by $120,000.
B3 List
• Current assets will increase by $120,000, and current liabilities will increase by $120,000.
• Current assets will increase by $240,000, and current liabilities will increase by $120,000.
• Current assets will increase by $240,000, and current liabilities will increase by $240,000.
• Current assets will increase by $120,000, with no change to the current liabilities.
• Current assets will increase by $240,000, with no change to the current liabilities.
B4 List
• Current assets will increase by $120,000, and current liabilities will increase by $120,000.
• Current assets will increase by $120,000, and current liabilities will increase by $240,000.
• Current assets will increase by $240,000, and current liabilities will increase by $120,000.
• Current assets will increase by $240,000, and current liabilities will increase by $240,000.
• Current assets will increase by $240,000, with no change to the current liabilities.
• Current assets will not increase, but current liabilities will increase by $240,000.
B5 List
• Current assets will decrease by $40,000, and current liabilities will decrease by $40,000.
• Current assets will decrease by $40,000, and current liabilities will increase by $40,000.
• Current assets will increase by $40,000, and current liabilities will increase by $40,000.
• Current assets will decrease by $40,000, with no change to the current liabilities.
• Current assets will increase by $40,000, with no change to the current liabilities.
B6 List
• Current assets will decrease by $100,000, and current liabilities will increase by $100,000.
• Current assets will increase by $100,000, and current liabilities will decrease by $100,000.
• Current assets will increase by $100,000, and current liabilities will increase by $100,000.
• Current assets will increase by $100,000, with no change to the current liabilities.
• Current liabilities will increase by $100,000, with no change to the current assets.
Exhibits Information
Exhibits included in 1. Working capital alternatives memorandum
this item 2. Accounts receivable aging
Exhibit for Item: 500222
Exhibit 1: Working capital alternatives memorandum
The potential working capital management strategies at our disposal as of December 31, year 4, are
listed below. All of the strategies have been discussed with willing counterparties, and if a strategy is
selected, execution would take place on December 31, year 4. All of the strategies should be
considered to be mutually exclusive.
Line of credit:
A 12-month line of credit for $240,000 with 3% interest paid monthly, with the first payment due at the
end of January, year 5. The company would draw 50% of the full amount at the time of execution of
the line of credit, with repayment due at the end of the 12-month period.
Factoring agreement:
The company can factor receivables on a nonrecourse basis at a 12% discount for all of the balances
that are less than 61 days overdue.
CSO: 003.002.002
Skill: Analysis
Representative task: Distinguish between corporate banking arrangements, including establishment of lines
of credit, borrowing capacity and monitoring of compliance with debt covenants in order to determine the
effects on the working capital of a given entity.