Pay the IMA Membership Fee:

Once you confirm your interest and eligibility for the exam, you can join the IMA. Your options
for IMA membership and the costs of these membership types include:

 Professional: $245
 Academic: $135
 Student: $39
 Two-Year Student: $78

You must take the following steps to become an IMA member:

1. Visit the IMA membership page.

2. Select the appropriate membership category and click “Join”.
3. Fill out the online application.
4. Look for an e-mail confirming your successful enrollment as an IMA member.

In the online application form, you will be asked to fill out your personal and professional
information, such as other professional credentials, education, job title, and responsibilities, and
pay the annual fee by credit card. The whole process shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes.

Join the CMA Certificate Program:

You need to enter the CMA program in order to take the CMA exam, and becoming a member of
the IMA does NOT automatically put you in the CMA program. You can become a member of the
IMA and join the CMA program at the same time if you want, but this step is not mandatory.

Therefore, you should join the CMA program only when you are ready to take the exam. You
should wait until this point because once you enroll in the program and pay the CMA entrance fee,
you must:

 Start taking the CMA exam within 12 months, and

 Complete the CMA program within 3 years.

To join the CMA program, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your IMA account.

2. Select the CMA candidate package you want by clicking “Join”.
3. Find a professional chapter by selecting a country and chapter.
4. If you would like to do so, you can also register for CMA exam Part 1 and Part 2 at this time. If
you’re not ready to schedule your exam appointment yet, you can just skip these steps by clicking
“Skip” on the left side of the page.
5. Pay the CMA entrance fee ($250 for professional members).
6. Look out for an e-mail confirming your successful enrollment in the CMA program.
7. Read the instructions in the email on how to access the CMA Exam Support Package.

Register for the CMA Exam Parts:

After enrolling in the CMA program, you may register for the exam. The CMA exam consists of
2 parts:

 Part 1: Financial Planning, Performance and Control

 Part 2: Financial Decision Making

You can take the exam parts in any order, though I suggest you start with the part you feel most
comfortable with. You can also take the exam parts on the same day or at different times,
depending on how much time you have to study.

The CMA exam parts are available to take during the following annual testing windows:

 January/February
 May/June
 September/October

You may choose to register online, by phone with credit card information, or by mailing/faxing
the registration form.

To register for the CMA exam, you must follow these steps:

1. Determine which exam part(s) to take and in which testing window.

2. Pay for the exam registration fees ($415 per part for professional membership).
3. Look out for an e-mail confirming your successful registration for the exam part(s).

Schedule Your CMA Exam Appointment:

Upon successful registration, you can schedule the date and time of the exam part(s) you want to
take at Prometric centers in the U.S. and around the world. The centers are open every weekday
during the testing windows.

To make a testing appointment, you must visit the Prometric website and click the “Schedule My
Test” button. Then, you must select your country and state if applicable. You must consent to the
privacy policy and then provide your authorization number from the IMA. After that, you will
select the exam part you want to sit for, your preferred testing center location, and your preferred
date and time. You’ll then verify your appointment and be all set!

You can typically cancel an appointment within 72 hours, and your refund (minus a $25
administrative fee) will be available within 30 days of registration. However, Prometric charges a
 $50 fee to candidates who reschedule/cancel appointments within 3 to 30 days of the original test
date.

Prepare for and Pass the CMA Exam

The CMA exam parts test candidates on their knowledge of the following areas of management
accounting and financial management:

Part 1: Financial Reporting, Planning, Performance, and Control

Part 2: Financial Decision Making

Furthermore, each CMA exam part contains 100 multiple-choice questions and 2 essay
scenarios for you to answer. So, the CMA exam is definitely an exam you’ll want to study for.

Thankfully, as soon as you enter the CMA program, you’ll receive 6 months of free access to the
IMA’s Exam Support Package. You’ll find the package at the IMA Learning Center website as
soon as you pay the entrance fee. This package includes a glossary of terms and downloadable and
printable multiple-choice and essay practice questions.

