Cambridge IGCSE Accounting 0452/12 is the May/June 2026 Paper 1 (Multiple Choice), variant 2. It has 35 questions worth one mark each, lasts 1 hour 15 minutes and is sat by every 0452 candidate. The questions cover the whole syllabus, and fourteen of them needed a short calculation, from correcting a trial balance to working back from a liquid ratio. This guide gives the official answer for every question, the topic it tested and the working for each calculation. The paper and its mark scheme are free on the Tutopiya Learning Portal.

For an overview of both 0452 papers from this series, see IGCSE Accounting 0452 May/June 2026 past papers: what came up and how it was marked.

0452/12 at a glance

Syllabus area	Questions	Number of questions
The fundamentals of accounting	1, 34, 35	3
Sources and recording of data	2–6	5
Verification of accounting records	7–13	7
Accounting procedures	14–19, 22	7
Preparation of financial statements	20, 21, 23–30	10
Analysis and interpretation	31–33	3
Total		35

Each correct answer scores one mark, so the total is 35. You answer all 35 questions on the multiple choice answer sheet, and you may use a calculator.

Answer key and topic for every question

Question	What it tested	Answer
1	Task a bookkeeper would not perform	D
2	Total liabilities from a list of balances	B
3	Balances on a depreciation expense ledger account	D
4	Document and amount for goods returned after trade discount	A
5	Book of prime entry for goods taken for own use	B
6	Meaning of restoring the petty cash imprest	B
7	What a trial balance does	D
8	Corrected trial balance total with items on the wrong side	B
9	Corrected profit after two errors	B
10	What a remaining suspense account balance means	D
11	Updating the cash book from a bank statement	C
12	Closing balance on a bank statement	A
13	Item that does not appear in a sales ledger control account	A
14	Capital expenditure on a new machine	C
15	Why depreciation is charged on a motor vehicle	C
16	Loss on disposal with reducing balance depreciation	A
17	Recording prepaid rent at the year end	D
18	The closing entry in a customer’s sales ledger account	C
19	Inventory at the lower of cost and net realisable value	A
20	Statements about an accountancy (service) business	C
21	Cost of sales with purchases returns	A
22	Insurance expense with prepayments at both ends of the year	C
23	Items in a partnership appropriation account	D
24	Balance on a partner’s current account	B
25	Definition of limited liability	B
26	What could cause a $60 000 increase in equity	A
27	Items in a sports club’s income and expenditure account	C
28	Subscriptions for the income and expenditure account	A
29	Item included in prime cost	B
30	Credit sales from incomplete records	C
31	Current assets from the liquid (acid test) ratio	B
32	Change that would not improve gross margin	D
33	Comparing two businesses with the same gross profit	A
34	Accounting principle behind recording wages due	B
35	Meaning of relevance as an objective for accounting policies	C

What the paper tested, topic by topic

The fundamentals of accounting (Questions 1, 34 and 35)

• The bookkeeper’s role (Question 1): bank reconciliations, the cash book and processing source documents are all bookkeeping tasks. Recommending an interim dividend is a decision for a company’s directors, so D is the answer.
• Matching (Question 34): including wages that are due but unpaid in this year’s income statement matches the expense to the year it belongs to.
• Relevance (Question 35): relevant information is information that can influence users’ decisions. The other options describe reliability (accurate, free from bias) and comparability (consistent over time).

Sources and recording of data (Questions 2–6)

• Total liabilities (Question 2): trade payables $4500 + other payables $300 + bank overdraft $1400 = $6200. The loan to Imran is money owed to Hussein, so it is an asset, not a liability. Adding it in gives the $7200 distractor.
• Depreciation expense account (Question 3): only statement 3 is correct. The balance on an expense account goes to the income statement, not the statement of financial position, and a balance brought down always sits on the opposite side to the balance carried down.
• Trade discount and returns (Question 4): Wilma returned 25 items at $40 each, which is $1000 at list price. Less 15% trade discount, the value is $850. The seller, Margot, issues a credit note. Forgetting the trade discount gives $1000, and a debit note is what a buyer sends.
• Goods for own use (Question 5): this is recorded first in the general journal. The general ledger is not a book of prime entry at all.
• Imprest (Question 6): restoring the imprest means topping petty cash back up to its fixed amount at regular intervals.

