CMA (Certified Management Accountant)
IMA
Complete guide to passing the CMA (Certified Management Accountant) exam on your first attempt.
$1,000-$1,500
~45%
Ongoing (30 CPE/year)
Global
IMA
$85k-$140k
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Complete Overview
The CMA is a two-part certification exam from the Institute of Certified Management Accountants, the certifying arm of IMA, taken by accountants and finance professionals who work inside businesses rather than in public practice audit or tax. Each part runs four hours and contains 100 multiple-choice questions plus a second section, and the direct cost is a $300 entrance fee that stays valid for three years plus $545 for each English-language exam part, on top of IMA membership at $295 a year for professionals or $49 a year for students.
Part 1 is Financial Planning, Performance, and Analytics. Part 2 is Strategic Financial Management. You can sit them in either order, and both must be passed within the three-year life of your entrance fee. The structure inside each part is three hours for the 100 multiple-choice questions followed by one hour for the second section. IMA launched case-based questions in the May and June 2026 window, where candidates could still choose the essay format instead; from the September and October 2026 window the case-based format is the only option and essays are retired. Candidates now answer two case-based questions in that second hour. Each case-based question presents a business scenario of roughly 250 words followed by drag and drop, fill in the blank, select from a list, and calculation items.
Scoring runs on a scaled range from 0 to 500, and 360 is the minimum passing score for each part. IMA states that a candidate must answer at least 50 percent of the multiple-choice questions correctly to reach the second section at all, so a weak first three hours ends the attempt regardless of how well you would have handled the cases. A small number of multiple-choice questions on each exam are being validated for future use and do not count toward your score.
The exam runs in three testing windows a year, January and February, May and June, and September and October, at Prometric test centers worldwide. ICMA does not permit remote or online testing for the CMA, so every candidate sits in a physical centre. Results arrive roughly six weeks after the end of the month in which you tested and are added to your CMA transcript.
Passing both parts is one of four requirements. You also need active IMA membership, a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university or an approved professional certification, and two continuous years of professional experience in management accounting or financial management. The education and experience pieces can be satisfied before the exams, during them, or within seven years of completing them. Once certified, you report 30 hours of continuing professional education each year, at least 2 of which must be in ethics, keep IMA membership active, and pay a separate CMA annual fee: IMA prices professional membership at $295 and the membership-plus-CMA-annual-fee bundle at $325.
Why Get CMA (Certified Management Accountant) Certified?
The CMA is two exams rather than four, and IMA gives you three years from the entrance fee purchase to pass both, which makes it a far shorter commitment than the CPA or ACCA route for someone who already works in industry.
Typical CMA salaries land in the $85k to $140k band. IMA publishes a global salary survey showing a CMA pay premium, but the size of that premium moves year to year and by region, so treat any single headline percentage with care.
Part 2 devotes 25 percent to business decision analysis and 20 percent to corporate finance, so the syllabus maps onto the work of an FP and A analyst or a divisional controller rather than onto audit procedures.
Part 1 gives 15 percent to Technology and Analytics, covering data governance, process automation, data mining and visualisation, which is one of the few accounting credentials that tests this directly.
There is no requirement to take the two parts in a specific order, so you can start with whichever part matches your current job and sit the other in a later window.
The credential is portable across borders. ICMA delivers the exam at Prometric centres worldwide and offers entrance fees in English, Simplified Chinese and Japanese, which is why the CMA travels well through the Gulf, India and East Asia.
Professional Ethics carries 15 percent of Part 2, built on the IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Practice, which gives the credential weight in controller and compliance roles where an ethics framework has to be defensible.
Exam Format & Structure
Duration
4 hours per part, split into 3 hours for the multiple-choice section and 1 hour for the second section
Questions
100 multiple-choice questions plus 2 case-based questions in each of Part 1 and Part 2. A small number of the multiple-choice questions are unscored items being validated for future use.
Passing Score
360 on a scaled score range of 0 to 500, for each part separately. IMA also requires a candidate to answer at least 50 percent of the multiple-choice questions correctly before the second section is presented.
Question Types
- Multiple-choice questions across the published content specification outline
- Case-based questions, each built on a scenario of roughly 250 words
- Drag and drop items inside case-based questions
- Fill in the blank items inside case-based questions
- Select from a list items inside case-based questions
- Calculation items inside case-based questions
Delivery Method
Computer-based at Prometric test centers worldwide, in three testing windows a year during January and February, May and June, and September and October. ICMA requires all CMA exams to be taken at an official testing center and does not offer remote or online proctoring.
