ACCA APM Performance Measurement Notes: Balanced Scorecard, ROI, RI and EVA

ACCA APM performance measurement picks measures that tie strategy to outcomes, rates divisions with ROI, RI and EVA, and checks whether the system pushes people toward the right behavior. A good measure shows whether strategy works.

The ACCA notes hub collects every study note. APM lasts 3 hours 15 minutes, carries 100 marks, with a pass mark of 50 percent. Section A is one compulsory 50-mark case study; Section B, two compulsory 25-mark questions.

The December 2026 session runs 7-11 December 2026, APM sits on Wednesday 9 December 2026 on the center-based timetable, and results are released on Monday 18 January 2027. APM ends in its current form after three more sessions: December 2026, March 2027 and June 2027. From September 2027 it becomes SPI, Performance and Insights Professional, and a pass in APM converts to SPI credit.

ACCA APM performance measurement: what the examiner actually tests

ACCA APM performance measurement tests whether you can pick measures that fit a strategy, judge a division fairly, and spot when a system drives the wrong behavior. The examiner rewards a clear chain: measure, result, judgment, recommendation. Model names with no application earn almost no marks.

Overall, the September 2026 to June 2027 syllabus has six areas, A to F: strategic management and value creation, performance optimization, performance reporting, data science and technology, professional skills, and employability and technology skills. Section A carries 40 technical plus 10 professional skills marks; each Section B question carries 20 plus 5, for 20 professional skills marks out of 100. One Section B question comes mainly from Area C, the other from Area D.

The Balanced Scorecard in ACCA APM performance measurement

First, the Balanced Scorecard, from Kaplan and Norton, is the most tested framework in this paper. Financial measures alone report the past, so they arrive too late to manage the future. The scorecard adds three more perspectives.

Perspective	Question it asks	Typical measures
Financial	How do shareholders see us?	ROI, RI, EVA, revenue growth
Customer	How do customers see us?	Satisfaction, retention, NPS
Internal business process	What must we do well inside?	Cycle time, defect rate, on-time delivery
Learning and growth	Can we keep improving?	Training hours, staff turnover, systems uptime

Furthermore, the four perspectives connect in a strategy map: learning and growth improves processes, better processes improve the customer experience, and satisfied customers improve finances. A measure with no link to strategy is weak. Financial results are lag indicators that confirm what already happened, while customer satisfaction and defect rates are lead indicators that predict what comes next.

Similarly, the Performance Pyramid, from Lynch and Cross, links vision to daily measures the same way. Non-financial indicators such as customer satisfaction, loyalty, and net promoter score, or NPS, newly added this syllabus period, earn marks only when they link to strategy; benchmarking tests them against best practice.

The Building Block model for service businesses

However, the Building Block model, from Fitzgerald and Moon, is the framework for service businesses, where output is intangible and hard to measure. Dimensions are what gets measured, standards are the targets, and rewards link performance to pay and recognition.

Block	Contents	Exam point
Dimensions	Results: competitiveness, financial performance; determinants: quality, flexibility, resource utilization, innovation.	Results follow from determinants, so judge both.
Standards	Ownership, achievability, equity.	Staff must own the target and see it as fair.
Rewards	Clarity, motivation, controllability.	Reward only what the manager controls.

The standards and rewards blocks hold most marks. A target that staff did not help to set fails ownership, an impossible target fails achievability, and a reward tied to a measure the manager cannot control fails controllability and invites gaming.

Worked example 1: ROI versus RI and the project a manager rejects

This company is fictional. Northgate Group has a division with profit of $1,590,000 on investment of $10,000,000, and the group cost of capital is 10 percent. A new project needs $1,000,000 and promises a 12 percent return, or $120,000 a year.

ROI is $1,590,000 divided by $10,000,000, or 15.9 percent. RI is $1,590,000 minus 10 percent of $10,000,000, or $590,000. The division earns well above its cost of capital.

Next, test the project. Its RI is $120,000 minus 10 percent of $1,000,000, or $20,000, a positive figure. If accepted, the new ROI is $1,710,000 divided by $11,000,000, or 15.5 percent, down from 15.9 percent. So an ROI-judged manager rejects a project that adds value, while an RI-judged manager accepts it, because 12 percent beats the 10 percent target rate.

That is the core of divisional performance. ROI can encourage dysfunctional decisions, such as turning down positive-value investment or putting off new equipment to protect ROI. Consequently, RI aligns with net present value logic, so it encourages the right decision, but it is an absolute figure, so it cannot compare divisions of different sizes. Judge the manager on controllable figures, and the division on traceable figures.

Worked example 2: EVA and the value a division creates

In contrast, economic value added, or EVA, is a trademark of Stern Stewart and Co. It asks whether a division creates value after paying for all the capital it uses. EVA equals NOPAT, net operating profit after tax, minus the cost of capital multiplied by capital. Unlike RI, EVA adjusts reported profit and capital first, for example by capitalizing research, marketing and training spend and removing non-cash items such as provisions.

This company is also fictional. Halcyon Ltd reports NOPAT of $500,000 and capital of $4,000,000, with a cost of capital of 10 percent. EVA is $500,000 minus 10 percent of $4,000,000, or $100,000. The result is positive, so the division creates value.

