Responsibility Accounting & Performance Measurement MCQs with Answers
Which of the following is a key feature of responsibility accounting?
a) Assigning blame for all financial outcomes
b) Measuring performance based on controllable factors
c) Ignoring the performance of individual managers
d) Focusing only on financial results
What is the main objective of responsibility accounting?
a) To assign responsibility for all financial outcomes to top management
b) To provide performance reports for individual managers based on their areas of control
c) To minimize overall company expenditures
d) To evaluate the performance of shareholders
Which of the following is a common responsibility center in responsibility accounting?
a) Investment center
b) Government center
c) Marketing center
d) None of the above
What does a cost center manager primarily focus on?
a) Generating revenue
b) Controlling costs
c) Investment decisions
d) Profitability
Which of the following is an example of a revenue center?
a) Sales department of a company
b) Production department of a company
c) Human resources department of a company
d) Finance department of a company
Which performance measure is typically used for a profit center?
a) Revenue
b) Net profit or contribution margin
c) Return on assets
d) Budget variances
What is the responsibility of a manager in an investment center?
a) Controlling costs
b) Generating revenue
c) Making investment decisions and managing assets
d) Managing human resources
Which of the following performance measures is used in responsibility accounting to assess profitability?
a) Return on Investment (ROI)
b) Gross margin
c) Contribution margin
d) Operating income
What is the primary focus of a balanced scorecard?
a) To evaluate financial performance only
b) To evaluate performance across financial, customer, internal process, and learning & growth perspectives
c) To compare the performance of different companies
d) To measure performance in only one department
Which of the following is a non-financial performance measure?
a) Return on investment
b) Customer satisfaction score
c) Net profit
d) Earnings per share
What does ROI (Return on Investment) measure?
a) Profit relative to sales
b) Efficiency in utilizing assets to generate income
c) Total revenue generated by the company
d) Operating costs compared to budgeted costs
Which of the following is true about a profit center?
a) The manager is responsible only for costs
b) The manager is responsible for both revenues and costs
c) The manager is responsible for investments and assets
d) The manager is responsible for managing human resources
Which of the following is a key challenge in responsibility accounting?
a) Focusing only on the top-level performance
b) Defining clear performance metrics for each responsibility center
c) Ignoring non-financial factors
d) Avoiding performance measurement for small departments
Which of the following performance measures is used in responsibility accounting for cost centers?
a) Return on investment
b) Budget variances
c) Contribution margin
d) Customer satisfaction
Which of the following is not a typical responsibility center in a manufacturing company?
a) Sales department
b) Production department
c) Finance department
d) Marketing department
Which of the following would likely be used as a performance measure in an investment center?
a) Profit margin
b) Return on assets
c) Contribution margin
d) Cost per unit
Which of the following is a disadvantage of using ROI as a performance measure?
a) It encourages managers to make short-term decisions that benefit ROI but may not benefit the company in the long run
b) It is difficult to calculate
c) It ignores the company’s long-term profitability
d) It provides an inaccurate view of financial performance
What is a key characteristic of a cost center?
a) The manager is responsible for managing investments
b) The manager is responsible for maximizing revenues
c) The manager is responsible for minimizing costs within a set budget
d) The manager is responsible for profitability
Which of the following is an example of a cost center?
a) Manufacturing department
b) Sales department
c) Investment department
d) Research and development department
Which performance measure is most commonly used for evaluating the performance of a revenue center?
a) Return on Investment (ROI)
b) Contribution margin
c) Revenue generation
d) Return on Assets (ROA)
How does responsibility accounting contribute to organizational control?
a) By evaluating individual performance against pre-set objectives and standards
b) By assigning tasks to employees without monitoring results
c) By giving complete autonomy to department heads
d) By measuring the performance of the entire company, not individual units
Which of the following is a responsibility of a manager in a revenue center?
a) Maximizing profitability
b) Controlling costs
c) Maximizing revenue generation
d) Managing assets and investments
What is a key feature of the balanced scorecard?
a) It focuses solely on financial measures
b) It includes both financial and non-financial performance metrics
c) It ignores non-financial factors to keep things simple
d) It is only applicable to profit centers
Which of the following is a potential disadvantage of responsibility accounting?
a) It promotes short-term decision-making
b) It is easy to implement without changes to the organization’s structure
c) It leads to a more unified organizational culture
d) It simplifies performance reporting for non-financial departments
What type of center would a company’s finance department typically be classified as?
a) Cost center
b) Profit center
c) Investment center
d) Revenue center
Which of the following performance measures is typically used for an investment center?
a) Return on equity
b) Gross margin
c) Return on investment (ROI)
d) Contribution margin ratio