- A
Simplifies IT budgeting
Why wrong: Chargeback can actually complicate budgeting due to allocation calculations.
- B
Reduces total IT costs
Why wrong: Chargeback does not necessarily reduce costs; it may increase transparency but not reduce overall spend.
- C
Improves IT service quality
Why wrong: Service quality is managed through SLAs, not chargeback models.
- D
Increases business unit accountability for IT spending
Chargeback makes business units aware of their IT consumption and encourages cost-effective behavior.
Question 853 of 984
easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
CISA Uses a chargeback model for IT services Practice Question
This CISA practice question tests your understanding of uses a chargeback model for it services. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
An organization uses a chargeback model for IT services. What is the PRIMARY benefit of this approach?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"primary"Why it matters: Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Increases business unit accountability for IT spending
The primary benefit of a chargeback model is that it increases business unit accountability for IT spending. By directly allocating IT costs to the consuming departments based on actual usage (e.g., compute hours, storage GB, network bandwidth), business units are incentivized to optimize their consumption and make cost-conscious decisions. This aligns IT expenditure with business value and promotes transparency, rather than treating IT as a sunk cost.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Simplifies IT budgeting
Why it's wrong here
Chargeback can actually complicate budgeting due to allocation calculations.
- ✗
Reduces total IT costs
Why it's wrong here
Chargeback does not necessarily reduce costs; it may increase transparency but not reduce overall spend.
- ✗
Improves IT service quality
Why it's wrong here
Service quality is managed through SLAs, not chargeback models.
- ✓
Increases business unit accountability for IT spending
Why this is correct
Chargeback makes business units aware of their IT consumption and encourages cost-effective behavior.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "primary" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse the benefit of cost visibility (which chargeback provides) with cost reduction, but the primary benefit is accountability, not necessarily lower spending.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
In practice, a chargeback model requires a robust IT financial management system (e.g., using tools like VMware vRealize Business or AWS Cost Explorer) to track resource consumption per business unit. This involves tagging resources (e.g., cloud instances, storage volumes) with cost center identifiers and applying rate cards that may include fixed, variable, and shared costs. A common challenge is accurately allocating shared infrastructure costs (e.g., network switches, database licenses) without creating disputes, often resolved through activity-based costing or tiered pricing models.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A practitioner preparing for the CISA exam encounters this exact type of scenario on the job. The correct answer here is not the most general option — it is the best answer for the specific constraint described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Real exam questions reward reading the full scenario before eliminating options, because the constraint defines which answer fits.
Visual reference
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this CISA question test?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Increases business unit accountability for IT spending — The primary benefit of a chargeback model is that it increases business unit accountability for IT spending. By directly allocating IT costs to the consuming departments based on actual usage (e.g., compute hours, storage GB, network bandwidth), business units are incentivized to optimize their consumption and make cost-conscious decisions. This aligns IT expenditure with business value and promotes transparency, rather than treating IT as a sunk cost.
What should I do if I get this CISA question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "primary". Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
This CISA practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISACA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CISA exam.
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