Exam Domains & Topics
Covers the four primary financial statements plus consolidated and integrated reporting, and the recognition, measurement and valuation decisions behind them. ICMA assigns this area coverage Level C, meaning questions can reach synthesis and evaluation. Differences between US GAAP and IFRS appear here rather than in a separate international section.
Key Topics to Master:
- Balance sheet, income statement, statement of changes in equity
- Statement of cash flows
- Consolidated statements and integrated reporting
- Asset valuation and valuation of liabilities
- Equity transactions
- Revenue recognition and income measurement
- Major differences between US GAAP and IFRS
The joint largest area in Part 1. It runs from strategic planning models and the alignment of tactics with long-term goals through to the mechanics of building an annual profit plan. Forecasting techniques including regression analysis, learning curve analysis and expected value produce calculation-heavy questions, and top-level pro forma and cash flow projections are tested.
Key Topics to Master:
- Analysis of external and internal factors affecting strategy
- Strategic planning models and analytical techniques
- Budgeting concepts and resource allocation
- Regression analysis, learning curve analysis and expected value
- Activity-based, zero-based, continuous rolling and flexible budgeting
- Annual business plans, operational, financial and capital budgets
- Pro forma income, financial statement projections and cash flow projections
The other 20 percent area in Part 1, built around comparing actual results to plan and holding managers accountable for the difference. Variance analysis against standard costs is the workhorse topic. Responsibility centre design, transfer pricing and the choice between return on investment and residual income as a measure appear repeatedly in calculation questions.
Key Topics to Master:
- Comparison of actual to planned results and management by exception
- Use of flexible budgets to analyse performance
- Standard cost systems and variance analysis
- Types of responsibility centres and transfer pricing
- Product, business unit and customer profitability analysis
- Return on investment, residual income and investment base issues
- Key performance indicators and the balanced scorecard
Covers cost behaviour, costing systems and overhead allocation, then extends into supply chain and process improvement. Absorption versus variable costing is a recurring source of reconciliation questions. Activity-based costing, joint and by-product costing, service department allocation, and cost of quality analysis all sit here at Level C coverage.
Key Topics to Master:
- Types of cost and cost behaviour, actual, normal and standard costs
- Absorption full costing and variable direct costing
- Joint and by-product costing
- Job order costing, activity-based costing and life-cycle costing
- Fixed and variable overhead, allocation base determination, service department allocation
- Lean resource management, enterprise resource planning and capacity analysis
- Value chain analysis, benchmarking and cost of quality analysis
Splits into governance, risk and compliance on one side and system controls and security on the other. Candidates need the internal control structure, control risk, testing methods and remediation of deficiencies, plus external audit requirements. The systems half covers general accounting system controls, application and transaction controls, backup controls and business continuity planning.
Key Topics to Master:
- Internal control structure and management philosophy
- Internal control policies for safeguarding and assurance
- Internal control risk and testing methods
- Control deficiency remediation
- Corporate governance and external audit requirements
- General accounting system, application and transaction controls
- Technology controls, backup controls and business continuity planning
The area most often underestimated by candidates who trained before it was added. It covers accounting information systems, enterprise resource planning and enterprise performance management systems, data governance across the data life cycle, technology-enabled finance transformation including process automation, and the four types of data analytics with data visualisation.
Key Topics to Master:
- Accounting information systems and enterprise resource planning systems
- Enterprise performance management systems
- Data policies and procedures and the life cycle of data
- Data management and controls against security breaches
- System development life cycle and process automation
- Business intelligence and data mining
- Types of data analytics and data visualisation
Opens Part 2 with comparative and common size analysis, then moves through the full ratio set covering liquidity, leverage, activity, profitability and market measures. Special issues carry real weight: the effect of foreign exchange rate changes, changing prices and inflation, changes in accounting treatment, and earnings quality all appear as judgement questions rather than plug-in calculations.
Key Topics to Master:
- Common size and common base year financial statements
- Financial trend analysis
- Liquidity, leverage, activity, profitability and market ratios
- Income measurement, revenue, cost of sales and expense analysis
- Impact of foreign exchange rate changes on financial statements
- Effects of changing prices and inflation
- Impact of changes in accounting treatment and earnings quality
The broadest area in Part 2. It runs from risk and return calculation through cost of capital and valuation of financial instruments, into raising capital via public offerings, dividend policy, lease and debt financing. Working capital management is examined in detail across cash, receivables, inventory and short-term credit, and international finance covers exchange rate regimes and transaction exposure.
