CMA

Certified Management Accountant

Institute of Management Accountants (IMA^®) is the world’s leading organization dedicated to empowering management accounting and finance professionals to drive business performance.

Management Accounting is the internal business building role of accounting and finance professionals who work inside organizations. These professionals are involved in designing and evaluating business processes, budgeting and forecasting, implementing and monitoring internal controls, and analyzing, and aggregating information—to help drive economic value.

What does a management accountant do?

The role of management accounting differs from that of public accounting, since management accountants work at the “beginning” of the value chain, supporting decision making, planning and control, while audit and tax functions involve checking the work after the fact. Management accountants are valued business partners, directly supporting an organization’s strategic goals.

Part (2) : Financial Decision Making

A. Financial Statement Analysis (25% of Exam Questions)

1. Basic Financial Statement Analysis

• Common size financial statements.
• Common base year financial statements.

2. Financial Ratios

• • Liquidity.
  • Leverage.
  • Activity.
  • Profitability.
  • Market.

3. Profitability analysis

• • Income measurement analysis.
  • Revenue analysis.
  • Cost of sales analysis.
  • Expense analysis.
  • Variation analysis.

4. Special issues

• • Impact of foreign operations.
  • Effects of changing prices and inflation.
  • Off-balance sheet financing.
  • Impact of changes in accounting treatment.
  • Accounting and economic concepts of value and income.
  • Earnings quality.

B. Corporate Finance (20% of Exam Questions)

1. Risk and return

• • Calculating return.
  • Types of risk.
  • Relationship between risk and return.

2. Long-term financial management

• • Term structure of interest rates.
  • Types of financial instruments.
  • Cost of capital.
  • Valuation of financial instruments.

3. Raising capital

• • Financial markets and regulation.
  • Market efficiency.
  • Financial institutions.
  • Initial and secondary public offerings.
  • Dividend policy and share repurchases.
  • Lease financing.

4. Working capital management

• • Working capital terminology.
  • Cash management.
  • Marketable securities management.
  • Accounts receivable management.
  • Inventory management.
  • Types of short-term credit.
  • Short-term credit management.

5. Corporate restructuring

• • Mergers and acquisitions.
  • Bankruptcy.
  • Other forms of restructuring.

C. Decision Analysis (20% of Exam Questions)

1. International finance

• Breakeven analysis.
• Profit performance and alternative operating levels.
• Analysis of multiple products.

2. Marginal analysis

• Sunk costs, opportunity costs and other related concepts.
• Marginal costs and marginal revenue.
• Special orders and pricing.
• Make versus buy.
• Sell or process further.
• Add or drop a segment.
• Capacity considerations.

3. Pricing

• Pricing methodologies.
• Target costing.
• Elasticity of demand.
• Product life cycle considerations.
• Market structure considerations.

D. Risk Management (10% of Exam Questions)

  1. Enterprise risk

• Types of risk.
• Risk identification and assessment.
• Risk mitigation strategies.
• Managing risk.

E. Investment Decisions (15% of Exam Questions)

• 1. Capital budgeting process

  • Stages of capital budgeting.
  • Incremental cash flows.
  • Income tax considerations.

  2. Discounted cash flow analysis

  • Net present value.
  • Internal rate of return.
  • Comparison of NPV and IRR.

  3. Payback and discounted payback

  • Uses of payback method.
  • Limitations of payback method.
  • Discounted payback.

  4. Risk analysis in capital investment

  • Sensitivity and scenario analysis.
  • Real options.

F. Professional Ethics (10% of Exam Questions)

• 1. Ethical considerations for management accounting and financial management professionals

  • IMA’s “Statement of Ethical Professional Practice”
  • Fraud triangle
  • Evaluation and resolution of ethical issues

  2. Ethical considerations for the organization

  • IMA’s Statement on Management Accounting, “Values and Ethics: From Inception to Practice”.
  • S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
  • Corporate responsibility for ethical conduct.

Certificate Exam

On each part of the exam, there will be:

• • 1. 100 Multiple-Choice Questions. (Three Hours)
    2. Two 30-minute Essay Questions. (One Hour)

Notes

• • The essays will be presented after you have completed the multiple-choice section of the exam or after 3 hours, whichever comes first.
  • Once you complete the multiple choice section, you cannot go back. You must stay in the essay section to complete the exam.
  • You MUST score at least a 50% on the multiple-choice section of the exam to be eligible to take the essay section.
  • Membership and entrance fees are $450 ≈
  • Renew Fees is $250 ≈