CIMA Operational Case Study: Preparation and Answer Technique
The CIMA Operational Case Study (OCS) is a three-hour exam. You play a Finance Officer in a fictional company that CIMA describes in a pre-seen document released weeks before the exam. In the exam you get new information in four 45-minute tasks, and you pass by applying your E1, P1 and F1 knowledge to that company, not by writing what the textbook says. This page sets out the official rules, how to analyse the pre-seen, a worked answer with marker-style notes, how to split your time, and a practice routine using OpenTuition's free OCS mock exam.
OCS at a glance (CIMA rules, 2026-2027 blueprint)
| Item | Rule |
|---|---|
| Entry | Pass or be exempt from E1, P1 and F1 first (FLP candidates: complete the required learning) |
| Length and format | 3 hours: four tasks of 45 minutes each, equally weighted, each with two to four sub-tasks |
| Navigation | You can finish a task early and move on, but you cannot go back. After 45 minutes the system moves you on |
| Calculations | Tasks do not require specific calculations; you are expected to use and interpret the figures in your written answers |
| On screen | The pre-seen, a calculator (or your own CIMA-approved one), a scratch pad, and present value, cumulative present value and normal distribution tables |
| Marking | Human-marked. Scaled score 0-150; 80 or more is a pass. No minimum for each core activity |
| Windows | Four a year: February, May, August, November. Each level sits on three days, Wednesday to Friday |
| Pre-seen | One pre-seen covers two sittings: November with February, May with August |
What role do you play in the CIMA Operational Case Study?
Short answer: you are an entry-level Finance Officer. Your work is short term: costing, budgets, performance reports, short-term decisions, working capital and help with the financial statements. Write as that person, giving clear explanations and practical advice to managers who are not accountants.
CIMA rule. The blueprint describes the role as an entry-level finance professional, sometimes called a Finance Officer, who works in the finance team with business leaders. The role prepares information from different data sources, supports budget preparation and reporting, compares short-term options, supports decisions on working capital, cash and short-term finance, and helps prepare financial reports. It also expects awareness of tax, sustainability, ethics and the effect of your work on stakeholders. Each exam assesses six core activities:
| Core activity (2026-2027 OCS blueprint) | Weighting |
|---|---|
| A. Discuss costing information to support differing needs of the business | 12-18% |
| B. Discuss budget information for the purposes of planning and control | 17-25% |
| C. Analyse financial and non-financial information to communicate insights about organisational performance | 17-25% |
| D. Apply relevant financial reporting standards and corporate governance, ethical and tax principles | 7-13% |
| E. Analyse information to support short-term decision making | 17-25% |
| F. Discuss the management of working capital | 12-18% |
Every exam variant tests all six core activities within these bands, but not every assessment outcome appears in every variant. So working capital will be in your exam, but which part of it (for example, receivables policy or short-term finance) is not guaranteed. The weighting is the share of exam time given to that activity.
The same OCS core activities and weightings apply in the 2027-2028 blueprint, which covers the May, August and November 2027 and February 2028 sittings.
OpenTuition's advice. The role is the reason the examiner wants explanation rather than theory. A Finance Officer's manager wants to know what the numbers mean for the business and what to do next. Every paragraph you write should answer "so what for this company?"
How do E1, P1 and F1 knowledge come together in the OCS?
Short answer: most of the OCS draws on P1 (costing, budgeting, variances and short-term decisions). F1 supplies financial reporting, tax, ethics, governance and working capital, and E1 supplies the technology, data, operations and people context. Revise all three, but at the level of "explain, apply and judge", not repeated calculation practice.
The table below is OpenTuition's reading of the blueprint and syllabus (not an official CIMA mapping), with the OT notes to revise for each activity.
| Core activity | Main knowledge | OT notes to revise |
|---|---|---|
| A Costing | P1 costing methods, ABC, quality and environmental costing, digital cost objects; E1 technology for gathering data | P1 ch3 traditional costing, P1 ch4 ABC, P1 ch7 other costing issues (quality, environmental, digital costing), E1 ch3 technology |
| B Budgeting | P1 budgeting approaches, forecasting, what-if analysis, behavioural aspects | P1 ch11 budgeting, P1 ch12 forecasting |
| C Performance | P1 variances and their interpretation, KPIs including sustainability KPIs; E1 data and operations | P1 ch9 variances, P1 ch10 advanced variances, E1 ch4 data and information, E1 ch7 process and quality |
| D Reporting, ethics, tax | F1 IFRS (for example IAS 2, IAS 16, IFRS 16), governance, ethics, tax | F1 ch6 IAS 16, F1 ch10 IAS 2, F1 ch11 IFRS 16, F1 ch2 ethics, F1 ch3 governance, F1 ch13 tax |
| E Short-term decisions | P1 relevant costing, limiting factors, CVP and break-even charts, risk and uncertainty | P1 ch14 relevant costing, P1 ch5 limiting factors, P1 ch15 CVP, P1 ch13 risk and uncertainty |
| F Working capital | F1 working capital policy, ratios, cash, short-term finance and investment | F1 ch16 short-term finance, F1 ch17 working capital policy, F1 ch18 working capital techniques |
OpenTuition's advice. For each topic, be able to say in two or three sentences what it is, why a manager would use it, its main advantages and drawbacks, and whether it would suit this company. The examiner's latest reports say candidates who rely on what they remember from the objective tests tend not to remember enough. Revise the technical material again before the exam. Charts come up too: the May-August 2026 exams asked candidates to interpret a profit/volume chart, so make sure you can read break-even, P/V and trend charts as well as tables.
