Introduction
Examinations are talent battles - best won before they are fought. Preparation is knowing what one needs to know beforehand. Preparing well is half the battle won. The rest is confident execution.
The Certified Management Accountant - CMA certification - is a gold standard certification. Worth winning! Why? It has global recognition in over 170 countries. CMA is a reliable assurance for career and compensation uplift for working professionals. In the UAE, for example, the compensation uplift for a CMA is over 100%!
Let's begin by breaking down its facets and paying attention to the details. First things first - the macro picture of challenges.
CMA challenges
Here are some of the challenges one needs to be aware of and prepare for:
Global curriculum conformance
CMA has global recognition due to its rich curriculum. It includes 12 global competencies and skills. It isn't easy since it is elaborate, extensive, comprehensive and well-updated.
Open structure
The CMA courseware is self-paced to accommodate the busy schedules of working professionals. Its suggested completion timeframe is in the range of 12-18 months. Unless self-disciplined, individuals can drift and lose focus and momentum over time. Why? Because there is no standard study timetable for the large volume of CMA courseware.
Generic qualifiers
The generic qualifier for a CMA is any bachelor's degree with two years of work experience. Those unfamiliar with finance and accounting can later find it difficult and cause dropouts.
The CMA pursuit is challenging. No wonder the CMA has a pass percentage of only 45%.
Given these challenges, what does it take to be a part of this minority pass percentage?
One needs to know the Certified Management Accountant CMA course details. With it, one can plan, prepare and execute to succeed.
Let's get to know how!
The CMA exam details
Structure
The exam gets conducted in two parts:
- Part 1 covers Financial Planning, Performance and Analytics.
- Part 2 covers strategic financial management.
Each part has 100 multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and an essay section. Together they cover 12 relevant skills. The duration of MCQ is 3 hours, while that of the essay is one hour. Essay topics have a couple of scenarios and about 2-7 questions.
Schedule
CMA exams are computer-based and conducted thrice at the Prometric Test Centres worldwide. The exam windows are January/February, May/June and September/October. One can register for any part and schedule.
Plan
Here are some things to include in the plan asides from a personal curriculum study plan:
- Review the CMA handbook - a concise summary of all that is important to know
- There are over 70 informative webinars that one can attend to learn from
- Review and comprehend details of the content specification and the learning outcomes tested.
- Take as many practice tests as possible. Resource centres, peer groups and Prometric mock tests are avenues available.
Preparation
Supplementing self-study with a trustworthy CMA expert online training platform works best.
In conclusion
The CMA certification is a difficult test. It helps to know everything related to it to plan, prepare and execute to success.
Imarticus helps conquer CMA in official partnership with:
The Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) - the exam conductor and
Gleim - the best CMA content creator.
Its live online CMA certification course for working professionals runs 6-8 months. The best part is that with Imarticus, one gets a pass guarantee of CMA.
Over 10,00,000+ learners have reposed their faith in upskilling with Imarticus. They trust Imarticus for many courses, including the CMA certification course.
With Imarticus, one can rest assured about passing the CMA certification exam.
