How to prepare for CMA US

If you are in search of a professional financial qualification after your graduation (B-com) OR if you want to certify your huge experience in Management Accounting or Cost Accounting, the best way to do, is thru CMA(US),  considering factors like time duration and the cost incurred in attaining a professional degree.

Preparation of a proper plan with exact timelines is essential before starting the learning process. Sticking to plan is also essential for successful execution. Key factors in the learning process can be following but not limited to.

 

Choosing the right learning partner

This is the most important thing in clearing your CMA(US) exam in one shot. Be very careful while choosing the learning partner. Choosing the wrong partner will end up in more cost, more time and mental pressure. Few factors to take into consideration while selecting the right learning partner :

Faculty credentials : Educational qualifications, corporate exposure and faculty experience, teaching skills, etc. are the qualities required for a good CMA faculty. IPFC Academy’s faculty Mr Sush Bala has most of these qualities. He is an MBA(IIMA), CMA(US), ICWAI, CFM (US) and LIFA (US) with enriched corporate background. He is considered to be one of the best online CMA tutors in the World.

Conceptual Clarity: The key in passing CMA(US) examination solely depends on the clarity of concepts about all the topics covered in the syllabus. Mugging up the things won’t work for CMA. Please make extra sure that the learning partner you are choosing is focusing on conceptual clarity in their teaching process.

Relations with IMA in getting timely responses.

Mode of Coaching / learning is an important factor to be considered. Benefits of Online Interactive mode of learning should be considered. In an online mode, you have the freedom to sit in your home with a cup of coffee and attend the class. Also the time utilized for travelling in case of physical class room coaching may additionally be utilized for extra learning. International Professional Careers Academy (IPFC) is counted among the best online CMA Tutors in the world.

 

Real time Test Environment

It’s very important to practice the questions and to take CMA US mock exams in real time test environments. This will help you to avoid initial hiccups and to acquaint with the actual examination system. IPFC online real time mocks will help you to achieve this, as these mocks are exactly reflecting the Prometric  CMA exam environment. Windows, navigation buttons and review options in the software are designed exactly the same way as that of Prometric ones.

 

Schedule your study plan

This is unique  from person to person depending up on the time that they can devote for studies / capacity and capabilities / knowledge base that individual student acquires / his  experience in the profession. Considering these factors you can schedule a time frame of 6 to 9 months to clear the complete CMA(US)

 

Understand the Marking Scheme

The passing score is 360 out of 500. This means that you DO NOT need to maximize your score. Many, fall into the trap of spending too much time with an intention to “perfect” one topic before moving to next one, thus seriously running out of time for the remaining areas. If you are confident about 80-85% of a topic, you may move to next.

Knowing exactly what you need to do in order to pass helps confine your goal into something concrete and workable.

 

Know the Concepts (Not the Mnemonics) by Heart

Understanding the concepts is the most important part in CMA(US) training.

Most of the Institutes focus a lot on mnemonics. But IPFC is a clear exception in this area. What  IPFC focuses on their teaching process is only on clarity of concepts with the help of suitable examples in each area. Sush Bala is a master in executing this plan.

You may be able to answer by mnemonics if the question that you already learnt during your learning process is repeated in the exam. But the chances of this happening is very rare. IMA always takes care not to repeat questions in any CMA examinations. US CMA questions will always be in a twisted format, and you will be able to answer only if your concepts are clear.

Also, don’t rush to complete all practice questions without a good grasp of the concepts.

 

Avoid Reading Fat Study Materials

This point can be linked with the above explained point. If you are clear with the concepts of a particular topic, no need to read the fat CMA USA review materials. The time that is devoted for reading books can be allotted to solving more practice questions.

 

Link the Concepts at Work while learning

Think and compare what you are learning in CMA with the real time scenarios in your professional areas (Say Internal Control, Variance Analysis or Capital Budgeting).

 

Answering Multiple Choice Questions

The average time allocated for a question is 1.8min. Always keep this in mind. These questions can be big/small – easy/difficult. Always start with the smaller questions and try the big ones towards the end of exam. Try not to consume entire 1.8 minutes for small ones, which can be utilized later to answer big ones.

 

Identify our own weaknesses

The answer keys could be confusing, as you may be required to pick the best answer out of a few possibly correct answers. There is a huge possibility of getting distracted by factually correct but irrelevant answers. Since there are many questions, your mind tends to blanks out towards the end of the exam.

Our goal is to identify our own weaknesses, and directly address those during the exam preparation.

 

Educated Guessing

Try your best to get the best answer by whatever means — it could be by elimination, by relating a concept you learned from your other exam during your learning process. This skill is going to be critical in the actual exam

 

Attend more Mocks and Practice Maximum Questions

Practice, Practice again Practice – there is no shortcuts. “Practice makes a man perfect”. Mocks will helps you to apply the concepts learned, and will help you in boosting your confidence level.

 

Exam Tips N Tricks

Always Read all the 4 choices before going in to conclusion. Always remember “D option” can be “All the above”.

Anticipate the correct answer before reading the choices.

Apply elimination theory in case of partly true answers.

Follow your first impression / impulse.

Do not leave any question unanswered as there is no negative marking.

 

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