CA Inter Jan 2027 costing important questions: 6 repeats
The CA Inter costing important questions for January 2027 are ten question types that ICAI set in every one of its last four Paper 4s: cost sheets, variances, marginal costing decisions, budgets, overheads, service costing, activity based costing, material and employee cost, process and joint costs, and reconciliation. Six questions came back within a year, some in the very same slot. Below is where ICAI set each type, the six repeats, the full theory list, and two questions worked with ICAI's own answers.
Cost and Management Accounting is Paper 4, in Group II, written between 8 and 12 January 2027 from 2 PM to 5 PM, with reading time from 1:45 PM (ICAI's January 2027 notification, PDF (opens in a new tab)). For marks per chapter, see our CA Inter chapter wise weightage for Jan 2027; this post is about the questions inside those chapters.
Where these important questions come from
We read ICAI's last four Paper 4s part by part:
| Attempt | ICAI file |
|---|---|
| September 2025 | Suggested answers (PDF) (opens in a new tab) |
| January 2026 | Suggested answers (PDF) (opens in a new tab) |
| May 2026 | Suggested answers (PDF) (opens in a new tab) |
| September 2026 | Question paper (PDF) (opens in a new tab) |
ICAI's suggested answers page (opens in a new tab) had no September 2026 answers on 16 October 2026, so for that attempt we list the questions only. Grouping a part under a type is our reading; a part that mixes two chapters sits under the one it mostly tests.
CA Inter costing important questions: the 10 types at a glance
"MCQ case" means one of the two 10-mark case scenarios in Part I.
| # | Type | Sep 2025 | Jan 2026 | May 2026 | Sep 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cost sheet and pricing | Q1(a), MCQ case | Q2(a), Q4(b) | Q2(a) | Q2(b), Q5(a) |
| 2 | Standard costing variances | Q1(c), MCQ 11 | Q4(a), MCQ 11 | Q1(b), Q3(b) | Q4(a) |
| 3 | Marginal costing and decisions | Q3(b), MCQ case | Q5(c), MCQ case | Q2(b), Q5(b) | Q1(a) |
| 4 | Budgets and budgetary control | Q4(a) | Q5(b) | Q4(a) | Q2(a), MCQ case |
| 5 | Overheads: rates, service departments | Q2(b), Q5(c) | Q5(a) | MCQ case | Q1(c), Q5(b) |
| 6 | Service costing | Q2(a) | Q3(a), Q3(b) | MCQ 14 | Q3(b) |
| 7 | Activity based costing | Q3(a) | Q6(c) | Q5(a) | MCQ case |
| 8 | Material and employee cost | Q1(b), Q5(a), Q5(b) | Q1(c), MCQ case | Q4(b), MCQ 11, 12 | Q1(b), MCQ 12–14 |
| 9 | Process, joint and by-products | MCQ 12, 14 | Q1(b), Q2(b) | Q3(a), MCQ case | Q4(b), Q6(b), MCQ 11 |
| 10 | Reconciliation and cost accounting systems | Q4(b) | Q4(b) | Q1(c) | Q3(a) |
What stands out: no type missed a paper, so there is no chapter you can safely drop. The types move between slots, though, and September 2026 changed the split: Q1 was 7 + 4 + 3 marks instead of 5 + 5 + 4, and Q3 and Q5 became two 7-mark parts each, as Q2 had been in May 2026. Practise some 7-mark parts in one go, not only 4- and 5-mark ones.
The 6 questions ICAI repeated within a year
These came twice (or three times) in twelve months. If you practise only six questions this week, practise these.
