Congrats! You made it to Core 2. Unlike Core 1, you have a higher statistical chance of passing, there are less topics to learn and you have an exam writing experience under your belt. That’s not to say that Core 2 is easy, however.
CPA candidates struggle with Core 2. A lot. From my experience, the main reasons come down to:
- Weak Management Accounting (MA)
- No excel templates in mind
- Time management issues
- Bad case writing skills
As much Core 1 focuses on Financial Reporting (FR), so does Core 2 focus on MA. In fact, according to CPA Canada blueprint, 50-70% of the exam is going to be MA.
It’s All About Management Accounting
Here are some common MA topics that you need to know for the Core 2 module exam:
- Budgets
- Variance analysis
- Relevant costing
- Break-even analysis
- Contribution margin analysis
- Cost-volume-profit (CVP) analysis
- Transfer pricing
The secret to getting good at these topics is to write as many cases as possible. With every case attempt, you learn a new MA format, a new approach, and improve your case writing skills.
CPA Canada provides eight (8) cases in Core 2. These are helpful, but at times they are repetitive. Most candidates who took Core 2 say that the exam had different AOs compared to practice cases. They suggest to get more cases and practice more.
Where can you get more Core 2 cases?
I provide six (6) original CPA Core 2 cases that are representative of the exam, in both format and content. They cover a range of AOs, including:
- Special order analysis
- Buy vs. lease decisions
- Business environment evaluation
- Responsibility centres
- Contribution margin (CM) with constrained resource
- Profitability calculation
- Financing sources
- Break-even analysis
- Variance analysis
- Transfer pricing
Head over to the cases section of my website to learn more. Some of the above topics are not covered in the Core 2 module, but they come up on the exam over and over. If you have any questions or need additional help, I’m here for email support.
Where can you get more Core 2 MCQs?
With the April 2022 change in the exam format, I have added 75 mock exam MCQs to my cases.
Core 2 Practice cases and Solutions
Preview and purchase the supplementary mock exam cases to improve your case writing skills and take on Core 2.
