CMA vs ACCA

Last Updated :

Blog Author :

Edited by :

Reviewed by :

Table Of Contents

Difference Between CMA and ACCA

CMA (Certified Management Accountant) is a comprehensive professional program organized by the ICMA. The aspirants who opt to pursue this degree will get a detailed insight into financial management as well as management accounting, whereas ACCA (Association of Chartered Accountants) is a comprehensive professional program conducted by the global body of ACCA the candidates with this degree are regarded as the best accountants around the globe as the course focuses on strengthening the candidate's base of accounting principles which is useful in the fields of audit and tax.

The best decisions should not be made in haste. Because most of the time, when you choose in a hurry, your decision becomes costly. Thus, we want you to take your time to read the details below before choosing what suits you best – CMA certification or ACCA certification.

Here’s the flow of the article –

Difference Between CMA and ACCA

What is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA)?

CMA is one of the most reputed management accounting courses worldwide. It’s more popular in the USA, but it has over 100 countries. Its reputation has brought forth a lot of students under its umbrella, and ICMA has produced a ton of high-quality students over the years. It’s being seen that if you do CMA, you will earn almost 1/3^rd more than your non-certified counterparts.

Most domains in finance concentrate on the subject of certification only. But CMA is different. It focuses on management accounting as well as financial management. Thus CMA is more comprehensive than any other course in the financial domain.
Sitting for CMA is more convenient for students. It has over 100 examination centers worldwide, and you need to clear two exams to get certified. Even each exam is only of 4 hours duration.

What is the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)?

ACCA is one of the best accounting certification courses. ACCA has been training and educating students for a long time.

Over 436,000 students have already passed out doing ACCA, and they all are employed in reputed companies. What makes ACCA more dignified is its presence over 180 countries.

Like CMA, the curriculum of ACCA is also very comprehensive. It deals with the finance domain, but it also emphasizes technical and management aspects of finance.
ACCA has a great global presence. Even companies prefer ACCA more than anyone in the accounting domain. Moreover, you would get a world-class education under a very short budget which is rare. And once you complete the course, you will be recognized as one of the best accountants in the world.

Live Online Classes
3,000+ multiple choice questions
Printed Textbooks
5 one-hour 1-on-1 academic tutoring sessions
Unlimited Access: Yes!
500+ digital flashcards
70 essay questions
2-part review courses
1-year CPE subscription - $699 value!

CMA vs ACCA Infographics

Key Differences Between CMA and ACCA

There are many differences between CMA and ACCA. Let’s have a glance at all of them.

Fees: If you want to get a global certification within a short budget, you should choose ACCA over CMA. Because the fees for CMA are much more than ACCA, the fees of CMA are almost three times of ACCA.
Global presence: If you compare international recognition, ACCA is more recognized than CMA. Till now, ACCA has produced over 436,000 students in 180 countries. At the same time, CMA has produced only 40,000 members and has a global presence in over 100 countries.
Salary difference: There is a huge difference in salary if we compare ACCA and CMA. As we’re telling you that ACCA is much more globally recognized than CMA, CMA is much ahead of ACCA in terms of salary. If you complete your CMA, you will get an average salary of almost US $70,000 per year if you have experienced between 1 to 5 years in the domain. Whereas, if you complete your ACCA, you will earn on the average US $46,000 per year. If you do the math, you can see completing CMA is much more beneficial to you in terms of compensation.
Pass percentages: If you look closely (details below), you will see that CMA is much tougher than passing ACCA. How would you know? Look at the pass percentages. The pass percentages for CMA are nearly 20% whereas, pass percentages for ACCA are 40-50%. No wonder why CMAs get more salary than ACCA!
Value addition: If you complete CMA, you will be treated as an expert in the field, and many opportunities will open up for you. ACCA is good enough but much older in perspective. Thus, Fortune 500 companies look for CMAs more than ACCAs.