| Topic | First time | Again |
|---|---|---|
| Service department costs by the simultaneous equation method | Sep 2025 Q2(b), 4 marks | Sep 2026 Q1(c), 3 marks |
| Economic order quantity | Sep 2025 Q5(b); Jan 2026 MCQ case | Sep 2026 Q1(b): EOQ and the ordering cost a year |
| Bill of Material, in the Q6(c) OR | Sep 2025: its uses in four departments | Sep 2026: Bill of Materials vs Material Requisition Note |
| Halsey premium plan | Sep 2025 Q1(b) with Rowan; Jan 2026 Q1(c) with Rowan | Sep 2026 MCQ 12: work back to the hours taken |
| Reconciliation of cost and financial profit | Jan 2026 Q4(b); May 2026 Q1(c) | Sep 2026 Q3(a), now 7 marks |
| Classifying costs by function | Jan 2026 Q6(a): by function and variability | Sep 2026 Q6(a): ten items by function |
ICAI keeps the method and changes the facts. September 2026's EOQ, for example, built the carrying cost from three separate rates (storage, interest and obsolescence) and the demand from a market share, so the trap was in the inputs, not the formula.
1. Cost sheet and pricing
A cost sheet or a price built on one came in every paper, often twice. September 2026 had two: a job cost sheet for a special order with overheads charged at last year's rates and a 10% safety margin on material and labour (Q2(b)), and five cost sheet figures from prime cost to sales (Q5(a)). January 2026's Q4(b) asked for a cost sheet on normal capacity and then a reconciliation, so one question tested two types. Learn where each item goes: September 2026's theory part asked how to treat idle wages in a government lockdown, a state subsidy for eco-friendly material, term-loan interest and GST with input tax credit.
2–3. Variances and marginal costing decisions
Variances: overhead variances (September 2025), material, labour and variable overhead (January 2026), material and fixed overhead (May 2026), and labour mix, efficiency, yield and rate across three grades for 9 marks (September 2026). September 2025 and January 2026 also had a variance MCQ each. The fixed overhead set is worked in our CA Inter costing mock test post.
Marginal costing: a key factor with limited raw material (September 2025), opportunity cost of two products (January 2026), break-even with a step in fixed cost and margin of safety (May 2026), and the optimum product mix within a shared capacity of 770 units, where some fixed costs arise only if that product is made (September 2026). In every decision question, write the rule you rank by before the numbers.
4–5. Budgets and overheads
Budgets: a quarter-wise budget (September 2025), activity and capacity ratios (January 2026), a sales budget by product and channel (May 2026), and a wages budget with 75% productivity, 15% down-time and overtime after 45 hours (September 2026), plus a full MCQ case on production and raw-material budgets.
Overheads: besides the repeated simultaneous equation method, ICAI set over- and under-absorption entries (September 2025), a machine hour rate (January 2026 and May 2026's MCQ case), and in September 2026 a choice between a single blanket rate and departmental rates for pricing Job 1023. That last one asks you to recommend a method, so say why in one line.
6–7. Service costing and activity based costing
Service costing came in every paper, and buses came twice: a toll plaza (September 2025), bank loan processing and a training batch fee (January 2026), cost per passenger-kilometre for buses (May 2026, MCQ 14), and a one-way bus fare with two buses off the road for a month (September 2026). Build the kilometres and passengers table first; every later figure depends on it.
Activity based costing: a consultancy's three sectors (September 2025), a theory part on its usefulness (January 2026), ABC against absorption costing for 10 marks (May 2026), and a customer-profitability MCQ case (September 2026).
8. Material and employee cost, with two worked answers
This type is usually short parts and MCQs, which makes it quick marks. Besides the EOQ and Halsey repeats: ABC inventory control (September 2025), labour turnover by three methods (May 2026), and in September 2026 MCQs on FIFO issues and overtime premium.
Worked with ICAI's answer (January 2026, Q1(c), 4 marks). Worker X made 1,800 units at a standard of 45 units an hour. He worked 30 hours (9 + 9 + 9 + 3) at ₹150 an hour.
| Working | Halsey (50%) | Rowan |
|---|---|---|
| Time allowed: 1,800 ÷ 45 | 40 hours | 40 hours |
| Time saved | 10 hours | 10 hours |
| Basic wages: 30 × 150 | ₹4,500 | ₹4,500 |
| Bonus | ½ × 10 × 150 = ₹750 | 30/40 × 10 × 150 = ₹1,125 |
| Earnings | ₹5,250 | ₹5,625 |
Writing the time allowed and time saved as separate lines is what ICAI's answer does, and it protects your step marks if the last figure goes wrong.
