US CMA Course Details all you need to know
The Certified Management accounting is the degree granted by IMA, US. Following details are what you need to know about US CMA course:
- Exam dates
- Exam pattern
- Exam format
- Course duration
- Course fees
- Eligibility
- Pass percentage
- Syllabus
1.US CMA Exam Dates
The CMA test is completely modernized and is accessible at several Prometric revolves far and wide. It's significant that you plan your test dates for one of the testing windows accessible that suits your needs. Since the vast majority plan themselves for the test well ahead of time, it gives sufficient opportunity to find out about the test position and other significant data before testing.
| Testing Window | CMA Exam Dates 2022 |
| Jan-Feb | January 1 to Feb 28 |
| May-Jun | May 1 to June 30 |
| Sep-Oct | Sep1 to Oct 31 |
Currently, US CMA exams are happening in other months as we'll then the testing window depending on your country and location.
US CMA Exam from Home or Remote Testing
Due to pandemic IMA has started Remote Testing i.e. You can give exam from your Home. Below are the key points:
- Home testing starts from 18th Jan 2022
- For January/February 2022 exam window & subsequent exams
- No change in exam fee
- Remote proctoring is available 24/7
- Only on Desktop/ Laptop Not on Mobile/Tablet
- Avoid using work computer - they have firewall which restricts the testing software
- Room should be - no one around, well lit
- Allowed 4 white sheets
- 10 mins break allowed
for more details download Prometric User Guide PDF Check full details of remote testing on IMA Site
2.US CMA Exam Pattern
There are two sections to the CMA test, and you don't need to take them in a particular request. This implies on your desire, you can choose to register any part first. Each piece of the CMA test has 100 multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and 2 essay type questions. The MCQs are worth 75% of the of your total score on the CMA test and 25% of essay questions. Detailed Question and Answer Pattern & Format
3.US CMA Exam Format
The US CMA Exam for the two sections are of four hours each, comprising of:
| Question type | Duration | No of questions | Time per question |
| Multiple Choice | 3 hours | 100 | 1.8 minutes |
| Essay type | 1 hour | 2 | 30 minutes |
4. US CMA Course duration
The minimum time required for the completion of US CMA is 6 months, the average time is around 1 year and the maximum time is 3 years. The completion depends on various factors like how much time you have to study, how you plan your studies and how well your basics are. If you are planning to self study do go through our guide on US CMA Exam Self Study. If you are planning for join classes, do go through our guide on selecting best coaching institute. If you are planning to study online, then do go through our guide on how to pass US CMA by online study.
5. US CMA Course Fees in Indian Rupees - In India
| Programs for | Membership Fees | Entrance fee | Part 1 Exam fee | Part 2 Exam fee |
| Professional | $250/ Rs 18000 | $250/ Rs 18000 | $415/ Rs 29000 | $415/ Rs 29000 |
| Students | $39 / Rs 3000 | 188$/ Rs 14000 | $311/ Rs 22000 | $311/ Rs 22000 |
* Note - The exchange rate is taken $ = 71 INR
Note - IMA runs promotions from time to time and your IMA Fees can be reduced by 50%.
Total -
For Professionals - 93000 INR
For Students - 61000 INR
The above cost is only the cost which is payable to IMA and excludes the cost for coaching and study materials. Detailed course fee for US CMA Exam
6.US CMA Exam Eligibility
To be qualified for CMA, you should satisfy:
- Active membership with IMA
- Pay the US CMA Entrance Fee
- Fulfil the Education Qualification (2 years of working experience)
- Fulfil the Experience Qualification ( B-com)
- Complete all necessary assessment parts (Clear part 1 and 2)
- Consent to the IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Practice
7.US CMA Pass Percentage
US CMA Exam pass percentage per part is 72% i.e you need to get 360 out of 500 Marks.
Global Pass percentage for
- US CMA Part 1 Exam is 43%
- US CMA Part 2 Exam is 50%
8. US CMA Syllabus
US CMA Syllabus 2021 is divided into two parts :
- US CMA Exam Part 1
- US CMA Exam Part 2
Below are the details of both parts of US CMA Syllabus 2022. In 2020 the syllabus has changed. You can find a comparison between the old and new syllabus.
