Accenture Numerical Aptitude Questions: 2026 Guide

Accenture’s Stage 1 aptitude test covers five numerical topic types, and candidates who fall short at screening typically lose marks on average speed or percentage problems.

This guide works through ten solved examples across those five types, with every calculation re-derived from first principles. It also covers which track each example targets and what changes at the Advanced ASE level.

What the Numerical Ability Section Tests

The Cognitive Ability test on Accenture’s campus hiring portal runs as a timed online section during Stage 1. It combines numerical and logical reasoning in a shared time window. Two hiring tracks draw from this same numerical section but at different difficulty thresholds:

Track	CTC range	Aptitude difficulty
Associate Software Engineer (ASE)	Rs. 4.5 to 6.5 LPA	Moderate: standard topic types, one-to-two step solutions
Advanced ASE (11A grade)	Rs. 6.5 to 9.0 LPA	Higher: longer question chains, more embedded traps

Five numerical topic types cover the bulk of questions across both tracks:

• Profit and loss
• Time, speed, and distance
• Time and work
• Percentages and averages
• Ratios and mixtures

The logical reasoning section and the communication assessment are each separate tests. This article covers numerical aptitude only.

Worked Examples by Topic Type

Each example below includes the full solution in step-by-step list form and a trap note where a classic mistake exists. Every answer was re-derived from first principles before being included here.

Profit and Loss

• Q1: A shopkeeper sells a shirt for Rs. 600 at a 20% profit. Find the cost price.

  • Let cost price = x
  • Selling price = x multiplied by (1 + 20/100) = 1.2x
  • 1.2x = 600, so x = 600 divided by 1.2
  • Answer: Rs. 500

• Q2: A trader marks an item 40% above cost and offers a 10% discount at sale. Find the profit percentage.

  • Let cost price = 100
  • Marked price = 140
  • Selling price = 140 multiplied by 0.9 = 126
  • Profit = 126 minus 100 = 26
  • Answer: 26% profit

• Trap: “40% up, 10% down” does not give 30% profit. The discount applies to the marked price, not the cost price. The shortcut that adds the two percentages fails here.

Time, Speed, and Distance

• Q3: A train travels at 60 km/h for 2 hours, then at 90 km/h for 3 hours. Find the average speed for the whole journey.

  • Distance at 60 km/h: 60 times 2 = 120 km
  • Distance at 90 km/h: 90 times 3 = 270 km
  • Total distance: 390 km; total time: 5 hours
  • Average speed: 390 divided by 5 = 78 km/h

• Q4: Two trains are 300 km apart and move towards each other at 60 km/h and 90 km/h respectively. How long until they meet?

  • Relative speed when moving towards each other: 60 + 90 = 150 km/h
  • Time to meet: 300 divided by 150 = 2 hours

Trap note: Q3 tempts many students to average 60 and 90 directly to get 75 km/h. That formula only works when equal distances are covered, not equal times. Always compute total distance divided by total time.

Time and Work

• Q5: A can complete a task in 8 days; B can complete it in 12 days. How long do both take working together?

  • A’s daily rate: 1/8 of the task
  • B’s daily rate: 1/12 of the task
  • Combined rate: 1/8 + 1/12 = 3/24 + 2/24 = 5/24
  • Time together: 24 divided by 5 = 4.8 days

• Q6: A, B, and C together finish a task in 5 days. A alone finishes in 12 days; B alone in 15 days. How long does C take alone?

  • Combined rate: 1/5
  • A’s rate: 1/12; B’s rate: 1/15
  • A plus B rate: 1/12 + 1/15 = 5/60 + 4/60 = 9/60 = 3/20
  • C’s rate: 1/5 minus 3/20 = 4/20 minus 3/20 = 1/20
  • Answer: C alone takes 20 days

Percentages and Averages

• Q7: A student scored 80, 90, 70, and 85 marks in four subjects (max 100 each). Find the average percentage score.