CMA vs ACCA Comparative Table

Section	CMA	ACCA
Certification Organised by	CMA is approved and sponsored by the Institute of Certified Management Accountants (ICMA). ICMA is affiliated with the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). ICMA has more than 40,000 members in 100 countries.	The ACCA course is organized by the global body of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. It was founded in 1904.
Number of levels	CMA has only one level to clear. The level has two parts. Part one is about Financial Reporting, Planning, Performance, and Control, and Part two is about Financial Decision Making.	If you want to qualify as an ACCA, you need to clear four levels – knowledge, skills, essentials, and options. There is a total of 14 papers altogether.
Mode/Duration of Exam	In CMA, you need to sit for two exams. Each exam will consist of 4 hours duration, and each exam will contain 100 multiple choice questions and two 30 minute essay questions.	Other than the first three papers under Knowledge level, all exams' duration is 3 hours each. The first three papers under the Knowledge level are 2 hours each.
Exam Window	CMA Exam Dates 2022 Jan 1 to Feb 28 May 1 to Jun 30 Sep 1 to Oct 31	ACCA is conducted in June, September, and December every year. Key dates 2022 March:- 7-11 June:- 06-10
Subjects	CMA has only one level, but the level consists of two parts. Each part consists of many subject areas. Let’s have a look at those. Part one: External Financial Reporting Decision Planning, Budgeting, and Forecasting Performance Management Cost Management Internal Controls Part two: Financial Statement Analysis Corporate Finance Decision Analysis Risk Management Investment Decisions Professional Ethics	The subjects for ACCA are as follows – Knowledge Level: Accountant in Business (F1) Management Accounting (F2) Financial Accounting (F3) Skills Level: Corporate and Business Law (F4) Performance Management (F5) Taxation (F6) Financial Reporting (F7) Audit and Assurance (F8) Financial Management (F9) Essentials Level: Governance, Risk, and Ethics (P1) Corporate Reporting (P2) Business Analysis (P3)
Pass Percentage	Passing percentage of June 2015 exam: CMA Intermediate- 14% CMA Final- 17% Passing Percentage of December 2016 exam: CMA Intermediate- 9.09% CMA Final- 12.71%	ACCA December 2015 pass rates: 84% (F1), 64% (F2), 68% (F3), 74% (F4), 41% (F5), 53% (F6), 45% (F7), 46% (F8), 45% (F9) and 47% (P1), 47% (P2), 47% (P3), 35% (P4), 29% (P5), 42% (P6), 39% (P7). ACCA December 2016 pass rates: F1 82%; F2 63%; F3 71%; F4 82%; F5 40%; F6 52%; F7 50%; F8 40%; F9 45%; P1 49%; P2 51%; P3 49%; P4 33%; P5 30%; P6 34%; P7 31%
Fees	After the price increase in July 2015, the registration fee of the exam is now $415 per part, which means you’ll have to pay $830 altogether.	The fees for ACCA are reasonable. If you do your exam registration early, it would be around 450 pounds (around the US $700).
Job opportunities/Job titles	The top jobs for CMA are Management & Cost Accountant, Financial Accountant, Financial Risk Manager, Management Consulting & Performance Management, etc. People also hire CMA for their overall financial decision-making functions.	Once you complete ACCA, multiple opportunities will open up for you. You can join Accounting firms, Educational & Training companies, FMCG sectors, Financial Services & Consulting companies, and even healthcare.

Why pursue CMA?

Forty thousand students in 40 years cannot be wrong. They pursued CMA, and now they are top-notch professionals in Fortune 500 companies. An industry professional who has a career goal to do something in the accounting domain should not let go of CMA if she wants to make her mark.

IMA has students in the Middle East, China, India, the USA and Europe. CMA concentrates on developing countries; it also takes care of the students in developed countries. Thus, CMA, in its truest sense, is a global course, not the sole domain of American and European students.
It has an incredible history of placement. Once you complete your CMA, it will equip you with the skills and knowledge base to join any Fortune 500 company. You will not only feel like an expert in the field, but you will also feel dignified.
Not only a great placement, but CMA certification also offers compensation very few global courses can offer. The average yearly salary for CMA is around $70,000. All you need is a CMA certification and one to five years of experience in the field.

Why pursue ACCA?

ACCA is available in 180 countries, and thus it has international recognition very few global courses can compete. It also has more than 436,000 students who have already proved why you should pursue this course.

ACCA is of much shorter duration. If you want to get a global degree within a short stint of 2 years, you can choose ACCA. Moreover, the fees for this course are also a boon for students who want to pursue a global course within a limited budget.
ACCA is much easier to complete than any other course in the finance domain. That doesn’t mean that ACCA has no value. It has been serving its students since 1904, more than 110+ years, and no institute can last so long without adding value to its students.

Conclusion

If you ask which course you should choose, that would be a wrong question. Your question should be which suits your career goals best. If you know that you need to reach a certain point, after reading this, you will know in which direction you should go.

Even if you have a budget constraint, you shouldn't go for a course just because of cost/ less cost. Rather do it for value. Which course would give you more value? Ask yourself this question and base your decision on the answer you give to yourself.