Key Topics to Master:
- Calculating return, types of financial risk and the risk-return relationship
- Term structure of interest rates and types of financial instruments
- Cost of capital and valuation of financial instruments
- Financial markets, institutions, initial and secondary public offerings
- Dividend policy, share repurchases, lease financing and debt financing
- Net working capital, cash, marketable securities, receivables and inventory management
- Mergers, acquisitions and other restructuring
- Fixed, flexible and floating exchange rates and managing transaction exposure
The single largest area on either part of the CMA exam. It is built on cost volume profit analysis, marginal analysis and pricing. Expect make versus buy, special order, sell or process further, and add or drop a segment decisions with capacity constraints layered on. Pricing covers target costing, price elasticity of demand, product life-cycle and market structure considerations.
Key Topics to Master:
- Breakeven analysis and profit performance at alternative operating levels
- Analysis of multiple products
- Sunk costs, opportunity costs, marginal costs and marginal revenue
- Special orders and pricing decisions
- Make versus buy and sell or process further
- Add or drop a segment and capacity considerations
- Pricing methodologies and target costing
- Price elasticity of demand, product life-cycle and market structure
A compact area covering the identification, assessment, mitigation and ongoing management of enterprise risk. It carries only 10 percent of Part 2 but is assigned Level C coverage, so questions can ask you to evaluate a proposed mitigation strategy rather than only name risk categories.
Key Topics to Master:
- Types of enterprise risk
- Risk identification and assessment
- Risk mitigation strategies
- Managing risk on an ongoing basis
- Linking risk appetite to control design
Covers the stages of the capital budgeting process and the analysis methods applied to it. Incremental cash flow construction with income tax considerations is where most candidates lose marks, because the arithmetic is unforgiving. Net present value, internal rate of return and payback are compared directly, and sensitivity analysis is tested.
Key Topics to Master:
- Stages of capital budgeting and incremental cash flows
- Income tax considerations in capital budgeting
- Evaluating uncertainty and selecting discount rates
- Net present value
- Internal rate of return
- Payback and comparison of investment analysis methods
- Sensitivity analysis
Larger than either enterprise risk management or capital investment decisions. It is anchored on the IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Practice and its resolution procedure, plus the fraud triangle and types of business fraud. Organisational ethics extends to ethical culture, leadership, legal compliance, sustainability and social responsibility, and data ethics.
Key Topics to Master:
- Ethical decision making and types of business fraud
- The IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Practice
- Fraud triangle
- Evaluation and resolution of ethical issues
- Organisational factors and ethical culture
- Ethical leadership and legal compliance
- Sustainability, social responsibility and data ethics
Recommended Study Plan
- 1Download the ICMA Content Specification Outlines and Learning Outcome Statements from IMA and mark your gaps against all 12 practice areas
- 2Work the four primary statements plus consolidation and integrated reporting
- 3Drill revenue recognition and income measurement problems
- 4Build a side-by-side US GAAP and IFRS difference sheet for inventory, impairment, development costs and revaluation
- 5Take the free Prometric CMA Exam Simulation with case-based questions to learn the interface before you study under time pressure
- 1Build a full master budget from a sales forecast through to a pro forma balance sheet
- 2Work regression analysis, learning curve and expected value problems by hand before using a calculator shortcut
- 3Compare activity-based, zero-based, rolling and flexible budgeting on when each is appropriate
- 4Practise cash flow projection questions with collection and payment lag assumptions
- 5Complete 100 multiple-choice questions on this area and log misses by subject line
- 1Drill the full variance set including price, quantity, rate, efficiency, spending, volume and mix and yield
- 2Work transfer pricing questions under market-based, cost-based and negotiated methods with idle capacity variants
- 3Calculate return on investment and residual income for the same division and explain the different manager incentives
- 4Build a balanced scorecard for a manufacturing division across all four perspectives
- 5Redo every week 2 miss before moving on
- 1Reconcile absorption and variable costing income for the same period and explain the inventory change effect
- 2Work activity-based costing allocations against a traditional single-rate allocation on the same data
- 3Practise joint cost allocation using physical units, sales value at split-off and net realisable value
- 4Allocate service department costs using direct, step-down and reciprocal methods
- 5Study cost of quality categories and classify 30 example costs into prevention, appraisal, internal failure and external failure
