CIPS Level 4 Diploma in Procurement and Supply L4M2 Exam Questions and Answers PDF

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation (paraphrased from CIPS L4M2 content)

CIPS L4M2 defines fixed costs as those that do not change in total with small changes in the level of activity within a relevant range (for example, rent, insurance, basic utilities standing charges).

Premises costs (C) – such as rent and building insurance, are typically fixed: they are paid regardless of production volume (within normal operating levels).

Utilities costs (D) – often treated as fixed or semi-fixed in exam-style questions: the organisation pays standing charges and must maintain services regardless of output.

In contrast:

Staff overtime (A) – varies with workload; this is a variable cost.

Sales commission (B) – depends on sales volume, so it is variable.

Materials costs (E) – directly linked to output (more units = more materials), so variable.

Understanding fixed versus variable costs is vital when preparing a business case (e.g. break-even, sensitivity analysis, and assessing the impact of demand changes).

Relevant CIPS L4M2 areas:

Cost behaviour: fixed, variable, semi-variable

The role of cost analysis in business cases and sourcing decisions

Overhead allocation and cost structures

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation (from CIPS L4M2 – Cost Management and Analysis)

CIPS teaches that indirect costs (e.g. overheads, admin, factory costs) can be estimated by using:

Supplier financial statements,

Benchmarking,

Industry cost models.

Analysing these supports negotiations by revealing true cost drivers.

Therefore, Option B is correct — buyers can and should assess indirect costs when evaluating total cost and negotiating.

Relevant L4M2 references:

“Understanding direct and indirect cost elements”

“Cost analysis and should-cost models in business case preparation”

Explanation

There are many factors that need to be considered when making a business decision. Costs and benefits are among those factor. To estimate the length of time in which an investment reaches a break-even point, businesses often use the payback period. The payback period refers to the amount of time it takes to recover the cost of an investment.

'Yes, because it takes everything into account': It ignores the time value of money (TVM), unlike other methods of capital budgeting such as net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and discounted cash flow.

'No, because payback period doesn’t take into account price fluctuations': Though it doesn't take into account price fluctuation, payback period is still useful in financial and capital budgeting.

'No, because payback period can be only used to calculate the depreciation of a fixed asset': Payback period only calculates the length of time in which the benefits of a charge repay its costs.

LO 1, AC 1.3