What is CMA(US)
CMA is know as Certified Management Accountant. Every country has a Management Accounting course which ensures that you are professionally qualified in Management Accounting skills.
In India, the qualification is named as CMA India and in the USA it is CMA(US).
What does a CMA(US) do?
The main objective of a company hiring a CMA(US) certified professional is to make sense of the various data which are generated by normal accounting activity, like Accounts Receivable (AR), Accounts Payable (AP), General Ledger (GL) and Taxes. With so much data, it is difficult for the Senior Management to take a decision.
The role of a CMA is to analyze these data and help the senior management in taking crucial decision on various activities in the company. These decision can be as important as (1) whether to shut down a particular plant or division (2) buy out a company (3) promote or shutdown a product or service, etc
What is CMA(US)?
Having understood the scope and importance of CMA, let us tell you about what is CMA(US) all about
The whole syllabus of CMA(US) consists of 12 subjects. grouped into two parts. Each of these Parts have 6 subjects in them. These Parts are commonly called as Part 1 and Part 2 and are named as follows. Below table shows the 6 subjects in each parts and the name of the Parts.
| Part 1 (Financial Planning, Performance and Analytics) | Part 2 (Strategic Financial Management) |
|---|---|
| External Financial Reporting Decisions (15%) | Financial Statement Analysis (20%) |
| Planning, Budgeting, and Forecasting (20%) | Corporate Finance (20%) |
| Performance Management (20%) | Decision Analysis (25%) |
| Cost Management (15%) | Risk Management (10%) |
| Internal Controls (15%) | Investment Decisions (10%) |
| Technology and Analytics (15%) | Professional Ethics (15%) |
The %age indicated against each subject shows the weightage that each of them carry in the exam.
About the CMA(US) exam
Each Part exam duration is of 4 hrs. These further bifurcates into 2 parts.
First part is MCQ (Multiple Choice Question). Here 100 questions to clear. You need to score at least 50 questions correct to move to the next part. The maximum time given for this part is 3 hrs.
Second part is of Essay type question where one will have 2 questions. To write the answers, one has to use the computer. The answers will need to be point wise and not very descriptive in nature. The max time given for this part is 1 hour. Please note that any evaluator across the world can do the evaluation of these essay questions. Hence, there must be special focus on how to write the answers so that everyone across the world understands it.
Please note that in case you finish the first part in 2.5 hrs, then you get 1.5 hrs for the essay part. Also, unless you score more than 50% of the questions correct in the first part, you do not get the option to write the second part at all.
Hence it is very important that when you study, you ensure that your practice for the First part is excellent and you should get at least 30-40% of questions which you have studies in your CMA(US) class.
CMA(US) Exam Conduct
To conduct the CMA(US) exams the student needs to visit a prometric center. There are prometric centers in practically every country in the world. In the worst case scenario, in case there are no prometric center in your country or city, you may choose to give a remote proctored exam which is possible.
Exams are conducted 6 months in a year which are Jan-Feb, May-Jun and Sep-Oct. You may give the exam in any of these months based on your preparedness.
CMA(US) results
Within 5 weeks from the exam date, the result is declared. Though it is a computer based exam, the result takes time as the Second part is descriptive and requires manual evaluation of the question. The evaluator of this Second part can be anywhere from the world. Hence it is important that you write the answers in a conceptual and neutral level to make it understood across the globe.
CMA(US) sample questions
IMA (Institute of Management Accountant) has a very strict policy on disclosure of the exam question as they are confidential in nature. However, in case you need a taste of the questions, you can fill up the form below and we will provide you with a set of sample questions. Please ensure to write your requirement in the text box.