How should you analyse the OCS pre-seen?
Short answer: read the pre-seen several times, then work through it section by section with the worksheet below. You should know the business model, the people, the products and their costs, the key ratios, the budget assumptions and the issues raised in the articles. For each core activity, list what the exam could ask you about this company.
CIMA rule. The pre-seen is released at least six weeks before the first exam date and is on the CGMA Study Hub. It describes a fictional organisation and its industry. In the exam, each task opens with new information, and you answer using that together with your analysis of the pre-seen, which you can see on screen throughout.
The current pre-seen (November 2026 and February 2027 sittings). The company is Tendra Tents, a tent manufacturer in the fictional country of Teeland (currency T$), and you are a Finance Officer in its finance department. It was released on 18 September 2026 and runs to 32 pages: your role, company background, an article on the company's history, the industry, website extracts (mission, products, directors), key management teams, chapters from the employee manual, other operating information, financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2026, the budget for the year ending 30 June 2027, articles, and the Teeland tax regime. Download it from the CGMA Study Hub. The next OCS is 3-5 February 2027 (booking closes 19 January 2027). The May and August 2027 sittings will use a new pre-seen, released on 19 March 2027.
The pre-seen starts with a context statement. CIMA does not expect you to factor current global events into your answers, although relevant references to current affairs are marked on their merits. This replaces older advice to "assume life as normal".
OCS pre-seen analysis worksheet (OpenTuition's template). Copy this into a document and fill it in for your pre-seen.
| Area | What to record | Example question to ask yourself |
|---|---|---|
| Your role and line manager | Who you report to, who you will write to | Who will my emails and reports go to, and what do they already know? |
| Business model | Products or services, customers, sales channels, suppliers, seasonality | Where does the money come from, and when does it come in? |
| People | Directors and managers by name and responsibility | Who would care about a costing, budget or KPI issue in each area? |
| Products and costs (A, E) | Cost cards, contribution per unit, fixed costs, limiting resources | Which product earns most per unit and per scarce resource? |
| Budget (B) | Budget method, key assumptions, who prepares it | What could change, and what would a what-if analysis show? |
| Performance (C) | Existing KPIs, targets, sustainability claims | What KPIs (financial, non-financial, sustainability) fit this business? |
| Financial statements (D, F) | Gross and operating margin, receivable, payable and inventory days, assets, any leases | What accounting issues could arise (inventory, equipment, leases), and what does working capital look like? |
| Tax, governance, ethics (D) | Tax regime summary, ownership, any pressure points | Where might an ethical conflict or tax question appear? |
| Industry and articles | Trends, threats, technology, regulation | Which article is a hint about a future decision or project? |
| Technology and data (A, B, C) | Systems, data sources, automation | How could better data improve costing, forecasting or reporting? |
OpenTuition's advice. Calculate the main ratios yourself and write one sentence on what each means. Then, for each core activity, list three topics from your E1, P1 and F1 notes that could fit this company, and revise those first. But do not write answers in advance: the examiner repeatedly says candidates lose marks by writing a prepared answer instead of answering the sub-task set. Know the pre-seen well enough to avoid advice that cannot apply. For example, do not suggest debt factoring for a business that sells only for cash.
What does a good OCS answer look like? A worked example
Short answer: a good answer follows the verb in the sub-task (explain, discuss, analyse, interpret, justify), uses the figures and facts you are given, and applies them to the company. Headings and short paragraphs make it easy to mark. Below is an original scenario with a weak and an improved answer and marker-style notes.
How OCS answers are marked (CIMA rule). Each sub-task is split into one or more traits, and each trait is marked in three levels, with 0 for no rewardable material. The latest examiner's report judges four elements at each level: technical understanding, communication (clarity and detail), use of the information given, and application to the scenario. A sub-task's % weighting is its share of the task's 45 minutes and of the task's 25 marks.
