Certified Management Accountant CMA Certification Courses

You can start looking for jobs as soon as you plan to take the CMA exam. In fact, many candidates start looking for CMA jobs to plan for their futures and just to see what is available. If you have not taken and passed both CMA Part 1 and CMA Part 2, you cannot call yourself a CMA certificate holder. Finally, the obvious but still important way that the CMA certification helps your career is by ensuring you have the knowledge and skill set to do your job correctly and efficiently.

CMAs must have completed a bachelor’s degree or qualifying professional certification, plus two years of professional experience in management accounting or financial management. That said, CMA certification requirements are different from CPA stipulations. Prospective CPAs must join the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and pass a CPA exam, is cma worth it entailing a separate set of fees, exam requirements, and continuing education mandates. Earning both the CPA and CMA designations may be time-consuming and expensive. However, candidates who work at least 20 hours per week in continuous, part-time roles can apply their experience toward certified management accountant requirements.

1. If you’re looking for a fully online course as part of your CE credits, consider Financial Markets or the Business and Financial Modeling Specialization, both of which are on Coursera.
2. Based on our research, a CMA exam prep course can cost anywhere from a few hundred to nearly two thousand dollars.
3. Some may find it more helpful to purchase a variety of test-prep books and study from those.
4. As you can see, with the CMA, you can not only carve your place in the business world, you can pull up a chair at the conference room table.

Once you are a member of the CMA program, you can register for the CMA exam. Students receive significantly reduced CMA fees, so it is beneficial for candidates to begin their CMA journey while they are still students. To qualify, you must be enrolled in six credit hours at a university or college. If you have already graduated from a university program, you are unable to qualify for student pricing. If you have already purchased another type of IMA membership, you are unable to qualify for student membership, even if you are currently enrolled. CMA Exam Academy made our list because of its unique CMA coaching program.

Being a CMA Helps You Advance Your Career

The CMA Exam has only two parts, and the parts do overlap somewhat. In fact, you may take the CMA Exam before you graduate from college (and Becker can show you how!). Business majors, Becker’s CMA Review package is a terrific study aid for many of your business core courses. Accounting majors, our review package can really help you study for your business and many of your core accounting courses as well. Once you pass the CMA Exam, to complete your requirements for your certification you must complete your undergraduate degree and experience requirements. Enrolling in the CMA program involves paying a program fee separate from the membership and exam fees.

How to become a certified management accountant

Keep reading to learn about CMA requirements and if the CMA certification is right for you. CMA certification shows that an accountant has expertise in financial accounting and strategic management. CMAs tend to focus on corporate finance and management accounting.

Becoming a CMA Increases Earning Potential

Plus, we’ll reveal tips for minimizing the price tag and advice on whether CMA certification is truly worth it. I’ll have no financial barriers to getting it, as long as I pass the first time. I plan on getting my CPA and MAcc after my undergrad, so not sure if it’s worth it. This content has been made available for informational purposes https://business-accounting.net/ only. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals. Whether you are fitting in study hours as you wrap up school or after work, it’s best to pace yourself and not cram your studying into a condensed timeline.

But in reality, the value of the CMA varies in different countries and industries. You may have heard about how the CMA will help your career growth, help you get a better job, and make loads of money from it. However, you may be surprised to know that this isn’t always the case. There are different factors involved – two big ones being the country and the industry you are in. Amy Fontinelle has more than 15 years of experience covering personal finance, corporate finance and investing.

The CMA is a popular, affordable option that provides a wealth of technical knowledge. It also helps you earn the high-level leadership position you want by teaching strategic management and planning. When choosing a career it’s fairly safe to say that many people take salary into consideration. When you are financially investing in your future, then you want to make sure it has ROI.

In short, the CMA exam fees are a bit higher than the CGMA exam fees, but that’s only if you neglect to include the cost of obtaining the requirements. To be a CGMA, there are multiple pathways (more on this in the eligibility requirements section of this article), but the most common route involves becoming a CPA first. Once you become a CGMA certificate holder you are required to pay an annual membership fee of $495.

Thankfully, getting your CMA is the difficult part, and maintaining it is rather easy. You only need to stay current on your IMA membership fees and make sure you fulfill your annual requirements. This is a requirement for continued education of 30 hours a year, with at least two hours of continuing education being devoted to ethics. Kuchen says he initially took an in-person study class at a local college. “After that, I used a private company’s self-guided software study program, which also helped me a great deal,” he says. Also, many repetitive tasks in the profession are now being automated.

Time Commitment

This desire for CMAs isn’t exclusive to those in the United States either. It is widely recognized globally and especially popular in the Middle East with ever-growing numbers of candidates. Over the past few years, there has been an increasing need for CMAs in the workplace. As the designation becomes more internationally recognized, more and more employers are supporting it. Because the CGMA was birthed from both AICPA and CIMA, you can earn this designation through either entity, but eligibility and prerequisites vary.

The salary potential alone makes the CMA certification worth it. CMAs in America make the highest median total compensation of all regions, bringing in $124,000 annually. If you are dedicated and efficient, you can do the latter in as little as 8 months.

Even with his CPA license, he says he could not have succeeded in guiding his company through the recession and back into growth mode without the skills he mastered as a CMA. CMA is a worldwide designation, so salaries will vary substantially between regions. If you were an accountant without a CMA, you should expect to see your salary drop substantially, down to around $72,000. She did every multiple choice question and went over every essay question. She also took a one-day review class through her local IMA chapter. Mulling is a member of IMA’s Global Board of Directors and also holds the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP) designations.

CPAs usually perform accounting, auditing, tax, and consulting services. Combining the CPA license and CMA certification can increase job opportunities, bump salary, and expand expertise. Employers see the time, money and effort to acquire either the CPA and CMA certifications as a testament to an individual’s commitment to succeed as an accounting and finance professional. This demonstration of commitment, focused study and knowledge can even serve as the tiebreaker between two qualified candidates for a job.

Both certifications require similar education and work experience. The Institute of Certified Management Accountants (ICMA) provides a list of courses and self-study programs for the CMA exam. All providers on IMA’s list have proven that they can assist candidates in earning their CMA certification.