8a. USA CMA Part 1 Course in Detail -
A. External Financial Reporting Decisions
- Financial statements
- Balance sheet
- Income statement
- Statement of changes in equity
- Statement of cash flows
- Integrated reporting
- Recognition, measurement, valuation, and disclosure
- Asset valuation
- Valuation of liabilities
- Equity transactions
- Revenue recognition
- Income measurement
- Major differences between U.S. GAAP and IFRS
After covering financial statements and cash flows
A candidate should identify the needs of the financial statements, major components and classifications of each of the same, merits and demerits of them along with their effects. One can also demonstrate an understanding of the requirements of each of the statements, the relationship between the statements and the preparation of the same.
After covering recognition, measurement, valuation and disclosure
A candidate should identify the related issues to the valuation, distinguish between finance leases and operating, identify transactions affecting capital, differences between GAAP and IFRS and many more.
This is a straightforward section, and maximum questions in this section should be computational.
B. Planning, Budgeting, and Forecasting
- Strategic planning
- Analysis of external and internal factors affecting strategy
- Long-term mission and goals
- Alignment of tactics with long-term strategic goals
- Strategic planning models and analytical techniques
- Characteristics of a successful strategic planning process
- Budgeting concepts
- Operations and performance goals
- Characteristics of a successful budget process
- Resource allocation
- Other budgeting concepts
- Forecasting techniques
- Regression analysis
- Learning curve analysis
- Expected value
- Budgeting methodologies
- Annual business plans (master budgets)
- Project budgeting
- Activity-based budgeting
- Zero-based budgeting
- Continuous (rolling) budgets
- Flexible budgeting
- Annual profit plan and supporting schedules
- Operational budgets
- Financial budgets
- Capital budgets
- Top-level planning and analysis
- Pro forma income
- Financial statement projections
- Cash flow projections
Budgeting is the broader part of this section. A candidate is expected to calculate different items like the cost of goods sold, cost of goods manufactured, and other items here. There are a few conceptual questions, as well. This section is more in-depth than the previous one. The concepts are easy, but questions can consume length in some cases.
C. Performance Management
- Cost and variance measures
- Comparison of actual to planned results
- Use of flexible budgets to analyze performance
- Management by exception
- Use of standard cost systems
- Analysis of variation from standard cost expectations
- Responsibility centers and reporting segments
- Types of responsibility centers
- Transfer pricing
- Reporting of organizational segments
- Performance measures
- Product profitability analysis
- Business unit profitability analysis
- Customer profitability analysis
- Return on investment
- Residual income
- Investment base issues
- Key performance indicators (KPIs)
- Balanced scorecard
In this section, applicants are analyzed on the manners in which performance is assessed in an enterprise. The vast majority of the assessment tools ought to be well-known to the individuals who work in the accounting branch of a company. There are few components, for example, standard costs, that are utilized for the most part in manufacturing companies rather than service-oriented organizations.
D. Cost Management
- Measurement concepts
- Cost behavior and cost objects
- Actual and normal costs
- Standard costs
- Absorption (full) costing
- Variable (direct) costing
- Joint and by-product costing
- Costing systems
- Job order costing
- Process costing
- Activity-based costing
- Life-cycle costing
- Overhead costs
- Fixed and variable overhead expenses
- Plant-wide vs. departmental overhead
- Determination of allocation base
- Allocation of service department costs
- Supply chain management
- Lean resource management techniques
- Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
- Theory of Constraints
- Capacity management and analysis
- Business process improvement
- Value chain analysis
- Value-added concepts
- Process analysis, redesign, and standardization
- Activity-based management
- Continuous improvement concepts
- Best practice analysis
- Cost of quality analysis
- Efficient accounting processes
This section includes several costing methodologies, and candidates are expected to be able to complete an entire set of calculations.
E. Internal Controls
- Governance, risk, and compliance
- Internal control structure and management philosophy
- Internal control policies for safeguarding and assurance
- Internal control risk
- Corporate governance
- External audit requirements
- System controls and security measures
- General accounting system controls
- Application and transaction controls
- Network controls
- Backup controls
- Business continuity planning
The internal control questions in this area are practically all applied. They are not hard to see. However, they can be vague. Picking as well as can be expected is quite hard when a couple of the appropriate responses appear to be to some degree right. Try not to' get frustrated on the off chance that you quickly finish this area yet find that you do ineffectively on the training questions.
