Cambridge 0452 and 0985 · Sub-topic 5.4 (2026: 5.5)
Manufacturing accounts
The 4 skills the syllabus asks for, the slips that cost marks, and how our teachers explain it.
What students must be able to do
- Distinguish direct from indirect costs.
- Identify direct material, direct labour, prime cost and factory overheads.
- Adjust for work in progress and calculate factory cost of production.
- Prepare manufacturing accounts alongside the income statement and statement of financial position.
Official wording: Cambridge IGCSE Accounting 0452: syllabus for 2027-2029 (Version 1), page 17; Cambridge IGCSE Accounting 0452: syllabus for examination in 2026 (Version 2, December 2025), page 16. See all sources.
How our teachers teach it
A manufacturing account is a staged build of cost. It starts with raw materials, adds labour to reach prime cost, then adds factory overheads and work in progress to reach the cost of finished goods. Our teachers have students label each subtotal and stop at the line that feeds the income statement, because that figure replaces purchases there.
If any of these slips sound familiar, we can help. A teacher can mark your child's answers on manufacturing accounts line by line and show where the marks go. Book a trial class.
How the wording changed for 2027
This topic is numbered 5.5 in the 2026 syllabus and 5.4 in the 2027-2029 syllabus because clubs and societies and manufacturing accounts swap places. The content is essentially the same.
Where it is examined
Manufacturing accounts can appear in either paper, as a short question or as part of a longer task. Cambridge bases both papers on the whole syllabus. See the guides to Paper 1 and Paper 2 for the format.
Sources: Cambridge IGCSE Accounting 0452: syllabus for 2027-2029 (Version 1), pages 9, 22. See all sources.
Practise it
- Key terms: Manufacturing account, Prime cost, Work in progress, Direct costs, Overheads
- Skills: How to prepare a manufacturing account
- Layouts: Manufacturing account format
- Worked examples: manufacturing account
- Practice questions: manufacturing accounts
- One-to-one Cambridge 0452 tuition
Other sub-topics in topic 5
Manufacturing accounts: questions
Which numbering applies to my exam?
Does the 0985 (9 to 1) syllabus cover manufacturing accounts too?
Which syllabus numbering should I use?
Get help with manufacturing accounts
The trial class works through Cambridge IGCSE Accounting questions with a teacher, so you see how the paper is approached. One-to-one and online, from RM75/hr.
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