Verification of accounting records (Questions 7–13)

• Trial balance (Question 7): a trial balance helps to find arithmetical errors, but it cannot reveal every error or prove the ledger is error-free.
• Corrected trial balance (Question 8): two balances were on the wrong side. The bank overdraft ($1000) is a liability, so it belongs in the credit column, and drawings ($2000) belong in the debit column. Moving both gives debits of 4000 + 600 + 11 200 + 1200 + 5500 + 2000 = 24 500 and credits of 16 500 + 3500 + 1000 + 3500 = 24 500. The total is $24 500.
• Corrected profit (Question 9): capital recorded as sales overstated profit by $4000, and Sajid’s private house repairs included in expenses understated it by $400. So $9000 − $4000 + $400 = $5400.
• Suspense balance (Question 10): if a balance is left on the suspense account, there must still be errors to find.
• Cash book and bank statement (Questions 11 and 12): bank charges taken by the bank are subtracted in the cash book. Unpresented cheques belong only in the bank reconciliation statement. In Question 12, a debit balance on a bank statement means an overdraft, so start at −$600: −600 + 7400 − 6200 − 180 + 450 = $870 credit, a positive balance.
• Sales ledger control account (Question 13): discount received relates to suppliers, so it belongs in the purchases ledger control account. Payments received, refunds paid to credit customers and returns from credit customers all appear in the sales ledger control account.

Accounting procedures (Questions 14–19 and 22)

• Capital expenditure (Question 14): the cost of the machine, its delivery and the wages for installing it are all capital: 32 000 + 1800 + 1300 = $35 100. Insurance is a running cost, so it is revenue expenditure.
• Why depreciate (Question 15): to spread the cost of the vehicle over the years it is used. Depreciation does not set aside cash to replace it.
• Disposal (Question 16): at 40% reducing balance, the value after year 1 is $5000 × 0.6 = $3000 and after year 2 is $3000 × 0.6 = $1800. Sold for $1500, that is a loss of $300.
• Prepaid rent (Question 17): the rent account is credited with $1500 as the balance carried down, so it comes down as a debit balance, an asset at the year end.
• Sales ledger account (Question 18): Dipak owed $3200 and paid $1700 by bank and $230 in cash. The remaining $1270 was written off on 21 November, so the entry is an irrecoverable debt.
• Inventory valuation (Question 19): value each line at the lower of cost and net realisable value. Paint is $875 (NRV is lower) and paint brushes are $750 (cost is lower), so $1625.
• Insurance with prepayments (Question 22): the expense is the amount paid, plus the prepayment brought forward, minus the prepayment carried forward. The statement that the opening prepayment is added to the amount paid is the correct one. Because the closing prepayment is bigger than the opening one, the expense is less than the amount paid, which rules out A and B.

Preparation of financial statements (Questions 20, 21 and 23–30)

• Service business (Question 20): an accountancy firm buys no goods for resale and sells no goods on credit, and its revenue goes in the income statement. It has no trading section, so it shows no gross profit. Statements 2, 3 and 4 are correct.
• Cost of sales (Question 21): opening inventory $20 000 + purchases $86 000 − purchases returns $7000 − closing inventory $22 000 = $77 000.
• Partnerships (Questions 23 and 24): the appropriation account shares out the profit for the year and includes interest on drawings. Capital invested goes to the capital account, and interest on a partner’s loan is an expense in the income statement. In Question 24, net assets are $120 000 − $46 000 = $74 000. Fixed capital ($60 000) and Tee’s current account ($18 000) already total $78 000, so Rex’s current account must be $4000 debit.
• Companies (Questions 25 and 26): a shareholder’s loss is limited to the amount they agreed to pay for their shares, which is limited liability. In Question 26, a transfer to the general reserve moves profit from one reserve to another, so equity rises by the profit alone: a $60 000 profit gives the $60 000 increase. Each of B, C and D adds up to more than $60 000.
• Clubs (Questions 27 and 28): depreciation and the profit on the café belong in the income and expenditure account. New furniture is capital expenditure, and rates paid in advance belong to next year. For subscriptions, the $3000 received includes $420 owed from last year and $280 paid in advance for next year: 3000 − 420 − 280 = $2300.
• Prime cost (Question 29): factory operatives’ wages are a direct cost. Depreciation of machinery, rent and rates, and supervisors’ salaries are factory overheads.
• Credit sales (Question 30): cash received $25 000 + closing receivables $9000 − opening receivables $6000 = $28 000. The trade payables figures are not needed.