But, while the Exam Support Package is helpful, it isn’t sufficient to prepare you for the CMA
exam on its own. Instead, to give yourself the best chance of exam success, you need the additional
learning tools you’ll find in a CMA review course.

How to Pass the CMA Exam

A CMA review course contains self-study resources that prepare you for the CMA exam by
focusing on the exam content. Usually, you can access all the resources in your course online.
These resources can include:

 Digital or physical books

 A test bank of practice questions
 A study planner
 Performance tracking software
 Video lectures
 Audio lectures
 Limited time access
 Customer service access

You can purchase a complete CMA review course that covers the content of both exam parts, or
you can purchase just a CMA review course for just one exam part.

A CMA review course is beneficial because it covers and presents the exam content in a convenient
and efficient way, ensures you reach the levels of knowledge and skill that you need in order to
pass, and supplies a support system for additional information, advice, and encouragement. To
find the best CMA exam prep for you, check out my comparison of the pros and cons of the most
 popular CMA review course options available. Then, use my CMA review discounts to save big
on your preferred course.

11. Meet the Annual CPE CMA Course Requirements

The IMA doesn’t want you to forget what you just learned to pass the CMA exam. Therefore, they
start imposing their continuing professional education (CPE) requirement on CMA

Candidates as soon as candidates finish the CMA exam. So, once you’ve completed the additional
requirements and applied for the CMA certificate, your CPE and IMA membership must be current
at the time. Otherwise, the IMA won’t award you CMA status.

If you complete the CMA exam in the middle of the year, then you don’t need to meet the CPE
requirement until the following year. But you may carry up to 10 CPE hours over to the next
reporting year, so you can start working on next year’s CPE as soon as you want.

The IMA’s CPE requirement holds CMAs to taking 30 hours of CPE every year. And, 2 of these
30 hours must cover the area of ethics. Moreover, the subjects of your CPE must be relevant to a
management accountant’s or financial manager’s career development and related to employer
needs.

You can earn your CPE from the following sources:

 programs sponsored by employers

 business organizations
 educational institutions
 Professional and trade associations.

You’ll also find that qualifying CPE programs come in the following forms:

 seminars
 workshops
 technical meetings
 self-study packages
 college courses
 online courses

Complete the CMA Working Experience Requirements:

As a CMA candidate, you must have 2 continuous years of professional experience in management
accounting or financial management.

As with the education requirement, you have the option of completing the experience requirement
before or within 7 years of passing the CMA exam.
 Furthermore, you can use your full-time teaching experience to fulfill the experience requirement
as long as at least 60% of your course load involves teaching accounting or finance above the
principles level for a minimum of 2 years.

What’s more, while the IMA does expect full-time employment, they accept continuous part-time
positions of 20 hours per week that satisfy their standards for qualified experience. The IMA
awards 1 year of experience for every 2 years of part-time employment. Therefore, you’d need to
work part-time for 4 years to meet the 2-year experience requirement.

But, whether full-time or part-time, your experience must involve regularly using the principles of
management accounting and financial management to make judgments. The IMA believes
accountants employ these principles most often in tasks such as:

 Auditing (external or internal)

 Budget preparation and reporting
 Company investment decision making
 Completing monthly, quarterly, and year end close
 Costing analysis
 Financial planning and analysis
 Forecasting
 Managing general ledger and balance sheets
 Preparation of financial statements
 Risk evaluation

So long as your experience meets these specifications, you can expect the IMA to give you credit
for this requirement.

Comply with the Ethical Statement

You can officially apply for the CMA certificate once you’ve passed both parts of the CMA exam
and fulfilled the experience requirement.

Once you’ve received the certification, you must continuously comply with the IMA’s Statement
of Ethical Professional Practice. Failure to do so may result in disciplinary action. Furthermore,
you must also pay the annual IMA membership fee in order to maintain your certification.