CPA PM Elective study guide
CPA PM Elective · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The CPA Performance Management (PM) Elective is one of the four elective modules in the CPA Canada Professional Education Program (PEP). It is designed for candidates who want to work where accounting meets operational decision-making: management accounting, FP&A, business partnering, cost and profitability analysis, and strategic performance measurement. The CPA PM Elective study guide has 9 sections and about 3,482 words.
01Strategy, Governance, and Performance Measurement Frameworks
This domain tests whether you can connect an entity's purpose to measurable outcomes and explain who governs the process. Expect strategic analysis tools, levels of strategy, board oversight, and framework design such as the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and strategy maps.
384 words, about 2 min02Cost Management and Cost Behaviour
Cost management questions test classification, costing system choice, and whether you can strip a decision down to relevant cash flows. Expect cost behaviour, job and process costing, ABC, target and life-cycle costing, throughput, and short-term decisions.
383 words, about 2 min03Budgeting, Forecasting, and Variance Analysis
Budgeting and variance questions test budget method choice, forecast quality, and whether you can decompose a total variance into controllable parts. Expect static versus flexible budgets, standard costing, sales mix and yield, and responsibility for variances.
406 words, about 2 min04Performance Measurement and Management Control Systems
This domain tests responsibility accounting, segment performance, transfer pricing, and control-system design. Expect ROI, residual income, EVA, balanced scorecard use, benchmarking, and behavioural consequences of incentives.
391 words, about 2 min05Pricing and Revenue Management
Pricing questions test how costs, customers, competitors and capacity set price, and how revenue management changes yield. Expect cost-plus, target costing, value-based pricing, elasticity, price discrimination, bundling, skimming and penetration.
409 words, about 2 min06Investment Appraisal and Capital Allocation
Investment appraisal tests incremental cash flow, time value, risk, and capital allocation. Expect NPV, IRR, payback, discounted payback, ARR, profitability index, real options, capital rationing, and sensitivity.
385 words, about 2 min07Risk Management and Internal Controls
Risk and internal control questions test risk identification, response selection, control design, and fraud prevention. Expect ERM, COSO components, preventive and detective controls, segregation of duties, the fraud triangle, and IT general controls.
377 words, about 2 min08Data Analytics, Technology, and Decision Support
This domain tests analytics types, data quality, technology-enabled decision support, and the governance of models and data. Expect descriptive, diagnostic, predictive and prescriptive analytics, BI, RPA, AI, cloud, cybersecurity, privacy, and model risk.
382 words, about 2 min09Communication, Ethics, and Professional Judgment in Decision Making
This domain tests the CPA Code, ethical threats and safeguards, professional judgment, bias, stakeholder communication, and decision documentation. Expect scenarios with pressure to manage earnings, confidentiality conflicts, and recommendations that must be defensible.
365 words, about 2 min