- 1Map internal control structure, control risk, testing methods and deficiency remediation
- 2Study general accounting system controls against application and transaction controls with concrete examples
- 3Learn backup controls and business continuity planning terminology precisely, since answer options hinge on it
- 4Work through the data life cycle, data governance policies and controls against security breaches
- 5Learn the four types of data analytics, descriptive, diagnostic, predictive and prescriptive, and match each to a business question
- 1Sit a full timed Part 1 mock: 100 multiple-choice questions in 3 hours followed by 2 case-based questions in 1 hour
- 2Confirm your pace is under 1.8 minutes per multiple-choice question, since 100 questions in 180 minutes leaves no slack
- 3Score by the six Part 1 areas and rank weaknesses against the 15, 20, 20, 15, 15, 15 weighting
- 4Rework every case-based question item type, drag and drop, fill in the blank, select from a list, and calculation
- 5Confirm your Prometric appointment and that your calculator is a permitted non-programmable model
- 1Compute the full ratio set on one company's statements: liquidity, leverage, activity, profitability and market
- 2Practise common size and common base year restatements
- 3Work foreign exchange translation effects on reported results
- 4Study earnings quality indicators and how accounting changes distort trend analysis
- 5Complete 100 multiple-choice questions on this area
- 1Calculate weighted average cost of capital with debt, preferred and equity components and a tax shield
- 2Value bonds and preferred shares and apply the constant growth dividend model
- 3Work the full working capital set: cash conversion cycle, economic order quantity, receivables discount decisions
- 4Compare lease financing against debt financing on cash flow and reported leverage
- 5Study transaction exposure hedging with forwards, futures, options and money market hedges
- 1Drill cost volume profit with a multi-product sales mix and a target profit after tax
- 2Work make versus buy with and without an alternative use for freed capacity
- 3Practise special order pricing when the order consumes constrained capacity
- 4Work sell or process further and add or drop a segment with allocated fixed costs that do not disappear
- 5Study target costing, price elasticity of demand and market structure effects on pricing
- 1Build incremental cash flows for a replacement decision including tax on the gain from disposing of the old asset
- 2Compute net present value, internal rate of return and payback on the same project and explain when they conflict
- 3Run sensitivity analysis on discount rate and terminal value assumptions
- 4Learn the IMA Statement of Ethical Professional Practice principles, standards and resolution steps verbatim
- 5Study the fraud triangle and classify example scenarios into pressure, opportunity and rationalisation
- 1Sit a full timed Part 2 mock under the same 3 hour plus 1 hour structure
- 2Resit a Part 1 mock with a different question set to check retention
- 3Practise writing case-based responses that show the calculation steps, since partial credit depends on visible work
- 4Target the 50 percent multiple-choice threshold explicitly: identify which areas would sink you below it
- 5Review all missed items across both parts in mixed order
- 1Spend two thirds of study time on the four weakest practice areas identified in week 11
- 2Redo 300 previously missed multiple-choice questions without reading explanations first
- 3Rehearse the case-based question workflow: read the 250-word case once, note the numbers, then answer each item type
- 4Confirm your Prometric appointment is at least 72 hours ahead and that your ID matches Prometric's requirements
- 5Taper to light review in the final 48 hours
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Best Study Resources
ICMA Content Specification Outlines
Official blueprintThe published body of knowledge for both parts, with percentage weights and an A, B or C coverage level for every practice area. Every CMA study decision should trace back to this document.
Free
ICMA Learning Outcome Statements
Official syllabus detailBreaks each practice area into the specific knowledge and skills you must demonstrate. More granular than the content specification outlines and useful for deciding whether you actually know a subject line or only recognise it.
Free
Prometric CMA Exam Simulation
Official interface simulatorPrometric provides 25 multiple-choice questions with unlimited attempts in the real testing interface. Separate versions exist for the essay format and the case-based question format, so choose the case-based version for exams from May 2026 onward.
Free to CMA candidates
IMA CMA Practice Quiz
Official practice questionsIMA publishes a short quiz of real questions retired from the CMA exam. Useful early as a calibration check on how far your current knowledge is from exam standard.
Free
The CMA Handbook
Official candidate handbookICMA's rulebook for the program, covering eligibility, registration, scheduling, candidate conduct, grading and the appeals process. It is the authority when a review provider and IMA disagree.