The scenario (invented for this page; not a CIMA pre-seen). Kestrel Cycles makes e-bikes in Valland (currency V$). From its pre-seen: the City e-bike is its main product; the production line can make 5,600 City e-bikes a year on the current shift pattern; a cheaper imported e-bike has just entered the market; and the battery supplier has warned that cell prices may rise. Next year's budget for the City e-bike is 5,000 units at V$1,200, variable cost V$780 a unit (of which V$250 is the battery) and fixed costs V$1.5 million.
The Sales Director, Mara Lind, wants to cut the price by 5% to protect volume. The finance team has prepared this what-if analysis:
| Budget | What-if 1: battery cost +10% | What-if 2: price -5%, volume +10% | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Units | 5,000 | 5,000 | 5,500 |
| Contribution per unit (V$) | 420 | 395 | 360 |
| Total contribution (V$000) | 2,100 | 1,975 | 1,980 |
| Fixed costs (V$000) | 1,500 | 1,500 | 1,500 |
| Profit (V$000) | 600 | 475 | 480 |
Sub-task (40% of the task, so about 18 minutes and 10 marks): Discuss what the what-if analysis tells Mara about next year's budgeted profit for the City e-bike, and explain one limitation of the analysis.
Weak answer
The what-if analysis shows that profit falls in both cases. If battery costs go up by 10% profit falls to V$475,000. If the price is cut profit falls to V$480,000. So profit is sensitive. A limitation of what-if analysis is that it only changes one variable at a time.
Marker-style notes: level 1. The answer restates the table rather than interpreting it (the verb is "discuss"). It does not say why profit falls in what-if 2 even though volume rises, does not use Kestrel's capacity or the competitor, and gives a textbook limitation without applying it. The claim that what-if analysis changes only one variable is also wrong: scenario 2 changes both price and volume. What-if analysis can vary several assumptions together. The limitation here is the narrow set of scenarios and the lack of evidence about their likelihood. It is also too short for 18 minutes.
Improved answer
Battery cost risk A 10% rise in battery cost adds V$25 to the variable cost of each City e-bike, so contribution per unit falls from V$420 to V$395. Because fixed costs stay at V$1.5 million, the whole V$125,000 fall in contribution comes off profit, which drops by about a fifth to V$475,000. A small change in one input has a large effect on profit, so we should talk to the battery supplier now about fixing prices, or look for a second supplier, before the budget is approved.
The proposed 5% price cut Cutting the price to V$1,140 reduces contribution per unit by V$60 (from V$420 to V$360). A 10% rise in volume does not make up for this: total contribution falls by V$120,000 and profit falls to V$480,000. To keep contribution at the budgeted V$2.1 million at the lower price, we would need to sell at least 5,834 whole e-bikes (the calculation is 5,833.33), roughly a sixth more than budget. That is above the 5,600 units the line can make on the current shifts, so the price cut cannot restore budgeted profit without extra capacity, which would itself add cost. Mara's concern about the cheaper imported e-bike is valid, but the figures suggest that defending volume on price alone would reduce profit.
One limitation Each what-if changes one or two variables and holds everything else at budget. In practice the battery cost rise and the competitor's pressure on price could happen together, which would cut profit by more than either case shows. The analysis also gives no idea of how likely each outcome is, so before deciding Mara would need market evidence on how customers actually respond to a lower price.
Marker-style notes: this illustrates higher-level qualities on both traits; it is not an official grade or a prediction of a candidate’s mark. It interprets rather than restates (it explains why profit falls despite higher volume), uses the figures given and brings in the pre-seen facts (capacity of 5,600, the new competitor, the battery supplier warning), makes a practical point for the manager, and applies the limitation to Kestrel. The only calculations are short ones that support the explanation. The headings mirror the parts of the sub-task, so the marker can see every part has been answered.
How should you manage your time in the OCS?
Short answer: you have 45 minutes per task, and you cannot go back. Multiply each sub-task's % by 45 to get its minutes, plan headings in the answer box before you write, and move on when a sub-task's time is up.
CIMA rule. Each task lasts 45 minutes. The screen shows each sub-task's % weighting, which tells you both its share of the time and its share of the task's 25 marks. You may finish a task early and move on, but once you move on you cannot return to it. A 15-minute tutorial on the exam software is available before the exam starts.
| Sub-task weighting | Minutes (of 45) | Marks (of 25) |
|---|---|---|
| 20% | 9 | 5 |
| 30% | 13.5 | 7.5 |
| 40% | 18 | 10 |
| 50% | 22.5 | 12.5 |
| 60% | 27 | 15 |
OpenTuition's advice.
