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Full Form of CMA - Certified Management Accountant
The full form of CMA is a Certified Management Accountant. The Certified Management Accountant certification is granted by the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), the USA, for the candidates who clear all the exams mentioned in this respect within the specified time period and this certification is one of the highest levels of the certification in the field of financial management and management accounting signifying that the person possesses a good level of knowledge in the field of cost planning, financial planning cost analysis, cost control, financial analysis, and decision support, etc.
Eligibility
In order to be eligible to get Certified Management Accountant certification, the person must fulfill all the following mentioned criteria:
- Have active membership in the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA).
- Have satisfactory education qualifications.
- Have satisfactory experience qualifications.
- Paid the CMA entrance fee, which is active.
- Complete all the examination parts as required, and
- Comply with IMA statement concerning the statement of the ethical professional practice.
CMA Exams
The exams for the Certified Management Accountant are offered as per the following schedule:
- January and February
- May and June
- September and October
The examination parts that are required to be completed for getting the CMA certification include:
- Part 1:
It includes Financial Planning, Performance, and Analytics.
This exam is of 4 hours in total. It consists of 100 multiple choice questions that need to be completed within 3 hours and 2 essays of 30 minutes each.
- Part 2:
It includes Strategic Financial Management.
This exam is of 4 hours in total. It consists of 100 multiple choice questions that need to be completed within 3 hours and 2 essays of 30 minutes each.
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CMA Exam Completion Criteria
As mentioned above, two parts of the exam need to be cleared by the person to get the certification. Both parts consist of 100 multiple choice questions and 2 essays of 30 minutes. To become eligible for the essay part, one must answer a minimum of 50% multiple-choice questions correctly. The minimum score required to clear the CMA exam is 360 for each of the exam’s two parts. These scores are expressed as the scaled scores and may range between 0-500.
Why Pursue CMA?
Pursuing Certified Management Accountant given in-depth knowledge in the field of accounting, finance, and management. It opens the door into the business world as it is one of the designations recognized globally, demonstrating the aptitude of the person for taking the company’s financial decisions. Along with this, certification increases the earning potential of the person and provides him the creditability and status in the society and the business world.
Exam Format
All the Certified Management Accountant candidates have a period of three years for clearing both the parts of the exam and this time period will start from the date of entry of the candidate into the CMA program. In case the person cannot clear the whole exam in the mentioned three years time period, he will lose all his previous score, and again, he has to register for the exam.
In these years, he has to pass the two parts of the exam where the first part consists of the exam on Financial Planning, Performance, and Analytics exam and the second part consists of the exam on Strategic Financial Management.
Examination Fees
The Certified Management Accountant program fee is different for professional members and students or academic members. The fee is mentioned below:
- For the professional member:
Non-refundable CMA Entrance fees are $250, and exam fees are $415 per part
- For Student or academic member:
Non-refundable CMA Entrance fees are $188, and exam fees are $311 per part
Exam Results & Passing Rate
Certified Management Accountant Exam results are declared generally after 42 days from the last day of the month in which the exam was taken. The passing rate of the CMA exam on an average is 35% for Part one globally and on an average of 50% for part two.
Exam Strategies
Following are the strategies that should be followed during the exam time:
- To crack the Certified Management Accountant Exam, the first step that one must follow includes paying close attention to every word of the question to gain its clear understanding.
- After that, all the options should be analyzed properly, especially in the multiple-choice questions.
- If an answer can be identified, then proceed further after selecting it; otherwise, don’t spend a large amount of time on a single question.
- One should try to select the best possible guess if he is not sure about the correct one. So, there is nothing to lose.
- Lastly, one should review all the answered questions, and in case any difficult question was left earlier, then analyze that and choose the best possible guess.
Salary and Job Prospects
After clearing the Certified Management Accountant USA exam and getting the certification concerning the same, a person can pursue his career in the field of accounting, finance, and management with the opportunities in the domestic and global market. Some of the job roles are listed below:
- Financial Risk Manager
- Cost Accountant
- Cost Controller
- Cost Manager
- Finance Manager
- Financial Controller
- Financial Analyst
- Chief Financial Officer
- Relationship Manager
The salary of the Certified Management Accountant is not fixed, but it is a good paying certification. Like, in case of any other job, the CMA’s salary also increases with the increase in the experience level. It varies from company to company and from person to person as well. The experience and aptitude of a person are key deciding factors for the salary. Initially, it might be less, but after gaining a certain level of experience, it keeps on increasing.
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