  • Total marks: 80 + 90 + 70 + 85 = 325
  • Maximum total: 4 times 100 = 400
  • Percentage: (325 divided by 400) times 100 = 81.25%

• Q8: A number is increased by 20% and then decreased by 10%. Find the net percentage change.

  • Start with 100; after 20% increase: 120
  • After 10% decrease: 120 times 0.9 = 108
  • Net change: 108 minus 100 = 8
  • Answer: 8% net increase

• Trap: 20% up followed by 10% down does not give 10% net gain. Successive percentage changes multiply, not add. The compounding effect reduces the net change below the arithmetic difference.

Ratios and Mixtures

• Q9: Alloy A has copper and tin in ratio 3:1. Alloy B has copper and tin in ratio 5:3. Mix A and B in ratio 2:1 to get alloy C. What fraction of alloy C is copper?

  • Copper fraction in A: 3/4; copper fraction in B: 5/8
  • Mix 2 parts A plus 1 part B (3 parts total)
  • Copper in C: (2 times 3/4 plus 1 times 5/8) divided by 3 = (12/8 plus 5/8) divided by 3 = 17/8 divided by 3
  • Answer: 17/24 of alloy C is copper

• Q10: A 40-litre solution has milk and water in ratio 3:1. How many litres of water must be added to change the ratio to 3:2?

  • Current milk: 30 litres; current water: 10 litres
  • Add x litres of water: 30 divided by (10 plus x) = 3/2
  • Cross-multiply: 60 = 30 plus 3x, so 3x = 30
  • Answer: 10 litres of water

Test-Day Strategy

Three habits consistently separate candidates who clear the cut-off from those who fall short by two or three questions.

First, identify the trap type before solving. Average speed problems invite you to average the two speeds. Successive percentage problems invite you to add the percentage rates. Mixture problems invite you to average the fractions. Reading the question for its trap type takes five seconds and prevents a wrong answer. The common traps across the five topic types follow a pattern:

Topic	Classic trap	What to do instead
Time, speed, and distance	Average the two speed values	Total distance divided by total time
Percentages	Add the successive rates	Multiply the factors: (1 + p/100) for each step
Profit and loss	Apply discount to cost price	Discount applies to marked price
Ratios and mixtures	Average the component fractions	Weighted average by quantity proportion

Second, derive the formula from the underlying logic rather than recalling it from memory. Students who memorise steps get stuck when a variable shifts. Students who know that rate times time equals work, that SP equals CP times (1 plus profit/100), and that relative speed adds when two objects move towards each other can rebuild the needed formula in the test room under time pressure.

Third, allocate time by question length. A one-step profit-and-loss problem should take under 45 seconds. A three-entity time-and-work problem with an embedded twist can run to 90 seconds. If a question has no clear solution path after 90 seconds, skip it and return.

Running timed mock sessions before your drive builds the pace calibration that cannot be acquired through untimed practice. The Accenture placement papers archive includes full-length timed mock sections. Two complete timed runs in the week before your campus drive is a reliable preparation standard.

AI Skills and the Accenture Hiring Picture

IT services fresher hiring is set to more than double in FY26, with over 150,000 additions across the sector, per The Economic Times. Accenture is part of that expansion, with explicit GenAI hiring focus backed by the GenAI Scholars Program, which gives freshers access to 40-plus hours of Stanford Online content from their first week.

The overlap with numerical aptitude is direct. GenAI roles at Accenture require reading performance benchmarks, interpreting confidence intervals, and evaluating model outputs against baselines. Every one of those tasks draws on the same percentage, ratio, and average logic tested in Stage 1.

The Q8 successive-percentage example in this article (20% up, 10% down equals 8% net, not 10%) is the same compounding logic that shows up in model evaluation benchmarks. TinkerLLM is a hands-on LLM playground at Rs. 299 where that compounding intuition gets applied to live model outputs, from prompt construction to benchmark interpretation.

For the full arc from aptitude prep to production AI engineering, see the 2026 AI roadmap for Indian engineering students.