- Spend the first three or four minutes of each task reading and planning within its 45-minute limit. The table above is the gross allocation including reading and planning; if you reserve four minutes first, split the remaining 41 minutes by the sub-task percentages.
- Type your headings into the answer box first: one for each part of the sub-task, with sub-headings for each point. The examiner suggests this too, and it stops you missing a part.
- Write short paragraphs under each heading: the point, why it matters, and what it means for this company. Use bullet points only if you are almost out of time.
- Write in the format asked (email, memo, report or briefing note), but do not spend time on decoration.
- Answer every sub-task. A brief applied answer scores more than a blank.
- Present your work so it is easy to read. The examiner says the exam is not an English test, but answers must be clear enough for the marker to see your understanding.
How should you practise and debrief? An OCS study plan
Short answer: finish your objective tests, revise the technical topics again, then spend the last weeks on timed tasks set on your pre-seen and on past OCS exams, marking each one against the official marking guidance. OpenTuition’s free full OCS mock gives you a three-hour rehearsal on the current pre-seen. It is AI-marked, with feedback; use the model answers and marking scheme for your debrief, and review the AI feedback when it is available.
What the examiner keeps saying (official, from the two latest OCS examiner's reports).
- Answer the sub-task set, every part of it, not the one you prepared for.
- Application to the scenario, using the information given, is what separates a fail or bare pass from a good pass.
- Follow the verb. Identifying or stating when the task asks you to discuss, analyse, interpret or justify scores low. Interpretation means adding value beyond restating the figures.
- Give explanations with depth: one-line points such as "this improves decision-making" are not enough without how and why.
- Weak areas in recent sittings included more complex variances (sales mix and quantity, fixed overhead capacity and efficiency), what-if analysis and activity-based costing (May-August 2026), and the value of perfect information (November 2025-February 2026).
- Timing was not a problem for most candidates, and many laid answers out with headings and sub-headings. High-scoring answers were well structured, clear and detailed.
Official practice material (CIMA). About two weeks after results for a pre-seen's second sitting, CIMA publishes full post-exam materials: the pre-seen, all exam variants, suggested solutions, the examiner's report and marking guidance. An interim examiner's report follows the first sitting. The latest full OCS set is May and August 2026 (SoPa restaurants). AICPA & CIMA's OCS Spotlight Topics page breaks down real tasks (variances, cost behaviour, leasing) with examiner guidance.
OpenTuition's free OCS mock. The OCS mock exam is a full three-hour, 100-mark written exam. Sign in with a free account to start. The cover checked on 9 November 2026 shows four timed tasks over three hours and links to the official Tendra Tents pre-seen for November 2026 and February 2027. It is AI-marked, with feedback, and set on the current pre-seen; the mock page says model answers and a marking scheme are available on completion. Sit it in one session under exam conditions. There are also full mocks for the MCS and SCS.
A six-week OCS study plan (OpenTuition's suggestion). This assumes you have passed E1, P1 and F1, the pre-seen is out, and you can study about 8-10 hours a week. If you have less time, start earlier rather than cutting the timed practice.
| Week before exam | Focus |
|---|---|
| 6 | Read the pre-seen twice. Complete the worksheet. Book the exam if you have not already. |
| 5 | Re-revise P1 topics flagged by your worksheet (notes, then lectures). Do one past OCS task untimed, then mark it. |
| 4 | Re-revise F1 (reporting, tax, ethics, working capital) and E1 (technology, data, operations). Two timed past tasks. |
| 3 | Sit OpenTuition's full OCS mock in one three-hour block. Debrief it (below). |
| 2 | Revise the weak topics from your debrief. Timed tasks from the post-exam variants, one task a day. |
| 1 | Re-read the pre-seen and your worksheet. One more full timed exam, or two tasks. Light revision only in the last two days. |
Debrief checklist after every timed task (OpenTuition's advice). Mark it against the official marking guidance or the mock's scheme, then ask:
- Did I answer every part of each sub-task, and follow its verb?
- Did each paragraph use a fact or figure from the task or pre-seen?
- Where was my technical knowledge wrong or thin? Add those topics to next week's revision.
- Did I keep to the minutes for each sub-task?
- Rewrite your weakest paragraph to level 3 standard. This one habit improves answers faster than doing more tasks.
For booking deadlines and results dates for every sitting, see our CIMA exam timetable.
What to do next
- Watch our short CIMA case study video on how the case studies work and how to use the pre-seen.
- Revise with the free notes, lectures and flashcards on the E1, P1 and F1 pages.
- Download the current pre-seen from the CGMA Study Hub and fill in the worksheet above.
- Sit the free OCS mock exam three weeks before your exam.
- Ask questions and compare notes in the CIMA forums, including the OCS November 2026 topic.