Analysis and interpretation (Questions 31–33)

• Liquid ratio (Question 31): closing inventory is $10 000 × 1.2 = $12 000. Liquid assets are 0.96 × $26 000 = $24 960. Add the inventory back: $24 960 + $12 000 = $36 960. The total liabilities of $36 000 is a distractor; the ratio uses current liabilities.
• Gross margin (Question 32): cheaper purchases, a higher selling price or lower carriage inwards all raise gross margin. Carriage outwards is a selling expense deducted after gross profit, so it cannot improve gross margin.
• Comparing businesses (Question 33): both had gross profit of $48 000. J’s expenses were $48 000 − $30 000 = $18 000 and K’s were $48 000 − $21 000 = $27 000, so J controlled expenses better. J’s lower gross margin rules out B, and nothing in the table tells you about suppliers.

Where the marks are on 0452/12

• Preparation of financial statements carried 10 of the 35 marks, the largest share. Partnerships, companies, clubs and manufacturing all appeared.
• Verification and accounting procedures carried 7 marks each. Together with the financial statements questions, that is 24 marks.
• Fourteen questions needed a calculation: 2, 4, 8, 9, 12, 14, 16, 19, 21, 24, 26, 28, 30 and 31. Most were one or two steps, but each had a distractor built from a common slip.
• Three questions turned on the word “not” (1, 13 and 32), and Question 32 also said “on its own”. Missing that word reverses the answer.
• Several distractors came from including a figure that does not belong: the loan to Imran in Question 2, the insurance in Question 14 and the total liabilities in Question 31.

How to self-mark 0452/12

1. Check each answer against the key above or the official mark scheme. Count one mark per correct letter.
2. Tag every wrong answer by topic, using the at-a-glance table, to see which area is costing the most.
3. Tag it by reason too: knowledge (for example, where interest on a partner’s loan goes), misread (missing “not” in Question 13, or “outstanding at the start” in Question 28) or calculation (forgetting the trade discount in Question 4, or using the wrong liabilities in Question 31).
4. Redo every calculation you got wrong with the format written out, for example opening inventory + purchases − returns − closing inventory, then the figures.
5. Revise knowledge gaps first, then practise the calculation types that went wrong until each takes under three minutes.

Sit 0452/12 as a timed mock

You have 75 minutes for 35 questions, a little over two minutes each. Use two passes: answer the recall questions first, mark any calculation that needs longer working, then come back to it.

Block	Questions	Time
Fundamentals, recording and the trial balance	1–7	12 minutes
Corrections, bank and control accounts	8–13	13 minutes
Procedures and financial statements	14–22	17 minutes
Partnerships, companies, clubs and incomplete records	23–30	17 minutes
Ratios and accounting principles	31–35	9 minutes
Second pass and check the answer sheet	–	7 minutes

The middle blocks are longest because seven of their questions (14, 16, 19, 21, 24, 28 and 30) need working on paper.

Other May/June 2026 0452 papers

• 0452 Paper 22 (Structured Written Paper)

Practise and download

• Download 0452/12 and its mark scheme on the Learning Portal →
• All 0452 May/June 2026 papers: overview and marking patterns
• Try a free IGCSE Accounting quiz

Need help with a 0452 topic? Book a free trial lesson with an IGCSE Accounting tutor →

Frequently asked questions

What topics were on 0452 Paper 12 May/June 2026? +

All six areas of the syllabus. Preparing financial statements had 10 questions, verifying accounting records 7, accounting procedures 7, sources and recording of data 5, and the fundamentals of accounting and analysis and interpretation 3 each.

How many marks is 0452/12 and how long is it? +

It has 35 multiple choice questions, one mark each, for a total of 35 marks. You have 1 hour 15 minutes and you may use a calculator.

Who sits 0452 Paper 12? +

Every 0452 candidate. Cambridge IGCSE Accounting has no Core and Extended tiers, so all candidates sit Paper 1 (Multiple Choice) and Paper 2 (Structured Written Paper).

What was the answer to the liquid (acid test) ratio question on 0452/12? +

B, $36 960. Closing inventory is $10 000 plus 20%, which is $12 000. Liquid assets are 0.96 × $26 000 = $24 960, so current assets are $24 960 + $12 000 = $36 960. The total liabilities figure of $36 000 is not needed.

How many questions on 0452/12 2026 needed a calculation? +

Fourteen: Questions 2, 4, 8, 9, 12, 14, 16, 19, 21, 24, 26, 28, 30 and 31. They covered liabilities, trade discount, trial balance and profit corrections, a bank statement, capital expenditure, disposal, inventory valuation, cost of sales, partners' current accounts, equity, club subscriptions, credit sales and the liquid ratio.

Where can I download 0452/12 May/June 2026 and its mark scheme? +

Both are free to download and print on the Tutopiya Learning Portal, on the Cambridge IGCSE Accounting 0452 past papers page.

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