Finally, check it another way. NOPAT divided by capital is $500,000 divided by $4,000,000, or 12.5 percent. The spread over the cost of capital is 2.5 percent, and 2.5 percent of $4,000,000 is $100,000 again. The two forms agree.

EVA also fixes a short-term trap. ACCA gives a division that invests $50 million in new machinery and spends $14 million marketing a product launched late in the year: both ROI and RI make it look worse that year, because capital and costs rise before revenue arrives. Capitalizing the launch marketing spend under EVA reduces that distortion. The formula is not always given in the exam, so learn it.

ACCA APM performance measurement: exam format, dates and pass rates

Section	Content	Marks
Section A	One compulsory case study, normally a board report; 40 technical plus 10 professional skills marks	50
Section B	Two compulsory scenario questions; 20 technical plus 5 professional skills marks	25 each

APM is one of four Strategic Professional Options papers; students currently choose two of AFM, APM, ATX and AAA. Sessions run four times a year. In December 2026, exams run from 7 to 11 December, APM sits on Wednesday 9 December 2026 on the center-based timetable, and results are released on Monday 18 January 2027. Remote exams can fall on different days, so check the attendance docket.

However, pass rates stay low, so this paper needs a plan. The global APM pass rate was 41 percent in September 2026, 42 percent in June 2026, 40 percent in March 2026, and 41 percent in December 2025. No other Strategic Professional paper had a lower pass rate in September 2026, while SBL and ATX led at 53 percent each.

Finally, the 2027 redesign changes the paper. APM becomes SPI, Performance and Insights Professional, current exams have their final sitting in June 2027, and redesigned exams start in September 2027. From September 2027, Strategic Professional needs two mandatory exams plus one Options exam from five. A pass in APM before the change keeps full credit, so a December 2026 pass already holds the SPI option credit.

Exam traps in ACCA APM performance measurement

1. Judging a project on ROI alone. A project earning 12 percent against a 10 percent cost of capital adds value, even if divisional ROI falls from 15.9 percent to 15.5 percent. Confirm with RI or EVA.

2. Judging a manager on traceable profit. The manager is judged on controllable figures only. Head office costs the manager cannot influence belong in the divisional assessment.

3. Writing about removed topics. Transfer pricing moved to PM, and BCG, Porter Five Forces, McKinsey 7S, IRR and MIRR were removed from APM for September 2026 to June 2027.

4. Treating the Performance Prism as examinable. The Performance Prism does not appear in the current APM study guide, so mention it only as background context.

5. Ignoring the 20 professional skills marks. One fifth of the paper rewards communication, analysis and evaluation, skepticism, and commercial acumen, so a correct calculation with no discussion leaves marks behind.

One-page revision box: ACCA APM performance measurement

Measure or model	Formula or core idea	Use it when	Watch out for
Balanced Scorecard	Financial, customer, internal process, learning and growth	Measures beyond profit	Measures with no link to strategy
Building Block model	Dimensions, standards, rewards	Service business performance	Targets staff do not own or cannot control
ROI	Profit divided by investment	Comparing divisions by size	Rejects good projects below current ROI
RI	Profit minus cost of capital times investment	Testing project value	Absolute figure, hard to compare sizes
EVA	NOPAT minus cost of capital times capital	Value creation after adjustments	Formula not always given, learn it
NPS and benchmarking	Loyalty score; internal, competitive, functional comparison	Non-financial proof	Benchmark that does not fit the scenario

In short, work through both examples, then test yourself on the traps list. The ACCA notes hub has companion notes for the other papers, including the SBL strategy models note and the SBR ethics note.

Sources

ACCA Global, APM examiner approach article: https://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/student/exam-support-resources/professional-exams-study-resources/p5/technical-articles/apm-approach.html

APM syllabus and study guide, September 2026 to June 2027 (ACCA Global): https://www.academyofbusiness.pl/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/apm_s26_j27_syllabus_and_study_guide.pdf

Important Dates, December 2026 session (ACCA Global): http://www.accaglobal.com/sg/en/student/getting-started/important-dates.html

December 2026 center-based exam timetable, APM on Wednesday 9 December 2026 (via OpenTuition, citing ACCA timetables): https://opentuition.com/acca/articles/acca-exam-dates/

Pass rates for ACCA qualifications (ACCA Global): https://www.accaglobal.com/middle-east/en/student/exam-support-resources/pass-rates-for-acca-qualifications.html

Divisional performance management article (ACCA Global; ROI, RI, short-termism): https://www.accaglobal.com/pk/en/student/exam-support-resources/professional-exams-study-resources/p5/technical-articles/divisional-performance-management.html

Economic value added article, part 1 (ACCA Global): https://www.accaglobal.com/uk/en/student/exam-support-resources/professional-exams-study-resources/p5/technical-articles/economic-value-added-part1.html

Building Block model article (ACCA Global): https://www.accaglobal.com/uk/en/student/exam-support-resources/fundamentals-exams-study-resources/f5/technical-articles/buildblocks.html

The pyramids and pitfalls of performance measurement (ACCA Global): https://www.accaglobal.com/hk/en/student/exam-support-resources/professional-exams-study-resources/p5/technical-articles/the-pyramids.html

Future qualification transition guidance (ACCA Global): https://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/campaigns/accountancy-redefined/future-acca-qualification/supporting-your-transition/acca-qualification-students.html