Cambridge IAS-Level · Analysis & Prediction

2024 Cambridge IAS-Level Accounting (9706) Past Paper Analysis

This paper offers a highly balanced yet technically demanding assessment across financial and management accounting. Key features include an exhaustive incomplete records scenario for a sole trader, a rigorous test of corporate equity transactions including bonus and rights issues with reserve adjustments, ratio analysis involving working capital and efficiency, and a multi-step marginal costing decision scenario with tiered sales commissions.

Updated: 12 Jun 2026

Analysis Sample paper

Difficulty 3.0/5

Total marks

120

Duration

165 mins

Most tested

Marginal costing principles and incomplete records for sole traders

Paper breakdown

Paper 12 Multiple Choice: 30 marks · 60 minsPaper 22 Fundamentals of Accounting: 90 marks · 105 mins

Top chapters

Traditional costing methods - Marginal costing (Cost and management accounting) · 32 marksPreparation of financial statements - Sole traders (Financial accounting) · 25 marksAnalysis and communication of accounting information (Financial accounting) · 17 marks

Difficulty Verdict: A Solid, Technique-Driven Challenge

This 9706 examination series represents a classic, balanced Cambridge AS Level paper. It features a difficulty index of 3 out of 5, avoiding overwhelming mathematical complexity but requiring flawless execution of accounting protocols. While the Multiple Choice Paper (12) rewards a steady grasp of fundamental principles and adjustments, Paper 22 steps up the intensity with sophisticated multi-layered scenarios. The primary challenge lies in the reverse-engineering of corporate equity reserves and handling complex double-tier sales commission calculations.

Where the Marks Are Won and Lost

The majority of the marks are concentrated in the practical accounting statements in Paper 22. In Question 1, the incomplete records statement of profit or loss carries a massive 17 marks. The margins for error here are narrow: candidates had to reconstruct sales and purchases using control account logic and carefully apply accruals/prepayments on expenses such as rent, electricity, and insurance. In Question 3, the Statement of Changes in Equity (8 marks) represents another major mark reservoir, but it acted as a major filter for top grades. Resolving the bonus issue by fully exhausting the share premium of $ \$19,200 $ and taking the remaining $ \$800 $ from retained earnings was highly challenging. Similarly, the downward revaluation of $ \$8,000 $ required wiping out the existing revaluation reserve of $ \$6,500 $ and charging the remaining $ \$1,500 $ to retained earnings.

Examiner Pitfalls & Traps to Avoid

Tiered Commission Structures: In Question 4(b), many candidates failed to separate the 5% basic commission on the first 3,500 units from the 10% commission on the remaining 700 units, costing valuable accuracy marks in the marginal costing statement.
Working Backwards: Calculating the opening share capital in Question 3(b) by working backward from the ending balance of $ \$200,000 $ often led to sign errors. Candidates frequently added the bonus issue instead of subtracting it, or failed to isolate the nominal share value of the rights issue from its premium.
Missing Formula Presentation: Ratios such as trade receivables turnover and ROCE are easy targets for marks, yet failing to explicitly state the formula can lead to a total loss of credit if a minor arithmetic slip occurs in the calculation.

Preparation Strategy & Next-Steps

To succeed in future series, students must master the double-entry relationships of control accounts and equity reserves. Always write out formulas before substituting numbers. When tackling advice questions (which carry 7 marks each), organize your response into distinct, labelled subheadings for financial and non-financial factors. This ensures a balanced evaluation and guarantees that you access the highest mark bands.

Upcoming Exam Predictions

Given that partnerships were only examined via brief current account MCQs and a qualitative advice question in this series, a comprehensive partnership question (focusing on admission, revaluation, or dissolution) is highly overdue for the next series. Additionally, manufacturing accounts and service department re-apportionment under absorption costing were underrepresented in this paper, making them prime targets for upcoming papers.

Charts

Marks by chapter

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Question type mix

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Multiple Choice Questions30 marks · 30 questions
Financial Statement Preparation34 marks · 3 questions
Structured Calculations24 marks · 8 questions
Short Answer Theory / Explanation18 marks · 7 questions
Decision Analysis & Written Advice14 marks · 2 questions

Mark accessibility

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79%within easy or medium reach

easy: 42 marksmedium: 53 markshard: 25 marks

Difficulty trend

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Command word frequency

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Skill weighting

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Study ROI

Bigger bubbles recur more often; higher bubbles carry more marks, helping you rank revision priorities.