Free
Gleim CMA Review
Commercial review courseA large multiple-choice question bank with detailed answer explanations. Frequently chosen by candidates who want volume drilling on the calculation-heavy Part 1 variance and Part 2 decision analysis areas.
Paid, varies by package
Wiley CMAexcel Learning System
Commercial review courseText plus question bank organised directly against the ICMA content specification outlines, which makes gap tracking against the official weights straightforward.
Paid, varies by package
Surgent University PASS
Commercial review courseFeatured by IMA on its CMA preparation page as a study and review program. Adaptive question delivery that concentrates practice on your weakest areas.
Paid
IMA approved CMA course provider directory
Official provider listIMA maintains a list of approved course providers offering live, in-person instruction as well as self-study publishers. Useful in markets where a local classroom cohort matters more than an online question bank.
Free to search
Texas Instruments BA II Plus or HP 12c
Required equipmentIMA permits a basic non-programmable calculator or approved models such as the TI BA II Plus or HP 12c, and allows only one calculator into the room. Time value of money keystrokes matter most in Part 2 capital budgeting and corporate finance.
Roughly $30 to $60
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Treating the second section as the hard part and coasting through the multiple-choice section.
You must answer at least 50 percent of the multiple-choice questions correctly before the second section is even presented. Budget the full 3 hours to the 100 questions and treat the multiple-choice section as the gate, not the warm-up.
Running out of time in the multiple-choice section because of two or three long calculation questions.
One hundred questions in 180 minutes is 1.8 minutes each. Set a checkpoint at question 50 with 90 minutes gone. Any variance or capital budgeting item that has taken more than three minutes gets a guess and a flag.
Preparing with essay-format materials for an exam that now uses case-based questions.
IMA launched case-based questions in the May and June 2026 window as an alternative to essays, and from the September and October 2026 window they are the only format. Use the Prometric CMA Exam Simulation with case-based questions and practise drag and drop, fill in the blank, select from a list and calculation items, not written essays.
Skipping Technology and Analytics in Part 1 because it looks like general knowledge.
It is 15 percent of Part 1, the same weight as external financial reporting decisions and cost management. Learn the vocabulary precisely, including the four analytics types and the stages of the data life cycle, because the answer options are written in ICMA's terms.
Underweighting Business Decision Analysis in Part 2.
At 25 percent it is the biggest single area across both parts. Marginal analysis under a capacity constraint, where an accepted special order displaces regular sales, is the pattern that recurs. Drill it until the opportunity cost step is automatic.
Letting the entrance fee expire before both parts are passed.
The CMA entrance fee is valid for three years from purchase and both parts must be completed inside that window. If you miss it you buy a new $300 entrance fee to re-enrol. Plan your two windows at enrolment, not after the first result.
Waiting until both exams are passed before submitting transcripts and the work experience form.
Education and experience verification are separate submissions to ICMA at CMAEducationDocuments and CMAWorkExperience. Transcripts must come directly from your college or university in English and PDF with your IMA membership number. Start these while you are still studying.
Assuming an internship or a general management role will satisfy the two-year experience requirement.
ICMA excludes internships, trainee, clerical and nontechnical positions, and excludes computer operations, sales and marketing, manufacturing, engineering, personnel and general management. Continuous part-time work of 20 hours a week counts at one year of credit for every two years worked.
Booking a Prometric appointment late in a window and then needing to move it.
Appointments cannot be moved to a different testing window without a $150 exam switch fee, allowed once per part, and Prometric charges $70 to reschedule inside 5 to 45 days. Inside 5 days you cannot change it at all and you forfeit the exam fee. Book early in the window so a reschedule stays possible.
Exam Day Tips
- 1
Every CMA exam is taken at a Prometric test center. ICMA does not offer remote proctoring for the CMA, so there is no at-home option to fall back on if travel is difficult.
- 2
Bring one calculator only. IMA permits a basic non-programmable calculator or approved models such as the TI BA II Plus or HP 12c, and a second unit will not be allowed in with you.
- 3
Review Prometric's identification requirements before the day. Candidates turned away at check-in for an ID problem lose the appointment and the exam fee, and IMA treats that as a candidate responsibility.
- 4
Leave outerwear, hats, food, drinks, purses, briefcases, notebooks, pagers, watches, cell phones and any recording device outside the test room. ICMA classifies bringing these in as cheating, not as an administrative slip.