F. Technology and Analytics
- Information systems
- Accounting information systems
- Enterprise resource planning systems
- Enterprise performance management systems
- Data governance
- Data policies and procedures
- Life cycle of data
- Controls against security breaches
- Technology-enabled finance transformation
- System development life cycle
- Process automation
- Innovative applications
- Data analytics
- Business intelligence
- Data mining
- Analytic tools
- Data visualization
With the rise in popularity of data analytics, IMA has taken a step to make the syllabus relevant to today’s time. Data Analytics gives finance professionals a peek into possible opportunities in the Data Analytics field.
8b. USA CMA Part 2 course in Detail
A. Financial Statement Analysis
- Basic financial statement analysis
- Common size financial statements
- Common base year financial statements
- Financial ratios
- Liquidity
- Leverage
- Activity
- Profitability
- Market
- Profitability analysis
- Income measurement analysis
- Revenue analysis
- Cost of sales analysis
- Expense analysis
- Variation analysis
- Special issues
- Impact of foreign operations
- Effects of changing prices and inflation
- Impact of changes in accounting treatment
- Accounting and economic concepts of value and income
- Earnings quality
This section is very like that of Section A in Part 1, which examines financial accounting. However, the point of convergence is more on analysis and comparison with the utilization of key financial data and ratios.
B. Corporate Finance
- Risk and return
- Calculating return
- Types of risk
- Relationship between risk and return
- Long-term financial management
- Term structure of interest rates
- Types of financial instruments
- Cost of capital
- Valuation of financial instruments
- Raising capital
- Financial markets and regulation
- Market efficiency
- Financial institutions
- Initial and secondary public offerings
- Dividend policy and share repurchases
- Lease financing
- Working capital management
- Working capital terminology
- Cash management
- Marketable securities management
- Accounts receivable management
- Inventory management
- Types of short-term credit
- Short-term credit management
- Corporate restructuring
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Other forms of restructuring
- International finance
- Fixed, flexible, and floating exchange rates
- Managing transaction exposure
- Financing international trade
To perform well with this section, you should see short term and long term financial management just as the advantages and impediments of major financial instruments. You will see a blend of conceptual and computational questions. The assortment of questions can be expensive; however, the calculations are likely very fundamental.
C. Decision Analysis
- Cost/volume/profit analysis
- Breakeven analysis
- Profit performance and alternative operating levels
- Analysis of multiple products
- Marginal analysis
- Sunk costs, opportunity costs, and other related concepts
- Marginal costs and marginal revenue
- Special orders and pricing
- Make vs. buy
- Sell or process further
- Add or drop a segment
- Capacity considerations
- Pricing
- Pricing methodologies
- Target costing
- Elasticity of demand
- Product life-cycle considerations
- Market structure considerations
This section will test you on how the management accountants give information and perform analysis of the decision making the process.
D. Risk Management
- Enterprise Risk
- Types of risk
- Risk identification and assessment
- Risk mitigation strategies
- Managing risk
Organizational managers need to recognize, survey, and react to risks all together for the organization to accomplish its objective. It focuses on the ERM model. You are well on the way to get theoretical questions in this area.
E. Investment Decisions
- Capital budgeting process
- Stages of capital budgeting
- Incremental cash flows
- Income tax considerations
- Evaluating uncertainty
- Capital investment analysis methods
- Net present value
- Internal rate of return
- Payback
- Comparison of investment analysis methods
This section covers how the management accountants help settles on important decisions about whether to continue with speculation or pick between venture options.
F. Professional Ethics
- Business ethics
- Moral philosophies and values
- Ethical decision making
- Ethical considerations for management accounting and financial management professionals
- IMA’s Statement of Ethical Professional
- Practice Fraud triangle
- Evaluation and resolution of ethical issues
- Ethical considerations for the organization
- Organizational factors and ethical culture
- IMA’s Statement on Management Accounting, “Values and Ethics: From Inception to Practice”
- Ethical leadership Legal compliance
- Responsibility for ethical conduct
- Sustainability and social responsibility
The content of this section depends on the IMA Statement of Ethical Standards. The standards and gauges are succinct and straightforward. Candidates ought to retain the names of the four standards, and all the more critically, know how they are applied in real business circumstances.
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