VanZante, N. R. 2010. IMA's professional certification program has changed. Management Accounting Quarterly (Summer): 48-51.

Summary by James R. Martin

Professional Exams Main | IMA Main Page

The purpose of this article is to update the author's 2005 paper on IMA's professional certification programs.¹ The information provided in this paper is very similar to the information provided by Brausch and Whitney earlier this year.² However, VanZante adds a chronological  history of the CMA program and explains why the CFM exam was discontinued and merged into the new CMA exam.

History of the CMA Exam

According to VanZante, more than 32,000 CMA certificates have been awarded since 1972 when the exam was established. A chronological history of the CMA exam is provided in the table below adapted from Tables 1 and 2 in the article. 

During the period from 1972 to 1990 the exam consisted of five 3.5-hour exams as illustrated in the table. When the program began, the exam was given over a three day period once per year in a few selected locations. Parts 1 and 2 were given on the first day, followed by parts 3 and 4 on the second day, and part 5 on the third day. Most of the exam consisted of essay questions and problems, i.e., 25% multiple choice, 75% problems and essay questions. The exam was offered twice per year beginning in 1977.

The CFM exam was offered during the period from 1996 and 2006, but was discontinued for lack of an audience. Since Part 2 of the CFM exam was the only difference between the two exams, CMA's could add the CFM designation simply by passing Part 2 which emphasized finance topics. Most of this finance material has been merged into the new CMA exam.

In 1991 the CMA exam was changed from five 3.5-hour exams to four 4-hour exams with the same percentage of multiple choice, essay and problems, i.e., 25% and 75%. 

In 1997 the exam was computerized and became four 3-hour multiple choice exams, i.e., 12 hours rather than 16 hours.

In 2004 a new exam was offered that consisted of a somewhat different set of topics (see table) that included a 4-hour section (Part 2) and a section with essay questions and problems in the area of business applications (Part 4). From 2004 to 2007 the 1997 and 2004 versions were both offered to CMA candidates.

The New 2010 CMA Exam

In 2010 a new exam was designed consisting of two 4-hour exams each containing 100 multiple choice questions and two 30-minute essay questions, i.e., 8 hours (see table). Although many topics are not specifically listed in the table, the new exam assumes candidates have a strong foundation in financial accounting and knowledge of topics such as economics and statistics. In addition to the topics listed in the table above, there are some topics that have been added or given increased emphasis on the new 2010 CMA exam. These include the following topics:

Top level planning and analysis,
The Treadway Commission's internal control framework,
International financial reporting standards,
Corporate restructuring (mergers & acquisitions),
Risk assessment,
Risk mitigation strategies and enterprise risk management,
Valuation, and
The IMA statement on management accounting, values and ethics.

Some topics that are no longer tested on the new exam include:

Linear programming,
Network analysis,
Decision tree analysis,
Queuing theory,
Markov processes,
Development of accounting standards,
Financial statement assurance,
Information systems,
Total quality management,
Strategic marketing,
Organization management, and
Behavioral issues.

For more information see IMA's CMA Certification web page.

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¹ VanZante, N. R. 2005. IMA's professional certification programs. Management Accounting Quarterly (Winter): 22-25

²  Brausch, J. M. and D. Whitney. 2009. CMA: The quest for increasing value. Strategic Finance (December): 9-10, 12. (Summary).

For some articles related to the value of the CMA, see:

Krippel, G. L. and S. Mitchell. 2011. What's your CMA worth? We show you how to estimate the lifetime value of the certification. Strategic Finance (November): 41-47. (Note).

Schiffel, L., K. A. Smith and D. L. Schroeder. 2011. IMA 2010 salary survey: How's that recovery workin' for you? Strategic Finance (June): 26-46. (Summary).