Worked with ICAI's answer (September 2025, Q5(b), 3 marks). Annual need 90,000 components, ordering cost ₹1,250 an order, carrying cost ₹25 a unit a year.
| Working | Figure |
|---|---|
| EOQ = √(2 × 90,000 × 1,250 ÷ 25) | 3,000 components |
| Orders a year = 90,000 ÷ 3,000 | 30 |
9–10. Process and joint costs, and reconciliation
Process, joint and by-products: process loss with an abnormal loss (January 2026), joint products with an incremental decision (January 2026 and May 2026), an MCQ case on inter-process profit (May 2026), and in September 2026 a FIFO process with normal and abnormal loss plus a theory part on by-products: treating sale of molasses, net realisable value for joint costs, and a by-product that needs further processing.
Reconciliation and cost accounting systems: non-integrated accounting entries (September 2025), then a reconciliation in each of the next three papers. In September 2026 ICAI asked you to keep the serial order of eight items and start from the costing profit. Write "add" or "less" against every item.
CA Inter costing important theory questions
Theory is Q6, 5 + 5 + 4 marks with an OR on part (c), in all four papers. Every topic ICAI used:
| Attempt | Q6 (a) | Q6 (b) | Q6 (c) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | Responsibility centres | Advantages of job costing | Controlling employee cost OR uses of Bill of Material |
| Jan 2026 | Classify by function and variability | An incentive scheme | Usefulness of ABC OR components of budgetary control |
| May 2026 | JIT ("demand pull") | Cost control vs cost reduction | Biometric attendance OR spoiled and defective work |
| Sep 2026 | Classify ten items by function | By-products and joint costs | Cost sheet treatment of four items OR Bill of Materials vs Material Requisition Note |
Two of the six repeats live here. A one-page list of these topics, five lines each, covers every theory question in these four papers.
How to practise these important questions
- Do the six repeats first, then one question of each type, checking against ICAI's answers linked above and in CA Inter suggested answers May 2026 PDF.
- Keep working notes numbered ("Working notes should form part of the answer", says the paper), and read how ICAI gives step marks in CA exams.
- Sit full papers from our CA Inter past year question papers page, and add ICAI's January 2027 RTP when it appears: on 16 October ICAI's Intermediate RTP page (opens in a new tab) still showed September 2026 as the latest.
- Check the weight of each section: ICAI's syllabus (PDF) (opens in a new tab) gives cost ascertainment (material, employee cost, overheads, ABC, cost accounting systems) 35%–40% and standard costing, marginal costing and budgets 25%–30%.
Frequently asked questions
What are the CA Inter costing important questions for Jan 2027?
Ten types from ICAI's last four papers: cost sheets, variances, marginal costing decisions, budgets, overheads, service costing, ABC, material and employee cost, process and joint costs, and reconciliation. Each came in all four papers.
Does ICAI repeat questions in CA Inter Costing?
It repeats methods, not figures. The simultaneous equation method, EOQ, the Halsey plan, Bill of Material, reconciliation and classifying costs by function all came twice or more between September 2025 and September 2026.
Which are the most important chapters in CA Inter Costing?
All fifteen carry marks. Marginal costing, cost sheet, overheads, budgets, material, employee cost, standard costing, service costing and ABC averaged the most; the counts are in our chapter wise weightage post.
Which costing theory questions are important for CA Inter?
The Q6 topics in the table above, with Bill of Material and classifying costs by function first, since both came twice within a year.
Where can I get extra costing questions with answers?
ICAI's own: its suggested answers, RTPs and MTPs, all free on ICAI's site and linked from our CA Inter free resources page.
Practise all ten types in a full Paper 4
Knowing the types is half the work; the other half is writing them in three hours on an unseen paper. Our CA Inter Costing mock tests give you 3 full-syllabus Paper 4s set by 15+ qualified CA faculty on ICAI's latest pattern, with every amendment applicable for January 2027 tested. You write by hand, upload one PDF, and get your copy back within 24 hours with step-wise marks and the reason for every mark cut. Costing is also part of the CA Inter Group II mock tests, and every level's CA test series and CA mock tests are on our home page.