- 5
No written notes, published materials or testing aids of any format are permitted. Anything you want available during the exam has to be in your head or on the on-screen tools.
- 6
Book early and treat the date as fixed. Prometric charges $70 to reschedule or cancel from 5 to 45 days out, permits no change at all inside 5 days, and cannot move you to a different testing window under any circumstances.
- 7
Pace the multiple-choice section against a hard clock. There is no way back into it once you move to the case-based section, and the 50 percent multiple-choice threshold decides whether you see the cases at all.
- 8
For the case-based questions, show your calculation steps. Responses are expected to be responsive, logically presented and to demonstrate understanding of the subject, which partial credit depends on.
- 9
Do not discuss or post exam questions afterwards. ICMA names sharing questions on Facebook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, WeChat and Snapchat as cheating that can lead to expulsion from IMA and revocation of an existing CMA.
Career Paths & Salary Ranges
Financial planning and analysis manager
Owns the budget cycle, the rolling forecast and variance reporting to business unit leaders. Part 1's 20 percent planning and budgeting area and 20 percent performance management area map directly onto the day-to-day of this role.
$100k-$140k
Cost accounting manager
Maintains standard costs, runs the monthly variance analysis and prices products against target margins. Part 1 cost management and Part 2 business decision analysis together cover the technical core of this position.
$85k-$115k
Divisional or plant controller
Runs the close, the internal control environment and the reporting pack for one operating unit. The 15 percent internal controls area in Part 1 and the 15 percent professional ethics area in Part 2 are the parts hiring managers care about here.
$105k-$140k
Corporate finance or treasury analyst
Works on cost of capital, capital structure, working capital and project appraisal. Part 2 corporate finance at 20 percent and capital investment decisions at 10 percent are the relevant syllabus areas.
$85k-$120k
Business partner or decision support analyst
Sits alongside commercial teams providing make versus buy, pricing and capacity analysis. Part 2's 25 percent business decision analysis area is effectively the job description written as a syllabus.
$90k-$125k
Chief financial officer of a mid-sized company
IMA lists CFO among the roles CMAs progress into. The combination of forecasting, performance measurement, risk management and ethics coverage across both parts is aimed at the internal finance leadership track rather than the audit partner track.
$120k-$140k
Prerequisites & Requirements
- Active IMA membership. Only active members may purchase the entrance fee or sit a CMA exam, and membership must stay active to retain the certification afterwards.
- Purchase of the CMA entrance fee, currently $300 for the English-language program, which registers you as an active candidate and is valid for three years.
- A bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, in any field, verified by a transcript emailed directly from the institution to ICMA in English and PDF format with your IMA membership number.
- Alternatively, an approved professional certification, verified by an official letter emailed directly from the certifying organisation.
- Degrees from institutions that are not on an accredited listing must be evaluated by an independent agency, with listings maintained by AICE and NACES.
- Two continuous years of professional experience in management accounting or financial management. Continuous part-time work of 20 hours a week counts at one year of credit for every two years worked.
- Education and experience can be completed before the exams, while you are taking them, or within seven years of completing them.
- There is no prerequisite ordering between the two exam parts. You may sit Part 1 or Part 2 first.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does the CMA exam cost?
For a professional candidate testing in English, the direct costs are a $300 CMA entrance fee, $545 for each of the two exam parts, and IMA membership at $295 a year. That totals about $1,685 in year one. Student members pay $49 a year for membership, and IMA runs regional promotional pricing on the entrance fee and membership in some markets.
What is the passing score for the CMA exam?
You need a scaled score of 360 out of 500 on each part. Scores are scaled rather than raw percentages so that different exam forms are comparable. IMA also requires you to answer at least 50 percent of the multiple-choice questions correctly before the second section is presented, so failing that threshold ends the attempt inside the first three hours.
How long is each CMA exam part?
Four hours. Three hours are allocated to the 100 multiple-choice questions and one hour to the second section. IMA launched case-based questions in the May and June 2026 window, where essays remained a choice, and from the September and October 2026 window the second section contains two case-based questions only.
What are case-based questions on the CMA exam?
Each case-based question presents a real-world business scenario of roughly 250 words, followed by a set of items that includes drag and drop, fill in the blank, select from a list, and calculation questions. You answer two of them in the second part of each exam. IMA states the content, difficulty and expectations of the exam are unchanged by the format shift.
When can I take the CMA exam?