Preparation of financial statements - Sole traders (Financial accounting)

25 marks · Difficulty 3.2 · recurrence 90%

Traditional costing methods - Marginal costing (Cost and management accounting)

32 marks · Difficulty 3.5 · recurrence 85%

Analysis and communication of accounting information (Financial accounting)

17 marks · Difficulty 2.8 · recurrence 95%

Preparation of financial statements - Limited companies (Financial accounting)

13 marks · Difficulty 3.4 · recurrence 80%

Time vs marks

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marksmins

Next-year prediction

Topics worth watching next year, with the reason shown directly below each bar.

Preparation of financial statements - Partnerships (Financial accounting)85%

Partnership final accounts (revaluation, goodwill, dissolution, or appropriation accounts) were limited to a minor discussion and simple MCQ in this series. A full structured question on partnership admission or dissolution is highly likely in the next series.

Traditional costing methods - Absorption costing (Cost and management accounting)80%

Only featured briefly in MCQ format and brief comparison with marginal costing in Paper 2. A comprehensive question on overhead allocation, apportionment, and service department re-apportionment is overdue.

Preparation of financial statements - Manufacturing businesses (Financial accounting (A Level))75%

Manufacturing accounts did not appear as a major question in Paper 2 in this session, making it a prime candidate for testing raw materials, WIP, and finished goods adjustments.

Cumulative marks ladder

The line is your running mark total question by question; dashed lines are the estimated grade cut-offs. See which question the line crosses your target grade at, so you know how far you must answer cleanly and which questions decide a band.

Topic-year heatmap

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Jun 2023 (V1)

Jun 2023 (V2)

Jun 2023 (V3)

Nov 2023 (V1)

Nov 2023 (V2)

Nov 2023 (V3)

Jun 2024 (V1)

Jun 2024 (V2)

Jun 2024 (V3)

Nov 2024 (V1)

Nov 2024 (V2)

Preparation of financial statements - Sole traders

Reconciliation and verification

Traditional costing methods - Marginal costing

Preparation of financial statements - Limited companies

Traditional costing methods - Absorption costing

Accounting for non-current assets

The accounting system

Preparation of financial statements - Adjustments to draft financial statements

Preparation of financial statements - Partnerships

Analysis and communication of accounting information

Examiner insights

AI-inferred

Common pitfalls

Struggling to reconstruct purchases and sales figures using Control Account logic in incomplete records (Paper 2, Q1a).
Failing to apply the tiered sales commission correctly in Paper 2, Q4(b), where sales up to 3500 units receive 5% basic commission while units in excess of 3500 receive 10% commission.
Calculating the opening share capital (1 July 2023) by working forward instead of working backward from the 30 June 2024 balance of $200,000, neglecting to reverse the bonus issue and rights issue correctly.
Omitting the formula when calculating ratios (Receivables Turnover, ROCE) which costs easy marks if the final numeric answer is incorrect.

Misconceptions

Believing that a bonus issue of shares brings cash into the business, whereas it is merely a non-cash capitalization of reserves.
Assuming that a revaluation downward of property decreases retained earnings directly, rather than first exhausting any existing revaluation reserve.
Conflating gross profit margin (gross profit over revenue) with mark-up (gross profit over cost of sales) in written comparisons.

Where marks are lost

Losing accuracy marks in incomplete records due to incorrect treatment of rent pre-paid/accrued, electricity adjustments, and interest accruals.
Failing to justify advice questions with both balanced financial (e.g., interest costs, profit shares) and non-financial (e.g., skills, control, brotherly friction) factors.
Forgetting to present negative figures or deductions in brackets within financial statements, violating 'good accounting style'.

Estimated grade cut-off

Updated: 12 Jun 2026

Source: Cambridge International component thresholds (AS aggregate, derived)

Level	Mark	Percentage
A	79/120	66%
B	64/120	53%
C	52/120	43%
D	41/120	34%
E	30/120	25%

Estimated cut-offs from Cambridge International component thresholds (AS aggregate, derived); may differ from the official boundaries.

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