Three testing windows a year: January and February, May and June, and September and October. You must sit during the window you registered for. Prometric cannot move an appointment to a different testing window at all, which is what the separate ICMA exam switch form and its $150 fee are for, so book early: rescheduling within the same window costs $70 from 5 to 45 days out and is not permitted at all inside 5 days.
Can I take the CMA exam online at home?
No. ICMA requires all CMA exams to be taken at an official Prometric test center, which it explains as a measure to protect exam integrity and fairness for all candidates. There is no remote proctoring option for the CMA, unlike some other finance certifications.
How long does it take to get CMA exam results?
Results are released about six weeks after the end of the month in which you tested, and are added to your CMA transcript with an email notification. Results are processed by window rather than one candidate at a time, so a mid-window and an end-of-window sitting in the same month land together.
What happens if I fail a CMA exam part?
You register and pay for that part again in a later testing window. Only one attempt per part is allowed within a single testing window. IMA emails retake promotional codes to eligible candidates within two to three weeks after grades are released, which reduces the cost of the second attempt.
Can I have my CMA exam regraded?
A regrade costs $150 and takes about three to four weeks. ICMA reviews all scores before release, and it states that passing after a regrade is rare. Under the essay format, a score of 350 made you eligible to request one, and scores below 350 were not accepted for regrade.
How long do I have to pass both parts?
Three years from the date you purchase the CMA entrance fee. If you do not pass both parts inside that window you must re-enrol by buying a new entrance fee. Separately, you have seven years after enrolling to complete the education and experience requirements.
What calculator can I bring to the CMA exam?
A basic non-programmable calculator, or an approved financial model such as the Texas Instruments BA II Plus or the Hewlett Packard 12c. Only one calculator is permitted in the testing room. Practise your time value of money keystrokes on the exact unit you will bring, because Part 2 capital budgeting and corporate finance questions depend on speed there.
Can I reschedule my CMA exam?
Within the same testing window, yes, if seats are available. Prometric charges $70 to reschedule or cancel between 5 and 45 days before the appointment. Inside 5 days you cannot change it, and cancelling that late forfeits the exam fee. Moving to a different testing window costs a $150 exam switch fee and is allowed once per exam part.
What is the CMA pass rate?
ICMA does not publish per-window CMA pass rates on its public certification pages, and has not issued an updated global figure in years. The last global pass rate IMA published was roughly 45 percent per part, and every current figure in circulation traces back to it rather than to fresh data, so it tells you little about your own window. What ICMA does publish, and what actually governs your result, is the standard itself: a scaled 360 out of 500, plus the 50 percent multiple-choice threshold that decides whether you reach the cases at all.
How do I maintain my CMA certification?
Report 30 hours of continuing professional education each year, of which a minimum of 2 hours must be in the field of ethics, keep your IMA membership active, and pay the CMA annual fee, which sits on top of membership: IMA sells professional membership at $295 and the membership-plus-CMA-annual-fee renewal bundle at $325. Letting membership lapse suspends your CMA status regardless of your CPE record.
What experience counts toward the CMA requirement?
Positions requiring judgements regularly made using management accounting and financial management principles. ICMA lists financial statement preparation, financial planning and analysis, close processes, internal and external audit, forensic accounting, budgeting, forecasting, cost accounting, risk evaluation, data analytics, tax accounting and strategic planning among them. Internships, trainee, clerical and nontechnical positions do not count, and neither do computer operations, sales and marketing, manufacturing, engineering, personnel or general management roles.
How does the CMA compare to the CPA?
The CPA is a US state-licensed credential centred on audit, financial accounting and reporting, taxation and regulation, and it is the requirement for signing audit opinions. The CMA is an ICMA certification centred on internal decision support: budgeting, performance measurement, cost management, decision analysis and corporate finance. The CMA is two exams against the CPA's four sections, has no state residency or 150 credit hour rule, and is delivered worldwide. Many controllers hold both.
Can I earn an award for a high CMA score?
Yes. IMA gives CMA awards based on your combined score across Parts 1 and 2, and to qualify you must pass both exams on your first attempt and take both within the same exam window. That constraint means the award is only available to candidates who sit both parts together rather than spreading them across windows.
Which part should I take first?
Either. ICMA sets no ordering requirement. Candidates working in FP and A or cost accounting often start with Part 1 because the budgeting, variance and cost material overlaps their daily work. Candidates in treasury, corporate development or commercial finance often start with Part 2 because financial statement analysis, corporate finance and decision analysis are closer to their existing skills.
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